135: Chapter 133: Encountering a Robbery 135: Chapter 133: Encountering a Robbery Tangyu had withdrawn all 8,700 yuan from his card, as he had long planned to donate this money to the Orphanage.
As he was leaving the bank, suddenly seven masked people burst into the bank.
Two of them guarded the door, two rushed to the counter, and the other three spread out to prevent anyone from escaping.
Their faces were masked, revealing only their eyes, making it difficult to see what they actually looked like.
Each one held a shiny machete, and two of them had handguns.
It was clear to anyone who saw it that this was a bank robbery.
Those who hadn’t seen such a thing in real life had definitely seen it on television.
This was just a small bank with insufficient security measures all around; there was only one security guard who looked to be in his fifties and didn’t possess much deterring power.
Inside the counter, there were only two staff members, now being pointed at with guns.
The patrons withdrawing money were all elderly men and women, and there weren’t many of them—just three, making a total of six people including Tangyu.
Tangyu quickly scanned these seven people and if he wasn’t mistaken, the guns in the hands of those two masked men seemed to be real.
He didn’t detect much killing intent from them, indicating they were not desperate criminals.
Liu Shanshan and Wang Tongtong had never seen such a scene before and were naturally terrified.
Both clung tightly to Tangyu, hiding in his embrace.
The other three patrons also started screaming in fear.
“Don’t scream; I’ll kill you with one slash if you scream again,” one of the masked men threatened with his knife, and the three immediately covered their mouths, too afraid to make another sound.
“This is a robbery, nobody move.
Everyone…
everyone put your hands—hands on your heads, cooper—cooper—cooperate,” stuttered a stout masked man, big and strongly built.
Despite his stutter, the scene appeared rather comical.
“Nobody moves, squat down and put your hands on your heads.
If you cooperate, we won’t hurt you.
Rest assured, we have principles.
We won’t rob your money; we’re only taking the bank’s money.
So please cooperate, or don’t blame us if our knives show no mercy.
Hey, Number Two, Number Three, what are you waiting for?
Hurry up and get the money; don’t waste time,” commanded another masked man, his voice carrying a penetrating force, clearly the leader of the group.
The two masked men with guns at the counter pointed at the pale, horror-stricken bank staff and yelled, “Hurry up and take out all the money, or we’ll shoot you dead.
Your life is your own; the money belongs to the state, don’t be foolish.”
The two staff members dared not resist and nodded repeatedly as they retrieved the money.
The door guard had never encountered such a situation; suddenly, he sprinted, trying to break out.
“Trying to run?” The stout masked man reacted extremely quickly.
As soon as the guard moved, he moved too.
Despite his large build, he was surprisingly agile and sprinted behind the guard, grabbing him like catching a small chicken and lifting him off the ground.
This show of strength even made Tangyu raise an eyebrow.
The guard must have weighed at least 130 kilograms, yet this stout man lifted him into the air with ease.
A cold gleam flashed in the eyes of the gang’s leader, and he suddenly executed a spinning kick, which struck the guard’s abdomen hard.
The guard’s body flew backward and smashed into the wall, screaming in pain and nearly vomiting blood.
“Hmm, not bad skills,” Tangyu thought again, raising an eyebrow.
It was somewhat wasteful that such men with formidable strength and skills were robbing banks.
The man’s gaze then turned to Tangyu, and the two locked eyes.
Although Tangyu couldn’t see the man’s facial expressions change, the flickering light in his eyes indicated that he recognized Tangyu was no ordinary person.
“Boss, pretty—pretty woman there,” the stout man said, drooling as he stared at Liu Shanshan.
The gang leader kicked the stout man, saying, “Don’t get distracted; we only rob money, not beauty.”
“Heh, not robbing, not robbing, I—I’m just looking—looking—she’s really—really—really beautiful,” the stout man stuttered, his lecherous expression making him look particularly ridiculous, making even Tangyu want to laugh.
This was indeed an interesting gang.
“Let’s go,” the gang leader suddenly ordered, and everyone quickly evacuated.
The stout man was snapped back to reality by a tug from the gang leader and then the group quickly left.
This small and remote bank, though not holding much money, was poorly equipped and an easy target.
The entire process was smooth and without incident.
“Let’s go,” Tangyu said.
Once outside the bank, Liu Shanshan looked at Tangyu and said, “We should help report to the police.”
“Report to the police?
Why?” Tangyu asked.
“Uh—of course to catch the robbers,” Liu Shanshan replied.
Tangyu offered a light smile and said, “The bank people will naturally call the police, so why should we bother ourselves with that?
If you call the police, they’ll come looking for you to cooperate with the investigation, which would just be trouble for you.
Let’s not worry about this matter then.”
“Oh,” Liu Shanshan nodded in acknowledgment.
Tangyu knew that Liu Shanshan might not completely agree with his detached approach and explained, “Not everyone who does bad things is a bad person, just as not everyone who does good things is a good person.
Some things can’t just be judged by their appearance.”
Liu Shanshan furrowed her brow in confusion and looked at Tangyu.
While she had heard this saying before, she still found it puzzling.
After buying groceries, the trio headed back home, having bought quite a lot at Tangyu’s insistence.
They had chicken, duck, fish, and even some drinks—just the groceries alone cost them seven hundred.
“Hmm, why is it so noisy?” From afar, they heard a cacophony of noise emanating from the courtyard.
“Eh, could it be that there are more guests?” wondered Wang Tongtong.
Upon closer inspection, they discovered a group of uniformed personnel with three cars parked in the yard.
Around ten people were there, and the director was arguing intensely with them.
Meanwhile, the children had retreated to one side.
Seeing this, both Tangyu and Liu Shanshan frowned—what was going on?
The trio hastened their pace and soon reached the director, who hardly had a moment to spare upon seeing Tangyu and Liu Shanshan return.
“Director, what’s happening?
Who are these people?” asked Liu Shanshan.
Then the director explained, “They are from the Commercial Bureau.
They claim we’re illegally harboring orphans and running an Orphanage, which they say is against the law.
They want me to disperse these orphans and are taking me in for an inquiry.”
“What?” Liu Shanshan was genuinely furious—how could there be such a thing!
The director was entirely self-funded in harboring the orphans, not asking for a single cent from the state.
Yet these people from the Commercial Bureau were claiming it was illegal?
Even the usually gentle Liu Shanshan couldn’t help but rebuke the officials angrily, “How could you do this?
The law is ultimately about humanity; how can you be so heartless?
The director is solely funding the care of these poor orphans—how is that illegal?
This is clearly a contribution to society and should be commended by the government, not deemed illegal.
Disperse them—where do you expect these poor children to go?
To beg in the streets?
Or are you going to place them in a good Orphanage?”
“Hmph, illegal is illegal.
If everyone were to be governed by sentiment, then the law couldn’t be enforced.
There’s a clear legal protocol that prohibits anyone from privately running an Orphanage.
Your Orphanage is unregistered and illegal; it poses a danger to public safety.
That’s why I have to intervene and investigate this.
As for the rest, it’s no concern of ours.
If you want to transfer these children to another Orphanage, you’ll need to approach the relevant department; we don’t handle that,” a pot-bellied man in his forties said, his gaze sweeping lecherously over Liu Shanshan, a hint of lust in his eyes.
Damnable, truly damnable, Liu Shanshan felt an unprecedented anger.
“No, I will not let you seal off this place.
You’re disregarding the lives and deaths of these children; you can’t do this.
Even if it’s regulated by national law, there should still be room for humanity.
The director is a good person who has given so much for these children.
Look how pitiful these children are; how can you be so cruel?
Is it just about the paperwork?
Can’t we just apply for that?” Liu Shanshan interjected, spreading her arms to block them.
“Hmph, a joke.
You think you can just apply for the paperwork?
Even if you try, it won’t be approved for months.
Therefore, this Orphanage will be temporarily sealed off, and we will conduct a thorough investigation to determine if you’ve been using the Orphanage’s name to accept donations from society and then lining your own pockets.
All of this needs to be carefully checked.
If you’re involved with this Orphanage, then you’ll be troubled to come with us and cooperate with the investigation,” the portly man sneered.
“How is that possible?
How could our director possibly embezzle funds?
Can’t you see the situation here?” Liu Shanshan was itching to curse them out.
“Young lady, why so agitated?
We said we’re still investigating.
Without an investigation, how would we know?
If you continue being unreasonable, I’m going to accuse you of obstructing official duties,” the pot-bellied man warned.
“How can you be like this?” Liu Shanshan was furious but also knew she was powerless to overturn a greater force, aware that one doesn’t fight with the officials.
With her limited means, how could she possibly reason with them?
There are laws, but some procedures clearly should accommodate humanity; getting the required permits should solve the problem.
But their opponent was firmly against this.
Clearly, they had ulterior motives.
The director’s face was etched with age, uncertain of what to do next.
The children were even more bewildered and lost, some of the younger ones even broke down crying.
Liu Shanshan was desperately anxious, unsure of the next steps, her eyes instinctively turning towards Tangyu with a look of earnest pleading.
“If paperwork is needed, we can handle that, but please, I beg you not to seal this place.
Otherwise, the children will have nowhere to go.
We will cooperate and expedite the paperwork,” Liu Shanshan implored, biting her lip.
“Hmph,” the portly man laughed, his eyes lecherously fixed on Liu Shanshan, “The law is not devoid of humanity, and I’m not heartless.
Here’s what I’ll do—since you’re so committed, I’ll give you a chance.
Get in the car, and I’ll take you to my office where we can discuss this in detail.”