A Chinese thief has returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he stole
from a woman after she sent him 21 touching text messages, Xinhua news agency
said on Monday.
Pan Aiying, a teacher in the eastern province of Shandong, had her bag
containing her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan ($630) snatched by a man
riding a motorcycle as she cycled home on Friday, Xinhua said, citing the Qilu
Evening News.
Pan first thought of calling the police but she decided to try to persuade the
young man to return her bag.
She called her lost phone with her colleague`s cell phone but was disconnected.
Then she began sending text messages.
"I`m Pan Aiying, a teacher from Wutou Middle School. You must be going
through a difficult time. If so, I will not blame you," wrote Pan in her
first text message which did not get a response.
"Keep the 4,900 yuan if you really need it, but please return the other
things to me. You are still young. To err is human. Correcting your mistakes is
more important than anything," Pan wrote.
She gave up hope of seeing her possessions again after sending 21 text messages
without a reply.
But on her way out on Sunday morning, she stumbled over a package that had been
left in her courtyard only to discover it was her stolen bag. Nothing had been
taken.
"Dear Pan: I`m sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me," a letter
inside said.
"You are so tolerant even though I stole from you. I`ll correct my ways and
be an upright person."
