20 RMB and charity?

Was walking back to the hotel after a nice dinner when a family of 3 walked past me and then spoke from behind me. The man asked if I could spare some money to buy some food for the child. There was a very young child in the woman's arms, and my heart immediately went soft. "Okay", and I went ahead to the convenience store nearby.

Of course there was some thought in my head that these people might not be genuinely in need, but what is a little money for food gonna hurt? Instead of following me into the convenience store, the man was shy and asked me to just get anything. I insisted, so that he could choose the food for the child. It was nice that he wasn't expecting much, and kept apologizing. Even when I wanted to get some food for him and his wife (I had assumed their relationship as a family unit), he kept saying that it would be enough to just have food for the kid.

Anyhow, I went ahead and got them a little food and drink, without thinking very much. After thanking me, and before I left, the lady went on to ask if it was possible for me to get them a cheapest room, so that they can stay for the night to wait for their family to turn up tomorrow. The man said not to bother me anymore, and it was good enough that they had food. I did not think it was appropriate for me to do anything more, and who knows if the "charity" would escalate. But as I left them to eat, my heart did go out for the kid...

To take the nice and heart-warming moment away, closer to the hotel, a lady and her kid approached me too, asking for money to buy food for the child. Deja vu? I was not too keen to bother this time round, especially when the kid was doing a fake whining cry. But after they bothered me for some distance, I decided to just give them 5 RMB. Small amount, but anything to get them off my back.

On reaching the hotel, I went to talk to a few hotel staff at the concierge. There were two ladies there, and when I asked if it was normal for people to be asking for aids on the streets, they told me that these people were most likely just cheats. And the kids may not even be their own (gasp!). Another female staff joined in, and we started chatting, and one of them elaborated on the locations where this sort of situation was even more prevalent. Oh well... as long as the little child gets to have some food, it really doesn't matter if the "parents" cheated or not...