Chapter 77: Robbing a Bank
"Gah!"
The man yelped in pain as he hit the ground.
Jiang Li froze when she got a clear look at the person in front of her. She immediately let him go. "Lu Xingye, how did you find me?"
"Ahem... I, uh, my friend said they saw you online." Lu Xingye pushed himself to his feet. ’Brother Huo was right,’ he thought. ’In a real fight, I’m no match for Jiang Li.’
He felt like the bones in his back were shattered.
Looking at Jiang Li, Lu Xingye was a mix of excited and too scared to meet her gaze.
"Were you the one following me today?" Jiang Li asked, looking at Lu Xingye. ’I can’t believe their network is so extensive that they could even find me here.’
"Yes, I... I didn’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to come see you." Lu Xingye looked at her, then at the young man beside her.
’I can’t believe it’s only been three months, and she already has someone new by her side.’
Jiang Li looked at Lu Xingye with a complicated expression. "Xiao Nian is missing. I have to go find him."
"I know where he is. He was knocked out and taken away by some local thugs," Lu Xingye said quickly.
He had originally planned to find Yu Huannian and have a proper talk with him, but instead, he witnessed him being knocked out and dragged away.
He had followed them at first, but after what happened next...
He decided it would be better to find Jiang Li first and go together.
"Then take me there, quickly," Jiang Li urged Lu Xingye. ’Aunt Yu is already gone. If something happens to Xiao Nian, how could I ever face her?’
Lu Xingye nodded and led her in another direction. He didn’t mention Zhaozi Village, nor did he dare ask how she had escaped.
"How do you have the free time to be here?" Jiang Li asked Lu Xingye. ’I would have thought they’d be swamped.’
"I... I was suspended a few days ago."
Lu Xingye pressed his lips together. His mental state hadn’t been right since returning from Zhaozi Village, and Captain Zhou had eventually ordered him to go home and rest for a while.
"Is this about what happened in Zhaozi Village? Lu Xingye, there’s only so much one person can do. You don’t need to blame yourself. You did the best you could."
Jiang Li looked at the dark circles under Lu Xingye’s eyes. He looked exceptionally haggard. She hadn’t expected the events of Zhaozi Village to affect him so much.
’But there are so many things like that in the world; it’s impossible to handle them all. From my perspective, the fact that he and Ning Sinian deliberately ignored those bodies and didn’t press their search into the inferno was already more than enough.’
These past three months, Aunt Yu had been very happy, and so had she.
Lu Xingye opened his mouth but suddenly didn’t know what to say. He fell silent and led them onward.
Jiang Li walked into the alley. It was filthy and chaotic. She had no idea what these people wanted with Yu Huannian.
Yu Huannian was woken by pain. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw a group of men surrounding him in the room, each one as skinny as a bamboo pole.
He watched them cautiously. "What do you want?"
"Ah, you’re awake. Sorry about that, my boys were a bit too rough." The man in front of him smiled as he spoke.
Yu Huannian’s brow tightened. "What the hell do you want!"
"Don’t be so hasty. Look, I can tell you’re no saint. That aura you’ve got, and the ferocity you showed when you were fighting... you must be in the same business, right? My name is Liu Tao. You can call me Brother Tao."
Yu Huannian slapped the man’s hand away. He didn’t give a damn what his name was. If he didn’t get back soon, those two would starve to death.
"Hey, hey, hey, we can talk this out, brother. Don’t worry, stick with me, and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. As long as you’re willing to rob a bank with us, how about we split the money evenly?"
Liu Tao quickly blocked Yu Huannian’s path. This man exuded a fierce aura, and his body was covered in scars, big and small. He was clearly a ruthless character. If he joined them, they would surely succeed.
Yu Huannian paused. Rob a bank? According to the basics Jiang Li had been teaching him these past few days, that sort of thing was illegal.
’Damn it! Did I finally escape that hellhole just to turn around and break the law with these idiots?’
Outside, Jiang Li listened to the conversation, the corner of her mouth twitching. ’This is ridiculous...’
Lu Xingye saw her standing there with her arms crossed and pantomimed making a phone call.
"Look, if that’s not good enough, how about this? We’ll make you our boss. You’ll do it then, right?"
Liu Tao watched Yu Huannian, his mind racing with schemes. ’Besides, once the job is done, there’s a dozen of us. What’s there to fear from one guy?’
Lu Xingye returned a moment later and nodded at her. The three of them waited outside to see what would happen.
"Not interested."
Yu Huannian shoved the man aside. The next second, the man’s expression soured. "You brat. Don’t make me do this the hard way."
Yu Huannian frowned. "I don’t drink."
A colorful array of expressions flashed across the thugs’ faces. ’Who gives a damn if you can drink? Is this kid illiterate or something?’
Yu Huannian looked at the dozen or so men in the room, his fingers twitching. If it came down to it, he would just have to fight his way out.
Just as he was about to make a move, he suddenly spotted a small snake dangling from a roof beam. His eyebrow jumped. It seemed Jiang Li and the others had found him.
Yu Huannian coughed twice. "Ahem, it’s not entirely out of the question. When do you start?"
"Tonight! Three in the morning! The perfect time to get rich!"
Jiang Li glanced at the active call on Lu Xingye’s phone, then peeked inside again. There was blood on Yu Huannian’s clothes. He had probably taken a beating.
"Fine."
Hearing him agree, Liu Tao’s eyes lit up. "Brothers! Everyone, check and double-check your hardware!"
"Tonight, failure is our only option, not success!"
"Boss, it’s ’success is our only option, not failure.’"
Excited, the men all started pulling out the hardware they had hidden around the room.
Jiang Li’s breath caught when she saw the guns in their hands.
The local police arrived shortly after. Glances were exchanged, and the officer in charge gave a hand signal. A group of armed officers took positions by the door. The next second, one of them kicked the door open with a loud BANG.
"Nobody move!"
Watching the police suddenly burst in, Liu Tao wanted to slap himself. ’Ptooey, ptooey! Serves me right for jinxing it.’
Seeing the group was under control, Jiang Li looked at the handcuffed Yu Huannian. "Officer, he’s my brother. He was kidnapped by them. He’s not with them."
"You all need to come with us, too."
The police officer glanced at Jiang Li and the others.
"I went out to buy groceries, walked into an alley, and they knocked me out and brought me here. Then they insisted I join them in robbing a bank," Yu Huannian explained.
"Yes, yes, Officer. It’s on the call recording, too. We were looking for my brother and tracked him here," Jiang Li quickly added with a nod.
"If there’s nothing else, we need to go back. It’s getting dark, and my sister is going to starve to death," Yu Huannian said with a stone-cold expression, looking down at the officer who was half a head shorter than him.
Jiang Li’s mouth twitched. ’It’s not like I’d starve that easily.’
The officer looked at Yu Huannian’s large frame, then at Jiang Li, who stood at about five-foot-three. The two of them really didn’t look like siblings.
"Alright. Thank you very much for your help."
"Officer, we’re just glad to help. If there’s nothing else, we’ll be heading back now," Lu Xingye said, stepping forward to speak with the female officer.
Jiang Li led Yu Huannian out. "Is your noggin okay?"
"Probably not," Yu Huannian said, looking at her with a serious expression. "I got hit twice. It really hurts."
Jiang Li: "..."
Lu Xingye arrived later to find Yu Huannian lying in a hospital bed, his head wrapped tightly in bandages.
"Are you an idiot? Why didn’t you say anything? You have a concussion." Jiang Li looked at Yu Huannian, a little angry. Seeing how he’d acted like nothing was wrong the whole time, she had thought the injury wasn’t serious.
Yu Huannian’s face went pale. His lips trembled as he looked at her in fear. "Am I going to die?"