Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Then only the second remained: the robbers had not robbed the bank for the money.

At this thought, Yang Juehuan's heart gave a violent start. Damn it—he had been fooled. His attention had been fixed the whole time on the bundle of banknotes the robbers had taken, and he had neglected the robbers' movements.

If his suspicion was right, and the robbers had not held up the bank for the money, then once they had dumped it they would not come back for it.

Yang Xunai sighed to himself in the dark. Perhaps Chen Fei would get nothing out of this after all. Subjective assumption had clouded his judgment—he had taken it for granted that anyone robbing a bank must be after money, and that if the money were hidden away, someone would surely return to collect it.

But this affair probably did not follow the usual logic; there was something else going on.

Still, regrets were useless now. Recovering the stolen money was already a great service on Chen Fei's part; as for catching the robbers, that would have to wait for another day.

Judging by the robbers' skill, the odds of catching them were vanishingly small.

He found another, larger bank, this one with police officers on duty inside, so the security was presumably far better than at the previous one. This time Yang Yongjin dared to take the risk: he had Lin Yanhe and Chen Shutang wait in the car while he carried the cash box inside alone.

Even if he ran into the robbers again, Yang Ce on his own could adapt to circumstances. He might not be able to take them alive, but he would have more than enough to protect himself.

Yet nothing untoward happened from the moment Yang Ce took his number to the completion of the deposit. The business was concluded smoothly and he left the bank, whereupon his phone rang again—Chen Fei.

"Yang Ce, I've had men surround Huruo Street and keep the third storm drain under tight watch. Is there anything else?" Chen Fei knew Yang Juehuan's status was not what it had once been, so his tone was half-consultative.

"Uncle Chen, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you this time." Yang Ce sighed, standing outside the car. He had not gone straight back in because he did not want Chen Shutang and Lin Yanhe to overhear his conversation with Uncle Chen.

"What do you mean, disappoint me?" Chen Fei was taken aback. "Don't tell me the money isn't there?"

"The money is there, no mistake about it." All this while Yang Puqi had been watching the area around the drain with his ability, so Yang Ce could be certain the money was still inside.

"Then how could I be disappointed?" Chen Fei was all the more baffled by Yang Juehuan's words.

"The money is certainly in there, but I suspect the robbers' objective was not the money." Yang Shuoxuan held nothing back and laid out his reasoning for Chen Fei, along with the fact that they had not taken the three hundred thousand in his own hands.

Hearing Yang Juehuan's analysis, Chen Fei sank into thought for a moment. True enough, he had never encountered robbers like these before. He had also seen the "s.b" photograph left at the scene, and he had not worked out what it meant either.

In short, this gang of robbers gave off an air of great mystery, and with Yang Ce's further analysis, Chen Fei too began to think their purpose was not merely to steal money.

"So you think the robbers won't come back for the money?" Chen Fei asked once he had thought it through.

"Yes, I don't think they will." Yang Ce could not be absolutely certain, but he was close enough to it.

"All right, I'll take other measures, but I won't pull the men out of there just yet." Chen Fei hesitated a moment before speaking.

"Fine, we'll leave it at that for now, Uncle Chen. I'll contact you the moment I have any news." Yang Yanzhou finished the call and got into the car.

"Who was on the phone with you all that time?" Chen Shutang asked, a little curious.

"Who else? Your father." Yang Ce spread his hands. "He found out we were in the bank back then, so he called to ask whether we were in any danger."

"Huh?" Chen Shutang said. "My dad? Why didn't he call me?"

"He said your phone seemed to be out of service for the moment—probably no signal in the police station earlier." Yang Ce fobbed her off with the first excuse that came to mind.

"Oh, I see." Chen Shutang did not grow suspicious; she nodded and said no more.

After an experience like that, Lin Yanhe was rather unsettled, so they simply skipped the company. There was nothing urgent there these days anyway—mostly preparation of exhibits for the trade fair, and there were people to handle that.

Yang Ce drove straight back to the villa. Chen Shutang held Lin Yanhe and they slept soundly for a while. Yang Ce wanted to join them, but Chen Shutang refused him flatly, and Yang Shuoxuan did not press it. He knew well enough what was on his mind: it was broad daylight, and Chen Shutang would never agree—though at night there might be some small chance.

Back in the room at the end of the corridor, Yang Ce casually opened the netbook. Yang Minlan, who had long since been through many life-or-death moments, did not take what had just happened too seriously; it even felt quite ordinary, nothing special.

To Yang Ce's surprise, Zhao Ying was actually online. He hastily sent her a smiling-face emoticon.

"What is it? I'm in class." Teacher Youlan replied almost at once.

Yang Shuoxuan wondered how Zhao Ying had got her broadband installed so quickly—so she was at school.

"How have you been? Haven't seen you online in ages." Yang Duoran asked, still pretending not to know Zhao Ying. Otherwise, if he revealed who he was, she would probably just block him outright.

"I moved and haven't had broadband installed yet, and I haven't been in a great mood these past few days, so I haven't been on," Teacher Youlan said.

"You moved to a new place—how come you're not in a good mood?" Yang Ce pressed.

"It's not because of the move. Ugh, I might as well not have moved at all." Teacher Youlan sent a crying emoticon.

"What happened? Tell me about it." Yang Ce already knew in his heart, but he had to pretend he did not as he asked.

"He's with my best friend now." Teacher Youlan hesitated a moment before saying it.

Though such matters were private, the internet was an illusion, and Zhao Ying had told this netizen—"Where in the World Is True Feeling"—a great deal about herself before, so now she naturally poured out her heart to him. He did not know who she was anyway.

"With your best friend? How could that be?" Yang Ce asked quickly.

"How could it not be? I saw it with my own eyes—they were holding hands. You think I'd make that up?" Teacher Youlan sent an anguished emoticon.

"What you see with your own eyes isn't necessarily the truth, is it? That's what they mean when they say seeing isn't necessarily believing." Yang Duoran, of course, was quick to argue his own case.

"That's true enough, and my friend told me she only wanted him to pretend to be her boyfriend to fool her family about some family business," Teacher Youlan said.

"Well then, your friend already said it was fake—what are you still worried about?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"But in the bathroom at her place, I happened to see the same thing... and now I'm not so sure anymore," Teacher Youlan said.

Yang Juehuan's heart gave a violent lurch. Sure enough, Zhao Ying really had seen that box of condoms, more than half used, in the cabinet in Wang Yanqiu's bathroom. This was going to be a little tricky.

"What is it?" Yang Yongjin had no choice but to press on and ask.

"A box of condoms. Opened, and a few already used." Teacher Youlan did not hold back.