Qi Jianfu, a Zhengzhou taxi driver, stopped work on 4 October after a passenger left 100,000 yuan (£11,252) in cash on the back seat. He kept the bag, told his company, the transport hotline 12328 and the police, then handed the money back in full. He later made two more trips to the same passenger, first with a phone and then to give back a 10,000 yuan (£1,125) thank-you.
The passenger, surnamed Shang, is in his early 50s. Qi, in his 40s, has lived in Zhengzhou for more than 20 years and has driven a taxi for four or five. The cab was plate 豫ADT3089, run by the Hongguang company. It was the National Day holiday. Shang told Dahe Bao he had been drinking, so he did not drive, and that the cash was for business out of town. He got out in a hurry, left a white bag, and kept neither a receipt nor the plate number. He called a hotline and left a note on his WeChat Pay record. Qi saw the note (Henan Traffic Radio).
Qi said he had returned phones, keys and other items before, but never this much cash. He counted ten bundles. He told the paper another driver would have done the same, because the money was almost certainly needed in a hurry. They checked it together. None of it was missing, and Shang said his business was not held up.
The second and third trips
Shang tried to press 10,000 yuan (£1,125) on him at once, and wanted to take him for a drink. Qi refused. When Shang took the cash he left his phone in the cab. Qi brought the phone to his home the next day. On that visit Shang hid the same 10,000 yuan (£1,125) on the back seat. Qi found it the following evening and went back a third time.
Shang said he had thought the 100,000 yuan (£11,252) was gone, and that the tip was meant. Qi told Dahe Bao he has two students to support and the work is hard, but “if it isn’t my money, I won’t take it.” The two have each other’s WeChat. Shang said he would buy him a meal once the next few days were clear. Qi said they might yet be friends.
Du Wensheng, the company manager, told Dahe Bao on 8 October that Qi is steady, has been praised before for handing property back, and would be commended inside the firm. The paper’s sums here use the Bank of China middle rate on 10 October 2026, 888.72 yuan for 100 pounds, to the nearest pound (Dahe Bao).