Paying for problems to go away is undoubtedly a perk of being prosperous, though when the “problem” happens to be a romantic partner, things may not go to plan.
According to reports, a moneyed man from the mainland found that out the hard way recently after forking out RMB2 million (US$316,000) to ease a split with his girlfriend, in what was described as a “break up fee.”
The problem, according to Xinhua, wasn’t that she was offended at being bought off, but that she disagreed with the price, which she insisted was not enough.
According to the news agency, the pay-off came to light after the couple, both in their twenties, met up in a bar in the city of Hangzhou.
As bar staff prepared to close shop, they saw the suitcase had been left behind, so they carried it into a storage area for lost items.
As they were carrying the case, they dropped it, and the latches popped open to reveal stacks of RMB notes neatly piled on top of each other.
Police were called to the bar and the suitcase was taken to the police station.
As officers deliberated over what to do, the suitcase’s owner showed up, girlfriend in tow, where he confirmed to police that there was RMB2 million in the suitcase.
When asked by officers why he was carrying so much money in the first place, the man said that the cash was a “break-up fee” for his girlfriend, and when he saw her at the bar, he gave her the suitcase and left.
The girlfriend said: “He said he only had RMB2 million, I didn’t want it, so I left. Afterwards I called him and told him I didn’t take the money and that he should go back to the bar to get it.
Xinhua reported that the girlfriend had actually asked for RMB5 million (US$788,000).
The man was then warned by officers not to be so careless with such a large amount of money, to which he responded: ““Is RMB2 million a lot? I just wanted to give it to my girlfriend to break up with her, that’s all.”
According to Xinhua, the man is believed to be a fuerdai — which translates to “rich second generation” — a term used to describe the children of extremely wealthy families in China. His family are believed to be working in China’s IT sector.
