Beijing, China: Pan Aiying, a teacher in the province of Shandong, was cycling home after work when her bag, with yuan to the value of $630 in it, was stolen by a guy on a motorcycle, according to a report in the Qilu Evening News.

Rather than call the police she tried an innovative approach.

Inside the bag was her cell phone.

She tried calling it but couldn't get through, so she decided to send a text message.

Her first message read:

"I'm Pan Aiying, a teacher from Wutou Middle School. You must be going through a difficult time. If so, I will not blame you,"

She got no reply.

She also wrote:

"Keep the 4,900 yuan if you really need it, but please return the other things to me. You are still young. To err is human. Correcting your mistakes is more important than anything,"

In total she sent 21 text messages and had given up hope of ever seeing the bag again.

On the Sunday morning after the Friday when it was stolen she found her bag outside her home with a letter inside:

"Dear Pan: I'm sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me."

"You are so tolerant even though I stole from you. I'll correct my ways and be an upright person."

We came across this story via a link on davesdaily.com, linking to a story on Yahoo News.