Although Shane's mind was thrown into chaos by this sudden "fortune from the sky," he wasn't stupid enough to throw back something that had landed in his hands.
That would be an insult to the survival laws of the South Side.
He first cautiously poked half his head out to observe his surroundings.
The sirens were already faint, and the main road he was about to take was empty, with only a few scraps of waste paper swirling in the cold wind.
Thinking about it, it made sense. In America, especially in a place like the South Side, if you hear gunshots and don't run but stand there to watch the show?
That's purely a brain problem.
Anyone who ran a little slow would be in big trouble.
After confirming it was temporarily safe, he didn't immediately walk away with the sack. Instead, he scrutinized the surrounding environment more cautiously, looking for potential cameras.
After a thorough observation, he quickly analyzed in his heart.
In 2025, the penetration rate of cameras in the United States was far from reaching the "one post every two steps" level of some countries, let alone now in 2010.
At this point in time, you want to find clear and effective public cameras in the United States?
Then I suggest you try your luck in wealthy neighborhoods or downtown.
As for the current South Side of Chicago?
Come on! Being able to find old cameras that still work at those few major intersections would be thanking God, and even those few cameras would occasionally be shot out by some thugs with slingshots.
In the original show, by season ten, someone was robbed in the street at a bus stop and beaten bloody, but in the end, the police only said one sentence:
"Sorry, there's no surveillance nearby," and closed the case directly...
As for the clarity of 2010 civilian camera technology installed by roadside shops themselves?
Five meters away, capturing a blurry human figure would be good. It would be hard to distinguish between male and female, let alone see the face clearly.
In a place like the South Side, how many small shop owners would be willing to spend big money to get a good surveillance system?
After the analysis, Shane felt much more at ease.
---
But he didn't stupidly swagger through the market holding a sack of unknown origin directly.
He turned around, using the corner of the wall, the dumpster, and his own body to create a visual blind spot.
Immediately afterward, with a thought, he bought a common kraft paper bag from the System, then bought some vegetables and meat, stuffed the sack into the bottom of the shopping bag, and covered it tightly with the meat and vegetables.
Now, from the outside, he was just an ordinary South Side teenager returning from a cheap supermarket purchase.
He picked up this heavy "shopping bag," adjusted his expression, learned from the panicked passersby just now, put on just the right amount of panic on his face, lowered his head, and ran hurriedly toward the other end of the alley.
When he turned out from the other end of the alley and stepped onto the parallel street next to it, he found that it was also empty.
The people who were leisurely strolling just now had all disappeared.
There weren't many shops on this street to begin with; most were old residential houses. At this hour, people were out working or at school, so basically no one was home.
Shane held his bag of "groceries," walking hurriedly with a face of "lingering fear," his ears listening for movements in the distance. His superhuman perception from the fusion was also on full alert, afraid the sirens would return or someone was secretly following him.
Or sudden screeching of tires...
Finally, after deliberately detouring through several streets and passing through a few quiet paths, confirming there were no police cars behind him nor any suspicious characters following him.
Only then did he breathe a slight sigh of relief, quickened his pace, and walked toward home.
Walking to the door and opening it, the house was empty.
Shane didn't stay in the living room much. Holding this bag of "stuff," he rushed directly down to the basement.
Entering the bedroom and locking the door behind him, Shane finally lifted out the heavy sack.
Shane put on disposable gloves (delivered by Temu) and opened the bag.
What he pulled out first were two brick-sized blocks. The outer layer was wrapped in thick plastic wrap, and in the layers of plastic wrap, some brown powder was scattered.
This powder should be coffee grounds, used to mask the smell, a common trick used by gangs to interfere with police dogs' sense of smell.
Shane took out these two "bricks" and weighed them in his hands. They felt heavy and dense.
Buying a small electronic scale from the System, he placed the white brick on it to weigh.
1.005 kg.
"About one kilogram in total..." Shane estimated in his heart. "According to the black market prices in the South Side in my memory, these two pieces start at at least a hundred thousand dollars."
It seemed the reason these gang members threw this stuff out was that in case they were arrested, the absence of evidence could reduce their sentence (the sentencing difference between drug possession and resisting arrest with a gun is huge).
"So, got the goods, where's the money?" Shane's mind spun fast. "Since they were out distributing, they must have cash collected on them or in the car!"
He immediately moved the two hot "bricks" elsewhere and began rummaging through every corner of the sack.
Sure enough, besides some small bags of powder, he felt a smaller cloth bag in the folds at the bottom.
Shane couldn't wait to take out the bag and open it. Inside were several bundles of US dollars tied with rubber bands, and some scattered loose bills.
It looked like just a few thousand dollars.
"Fck!" Shane cursed low, somewhat disappointed. "Looks like they kept the bulk of the cash on them, or left it in some corner of the car."
Thinking carefully, this was actually very reasonable:
For drug dealers, keeping goods and money separate is a basic operation.
In case of a double-cross during a transaction or a police raid, they wouldn't lose everything at once.
Moreover, in a high-speed police chase, cash is the hardest to directly incriminate.
It was also possible they hid the main cash in a more concealed place in the car (like door panels, special chassis compartments) to facilitate a quick comeback after escaping.
And this sack containing most of the goods and a small amount of loose change became a "pawn" that could be discarded at any time.
Of course, it was also possible this bag was today's tail end of goods, only receiving a partial deposit, and most of the cash hadn't been received yet.
Although the big chunk was gone, Shane didn't feel too much pity; it was free anyway.
With a thought, Shane deposited this money directly into his account.
His personal account immediately became $25,295.64. When he withdrew it again, the personal account became $20,912.64 (Note: calculation corrected based on withdrawal amount, likely previous balance + 4383 - 4383).
The amount of this money was $4,383.
Shane looked at the more than four thousand dollars in cash on the table, then thought about the more than twenty thousand remaining in the System.
"Forget it," he made a decision.
"No need to force 'laundering' Peggy's stolen money. Just give this 'fallen from the sky' 4300 bucks to Fiona directly. It's just enough to solve the family's urgent needs and saves me the trouble of racking my brains to invent a winning lottery reason."