A mother's unconditional love: Woman lives in a TOILET for 10 years to save money so her two sons could go to top schools 

  • Woman and her husband have lived in a toilet in China for 10 years
  • She used to work five jobs until her sons persuaded her to cut down
  • Mother-of-two is the sole breadwinner as her husband has health issues 

By Sophie Williams For Mailonline

Published: 11:22 EST, 24 May 2016 | Updated: 14:15 EST, 24 May 2016

A woman and her husband have spent the last ten years living in a toilet so that they can afford to send their two sons to top universities. 

Until recently, the woman from Xinzhou District, Wuhan worked five part time jobs until her sons persuaded her to cut down to two, reports the People's Daily Online. 

Both of her sons have since attended prestigious universities.  

Motherly love: The woman and her husband have spent the past ten years living in a university toilet

Motherly love: The woman and her husband have spent the past ten years living in a university toilet

A small place to call a home: The area of the toilet the couple reside in is just one hundred square feet

A small place to call a home: The area of the toilet the couple reside in is just one hundred square feet

Wang Xiumei and her husband have lived in a toilet for 10 years. The area of the cabin is just one hundred square feet. 

Her husband has been in poor health for some time, suffering from asthma and chronic bronchitis. Now, he has severe cataracts in both eyes and is completely blind in his left eye while he can only see out of his right. 

In 2006, the eldest son took the college examination and the youngest was in junior high school. Concerned with the cost of putting her children through college, they came to the University and started living in a vacant toilet.

When Wang first started living in the toilet, she had a monthly income of just 520 yuan (£52). 

She found it hard to pay for her husband's medication. Her son had less than 200 yuan (£20) a semester and had to live frugally. 

Over the years she has woken up at 5am to clean a nearby karaoke bar before selling milk on the streets at 7am. Wang would then rush to clean the university at 8am and would then work at restaurants during lunch time.

When it came to the afternoon she would continue to clean the university before working in a restaurant until 11pm. This would leave her with around four to five hours of sleep every day.

Despite the grueling regime, she was never late, arriving to work on time every day. 

The woman has worked at the university as a cleaner for ten years along with residing on campus

The woman has worked at the university as a cleaner for ten years along with residing on campus

Nowadays her two jobs have an income of 3,100 yuan (£323) a month 

Nowadays her two jobs have an income of 3,100 yuan (£323) a month 

Sometimes when it was too late to cook, she ordered her son to help her husband eat, eating just bread and a bowl of plain noodles. 

She said her son was sensible and worked hard. 

This year under hers sons' persuasion, she quit selling milk and working in restaurants, cutting down to just two jobs.  

Although life isn't easy, her two sons make Wang Xiumei very proud. Her eldest son was admitted to Peking University's graduate program. 

Nowadays, Wang's two jobs have an income of 3,100 yuan (£323) a month which aside from the cost of living and medication for her husband, she is able to save some cash. 

She says that she hopes she can spread the message that students in poverty have the ability to change fate.  

Comments (45)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now