Chapter 50

Xie Wendong gave a slight nod to everyone, staying in the corridor instead of entering the ward, thoughtfully giving the three siblings some space to talk. In the intensive care unit, only Gao Zhen lay alone on the bed, his face pale from excessive blood loss. Gao Huiyu came to the bedside with tears in her eyes, took Gao Zhen’s hand, and said softly, “Brother! I’m here to see you. Please wake up!”
Hearing her voice, Gao Zhen slowly opened his eyes to see the concerned and anxious faces of his two sisters. He forced a smile and said in a low voice, “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.” Seeing their skeptical looks, he added with a laugh, “Really, I’m fine! Stop crying. If you keep crying, you’ll look even prettier. Don’t come to me if Wendong doesn’t like you then.”
Gao Huiyu blushed, lowered her head, and patted Gao Zhen’s arm while saying sweetly, “Brother! You’re the worst!”
Gao Zhen let out an exaggerated “Ouch!” that startled Gao Huiyu and her sister, but when they saw his smiling eyes, they realized they had been tricked. He endured their “massage” on his arm with a smile. Suddenly, he thought of Ying and wondered if she might be in danger. He quickly asked, “Xiaomei, do you… do you know how Ying is? Is she in danger?”
Gao Huiyu was upset at this. She didn’t have a good impression of Ying, thinking that it was Ying who had caused her and Xie Wendong to go cold for days last time, and now she had almost cost her brother his life. Ying was truly a troublemaker! In fact, she didn’t know anything about Ying’s current situation either. Pouting, she casually said, “Hmph, she’s lucky. She won’t die!”
“Oh!” Gao Zhen felt relieved and murmured, “It’s good if she’s fine. It’s good if she’s fine…” After a while, he looked up and saw displeasure on Gao Huiyu’s face, so he quickly asked, “Xiaoyu, do you have any misunderstandings about Ying?”
Not wanting to worry her brother, Gao Huiyu said loudly, “Brother, I don’t…” Of course not! she added silently in her heart.
Gao Zhen talked with his two sisters for a while longer, then said, “Alright, you guys go back. Don’t worry about me. Call Wendong in when you leave. I have something to say to him.”
Gao Huimei and the other nodded, watched Gao Zhen turn and walk out, then told Xie Wendong outside that Gao Zhen wanted to see him.
Xie Wendong had already guessed that Gao Zhen would want to see him. He smiled at the two sisters and entered the ward.
“Brother Gao, how are you feeling? The doctor said you’ll be fine soon!” Xie Wendong said with a smile as he sat down next to Gao Zhen.
Gao Zhen nodded and said, “Wendong, tell me how Ying is. I’m worried about her!”

Xie Wendong looked gloomy, unsure whether to tell Gao Zhen. Seeing him like this, Gao Zhen grew anxious and shouted, “Wendong, tell me! Is Ying… is she dead?”
Xie Wendong replied, “Brother Gao, don’t worry. Ying isn’t in life-threatening danger. It’s just that… the doctor said the bullet damaged her central nervous system, which might cause blindness!”
Gao Zhen let out a sigh of relief and said calmly, “As long as she doesn’t die, it’s fine. I like her. Whether she goes blind or not, I will definitely marry her someday!”
Seeing Gao Zhen’s sincerity, Xie Wendong secretly smiled. The two of them had such opposite temperaments—one cold, the other warm. It was hard to understand why Gao Zhen liked Ying, but it might not be a bad thing for her either. After all, a girl needs a home, and Gao Zhen was indeed someone trustworthy. Xie Wendong said seriously, “Brother Gao, I truly hope you and Ying will have a bright future!”
“Thank you! But I still don’t know if she’s willing! Ying is always cold to me. Sigh!” Gao Zhen seemed sad.
“Don’t worry! She’s the same with me too. That’s just her personality. If you put in some effort, you’ll win her over, haha!”
“I hope so!”
Gao Zhen said seriously, “Wendong, while I’m in the hospital, the Qingbang has no leader. I’m afraid trouble will arise. You need to help me out. For now, leave the management of the Qingbang to you. If you have any questions, ask the brothers below.” With that, Gao Zhen struggled to take off a jade pendant necklace from his neck and placed it in Xie Wendong’s hands.
“Brother Gao, what is this…?”
“This is the Qingbang’s leader’s token, passed down from my grandfather’s generation. Keep it. Seeing it is like seeing the leader. If anyone dares to ignore you, use this token against them.”
Xie Wendong took the jade pendant. It featured a Buddha holding a sword, vividly carved and exquisitely detailed. Holding it in his hand, Xie Wendong felt excited. Though it was just a small jade pendant, having it meant he could command the entire Qingbang.
Gao Zhen interrupted his thoughts and said, “Wendong, call the members of the gang in. I need to give them some instructions!”
“Okay!” Xie Wendong nodded and called the people outside into the ward. Gao Zhen wanted to sit up, but the severe pain behind him made him give up. He said calmly, “You are all key members of the Qingbang and should know that it’s a time of trouble right now, and since I’m injured, the gang needs someone to take charge. So during my hospital stay, Wendong will handle all matters related to the gang. I’ve also given him the leader’s token. You must assist Wendong wholeheartedly to help the gang out of this predicament!”

Everyone waited, glanced at one another, and nodded in agreement. They had no objections to letting an outsider like Xie Wendong take charge of the Qing Bang—firstly, everyone knew of Xie Wendong’s abilities, and secondly, they were aware of his relationship with Gao Huiyu.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Gao Zhen felt relieved, though his face showed signs of exhaustion. Noticing this, Xie Wendong said to them, “Alright, Brother Gao is still seriously injured and quite tired. Everyone, go back first!”

After hearing this, they looked at Gao Zhen, who appeared pale, and said in unison, “Take care, Brother. We’re leaving now!” Then they nodded at Xie Wendong and left the ward one after another. Xie Wendong also stood up and said, “Brother Gao, I’ll head back too. I’ll come see you again tomorrow!”

Seeing Gao Zhen nod, Xie Wendong left the ward. The key members of the Qing Bang did not leave right away. Seeing Xie Wendong come out, they hurriedly greeted him, as it was now Xie Wendong who was in charge of the Qing Bang, and they all wanted to build a good relationship with him first.

As he spoke with them, Xie Wendong walked out of the hospital. Through these conversations, he gained a better understanding of the Qing Bang. Among these key members, only two caught his attention—the one named Chen Zhongwen and the other named Nie Wu. Although these two did not hold high positions in the Qing Bang, Xie Wendong felt they were special. They were young, full of the drive typical of young people, and had sharp minds—far superior to those old-fashioned members.

A few days later, Gao Zhen’s injuries improved enough for him to get out of bed and walk slowly with crutches. However, his central nervous system remained damaged, and he remained by her side all day long, telling her stories from his childhood. Xie Wendong also visited a few times but left in a hurry after staying for a short while.

Through Gao Zhen’s connections, Xie Wendong got in touch with the provincial party leaders and sent Liu Bo with millions to establish relationships there. With Gao Zhen’s introduction, Liu Bo first met some ordinary officials and later even managed to connect with the provincial party secretary. Liu Bo handed over 800,000 to the secretary on one condition: that the director of J City be removed from his position! Director Cheng was an honest man, both in his personal life and as an official, and was not well-liked by the provincial leaders. But due to the severe trouble caused by the local underworld, the provincial party was under external pressure and had to appoint the capable Director Cheng as the new city director.

The provincial party secretary accepted Liu Bo’s 800,000 and said only one thing to him: “I can fulfill your request, but you need to give me a reason for his transfer!”

Liu Bo immediately told Xie Wendong this sentence afterward. Upon hearing it, Xie Wendong sighed—he understood what the provincial party secretary meant, but it was a shame to lose a talent like Director Cheng. Then Xie Wendong issued orders to both the Wendong Group and the Qing Gang, which could be summed up in one word: chaos!

In the city center of J City, two young men in their twenties snatched a woman’s handbag in public. The woman screamed, “Catch the robbers!” People around rushed over. The two youths stopped, pulled out knives from their waists, and shouted, “Damn it! We’re from the underworld—who the hell dares to catch us without dying first?”

The onlookers stepped aside. The two young men laughed and left. A police officer standing ten meters away turned a blind eye, casually smoking as he walked by.

This was just one corner of J City—the entire city was in complete chaos. Gangs were robbing, fighting, and stealing everywhere. Assaulting beautiful girls on the streets also happened frequently. Patrol officers would just laugh and pretend not to see, strolling by leisurely.

The police station was busy from morning till night with non-stop calls. Eventually, Director Cheng could no longer sit idle and led his team to handle the situation. But it seemed the troublemakers knew he was coming in advance—wherever Director Cheng went, everything remained peaceful, and no one could be caught.

In fact, those who came with him had already secretly tipped off the local police, who also had no good feelings toward Director Cheng. Since his arrival, their second source of income had dried up; they couldn’t get any bribes, not even the police officers in the city bureau. Everyone wanted him to leave quickly to restore J City’s original “balance.”

Unable to bear the constant violence and fear caused by the underworld, the public held a large-scale protest in front of the city government. Gang members mixed among them, inciting trouble by throwing bricks at the government building’s windows.

When people gather, the worst thing is having ringleaders. Seeing someone throw a brick first, the enraged crowd lost control and followed suit. The city government building almost became a brick pile. The city party leaders were sweating profusely in panic and finally had to deploy troops from the 202nd Division stationed in J City to suppress the situation. Instead of improving things, this only made the crowd angrier.

Now J City was exactly as Xie Wendong had wanted—chaos everywhere, with no sense of order at all. Director Cheng knew it was Xie Wendong’s doing but couldn’t do anything about it.

More and more people joined the protest, roaming the city center. At first, they behaved decently, but once “certain people” started causing trouble, things gradually turned wild. Shops along the city streets were looted one after another.

The provincial party secretary never expected that someone who had given him 800,000 would cause such a big uproar. Just three days later, he hurriedly recalled Director Cheng to the province, scolded him harshly, and naturally removed him from his position as the head of J City, with the deputy head temporarily taking over. When the news reached J City, the deputy head was overjoyed—after ten years of waiting, he finally reached the position of head. He immediately called Xie Wendong, the de facto ruler of J City, to inform him and asked him to put an end to the chaos in the city right away. Xie Wendong was fairly satisfied with the outcome, as the former deputy head had taken over his position. He issued orders to all criminal organizations to send people to drive the troublemakers back home. Now in control of the Wendong Gang and the Qing Gang, Xie Wendong dominated the criminal world in J City, unchallenged and commanding absolute obedience. His gang members, armed with sticks, roamed the streets, beating anyone they encountered. Unlike the police and military, the state’s violent agencies dared not do what these criminals could. Soon, through the “close cooperation” between the gangs and the city government, the protesters were thoroughly driven back to their homes, and order was restored in J City. The newly appointed deputy head was even praised by the provincial party committee, solidifying his position as head.