The Book of Sins by Chen Xiwo

Author:Chen Xiwo [Chen Xiwo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789881677549
Publisher: Make-Do Publishing
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

7

I started hanging round the Commercial Bank almost every day, checking out the lay of the land, watching the security vans with their metal safes full of bank notes packed tight as pancakes make their morning and evening drop offs. I tried to figure out how Lexus was going to do the job. I was like a meek little lamb, looking up at its mother’s teats. He was my lifeline, the source of all my knowledge.

This particular bank was the perfect place for a robbery. There was no space in front or behind and the pavement guard railings went right up to the front door, so the vans had to stop on a side road 50 metres away – I paced it out to be sure. While they were carrying the safes they were the perfect target. Those 50 metres – anything could happen. The guards escorted them every step of the way, but so what? They had guns and uniforms, but could they shoot? They looked pretty hard, of course, their faces as taut as bowstrings. But all you’d have to do was give them a fright. Throw a bomb at them – pow! Shit! I’d make a pretty good robber.

Anyone could rob a bank.

I figured Lexus must have hidden some kind of explosive along the street somewhere, so day after day I searched every nook and cranny. One of my dad’s old colleagues found me a job in his company, 800 yuan a month. It was more money than I’d ever earned before, but I turned him down flat. My dad was furious, shouting ‘What job are you going to get then? Tell me that?’ I just smiled and didn’t answer. I didn’t need to answer. I went to the Construction Bank every day. That was my job. It was like a pilgrimage. I hung around, trying to work out what Lexus was thinking. I never dreamed of doing the robbery myself, I swear it on Chairman Mao! I was a good man, an honest one. I just wanted to watch, to know if the job would go the way I had imagined, as if there was a prize for getting it right. I didn’t even want the prize.

October 1st. National Day.

East Chang’An Avenue was heaving, crawling with police. The air was fragile as a light bulb.

A troop of primary school children came by clutching plastic flowers and flags – a bit of colour for the military parade. They were lined up in front so they could get a good view, their faces shining with happiness. One of them was running backwards and forwards in excitement. He can’t have been more than five years old, he’d never seen a parade, never in his entire life. There was so much going on, one fun thing after another. Public holidays always made me happy as a kid. What was the name of that Jason Zhang song: ‘I want to tell the future, I feel so brave today … ’ Shane Cao had sung it too.

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