I just came across a story about Shanghai, and it really moved me.

The protagonist of this story is Guo Wanying. Born in Australia in 1909, her father, Guo Biao, was a Chinese overseas entrepreneur. After returning to Shanghai in 1915, Guo Biao and his brothers founded Yong’an Department Store together. It became a landmark on Nanjing Road, and the Guo family also rose to prominence as a well-established clan. Guo Wanying studied at the noble girls’ school Zhongxi Nüxue—receiving a Western-style education—and she was a classmate of the Soong sisters, with a strong, independent personality.

At 19, she refused the marriage arranged for her by her family and insisted on going north to Yenching University to study psychology. At Yenching University, she met Wu Yuxiang. A top student from MIT, he was a descendant of Lin Zexu. In 1934, they held a wedding banquet in Shanghai with 100 tables—an event that caused quite a stir at the time. After they married, they had two children. Life should have been happy, but Wu Yuxiang was flirtatious and addicted to gambling, owing a staggering debt of 140,000. During her pregnancy, he even had an affair. Guo Wanying chose to be understanding and to hold the marriage together—but the weight of that marriage was, in truth, something she bore alone.

In 1949, the family decided to leave for the United States. But Guo Wanying couldn’t bear to part with this land, so she chose to stay. In 1957, Wu Yuxiang was classified as a rightist and died, leaving behind only debts and their two children. From then on, she was assigned hard labor such as road repair and digging out manure. She lived in a drafty shack of 7 square meters. With a monthly salary of 23 yuan, after deducting 15 yuan for her son’s living expenses, she had only 6 yuan left to support herself—often just eating 8-cent Yangchun noodles.

She sold her own belongings to repay the huge debt, and even her wedding dress was seized—yet she never complained. Later, her children all went to the United States. Even in her 80s, Guo Wanying lived alone in a room without heating, but she still insisted on keeping herself neat and proper, preserving her dignity. Foreign media wanted to use her suffering for sensational stories, but she refused. She drank tea from an enamel cup, steamed cakes with an aluminum pot, and managed to live her life with dignity.

In 1998, at the age of 89, Guo Wanying passed away. She donated her body and left no ashes behind. From the “fourth young lady” of Yong’an Department Store to a worker who scraped mud, Guo Wanying spent her life explaining what true noble spirit really means—not because she had money, but because she maintained calmness and steadfastness even in hardship. Such a life story is worth remembering.