Gray Work

Bai Ge was discharged from the hospital after all. As long as he stood his ground, the hospital couldn't force him to stay.

He felt perfectly fine, his body in the same condition as if he'd never been sick.

It was this very state that made him feel he had a long life ahead of him, and he wanted to earn as much money as possible while he was feeling good.

If this were in the past, earning a million in a short period would have been an impossible dream.

But now, after learning he had a terminal illness, his mind had become clear and he felt free of all restraints.

Bai Ge loved his sister dearly. If he was truly going to die, he had to prepare a sum of money for her before he did.

For that, he was willing to lower his bottom line... a little.

"Manager Chen, about that job you mentioned last time..." Bai Ge said into his phone as he walked down the street.

The person on the other end replied, "Little White? Didn't you turn me down?"

"Yes, but I've thought it over and I can take it," Bai Ge said.

"Great, I'll transfer ten thousand to you now. It's the same as we discussed last time. Go to Tongwen Street to pick up the equipment, someone will be there to meet you," Manager Chen said, hanging up immediately.

Bai Ge put away his phone, touched the Golden Rooster Pendant around his neck, and without further hesitation, headed resolutely towards Tongwen Street.

On the way, he received a text message notification: ten thousand yuan had been added to his account.

He knew he had already taken that step. Once he accepted the money, he had to see the job through.

Even if the job wasn't entirely legal.

To put it nicely, Bai Ge's profession was that of a private investigator; to put it bluntly, he was a hired gun.

Manager Chen had offered twenty thousand yuan, with ten thousand as a deposit, for him to install a miniature camera and listening device in a wealthy man's home, and to… retrieve a document. It was a job that skirted the edges of legality, but it paid well and fast.

He used to be a law-abiding citizen. Now… he was desperate for money!

In the past, he only took on small jobs: helping people track their spouses, catching them cheating, and taking photos. Or finding someone who was in hiding for a client, or providing some intelligence for an employer…

The best kind of job, of course, was cooperating with the police, helping them find fugitives, and collecting a reward.

But such opportunities were rare. Small cities didn't have many major cases, and when they did, they were usually crimes of passion that the police could handle easily. There weren't many cunning criminals who planned their crimes meticulously and required outside help.

So, sometimes, when work was scarce, Bai Ge would even get into fights for people, providing muscle for a fee, earning some hard cash.

Gradually, he went from being a private investigator to a "fixer," long having abandoned any pretense of legitimate work.

He had even taken jobs from high school students who paid him a few hundred yuan to scare someone.

But there were many things he was unwilling to do. His father had been a Criminal Police Captain, and Bai Ge himself had attended the Police Academy. Although he dropped out before graduating and never became a police officer, he tried his best to avoid committing crimes, settling for merely breaking the law.

Ever since his father died in the line of duty, he had been able to support his sister's studies abroad with his father's pension, rent from a property his family owned, and his own earnings after dropping out of school.

However, even working himself to death, he could at most earn twenty thousand yuan a month, and sometimes less than ten thousand. While his own living expenses were manageable, his sister's tuition and living costs were a problem.

Being a private investigator was simply not a lucrative profession.

But he had no other choice. He had studied criminal investigation and had the skills to catch criminals. If he couldn't be a police officer, what else could he do?

Fortunately, in a third-tier city, he had no competition in this line of work, otherwise, he would have earned even less.

Now, with the dark cloud hanging over his head, Bai Ge appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was becoming increasingly anxious, desperately wanting to make quick money.

Trespassing and secretly installing surveillance equipment was merely illegal. But taking away an important business document was a crime.

The severity of the punishment would depend on the commercial losses caused by his actions; if the losses were substantial, he could face prison time.

Bai Ge was prepared for this.

It was simply because the payment for this single job was equivalent to his entire income for the past month!

He no longer had the luxury of time to earn money slowly.

Tongwen Street was a miscellaneous goods street in Xiangfan City, where one could buy all sorts of odds and ends, including pinhole cameras.

Bai Ge picked up a package of equipment from an electronics store and left.

The store was owned by a friend of Manager Chen, and everything he needed had been prepared. The rest was up to him.

Bai Ge first bought two braised pork hocks from a roadside stall, then took a taxi directly to Huangjia Garden in the city.

This was an area with high property values and tight security, where residents were either wealthy or influential. Outsiders like Bai Ge generally couldn't get in.

But it helped that… Manager Chen lived there too!

Manager Chen had already spoken to the security guards, so Bai Ge was able to get in after registering.

On the surface, Bai Ge was going to visit Manager Chen. However, as he passed a security checkpoint, he suddenly made a sharp turn, stepped onto a flowerbed, and, seizing the moment when no one was looking, headed straight for another villa.

He knew the field of view of the cameras like the back of his hand. With a glance at the model and placement height, he knew exactly where he could walk without being seen.

Having worked as a private investigator for over half a year, this wasn't his first time in Huangjia Garden. He knew the blind spots in the security and surveillance systems throughout the complex like the back of his hand.

Furthermore, he was well-informed about the mission target's circumstances. Although he hadn't intended to take this job at first, it didn't mean he hadn't investigated the target.

Sometimes, he had to actively seek out work. If he discovered something through his own discreet investigations, he might be able to proactively approach these wealthy businessmen and develop them into clients.

It was in this way that Bai Ge had developed Manager Chen into a client. They were old acquaintances, and both knew each other well. It was precisely because of this that Manager Chen dared to entrust Bai Ge with such a task.

Bai Ge, familiar with the routine, navigated through blind spots in surveillance that would be imperceptible to ordinary people, arriving at the wall of a villa.

He couldn't possibly use the main entrance; there were electronic eyes watching it, after all.

Muting his phone, he checked the time: 5:20 PM.

"If Hu Hanlong isn't home, he usually returns after 10 PM. His wife gets back around 6 PM. I still have forty minutes."

Bai Ge surveyed his surroundings, then suddenly leaped, scaling the wall in just a few movements.

The villa's wall was more for show than security; an average person could easily climb over it. Bai Ge's movements, however, were far more decisive, leaving no trace of footprints on the wall.

He had already put on his gloves. The moment he entered the villa's courtyard, his gaze fell upon a doghouse.

Next to the garage stood a large doghouse, inside which lay a dark, vicious dog.

With a powerful surge from its half-human height, the beast lunged, alerted to Bai Ge's intrusion.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

The ferocious barking echoed. The vicious dog was clearly a Tibetan Mastiff. While not purebred, its immediate, unhesitating attack would have sent most people fleeing in terror.

Bai Ge had anticipated this. Calmly, he produced a braised pork hock he had purchased earlier and tossed it over.

After all, it was a pet. Hu Hanlong, the wealthy businessman, hadn't deliberately trained the vicious dog to retain its wildness. With the food offered, the dog stopped barking. It sniffed the large hock, picked it up, and, drooling, retreated into its doghouse.

"Heh."

Ignoring the dog, Bai Ge skirted the front-facing cameras and climbed up to a second-floor window from the side.

Most of the villa's windows were open, negating the need for lock-picking.

Bai Ge's timing was perfect. He slipped past the line of sight of a patrolling security guard and entered the villa.

In a high-end residential area like this, especially with a vicious dog in the yard, residents wouldn't maintain heightened vigilance. Moreover, there were people inside.

The weather was excellent today, so leaving a window open for ventilation was common. With Bai Ge's calculated approach and the resident's lack of suspicion, he entered without even needing to display much of his skill.

He glanced into the living room. A maid was watching TV, lounging on the sofa as if she owned the place.

Bai Ge smiled, not disturbing her.

The maid hadn't even bothered to check when the vicious dog started barking outside earlier, clearly not a very responsible employee.

Next, he proceeded with practiced ease to install his equipment. He discreetly placed cameras in all the bedrooms, the study, and even the bathrooms.

In less than twenty minutes, he had finished installing a total of forty cameras and twelve listening devices throughout the villa.

These were placed with extreme stealth. Bai Ge was confident that unless a thorough deep clean was conducted, ordinary people wouldn't find them.

Throughout the entire process, Bai Ge made no sound. The maid in the living room on the first floor remained completely unaware that a stranger had been walking around the house, placing cameras everywhere.

A listening device was even silently hidden in the very sofa she was lounging on.

"The documents should be in the safe in the study."

Bai Ge searched the study and indeed found a safe that required both a password and a key.

However, Bai Ge didn't need such hassle. He directly removed the safe from its place on the desk. It wasn't that he intended to pry it open; this wasn't an ordinary safe, and forcing it open would be impossible.

He took a box from his shoulder bag. Inside was thermite, prepared by a shopkeeper on Tongwen Street at his request.

Thermite can instantly reach temperatures of around 3,000 degrees Celsius. The back of this safe was merely cold-rolled steel, which would be no different from paper in front of thermite, melting directly into molten iron.

Bai Ge had conducted numerous experiments and knew precisely how much thermite was needed to melt the safe without burning through the steel plate and destroying its contents.

He placed a tiny amount of thermite on the back of the safe, covered it with cotton to act as an oxidizer, and then inserted a magnesium strip. With a crisp snap, molten iron erupted from the steel plate, sparks flying. The intense reaction created a visually dramatic effect.

Bai Ge had taken all necessary precautions and remained unharmed.

Once the reaction subsided, the steel plate hadn't melted through due to the small dosage. However, seizing the opportunity, Bai Ge took a chisel and forcefully poked it through the back of the safe, creating a small hole.

Bai Ge carefully enlarged the hole and peered inside, his expression freezing.

"So much money..."

Bai Ge gave a wry smile. He estimated there was at least 300,000 yuan in this safe alone.

However, he steadied himself, focusing his attention on a single document, packaged in a plastic bag.

Even now, wanting money as he did, his bottom line was still to 'earn' it, not to steal it.

Although taking the agreement now would technically be theft, he could rationalize it as a "mission," a job he was paid to do.

"If I wanted this money, I'd just become a master thief. Why would I take a job..." Bai Ge thought to himself. Yet, he knew that in the eyes of the law, there was no difference. It was merely a hypocritical form of self-consolation.

His expression grew serious. Using a bamboo skewer with some adhesive, he rolled up the agreement and retrieved it through the hole in the back.

Upon reading the contents of the agreement, Bai Ge broke out in a cold sweat.

He knew it was an equity custody agreement, but he had no idea it was worth so much.

"Four percent of Shanhe Group's shares. That's worth at least tens of millions. He just keeps it at home?" Bai Ge didn't fully understand the implications of a secret custody agreement, but according to criminal law, causing such a massive loss to someone else could easily land him seven years in prison if caught.

It seemed incredibly foolish to steal something worth tens of millions for a mere twenty thousand yuan, only to return the item to its owner while risking jail time himself.

But Bai Ge knew he couldn't pocket this. That would be truly suicidal. He wouldn't do that; it would be an insult to his profession.

"Ha... I'm as good as dead anyway..."

"But I have to save enough safe money for my sister."