Migrant workers stumble across bag stuffed with 2.3m yuan at airport and decide to do the right thing
Employees stand guard over money waiting for owner to return, but after no ones arrive, they hand it over to the police
Imagine you are strolling around the airport while waiting to board a plane and discover a bag stuffed with cash in a hidden corner. What would you do? Get an upgrade to first class immediately? Put a down payment on that flat you always wanted? Or fight off the temptation to return the money to its rightful owner?
On Friday, two Chinese migrant workers were heading back home when they came across a bag containing more than 2.3 million yuan (US$356,000 or HK$2.76 million) in cash on the ground at an airport in southern Guangzhou in Guangdong province. They turned the money over to police, mainland Yangcheng Evening News reported.
The wads of US$100 bills belonged to three tourists from Ethiopia, who were so grateful that they kneeled down to say thank-you to the Good Samaritans, the report said.
Peng Xiaoliang and Hu Guohui, both from rural Hunan province, spotted the white paper bag lying outside a gate of a major terminal at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, where the pair were employed as construction workers.
Thinking that the bag’s owner may soon return to reclaim it, the two opted to stand guard beside the money and wait. But no one showed up.
After a while, Peng and Hu decided to open the bag to see if they could discover any contact details about the owner. They were stunned to discover neatly stacked US$100 bills, probably the largest sum of cash they two migrant workers had seen in their life.