The time I asked the thief to return the money he had stolen from me was a couple of years ago. That time, a colleague and I went to Gongyi on business. When we got on the bus, only two rows of seats at the back were empty, so we sat in the second last row.
Halfway through the journey, a few men boarded the bus. They were all around thirty years old, tall, and well-dressed. Some of them sat at the front, some at the back, and two of them sat behind us.
After the bus started moving again, my friend and I were talking quietly when I noticed one of the men who had just boarded reaching into someone else's pocket. Seeing this, I instinctively touched my own pocket, only to find that the money that had been there was now gone. Panic set in as I wondered if I had accidentally taken it out while reaching for something else. Thinking this, I quickly bent down and looked on the ground, but saw nothing. This made me suspect the two men sitting behind me.
But how could I ask them for it? I couldn't be like some people who end up getting beaten without retrieving their money. As I thought about this, my mind raced, searching for any stories of wit and strategy I had read that might help. But after thinking for a long time, I couldn't come up with anything suitable. Just as I was getting anxious, I suddenly remembered my earlier act of looking for the money on the ground, and an idea came to me.
I knew that even though the person sitting behind me might be a thief, he would still value his dignity and face. The reason they steal might be due to inherent laziness or bad company, but regardless, they know that what they do is dishonorable and wrong. I believe no thief would say: "Being a thief is a glorious and great profession." People say to hit the snake at its seven-inch mark; their vulnerability and cowardice might be their weakness.
With this in mind, I turned around and politely asked them: "Did you see two hundred-yuan bills?"
"No, no," the two men replied in unison.
"You must have seen them," I said.
"How can you be sure we saw them?"
"Minutes ago, I felt the money was still in my pocket, but now it's gone. It must have fallen on the ground when I reached for something, and you two picked it up."
"How can you be sure we picked it up?"
"There are only you two behind me. If not you, then who? And it's not on the ground," I said.
"No, we didn't see it."
"If you picked it up, give it back to me. This is all the money I have. Without it, I won't be able to go home."
"We didn't pick it up, how can we give it to you?"
"If you didn't pick it up, never mind. Since I have no money, I won't be able to go home anyway. Let's just ask the driver to take the bus to the police station and check," I said, making a gesture as if I was going to call the driver.
"If you insist it was us who picked it up, then I'll just give you two hundred yuan. Dare you take it?" He said, taking out two hundred-yuan bills and waving them.
Seeing his behavior, I hesitated, feeling uneasy. I was afraid of wrongly accusing a good person, and also afraid that he was a bad person who might retaliate against me. But then I thought, I really only had this much money. If I don't take it, what will I do? Also, if the money wasn't stolen by him, where could it have gone? Thinking this, I reached out and took the money.
Although I retrieved the money, I didn't feel good inside. I was afraid that he might use his numbers to intimidate me and break his face, which would make things difficult for me.
While I was anxiously thinking of a countermeasure, the bus stopped at a station. The few men at the front got off, and the two of them also stood up and got off. Looking at their tall backs, I was terrified, wondering if they would turn around and ask me for the money back. Watching the door close and the bus start moving again, my heart finally settled down. At this point, everyone on the bus began to discuss, and the person who had lost money earlier realized they had been robbed and wanted to get off to find those few men standing by the roadside. But everyone advised against it, and the bus was in chaos. Everyone unanimously agreed that those few men were a gang.
I sat silently, celebrating that I had recovered my money, but also saddened by this society where mice fear cats. I remember when I was a child, in the 70s and 80s, whenever a thief appeared, everyone would attack them, shouting to beat them. Now, society has progressed another thirty or forty years. How come people haven't evolved to be better but instead regressed? Is Darwin's theory of evolution wrong, or are the people in this society abnormal?
Thieves may be organized and form groups, but are their groups as large as society itself? Are their numbers and strength greater than the people on a single street?