Chapter 40: Chapter 39 Reporting Loss
The bodyguards were in place; now it was just a matter of withdrawing the money. Lu Jiaxin took her household registration book and bank passbook to the bank, claiming she had lost her seal and needed to make a new one.
The bank teller, having matched her na and residence record, processed it imdiately. She planned to withdraw all the money at once, but worried she might be questioned by the bank staff, so she decided to withdraw money from several locations.
While withdrawing the money, Lu Jiaxin noticed that the passbook showed a balance of ninety-nine hundred, five hundred more than she had expected. She guessed that Lu Hongjun must have deposited another five hundred in the past few days.
Since the bank didn’t allow withdrawals from different locations, they could only carry cash. With the pawned jade ornants and the cash on hand, she had a total of seventeen thousand four hundred yuan. The one hundred yuan bills had not yet appeared in the market; they were all Great Unity RMB, stacked high on the table.
Lu Jiaxin had handled millions before, so naturally, she didn’t think much of ten thousand plus. But it was different for Xue Mao; he had never seen so much money in his life and couldn’t bear to blink.
With so much money, her canvas shoulder bag definitely wouldn’t fit it all. Lu Jiaxin knew that transportation was not convenient in this era, but she didn’t expect withdrawing cash to be so troubleso. No wonder they said traveling was risky at this ti—carrying so much money was definitely dangerous.
...
She had no other choice but to divide the money into seventeen portions, each bound with rubber bands.
Zhao Dajun and Gu Wenfeng were in the yard. Frowning, Zhao Dajun asked, “Brother Feng, why do you think this young lady is withdrawing the money in batches? Should we report this?”
Gu Wenfeng glanced at him and said, “If the money can be deposited into the bank, its source must be clean. We don’t need to ddle. Dajun, our only responsibility is to protect her until we return from Ancient Capital, and then our task is complete.”
As long as the money’s origin was legitimate, it didn’t matter if she withdrew it three tis or even thirty tis. However, during the half-day, he realized that Lu Jiaxin was the one making decisions inside and outside the household. Thinking about the information he had gleaned, he felt there might have been a misunderstanding.
As night approached, Xue Mao placed the last dish on the table and looked outside, “Sister, why hasn’t Fifth Brother arrived yet? The dishes are getting cold.”
Lu Jiaxin sat down, picked up a lion’s head atball with her chopsticks, and took a bite, finding it a bit bland, “Add more salt next ti; it’s too bland.”
After Xue Mao acknowledged this, he took a bowl to set aside a portion of the food.
Lu Jiaxin smiled and said, “No need to save food for Fifth Brother, he’s on night shift tonight and won’t be coming.”
Xue Mao found it to be too much of a coincidence.
They were eating when Gu Wenfeng returned. Since Lu Jiaxin had stated that they were leaving tomorrow, they had gone to buy train tickets.
Lu Jiaxin took the tickets and looked at them, “Why are there only two sleeper tickets? Didn’t I say to buy four?”
Gu Wenfeng replied, “Sleeper tickets are hard to co by; we even had to pay a premium for these two. Miss Lu, you and Xue Mao can sleep in the sleeper cabin, while Dajun and I will take the hard seats.”
Compared to the mixed company of the train cars, the sleeper compartnts were much more peaceful.
Lu Jiaxin shook her head, “That won’t do, I have very valuable things with , and I won’t feel at ease without you guys nearby. Here’s what we’ll do: you go to the sleeper with , and Xue Mao will go with Brother Zhao to the hard seat cabin.”
Zhao Dajun was tall and intimidating, and he looked like soone not to be trifled with. But she wasn’t looking for a fight; she needed soone to protect her belongings, and the composed and steady Gu Wenfeng was more suited for that task.
“Alright.”
Xue Mao beca visibly anxious after seeing the train tickets. Avoiding Zhao Dajun and another person, he asked, “Sister, shouldn’t we tell Big Brother and Fifth Brother that we’re going to the Ancient Capital? If we suddenly disappear, they’ll definitely be worried.”
Lu Jiaxin replied with a smile, “If I tell them, they surely won’t let go. It’s alright, I will leave a note for Fifth Brother.”
Xue Mao frowned and remained silent.
After a mont of thought, Lu Jiaxin lowered her voice and said, “One of the reasons I’m going to the Ancient Capital is to catch that human trafficker, but I also have another purpose, which is treasure hunting.”
She planned to split up, taking one person back to Feng County to investigate the human trafficker incident, while Xue Mao would stay in the Ancient Capital to buy Sun Xun’s house.
Being without a fixed abode, Xue Mao had co across so money from saving soone and wanted to buy a house—this excuse was sufficient and wouldn’t arouse suspicion. As long as they left no trail, Sun Xun would definitely sell the house. After all, he had discovered the secret passage by accident in his past life.
Xue Mao’s eyes bulged in astonishnt. Treasure hunt—what treasure?
Lu Jiaxin didn’t elaborate, mainly because she couldn’t make up a good excuse on the spot. And one lie needed countless others to cover it up, so she didn’t want to bother, “Why ask so many questions? When we get to the Ancient Capital, just do as I say.”
Xue Mao realized, “So you took the jewelry given by the Su brothers and withdrew all the money from the bank to go treasure hunting in the Ancient Capital?”
“Sister, those underground rumors about treasure maps are all fake. There’s no such thing. How could you believe them?” he protested, nearly on the verge of beating his chest and stamping his feet.
Lu Jiaxin offered no explanation, as saying more would only make him more anxious, “Hurry up and sleep, we have the train tomorrow morning! Once we’re in the Ancient Capital, do as I instruct.”
Xue Mao went to bed with his heart in his throat.
The next day at four thirty in the morning, Xue Mao got up and boiled all the eggs in the house, then started the fire to prepare pancakes. He was busy when he heard a knock at the door. Going to the door and asking who it was, he found Zhao Dajun. Fortuitously, he was in need of soone to stoke the fire.
When Lu Jiaxin got up, breakfast was ready. After washing up, she ate imdiately. This ti, she brought not only a change of clothes and socks but also twenty packets of dicinal herbs. These were prescribed by Doctor He the previous afternoon. She initially wanted enough for two months, but Doctor He refused.
Gu Wenfeng sensed the sll of dicine and looked at Lu Jiaxin thoughtfully. Leaving with dicine, he felt there must be more than just finding the human trafficker. But he didn’t ask, knowing he wouldn’t interfere unless it involved illegal activities.
After eating their fill, they rushed to the train station.
Working the night shift was the hardest. After finishing at eight, Lu Jiajie went to eat breakfast at the cafeteria before going ho. It was the cries of the children outside that eventually woke him. Checking his watch, he realized it was already two in the afternoon.
Feeling hungry at this hour, Lu Jiajie habitually went to the kitchen. There was nothing on the dining table and the pots were empty.
Before Big Sister Ma suggested adopting her youngest son, Father Ma and Mother Ma had treated him as their own. Whenever he argued with Ma Lili, both shielded him and scolded Ma Lili. Even after his night shifts, they used to save him so food. But now, not only did they complain that the living expenses they provided were too little, but they also kept finding fault with him. Thankfully, his wife had agreed to buy a house and move out, so it was just a matter of enduring for a while longer.
With this thought, his mood instantly brightened. He washed his face and went out. First, he had a bowl of noodles at a nearby restaurant, and then started asking friends where there were houses for sale.
After a fruitless afternoon of searching, he ended up near Radiance Road. Lu Jiajie had the keys, which had been duplicated for him by Lu Jiaxin, to prevent the inconvenience of waiting outside whenever she would co while he and Xue Mao were out.
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