The high-end nightclub where Chen Yi worked was quite famous in Teng City. The main boss was Zhang Bin, who had several other industrial companies under him, though Zhang was only a minor shareholder, serving as an industry manager. He was often seen at the nightclub, handling important social occasions and receiving business association investors or public officials. When Zhang Bin wasn’t present, there were always four or five brothers who frequented the nightclub year-round. When Chen Yi previously worked as an internal security guard, the head of internal security was one of them.
The majority shareholding of the nightclub was in the hands of a boss called Zhai Fengmao. Originally from Teng City, Zhai had obtained Hong Kong citizenship in his early years and returned to Teng City for development under the name of a Hong Kong merchant investor. He had more than a dozen industries and investment companies in Teng City, involved in bathhouses, hotels, microloans, and various engineering projects. Zhai Fengmao rarely appeared in public, mainly traveling between Teng City and Hong Kong-Macau, though it was said he had an amiable personality and was approachable—a figure seen but rarely glimpsed.
Chen Yi entered the circle because of the pool, first mixing with the internal security chief at the nightclub. This security chief shared his surname Chen and was also a pool enthusiast. Chen Yi was young but had a gangster air about him, could handle smoking, drinking, and gambling, was quite diligent in following, and even brought Bo Zai and Dai Mao into the nightclub. In this territory, his background was considered clean and transparent, someone who made his living this way. At the pool table, through frequent interactions, Chen Yi played and practiced with others, showing particular awareness of social cues. During that period, Chen Yi spent over ten hours daily at the pool table, his skills improving dramatically. He also got to know Zhang Bin and his gang of brothers. These men weren’t particularly young, being in their thirties and forties, tightly bonded with strong rapport—outsiders couldn’t easily infiltrate their group.
Anyone could see that these people’s backgrounds weren’t exactly clean. Modern society was different from before; fighting and killing were no longer in fashion. The big bosses were all trying to clean up their image, doing less evil, running companies and legitimate businesses. Their followers helped clear the path, everyone making good money steadily, no need to live life on a knife’s edge anymore.
Betting on pool games was common at the nightclub. Sometimes Chen Yi would play directly against others, sometimes the bosses would pick players to bet on. Zhang Bin had an impression of Chen Yi as that young guy who was good at pool, smoked heavily, and was especially popular with girls. The new wave pushes the old, can’t help it—it’s young people’s world now.
Meeting Zhai Fengmao happened when Chen Yi was taken to a five-star hotel for pool betting. The spectators were all either wealthy or noble—Chen Yi didn’t recognize any of them, but nobody seemed to care about winning or losing fifty thousand in one night. After several games, with constant cheering at the pool table, Chen Yi didn’t lose face. Finally, he was given a five thousand yuan bonus, which Chen Yi didn’t accept, instead using it to buy Zhang Bin a drink in the private room, thanking him for his nurturing grace.
An inconspicuous middle-aged man sitting nearby, seeing his youth and handsome features, casually asked Chen Yi if he wanted to play pool professionally, offering to get him a coach and send him to Macau. Hearing his slight Cantonese accent, Chen Yi respectfully lit and offered him a cigar, shaking his head and saying he had no such ambitions, that after graduation he’d work under Boss Zhang, having always received people’s kindness and care, with no plans to leave.
Zhai Fengmao didn’t mind, walking away with Zhang Bin, hands behind his back.
That night after finishing pool and returning home, Chen Yi was still out several thousand yuan. Lying in bed, hands behind his head, he lazily stared at the ceiling. Miao Jing brought in his washed clothes and saw him still with a cigarette in his mouth, ashes falling on his clothes. She pressed her lips together, put the clothes in the wardrobe, turned around, and pulled the cigarette from his mouth, pressing it into the ashtray.
Chen Yi frowned his thick eyebrows and clicked his tongue, getting up to squeeze her shoulders, and urging her to go to the kitchen to cook.
After staying at the nightclub longer, whether there was business or not, whenever they were short-handed, they would always call on Chen Yi, sometimes to play cards, run errands, drive as a chauffeur, or work as a low-level runner.
There were times when he went along to cause trouble, mainly during the old town district demolition and renovation. Local shantytown residents wouldn’t move out because of demolition compensation. At such times, they needed to mobilize large numbers of people—groups of tall, intimidating thugs with cigarettes in their mouths, thick chains, and beat-up vans, lazily prowling the streets and alleys, squatting for ten days to half a month, pressuring residents until the demolition compensation was agreed upon. When real estate companies moved in to demolish old houses, they also had to prevent people from causing trouble.
Zhai Fengmao indeed had many businesses in Teng City, with Zhang Bin managing some of them. At that time, there was an incident of group fighting. Zhang Bin had a logistics company that had constant friction with a rival company. The rival’s boss was a local “Big Brother” in Teng City called Brother Han, who was formerly a gang leader, at his peak having over a hundred followers. Later, he retired from the underworld, dispersed his followers, laundered his black money to open companies, and controlled Teng City’s provincial long-distance passenger transport and logistics.
Zhang Bin deployed the nightclub gang, including the security team and Chen Yi, and the two groups had a confrontation at a passenger transport parking lot over a business competition.
A month later, Brother Han was shot dead at the entrance of a foot massage parlor.
The case was solved in three days. The lead investigator was a criminal police officer called Zhou Kang’an, and local news followed the story. The shooter was one of Brother Han’s former followers who had old grudges over the distribution of illegal gains and sought revenge.
Chen Yi saw the news report. He had seen the killer once before at the nightclub. He remembered because it was also scandalous news—the man had ordered ten hostesses at once but didn’t leave any tips or pay the bill, and afterward, the nightclub manager just let him leave.
Not long after, a familiar runner from the nightclub quietly left. When asked casually, it was said he went to Yunnan on business.
The nightclub had a floor with cigar and wine rooms that this runner used to watch. Once he left, the atmosphere loosened up. Chen Yi treated people to meals, and finally transferred from the pool hall, securing a position and officially becoming Zhang Bin’s legitimate subordinate.
Miao Jing could vaguely sense something. She knew Chen Yi’s room inside out, aware that he kept many dirty things—besides some porn DVDs, there were sensitive items like walkie-talkies and listening devices, even weapons like batons and daggers. They would occasionally appear and quietly disappear the next day.
What could she do? Besides her heavy studies, she would toss and turn at night unable to sleep. They had been in an on-and-off cold war—when things were good, they could understand each other with just a glance; when things were bad, they would exchange cold words and confront each other. Chen Yi wasn’t afraid to argue with her; he could handle her, it didn’t matter to him.
They often talked about what would happen after senior year. With her grades, she would go to university. Miao Jing didn’t want to stop at high school graduation. Even without money, she could apply for student loans and work part-time. The only difference would be whether the school was in Teng City’s province or elsewhere, but it definitely wouldn’t be in Teng City. Chen Yi couldn’t wait for time to pass quickly—once Miao Jing left, he would be completely free and relaxed. He had no intention of keeping her and hadn’t thought about the future. Perhaps… this would be the end?
It had been exactly three years since Wei Mingzhen left Teng City. Perhaps he kept her at home out of pity, or perhaps out of kindness, stumbling along with her staying. But every time he told her to leave, he never showed any mercy in his words.
Miao Jing lived her senior year in this confused and contradictory state.
There were happy times too—he was happily eating the food she cooked, happy bringing backpacked food for her from social occasions, happy coolly giving her pocket money with a cigarette in his mouth, happy when his tall figure casually stood at the school gate after evening self-study with his clothes moving in the night wind, happy when he touched her head, pinched her cheeks, and put his arm around her shoulders crossing the street.
“Miao Jing, that person who walked home with you last night, is he your brother?”
“Yes.”
“He’s so handsome! How old is your brother? Does he have a girlfriend?”
Wearing a baseball cap, camouflage flight jacket, jeans wrapping around his long legs, and young people’s canvas shoes—a mix of mature man and youth.
“Almost 30, no girlfriend. His reputation is too bad, beautiful on the outside but rotten inside. He beats people up, women avoid him.”
“Ah…” The female classmate looked panic-stricken. “Is he… is he that scary?”
“Yes!” Miao Jing nodded solemnly.
After all, she never had parents to teach her—what’s wrong with being a bit hypocritical and telling some lies?
Being in the graduating class, and facing youthful separation, everyone’s feelings grew deeper. Some boys gave Miao Jing small gifts, formed study groups with her, and looked for chances to be alone with her. During last term’s midterm exams, Chen Yi specially made time to attend her parent-teacher meeting, discovered the small gifts and love letters in her drawer, frowned, and picked up a piece of artistic paper with his fingers.
“What’s this thing?”
“Can’t you read it yourself?”
Damn, it took him a while to understand—some talented youth had written an ancient poem, even an acrostic poem. Reading the first characters vertically in traditional style, he only understood Miao Jing’s name.
“What does this mean?”
“He likes me, admires me, wants to be with me.”
Chen Yi’s sword-like eyebrows stood up as he said lightly: “Senior year is a crucial period, don’t mess with these colorful things.”
“You mean… don’t mess with these romantic affairs, right?” Miao Jing paused, slightly frowning, tilting her head to look at him puzzled. “With your level of knowledge, how can you make anything of yourself? Don’t help others count money while being cheated, being a scapegoat for nothing. Why not do something more practical?”
His face reddened slightly, but he remained as steady as a stone lion: “What do you know, fortune favors the bold. Study your books, don’t pry into my business.”
Miao Jing’s expression cooled slightly. She heard him rustling with candy wrappers in the desk drawer, putting one chocolate in his mouth, then unwrapping another and quietly slipping it into her mouth. His warm palm touched her lips, this time with a mixed fragrance of chocolate and tobacco. Miao Jing’s lips lightly sucked, creating a slight suction on his palm. Chen Yi felt a slight itch in his heart, and turned to look—the chocolate was already pursed between her lips, her long curled eyelashes trembling, looking especially pure and well-behaved.
Autumn in Teng City was extremely brief, the weather alternating between hot and cold, with continuous autumn rain. Senior year evening self-study ended at 10:30. Miao Jing rode her small electric scooter, which could compress the journey home to within twenty minutes, but during that period it often rained, making the time to get home especially unpredictable.