“Are you okay?”

Old Feng helped me up and looked up at Chi Na.

“You bastard! You can’t tell the difference between a person and a yellow sheep!”

Someone ran over from the bonfire, cursing while hopping and apologizing: “I’m so sorry, Old Feng. This kid has eye problems—he’s nearsighted!”

It was Chi Na’s father, who looked very much like Wang Jing—the boss of North Cang Transportation, Teng Qishier.

He kept asking me, “Hey, child, how are you? Are you dizzy? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“I’m fine. Heh, my foot slipped.”

“Good that you’re okay. My lamb is roasting. We’ve been waiting for you! Come, Old Feng, let’s eat and talk.”

He put his arm around Old Feng’s shoulders affectionately and walked toward the bonfire. I shuddered.

“Old Feng” was just what we called him behind his back. Even our big boss, General Manager An, addressed him as “Mr. Feng” every time.

What exactly was his background? Did he know Old Feng?

This was a hunting ground opened by Boss Teng. During the day, guests could hunt animals, and at night they could roast and eat them at bonfire parties. There were also yurts to stay in—it was basically a private club.

A table full of sumptuous delicacies, including king crabs and red devil shrimp flown in specially, and in the very center were several fat sheep roasting and dripping with oil.

Yu Shixuan was also there, wearing a creamy white cape, pitiable like a snowflake. Chi Na was cutting the tenderest mutton for her.

Several large dogs ran among them, sometimes frolicking about, sometimes wagging their tails for meat.

“Today is just a family dinner. Old Feng and I have been good friends for over ten years.” Boss Teng stuck out his belly, laughing like a Maitreya Buddha. “Hearing that he came to Inner Mongolia, I had to treat him well.”

Chi Na curled the corner of his mouth in a cold laugh. I was so shocked I nearly jumped up. I asked Old Feng in a low voice, “You know him? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Old Feng gave me a sideways glance. “I know a lot of people. Should I report to you one by one?”

Fine. Trying to read the emperor’s mind—my fault.

Boss Teng personally cut meat for Old Feng and said, “You, such a big leader, coming to our small place—it brings light to our humble dwelling!”

Old Feng pointed at me with his chin and said, “Originally I didn’t want to come, afraid she’s young and can’t handle things.”

“Oh! We’ll just help look after her!” Boss Teng’s round, chubby face smiled even more broadly, his eyes disappearing. “Child, from now on, this is your home! If you want to eat or play anything, just come find Uncle Teng!”

I quickly stood up sensibly and offered a toast.

“Manager Ren’s methods are superb! She doesn’t need you to look after her.” Chi Na sneered coldly, threw the meat to a large dog, and said, “When she sees a leader, her tail wags so much even Yogurt has to call her grandpa, right?”

Yogurt was a German Shepherd, chewing raw meat, looking just like a wolf.

Yu Shixuan gently tugged at Chi Na. He ignored her and continued to look at me with ill intent.

I said, “Young Master Teng is too kind. I’m young and inexperienced, so of course I need the elders to educate me more.”

Then I poured a glass of wine and said, “This glass is for Young Master Teng. If I’ve offended you before, please be magnanimous.”

Chi Na didn’t take it, just sneered coldly at that glass of wine. “Last time I saw you, you still had that look like you wanted to eat me alive. Now you’ve learned your manners?”

The atmosphere suddenly froze. No one expected him to bring this up. The fawning smile on my face stiffened there.

“Chi Na.” Boss Teng spoke. He said, “Apologize to Little Ren.”

Most of the time he smiled cheerfully, like a sinister fat man.

But at this moment, although his tone wasn’t loud, it carried tremendous oppressive force.

Chi Na also looked at him, narrowing his eyes, just like a wolf about to attack.

For a moment, the entire grassland fell silent. Only the sound of the bonfire burning fiercely could be heard.

I thought Chi Na would continue to talk back or storm off. After all, there were quite a few subordinates around, and Yu Shixuan was also watching. Middle-school-syndrome teenagers couldn’t stand losing face in public.

But what I didn’t expect was that Chi Na finally licked his lips, took my glass of wine, and said, “I’m sorry, I drank too much.”

Then he tilted his head back and drank down that glass of wine.

Teng Qishier’s face changed as fast as flipping through a book. He immediately smiled cheerfully and said, “That’s right! You’ll be working together a lot in the future—you’ll be like real brothers and sisters.”

Everyone then laughed together, and the atmosphere became lively and bustling again.

Between the toasting, I looked at Old Feng in bewilderment.

Old Feng paid no attention to my gaze. He ate meat in large bites, toasted frequently, and even sang “Green Flowers in the Army” with Teng Qishier.

Finally, when everyone was drunk and tipsy, I moved closer and asked in a lowered voice, “Mr. Feng, what did Boss Teng mean just now? Is our project transportation going to cooperate with North Cang from now on?”

“Yes.”

Old Feng toyed with a hunting rifle. Earlier he and Teng Qishier had agreed to go night hunting.

I thought of Zhao Yu. When he left, half his hair had turned white. What did all his hard struggle for so long amount to?

And what did Qinglong’s life amount to?

Thousands of words stuck in my throat, but I knew I wasn’t qualified to ask these questions.

I could only start from practical considerations and say carefully, “But Mr. Feng, you also saw that Young Master Chi Na doesn’t really like me. It’ll be a hidden danger for work in the future.”

Actually, Yu Shixuan had told me subtly before.

Chi Na thought I was a sycophant, a spineless nobody, and therefore looked down on me.

If integrity could be eaten as food, I’d definitely have more integrity than anyone.

Old Feng toyed with that hunting rifle and said carelessly, “No, you’re Party A. Even if he doesn’t like it, he has to like it.”

What the fuck kind of talk was that! They even dared to kill people.

I was just about to say something more when Old Feng suddenly raised the gun. A loud bang.

Yu Shixuan let out an extremely miserable scream. Everyone stood up.

The dog that Chi Na raised, called Yogurt, was lying on the ground, its four limbs still twitching.

It had just been running at high speed to catch the frisbee Chi Na threw out.

Chi Na stared at Old Feng deadly, his face involuntarily twitching. Several subordinates also gathered behind him.

“Sorry, I drank too much. I thought it was a yellow sheep!” Old Feng said lightly.

Then, aiming at Chi Na, he fired another shot.

After the huge roar.

Chi Na retreated a few steps. The dog closest to him fell in a pool of blood—a tiger-headed little Tibetan Mastiff.

“This was on purpose,” Old Feng said. “I don’t like it baring its teeth at me.”

In the deathly silence, Teng Qishier laughed heartily. “Brother! Your marksmanship is too accurate!”

“Practiced in the military,” Old Feng said. “But that’s just target practice. Dongxue is better than me. Two years ago in Africa, she shot and killed a bandit. That was a living person.”

Old Feng poured a glass of wine, crossed his legs, and smiled. “So, no one should give her a hard time.”

Later I learned that the reason Teng Qishier tolerated us so much was because Old Feng promised to give them the coal mine overburden removal contract for Jiaolong Village.

Yes, the Jiaolong Village coal mine overburden removal project was the main project Old Feng was responsible for.

Private individuals no longer had mining rights for coal mines.

But before mining, there was a large amount of sand and soil on the upper layers of the coal mine that needed to be removed. For any transportation company, this was a lucrative job.

No matter how arrogant North Cang was, their scale wasn’t big enough. Without Old Feng, they couldn’t possibly get this project.

So, forget two dogs—Teng Qishier wanted to enshrine Old Feng on a plaque and offer three incense sticks daily.

But Chi Na loved dogs like his life.

Having his dogs killed, he became like a starving wolf and wanted to fight Old Feng to the death.

In the end, he was held down firmly by his father’s subordinates and dragged away, still roaring something in Mongolian.

I only felt large amounts of sweat streaming down my back. My clothes were soaked through again and again.

Old Feng was still saying to Boss Teng, “Where are we staying tonight?” What kind of dancing-on-graves spirit was this?

——

That night, I insisted on staying with Yu Shixuan.

An old fox like Teng Qishier, a cunning merchant, would at least have some scruples.

But a young reckless hothead like Chi Na—in a moment of impulse, he could do anything.

I lived so diligently and obsequiously—I couldn’t accompany Old Feng to the underworld together.

However, he liked Yu Shixuan so much, he probably wouldn’t do anything like killing or arson in front of her… right?

Yu Shixuan agreed. We stayed in a specially built yurt with some unknown animal skins hanging on the walls.

She kept sobbing quietly. It seemed she really liked those wolf-like dogs.

I clumsily tried to comfort her, saying, “I… I’ll buy you one later.”

“Can you afford it? You only know construction site mutts. Yogurt cost 136,000 yuan,” she said between sobs.

I gasped. “Can I be your dog? I’m cheaper.”

It was finally deep into the night when she stopped crying.

We lay back to back, so awkward we could hear each other breathing.

She said, “Do you know why I’m sleeping with you?”

I said sincerely, “Because you’re kind-hearted.”

“Because he didn’t avenge Yogurt,” she said softly. “I don’t want to see him.”

I was stunned for a moment before realizing that “he” was Chi Na.

I said, “He wanted to fight Old Feng to the death, but wasn’t he held back?”

“If he really wanted to fight to the death, he would have gone already.” She laughed. “He looks like he’s afraid of nothing, but actually, he doesn’t dare disobey his father at all.”

That was true.

“Do you know why I’m with him?”

“I really can’t guess.”

Chi Na’s family was wealthy, but they did business that crossed lines. With Yu Shixuan’s family background and looks, she could be with any wealthy person without any problem.

“Because he beat up my university professor,” she said. “Cheng Xia also knows this person—Professor Meng from S University.”

I actually had some impression—a tall, thin old professor, quite an amiable person.

“Did you have a grudge against Professor Meng?”

“When I was eighteen, he raped me.” She turned her head. Her delicate, soft face was like a magnolia flower. “Does that count?”

I looked at her in shock.

“It probably doesn’t count as rape…” She tilted her head like a child pondering a problem. “Seduction, I guess. At that time, he often criticized me, saying my dad was such a famous architect, why was I so incompetent?

“He had high expectations for me, so he always controlled me, wouldn’t let me date. I had to report all my outings to him, otherwise he’d send very long WeChat messages criticizing me…”

“Why should he control you! He’s not your dad…”

“But he was too much like my dad,” she said. “Before I went to university, I was always controlled by my dad. It made me feel secure, so… I let him control me too.”

My heart ached. I didn’t know what to say.

“Every time he criticized me, I felt terrible. I wanted desperately to meet his requirements… until one day, he put his hand under my skirt.”

She turned over. Her body gave off the scent of shampoo, gentle and pure. “It’s strange—I don’t hate him.”

“Why?”

“Maybe I mistook violation for love. At that time I only thought, ah, I can finally please the teacher…” She said, “Pretty fucking stupid, right?”

In the darkness, her voice was calm as water. “But I hate my father.”