Film and Television: My Cheat Code is AI

Chapter 74 The 815 Major Case (3)

July 8th, sunny day.

Wang Xianren sat on the sofa in his living room, an unlit cigarette on the coffee table in front of him. Sitting opposite him was his younger brother, Wang Xianmin. The two brothers were separated by an old coffee table with a glass back, under which lay several yellowed photographs with curled edges in the corners.

Wang Xianmin spoke first, his voice low, as if afraid someone next door might hear: "Brother, do we really have to do this?"

Wang Xianren picked up a cigarette, twirled it between his fingers a couple of times, but didn't light it. Looking at the photos on the coffee table, he said, "What do you think? Our men are starving. If we don't rob them, how are we going to pay them? If they have no money, why should they follow us?"

Wang Xianmin gritted his teeth and leaned forward: "Brother, let's find someone who works at a bank vault, or a security guard or something. We can dig a hole in the vault. If we rob a bank, we'll be beheaded."

Wang Xianren raised his eyelids and glanced at him. There was no anger or disappointment in his eyes, only a cold certainty: "Wang Xianmin, if you don't want to do this, then get out. I'll take Liu Zhi and Yao Bianzi with me, that's enough."

Wang Xianmin sat there without moving, rubbing his hands back and forth on his knees several times. The room was very quiet; the ticking of an old clock on the wall could be heard clearly. After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice sounding as if squeezed from his throat: "Okay, brother, I'll do it with you."

Wang Xianren put a cigarette in his mouth, struck a match to light it, took a puff, and nodded: "Then sit down and wait. Liu Zhi and Yao Bianzi went to scout the place." He pointed to the next room with the cigarette in his hand, "There are a few guns in that room, go check it out."

Wang Xianmin stood up and pushed open the door to the next room. There was an old sheet on the bed, with two AK47s on it. The guns were worn but had been oiled. Next to them were two imitation Type 54 pistols with their magazines removed and stacked to one side. He picked up a Type 54, weighed it in his hand, and then put it back. When he came out, his expression was even more somber.

"Brother, where did all of this come from?"

Wang Xianren flicked the ash into a glass ashtray on the coffee table, the smoke obscuring half his face. "This is all I have left. The northern suburbs have started a crackdown, and all the places I run—casinos, KTVs, nightclubs—have been shut down." He took the cigarette out of his mouth and tapped it on the rim of the ashtray. "Brother, I'm out of options."

Looking at his brother, Wang Xianmin sat down on the sofa, his voice a few decibels firmer than before: "Brother, we will definitely make a comeback."

The door opened, and Yao Bianzi and Liu Zhi walked in one after the other. Yao Bianzi took out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which a diagram of the bank's interior was drawn in pencil. The locations of the teller counters, security guards, and the approximate locations of the safes were clearly marked. Liu Zhi threw the pen on the table, picked up the water glass on the table, and took a big gulp.

Wang Xianren spread the blueprints out on the coffee table, and several people gathered around.

Wang Xianmin looked at the blueprints for a while, then looked up and thought for a moment. He pointed to a spot on the map and said, "After we're done, we can't go to the suburbs; we have to go into the city." He moved his finger to a residential area near the Second Ring Road. "We'll eventually split up in this residential area. It has four gates: east, west, south, and north. It's a mixed bag of people, with no property management or security guards."

He straightened up, speaking slowly but deliberately, each sentence sounding as if he had planned it in advance: "We need to prepare here beforehand for the exchange..."

"Clothes, shoes, everything you need. After we're done, we'll come here, change clothes immediately, and then we'll split up." He looked at his brother, "I'll rent a place in this neighborhood tomorrow. I'll leave the money in the house, and my brother will have the key."

No one spoke. Wang Xianmin tapped his fingers twice on the blueprints, then said, "When we start, we have to open the safe within three minutes. Brother, you're in charge of breaking the bulletproof glass from the front, and I'll pick the lock at the door. It doesn't matter who opens it first, no delays."

Yao Bianzi frowned and said, "Most bank safes use mechanical locks, which are very difficult to open."

Wang Xianmin smiled briefly, a faint smile that vanished in an instant: "Mechanical locks are difficult to open, but they have a weakness. The vibrations generated during unlocking are easily visible from the outside. All you need is a bottle of water. Place the bottle on the lock, and when you rotate it to the correct position, the water surface will move. Once the water moves, it's locked."

8 month 13 day.

Wang Xianmin arrived at a residential area near the Second Ring Road and found a house through the property management using his college student ID. The house was located in the middle of the community and was on the first floor. Although it was just a bare shell, it was enough for them.

"Thank you."

The property management lady smiled and said, "No need to thank me, it's just what I should do."

After the property management staff left, Wang Xianmin went out and bought some simple curtains to cover all the windows in the rooms.

In the afternoon, Wang Xianmin arrived at the bank and noticed that there weren't many people there.

Then I drove as fast as I could to the nearby police station. I checked the time and it would take six minutes. It would definitely be less congested in the morning than in the afternoon.

All the money must be taken away within five minutes, absolutely no more than five minutes.

Back home, Wang Xianren, Liu Zhi, and Yao Bianzi had been waiting for them for a long time.

Seeing Wang Xianmin return, they said, "You're back?"

After Wang Xianmin sat down, he said to the group, "I've already scouted the route." He then handed two slips of paper to Liu Zhi and Yao Bianzi respectively, and continued, "Liu Zhi, after you get off the bus, go directly here and take bus number 233. Get off at the third stop, then go across the street and take bus number 235 back. You'll have to transfer three times to get to our meeting point."

Wang Xianmin then looked at Yao Bianzi and said, "I've prepared an electric scooter for you here. You can ride it through the alleys. You've been a local since you were a child, so this shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"

Yao Bianzi smiled and said, "I know this well, no problem."

Finally, Wang Xianmin pointed to a spot on the map and said, "This is our final meeting point. I'll only wait for you for two hours. It shouldn't have taken you more than an hour and a half to get here from your destination, but I can only give you two hours. I'll leave when it's time, and I hope none of you will get caught."

Wang Xianren looked at the group and said, "You all have families. If you're unlucky, your families will help you."

"As for taking care of you, if I'm unlucky, I won't name any of you."

Liu Zhi and Yao Bianzi patted their chests and said, "Big brother, don't worry, everything will be fine."

Wang Xianren looked at the group and said, "Get some rest. Today is the 13th. From now on, Xianmin, you go out and buy food. We'll stay here."

"Okay, bro."