Chapter 12: A Bank Robbery Is Being Planned

People on the same boat?

This sentence successfully lowered Lao Dao's guard.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made: That's right, Miss Qiao had previously drugged the old man guarding the warehouse and handed over her "pledge of allegiance," which meant she had officially joined the group, so there was no need to worry about her turning against them again.

Old Dao looked at the hemp stalk.

With greed and excitement in his eyes, Ma Gan licked his lips and said, "Boss, there's a lot of money in the bank! It's perfect that Black Bull and Da Qiang aren't here. If the three of us finish this job, we'll split the money and go home to eat and drink well, and we'll never have to live in fear again."

Old Dao looked at the monkey again.

The monkey grinned happily: "Brother Dao, I'll listen to you."

Old Dao slapped his thigh: "Alright! Let's do what Miss Qiao says, let's pull off a big heist, and then go home." After saying this, Old Dao turned his gaze to Chu Yanxi, as if wanting to get a definite answer from her.

Chu Yanxi pondered for a moment, then said cautiously, "Brother Dao, after we finish this job, can you give me some money and let me go home? Don't worry, I promise I won't betray you. After all, I was also involved in the robbery, and if word gets out, my future will be ruined."

Old Dao waved his hand and said, "Don't worry! Once we get the money, we'll let you and that kid Lu Zhe go home. As long as you keep your mouths shut, I, Old Dao, won't cause you any more trouble."

Old Dao spoke with hearty gusto, but a cunning glint flashed in his eyes. Heh, how could he possibly let them go home? Once he had the money, he'd kill them both to avoid being caught by the police.

Chu Yanxi keenly noticed Lao Dao's contradictory expression, but a clear smile that fit the image of a college student bloomed on her face: "Okay, thank you, Brother Dao."

After the deed is done, it will be the time of death! Lu Zhe wasn't stupid; he instantly realized this, and his palms began to sweat.

"Miss Qiao, tell me, what's next?" Old Dao's eyes were like those of a hungry wolf, staring intently at Chu Yanxi, his tone urgent and full of pressure.

Magan and the monkey also stood behind him, their eyes fixed intently on Chu Yanxi.

Chu Yanxi met Lao Dao's gaze. "In a couple of days it will be the end of the month, the time when all the units pay wages and the brigades come to collect production funds and subsidies. Cash is most concentrated then, so we can get the most money if we strike at this time."

"Alright!" Old Knife's eyes flashed with a fierce light. "How do we do it? What do we need? Explosives? Equipment?"

Chu Yanxi spoke calmly as she began to outline the first step of her plan: "First, I need to personally visit the credit union to scout out its layout, entrances and exits, counter locations, approximate location of the vault, number of guards, and shift change patterns."

"Personally, to scout the location?" Old Dao frowned, somewhat hesitant. He only had two henchmen at the moment, and sending Chu Yanxi out would be too risky.

"I have to go." Chu Yanxi's tone was firm and unquestionable. "Ma Gan and Houzi don't seem like people who go to the bank; they'll easily arouse suspicion."

She pointed to Lu Zhe: "He's an official in the Cultural Bureau, with a formal work permit. I can handle the business with him and observe him while we work together."

Old Dao stared at her for a long while, then glanced at Lu Zhe, whom he considered a burden and a nuisance, but who now seemed somewhat useful: "No, only one of you can go."

He can see now that Chu Yanxi treats Lu Zhe differently.

Whether it was affection or loyalty, there was an inexplicable bond between these two people he had been strictly guarding. What if they ran away if they went out together? If one of them stayed behind, the other would be much easier to control.

Chu Yanxi knew the key to negotiation.

It's just a matter of asking for an exorbitant price and then negotiating on the spot. She deliberately said that the two of them would go together, leaving Lao Dao room to negotiate.

Lu Zhe waved his hand, saying, "I'm not going, I'm not going. I don't know how to scout out the location, and I don't know where the vault is. It'll be useless for me to go."

Chu Yanxi sighed, "Then, I'll have to go." Lu Zhe's adaptability was pretty good; he knew how to cooperate with her.

Magan glanced at Lu Zhe with disdain and spat on the ground: "Coward!"

The monkey brandished a switchblade and stared blankly at Chu Yanxi: "I'm going with you, don't even think about running away! If you run, I'll stab you to death, and that brat Lu Zhe will die too!"

Chu Yanxi didn't speak, but Lu Zhe shrank back and said in a trembling voice, "I, I'm with you guys, why are you brandishing a knife?"

Seeing his appearance, Lao Dao couldn't help but spit. What a waste of that pretty face; he's less courageous than a woman.

Chu Yanxi saw that Lao Dao wanted to use Lu Zhe to restrain him, and snorted: "To do great things, you need to unite. Don't scare him."

Old Dao couldn't help but laugh: "What, you've taken a fancy to this kid?"

Chu Yanxi, without batting an eye, blurted out the lie: "Didn't you guys put the two of us together? There's only one bed..."

She paused deliberately, giving people plenty of room to imagine.

Old Dao's gaze swept back and forth between Lu Zhe and Chu Yanxi's faces twice. He slapped his thigh and grinned lecherously, "This pretty boy may be cowardly and useless, but he's not bad looking, and he sings folk songs well. He's barely a match for Miss Qiao. Once this is settled, I'll throw you a wedding banquet!"

The wedding banquet was just a smokescreen set up by Lao Dao. In his view, why should two dying people have a wedding banquet? Digging a hole and burying them together would be enough to honor them.

Lu Zhe never expected Chu Yanxi to say such a thing, and his face flushed red. He had never been in a relationship since birth, and the idea of ​​him and Chu Yanxi becoming a couple was simply unthinkable.

Chu Yanxi sat there with an air of nonchalance, slammed his hand on the table, and laughed heartily: "Alright! It's settled then. Once we've made some money after this job, I'll marry him."

Forcibly abducting a "commoner's daughter"? Lu Zhe didn't dare say a word.

Seeing this chaotic scene of men and women reversed, Lao Dao, Ma Gan, and Hou Zi all laughed, while also mocking Lu Zhe.

"Kid, just give in..."

"It's rare that Miss Qiao has taken a liking to you; you have no choice but to marry her!"

"With a young gigolo waiting at home, our Miss Qiao can get things done even more efficiently."

Chu Yanxi raised his hand to signal everyone not to laugh, and continued the previous topic: "Brother Dao, I want to try withdrawing money across provinces this time. The procedures are a bit complicated, so I can take this opportunity to have more contact with their insiders."

"Cross-province withdrawal?" Old Dao was taken aback. "Withdraw what? Where would we get a passbook?"

Chu Yanxi's gaze swept over Lu Zhe again. "He's from the Cultural Bureau, on a business trip collecting materials. He's carrying a letter of introduction from his unit and his work ID. We can pretend we urgently need money and use his ID and letter of introduction to try and transfer money from another city to a local bank for cash withdrawal. This process will take a long time, allowing me to observe the counter closely, the security response, and even alert their manager, testing their emergency response mechanism."

Old Dao was a rough man who always paid in cash. He didn't know anything about withdrawing money from a different location. After listening to Chu Yanxi's mysterious explanations about close observation and emergency mechanisms, he stroked his chin and said, "Lu Zhe isn't here. You're using his ID to get things done. Is that okay?"

“It’s alright. Give me his company’s letter of introduction and work ID, and I’ll give it a try. It doesn’t matter if I can’t withdraw the money; the key is the process.” Chu Yanxi analyzed calmly, her tone as casual as if she were discussing the weather. “It’s difficult to withdraw money from other places these days. It usually requires a mail transfer or bank draft, which is complicated and time-consuming. This gives me a good reason to contact the teller multiple times and observe the situation.”

Her understanding of financial processes in the 1980s once again impressed Lao Dao.

"Monkey, go and get Lu Zhe's things!" Old Knife ordered. Monkey quickly brought Lu Zhe's bag, took out his letter of introduction and work ID, and handed them to Chu Yanxi.

The next morning, Chu Yanxi, under the supervision of Monkey and Magan, arrived in town.

The town bank was more rudimentary than I had imagined, consisting of two rooms in a row of single-story buildings, with a white sign with black lettering hanging at the entrance. The windows had old-fashioned iron bars, and the wooden counter was peeling and worn. Inside, two staff members wore blue uniforms and red armbands; a middle-aged man sat behind the counter using an abacus, while a younger woman sorted through documents. An old fire bucket and a shovel sat in the corner; there were no armed guards in sight.

Chu Yanxi quickly scanned the entire environment: there was only one entrance/exit; the counter was chest-high, and below it was a low door, presumably for staff access. In the corner was a tightly closed iron door, likely a vault or storage room for valuables, secured with a large "Yonggu" brand padlock. There were no security cameras; security relied mainly on manpower and simple physical safeguards.

"I'll go in and ask about the remittance." Chu Yanxi walked into the bank.

The monkey followed closely behind her, carefully watching her every move. Prickly Pole stood near the door, his eyes darting around, monitoring Chu Yanxi. Although they claimed to be working together, Lao Dao and the others never let their guard down around Chu Yanxi.

Chu Yanxi walked to the counter and said naturally, "Hello, comrade, I would like to inquire about withdrawing money in another city."

The middle-aged man behind the counter looked up and adjusted his glasses: "Which organization are you from?"

Chu Yanxi handed Lu Zhe's work ID and letter of introduction into the window: "I'm asking on behalf of my husband. His company remitted a business trip allowance, I think it was a bank transfer, to our bank. I need the money urgently and want to see if I can withdraw it."

"A bank transfer?" The staff member frowned. "Where's the slip? Did you get the transfer slip? You can't pick it up without the transfer slip."

"The remittance slip... it might still be at my workplace, or on its way. I haven't received it yet." Chu Yanxi looked anxious. "Comrade, could you help me check? See if the remittance has arrived? My husband's surname is Lu, Lu Zhe."

The staff member looked at her suspiciously, then glanced at the letter of introduction: "Without the remittance slip, we can't check or retrieve it. This is against regulations. You need the remitter to send you the remittance slip or send a telegram to confirm before we can process your request."

"Is this too much trouble?" Chu Yanxi feigned annoyance. "Then... could you make an exception? I really need it urgently."

Just then, an older man who looked like a cadre, seemingly the director, came out from the inner room of the bank. Hearing the commotion outside, he asked, "Xiao Wang, what's going on?"

The staff member quickly explained, "Director Liu, a colleague from the Qingyuan County Culture Bureau wants to check the remittance, but there's no remittance slip."

Director Liu glanced at Chu Yanxi, then at Lu Zhe's identification, and frowned slightly: "Without a remittance slip, it's against regulations, so we can't check. You should follow the standard procedures."

Chu Yanxi didn't press the matter further. She sighed, her tone naturally carrying a hint of helplessness and complaint: "Alright then, I'm really sorry to have troubled you."

Director Liu waved his hand: "That's the rule, there's nothing we can do about it." After saying that, he turned around and went back into the inner room.

Chu Yanxi left the bank.

As soon as they stepped outside, the monkey couldn't wait and whispered to Chu Yanxi, "How was it? Did you figure it out?"

Chu Yanxi nodded: "I understand now."

Back at their hideout, Chu Yanxi gave Lao Dao a detailed report on the reconnaissance. Lao Dao's biggest concern was still the vault: "Can the explosives be used to blow it up?"

Chu Yanxi nodded: "Okay, but it requires precise directional blasting. The dosage and placement are very important. I'll do it right away."

"What do we do after we blow up the vault? What do we do with those two security guards?" Old Dao's eyes flashed with a fierce light.

Chu Yanxi pondered for a moment: "Anesthetics can't create chaos, so I'll make some tear gas."

"Tear gas? You can make that?" Old Dao's eyes widened instantly. He'd only ever seen this stuff in Hong Kong police dramas—a blinding white flash after an explosion, followed by smoke, screams, and gasps—it looked so exciting!

Chu Yanxi nodded calmly: "This is an explosive loaded with a tear gas agent. After being released, the smoke spreads very quickly and can cause severe irritation to the eyes, facial skin, and respiratory tract. The eyes will be unable to open, and there will be constant sneezing and coughing. That bank isn't big; just two or three of these will create chaos."

Hearing this, Lao Dao was truly reluctant to let Chu Yanxi die.

Before we kill her, let's make a few more backups.

A note from the author:

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