Chapter 47 Leaving and Returning

  That day, Zhang Cheng had to use the golden cicada shell technique to shake off his upper garment and dive head-first into the depths of the mountain forest in order not to be dragged down by the person who suddenly appeared behind him and fall into the police's encirclement.

  Through covert observation, Zhang Cheng had already discovered that the police chasing him were not many in number. In order to find himself in such a dense and vast forest, he would have to deliberately show himself. Zhang Cheng only ran for a short distance before slowing down, continuing along the mountain forest towards the south. Before he even left the forest, he realized that in his haste, he had made an unforgivable mistake. The bank card with the 1 million yuan deposit from Di Rong was still in the breast pocket of his shirt. What's worse, together with it was the password for the bank card.

  Zhang Cheng, being a fugitive wanted by the Ministry of Public Security, usually just used a fake ID for cover. So, the bank card was not in his own name, but rather in the name of his apprentice, Ren Yusi, who had applied for it on his behalf. At the time, after Xiaosi finished setting up the card, he wrote down the password on a piece of paper and handed it over to Zhang Cheng along with the card, so that his master wouldn't forget the password. Since Zhang Cheng hadn't yet negotiated with Di Rong at that point, he wasn't particularly concerned about an empty card, and casually put both the card and the piece of paper with the password into his pocket.

  Yesterday, after inquiring at the bank's ATM, Di Rong found that he had already deposited one million into his card. Zhang Cheng was so excited and considered how to get rid of his apprentice Ren Yu Si next, but didn't immediately go to change the password on his bank card, and put it back into the pocket of his shirt. Next was to invite his apprentice Xiao Si to dinner, and buy train tickets to rush to Guanhai City.

  Actually, Zhang Cheng also suffered from underestimating his opponent. Although he repeatedly reminded his apprentice not to underestimate the enemy and not to be careless, using the ancient proverb "even when catching a rabbit with a hawk, one must use full force" to teach Ren Yusi. However, in his subconscious mind, he always thought that dealing with Cong Ye would never lead to any unexpected events, so he came to Guanhai City without any worries and found Rizhao Lane to abduct Zhi Xiao Hui. If he had taken Cong Ye more seriously and done some necessary things in advance, such as coming a day later, changing the password of his bank card, or keeping it safe, he would not have made such a low-level mistake.

  But now that I think about it, everything is too late. After working hard for several months to get Di Rong's one million, it was all lost in vain. If the card had really been lost in a deserted place, or if Cong Ye had casually thrown away his jacket, or if the password and card were not together, Zhang Cheng would still have had a glimmer of hope. With this mentality, Zhang Cheng quickly emerged from the mountain forest, found a village, and first thought of calling the bank to report the loss. Only, Zhang Cheng didn't remember the card number at all.

  What to do? Now there are only two roads in front of Zhang Cheng. One is to return to Guanhai City to find Cong Ye and retrieve the card. The other is to go back to Sifang City to find his apprentice, Ren Yusi, and let him report the loss to the bank.

  Immediately returning to Haicheng to find Cong Ye would be no different from jumping into a trap, so Zhang Cheng immediately vetoed the first option. That left only one choice: immediately return to Sifang City. Unfortunately for Zhang Cheng, all the cash he had on him was in his jacket pocket, and now that it was gone, how could he possibly get back to Sifang City?

  After thinking for a long time, he had no choice but to call Ren Yusi and ask him to hurry over. He also reminded Ren Yusi on the phone to remember to bring his ID card. They agreed on a location, and Zhang Cheng waited anxiously.

  It's okay, the disciple who had long been abandoned in his heart did not disappoint him and arrived at the agreed location before dark.

  "Master, what's going on?"

  "Cong Ye that beast, actually called the police, which led to Master's failure. Due to the urgent situation at the time, the jacket containing cash and the bank card you handled for Master was left at the scene by Master. Now it's unknown whether it's in Cong Ye's hands or the police's."

  "Has Di Rong made the payment?"

  "There isn't, but there's a bit of savings from Master over the past few years on it, so I must report it lost immediately."

  "Master, I didn't write down the card number either?"

  "Don't worry, just bring your ID card and go to the bank counter to report the loss."

  The master and apprentice naturally did not dare to return to Haicheng, but instead chose to head towards the southeast direction of Haicheng, a small coastal town 40 kilometers away - Xiangcheng. The next day when they arrived in the city, what left the master and apprentice desperate was that the bank would only open on the seventh day of the new year. Now it's only the third day, with three whole days to go.

  "What should I do, Master?"

  "Was the procedure for handling your bank card still at your residence in Sifangcheng at that time?"

  "It should be."

  "Alright, let's head back to Sifang City first."

  In Zhang Cheng's heart, what is most important now is that card, or the one million yuan on it. This is a matter of great importance to his future life.

  Zhang Cheng's attention to that card couldn't help but raise Ren Yusi's suspicions again. Had the master already gotten money from Di Rong? Otherwise, the master wouldn't be so concerned about a blank card. As for what the master said about his past savings being inside, Ren Yusi didn't believe it. He understood the master's style all too well - he was the type of person who lived in the moment and didn't worry about tomorrow: "If there's wine today, get drunk today; if there are worries tomorrow, worry about them tomorrow." What savings could he possibly have?

  Di Rong gave the money, but Master hid it from himself, what does that mean? Is he trying to swallow Di Rong's compensation money alone and abandon himself? Thinking of this, Ren Yusi suddenly felt a chill from head to toe.

  Is this the master who has always been like a father to him? All these years, he has been fighting and killing outside, and the money he earned can be said to have given all to his master. Just following Di Rong for a few years, the annual payment to his master is not less than 2 million. Ren Yu thought that no matter what, he would never think that his master would abandon him after being disabled and having one leg removed, and even swallow up the living expenses paid by Di Rong alone.

  The two men each had their own thoughts, rushing to Xiangcheng Railway Station. Ren Yusi bought two train tickets back to Sifang City and entered the waiting room, where they each found a seat. Xiangcheng was a small city, and the railway station was even smaller, with the waiting room being just a slightly larger flat house. Because Zhang Cheng had a guilty conscience, he naturally didn't want to draw anyone's attention, so after entering the waiting room, he hid in a corner.

  Ren Yusi, sitting opposite Zhang Chengxie, felt more and more uneasy. Did she still have to accompany this so-called master back to Sifang City? Not to mention whether the lost card could be found or whether the money on the card could be recovered, even if it was recovered, would the master give her a share? If the master was willing to give her a share, he probably wouldn't have hidden it from her.

  Silently lowering her head and thinking for a moment, Ren Yusi excused herself to go to the restroom, stood up, and limped out.

  If it were in peacetime, the astute and experienced Zhang Cheng would have probably discovered his disciple's abnormality long ago. However, now his mind is preoccupied with that card and the one million yuan matter, where does he still have the energy to pay attention to his crippled disciple? Two days ago when leaving Sifang City, he didn't plan on seeing him again, but now he has no choice but to find his disciple for help. After this is all over, Zhang Cheng will still abandon the crippled Ren Yusi.

  Ren Yusi came out of the shabby waiting room and walked along the way she had come, without stopping or looking back.

  Although he didn't have much money on him, it was enough to get back home. At this moment, Ren Yusi's heart suddenly rose with a strong sense of homesickness. How were his parents doing after all these years? Had that old broken courtyard changed at all? Ren Yusi walked while wiping away tears from the corner of his eyes. It had been so many years since he last cried, even he himself couldn't remember.

  Zhang Cheng in the waiting room heard a station staff shouting:

  The train is arriving soon, please go to the platform and wait.

  He opened his eyes and took a glance at the crowd in the waiting room, but surprisingly didn't see his apprentice Ren Yusi's figure. He thought maybe it was too stuffy inside, so he had gone to the platform early, and didn't think much of it, following the crowd out of the waiting room and onto the platform. There weren't many people boarding the train, fewer than ten in total. When Zhang Cheng still couldn't find Ren Yusi, he knew that he must have already left, which meant his apprentice had guessed that he had embezzled the compensation money, so he had quietly slipped away without a word.

  "Just leave then, you're just trash anyway."

  Zhang Cheng muttered to himself in his heart.

  Ren Yusi left, but it didn't affect Zhang Cheng's return to Sifang City. Now that he had the train ticket, as long as he returned to Sifang City and obtained the procedures Ren Yusi left behind when handling the bank card, he would know the card number and immediately call to report it lost. This way, on the seventh day of the new year when the bank opened for business, he could go to handle the procedures. As long as the bank card didn't fall into the police's hands, it should still be possible to get it back. After all, Cong Ye would also need to wait until the bank opened for business before she could take away that one million.

  Because Zhang Cheng did not know that after the development of modern technology, bank cards can be automatically transferred through ATMs. If it weren't for the fact that he usually sent his apprentices to handle things, Zhang Cheng wouldn't have been unaware.

  As soon as he got off the train, he rushed to his residence and easily found the procedures left by Ren Yusi when handling the bank card. The first thing to do after finding the card number was to call the bank to report the loss. Zhang Cheng added a thought when calling the bank, asking how to reissue a new card after reporting the loss. The answer he heard made Zhang Cheng, who still had a glimmer of hope, suddenly stunned on the spot.

  To reissue a bank card, you must go to the counter of the opening bank's outlet in person with your ID card.

  "What kind of stupid rule is this?!"

  After a long time, Zhang Cheng finally cursed. The bank card was handled by Ren Yusi, which means that Ren Yusi must take his own ID to the counter of the opening card network point for processing. If he had known this earlier, at Xiangcheng Railway Station, Zhang Cheng would have said something to bring Ren Yusi back.

  Zhang Cheng thought for half a day, but in the end he couldn't bear to part with the one hundred thousand yuan, so he decided to take a risk and return to Guanhai City to meet Cong Ye again. Even if it meant kneeling down and kowtowing to Cong Ye, as long as he could get that card back, it would be worth it.

  It's okay, Zhang Cheng found a deposit slip under his bed. This deposit slip was given to him by Ren Yusi as a temporary safekeeping when he gave him a large sum of cash in the past. After checking the balance, there were still over 2,000 yuan left, which was enough for Zhang Cheng to spend a few days in Guanhai City.

  Without saying another word, Zhang Cheng ran to the train station and bought a ticket for that night's train to Guanhai City.

  Zhang Cheng arrived at Guanhai City in the early morning of the second day of junior high school, met Ren Yusi who rushed over to Xiangcheng on the third day, returned to Sifang City early on the fourth day, and returned to Guanhai City again in the early morning of the fifth day.