Chinese street cleaner who found US$22,000 in rubbish refuses to accept any reward for honesty
Low-paid worker was offered a year’s salary for returning the cash, but turned down the offer saying she was only doing ‘what I should do’
A Chinese street cleaner who returned nearly 150,000 yuan (US$22,000) she found in the rubbish has refused to accept a reward for her honesty, saying there was no need to thank her for doing the right thing.
Li Man discovered the bag on Tuesday morning as she was cleaning a road in a commercial district of Haikou, the capital of the island province of Hainan.
The bag drew her attention because of its weight, Li told local media. When she opened it, she found a smaller bag filled with 100 yuan bills.
“Someone must have accidentally dropped it here and must be very worried right now. I needed to make sure this was returned quickly,” Li told Haikou TV.
After contacting her manager, Li took the bag to the local police station.
Police launched an investigation based on a stack of receipts found alongside the cash and located the owner, a businessman surnamed Zhu.
Within two hours of Li finding the bag, the money had been returned to Zhu at the police station.
