Lin Xiaoman stood in front of the ATM machine, his fingertips hovering above the keyboard, hesitant to press it.
She has been using this machine for four years, starting when she started working part-time at a university, and she would deposit her meager savings into it on time every month.
The girl in the reflection in the glass had dark circles under her eyes and chapped lips, completely different from the girl who had her first formal job offer and was full of hope for the future.
She took a deep breath and pressed the search button.
The screen flashed twice, and a scarlet prompt box popped up:
[This account has been frozen]
Error code: S-409
"Impossible..." she muttered, her fingers trembling as she re-entered the password. The middle-aged man in the queue behind her smacked his lips impatiently, his hot breath puffing on the back of her neck.
After the third attempt, the ATM issued a shrill alarm and the card slot closed with a "click".
The air conditioning at the Zhujiang Road branch of Minsheng Bank was cranked up too high. Lin Xiaoman sat on a hard waiting chair, watching the numbers on the call screen slowly tick by. C023, she was C024.
"Next!"
The female clerk behind the counter, wearing coral nail polish, frowned as she took Lin Xiaoman's ID card. She tapped a few times on the keyboard, her face pale in the fluorescent light of the screen.
"Ms. Lin, the system indicates that your account is under anti-money laundering investigation."
"What?"
The female employee turned the monitor towards her. Amidst the densely packed transaction records, over a dozen cross-border transfers had suddenly appeared in the past week, each amounting to RMB 10,000—just below the regulatory threshold for large transactions.
"I've never operated one of these before!"
"The system won't make mistakes." The female employee clicked on a hidden page. "Look here, all operations are completed using the verification code on your linked phone."
She suddenly lowered her voice and asked, "Who have you offended recently?"
Lin Xiaoman's gaze fell on the last record:
[Freeze applicant: Xinghui Financial Risk Control Department]
When Li Zhou caught up with her at the third intersection, Lin Xiaoman was breaking all the cards in her wallet one by one.
The savings card of Bank of Communications was given to her by her father when she was admitted to university, the credit card of China Merchants Bank was issued by the magazine, and even the supermarket points card was printed with the logo of Starbright Group.
"None of them work." She tossed the broken pieces into the trash. "Convenience stores won't even take cash. They say they're afraid of counterfeit bills."
Li Zhou pulled out his wallet and tried three bank cards at the ATM, but all showed "account abnormality."
He secretly used the last rural credit union card to deposit medical expenses for his mother, and the current balance showed: 3.68 yuan.
They sat at the bus stop and counted all their possessions:
Cash: 37 yuan (including five coins)
Li Zhou's Swatch watch (street stall goods)
Lin Xiaoman's silver necklace (an 18th birthday gift from her mother)
A half-pack of tissues and a nearly dead phone
"Go to the hospital." Li Zhou suddenly stood up. "My mom has some emergency money hidden under her pillow."
The corridors of the Municipal Cancer Hospital were quieter than usual. The electronic screen at the nurses' station displayed a scrolling message about a new policy: "Starting today, access the Xinghui Smart Medical System and access medical records by scanning your face..."
Two men in white coats stood at the door of Ward 309. They didn't have their ID cards on, but they both reached for their headsets when Li Zhou appeared.
Li's mother was sleeping in the hospital bed. A fruit basket sat on the bedside table—imported cherries and blood pressure medication from Xinghui Pharmaceuticals were placed next to each other. The pillow had been replaced with memory foam, the metallic sheen of the monitoring equipment visible around the edge.
"Xiao Zhou?" His mother suddenly woke up and grabbed him with her skinny hands. "A specialist came for a consultation this morning. They said...they said we can apply for experimental treatment..." Her eyes drifted to the door. "That Mr. Zhou..."
Li Zhou lifted the pillow.
The two thousand yuan that was originally hidden turned into a gold-plated business card: [Zhou Hui, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Xinghui Group], with handwritten words on the back: "Your mother's medical expenses will be charged to my account."
In front of the convenience store's freezer, Li Zhou stared at the price tags. The cheapest bottle of mineral water cost 3 yuan, and they only had 34 yuan left.
"Would you like some oden?" the waiter suddenly came over. "We have the new wagyu skewers..."
Lin Xiaoman shook her head and picked up a bag of expired bread. When she scanned the code, the cash register beeped and a message popped up on the screen: [This customer has a record of malicious complaints and is temporarily unavailable for transactions.]
The store manager rushed out of the warehouse, gave them two rice balls with an apologetic smile, and said, "Mr. Zhou has instructed that all your purchases be charged to his account."
They sat on the curb and ate rice balls. Lin Xiaoman suddenly broke open the rice and found a note inside: [Yulin Road No. 7, tonight at 8 o'clock]
Number 7 Yulin Road is a locksmith shop. The shutter door is half a meter open, revealing a man with tattooed arms sitting inside. A money counter and a POS machine are placed on the table.
"Cash?" the man exhaled, puffing smoke. "Bank card transfers have a 20% fee, and Alipay 30%."
"Why is it so expensive?"
"Xinghui's payment system has been upgraded." He tapped the newly installed camera on the wall. "They can monitor all electronic transactions." Finally, he lowered his voice. "If you need money urgently, Boss Zhou offers a higher price..."
Li Zhou dragged Lin Xiaoman out of the store. In the darkness, at least three cameras were pointed in that direction.
At the postal savings bank next to the public restroom in the urban village, there's an old-fashioned ATM without a camera. Lin Xiaoman inserts the card she got in college—a card even her parents don't know about; it was the cash payment from parents of her students when she was a tutor.
The screen lights up:
Balance: 8726.43 yuan
She almost cried, trembling as she clicked the withdrawal button. As the machine hummed, she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.
A man in uniform stood two meters away, with his Xinghui Security badge on his chest: "Ms. Lin, large cash withdrawals need to be reported." He pointed to a hidden spot above the ATM - where a brand new iris recognition device was installed.
The cash dispenser spit out five hundred-yuan bills, then displayed: [This service has been terminated]
They bought two buckets of instant noodles at 7-Eleven like thieves. The cashier insisted on using his employee discount: "Mr. Zhou said he can't charge you..."
Sitting on a park bench late at night, Li Zhou counted out his last five hundred yuan: "Enough to buy two bus tickets to Jiangcheng."
"Then what?"
"My cousin is at the construction site over there..." He suddenly stopped mid-sentence. A text message lit up on his phone: [The labor contract of your associated contact, Wang Jianjun (ID number 410xxx), has been taken over by Xinghui Construction.]
Lin Xiaoman took out the note and turned it over. There was a line of small words on the back: [Every penny you spend, someone will pay the price]
Li Zhou balled up the five-hundred-yuan bill in his hand, then slowly flattened it. The lights of the 24-hour self-service bank in the distance looked like the watchtower of a miniature prison.
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