The Woman Who 'Crashes' Weddings to Feed 126 Stray Animals

She turns up at wedding banquets with a small red envelope and a line she has rehearsed countless times. "Please accept this – it's from the cats," she tells the newlyweds with a shy smile. Then comes the real reason she's there: "And later … would it be alright if I pack the leftovers?"

The woman is Xuan Xuan, a 27-year-old animal rescuer in southwest China's Yunnan Province. For the past three years, she has slipped into nearly a hundred weddings annually – not to celebrate, but to collect untouched dishes for the 126 stray cats and dogs she cares for in a rented yard outside Baoshan, Jimu News reported.

What began as a desperate way to cut food costs has unexpectedly made her a viral figure. Since late October, her short videos – usually featuring a flood of cats at dinnertime – have drawn more than a million new followers.

She took in her first stray in 2022. She thought it would be a one-off. It wasn't.

"Once you pick up one life, you can't pretend you didn't see the next," she said. But as the number grew, so did the strain: complaints from neighbors, repeated moves, and bills so heavy she sometimes relied on credit cards just to buy basic food, the report said.

The wandering finally stopped when she rented her current yard. "This used to be a pig farm on the city's outskirts, so I no longer have to worry about disturbing anyone," she said.

Food remains her biggest expense. The idea of collecting banquet leftovers came after she watched untouched dishes being thrown away at a wedding in late 2022.

"If it was going to be thrown out anyway," she recalled, "why not take it home to the cats?"

That idea set her on the path she's still on. She approaches couples one by one, gives the red envelope, explains her mission, and waits for a nod.

Her "job" at weddings is fast and slightly frantic. As guests drift away, she hovers near the tables, picking out lightly seasoned dishes – fish, shrimp, chicken broth – before the staff clear everything. Anything oily or heavy with spices is off-limits.

Most couples agree once they hear the reason, she said. Some hotels contact her directly, and many newlyweds now invite her in advance.

When asked to sit and eat, she contributes a full cash gift, following local custom.

Online, people love her. One comment that stayed with her read: "Because they bring a red envelope, the cats aren't eating scraps. They're invited guests."

One bride, surnamed Zhang, who invited Xuan Xuan to her wedding in November, said "Giving one meal to stray cats made our wedding more meaningful."

Xuan Xuan estimates that attending two to three weddings a week saves her several thousand yuan a month – money she now spends on vaccinations and spay-and-neuter procedures.

Each night, after the banquets end, Xuan Xuan boils the collected food in large pots to remove oil and salt, livestreaming what she calls the "Midnight Kitty Canteen".

Cats crowd around as she introduces them one by one to viewers. Online audiences that once numbered in the hundreds now reach tens of thousands per stream.

The new visibility has helped her upgrade their meals – from offal to chicken breast and canned food. But she is exhausted. "After every livestream I feel wiped out," she said. "But there's always something else that needs doing."

"The more you can help, the more you notice who still needs it," she said. "All I want is for them to be healthy and safe – whatever is within my ability."