In December, Zhonghai City had short days and long nights. Just past six o'clock, the sky outside gradually darkened, and the street lamps on both sides of the road slowly lit up, keeping the city bright. The off-work crowd filled the city's streets and alleys like a vast spiderweb, various sounds echoing above the city.
“Whoosh…” Zhuang Rui pulled down the store's roll-up door halfway, carried the few iron boxes that were separately packed and sealed into the counter, and casually closed the security door. The contents of these item boxes were worth a million yuan. Usually, two security guards would hand them over with Zhuang Rui, but today was the weekend, and the security company had training, so they were temporarily called back.
The day's work was about to end. Although it wasn't very busy, a hint of fatigue still showed on Zhuang Rui's young face. Perhaps it was because the end of the year was approaching—Zhuang Rui hadn't been home for a year and was feeling a bit homesick.
Zhuang Rui was 24 years old this year, born into a single-parent family in an ancient city in northern Jiangsu. Standing 1.8 meters tall, his looks weren't particularly handsome, but his smile gave people a warm feeling. His gestures revealed a hint of steadiness, making him seem a few years older than his actual age.
In his college days, Zhuang Rui was also a person who enjoyed lively things. But after leaving school, things not going his way made him much more introverted and mature. Besides cursing at the association while watching ball games, he spent most of his after-work time reading historical novels in his rented apartment. Just a few days ago, he bought a set of February River's *Kangxi Emperor*. If he weren't worried about the bad impression it would create, he would have brought it to work.
In 2000, Zhuang Rui graduated from a prestigious university in Zhonghai City with a degree in finance and accounting. As the saying goes, back then a college graduate was like a good girl who was never hard to marry off—finding a job wasn't difficult. But Zhuang Rui's luck wasn't great. A few days after graduation, he fell ill and missed that year's civil service exam. After recovering, he worked at a small company in his hometown for a few days but felt there was no future there, so he returned to Zhonghai and landed this job as an accountant at the pawnshop.
Generally, private companies prefer to hire seasoned financial veterans with years of experience, while getting into government departments requires connections. When Zhuang Rui first arrived in Zhonghai, he couldn't find a suitable job for over a month. In the end, it was his college classmate and dormitory big brother, who was also in Zhonghai, who helped him get into this newly established pawnshop.
When it comes to pawnshops, most people's first impression is probably the old-fashioned pawnbroker. And when they think of that, the phrase from the recently aired TV show instantly pops into mind—'moth-eaten, rat-chewed, bald with no fur, a tattered old fur coat.'
In fact, with the development of the times, pawnshops have become multifunctional places that combine financing, treasure hunting, and storage.
At the pawnshop where Zhuang Rui works, the forfeited items section displays diamond rings, jade bracelets, name-brand watches, and other unredeemed goods. Since these items are usually acquired at around half their original price, once they become dead pawns, they are sold for only slightly more than the purchase price. This holds great appeal for those who are strapped for cash but still chasing brand-name luxuries.
Zhuang Rui has seen many glamorous men and women dripping in gold and silver come here to directly forfeit their unwanted jewelry and accessories, then head to the forfeited items section to hunt for things they like. This way, not only do the forfeited goods circulate, but it also prevents capital from being tied up.
The personnel structure of the pawn shop was simple: Uncle De, the chief appraiser, also served as the manager, along with two young appraisers who had returned from abroad, mainly responsible for appraising foreign artworks and luxury goods. Both were in their early thirties, had been in the circle for a while, and were formally trained, though they usually held themselves in high regard and were not well-liked by Uncle De. Then there were the cashier Xu Ling and the salesperson in the dead pledge area.
Uncle De's full name was Ma Delin. Before liberation, he worked as a young apprentice in a pawn shop in Zhonghai. Later, he continued to engage in the excavation and appraisal of cultural relics, specializing in miscellaneous items and calligraphy and paintings, enjoying high prestige in Zhonghai's cultural relics and antiques collecting circles. Before the pawn shop opened, they put in a lot of effort to invite Uncle De, who had already retired from the Zhonghai Museum, to serve as the chief appraiser and manager—equivalent to the 'big boss' position in traditional pawn shops.
Uncle De liked Zhuang Rui, a steady and hardworking young man, and wanted to guide him into this trade. However, although Zhuang Rui enjoyed reading historical novels, he wasn't very interested in antiques. He would let Uncle De's teachings go in one ear and out the other, always steering the conversation toward some historical figure or story, often making Uncle De huff and puff with frustration.
According to regulations, the cashier Xu Ling was supposed to hand over the items in the dead pledge area to the bank's armored car along with Zhuang Rui after work. But that gold digger left early today, saying she was going to eat at the Oriental Pearl with her Nth boyfriend. Xu Ling was a local of Zhonghai, and she always had one excuse or another every day. This wasn't the first time; Zhuang Rui was used to it.
The pawnshop closed at six in the evening, while the bank's armored car usually arrived around six-thirty. At six o'clock, Uncle De and the salesclerks in the dead pledge area had all left, and the two high-salary appraisers, who punctually clocked in and out, were also gone, leaving only Zhuang Rui behind. He pulled the rolling shutter halfway down, then sat behind the counter to wait for the bank people. According to regulations, both the cash box and the boxes containing valuable jewelry were to be collected by the armored car guards, who would check the seals for intactness.
The last ray of sunset streamed into the shop through the glass door. Suddenly, Zhuang Rui felt the light dim—three figures crawled in from under the half-closed rolling shutter.
"It's only ten past six. The bank's car never comes this early."
Zhuang Rui was taken aback. Although on weekends the armored car might arrive a bit earlier, it would still be around six-twenty. Since the newcomers were all in the backlight, Zhuang Rui couldn't make out their faces at first, but he knew they weren't bank guards—he could see there was no armored car parked outside.
"Gentlemen, we're closed. Please come back tomorrow if you need anything. We're open Saturdays and Sundays, huh？"
Zhuang Rui stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing that all three who had entered were men. What made him trail off was that they were all wearing knit caps—the kind that could be pulled down to cover the face leaving only eyes exposed. These caps had been popular a few years ago, but were rarely seen nowadays. Although it was December, the weather in Zhonghai wasn't cold enough to warrant such headwear. A sense of foreboding instantly arose in Zhuang Rui's heart.
"Kid, save the chatter. Hand over the box next to you."
Two men stood in front of the counter, while the third ran straight toward the dead pledge area. Judging by their movements, they were quite familiar with this pawnshop.
"You bunch are committing a crime here! Bank security will be here any second. If you don't run now, soon you won't be able to get away even if you want to."
Zhuang Rui knew he was facing robbers. Even though the local police station had run a few drills here, he never imagined that besides banks, even a pawnshop would become a target for these people.
But after the initial panic, Zhuang Rui quickly calmed down. Since the pawnshop counters were all designed like bank anti-theft and anti-robbery counters, steel window grilles completely isolated the counter from the outside. If they had come earlier, they could have grabbed items from the forfeited goods area, but now he had already moved all those things inside. Zhuang Rui believed that with just these few men, there was no way they could break through that security door in a short time.
While talking to the robbers, Zhuang Rui sat back down in his chair, his hand already reaching for the alarm button. Once pressed, the 110 police and the local precinct would immediately receive the alert. Within five minutes at most, they could arrive. This wasn't a movie; in the past year, several on-site drills had been conducted, and Zhuang Rui had confidence in the police who always showed up quickly.
"The hell, boss, everything over here's been put away. There ain't jack shit, frigging clean as a whistle. Boss, didn't you case the joint yourself last time?"
That man who had run to the forfeited goods area naturally found nothing and shouted back toward Zhang Yang in a thick Northeastern accent.
"The hell you cussin' at, huh? I told you punks to be civilized. Fuckin' hell, how many times I gotta tell you bastards, speak Mandarin!"
The bandit leader, separated from Zhuang Rui by a security grille, cursed in frustration. He was deeply dissatisfied with his men's quality, or perhaps because he had been called into question by them. Zhuang Rui found it almost amusing—who would've thought there were robbers who still adhered to the 'Five Stresses, Four Beauties, and Three Loves' nowadays? But his smile vanished a moment later when a dark gun barrel aimed at him through the security window.
Zhuang Rui shuddered. His finger, already hovering over the alarm button, pressed down hard. A piercing alarm rang out. He was confident that if he could just stall for a few minutes, these men wouldn't get away. But just then, the sound of brakes screeched from outside the pawnshop door. Zhuang Rui looked out and was overjoyed—it was the bank armored car arriving early, which was perfectly normal on a weekend.
Seeing that the bandit leader standing at the counter seemed distracted by the noise outside, Zhuang Rui took the chance to duck toward the floor—the dead angle where the robbers outside couldn't get him. But his swivel chair twirled unexpectedly, making him slide backward instead of dropping down, bringing him face to face with the bandit leader again.
“Kid, playing tricks on me?！”
With the bandit leader's furious shout, he suddenly pulled the trigger at Zhuang Rui. As the leader spoke, Zhuang Rui instinctively twisted his body. The bullet whizzed past his eye. Zhuang Rui felt a flash of fire streak before his vision, followed by a sharp, burning pain in his eye.
The eyes are one of the most nerve-dense and sensitive parts of the human body. Blood had already begun seeping through the gaps between Zhuang Rui's fingers as he covered his eye. The excruciating pain made him spin around and fall backward. He couldn't see that the spot where the back of his head was about to land was exactly where the alarm button was located.
With a loud "Bang..." sound, Zhuang Rui's back of the head slammed violently against the glass box covering the alarm button. The immense force shattered the square glass box, and blood instantly stained the counter where the alarm button was installed. Zhuang Rui's head rested on the counter, and he had already fallen unconscious.
The gunshot and alarm alerted the bank cash escorts outside the door. The fully armed bank cash escorts quickly rushed into the pawnshop. The gang leader's pistol appeared to be homemade; after firing that sinister bullet at Zhuang Rui, it failed to fire again. There were no hostages for them to take inside the pawnshop. After a brief struggle—clearly these robbers lacked professional finesse—the three bandits were quickly subdued by several bank security guards.
"Xiao Zhuang! Xiao Zhuang! How are you？ Can you speak？"
The bank cash escort who was familiar with Zhuang Rui urgently called out to him inside the counter, but received no response. The hall, still thick with the strong smell of cheap gunpowder from the recent shot, fell silent, and their hearts gradually sank.
From outside, the blood inside the counter was visible, but the security door couldn't be opened, leaving everyone outside helpless. A few minutes later, the 110 police, alerted by the alarm, arrived at the scene and set up a cordon around the pawnshop. The robbers were hooded and loaded into police cars. However, everyone anxiously watched Zhuang Rui, whose scalp was barely visible above the counter, waiting for someone from the pawnshop, who had been notified, to arrive and open the security door.
No one noticed that the blood seeping from the back of Zhuang Rui's head slowly trickled into the gap of the alarm button. A stream of blue current followed the blood into Zhuang Rui's brain, causing his body to twitch slightly. His hands, which had been covering his face, had long since fallen down. If someone could see Zhuang Rui's face now, they would notice a multicolored halo around his eyes. However, within just a dozen seconds, that halo disappeared without a trace.