My Grandpa And I Went To Bank Teller: ‘I Have No Time For Poor Folks!’ But Grandpa Smirked And Said

The Bribe and the Evidence

The president took out a piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on the desk. It was a check for $10 million. It was clearly a bribe. A deep furrow appeared between Grandpa’s brows.

“I’m not someone you can easily fool. If you say it’s not enough, I’ll add more. I hope this will appease your anger.”

Paul’s hands rubbing together, trying to get closer to Grandpa, looked utterly brown-noser. I was getting fed up and just wanted to wrap things up and leave.

“This isn’t about the money. Can’t you even understand that?”

“Of course, I’ll make John resign, but this check is a gesture of my goodwill.”

“Wait, Dad! Why am I resigning?”

“Quiet! It’s your responsibility.”

“But wasn’t it your policy to increase profits? My branch had good sales! Wasn’t that the answer?”

“Just shut up! If you hadn’t messed up, we wouldn’t be in this mess. There must have been a better way.”

“Excuse me, can I say something?”

I interrupted the bickering father and son.

“Regarding the profits your son mentioned, we’ve received complaints from the residents of Nebraska about aggressive sales tactics for financial products like investment trusts and insurance. Some people even mentioned being scammed into signing contracts. I’ve consolidated these complaints and consulted with the Better Business Bureau. I expect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to intervene soon.”

“What?”

I placed a printout listing the complaints on the desk. Paul snatched it up to check the contents.

“I assume many of your clients will be cancelling their bank accounts soon, so you better be prepared. And now, here comes the main part.”

I slowly took out my tablet and began navigating. Displayed were a series of numbers.

“See this? Here, here, and here too. These are unauthorized withdrawals.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you get it? These are withdrawal records from your bank.”

“What? How do you have that data?”

“Well, who knows?”

I tried to play dumb with a smirk, but the two in front of me were turning red and then pale. Yes, this data was crucial evidence of the bank’s wrongdoing. They had created fictitious accounts in John’s branch and deposited money into them—evidence of embezzlement.

The Hacker Reveal

Furthermore, I operated my tablet again.

“And these are John’s stock trading records. On several occasions, he bought a large number of stocks just before their prices rose and then sold them all after the increase. It’s so predictable it’s almost funny. This is insider trading, isn’t it? Did you leak information to your son, Paul?”

“I also have evidence here. You should be careful with your email exchanges. If you don’t delete them regularly, you never know who might read them.”

Displayed on the tablet were John’s email records. Leaving such evidence behind when committing wrongdoings was plain naive. This information was given to me by someone. Emily Mishra worked at another bank and was essentially a spy.

She had sensed something fishy about Paul and John and was discretely aiming to bring them down. She had accessed John’s computer, saved the records, and sent the data to me. Moreover, I obtained the necessary data by hacking based on that information.

I am a white hat hacker who also collaborates with the cybercrime division of the FBI. I received a request from the FBI to gather information. Thanks to Emily, a collaborator, this time things progressed easily. I consulted with a trusted FBI agent and successfully exposed the wrongdoing.

“Of course, this evidence has also been handed over to the FBI, so agents with arrest warrants should be arriving here soon.”

When I relayed this, Paul collapsed to his knees as if defeated.

“It’s… it’s over.”

Justice Served

The outside of the room suddenly became noisy. It seems the agents have arrived. The two men in front of me were so shocked they could only let out silent screams.

The next day, the front pages of newspapers were all about the scandal involving the local bank CEO and his son. It was even covered on national news, making me realize how big of an issue it was. Due to the CEO’s misconduct and policies that were too profit-focused, the bank’s reputation plummeted.

Eventually, it was decided that it would be merged with a rival bank. Of course, that bank was the one where Emily had worked.

In the end, whether it was the arrest of the CEO and his son that put Grandpa at ease or not, he didn’t move his deposit to another company. Well, it involved a significant amount of money, so maybe that was for the best.

While glancing at the talk show discussing the bank scandal, Grandpa and I were sipping our tea. I slowly drank the piping hot tea and nibbled on some cookies. Even though Grandpa turned 80 this year, he still had strong teeth to crunch on hard cookies. He’s so lively that I’m sure he’ll live a long life.

“I hope so. I want him to live up to around 150.”

“By the way, Mike, how’s Emily doing?”

Upon hearing Grandpa’s words, I almost spit out my tea.

“Hu— Grandpa, why do you ask?”

“There’s nothing I don’t know. So, how’s she?”

“Oh, we just text on Messenger. That’s all.”

Since then, I exchanged contacts with Emily and became friends. She’s considerate and has a great sense of humor, so it’s always fun talking to her. Right now, she’s one of my good friends.

“You could at least invite her for dinner, right? I’d love to hold my great-grandchild.”

“All right, all right. You’re going to live another 70 years, right Grandpa? Maybe even see your great-grandchild’s child.”

“Well, as much as I’d like to think so, 150 years might be pushing it. But with the advancements in medicine, who knows?”

It seems Grandpa has plans to live a long life. I’d love to see him in the Guinness World Records. Before I knew it, the news had moved on to another topic. Upon noticing, Grandpa, with a huff, stood up and grabbed his straw hat for the garden.

Looking at him, he’s just a regular old man, and I’d never guess the authority he once held. He’s kind to those around him and well-liked, but when it comes down to it, he’s super cool. I hope to be like Grandpa someday.

I never want to be blinded by money, look down on others, or commit crimes. I made a silent vow to become an upright person just like Grandpa—someone even his own grandchildren can look up to.