Chapter 346: It Turns Out to Be Bandits

Shandong, Tai County.
In a simply decorated breakfast shop, three young men in their twenties and thirties sat solemnly at their respective tables, looking gloomy. They didn’t touch the barbecued pork buns or other snacks on the table. One of them held a spoon, stirring the plain rice porridge occasionally, his brows tightly furrowed, clearly preoccupied.

Inside the breakfast shop, a few young girls secretly glanced at these tall, muscular men wearing military-green vests and stern-looking faces. Though they thought their attire was a bit shabby, their sharp eyes, tense muscles, and strong physiques exuded an intense masculinity that made the girls linger despite having finished their breakfasts.

But…

The three men clearly couldn’t pay attention to those infatuated girls. After a few minutes of silence, one of them suddenly spoke up, “Just sitting like this isn’t working! I’ll make more calls to see if I can contact some comrades…”

“Stop calling. We’ve already notified everyone we know. Few of us are retiring this time, and those who aren’t can’t be reached. You know the rules,” the man across from him sighed. “If only I had known… Ugh… Money really drives people to desperation!”

Scratching his not-long hair, he angrily cursed, “Damn these rules!”

“With just the few of us, where are we going to get five million? Even taking out a mortgage on a house only gets us over a hundred thousand…”

“Anyway, we must save Silver Fox’s sister. We’ll steal or rob if necessary to raise enough money,” said the man who had remained silent until now. He had a faint scar on his forehead, as if cut by a knife, and as he exhaled smoke from his cigarette, he spoke those words.

“Xiao Dao! What did you say…?” The other two were shocked.

There was never any boasting or joking among them. Having grown up under strict discipline, they didn’t understand what jokes were.

Xiao Dao firmly crushed his cigarette butt on the table, looked up at the two of them, and said slowly, “I’m telling you—my life was given to me by Brother Silver Fox…”

“Don’t do anything reckless! Brother Silver Fox won’t allow it!”

“Right, let’s think of another way.”

“Two days!”

Xiao Dao spoke succinctly before changing his tone. “There’s a target—a corrupt developer. The safe contains at least that much money. We act tonight. One of you is enough; no need to hurt anyone.” Seeing the gesture Xiao Dao made, the other two tensed up.

“We can’t let Brother Silver Fox know.”

“Obviously!”

“Okay, I’ll do it!”
Just as the two agreed, a cold voice laced with anger came from behind them: “What do you three plan to do…”
The three turned around.
An angry-looking man sat down next to Xiaodao, staring at him coldly: “So, after the robbery? Do you want me to thank you or your sister?”
It turned out to be a band of bandits!
The girls at the neighboring table paled and quickly paid and ran away.
“Silver Fox Brother!”
Xiaodao gritted his teeth, enduring Silver Fox’s angry gaze, and said, “Brother! Don’t get involved in this. I’m doing it for my sister. Anyway, my life is already worthless. She’s still young—she shouldn’t die like this. I must raise enough money for her surgery.”
Bang!
Silver Fox punched in front of Xiaodao.
“I’ve said it before—there’s no need for you to worry about the surgery costs. You have your own families. Don’t drag your brothers down because of me… Guidong, I heard from your dad that you used the house you reserved for your wedding as collateral? Good job, you’ve grown so capable! And you, Xiaodao!” Turning from his brother to Xiaodao, Silver Fox suddenly grabbed his collar:
“Who do you think you can fool? Ah! We four brothers have just retired, and there are many enemies watching us… Don’t cause trouble for everyone! If you don’t want us to end up in military prison.”
After all, Silver Fox was the leader of the four. After saying that, the three were speechless. Even Xiaodao, who was usually the most fiery and impulsive, didn’t dare say anything more.
“But…”
“I know you all mean well, but I’ve already said I’ll handle this myself. And…” Under the three’s gaze, Silver Fox took out a passbook and opened it:
“The money for my sister’s surgery and her physical therapy for the next few years has already been transferred.”
At first, the three didn’t believe it.
They examined the passbook for a long time.
There were indeed 5 million in deposits and withdrawals.
The deposit was made a few hours ago, and it was immediately withdrawn to another account—one they were very familiar with, the one they usually used for transfers.
“Haha!”
The three’s expressions instantly changed from gloom to disbelief and ecstasy:
“Silver Fox Brother! How did you do that?”
“Five million? Just like that?”
“Did you secretly pull off some deal behind our backs?” Xiaodao asked, eyes wide, in a hushed voice.
Smack!
Silver Fox punched him without hesitation and rolled his eyes, saying, “Don’t even think about it again. Don’t forget our purpose and oath when we joined the army…”
“Oh!”

The three of them grew serious and replied in unison, “Brother Silver Fox, we understand.”
“By the way, now that the money has arrived, let’s go see Sister Mei too. We’ve been practicing in ‘Jianghu’ these days and are almost sick from it.”
“You go ahead; I won’t come.”
Silver Fox sighed and stood up. “I need to go to the airport now. I came here to say goodbye to you.”
The three of them’ expressions changed instantly! “Where are you going?!”
Suddenly, they remembered those mysterious five million: “Boss, are you running away? Is there something wrong with those five million?” Xiao Dao covered his head with both hands.
“Nonsense! It was given to me by my boss. He paid it in advance so that I can work for him for five years! So, I’m afraid it will be hard to see you guys again in the future.”
“Five years, five million, and paid in advance! Who is this boss, so generous?” The three of them showed great curiosity.
“You’ll find out later.”
Silver Fox smiled mysteriously. “But this person is easy to trust and also careless. With his reputation, I’m starting to worry that if something happens to him before five years pass, where can I go to repay him?”
Seeing the confusion on their faces, he laughed and said, “I can’t talk anymore. I’m in a hurry. If you have the chance, you can send me messages in the game. Then I’ll give you my phone number there.” With that, he turned and left.
“Brother Silver Fox!”
Only when they reached the door did they notice a taxi parked outside with a suitcase inside. “Brother Silver Fox, where are you flying to? We’ll come find you when we have time!” It was only when Silver Fox got into the taxi and started it that Xiao Dao remembered something and rushed after him.
Watching his three brothers get farther and farther away, Silver Fox’s eyes reddened, but he gritted his teeth and didn’t respond. After a long while, he finally exhaled two words: “Hunan!”