Chinese man recovers US$300,000 cash left in bar for ex-girlfriend after she says it’s not enough

Police have returned a suitcase containing 2 million yuan (US$314,000) to a young IT worker in eastern China that was recovered from a bar after his ex-girlfriend refused to accept it as a “break-up fee”, according to a report.

Workers at the bar in the Cuiyuan district of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province, said two well-dressed women aged about 20 had arrived together at 10pm on Sunday night, news site ThePaper.cn reported on Tuesday.

They ordered drinks before being joined by a tall, slender young man with a large silver-grey suitcase.

The three chatted until around midnight, when they began arguing, and the man left abruptly, leaving the suitcase behind. The women followed soon afterwards, also without the case, according to the report.

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Staff who found the suitcase when closing the bar were moving it to a store room when they dropped it and it popped open, revealing bundles of 100 yuan notes.

The bar manager called the police, who collected the case and counted a total of 2 million yuan in cash inside it.

In the early hours of Monday, police were informed by the bar manager that a young man had come to look for the suitcase. He then arrived at the police station driving a Rolls-Royce, and asked to claim it.

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The man told officers he was 23 years old and worked in IT, which is China’s highest-paying sector. He said one of the women had been his former girlfriend, who had requested a “break-up fee” from him, ThePaper.cn stated.

Asked why she had left the suitcase, the man said she had asked for 10 million yuan and probably felt the sum of money was too small. He said the woman had messaged him after leaving the bar to say she had not taken the money.

After confirming the man’s identity, the police returned the suitcase and money to him, warning him of the perils of becoming emotional and advising him not to leave large sums of money in public places.