Volume One, Chapter 44: A Desperate Escape

Liu Fangfei unzipped the canvas bag efficiently and pulled out two sets of black clothing.

She tossed one set to me, grabbed the other, and began putting it on immediately.

Liu Fangfei's new appearance left me almost in disbelief.

From head to toe, only her eyes were exposed. She had even pulled shoes over her feet and put on a pair of black gloves.

"Put it on quickly! Dressed like this, nobody will ever figure out who we are. Haha!"

Urging me on with excitement, Liu Fangfei pulled a small Polaroid camera out of the canvas bag and then yanked two half-meter-long wooden sticks from a pile of grass beside the pit.

"You're talking about robbery!"

Cold sweat broke out all over me. Robbery was a felony; going beyond mere extortion, it meant heavy prison time.

"Hmph, taking my dad's money, can you even call that robbery?"

"Of course you can!"

"Relax, put your heart at ease. My dad wouldn't dare call the police. If he did, his scandalous deeds would be completely exposed, and he'd have no face left to show in society."

Liu Fangfei was extremely confident about this. Seeing that I still hesitated to put on the black clothes, a trace of dissatisfaction crept into her tone.

"Zhou Yuan, can't you act like a man instead of being such a coward? No wonder someone like my dad even dared to extort money from you."

Those words instantly ignited the anger burning in my chest.

Liu Ziwen was absolute human scum. I had worked as a security guard at the jewelry store for three days, received no wages, and had almost been blackmailed out of twenty thousand yuan by him.

He had even forced me to strip off my clothes just to prove I didn't have that money on me.

Why should Liu Ziwen be allowed to bully me while I couldn't get back at him?!

To hell with it!

A surge of hot blood rushed to my head, and losing all reason, I immediately slipped into the black clothes and took the wooden stick Liu Fangfei handed me.

Liu Fangfei folded up the canvas bag and tied it around her waist.

At that moment, the white Land Rover not far away began to rock slightly.

Those shameless scumbags had started already.

The space inside the car was too cramped, and assuming no one was around, they had even opened the right rear car door.

I saw Liu Ziwen's hairy, thick legs protruding from beneath the door, his suit trousers bunched around his ankles.

I also caught sight of a woman's snow-white legs, her toenails painted with striking red nail polish.

"Action!"

Liu Fangfei gestured to me, and we instantly leaped out of the deep pit, sprinting forward wildly.

Appearing abruptly in the guise of masked robbers, Liu Ziwen and the woman in the car had no time to react. They were frozen in shock, their bodies still pressed against one another.

The woman let out a piercing scream and immediately covered her face.

Judging by her figure, she was a middle-aged woman with blindingly white skin. I could tell for certain it was not Xu Li.

Liu Fangfei snapped pictures rapidly while I raised the wooden stick high, intentionally booming in a rough voice, "You two dogs, hand over the money right now!"

"Th-there, in the front, in the bag! Spare my life!"

Stuttering, Liu Ziwen pointed ahead, trembling like a reed in the wind, relying solely on one hand gripping the car door to keep from collapsing onto the ground.

Liu Fangfei pulled open the front car door and swiftly unzipped the handbag on the seat.

She scooped out the cash inside and stuffed it efficiently into her pockets.

Catching sight of the car keys, Liu Fangfei snatched them up and flung them hard into the distant bushes.

The money was in hand!

Unable to hold back my temper completely, I delivered a fierce kick to Liu Ziwen's backside. The pain sent him sprawling across the woman, prompting yet another round of howling from her.

Discarding the wooden stick, I grabbed Liu Fangfei and bolted, quickly escaping the vacant lot.

My heart hammered violently against my ribs, and suddenly regret washed over me.

What on earth had I just done? How could I have impulsively gone along with Liu Fangfei to commit a robbery?

If Liu Ziwen called the police and tracked us down, it would mean inescapable prison time.

Regret came too late!

We had to get away from here immediately.

Liu Fangfei was clever; by throwing away the car keys, Liu Ziwen wouldn't be able to chase after us in the vehicle until he found them.

We quickly stripped off the black clothes and stuffed them back into the canvas bag.

I wheeled out my bicycle, but just as I swung my leg over it, Liu Fangfei, seemingly frightened as well, reminded me in a panic:

"We can't go back the same way. Let's take that narrow path over there; cars can't get in."

I nodded, immediately mounted the bicycle, and with Liu Fangfei on the back, charged down the adjacent trail.

Pedaling furiously for a stretch, I was drenched in sweat. Seeing that the surroundings remained completely deserted, my heart settled slightly, and I slowed my pace.

"Haha, we actually pulled it off!"

Liu Fangfei laughed happily. "All my trouble these past few days wasn't for nothing. Just thinking about my dad's pathetic look back there—he looked like he was about to piss his pants—feels so satisfying."

"We can't leave any evidence behind, or we're finished," I warned.

"You have a point."

Liu Fangfei agreed, looking rather smug. "My usual hobby is reading crime novels, which is why I prepared so thoroughly."

Ahead of us lay a small bridge, beneath which a swift current rushed into a distant culvert.

We stopped the bicycle, gathered some rocks from nearby, and stuffed them into the canvas bag.

Then we heaved the bag into the small river, watching it sink beneath the surface.

"Fangfei, we can't keep those photos. Having them is practically turning ourselves in."

I reminded her again, terrified that one day Liu Fangfei might impulsively take those photos and use them to extort her father at the jewelry store all over again, which would expose everything completely.

Liu Fangfei offered a cunning smile.

"There was no film in the camera. I just wanted to scare them so they'd think we had pictures, making them even more wary."

It looked like a perfect crime.

I finally let out a long breath of relief.

Taking a long detour through the fields and paths, we reached the main road.

Since I couldn't pedal the bicycle any further, I simply tossed it into the roadside ditch and abandoned it; it was just an old, worthless bike anyway.

Standing by the roadside, we hailed a taxi and headed back to the county seat.

It was already past three in the afternoon. Having eaten neither breakfast nor lunch, I was hollow with hunger.

So, we ducked into a small restaurant, requested their only private dining room, and ordered two dishes along with two bowls of noodles.

"Time to split the loot!"

Liu Fangfei smiled as she pulled the money from her pocket and carefully counted it out: eight thousand seven hundred yuan.

For two impoverished people like us, it was certainly a lot of money.

Yet considering the risk of robbery, it was hardly worth it.

Generously, Liu Fangfei offered me four thousand four hundred.

My father wouldn't give me any more money, and I couldn't live without it.

After hesitating over and over, I took four thousand and slipped it into my pocket.

Combined with the one-thousand-yuan tip Lin Fangyang had given me last night, I now had over five thousand yuan in private savings.

After finishing our meal and paying the bill, we prepared to leave. Suddenly, my phone rang—an unfamiliar number ending in three sixes.

"That's my dad's number."

Liu Fangfei's face drained of color.

My mind buzzed with a dull hum, and sensing bad news, I took several deep breaths to steady myself before answering. Putting on a calm facade, I asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"It's me, Liu Ziwen from Wufu Jewelry."

True to expectation, Liu Ziwen's voice came through the receiver, sounding eerily calm.

"What do you want?"

"Zhou Yuan, I remember I still owe you three days' wages. Come pick them up!" Liu Ziwen said.