Electronic Nezha

Chapter 84 A Bold and Vivid Stroke

"Clatter, crash, crash -"

The sound was Duan Shoujiang rummaging through the box of money. He poured the bundled money into the trunk like a miser handling gold coins.

"How much is this?" Sun Zhancheng asked.

“One bundle is ten thousand, so that’s about 60.” Duan Shoujiang’s eyes lit up with a long-lost light at the sight of money. There was no doubt that Duan Shoujiang was a worldly man. In the past, he had earned more money than most people could earn in a lifetime. Although he later fell on hard times, he knew even more about the value of money. The light in his eyes was the kind that seemed to have tasted the sweetness of money.

Cheng Sihai exclaimed excitedly, "This is our money!" He then joined in flipping the money. It seemed that Chen Bing had been living frugally these past few days, and the sum of his money and Sun Zhancheng's money actually matched.

Duan Shoujiang asked Sun Zhancheng, "Brother, what should we do with this money?"

I called Zhang Tao while observing the situation coldly, wanting to see what he would do.

Sun Zhancheng stared into deep thought as he looked at the trunk full of money.

Chen Bing shouted, "Let me go, and you can take all the money!" He then tentatively crouched down. Wu Lianfeng knew his limits and didn't make a move unless Chen Bing touched his shoelaces. He simply raised his cane, ready to strike.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Chen Bing shouted, "Don't hesitate any longer. Release me, and I promise we'll never see each other again. Besides the 40 you give me, the extra money is my toll for the journey."

"Hey!" Wu Lianfeng punched him again.

Chen Bing broke down and said, "I didn't even touch my shoelaces!"

Wu Lianfeng retorted angrily, "You remember the amount very clearly, and you still say that you didn't transfer our money?"

"Brother, you make a decision!" Duan Shoujiang called out again, while Sun Zhancheng seemed lost in thought.

Sun Zhancheng glanced at the pile of money and finally spoke slowly: "This isn't money we should have earned..." He paused and said, "Although we've earned quite a bit before."

I almost choked to death on my own saliva.

“But this time is different!” Sun Zhancheng gritted his teeth and said, “We’ll only take our own money.” He suddenly shouted at me, “Fengzi, to tell you the truth, none of us have much money left, but this bastard stole more than 40 yuan from us. You should call the police. We’ll follow you and be law-abiding citizens for once.”

I finally started to change my opinion of him a little.

Cheng Sihai said, "Then I need to calculate how much I should get. I have over ten thousand in my card, plus my WeChat Wallet—" He took out his phone and opened the calculator.

Duan Shoujiang glanced at me with a mixture of shame and guilt, and then pulled out a calculator, just like Cheng Sihai had claimed. He had boasted that Chen Bing had transferred hundreds of millions of yuan from them, and now the four of them had a combined net worth of 40 yuan, including 30 yuan from the "tycoon" Wu Lianfeng. Of course, he thought I didn't know that.

Apart from Wu Lianfeng, who was in charge of watching over Chen Bing, the other three quickly calculated and started dividing the money. Although the total amount was about 40, there were definitely some small change and some small change. Chen Bing's box was full of hundred-yuan bills. Duan Shoujiang asked Sun Zhancheng, "Brother, how do we calculate the change?"

Sun Zhancheng pulled out a hundred-yuan bill, folded a corner, and said, "Same as always, this kind is worth 50, then the one folded is worth 20, and we'll settle the total at the end." It was clear that he often played Texas Hold'em together.

Duan Shoujiang said, "Why go through all that trouble? If the change is less than 100, just charge it as 100. Shouldn't that guy surnamed Chen pay some interest?"

Sun Zhancheng said, "Don't try to take advantage of us. Even if you take an extra dollar, it's robbery. We rob people with our brains, not by force."

Chen Bing looked at them coldly.

Finally, the money in the cash box was carefully divided into five parts. The part belonging to Chen Bing was almost exactly 20. Sun Zhancheng pointed to a few banknotes with folded corners and said to Chen Bing, "We will return these to you after we exchange them for smaller denominations."

Cheng Sihai said, "That's right, we don't take money from the dead."

At that moment, two police cars appeared in the distance at the street corner, and Chen Bing's face immediately turned ugly.

I waved to Sun Zhancheng and the others and asked, "Hey guys, how did we run into General Manager Chen?"

Cheng Sihai said, "It wasn't you who led us—"

Sun Zhancheng stopped him and said, "Don't you understand what 'bumped into' means? It means you just happened to run into each other." Chen Bing stared at me and said, "Liu Chuanfeng, what good will it do you if I go in? I won't cover for you. The police will find out what you've done."

At this point, I couldn't be bothered with him anymore. I had already mastered my skills and was no longer afraid of petty villains. All he wanted to do was tell the police that a fruit vendor was monitoring him, following him, and even transferring other people's money into his account to frame him. The more outlandish his story, the better. I had a clean record—besides, why would you take out money that didn't belong to you?

I walked up to him and asked, "Where are your thugs? Why aren't they with you?"

A hint of doubt flashed in Chen Bing's eyes. Perhaps it was a conman's instinct, but he immediately blurted out, "They'll be looking for you soon!"

The police car was parked on the side of the road. Zhang Tao led two policemen and ran towards them. Two more policemen got out of another police car.

Chen Bing was speechless and questioned the heavens, Wu Lianfeng held up his crutch and did his duty, and Sun Zhancheng and the others stood in a row in the trunk of the taxi, vowing to protect their money with their lives.

When Zhang Tao realized what was happening, he asked, both amused and exasperated, "President Chen, what's going on?"

There's no need to ask further; anyone with eyes can see what's going on here. What kind of tech company CEO would shave his head and dress up as a taxi driver? The fact that the police dispatched two patrol cars also speaks volumes. This is the treatment Chen Bing receives as a wanted criminal.

Chen Bing pointed at me, then at Wu Lianfeng, and, still not satisfied, pointed at Sun Zhancheng and the others one by one. Finally, he said weakly, "They restricted my personal freedom."

Zhang Tao's companion saw the divided money in the trunk and asked, "Whose is this?"

Duan Shoujiang said, "It belongs to Chen Bing... no, it belongs to us."

Sun Zhancheng concluded, "Some of it belonged to Chen Bing, but most of it was stolen from us."

"Oh, it's evidence." The policeman stuffed all the money back into the box.

Cheng Sihai said with great distress, "We counted for ages!"

Zhang Tao suppressed a laugh and said, "Whose car is this? Move it." Police officers are human too; they laugh when they see something funny. Being restricted by a car wheel is certainly not a common occurrence. It's a shame that the third-level superintendent and auxiliary police didn't come.

"Come back to the station with us and give us an explanation."

I moved Xiao Wu aside, and Zhang Tao and another policeman pretended to be concerned and went forward to help him up, but in reality they held him down on either side.

Wu Lianfeng reminded the two policemen: "Put him handcuffed."

Zhang Tao waved his hand and assigned a policeman to drive a taxi, with our car following behind him to the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

After giving our statements, we were allowed to leave.

Chen Bing is still outwardly the CEO of a technology company, a legitimate businessman who is supposed to cooperate with the government. Therefore, the police did not define our actions as either "restricting others' freedom" or "acting bravely for a just cause." They only told us to go home and wait for the investigation results, and not to leave the city unless necessary.

As Cheng Sihai was leaving, he looked at the suitcase full of money and said to the policeman, "Just let us take a few bills from there, just a few. Most of it is our money."

Sun Zhancheng, who knew a bit about the law, grabbed Cheng Sihai and said, "Let's go, we won't get this money back for at least ten days or half a month."

Duan Shoujiang asked, "So how have we been making a living these days?" He glanced at me as he spoke.

Sun Zhancheng said, "Don't look down on Fengzi. He's done everything he could, and we've kept our word." He then waved to me and said, "We're even now."

I have no objection. You said that since you met me, you got beaten up and suffered for a few days, and in the end, you were even. What was the point?

In the end, Sun Zhancheng had a solution. He went to the police to complain and explain the situation. Zhang Tao then contacted the relevant leaders and they were granted 1000 yuan each for living expenses, but they had to repay it later.

The group walked out triumphantly, and Duan Shoujiang shouted, "This little bit of money won't matter once we get it back. If it doesn't come back, we can just renege on the police's debt. If they arrest us, we won't have to worry about where to eat."

Sun Zhancheng punched him and said, "It's fine to joke around normally, but don't say things like that in the police station!"

The four men, each carrying 10 banknotes borrowed from the police, swaggered through the streets and soon disappeared outside the police station, adding another brilliant chapter to their otherwise turbulent and legendary lives.

(End of this chapter)