Chapter 45 — The Abandoned Robbers: Begging for Recommendation Votes, Begging for Collections, Tips Welcome, Reviews Welcome... In Short, Begging for Every Kind of Vote, Thank You All

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Meanwhile, outside an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Songshan City, a black Hyundai commercial van was parked — though its license plates had already been stripped off.

"What the fuck, have these cops gone insane? We only robbed a little over a million — is all this really necessary?" Baldy spat a thick gob of phlegm onto the ground, thoroughly displeased.

"Yeah, boss, this can't go on. Aren't we just trapped here?" Ma Liu was just as edgy. "Fuck, what rotten luck."

"Enough, stop complaining. I'm waiting on Brother Cihua's call," Baldy said, waving his hand impatiently.

The phone rang. Baldy snatched it up at once, then said in a rather fawning tone: "Brother Cihua? It's Baldy here."

"What the fuck do you want?" A cold, sinister voice came down the line.

"Brother Cihua, what did I do...?" Baldy was taken aback.

"Did you bring the bank's money out with you?" Brother Cihua asked in that creepy, drawn-out way of his.

"I... I just grabbed it on my way out... what's the big deal..." Baldy felt wronged. He had finally pulled off a bank robbery; if he hadn't taken the money, wouldn't the whole thing have been for nothing?

"You pig-brained idiot, what did I tell you back then? I told you not to take the money — are your ears deaf or what?" Brother Cihua cursed furiously. "If you hadn't taken the money, the cops wouldn't be hunting you this hard. It's because you took the money that they're going at it with everything they've got."

"Ah..." Baldy thought about it, and it really was so. It was all his own greed for money that had brought this disaster down on them. At that thought he hurriedly begged: "Brother Cihua, I've been risking my life for you! You can't just cast me off — you have to save me!"

"Hmph. That girl, is she all right?" Brother Cihua snorted coldly.

"Girl? What girl?" Baldy was stunned.

"Gu Mengyao. You didn't touch her, did you? Fuck." Brother Cihua's voice grew urgent. "If you touched her, then it's over."

"Uh..." Only then did Baldy remember Gu Mengyao, and his voice began to stammer. "I'm sorry, Brother Cihua — someone rescued her..."

"What?!" Brother Cihua shouted. "You motherfucker, you didn't catch her?"

"No..." Baldy said, trembling.

"Then you can fucking sit there and wait to die. Sending you to do a job was a mistake," Brother Cihua raged. "Useless piece of shit. You deserve to be caught by the police."

With that, Brother Cihua hung up.

"Brother Cihua, Brother Cihua..." Baldy panicked at his words and hurriedly pleaded: "Brother Cihua, you can't just leave me like this — I'm your man..."

But after pleading for a long while, Baldy discovered to his horror that Brother Cihua had long since hung up.

"Boss, what did Brother Cihua say?" Ma Liu asked anxiously once Baldy set the phone down.

"Brother Cihua has abandoned us. We're finished," Baldy said, his voice hollow.

"Finished?" Ma Liu was stunned. "What do you mean? Brother Cihua is washing his hands of us?"

"He's washing his hands of us, because we didn't catch that little chit Gu Mengyao." Baldy sat down on the ground and sighed.

"Fuck you, you bald bastard — it's all your fault! If you hadn't been taken hostage by that kid, would the little chit have gotten away?" Ma Liu suddenly turned violent, leaping up from the ground and lunging at Baldy.

"You dare turn on me?" Baldy stared in disbelief as Ma Liu's fist landed on him.

"Look at the state we're in, and you're still putting on airs," Ma Liu sneered.

"You bastard — if your gun hadn't been taken off you by that kid, would we be in this mess?" Baldy said, and the two of them fell to brawling.

Bang. Bang. Two shots rang out, and both Baldy and Ma Liu collapsed in pools of blood, dying with their eyes still open.

The shots had been fired by one of Baldy's men — the one who had done the shouting at the bank. The man was called Ji Laosan, and among this crew he was the most respected after Baldy: the second-in-command.

"Third Brother... you..." The two remaining underlings stared at Ji Laosan in astonishment.

"These two were too long-winded, and too fond of blaming heaven and cursing fate," Ji Laosan snorted. "What time do you think this is? Still fighting among ourselves? If Brother Cihua doesn't want us, then fine, he doesn't want us. But we've got hands and feet — and, most important of all, we've got money. As long as we get through this, we brothers will have endless riches and glory to enjoy. Isn't that right?"

The two underlings turned it over and saw the sense in it. Baldy and Ma Liu had been locked in endless quarrels, and at a moment like this, internal strife was the most terrifying thing of all — one slip, and it would become a clue for the police, and they would end up in their hands. Only by pulling together could they get through this.

At that, the two underlings nodded in agreement. After all, Baldy was dead, and now Ji Laosan was the leader; if the two of them wanted to come out of this safe and sound, they had no choice but to pin their hopes on Ji Laosan.

"This money is enough for the three of us to live on for a lifetime." Ji Laosan opened the money bag, revealing the bundled banknotes inside. He knew words were useless at a time like this — only cash could buy loyalty. "Out of this, each of us can get close to five hundred thousand. Two fewer people means two fewer shares."

"We'll listen to Third Brother." "It's all up to Third Brother." Both underlings made their stance clear.

Ji Laosan nodded in satisfaction, and glanced contemptuously at the bodies of Baldy and Ma Liu on the ground...

...

Because they had gone to bed late the night before, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu had nearly overslept that morning. The alarm rang three times before the two of them groggily crawled out of their blankets and ran to the bathroom to wash up.

Wei Zhao, on the other hand, had risen early. He had measured out enough flour for three bowls of noodles, and when he heard movement upstairs, he began boiling water to put them in the pot. Yesterday he had made plain noodles; today Wei Zhao made chicken-broth noodles. There were still some braised chicken pieces left over from yesterday, so Wei Zhao used the leftover chicken broth to season the soup.

By the time Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu came downstairs, Wei Zhao's noodles were ready and out of the pot.

"Wow, smells so good!" Shen Yushu had a sharp nose and caught the scent of the chicken-broth noodles at once. She went scampering off toward the dining room. "Sister Yaoyao, your Brother Arrow has made us noodles again!"

Gu Mengyao had meant to follow Shen Yushu to the dining room, but halfway there, hearing Shen Yushu's words, her steps halted. It was Wei Zhao who had cooked the noodles. Should she go or not?

If she were to listen to that small pride and vanity of hers, Gu Mengyao ought to turn around and walk away, pretending she had smelled nothing at all. But the smell of those noodles was simply too tempting.

"Slurp, slurp..." Hearing the sounds of Shen Yushu eating in the dining room, Gu Mengyao ground her teeth in annoyance. This little girl was never this noisy when she ate normally — was she doing it on purpose today? Wasn't she just trying to tempt her?

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