Chapter 97

Xie Wendong gritted his teeth in pain, but if he was going to pretend, he would go all the way! Sitting up drowsily, he pretended to be innocent and whispered to Peng Ling, “Xiaoling, what’s wrong? Lie down quickly—it’s too cold!”
“Lie down with you, you big idiot?” Peng Ling took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “Explain to me clearly—where is this? Why am I here? Why… why am I sleeping in the same bed as you…”
Before Peng Ling could finish speaking, Xie Wendong inwardly groaned. He hadn’t even thought out what to say yet. Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “I’m not awake yet. I have low blood sugar; I need to sleep.” With that, he lay back down, turned around, and faced away from Peng Ling.
“Don’t try to sleep again!” Peng Ling pulled Xie Wendong up forcefully and snapped, “Explain yourself clearly!”
“What’s there to explain?” Xie Wendong’s eyes shifted as he spoke plaintively, “You were drunk last night. I intended to take you home, but you refused to do anything. I had no choice but to bring you to my house. When we got there, I finally got you into bed, but you cried and made a fuss, refusing to let me leave, insisting that I sleep with you. I had no choice but to agree. Once in bed, you not only stripped off your own clothes but also forced me to take off mine, then pressed your whole body against mine. Xiaoling, I’m a normal man, so… so we ended up doing it!” Xie Wendong lied without blinking, causing Peng Ling’s face to turn pale and red alternately.
After Xie Wendong finished speaking, Peng Ling gritted her teeth. She remembered nothing about last night at all, but she didn’t believe his words either. With a cold laugh, she said, “Do you think I’d believe you?”
Xie Wendong’s eyes filled with deep resentment as he raised two fingers to the sky and swore, “By heaven and earth, every word I say is true. If even half of it is a lie, let the gods descend and fight me to pieces!”
Seeing his sincerity, Peng Ling began to believe him a little, but how could she justify losing her chastity so carelessly? Thinking this, she felt heartbroken, glanced at Xie Wendong sadly, and lowered her head, tears streaming down.
Xie Wendong wrapped his arm around Peng Ling’s delicate shoulders and comforted her, “Since it’s already happened, don’t be sad. I didn’t want this either. I drank too much last night, that’s why I did it! Xiaoling, do you like me?”
Peng Ling wiped her tears while sobbing, asking herself if she really liked him. The answer must be yes—she only felt her heart beat when she was with him.

Seeing that Peng Ling remained silent, Xie Wendong continued, “Maybe I didn’t understand my feelings for you before, but now I do. I feel sad when I see you cry, and happy when I see you joyful. Perhaps this is love! I hope I can have you by my side from now on.”
Peng Ling stared at Xie Wendong with blurred eyes, her gaze filled with confusion.
Xie Wendong pulled Peng Ling into his arms. “Let me take care of you from now on! Trust me—I can take on this responsibility!”
Xie Wendong’s words filled Peng Ling with excitement. Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? She leaned her head against his chest, nodding gently, her blushing cheeks pressed against his chest.
A hint of triumphant joy flashed in Xie Wendong’s eyes, mixed with a sadness he himself didn’t recognize. Gently lifting Peng Ling’s charming face with his hands, looking at her slightly parted red lips and tearful eyes, he once again lost himself in her beauty before slowly pressing his lips to hers.
The sun shone brightly outside, and the room was filled with dazzling light!
It wasn’t until nearly noon that Xie Wendong and Peng Ling left the room. As soon as they stepped down the stairs, they saw no fewer than ten people in the hall, all smiling at them. Xie Wendong seemed unaffected, but Peng Ling’s face turned red all the way to her neck. She whispered to Xie Wendong, “Wendong, I’ll head back to the station first. It’s not good to not show up or say hello after staying away all morning!”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but Li Shuang, who was nearby, heard it. He quickly said, “Why rush, Sister Peng? Your father is the director—what can they do to you?! Let’s go after dinner!” Seeing how close Xie Wendong and Peng Ling seemed, and knowing they had been in the same room the night before, even a fool could guess what had happened. So Li Shuang started calling her “Sister Peng.”
Peng Ling saw that it was a fat man about 1.7 meters tall, smiling broadly. Though not particularly attractive, he wasn’t unlikable either. She smiled at him and nodded. The man’s eyes nearly narrowed into slits at that sight.
San Yan was furious, wanting to kick him hard. Last night he had treated her terribly, and now he was acting shamelessly. Seeing San Yan’s angry gaze, Li Shuang, knowing his thoughts from years of friendship, leaned in and whispered, “It was you who said Peng Ling was annoying yesterday. I didn’t say anything!”
“If you don’t want to die, keep your stupid mouth away from my ear!” San Yan snapped through his teeth, scaring Li Shuang to the point where he stood as far away as possible, muttering something under his breath.
Peng Ling felt embarrassed staying longer with so many people, and Xie Wendong didn’t insist. He had someone drive Peng Ling back to the city police station.

After Peng Ling left, Li Shuang was the first to rush to Xie Wendong’s side and asked, “Brother Dong, how did you handle Peng Ling? Logically, after what happened last night, even if she didn’t explode emotionally, she should have been in tears. Why does she instead look so radiant?”
Xie Wendong remembered what he had said in the morning and couldn’t help but laugh. “Because I’m a villain!”
Everyone looked at Xie Wendong in confusion, wondering, What does that mean? Do women all like villains?
At noon, Xie Wendong and the others sat around the large table in the hall to eat. Before starting, Xie Wendong asked Jiang Sen, “Lao Sen, has there been any activity in City H lately? I’ve been too busy with the company these past few days and haven’t had a proper chat with everyone.”
Jiang Sen thought for a moment and replied, “There’s no activity from the Soul Group or the Tiger Gang. But now a new force has suddenly emerged. There’s a guy nicknamed ‘Blind Kui’ who just got out of prison. Apparently, he used to be a famous gunman under Q Si, and with just one call, dozens of gangs, big and small, joined him. You can imagine how powerful he is—he seems to be on the verge of becoming the dominant force in City H!”
“Blind Kui?” Xie Wendong murmured the name and asked, “Will he become famous in the future?”
“Apparently so. Q Si used to have three main gunmen; one died and one ran away, leaving only him. Since Q Si has such a strong influence in City H, most gang leaders are actually his former subordinates! Now that Blind Kui has risen to power, all these scattered groups have gathered again, making it quite difficult to deal with them!” Jiang Sen shared all the information he had gathered.
Xie Wendong pondered for a while before saying, “Don’t worry about him for now. Let him grow stronger—the bigger the better! If necessary, we can even give him a hand!”
Everyone stared at Xie Wendong in surprise, not understanding his intention, and asked in unison, “Brother Dong, why?”
“The bigger his force becomes, the easier it will be for us to deal with him in the future. For example, if they’re scattered, we’d have to catch them one by one, which is time-consuming and laborious. But if they gather together, we can take them all out at once. And there’s another important person who’ll help us!” Xie Wendong tapped his head and sneered.
After hearing this, everyone understood and said with a smile, “Brother Dong is right. Even if those scattered groups are hard to catch when they’re together, Peng Shulin will still help us! Haha! That guy can’t stand seeing gangs grow stronger!”