A Thief Regrets

'I made a mistake!'

It's a horrible end to the day.

Teacher Pan Aiying from Shandong is cycling homefrom work. Suddenly a thief on a motorbike pulls alongside her. He grabs her handbag and speeds away.

Pan is very upset. Inside the bag is a mobile phone and around 4,900 yuan ($600 US). It's the money to pay her rent

When she tries calling her phone there's no answer. So Pan sends a text message.

‘Keep the money if you really need it,’ she writes, ‘but please return the other things to me. We all make mistakes.’

A Thief Regrets

That message receives no reply. Nor do the other 20 messages Pan sends to her phone. ‘I won’t see my bag again,’ she thinks sadly.

Three days later she has a happy surprise. She comes home to find her handbag outside the front door of her home. Everything is in it. And there's a letter inside:

‘Dear Pan: I'm sorry,’ the thief has written. ‘I made a mistake. Please forgive me.

You are so tolerant even though I stole from you. I want to change. I want to become a good person.’

Hidden Money