Chapter 9 – Wear a Mask When Withdrawing Money

Lin Xi snapped her eyes open.

She’d had a nightmare-a dream that half her body had lost all sensation.

She had become a semi-vegetative person.

And so, she woke up in a cold sweat.

Damn it!-

It was just her arm. Shi Yu’s body was pinning it down, and it had gone completely numb.

It was already light out, but there was still about half an hour before her alarm was set to go off.

Lin Xi slowly pulled her arm back, intending to sleep until the alarm rang.

The moment her hand moved, Shi Yu’s dark eyes flew open.

“Damn!”

“You Perverted Witch! You were touching me in my sleep!”

Lin Xi: “…”

“Touch your ass!”

“Open your eyes and look. You rolled over to my side and pinned my arm down!”

Shi Yu took a closer look and let out a cheeky grin.

“Oh, so I did… In that case, I’ll forgive your foul language from just now. Hurry up and get out of bed to make breakfast.”

“If you want to eat, make it yourself,” Lin Xi said, rolling over to face the other way. “There’s still half an hour before the alarm. I’m sleeping a bit longer.”

Ring! Ring! Ring!-

The alarm suddenly blared.

Lin Xi turned back around to see Shi Yu holding the alarm clock, having manually adjusted the settings.

Shi Yu climbed out of bed. “For every minute you don’t get up, the alarm will ring for a minute. If you don’t get up for half an hour, it’ll ring for half an hour.”

Lin Xi pulled the covers over her head, but Shi Yu shoved the alarm clock under the blanket with her.

The incessant ringing completely chased away Lin Xi’s drowsiness.

“Fine!”

“I give up.”

“I surrender.”

Lin Xi rolled out of bed. “I’m changing out of my pajamas. Get the hell out.”

“Tch-” Shi Yu curled her lip. “The image of you in your underwear is already burned into my mind. I could draw it with my eyes closed.”

When it came to who was more of a pervert, Lin Xi admitted total defeat.

“Hurry up and go prepare breakfast. I need to change too,” Shi Yu urged.

Lin Xi unhurriedly put on her shoes. “Then just change. Who cares about looking at you?”

Once her shoes were on, Lin Xi left the bedroom without looking back.

Rather than Shi Yu changing, Lin Xi cared more about what to have for breakfast.

Milk, bread, and maybe a fried egg?… Thinking this over, Lin Xi walked into the kitchen.

A short while later, Shi Yu emerged from the room, fully dressed.

Lin Xi noticed that Shi Yu wasn’t wearing her school uniform.

She glanced at the calendar on the wall; it was definitely Friday.

Was Shi Yu taking the day off?

Whatever. Not seeing Shi Yu at school would definitely make for a wonderful day.

“Lin Xi, you should message your teacher to ask for leave too, then go change out of your uniform,” Shi Yu commanded. “We aren’t going to school today. I have other arrangements.”

“Wait, why are you dragging me into your day off?”

“That is not the answer I want to hear,” Shi Yu said firmly. “I only need a two-word response from you-‘Yes, ma’am.'”

Shi Yu’s expression was blank; she looked serious.

Lin Xi fumed inwardly but didn’t dare speak up. She took out her phone and sent a message to her homeroom teacher asking for leave.

The teacher replied instantly, likely because Shi Yu had just requested leave as well, also citing illness.

“I’m done,” Lin Xi said, putting her phone away. “I’ll change in a bit.”

Shi Yu nodded. “Also, send a message to Zhao Xinning. Tell her not to come by to walk to school with you.”

“You wouldn’t want her walking in and seeing me sitting in your living room eating breakfast, would you?”

Lin Xi picked up her phone again. If she told Zhao Xinning she was sick, the girl would definitely come over to visit.

That excuse wouldn’t work…

“What are you dazing off for?” Shi Yu prodded.

“I haven’t thought of how to say it.”

“Isn’t it simple? Just say you were kidnapped by aliens and taken to Cybertron.”

“Shi Yu, thank you for the suggestion. Please never suggest anything again.”

Lin Xi made up an excuse about visiting a distant relative. Even though she and Zhao Xinning were close, there were plenty of things Zhao Xinning didn’t know about her life.

For instance, this non-existent distant relative.

Zhao Xinning replied almost immediately, wishing Lin Xi a safe trip and telling her to come back soon.

Lin Xi felt a warmth in her heart, followed by a pang of guilt for lying to her friend.

“It’s handled,” she told Shi Yu. “Where are we going?”

Shi Yu didn’t answer directly. Instead, she said, “You’ll know when we get there.”

Lin Xi’s heart tightened. The last time Shi Yu said that, they ended up at a love hotel.

This time…

Was it going to be somewhere inappropriate again?

As if reading Lin Xi’s mind, Shi Yu rolled her eyes at her. “Stop thinking about going to inappropriate places all day. Where we’re going is a public place.”

“Who’s thinking about inappropriate places?” Lin Xi shot back. “I’m worried about being taken to one by you!”

Hearing Shi Yu say it was a public place made Lin Xi feel much more at ease.

Plating two fried eggs, Lin Xi carried the dish to the dining table and sat down.

“Fried eggs, bread, and milk? That’s it?” Shi Yu asked.

“What else? Is the great Miss Shi Yu not used to the breakfast of us common folk?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to eat it. I just don’t think it’s enough.”

“Huh? Are you that big of an eater?”

“You need to eat more. You’ll need the energy for the work we’re doing.”

“Work? What are we going to do?”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Shi Yu buried her head and started eating her fried eggs, then asked Lin Xi to bring over a few more slices of bread.

Lin Xi understood that asking was a waste of breath, so she followed suit and ate a bit more.

After finishing, Shi Yu shouldered her bag. Lin Xi didn’t need to bring anything and just followed along.

On the way, Lin Xi couldn’t help herself and asked Shi Yu again where they were going.

Shi Yu remained tight-lipped, her only response being the same few words: “You’ll know when we get there.”

All Lin Xi knew was that the destination was quite far.

They took the subway and transferred twice.

After exiting the subway station, they hailed a taxi.

Naturally, Lin Xi paid the fare.

As they traveled further and further away, Lin Xi even began to suspect if Shi Yu was planning to take her out of Z City.

The car pulled up in front of a shopping mall.

Getting out, Lin Xi thought they had finally arrived.

After all, Shi Yu had said the place was a public area.

Coming to a mall… were they here to hand out flyers or do some odd jobs?

No wonder she’d been told to eat her fill…

Unfortunately, Lin Xi had guessed wrong again.

“Follow me.” Shi Yu walked in the opposite direction of the mall. Before Lin Xi could ask, she said, “We’re almost there. Twenty minutes’ walk at most.”

Lin Xi followed silently, holding her breath, determined to see exactly where this girl was going and what she was up to.

Twenty minutes later, Shi Yu led Lin Xi to a roadside cafe.

She found a seat by the window and sat down.

Lin Xi sat across from her. “This is it? We traveled all this way just to drink coffee in this unremarkable little cafe?”

“Shut up.” Shi Yu shot Lin Xi a glare, then looked down at the time as if she were waiting for someone.

Just as Lin Xi was about to order a drink, Shi Yu stood up and beckoned to her.

“It’s time. Let’s go.”

“What is even happening?” Lin Xi was completely bewildered.

She followed Shi Yu as they hurried out of the cafe and crossed the street diagonally.

Lin Xi looked in that direction and saw a bank ahead.

A private bank called “Jinrui Bank.”

“Shi Yu, is our destination Jinrui Bank?”

“Yes.” Shi Yu finally gave a clear answer.

“What are we doing here?”

“Withdrawing money.”

“Hey! Didn’t you tell me you were penniless?!”

“I am indeed penniless.”

“Then what money are you withdrawing?”

Shi Yu stopped answering. As they neared the bank’s entrance, she halted and took off her backpack.

She quickly pulled two black balaclavas from the bag, handed one to Lin Xi, and swiftly pulled the other over her own head.

She smiled at Lin Xi and said:

“When you withdraw money, you have to wear a mask.”

Lin Xi looked at Shi Yu, then at the mask in her hand.

She stood there like a wooden statue.

What the hell… this is how she ‘withdraws’ money?!

Holy crap!

She instantly recalled Shi Yu’s previous suggestion about robbing a bank…

“Wait, are you seriously here to rob-“

“Mmph-“

Shi Yu covered Lin Xi’s mouth, snatched the mask from her hand, and helped her pull it on.

“Let’s go!” Shi Yu pulled Lin Xi along. “It’s time to get our money!”

Still in a state of shock, Lin Xi tried to break free from Shi Yu’s grip, only to discover that the girl was surprisingly strong. No matter how hard she tried to pull her hand away, she couldn’t escape.

Just like that, the two girls in black masks boldly stormed into the bank.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Lin Xi looked numbly beside her. At some point, a silver handgun had appeared in Shi Yu’s hand.

She had fired a shot into the bank’s pristine white ceiling.

The report was deafening. The shell casing hit the floor and skittered until it struck the counter.

The gunshot plunged the entire bank into a second of silence, followed by screams.

Frantic, piercing screams filled the air.

Lin Xi suspected she was still asleep and dreaming, so she pinched her thigh.

It hurt!

Good grief, they really were robbing a bank?!

Was Shi Yu actually a professional robber who had been hiding her true colors?

Or… was this actually a movie set?

Was Shi Yu an actress, and they were filming a scene about robbers?

While Lin Xi’s brain was turning into mush, the girl beside her shouted with utter composure:

“Everyone, hands behind your heads! Get on the ground!”

She repeated it loudly once more.

“You over there, hands on your head and get down!”

When Shi Yu pointed the dark muzzle of the gun at him, the man nearly wet himself and immediately did as he was told, dropping to the floor with his hands behind his head.

Lin Xi scanned the room blankly; almost everyone had complied.

Shi Yu’s voice rang in her ear:

“Here.”

Shi Yu handed Lin Xi another black handgun. Lin Xi just stared at her blankly.

Shi Yu chuckled. “I get it. You’re the Blazing Blast Witch; you don’t need this junk at all.”

She tucked the black handgun back into her waistband and said to Lin Xi:

“Two and a half minutes left. We need to hurry.”

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