The handwritten notes hanging on the wall of Li Guose's new noodle shop look, at first glance, like small banknotes.
Numbers are scattered among the blue-ink drawings, some of them enclosed in rough circles. Customers stop to look at them, snap photos and ask about the elderly man who once used them to buy noodles.
However, the notes were never actual money.
For nearly a decade, Zheng Zulong would walk into Li's small fresh-noodle shop in Cangnan county, Zhejiang province, pull one of the handwritten notes from his pocket and hand a few over at the counter. Li knew the notes had no purchasing power and were not in any way legal tender. Still, he would accept one and hand Zheng a bag of fresh noodles — the kind of everyday staple sold at countless small stalls in Chinese streetside markets.
The exchange happened more than 2,000 times between 2013 and 2022.
Now, some of those notes have found a new home. On Oct 2, Li, 39, opened a new shop on an old street near his original store, turning part of its walls into a quiet record of a friendship that began with what looked like actual currency, but was really a gesture of trust.
"I never expected this story could make this far, and I want more people to know it," Li said.
The story has recently found a new audience in an unexpected way. An artificial intelligence-generated video circulating on Chinese social media, Douyin, depicts an elderly man handing a hand-drawn 20-yuan note to a vegetable merchant, who accepts it and gives him fresh produce and real change. Titled Drawn Money, the video, posted by an influencer under the name of Renjian Zhen, has received more than 5.6 million likes.
"The money drawn on a piece of paper has no real purchasing power, but it carries something far more valuable — kindness and dignity," a viewer of the video said.
Li also watched the AI-generated video, saying: "Thank you for sharing the story of the old man and me again. Although he is gone, the kindness we shared continues."
But the scene it evokes is not entirely fictional. In Li's shop, the handwritten notes tell the real story of Zheng, who reportedly suffered a head injury in a fall as a child, resulting in an intellectual disability, and lived in difficult circumstances.
Li never exposed him or refused to accept the notes.
"At that time, I simply wanted to record the old man's daily visits to buy noodles, so that my followers could see that he was safe and had food to eat every day," Li said.
In late 2020, Li began sharing short clips of Zheng's visits on social media. The videos drew a growing audience, and he eventually posted about 170 episodes.
The routine became part of daily life at the shop. Li knew roughly when Zheng would arrive and would look up when he expected to see him.
Then, in 2022, Zheng was killed in a traffic accident in Cangnan.
Li heard about the accident from a follower and drove to Zheng's home, about 4 kilometers from the shop, to confirm what had happened.
That evening, he posted the 170th episode. It was the last.
In the video, Li burned one of Zheng's handwritten notes. The blue ink darkened in the flame before the paper curled into ash.
"Life is so fragile. Every day I would look up and wait for him at the time I knew he would come. Now when I look up, I can't see him anymore," Li said.
But Zheng's story did not end with the videos.
Since June 2021, Li has traveled around Cangnan and neighboring counties, helping families with medical expenses, education costs and emergency needs.
In one case, a student from a mountainous area was injured in a traffic accident and needed surgery in Wenzhou. The family could not afford the hospital deposit. Li donated 5,000 yuan ($743) that night, and his assistance eventually reached about 20,000 yuan.
"There are children who have lost their parents, families who cannot afford school and elderly living alone in mountainous areas. If I have the ability to help, I want to do something," Li said.
"I've received some recognition and financial rewards over the years, but I chose to put the money back into helping people," he said.
His willingness to help others is rooted partly in his own childhood. Li lost his mother when he was young and was later raised by his grandfather. When his grandfather died, Li was 10, and he left school to help his father run the family noodle shop.
Today, his family supports his charitable work. This summer, a foundation named after Li was launched with support from the local government, focusing on students struggling with school tuition, orphans and seniors lacking family support.
By May 2026, he had reportedly raised a total of approximately 2.4 million yuan in charitable funds, helping nearly 300 families in need.
Back at the new noodle shop, the handwritten notes remain on the wall. "They are worth keeping, reminding me of the man who came to my shop, leaving behind a story of kindness that continues to be known by more people," said Li.
