After leaving the competition venue, Qing Ye ran frantically. She had never run so carelessly through the streets before. When she reached the intersection, she darted across the road and blocked a three-wheeled motorcycle. The young driver was startled and about to curse when Qing Ye pulled out a hundred yuan and tossed it to him. “Get to Electronics Street in five minutes, and I’ll give you another hundred.”
The driver weaved through the streets like a madman, charging recklessly forward. Qing Ye gripped the door tightly as her body repeatedly bounced up, feeling as if her internal organs had been displaced. Everything happening now felt surreal to her. How could this be possible? How dare they attack someone at such an event? This was something Qing Ye had never imagined possible in her life. Now she realized that Da Cao had already decided to take down Xing Wu at the competition venue before coming.
She suddenly remembered asking Xing Wu what would happen if he didn’t win. He had told her the competition results weren’t important.
What Da Cao wanted wasn’t to defeat Xing Wu in the competition, but to beat him down in front of everyone, humiliate him, and make him submit completely.
Qing Ye had previously believed Da Cao wouldn’t dare lay hands on Xing Wu during the competition because it was a county-organized event. How could he openly cause trouble at the venue?
It wasn’t until the three-wheeler’s speed threw her against the door that she suddenly realized – this wasn’t like the place she used to live. Far from the emperor’s reach, all the rules here were different.
Precisely because this event was organized by the authorities, if Da Cao attacked Xing Wu at the venue, the higher-ups would likely classify it as a competition dispute to avoid responsibility. They would suppress it to prevent it from escalating. Combined with the Dark Hall’s influence hovering around, if that happened, the nature of the incident would be completely different. Even if they crippled Xing Wu, as long as Da Cao didn’t personally attack him, he wouldn’t have to bear any responsibility. Qing Ye’s face turned pale at her deduction.
The three-wheeler driver pushed his luck to the limit, maneuvering through various shortcuts to get Qing Ye to Electronics Street in exactly five minutes. Qing Ye tossed him another hundred yuan and ran through the alley toward Quan Ya’s house.
Following her memory, she ran to Quan Ya’s front gate and frantically knocked. Soon, Quan Ya came shuffling in slippers to open the gate. Seeing the panting figure before him, he froze: “Qing Ye? What are you doing here?”
“Xing Wu is surrounded,” she said without wasting a second, getting straight to the point.
However, Quan Ya’s gaze only tightened slightly, showing neither surprise nor shock. He merely asked, “Did Da Hei and the others go?”
Looking at his expression, Qing Ye suddenly realized something and said in disbelief, “You knew? You knew he would be beaten, didn’t you?”
Quan Ya watched her emotional state and gripped the gate, his voice tense: “I advised him against it. This was his own choice.”
Qing Ye grabbed him and looked up, demanding, “What do you mean?”
Quan Ya frowned with a complicated expression. Qing Ye’s voice nearly burst from her throat: “What exactly do you mean?”
Her whole body trembled, tears unconsciously streaming down her face, her grip on Quan Ya shaking violently. Quan Ya grabbed her wrist in return and said, “Calm down. Wu Zi and Boss Jiang have already discussed this.”
Qing Ye felt cold all over, her thoughts becoming increasingly chaotic. She could only grasp fragments of keywords as she stared at Quan Ya: “Boss Jiang? What does Boss Jiang have to do with this?”
“For years, the Dark Hall has been forcing their way into Boss Jiang’s business, requiring significant bribes annually. In recent years, they’ve become increasingly presumptuous, wanting to get into the bar and nightclub business. Last year, one of Boss Jiang’s venues was vandalized, and it was traced back to the Dark Hall’s people.
He’s been looking for an opportunity to take down the Dark Hall completely. Wu Zi made a deal with Boss Jiang – if Da Cao attacks him at the venue, Boss Jiang will pressure the authorities to take action against the Dark Hall.”
Qing Ye stared at Quan Ya in shock, suddenly releasing her grip and slumping against the gate. So Quan Ya had known all along that Xing Wu would be beaten. Or rather, Xing Wu needed to be beaten – only through continuous escalation could Boss Jiang make his move.
She finally understood why Xing Wu continued competing despite his injuries, why he ignored all the small provocations, and why he remained passive in the face of Da Cao’s taunts.
It was all to provoke him, to make Da Cao snap and attack him openly. Once Da Cao dared to make an overt move, Xing Wu’s goal would be achieved. Then all he had to do was not fight back, allowing him to emerge blameless when the case was settled, shifting all fault to Da Cao and the Dark Hall. After that, he just needed to let Boss Jiang handle the rest.
That’s why he didn’t care about the competition results – his real goal was to get Da Cao arrested.
The Dark Hall’s people were confident they could suppress the incident, but they hadn’t anticipated Boss Jiang waiting to spring his trap behind everyone’s backs.
Qing Ye suddenly realized that Quan Ya understood exactly what Xing Wu would face today, which is why he couldn’t bear to attend.
This was never just a sports competition, nor was it simply a confrontation between Da Cao and Xing Wu.
The Dark Hall wanted to take over Boss Jiang’s business. Boss Jiang had been frequently meeting with Director Jia from the shooting range factory. The Dark Hall grew restless and vandalized Boss Jiang’s venue, then tried to suppress Xing Wu to support Da Cao’s rise. Boss Jiang wanted to use this opportunity to eliminate the Dark Hall.
And in the end, Xing Wu would be the only sacrifice, while Boss Jiang would emerge as the biggest winner.
Qing Ye pieced everything together in half a minute. She straightened up and stared intensely at Quan Ya, asking, “Does Shu Han know about this?”
Quan Ya’s brows furrowed tightly as he shook his head: “Nobody knows except me.”
A twisted, cold smile suddenly appeared on Qing Ye’s face: “Haven’t you considered Boss Jiang’s other motive?”
Quan Ya just stared at Qing Ye as she said sarcastically, “Boss Jiang won’t even show up. He’d love nothing more than to have the Dark Hall beat Xing Wu half to death. Take me to your sister.”
Quan Ya was stunned for a moment, seemingly realizing something. Without another word, he changed into his shoes, grabbed his motorcycle keys, and took Qing Ye to the mahjong parlor where Shu Han was.
They found her in an upscale private room. When they burst in, Shu Han was playing cards with several people, wearing a handcrafted pearl-embellished jacket over her shoulders. She barely raised an eyebrow and ignored Quan Ya, but when she saw Qing Ye rush in behind him, she paused slightly. Qing Ye walked directly to her and asked, “Are you free right now?”
Shu Han casually drew a card, and though she didn’t speak, her meaning was clear – she was busy.
Qing Ye looked up at Quan Ya, who said to Shu Han, “Wu Zi is in trouble, could you—”
“Can’t you see I’m playing cards?” Shu Han cut him off.
The others at the table looked up at them. Qing Ye had never felt so embarrassed before. She was about to turn and leave, but forced herself to stay, gritting her teeth and saying humbly, “Sister Shu, it’s urgent.”
Shu Han irritably threw down a card, which happened to give her opponent a winning hand.
She pushed away from the table and stood up, telling them, “Wait a moment.”
She then walked out of the private room, with Qing Ye quickly following her into an empty room next door. Shu Han lit a slim cigarette and turned to look at them, asking, “What’s the matter?”
Qing Ye glanced at Quan Ya, who explained to Shu Han the arrangement between Boss Jiang and Xing Wu. Shu Han listened with a dark expression, took a deep drag of her cigarette, and looked at Qing Ye: “So what’s your purpose in coming to me?”
Qing Ye’s nails dug into her palms. If possible, Shu Han was the last person in the world she wanted to face, but, with Xing Wu’s situation unknown, she had no choice. Pride and face meant nothing compared to Xing Wu’s life.
She just stared at Shu Han, speaking each word deliberately: “Boss Jiang will agree to help Xing Wu take down Da Cao, but he’ll make Xing Wu suffer first. As for why? You should know.”
Shu Han’s hand holding the cigarette trembled imperceptibly before she quickly replied, “You said he already made a deal with Old Jiang. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
Qing Ye looked at her chokingly, with an extremely sarcastic smile: “So because you couldn’t have him, you’re willing to watch your man be destroyed because of you?”
Shu Han viciously stubbed out her cigarette, slapping both hands on the mahjong table: “It has nothing to do with me.”
Qing Ye instantly raised her head, tears streaming down her face. The scene of Xing Wu being beaten seemed to rush back into her mind from a great distance, nearly driving her mad.
Quan Ya started arguing with Shu Han beside them. Qing Ye mechanically turned toward the door. Her hand on the doorknob, she suddenly said: “People can be quite funny sometimes, finding excuses to sink low, then blaming it all on fate. If Xing Wu can never stand up again after today’s match, would that make you happy? Is this what you wanted?”
Shu Han slowly raised her gaze to look at Qing Ye’s back, but Qing Ye left without looking back, pulling the door open and striding out.
The cracked clouds gradually closed in, returning the earth to darkness. Qing Ye wandered through unfamiliar streets, everything around her becoming surreal and strange. She was out of options. Shu Han had been her last hope. If she hadn’t intervened with Boss Jiang, Qing Ye couldn’t think of anyone else in the entire county who could save Xing Wu from his dire situation.
She raised her hand to wipe away her tears, but they kept flowing uncontrollably. Why did it have to be a small county town? Who else could she turn to?
Who… Qing Ye raised her head, staring blankly at the stream of unfamiliar faces along the street. Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, her tears stopped. What good would standing by the road crying do? Xing Wu was still being tortured on the other side – she had to think of something!
Find people, is that it? Did they want to make a big scene? Fine, then she’d make it the biggest scene possible!
Qing Ye immediately took out her phone and called Liu Nian, telling him to spread the word in their group chat – gather as many people as possible at the An Zi County Stadium, and quickly.
After hanging up, she stood by the road and called Fang Lei, who answered breathlessly: “Qing Ye, don’t worry, we’re almost there. Where are you?”
Just then, someone called out from a distance: “Classmate Qing.”
As Qing Ye turned her head, she saw a group of Jin Zhong students coming down from a nearby building. It was Ye Jing Jian who had called her. She quickly said to Fang Lei: “I’m heading back to the stadium right away.”
She hung up, and Ye Jing Jian, seeing her red eyes and her standing alone by the road, asked curiously: “What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”
Qing Ye just stared at him with her large eyes. Ye Jing Jian and his companions exchanged strange glances before he asked again: “Where are you going?”
Qing Ye suddenly grabbed him tightly, startling Ye Jing Jian, who heard her say hurriedly: “Take me to the county stadium.”
Ye Jing Jian bewilderedly opened the door of his parked Audi: “You… let go first, I’ll take you there.”
Before getting in the car, Qing Ye turned to look at Wei Dong, suddenly moving close to whisper in his ear: “I know your little secret. Do me a favor – get as many people as possible from your school to come to the county stadium. I promise no one at your school will ever know about this secret.”
Wei Dong stared at Qing Ye in shock. Qing Ye gave him a meaningful look and quickly got into the car. The drive wasn’t far, but looking at the time, she had been gone for over half an hour. She didn’t know how things were going back there. To make matters worse, Ye Jing Jian in the passenger seat kept turning around to talk to her like an annoying fly – she wanted to slap him to make him shut up.
Under her constant urging, the car quickly approached the stadium. However, to Qing Ye’s surprise, the road ahead was completely blocked with traffic, and the car stuck at the intersection unable to move. Unable to wait any longer, she opened the door and got out.
Ye Jing Jian stuck his head out and called to Qing Ye: “You’re leaving just like that?”
Qing Ye was about to run toward the stadium when she heard Ye Jing Jian’s voice. She suddenly turned back to stare at him. Ye Jing Jian shuddered under her gaze. The next second, Qing Ye returned, yanked open the passenger door, and pulled Ye Jing Jian out, saying: “Brother, since you’re so curious, why don’t you come with me? To be honest, my boyfriend’s in trouble. The Dark Hall people are causing him problems. Do you know the Dark Hall? If not, ask your old man.”
“Your boyfriend? The handsome guy who was with you in the county that day?”
Qing Ye replied angrily: “Is this the time to discuss that? Am I blind? Do I need you to tell me he’s handsome? Anyway, if you help me today, I’ll return the favor.”
“Will you teach me spoken English?”
“I’ll teach you an alien language if you want.”
With that, Qing Ye dragged Ye Jing Jian through the crowd. Strangely, when she had left the stadium earlier, there had been hardly anyone at the entrance, but now there were crowds of people heading in that direction – many elderly men and women in their fifties and sixties, all looking excited as if going to a fair.
Ye Jing Jian muttered: “Why are there so many people?”
Qing Ye replied anxiously: “How should I know?”
The situation became more surreal as they got closer. These elderly people were all heading into the stadium, and because there were so many, the ticket barrier at the entrance had been completely overwhelmed, leaving the ticket sellers dumbfounded.
A van was parked at the stadium entrance, and Qing Ye immediately spotted Liu Nian and Old Xie, waving and calling out loudly to Liu Nian. Liu Nian quickly heard Qing Ye’s call and pushed through the crowd to tell her: “Boss Li has already gone in with some people. I don’t know what’s happening inside.”
Qing Ye shouted: “Why are there so many people?”
“Didn’t you tell me to get people? Old Xie happened to have a van full of eggs he was going to sell at our place. I had him drive straight here, and since I was worried people wouldn’t come, I posted in the group chat that they were giving away eggs at the stadium. I had no idea so many people would show up.”
“…” Brilliant.
Qing Ye said nothing, just gave him a thumbs up, and pulled Ye Jing Jian along as she squeezed through the crowd.
When she finally made it back inside, she was completely stunned.