On May 31, Mr. Jiang, a truck driver from Tangshan City, Hebei Province, agreed to give a ride to an elderly man who requested it along the way. When Mr. Jiang drove the man for nearly 40 kilometers, the elderly man suddenly demanded money under false pretenses, threatening to report him to the police if he didn’t pay up, even using threats of hit-and-run and license revocation. Thankfully, there was a video recording in the car.
According to reports from mainland Chinese media on June 1, in the afternoon of May 31, while waiting at a red light at an intersection on National Highway 205, Mr. Jiang encountered an elderly man in his late 60s who flagged him down and asked for a ride. Seeing the hot weather, Mr. Jiang kindly let the old man into the truck and drove him for nearly 40 kilometers along the way.
During the journey, the elderly man voluntarily offered cigarettes, engaged in casual conversation, and inquired about the weight of the cargo and the unloading location. Just before reaching the destination (about 2 kilometers away), the elderly man suddenly changed his attitude, claiming that the driver had hit him and suggested they settle it privately, threatening to report him to the police and have his license revoked if he didn’t pay up.
Mr. Jiang informed the man that there were four surveillance cameras in the car, recording the entire trip. Upon hearing this, the elderly man stopped mentioning the alleged collision but persisted in demanding cash. After a standoff of about 30 minutes, he finally got off the truck but lingered nearby, seemingly preparing for another scheme.
Mr. Jiang said he only intended to help out of goodwill but ended up in such a situation, lamenting that “no good deed goes unpunished.”
This incident quickly drew attention on social media.
Netizens commented, “Harming others harms oneself; when the day comes when you need help but no one is willing to lend a hand, will you regret your past actions?” “This is exploiting kindness again.” “I am afraid such incidents will become more and more frequent in the future.” “Their selfishness hurts the kind-hearted people, and ultimately, those truly in need of help are the ones who suffer!”
“Today’s elderly people grew up during the era of reform and opening up, were people back then also so bad?”
“The elderly man is in his seventies this year, he was in his twenties fifty years ago, during a time of educational deprivation (Cultural Revolution), within this group of people, the proportion of those with low quality is quite high. Doing good deeds invites false allegations, doing bad things brings benefits, slowly deteriorating the social atmosphere. It’s unclear whether the elderly are becoming worse or if bad people are just getting older.”