Chapter 18

Xinxin Billiards Hall. It was packed with people, both men and women, most of the women being quite young. Some were playing billiards, while others were chatting in groups; everyone’s face showed excitement. In the back room, six people sat around a round table. Xie Wendong sat in the middle with a slight frown.

Sanyan said loudly, “Brother Dong, now that we have our own place, we can decide how to make money as we see fit. Prostitution, gambling, and drugs are the fastest ways for the underworld to make money. Brother Dong, what do you think we should do…?”

Li Shuang laughed and said, “Brother Dong, I think we should go for prostitution! It can earn us money, and our own brothers can get some benefits too! Right, Sanyan?”

Sanyan glared at him, “Damn, you idiot will never see the back of your own head in your life!” “I’m telling the truth!” …

Xie Wendong interrupted them, saying, “I hate those involved in prostitution, and I certainly won’t do it myself. Any other opinions?”

Li Shuang shrank back, stood up, and said loudly, “That’s exactly what I wanted to say! I have no objections! We’re not the kind of people who force others into prostitution. I…”

Gao Qiang cut off Li Shuang’s nonsense, “I think drugs might work, but we don’t have any connections or capital!” His words woke everyone up and hit the nail on the head—no matter how much they debated, it was pointless without capital.

Xie Wendong nodded and said, “One of the main purposes of this meeting is to get everyone to come up with ideas so that the gang can have a solid financial foundation!” After hearing this, no one spoke; they all lowered their heads in thought.

After a while, Sanyan asked the group, “Does anyone know about a gang called the Tiger Gang?”

He Haoran nodded and said, “I’ve heard of it. It seems to be a gang organized by Russian criminals in China to facilitate smuggling. Sanyan, are you planning to target them?”

“Hehe!” Sanyan laughed. “They’ve been smuggling frequently in the suburbs. I don’t know what they’re smuggling, but I guess it must be valuable. If we could take it from them, the gang would have money right away!”

Zhang Yanjiang shook his head and said, “The Tiger Gang can fight fiercely against the three major underground gangs—so you can imagine how powerful they are. Going after them is like throwing eggs at a rock; the consequences are beyond our bearing!”

Xie Wendong looked at everyone and asked Sanyan, “Brother Zhang, how much money do we have now?” All the money in the gang was in Sanyan’s hands, and Xie Wendong only had a rough idea; he didn’t know the exact amount. Sanyan thought for a moment and said, “It’s a little over forty thousand and less than fifty thousand. If we sell the heroin we stole from those prostitutes, we might have around seventy thousand!”

Xie Wendong shook his head. This amount of money couldn’t solve any problems for a gang that was just starting out. After some thought, he touched the Type 54 pistol he had stolen from Se Maow, then said loudly, “I need guns. Does anyone know how to get them?”
Gao Qiang smiled and said, “Brother Dong, I know how. But they might not be good guns!”
Xie Wendong said, “Qiangzi, tell me more!”
Gao Qiang whispered, “I have a relative who lives in a village near City S. It’s mountainous there, and the villagers make a little money by hunting in the mountains. The government is also quite lax about gun control there. When I visited him before, his family alone had three hunting guns and one Type 54 pistol—just what I saw. He said his family even has grenades from the war against Japan! Hehe, probably expired and unusable by now.”
Xie Wendong nodded and said after thinking, “Brother Zhang, give Qiangzi 50,000 yuan quickly. Qiangzi, go to your relative’s place later and buy as many guns as you can with this money, especially Type 54 pistols. They’re convenient to carry and highly safe!”
Gao Qiang laughed and said, “Brother Dong, leave it to me. Just wait and see!”
Xie Wendong said to San Yan, “Brother Zhang, help me find out where the Mighty Tiger Gang conducts their deals and how many people are involved. This time, we’ll take them down!”
San Yan’s eyes flashed coldly as he said, “Brother Dong, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to find out everything clearly.” Seeing that Xie Wendong had made up his mind, although they were a bit scared, they knew that whatever Brother Dong said he could do, it would always succeed. Xie Wendong’s authority had long been firmly established in their hearts. They were young people who longed to do something remarkable, so they were somewhat excited and eager about taking down the Mighty Tiger Gang.
Xie Wendong glanced at everyone present, then turned to Zhang Yanjiang and said, “Yanjiang, talk about establishing a gang system!”
Zhang Yanjiang nodded at Xie Wendong, stood up, and said loudly, “The state has its laws, and the family has its rules. Since we’ve established a gang now, we should have a complete system and rules. I won’t go into too much detail about the rules; there are regulations here that everyone can take a look at later. Let me talk about the gang’s structure!”

Zhang Yanjiang took a breath, glanced at everyone, and seeing that they were all listening attentively, he smiled slightly and said, “Our gang’s name will be Wendong Gang. There are four branches under it: the Dragon Branch, the Tiger Branch, the Leopard Branch, and the Law Enforcement Branch. There’s also an organization called ‘Dark.’ I think everyone understands what these four branches mean. Let me explain ‘Dark.’ To help us obtain more information and organize it systematically, Brother Dong established this organization specifically. The role of ‘Dark’ is to investigate any information that could be useful to us by any means necessary. From now on, it will be the eyes of Wendong Gang! I think everyone gets it now!” After saying that, Zhang Yanjiang sat down.

Xie Wendong said, “Let me go over everyone’s positions. These are only temporary; there will be changes in the future. Zhang Zhidong is the head of the Dragon Branch, Li Shuang is the head of the Tiger Branch, He Haoran is the head of the Leopard Branch, Zhang Yanjiang is the head of the Law Enforcement Branch, and Gao Qiang is in charge of ‘Dark’! Does everyone understand?” Everyone looked excited and replied in unison, “We understand! Brother Dong!”

Li Shuang scratched his head and asked, “I wonder which branch those girls in the gang should be assigned to?”

Xie Wendong was stunned. Sanyan kicked Li Shuang under the table and said sarcastically, “Damn, I’m giving them all to you, okay?!”

Li Shuang yelped from the kick, but after hearing Sanyan’s words, he nodded vigorously, “Okay, okay, give them all to me! I want them all!” Sanyan almost lost his temper from anger.

Xie Wendong laughed and said, “I’m not giving them to anyone. I have other plans!” Li Shuang immediately became disheartened, glared at Sanyan, who was sneering, and stopped talking.

The girls Li Shuang mentioned were those pretty girls who had been harassed by Color Cat at first. They were all students from No. 1 Middle School. If their parents weren’t dead, their families were single-parent households, lacking parental care. They had already been troublemakers since middle school, and things got even worse when they started hanging around No. 1 Middle School. After Xie Wendong arrived, they naturally joined Wendong Gang, becoming a unique part of it. Though they appeared delicate, they had vicious hearts, as shown by the knife wound on Color Cat’s arm.

Xie Wendong stood up and said, “Yanjiang has a list of members for each branch. Everyone, get one and find out who your subordinates are. That’s it for today’s meeting. No one is allowed to reveal anything from this meeting.” Then he turned to Gao Qiang and said, “Qiangzi, find a few brothers to accompany you. Set off now—the sooner you return, the better. Brother Zhang, go get money for Qiangzi!”

Sanyan and Gao Qiang nodded in agreement and turned to leave. Xie Wendong called them back and warned, “Qiangzi, take a taxi both ways—don’t let the police catch you!” Gao Qiang laughed and said, “Brother Dong, don’t worry. I know all that. Nothing will go wrong!” With that, he and Sanyan walked out.

Wendong also entered a period of rest. After working hard for several days, Xie Wendong could finally take a break. After saying goodbye to his friends, he took a car home and fell into a deep sleep. Around 6 p.m., the ringing of the phone woke him up. “Oh no, why isn’t anyone answering the phone?!” With messy hair, Xie Wendong came out of his room.

“Hello?” “Hello! It’s Xiaoyu. Let’s go eat dinner tonight!”

“Sister Xiaoyu, I want to sleep at home. I’m so tired!” “You lazybones! No sleeping. I don’t care—you must come with me to dinner. After that, we’ll watch the movie Titanic. It’s said to be really good!”

“Ah, miss, let me sleep a little longer!” “No, no! If you don’t come, I’ll go to your house to find you!”

“Okay, fine! Where should I meet you?” “Wait for me at my house entrance. I’ll come out as soon as I see you!”

“OK, see you in a bit!” “Bye!”

Xie Wendong washed his face to sober up. Not knowing where his parents were, he got dressed and went outside.

When he arrived at Gao Huiyu’s house, Xie Wendong waited for a while before seeing Gao Huiyu bounce out of the alley. She grabbed his sleeve and said, “Why are you so slow? I’ve been waiting for ages!”

Xie Wendong complained, “I was still sleeping when the phone rang! It takes time to get ready before coming out! Besides, our houses are so far apart!”

Gao Huiyu thought it made sense and, with a smile, pulled Xie Wendong along. “Let’s go eat first. The movie is about to start!”

“Oh!” Xie Wendong casually asked, “What time does the movie start?” Gao Huiyu replied anxiously, “It starts at 9!” Xie Wendong felt dizzy. “Miss, it’s only a little past 6. Why go so early?!”

Gao Huiyu laughed. “It takes two or three hours to eat, right?!” Xie Wendong shook his head speechlessly.

Just as the two had walked about ten meters away from Gao Huiyu’s house, they happened to meet Gao Hui Mei, who had just returned. Seeing the two walking closely together, Gao Hui Mei felt heartache, and her expression turned ugly. She nodded at Xie Wendong and asked, “Where are you two going?”

Before Xie Wendong could speak, Gao Huiyu rushed to say, “Elder sister, Wen Dong and I are going to eat!”

Gao Hui Mei uttered an “Oh” and said, “It just so happens I haven’t eaten either. I’ll go with you!”
Although Gao Hui Yu didn’t want to take her sister along, she felt too embarrassed to refuse and glanced at Xie Wen Dong. When Xie Wen Dong saw Gao Hui Yu looking at him, he turned around and found Gao Hui Mei staring at him as well. Feeling dizzy, he chuckled and said, “Well then, it’s more lively with more people. Let’s go eat together!”
After hearing this, Gao Hui Yu secretly pinched Xie Wen Dong’s arm hard with her small hand holding his sleeve. The pain made Xie Wen Dong grit his teeth; he almost cried, thinking, “Oh no, it must be bruised!”
Seeing Xie Wen Dong’s pale expression, Gao Hui Mei lowered her head and said, “If I go, I’ll disturb you. I’d better not go then!”
Noticing Gao Hui Mei’s lowered head and trembling shoulders, thinking she was upset, Xie Wen Dong quickly said, “How could that be! I’d be happy if my elder sister came with us! It won’t disturb us at all!”
Gao Hui Yu nodded and said, “Yes! Come with us, elder sister!” Then she pinched the same spot on Xie Wen Dong’s arm again. This time he didn’t feel pain because his arm had gone numb…
Xie Wen Dong could guarantee that this meal was by far the worst he had ever had. In the restaurant, trapped between the two sisters, he kept his head down and ate silently, not daring to say a word. He knew that no matter which one of them he talked to, the other would make his life difficult. Gao Hui Mei and Gao Hui Yu, on the other hand, ate with great relish, chatting as they ate, making Xie Wen Dong feel utterly redundant in the middle.
It seemed like an eternity passed before Xie Wen Dong and the two sisters finally finished eating that tasteless meal. As they left the restaurant, Xie Wen Dong let out a long sigh of relief. But the next words from Gao Hui Mei almost knocked him out. “Let’s go watch a movie!”
Xie Wen Dong nodded mechanically and said, “Okay!… Okay!… Watch a movie!… Watch a movie!”
Gao Hui Yu rolled her eyes and said nothing. By the time Xie Wen Dong got home, it was almost 11 o’clock. He couldn’t remember anything about the movie—he fell asleep right after the beginning. All he knew was that it was called “Titanic.” This fact satisfied Xie Wen Dong. At least no one would say he went to see a movie without even knowing its title.

After that incident, Xie Wendong found it strange that whenever he went out alone with either of the Gao Hui Mei sisters, the other one would arrive within no more than five minutes. His explanation was that there must be some kind of telepathy between the two sisters. But being caught between two beautiful women wasn’t as enjoyable as others thought; only he knew the hardships and joys involved.

Ever since the incident at Guiwo, Xie Wendong had never gone there himself; it was always Sanyan who kept an eye on things. According to the rules of the underworld, 30% of the club’s revenue went to Wendong’s gang. The owner of Guiwo was a beautiful woman in her late twenties or early thirties who didn’t come there often. Everyone called her Sister Shui, and few knew her real name, nor did anyone bother to ask. Sister Shui seemed indifferent to the changes in the gangs overseeing the club. In this line of work, you needed connections above and strong local gangs below. Without those connections, the police could shut you down within three days. Only with powerful local gangs would no one dare to cause trouble. Although Wendong’s gang was newly established, it had many members who were willing to fight to the death. Sister Shui was still confident in these people to keep an eye on things.

Sanyan sold out all the heroin he stole from Se Mao at Guiwo within three days, making a quick profit of nearly 40,000. Everyone was amazed in secret at how quickly money could be made from the drug trade.