A thief has returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he
stole from a woman after receiving 21 emotional text messages from
her, a local newspaper reported.
Pan Aiying, a Chinese teacher at Wutou Middle School in Qihe
County, in east China's Shandong Province, did not think her
text-message campaign would move the thief to return her
belongings.
A young man riding a motorcycle had snatched her bag, which
contained her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan ($628), as
she was riding her bicycle home on Friday morning, according to
Qilu Evening News.
Pan said she initially considered calling the police, but then
decided to try to persuade the young man to return her bag.
Pan called her lost phone with her colleague's cell phone, but
was disconnected. So she began sending text messages.
"Hey, buddy. 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 didn't 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 mistake is more important than anything," Pan wrote
in another message.
She gave up hope after sending 21 text messages without a reply
and planned to call the police the next morning.
However, as she left her home on Sunday morning, Pan stumbled
over a package that had been left in her courtyard. It was her
stolen bag. Nothing had been taken from it.
"Dear Pan: I'm sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me. You
are so tolerant even though I stole from you. I'll correct my ways
and be an upright person," said a letter that had been left with
the bag.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)