A sudden fire devoured 170,000 yuan in cash that Li Xuezhong, a resident of Pingding County, had just withdrawn from the bank to prepare for his son's wedding.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 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 that the wires on the floor were on fire, followed by an explosion of the TV. In a panic, Tang Xi jumped out of bed and tried to stomp out the fire with his feet, only to ignite his cotton pants, resulting in burns to his right leg. Unaware of the large amount of cash stored inside, Tang Xi hastily ran out of the house. Upon hearing the news, Li Xuezhong, Tang Xi's wife, rushed to the scene and attempted several times to rush inside to retrieve the 170,000 yuan in cash she had just withdrawn from the bank for her son's wedding, but was unsuccessful due to the intense flames.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 Brigade, the fire was completely extinguished. Among the ruins, looking at some of the burned banknotes, the Li Xuezhong family was heartbroken.
On January 18, Tang Li Fang, Tang Xi's daughter, brought the damaged currency to the Yangquan Central Branch of the People's Bank of China for help. "The most challenging part of exchanging damaged currency is when it has been burned in a fire," said Li Xinliang, director of the Currency and Gold Department. "It's regrettable to see people's hard-earned money burned, and we want to do our best to minimize the loss."
Considering that the damaged bills were first burned and then soaked during firefighting efforts, any further random movement would cause additional damage and complicate the next step of effective identification. Li Xinliang told Tang Li Fang: "You should take the money back, dry it carefully, and preserve it until we come to count and exchange it." After hearing this, Tang Li Fang carefully preserved the burnt money.
At 10:00 AM on February 27, the staff from the Currency and Gold Department of the Yangquan Central Branch of the People's Bank of China and the Pingding Credit Union arrived at Tang Xi’s home with a damaged currency exchange instrument. Upon entering, the bank staff sighed in relief: "Fortunately, these bills are bundled together; otherwise, they would have been more severely burned."
Four staff members immediately began the detailed counting process. The paper bills, which had been both burned and drenched with water, were fragile and tightly adhered. Any careless handling could result in new damage. To ensure maximum bill surface area, the four bent over and gently separated each damaged bill, then carefully placed them into pre-prepared "Special Damaged or Defiled RMB Dedicated Bags." According to regulations, if the remaining portion of the bill is 3/4 or more (including 3/4), it can be fully exchanged; if the remaining portion is between 1/2 and 3/4 (including 1/2), it can be exchanged at half value. If the remaining portion is less than 1/2, it cannot be exchanged. Since the carbonized parts caused by fire can also be included in the calculation, extra care must be taken during the counting process, one staff member explained. 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 rest of the damaged bills were unidentifiable and lost their exchange basis. Subsequently, Li Xuezhong received 84,150 yuan in cash on-site. "I thought the entire sum of over 100,000 yuan was gone, but now after counting, 84,150 yuan has been exchanged. Thank you to the bank for providing door-to-door service and helping me reduce my losses," Li Xuezhong said emotionally.