‘Most expensive floor’: surprised newlywed in China finds money all over floor while sweeping, left by her mother-in-law to bless marriage and family

A newlywed woman is surprised to find money all over her living room floor as she sweeps up

The money has been left by her mother-in-law as a traditional offering to bless the couple with wealth

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A woman in China sweeping the floor 3 days after her wedding is surprised to find banknotes left everywhere as a traditional blessing. Photo: SCMP composite/handout

Published: 2:00pm, 22 Dec 2022Updated: 9:45pm, 23 Dec 2022

A newlywed woman in eastern China had the surprise of her life while sweeping up when she discovered money strewn all over her living room floor, left as a traditional wedding ritual by her mother-in-law.

The woman from Shandong province, surnamed Xu, said her mother-in-law asked her two days after her wedding to wake up early the next day to sweep the floor of their home, Qingdao Transport Radio reported.

When Xu woke up and started cleaning the living room, she began finding 100-yuan (US$14) banknotes spread sporadically all over the floor.

Xu’s mother-in-law told her the money is left as a ‘sao fu’ or ‘sweeping blessing’ and is to attract wealth to the newly married couple’s home. Photo: Weibo

Her mother-in-law later explained this was a traditional practice called sao fu, meaning “sweeping blessing” in English. According to the custom, the bride should sweep the floor of the couple’s new home on the third day after the wedding ceremony and collect the money to ensure wealth will stay with the family.

“I woke up my husband quickly and got him to take a video of me sweeping the ‘most expensive floor’,” Xu said after the discovery.

She added jokingly that “she’s never swept a floor so clean before.”

Mainland internet users were fascinated by the wedding ritual, with 4.5 million people watching the video on Douyin alone.