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February 24, 2011

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Honesty the only policy for laundry man

A GOOD-HEARTED laundry owner is reported to have returned around 200,000 yuan (US$30,400) worth of cash and possessions which he found in clients' clothing over the past two decades.

Liu Juntang opened a laundry in the suburbs in 1989 and kept and returned whatever he found in the pockets of his clients' garments, no matter whether it was a luxury ring or a cheap cigarette lighter.

He always reminds clients to check all of their pockets thoroughly, including the inner pockets, before they give him the clothes to be laundered.

However, many careless clients, especially men, leave in a hurry - unaware that they have left things including cash, cards, watches and cell phones, in the garments.

One man even left his suitcase, which contained 100,000 yuan in cash, along with the clothes to be cleaned in Liu's laundry.

After finding the money, Liu rushed outside to try to catch the client who was leaving in a car. He managed to attract the man's attention and returned the suitcase to him - the man is said to have been greatly moved by Liu's actions as the case contained the salaries of the workers from his factory.

The man offered Liu a cash reward to thank him but it was turned down. "It is other people's stuff," Liu said. "I cannot pocket the money."

Liu, 50, thinks his behavior is very natural and ordinary and has never accepted any rewards from clients.

Liu comes across more than 30 incidents of people leaving possessions in their clothes every year - at least 600 in more than 20 years. The value of the lost items ranges from less than 10 yuan to thousands of yuan.

He recorded each incident carefully, with details of the owners and the lost time and the time the objects were reclaimed.

In one incident, Liu saw several red pieces of paper through the window of a dry-cleaning machine.

He stopped the machine and found four 100 yuan notes. He blamed himself for failing to find the money before cleaning the clothes.

He had no idea who the owner of the cash was because more than 10 customers' clothes were in the machine. He spent several days calling, before locating the owner.

His service has been greatly appreciated and lauded by customers and he has been honored as a district model worker several times.

Liu's store is on Moyu Road in Jiading District's Anting Town.




 

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