Desperate Fruit Seller Stabbed Elderly Couple After They Demanded $2K For ‘Rotten’ Watermelon

This story is a tragedy and a warning all wrapped up into one.

If you’ve ever worked in the customer service line, you’d have met some who believed that the customers are always right.

Or customer is king, like what my previous boss likes to say.

While it’s pretty much accepted as the holy grail of truth in our world today, there are some who tend to overboard when they’ve felt slighted.

And this is one such story which, unfortunately, ended tragically.

It involved unhappy customers, unreasonable requests and a desperate man who lost his mind in the heat of the moment.

Here’s what happened.

Elderly Couple Buy Watermelon From Supermarket

According to Shin Min News Daily, an elderly couple in their 70s bit off more than they can chew when they demanded money for a ‘rotten’ watermelon.

This incident happened in a supermarket in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province at around 6 pm on 1 Sep.

The couple had earlier bought a watermelon from the supermarket and returned home, only to find that it was rotten.

Angrily, they made their way back to the supermarket where they made a scene.

Zhao Guangjun, the fruit seller, tried to placate them by compensating 30 yuan (around S$6), then later raised it to 300 yuan (about S$60).

However, the elderly couple remained unhappy and demanded 10,000 yuan (around S$2,000) in compensation.

And that was when Zhao lost it.

Stabbed The Elderly Couple 10 Over Times Violently

Furious, Zhao grabbed a knife and ran towards the couple and stabbed them more than 10 times.

The elderly couple died on the spot and Zhao escaped from the crime scene.

It was reported that Zhao allegedly called the police for help. Unfortunately, they were not able to arrive on time.

He was found 19 hours later dead, believed to have killed himself.

Zhao, An Honest Guy Who Had Financial Troubles

Residents in the area described Zhao as a well-loved fruit seller who treats every customer with warmth and honesty.

It was known that he was facing enormous financial stress at the time. Zhao, who has a son and a daughter to support, only earned 3,000 yuan (around S$600) per month.

Neighbours of the elderly couple revealed that they were quite wealthy. However, they were also reportedly calculative by nature and argued with people over minor things often.

Moral Of The Story

So if there’s one thing to learn from this incident, it’s never to push people too far.

And before you say you’d never do that, just remember that in the heat of the moment, there are people who do things that they regret.

Remember the guy at McDonald’s who made a scene because he thought the counter staff was rude to him and “looked down” on him for not having money?

I’m pretty sure that he’s not usually that abusive or demanding, but he felt like he was treated badly by the staff and lost his temper.

Which made him one of the most notorious people in Singapore almost overnight.