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Chapter 001 Unexpected Disaster
In December, the nights are long and the days are short in Zhonghai City. Just after six o'clock, the sky outside gradually darkens, and the streetlights on both sides of the road gradually turn on, keeping the city bright. The crowds of people leaving get off work fill the streets and alleys of this city like a huge spider web, and all kinds of sounds echo in the city.
"Whoosh..."
Zhuang Rui pulled the shop's roller shutter halfway down, carried the several metal boxes, which were neatly packed and sealed, inside the counter, and casually closed the security door. The items in these boxes were worth millions. Usually, two security guards would handle the handover with Zhuang Rui, but today was the weekend, and the security company was having training, so they had been temporarily recalled.
The workday was coming to an end. Although it wasn't very busy, Zhuang Rui's young face still showed a hint of fatigue. Perhaps it was because it was the end of the year and he hadn't been home for a year, so he was feeling a little homesick.
Zhuang Rui is 24 years old this year. He was born into a single-parent family in an ancient city in northern Jiangsu. He is 1.8 meters tall. Although he is not handsome, his smile gives people a friendly feeling. His every move reveals a sense of composure, and he looks a few years older than his actual age.
During his university days, Zhuang Rui was a lively person. However, after leaving school, everything went wrong, which made Zhuang Rui much more reserved and mature. Apart from cursing the association while watching football, he spent most of his time reading historical novels in his rented apartment after get off work. He had just bought a set of "Emperor Kangxi" by Er Yuehe a few days ago. If he wasn't worried about the negative impact, he would have brought it to work to read.
In 2000, Zhuang Rui graduated from a prestigious university in Zhonghai City with a major in finance and accounting. In theory, college graduates at that time would not have trouble finding a job. However, Zhuang Rui was unlucky. She fell ill a few days after graduation and missed the civil service exam that year. After recovering, she worked for a few days at a small company in her hometown. Feeling that there was no future in it, she returned to Zhonghai and became an accountant at a pawnshop.
Private companies generally prefer to hire experienced accountants, but getting into government departments requires connections. When Zhuang Rui first arrived at China Overseas, he couldn't find a suitable job for over a month. In the end, it was his college classmate and dorm leader from China Overseas who helped him get a job at this newly established pawnshop.
When it comes to pawnshops, people's first impression is probably pawn shops. And when they think of pawn shops, the phrase "eaten by insects and gnawed by rats, bare and unkempt, a tattered and worn-out coat" from the TV series that just aired will immediately come to mind.
In fact, with the development of the times, pawnshops have become multifunctional places that combine financing, online shopping, and storage.
The pawnshop where Zhuang Rui works displays forfeited items such as diamond rings, jade bracelets, and brand-name watches. Since the price for these items is generally around half of the original price, once they are forfeited, the selling price will only be slightly higher than the purchase price. This is very attractive to people who are short of money but still pursue brand-name luxury goods.
Zhuang Rui had seen many beautiful women and handsome men adorned with gold and silver come here and pawn the jewelry they didn't like, then go to the pawn section to find items they liked. In this way, not only were the pawned items circulated, but there was also no situation where funds were tied up.
The pawnshop's personnel structure is simple. The chief appraiser, Uncle De, also serves as the pawnshop's manager. There are two young appraisers who have returned from abroad, mainly responsible for appraising foreign art and luxury goods. Both are in their early thirties, have been in the industry for some time, and are formally trained. However, these two are usually arrogant and are not well-liked by Uncle De. In addition, there's the cashier, Xu Ling, and the sales clerks in the forfeiture section.
Uncle De's real name is Ma Delin. Before the liberation, he worked as a clerk in a pawnshop in Zhonghai. Later, he continued to work in the excavation and appraisal of cultural relics, specializing in miscellaneous items and calligraphy and paintings. He had a high reputation in the cultural relics and antiques collection circle in Zhonghai. Before the pawnshop opened, it took a lot of effort to invite Uncle De, who had retired from the Zhonghai Museum, to serve as the pawnshop's chief appraiser and manager. In the old days, he would have been called the head manager of the pawnshop.
Uncle De liked Zhuang Rui very much, this down-to-earth and hardworking young man, and wanted to bring him into this business. However, although Zhuang Rui liked to read historical novels, he was not very interested in these antiques. He would let Uncle De's teachings go in one ear and out the other, and would often steer the conversation toward a certain historical figure or story, which would often make Uncle De angry.
According to regulations, cashier Xu Ling was supposed to hand over the items in the unclaimed pawn section to the bank's armored truck with Zhuang Rui at the end of the workday. However, that gold digger was going to have dinner at the Oriental Pearl Tower with her nth boyfriend and left early. Xu Ling is a local from Zhonghai and always has some excuse. This wasn't the first time, and Zhuang Rui was used to it. The pawnshop closes at 6 PM, while the bank's armored truck usually arrives around 6:30 PM. By 6 PM, Uncle De and the clerks in the unclaimed pawn section had left, and the two highly paid appraisers were even clocking in and out with stopwatches. Only Zhuang Rui was left. He pulled the roller shutter halfway down and sat inside the counter to wait for the bank staff. According to regulations, cash boxes and boxes containing valuable jewelry must be retrieved by the security guards, who will also check the seals.
The last rays of the setting sun shone into the shop through the glass door. Suddenly, Zhuang Rui felt a darkness in front of him as three figures slipped in from under the half-closed roller shutter.
"It's only 6:10. The bank's car usually doesn't come this early."
Zhuang Rui was taken aback. Although the armored truck would arrive a little earlier on weekends, it would still be around 6:20. Since the people who came in were backlit, Zhuang Rui couldn't see their faces clearly at first. However, he knew that these people were not bank security guards. He could see that there were no bank armored trucks parked at the entrance.
"Gentlemen, we're closed for the day. If you need anything, please come back tomorrow. We're open on Saturdays and Sundays, okay?"
Zhuang Rui was speaking when he suddenly realized that the three people who had entered were all men. What stopped him from continuing was that all three of them were wearing knitted hats, the kind that could be folded down to cover their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed. These hats were very popular a few years ago, but now they are rarely seen. Although it was December, the weather in Zhonghai was not cold enough to warrant wearing such hats. A sense of foreboding immediately rose in Zhuang Rui's heart.
"Kid, stop talking nonsense and hand over the box you're holding."
Two people stood in front of the counter, while the other person ran directly towards the unclaimed pawn section. Judging from their actions, they must have been quite familiar with this pawn shop.
“You’re committing a crime. Bank security personnel will be here soon. If you don’t run now, you won’t be able to escape later.”
Zhuang Rui knew he had encountered robbers. Although the local police station had conducted several drills, he never expected that in addition to banks, even pawnshops would become targets of these people.
However, aside from the initial panic, Zhuang Rui quickly calmed down. The pawnshop counters were all designed like bank anti-theft and anti-robbery counters, with steel window frames completely isolating the counters from the outside. If they had arrived a little earlier, they might have been able to steal items from the unclaimed pawn section. But now that he had taken all these things inside, Zhuang Rui believed that these few people would definitely not be able to break through the security door in a short time.
While talking to the robber, Zhuang Rui sat back down in his chair, his hand already reaching for the emergency call button. Once pressed, the 110 police and the nearby local police station would receive the alert immediately, and they could arrive within five minutes at the earliest. This wasn't a movie scene; several drills had been conducted on-site over the past year, and Zhuang Rui had great confidence in the police officers who always arrived quickly.
"Damn it, big brother, everything here has been packed up. There's not a single thing left. It's super clean. Didn't you personally scout out this place last time, big brother?"
The person who ran to the Juedang area naturally couldn't find anything, and shouted towards Zhang Yang in a thick Northeastern accent.
"Who the hell are you cursing? I've told you to be civilized, damn it, how many times have I told you to speak Mandarin?"
The bandit leader, separated from Zhuang Rui by a security window, cursed angrily. He was very dissatisfied with the quality of his subordinates, or perhaps it was because he was being questioned by them. Zhuang Rui wanted to laugh to himself. In this day and age, there are still robbers who uphold the Five Stresses, Four Beauties, and Three Loves. However, he immediately stopped laughing because a dark gun barrel was pointed at him through the security window.
Zhuang Rui shuddered and pressed down hard on the alarm button, which was already on his finger. The piercing alarm sounded immediately. He was confident that if he could stall for a few more minutes, these people would definitely not be able to escape. But just then, the sound of brakes came from the pawnshop entrance. Zhuang Rui looked outside and was overjoyed. It turned out that the bank's armored truck had arrived early, which was normal on weekends.
Seeing that the bandit leader standing in front of the counter seemed to be distracted by the sound of brakes outside the door, Zhuang Rui took the opportunity to lie down under the counter, which was a blind spot for shooting, and the bandits outside could not do anything to him. However, the swivel chair Zhuang Rui was sitting on slipped, causing Zhuang Rui not to lie down, but to step back more than a meter, and now face to face with the bandit leader.
"Kid, you're playing tricks!"
With the bandit leader's angry shout, he suddenly pulled the trigger at Zhuang Rui. As he spoke, Zhuang Rui subconsciously turned his body to the side. The bullet grazed his eye. Zhuang Rui only felt a flash of light fly past his eyes, followed by a stinging, burning sensation in his eyes.
The eyes are the most developed and sensitive part of the human nervous system. Blood was seeping out from between Zhuang Rui's fingers as he covered his eyes. The intense pain caused Zhuang Rui's body to spin around and fall backward. He could not see that the back of his head was falling towards the location of the alarm button.
"Bang……"
With a loud bang, Zhuang Rui's head slammed hard against the glass box outside the alarm button. The huge impact 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 lost consciousness.
Gunshots and alarms alerted the bank security guards outside. Armed with live ammunition, they rushed into the pawnshop. The gang leader's pistol, seemingly homemade, fired the bullet aimed at Zhuang Rui but then stopped firing. There were no hostages inside for them to take hostage. After a struggle, it was clear that the robbers were not very skilled, and they were quickly subdued by several bank security guards.
"Xiao Zhuang, Xiao Zhuang, how are you? Can you speak?"
The bank teller who knew Zhuang Rui called out urgently to Zhuang Rui inside the counter, but there was no response. The lobby, which had just been filled with the strong smell of cheap gunpowder, made their hearts sink.
Standing outside, one could see the bloodstains inside the counter, but the security door couldn't be opened, leaving everyone outside helpless. A few minutes later, the police from 100 who had received the alarm arrived at the scene and cordoned off the pawnshop. Several robbers were blindfolded and taken to police cars, but everyone nervously watched Zhuang Rui, who was only showing a patch of his scalp inside the counter, waiting for the pawnshop staff to arrive and open the security door.
Unbeknownst to anyone, the blood seeping from the back of Zhuang Rui's head slowly seeped into the gap of the alarm button. A blue current flowed along the blood into Zhuang Rui's brain, causing his body to twitch slightly. His hands, which had been covering his face, had already fallen to his sides. If someone could see Zhuang Rui's face now, they would notice a multicolored halo around his eyes, but it disappeared in just a few seconds.
Chapter 002 Hospital
"Why is everything black? Why do my eyes hurt so much? Why can't I open them?"
In a special care ward for high-ranking officials at a hospital in Zhonghai City, Zhuang Rui, who had been in a coma for three days, finally woke up. The severe headache made him forget what had happened before he fell into a coma. The darkness in front of him and the pungent smell of disinfectant filled him with panic. Zhuang Rui tried desperately to open his eyes, but found that it was all in vain. He could on
……