Last month, Zhou Xiuyun, a mute mother in Shandong province, raised money for her son's tuition by holding up a sign in the street. On Nov. 29, she once again held up a sign - this time to show her gratitude after many kind people offered donations.

Zhou is a 48-year-old woman with congenital hearing loss living in Yangxin County, Shandong province. Since her husband died of lung cancer, she and her son have had a hard time supporting themselves, let alone paying off her husband's debt, totaling more than 100,000 RMB.

In order to keep her son in college, Zhou took to the streets on Oct. 31 with a sign saying “My son wants to go back to school." As a result, many people and even companies got involved in raising money for Zhou's son. The manager of a start-up decided to help Zhou that very night. Soon after, two companies in Shandong decided to provide Zhou's son with a work-study position, as well as an allowance worth 50,000 RMB for tuition and a free course for the boy to get his driver’s license. Two foundations offered to provide him with 5,000 RMB per year for his studies. In total, Zhou and her son have received 88,230 RMB.