Chapter 41

It took a while before Gao Huiyu realized what was happening. She shouted, “Let go of me, you bitch! Do you hear me? I’m telling you to let go!” Ying ignored Gao Huiyu’s cries, pulled her out of the teaching building, then released her hand and stood silently to the side.

Xie Wendong thought to himself, “Oh no,” and rushed out as well, not knowing what to do. Gao Huiyu, with tears in her eyes, looked at Xie Wendong, unable to speak for a long time, her distress beyond expression.

Xie Wendong sighed and took Gao Huiyu’s hand, saying, “Xiaoyu, listen to me. It’s not what you think! She…”

Before Xie Wendong could finish, Gao Huiyu shook his hand off forcefully and shouted at him, “Xie Wendong, good job! Remember what happened today!” After saying that, she wiped away her tears, covered her mouth, and ran outside the school.

Xie Wendong felt sad and couldn’t let her leave. He rushed over and hugged Gao Huiyu, saying, “Xiaoyu, there’s nothing between us. You’re overthinking things. Please don’t act so unreasonable!”

Unreasonable? Xie Wendong’s words made Gao Huiyu even sadder. She choked up and said, “Fine, I’m being unreasonable. I’m in your way. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other! You can be happy with that bitch now!”

“You… you…” Xie Wendong couldn’t understand what was wrong with Gao Huiyu today. Usually, even though Xiaoyu was a bit childish, she wouldn’t be so unreasonable! Xie Wendong was clueless about relationships, let alone understanding girls’ feelings. He was filled with disappointment at Gao Huiyu’s lack of trust in him. But he didn’t know what women couldn’t stand the most!

Ying stepped forward and said calmly to Gao Huiyu, “I think you’ve misunderstood my relationship with Brother Dong. I’m just his bodyguard!”

Driven mad by jealousy, Gao Huiyu didn’t believe Ying’s words. Instead, she thought she was being threatened and, without thinking, slapped Ying across the face. Ying didn’t dodge. Instead, she quickly grabbed Gao Huiyu’s wrist and said in a cold voice, “You’d better watch your behavior. I don’t care who you are. Don’t do this again, or I won’t be gentle with you!” After saying that, she released her hand and stared at Gao Huiyu with a cold gaze.

Gao Huiyu shuddered helplessly and looked at Xie Wendong. He stood there without saying anything. He also thought Xiaoyu was going too far. Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing for Ying to teach her a lesson. Seeing that Xie Wendong remained unmoved, Gao Huiyu’s tears flowed again. She felt both cold and painful, as if thawing yet also as if stabbed hard.

Gao Huiyu watched the two of them slowly backing away, a sense of helplessness filling her heart. At that moment, a young man ran over from the school entrance—about 1.80 meters tall, with fair skin and a gentle appearance, wearing glasses. He came to stand behind Gao Huiyu, placed his hand on her shoulder, and asked softly, “Xiaoyu, what’s wrong?” Hearing this, Gao Huiyu turned around, looked at the man behind her, said nothing, and threw herself into his arms, crying loudly. A hint of surprise flashed in the man’s eyes as he wrapped his arms around the girl he had long admired. Xie Wendong saw everything happen; his heart burned with anger—Gao Huiyu had thrown herself into someone else’s arms!? His clenched fists turned white. Taking a deep breath, he suppressed his urge to kill and slowly walked over, saying coldly, “If you want to stay alive, get your filthy hands off her!” The voice, like that from hell, made the young man’s heart pound violently. Unconsciously, he removed his hands from Gao Huiyu’s back and looked at Xie Wendong. Seeing that it was a boy around sixteen or seventeen, he seemed no different except for his icy eyes. Encouraged by this, he demanded angrily, “Kid, who do you think you are to talk big here? Do you know who I am?” Xie Wendong smirked coldly. “Whoever you are, if you dare touch her again, I’ll make sure you regret it!” Faced with Xie Wendong’s overwhelming presence, the young man sensed death and stepped back in fear. He knew that such a formidable aura required strength, and even his own father couldn’t match this boy’s power. Suddenly, he remembered someone and couldn’t help asking, “Are you… Xie Wendong?” “It’s none of your business who I am. Now get lost right now, and I might consider sparing you!” Hearing Xie Wendong’s words, Gao Huiyu snapped, “Xie Wendong, who do you think you are? Do you think everyone in the world is afraid of you?” Xie Wendong’s face turned blue with anger as he stared at Gao Huiyu, unable to speak. Gao Huiyu pulled at the young man’s sleeve and said, “Li Feng, let’s go! Ignore him!”

That young man was Li Feng, the son of the Triad elder Li Shiming. Pulling on his sleeve, Gao Huiyu made him realize that the other party was just a lackey of the Triad! His own father was an elder of the Triad, someone even Gao Zhen had to show respect to—so why should he be afraid of this guy? With that thought, Li Feng laughed and said, “Xie Wendong, I’m sorry. It was Xiaoyu who pulled me away. See you next time!” With that, he walked out of school alongside Gao Huiyu, subtly placing one hand on her waist. He glanced back at Xie Wendong with a sinister smile. Meanwhile, Gao Huiyu was so flustered that she didn’t notice Li Feng’s actions.

Xie Wendong gritted his teeth as he watched the two leave, remaining motionless for a long time. Ying stood quietly behind him, saying nothing, feeling a hint of guilt toward Xie Wendong.

After a while, Xie Wendong sat down on the curb and punched the tree beside him fiercely. “Damn it! Curse!” Ying stepped forward and silently said, “You should chase after her and explain things clearly!” Xie Wendong smiled bitterly. “Do you think Xiaoyu will listen to any explanation now?” Ying remained silent. “I’m sorry. It’s because of me…” Xie Wendong waved his hand to stop Ying from apologizing and shook his head. “What’s meant to happen will happen! Xiaoyu doesn’t trust me—this day would have come sooner or later! I’m just worried about that Li Feng. I’m afraid he’ll do something to Xiaoyu…” Xie Wendong sighed and couldn’t continue.

Ying said nothing, staying by Xie Wendong’s side.

At noon, Gao Hui Mei heard about Xie Wendong and her sister and went to see him. Having been depressed all morning, Xie Wendong finally found someone to talk to and spent a long time discussing things with Gao Hui Mei. As for this situation, Gao Hui Mei wasn’t sure whether to be happy or worried—maybe both. She still hadn’t let go of her feelings for Xie Wendong, but since her sister had established a relationship with him first, she had to keep those feelings buried. Now that their relationship was in crisis, she felt a little happy, but mostly concerned for her sister, not wanting to see Gao Hui Yu sad.

Gao Hui Mei told Xie Wendong a lot, especially about girls’ feelings. “It’s unbearable for a girl to see her loved one with another girl, let alone when her loved one even allows that girl to scold her. Xiaoyu has always been spoiled. Of course she can’t accept this sudden change. You really don’t understand girls’ feelings!” Hearing this, Xie Wendong felt somewhat regretful, realizing he might have gone too far. He asked, “So what should I do now?” Gao Hui Mei smiled and said, “You should sincerely apologize to Xiaoyu! Maybe that way, there’s still a chance to save things.”

Xie Wendong was somewhat embarrassed. He wanted to apologize, but recalling how Gao Huiyu had let Li Feng hug her waist as she left in front of him, anger flared up again in his heart. Yet he didn’t say any of this to Gao Hui Mei, merely nodding and uttering a few words in response.

Feeling upset, Xie Wendong went to look for San Yan that night, while Li Shuang went to drink. San Yan could tell Xie Wendong was preoccupied and asked what was wrong. But Xie Wendong remained silent, just drinking cup after cup. At sixteen, he finally began to experience the bitterness and helplessness of love.

He didn’t know how much alcohol he had consumed, but eventually he got drunk—so thoroughly that he knew nothing and was unconscious. San Yan and Li Shuang helped him back to the hotel.

From then on, there was a cold war in the relationship between Xie Wendong and Gao Huiyu. Neither of them took the initiative to reconcile, though they both still cared deeply for the other. Even when they happened to meet at school, they would turn away and pretend not to see each other. Later, finding it awkward to keep running into Gao Huiyu, Xie Wendong stopped going to school often and spent his days busy with the gang.

During this time, many things happened in City J. First, the mayor was transferred (of course, it was a lateral transfer! He went to City S to continue as mayor—a practice common in the 1990s, where a mayor who failed to manage a city well would be transferred to another city to hold the same position!). A new mayor took office. Then, the party secretary claimed he was too old and voluntarily resigned. Half of the other government officials were transferred or resigned, and Director Chen from the city bureau also didn’t escape—he was transferred to City Y to become a nominal, ineffective director. This major upheaval could be described as a complete reshuffle of City J’s government.

The new mayor started large-scale construction projects, vowing to turn City J into a modern, new-style city.

The new director of the city bureau was surnamed Cheng. Remembering the lessons from his own appointment, he focused on controlling the city’s gangs. Shortly after taking office, he deployed all police forces to conduct a thorough inspection of commercial establishments in City J, implementing a “four-pronged campaign” (cracking down on crime, prostitution, drugs, and gambling). As a result, gangsters became panicked, and gang-related violence dropped significantly. The people of City J also had great confidence in this new director, believing they could finally live in peace.

Wendong Gang is a major drug trafficking organization and one of the most powerful in City J. Yet it couldn’t escape the crackdown campaign this time—five of its operations were shut down on the same day, and over twenty people were arrested by the police. The Triad fared even worse, involved in gambling, prostitution, and drug trafficking. The newly appointed city police chief, aware that the Triad is the largest gang in City J, wanted to use it to prove his determination and shut down twenty of their operations, arresting hundreds of people. Other gangs also suffered crackdowns, and they were furious, cursing the new chief for pushing City J’s underworld back at least five years.