Waitress returns $330,000 she found left under table

A restaurant waitress in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province in Northwest China, returned $330,000 to its rightful owner after she had found it left behind under a table and later refused the 10,000 yuan ($1,576) he had offered her out of gratefulness.

Sheng Jianhuan, 24, a migrant worker from the province's Shanyang county, worked in the restaurant for six months, earning about 1,000 yuan a month. At about 9 pm on Tuesday, Sheng found a package under a table after guests she had waited on had left. She quickly gave it to the restaurant's office. With the restaurant sales manager and other waitresses standing around, Sheng opened the package and found a large amount of US dollars inside. She reported her discovery to the police.

Since the guests often ate dinner in the restaurant, the sales manager had their phone numbers and called them. The money was later returned to one of the guests, whose surname was Wang and who planned to use it to help his brother and sister study in the United States. Wang felt so grateful to Sheng for her honesty that he tried to give her 10,000 yuan as a reward. The offer was declined.

"I didn't do anything that was out of the usual," Sheng said. "I just want to work for my money."

malie@chinadaily.com.cn