A sudden fire devoured 170,000 yuan in cash that resident Li Xuezhong of Pingding County had just withdrawn from the bank to prepare for his son's wedding. On February 27, after a morning of counting by the bank staff, they helped Li Xuezhong recover 84,150 yuan.
At around 5:00 AM on January 16, Tang Xi, a resident of Pingding County who was sleeping, suddenly noticed the wires on the floor were on fire, followed by an explosion of the television. In a panic, Tang Xi jumped out of bed and tried to stomp out the fire with his feet, which ignited his cotton pants and resulted in burns to his right leg. Unaware of the large amount of cash inside, Tang Xi hastily ran out of the house. Upon hearing the news, Li Xuezhong, Tang Xi's wife, rushed to the scene several times attempting to salvage the 170,000 yuan in cash she had just withdrawn from the bank for her son's wedding, but was unsuccessful due to the intense flames. Subsequently, with the efforts of the Pingding Fire Station, the fire was completely extinguished. In the ruins, seeing part of their hard-earned money burned, the Li Xuezhong family was heartbroken.
On January 18, Tang Li Fang, Tang Xi's daughter, brought the damaged bills to the People's Bank of China Yangquan Central Branch for help. "The exchange of severely damaged currency is most difficult when dealing with those burnt in fires; they are hard to count and identify," said Li Xinliang, director of the Currency and Gold Department. "Seeing the people's hard-earned money burned, we also feel sorry and want to do our best to minimize the loss."
Considering that the damaged bills had been first burned and then soaked during firefighting efforts, any further random movement would result in additional damage, making effective identification even more challenging. Li Xinliang told Tang Li Fang, "You should carefully dry the money and preserve it until we come to count and exchange it." After hearing this, Tang Li Fang carefully preserved the burned money.
At 10:00 AM on February 27, staff members from the Currency and Gold Department of the People's Bank of China Yangquan Central Branch and the Pingding County Credit Union, carrying bill exchange instruments, arrived at Tang Xi's home. Upon entering, they were relieved to see that the burned bills were still bundled together on the bed, which prevented them from being burned more severely.
Four staff members immediately began carefully counting. The paper bills, which had been both burned and drenched with water, were fragile and tightly stuck together. Any careless handling could cause new damage. To ensure the largest possible bill surface area was retained, the four bent over and gently separated each damaged bill, then carefully placed them into pre-prepared "Special Damaged or Defaced Renminbi Bags". "According to regulations, if more than 3/4 (including 3/4) of the bill remains, it can be fully exchanged; if between 1/2 and 3/4 (including 1/2) remains, it can be exchanged at half value. If less than 1/2 remains, it cannot be exchanged. Since the carbonized parts caused by the fire can also be counted as part of the bill, extra care must be taken during counting," one staff member said. At 1:10 PM, after three hours of counting, a total of 1,386 bills were counted, with a total exchangeable amount of 84,150 yuan. The remaining damaged bills were unidentifiable and lost their exchange basis. Subsequently, Li Xuezhong received 84,150 yuan in cash on the spot. "I thought the tens of thousands of yuan were gone, but now after counting, I've managed to exchange 84,150 yuan. Thank you to the bank for providing door-to-door service and helping me reduce my losses," Li Xuezhong said emotionally.