A teenage girl who was forced to kneel in tears and beg a woman to return 200 yuan (US$30) she dropped and was picked up by the woman has gone viral on mainland social media. A video of the incident showed the girl, dressed in her school uniform, breaking down in tears when her request for the money’s return was at first refused by the woman who stated boldly: “Whoever picks up the money should own it”, news outlet Xiaoran Video reported. In the video which a man took on a street in Guangzhou in Guangdong province, southern China, over the weekend, a friend of the teen who was with her argued with the woman for the money’s return. “This is her money. We saw you pick it up from the road,” the friend said in the video. Passing pedestrians suggested the girl contact her parents, and the clearly distressed teen is heard shouting: “My parents don’t live with me. This money is very useful for me.” The girl later explained that she lives with her grandparents as her parents work in another city and the 200 yuan is her entire weekly living allowance. “It is so wrong for this old woman not to return the money,” the man filming the video is heard saying. “We saw you pick up the money. It is out of the question that you should not return it to the girl. Even if it’s 1,000 yuan, you still should give it back, not to mention 200 yuan,” the man added. Finally, after more pedestrians intervened, the woman handed the money back to the girl. The girl’s experience prompted an outpouring of criticism of the woman’s conduct after the video was viewed 25 million times on Weibo and 5 million times on Douyin. “She picked up the money and by refusing to return it, the woman is definitely a thief,” one person said. Another commenter said: “This woman has no conscience.” A third person added: “If the old woman had not returned the money, what extreme thing would the girl have to do ? I can’t imagine that. 200 yuan is a big amount for her. What a poor girl!” In a similar case last month, a restaurant cleaner in northeastern Liaoning province who insisted on handing 20,000 yuan left by a customer to police was fired as her manager claimed the money now belonged to the eatery. Local authorities have vowed to help the cleaner find a new job after her case attracted widespread attention and she was praised online for her honesty.
