Chapter 172

Xie Wendong smiled innocently, patted his shoulder, and said, “You’re welcome. I should be the one to thank you. Without your round-the-clock protection, I would have had to worry about my back.”
Guo Biao hurriedly replied, “It’s our duty!” As he spoke, he winked at the others secretly. The other men also realized that this young man was actually the founder of their gang—Xie Wendong. They all prepared to bow and greet him formally. Xie Wendong quickly stopped them, raised a finger to his lips, then pointed at the residential building with no lights on, signaling them to speak softly. He said in a low voice, “We’re all on the same side; there’s no need for formalities. It wouldn’t be good to disturb the neighbors’ rest.”
Guo Biao nodded and asked, “Brother Dong, when did you return? Why didn’t you let me know?”
Xie Wendong replied, “I just got here. I left in a hurry and didn’t have time to inform you in advance. By the way, isn’t things ‘turbulent’ these days?”
Guo Biao nodded and sighed, “In the past three days, we’ve caught eight people who were acting suspiciously and carrying hidden weapons.”
Xie Wendong narrowed his eyes and asked, “Who were they?”
Guo Biao shook his head and said, “We don’t know. They’re all dead!” Xie Wendong raised his eyebrows, and Guo Biao added, “They said they had been poisoned in advance. After being caught, they took their own lives. There were no clues left, and none of them had any identification.”
Xie Wendong frowned and asked, “What about the bodies?” Guo Biao replied quickly, “They were burned and buried on the spot.” Xie Wendong suspected it was the work of the Soul Group, but without bodies, he couldn’t be sure. He said, “From now on, if you find anyone suspicious, check if they have a ‘Soul’ tattoo on their arm. If so, call me immediately.” After saying that, he gave him his phone number. Not many people in either the Wendong Gang or the Hongmen knew his number—only those who were particularly close to him did.
Guo Biao was very excited and carefully memorized it. He asked, “Brother Dong, do you suspect it was the Soul Group’s doing?”
Xie Wendong nodded, patted his shoulder, and said, “It’s too late. You should go back and rest too.” With that, he entered the apartment building.
Standing in front of his own door, looking at the blue iron door, he felt both familiar and strange. This was his home, yet it seemed unreal to him. If asked where he considered his home, perhaps even he wouldn’t know. Sighing, Xie Wendong adjusted his clothes and gently knocked on the door.
After a while, footsteps were heard inside, and a familiar voice came to Xie Wendong’s ears: “Who is it?”

— What a familiar voice, having been with me through so many years of ups and downs. I never need to think about it; I’ll never forget it.
These lyrics truly reflected Xie Wendong’s current feelings. He tried to suppress his excitement and kept his voice calm, saying, “Mom, it’s me!”
With a soft sound, the door opened, and a kind-looking middle-aged woman stepped out—Xie Wendong’s mother. His eyes moistened as he showed a smile and said softly, “Mom!” His mother, with tears in her eyes too, smiled and said, “Wendong, you’re back.”
Under the dim light, Xie Wendong carefully observed his mother. Time had left its marks on her face, with visible strands of gray hair. Gently touching his mother’s hair, he said through tears, “Mom, you’ve aged.”
His mother laughed and said, “Silly child, I’m almost fifty.” Xie Wendong shook his head, sighing inwardly at how fast time passed, then entered the room with his mother. At that moment, Xie Wendong’s father, Xie Yuanzhi, also came out of the bedroom. Needless to say, he was overjoyed to see his son back. Holding his hand, he asked, “Son, was it hard working outside during the holidays?”
Xie Wendong smiled bitterly. The job he had was not only hard but also extremely dangerous. He replied with a smile, “It wasn’t hard. The boss took good care of me.”
Xie Yuanzhi nodded in relief and said, “That’s good. If you get tired, come home. We can afford it.”
“Yeah!” Xie Wendong nodded repeatedly. His mother asked, “Wendong, did you eat anything when you came back?” He scratched his head and said, “Mom, I was in such a hurry when I came back that I forgot to eat!”
“You silly child!” His mother took out an apron and headed to the kitchen, turning on the gas stove as she said, “I’ll make you some noodles. Don’t let yourself get too hungry.”
Xie Wendong felt warm inside. Leaning back on the sofa, he sighed deeply: It feels so good to be home.
Mao waved his hand—go to the countryside; Deng Xiaoping waved his hand—go into business; Zhu Rongji waved his hand—get laid off. Xie Wendong’s father indeed got laid off. If forced to explain why, it might be because Xie Yuanzhi wasn’t good at flattering leaders, didn’t know how to pander to them, nor how to give them gifts. If he hadn’t gotten laid off, who would have? That was just the way things were in society. Xie Wendong didn’t think much of his father’s job. The monthly salary of just a thousand yuan was already considered good in City J. What worried him was that his father might become resentful after getting laid off and harm his health.

The next day, he finally managed to find Li Shuang. Now, Li Shuang held a significant position—he was the leader of the largest gang in the Northeast, the Wendong Gang. Many people tried to please him, and as soon as he returned, dinners were arranged from morning till night. Most ordinary people would have given up long ago, but he accepted every invitation as long as there was good food to eat. However, Li Shuang wasn’t stupid; though he ate and drank, he never agreed to anything easily at the dinner table. Though he appeared rough, he was actually very careful. Anyone who tried to take advantage of him was underestimating him. Under Xie Wendong, every leader had their own outstanding skills.

Xie Wendong was sitting in the hotel, growing impatient, when Li Shuang arrived, his face glowing with joy. He walked in circles instead of in a straight line, his face smiling like that of the Buddha Maitreya with a big belly. Standing next to Xie Wendong, a strong smell of alcohol wafted toward him. Xie Wendong asked with a smile, “Xiao Shuang, I guess I interrupted your meal.”

Li Shuang was slightly drunk but still somewhat sober. He said, “No! I originally planned to go with Brother Dong, but you told me to keep a low profile in City J, so I had to go alone.” Xie Wendong shook his head, took out a check from his pocket, wrote something on it quickly, and pushed it toward Li Shuang. He said, “Xiao Shuang, use this money to buy a first-prize lottery ticket.”

Li Shuang smiled bitterly and muttered, “I’m not a god. How would I know the numbers for this draw?”

When he looked at the check, his mouth dropped open. His eyes almost popped out. He rubbed his eyes tightly and checked again—yes, there were seven zeros after the two: twenty million. His drunkenness vanished instantly. Swallowing hard, he stammered, “Twenty… twenty million, Brother Dong? Twenty million?”

Xie Wendong nodded with a smile. On the way back, Li Shuang had already explained the rules of the lottery to him, so he understood. Smiling, Xie said, “It’s precisely because you’re not a god that giving you twenty million makes me feel much more at ease than giving you just a few yuan.” Li Shuang shook his head, feeling the weight of the paper in his hand. This was twenty million—enough to buy a hundred cars, dozens of villas, or do many other things. But now it was going to be used by Xie Wendong to buy a lottery ticket that might only win four million at most. Li Shuang sighed, reluctant, and said helplessly, “Spending twenty million on a lottery ticket?”

“That’s right!” Xie Wendong said, “Buy a full set of repeat draws!” Seeing Li Shuang’s hands constantly touching the check with an expression of reluctance, he sighed inwardly and asked, “Is the guild in short of money lately?” Li Shuang quickly pulled his hands back and replied urgently, “No, our guild has one of the largest funds among our peers.”

Xie Wendong shook his head and said, “But from the way you look, I thought we were very poor. Go buy them now—bring along more brothers. It’s not good for me to show up in person.”

Li Shuang put away the check, stood up, and walked to the door. He asked, “Brother Dong, even for a full set of repeat draws, we don’t need that much money!”

Xie Wendong scratched his head and said, “The Blood Kill brothers staying in J City are working very hard.” There was no need to explain further. Having followed Xie Wendong for years, Li Shuang understood immediately. He nodded and said, “Brother Dong, I get it!” With that, he waved his hand and led over a dozen people out of the hotel. Outside, his subordinates were still nervous and worriedly asked him, “Brother Shuang, are we still going to eat?” Li Shuang shook his large head and smiled, “We’re going to do something that will bring you endless pride and glory for life!”

When they arrived at the lottery center, his subordinates truly felt the pride and glory Li Shuang had spoken of.

Li Shuang found a chair in the hall, slapped the check on the table, and said to the receptionist, “Call your manager!” Seeing their large group and the domineering manner of the leader, the receptionist didn’t dare neglect them and quickly stepped forward, asking, “Sir, what can I do for you?” Li Shuang replied, “I want to buy lottery tickets!” The waiter laughed but politely said, “Sir, you can buy lottery tickets right here. There’s no need to see our manager.”

Li Shuang glared at him. With 20 million in hand, he spoke arrogantly, “Can you make the decision?” The waiter was annoyed. If it weren’t for their numbers being so large, he would have dragged this annoying fat man outside and beaten him up. But thankfully, he didn’t act on it; otherwise, his fate would have been tragic. Li Shuang looked at the waiter. Having spent time with Xie Wendong, he also habitually narrowed his eyes and smiled, “You shouldn’t be thinking about beating me, because you definitely can’t win against me.”

The waiter was shocked. He didn’t expect this unimpressive fat man to have such sharp eyes. With a forced smile, he said, “Sir, what are you saying! But I can make the decision to buy lottery tickets.”

Li Shuang nodded, shoved the check into his arms, and said, “I want to buy repeat draws—repeat draws for all the numbers!”

“Huh?” The waiter’s mouth hung open, unable to close it. He glanced at the check, stunned, and said in disbelief, “All… all the numbers?”
Li Shuang nodded firmly. “That’s right, all of them!”
It took the waiter a while to process this. He rubbed his face—probably because his mouth had been open for too long, causing his facial muscles to ache. This time, without Li Shuang needing to say anything, he quickly said, “Sir, please wait a moment. I’ll go find the manager right away!” With that, he rushed upstairs like the wind.
There were still many customers in the lobby. Upon hearing that Li Shuang wanted to buy all the numbers, they gathered around him, whispering to each other, trying to guess what this fat man was up to.
By the time Li Shuang and the others came out of the lottery center, each of them was carrying a bag full of lottery tickets. Li Shuang weighed them in his hand and sighed, “Over ten million, just for this bunch of stuff!”
On the day of the draw, Xie Wendong waited early at home by the TV. Once the drawing started, he switched the TV to the lottery channel. Xie Yuanzhi found it strange and asked, “Why are we watching this?” Xie Wendong was sitting on the sofa, peeling an apple with exceptional skill—just a few cuts later, the apple was completely peeled, with thin, intact skin. Fortunately, neither of his parents noticed this detail, nor did he himself realize it. He smiled and said, “I bought two lottery tickets. I wonder if I’ll win.”
Xie Yuanzhi shook his head. “It’s not that easy to win the lottery.”
Xie Wendong smiled. “Maybe luck will suddenly be on my side and I’ll win!” Soon, the numbers for the first prize were announced to upbeat music. In fact, no matter what numbers were drawn, Xie Wendong would definitely win the jackpot. He pretended to be surprised and shouted, “Dad, Mom, I think I won!”
His parents were stunned. Seeing their son shouting that he had won, they asked, “Won what?”