Hidden treasure: online praise for honest China tenant who finds valuables worth US$56,000 in secret safe, returns lot to rightful owner

On July 20, not long after moving into her new rental flat, Jiang decided to do a deep clean, during which she found a hidden safe behind a cabinet.

“When I moved a cabinet and removed some wallpaper I found a small hidden compartment in a corner of the wall. I was puzzled,” Jiang told the news outlet.

The viral video shows a green safe that she found embedded in the wall, close to the floor.

On opening the safe, she was stunned to find a stash of valuable including five fixed-term deposit certificates and an assortment of jewellery, including gold rings and necklaces.

The deposit certificates alone had a total face value of 400,000 yuan.

“I was initially bewildered because I had never seen so many valuable goods before,” said Jiang.

She also told the news outlet that she could not keep anything that did not belong to her and promptly reached out to staff from the Houdajie community, where the flat is located.

The community soon discovered that the previous owners of the flat, an elderly couple, had passed away and their children had sold the property, unaware of the hidden treasure.

Now, the community is contacting the family of the elderly couple while they look after the valuables.

Zhang Jingbo, secretary of the party committee in the Houdajie community, said: “We are honoured to have a neighbour like Jiang, and we commend her actions!”

Jiang’s story has brought her a wave of applause from online observers.

One person said: “Even though she needs to rent a home, she still refused to pocket the valuables. Surely this lady and her family will be blessed.”

Others expressed surprise at the unique hiding spot, with one person noting: “Keeping the safe behind a cabinet was definitely unexpected.”

Another asked: “I wonder what the elderly couple went through and why they never disclosed the existence of these savings to their children.”