Chapter 10

As soon as the topic of Liu Ting’s hobbies came up, just like Li Shuang when she first entered, she started gesturing excitedly and said, “At home, I watch TV and listen to music. When I go out, I roller skate, swim, go to discos, watch movies, sing karaoke, and so on… Anyway…”
Xie Wendong smiled at her and said, “In other words, you don’t like reading, right?”
Liu Ting blushed, gently pinched Xie Wendong’s arm, and said, “I hate you!” Seeing her playful demeanor, Xie Wendong burst into laughter. ‘What a cute girl!’ But he quickly stopped laughing because he noticed Li Shuang staring at him with a resentful look. Xie Wendong seriously patted Li Shuang’s shoulder and said, “Brother, you’ve really suffered. But you must hold on—be a patriot for a year!”
From the classroom came Li Shuang’s gritting of teeth, “Brother Dong! This isn’t funny at all. I… I feel wronged…” along with Liu Ting’s giggling.
At noon, Zhang Yanjiang came to see Xie Wendong and said carefully, “Boss Gao was very angry after learning about what happened yesterday. But she won’t attack you right away; she’ll observe you further. Brother Dong, you need to be careful!”
Xie Wendong nodded and asked, “How is Brother Hu, who I beat yesterday? How many people were injured?”
Zhang Yanjiang glanced down the corridor and then whispered, “I heard Brother Hu’s injuries are serious and he won’t recover anytime soon. That’s why Boss Gao is angry—she thinks you went too far and were too brutal. There are about a dozen others injured!”
Xie Wendong smiled and said, “Since they’re enemies, I definitely won’t show mercy when fighting. How did you get this information?”
Zhang Yanjiang replied, “Although I’m with Brother Dong now, I still have friends who work for Boss Gao. He’s the one who told me!”
Xie Wendong nodded understandingly and asked gently, “Is this person reliable? Can we trust the information he gives?”
Zhang Yanjiang nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Brother Dong. We’ve grown up together; he listens to me in everything. I told him about you, and he originally wanted to come here with me, but I stopped him. I think it’s better for now to let him stay with Boss Gao to help us!”
Xie Wendong patted his shoulder and said, “You did right. With your friend there, we can keep an eye on Boss Gao’s situation at any time.” After a pause, he suddenly asked, “What does Boss Gao look like?”

Zhang Yanjiang was stunned for a moment before continuing, “She’s a very beautiful girl—long hair, big eyes, about 170 centimeters tall, and very slim…” Xie Wendong interrupted him and asked, “Does she often wear jeans and ride a motorcycle?”
Zhang Yanjiang looked at Xie Wendong in surprise and said, “Brother Dong, how did you know? Have you met her?”
Xie Wendong sighed, thinking to himself: As expected, the thing I feared happened. I never thought that girl was actually Gao Laoda. But she seems so pure; she doesn’t seem like the type to be someone else’s mistress. An inexplicable irritability arose in Xie Wendong’s heart as he tapped the table lightly with his finger.
Seeing Xie Wendong’s grim expression, Zhang Yanjiang wisely left, guessing that there might be an unusual relationship between Brother Dong and Gao Laoda.
Three days later, during lunch break, Xie Wendong ordered a bowl of noodles at a small restaurant near the school entrance. He hadn’t seen that girl again in those two days, and his mind was filled with doubts. He hadn’t eaten much when a student rushed in. After glancing around, he saw Xie Wendong eating noodles and quickly walked over, shouting, “Brother Dong, something bad happened! Shuang Ge, Qiang Ge, and some other brothers were beaten by a group of people!”
“What?”
Xie Wendong stood up and saw that it was his own brothers, their faces covered in blood. He thought to himself: Gao Laoda is really fast! “Come on, take me there.” He left two yuan on the table and ran into the school with the man.
The man led Xie Wendong into a classroom, which was in complete chaos—broken desks and chairs were everywhere, and injured brothers were lying on the ground groaning. When they saw Xie Wendong return, one of them staggered over, crying, “Brother Dong! Shuang Ge and Qiang Ge were captured by Gao Laoda’s men. They told you to go to the art room on the third floor by yourself to pick them up! They said if you don’t go, they’ll prepare to collect our bodies.”
Xie Wendong nodded expressionlessly without saying a word and turned to leave. But the brother who spoke grabbed his clothes. “Brother Dong, you can’t go alone—it’s too dangerous! I’ll go find Sanyan Ge first to discuss this!”
Xie Wendong patted the hand holding his clothes and said, “There’s no time. Don’t worry, I’m confident. It’ll be fine! There’s no need to find Sanyan yet; he’ll just cause more trouble if he comes.”
Seeing Xie Wendong so confident, the man reluctantly let go. At that moment, more than twenty people came in from outside, including Zhang Yanjiang, who shouted, “Brother Dong, you can’t go! I heard Gao Laoda is determined this time. If you go, he doesn’t intend to let you walk out alive. And the information is tightly controlled—even his subordinates don’t know about today’s operation. I just got the news too!”

Xie Wendong shook his head, hands in his pockets, and said, “Li Shuang and Gao Qiang have been captured by them. What if I don’t go? Those who are meant to come will definitely come. Hiding won’t help. Besides, I’ve been wanting to meet Boss Gao too!”
“But how can you single-handedly take on them? No, it’s too dangerous!” Zhang Yanjiang insisted.
“Stop talking. If I delay even a minute, Li Shuang and the others will be in even greater danger. I know what I’m doing. Trust me, bro!” With that, Xie Wendong headed outside the classroom. Seeing all his brothers follow, he stopped and held up a hand, saying, “Stay in the classroom! If anyone follows me again… don’t blame me for being ruthless!” Hearing this, no one dared to follow. Though worried, they could only pray silently. Zhang Yanjiang gathered everyone together and whispered something, with everyone nodding frequently.
Anxiously, Xie Wendong quickened his pace and headed alone to the painting room on the third floor. Li Shuang and Gao Qiang were the ones who had been closest to Xie Wendong, and their bond was the strongest. When he heard they had been captured, his heart twisted in pain—he knew Boss Gao’s men wouldn’t treat them kindly. He swore to himself that if anything happened to Li Shuang and Gao Qiang, he would fight to the death against Boss Gao.
Upon reaching the third floor, he didn’t need to ask. Standing at the end of the corridor were four or five students holding sticks—Xie Wendong knew that must be the painting room. He strode over, his mind gradually calming down.
“Hey! What are you doing?” a student with a short haircut tilted his head and looked at Xie Wendong.
Xie Wendong remained calm. “Go tell your boss. Say Xie Wendong has arrived!” The short-haired student examined Xie Wendong carefully, whispered something to the others, who nodded and opened the door behind them to go in. The short-haired student turned to Xie Wendong and said, “Wait here!”
Xie Wendong stuck his hands in his pants pockets, turned slightly toward the wall, and kept his head down in silence. But his mind was racing, thinking about how he could safely rescue Li Shuang and Gao Qiang from those dangerous men. If Boss Gao was really that “top-tier” senior sister, he wasn’t sure if he could be ruthless enough against her. After thinking for a while, Xie Wendong grew frustrated. He sighed to himself, “Forget it. Just adapt as things go and leave it to fate!”
Five minutes later, the door finally opened. The student who went in earlier said to Xie Wendong, “The senior sister says you can come in!”

Xie Wendong hesitated none before entering the painting room, which was dimly lit with curtains drawn, illuminated only by two light bulbs. His first impression upon entering was its size—it was three times that of a regular classroom, and even with dozens of desks and chairs, it still seemed spacious. Dozens of people stood inside, with a chair in the center occupied by a woman. Unfortunately, she was facing away from Xie Wendong, so he couldn’t see her face. Yet, even from her back, he sensed a sense of familiarity mixed with strangeness—long black hair, wearing jeans—but he felt she was different from the girls he had met before.

“Are you Xie Wendong?” The girl’s cold voice interrupted his thoughts.

Regaining his composure, Xie Wendong replied, “Yes! Are you Boss Gao?”

Still facing away, the girl said, “You’re smart, but you’re also arrogant! Just by coming to No. 1 Middle School, you’ve already cost me a good brother.”

Xie Wendong replied indifferently, “I didn’t intend to cause trouble, but if it finds me, I won’t run away.”

Boss Gao sneered, “Boy, how old are you?” Xie Wendong wasn’t expecting her to ask about his age. After a brief hesitation, he said, “Sixteen!”

“Hmm, two years younger than me! What a pity…” Boss Gao sighed.

Xie Wendong asked, “What do you mean by that?” Boss Gao stood up but still didn’t turn around. “I have no intention of letting you leave alive! You’re only sixteen—don’t say it’s not a pity!”

Hearing this, Xie Wendong burst into laughter, as if it were the funniest joke he had ever heard, as if he didn’t care about the dozens of people present. “You can’t control whether I leave alive or not. I just want to know what happened to my friends.”

“As expected, you’re very arrogant! As for them… what else could happen? My men are taking good care of them!”

Xie Wendong understood what she meant and said, “Since I’m here, I’ll assume Boss Gao is someone who keeps his word. If you can’t even do that, then I have nothing more to say!”

Boss Gao let out a scoff. “You can’t even take care of yourself, let alone others. But you do keep your word, and I’m not unreasonable either.” With that, she said to someone nearby, “Go and release those two kids!”

The man nodded and left. Finally, Boss Gao turned around to stare at Xie Wendong, a hint of surprise in her eyes. What unusual eyes!

Xie Wendong also saw Gao Laoban’s face clearly and felt relieved in his heart, for she was not that biker girl Gao Huiyu. Though they looked similar, Xie Wendong was sure they were not the same person. This girl was also a rare beauty, with thick arched eyebrows that reached almost to her hair tips and beautiful eyes that occasionally sparkled, though sadly with a cold glow. Beneath her delicate nose were red lips, and she exuded an unyielding masculinity, whereas Gao Huiyu had a delicate and charming aura. Seeing this, Xie Wendong couldn’t help but admire that Gao Laoban had become so successful with so many subordinates around her—it wasn’t by chance; she herself had an irresistible charm.

“Have you had enough?” Under Xie Wendong’s intense gaze, Gao Laoban felt uncomfortable.

Xie Wendong felt a bit embarrassed; staring at a girl was rather impolite. Seeing that Xie Wendong remained silent, Gao Laoban stepped forward and said, “You’re so different from what I imagined!”

Xie Wendong responded with an “Oh,” looking into Gao Laoban’s eyes, waiting for her to continue. Gao Laoban raised her hand and gently traced his face, saying slowly, “I didn’t expect you to be a somewhat delicate and shy boy…”

The delicate fragrance emanating from Gao Laoban’s mouth wafted onto Xie Wendong’s face, and a sweet, warm scent filled his nostrils, causing his heart to flutter. But he quickly regained his composure, thinking four words in his mind: A beauty among mortals! In fact, Xie Wendong was quite traditional in his thinking, and the principle of proper boundaries between men and women had always influenced him. He rarely took the initiative to talk to girls at school—not because he was shy, but because he thought it was inappropriate.

Xie Wendong’s face turned red, and he lowered his head even further. This was the closest he had ever been to a girl since he was young, except for his mother. A warm sensation rose uncontrollably from his lower abdomen, and he kept telling himself: Stay calm! Stay calm!…

Gao Laoban watched this boy who could defeat tigers without a chance of retaliation and had so many subordinates yet was so shy, with a red face and head bowed. Seeing him like this made her want to tease him. Her rosy cheeks got closer and closer to Xie Wendong’s face, her red lips almost touching his. The moist, fragrant scent made Xie Wendong feel on the verge of losing control; his hand in his pocket was already drenched in sweat. Just then, Xie Wendong suddenly calmed down because he felt the knife in his pocket—a decorative knife that would change his fate.

Taking a deep breath, Xie Wendong gently pushed Gao Laobai away. There was no trace of shyness on his face, nor was there any confusion in his eyes anymore. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, causing Gao Laobai, who was standing opposite him and deeply engrossed, to quickly calm down. His face turned red as he thought to himself, What just happened to me? I was just trying to tease him—why did I almost lose control? Gao Laobai looked around and saw that everyone else was stunned, still immersed in that moment, with Gao Laobai’s alluring appearance still etched in their minds.

Sighing inwardly, Gao Laobai looked into Xie Wendong’s eyes and said, “You’re a talent! If you work for me, I won’t make things difficult for you and will even make use of your abilities. You’re smart—no need to say more. Think about it!”

Xie Wendong shook his head and said, “I’m a man. It’s impossible for me to work under a girl, and there’s no need to even consider it.”

Xie Wendong’s words were like a sledgehammer, hitting not only Gao Laobai’s heart but also everyone else’s in the room. Gao Laobai’s subordinates blushed and lowered their heads.

Gao Laobai admitted that she felt somewhat fond of this boy and couldn’t bear to hurt him. If he joined her, she wouldn’t make things difficult for him, which would also satisfy her brothers. But she hadn’t expected him to refuse outright, leaving no room for negotiation. At the same time, Xie Wendong’s words hurt her pride—no one had ever spoken to her like that before. Seeing her subordinates’ reactions, anger surged in Gao Laobai’s heart. With a red face, she shouted, “Xie Wendong, who do you think you are? You refused my offer—don’t blame me then!”

Then she said to one of her subordinates, “Idiot, go and test him. See if he really has the guts to be so arrogant!”