Volume One, Chapter 18: The Hero

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I quickly turned my face aside, and only then did I notice a faint scent of tobacco smoke lingering in Jing’s small room. Yet Jing never smoked...

The smoke fragrance was very pleasant, soothing my nerves and relaxing me completely...

“I heard you went to meet Lao Hei alone? Truly a hero~ Li Guangzu was your doing too, right? The blood on your hands that day was his—quite bold of you~ Not like those men I know, who only bully the weak and fear the strong, none like you~ But you told me Lao Hei was your uncle. I gave you the address because I trusted you. Yet you went straight to cause trouble for Lao Hei—aren’t you... betraying me?”

“Jing... Jing, I’m sorry...” I said, then couldn’t help but deeply inhale the tobacco scent in the room again. I felt myself relax so much that I grew dizzy, as if my soul was about to drift away uncontrollably...

I closed my eyes, feeling lightheaded...

So comfortable... so strange...

“Is just saying sorry enough? Your question to Ma Fei this time, it’s a matter of the underworld, right? But just asking without giving isn’t how things are done in our world~”

“Then Jing, what... what do you want?”

No answer...

When I opened my eyes again, everything before me had become blurred...

I vaguely saw a figure slithering toward me like a snake...

The figure grabbed the plastic stool I was sitting on, rubbed against my legs...

“Xiao Hui, it’s me, Yuzhu~”

I didn’t know how Yuzhu had come into Jing’s room; in my haze, I couldn’t make any clear judgment...

“Sister Yuzhu...” I clung tightly and sank into the abyss...

When I woke again, Jing was still before me...

She was applying lipstick at the vanity nearby.

“Jing... Sister Jing...”

“Shh~” Jing made a shushing gesture.

She put down the lipstick, came over, and gently kissed my face: “This is our little secret~”

I jumped off the bed and fled quickly from Jing’s dorm...

I ran down the dormitory stairs in one breath, my mind a complete mess!

There was no Sister Yuzhu! Yuzhu was never in Jing’s room just now! The one who spoke was Jing herself!

For a moment, I felt deeply guilty toward Yuzhu...

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Not only because I had a relationship with Jing, but also because when I recalled the scenes just now, I actually... felt a bit reluctant to let go...

Am I really a beast only seeking to vent desire?

This gave me a profound sense of guilt, making me feel unworthy of Sister Yuzhu...

But... what about Jing?

She was usually taciturn, keeping others at a distance; how could she treat me like that?

I recalled something my father once said: if someone is kind to you for no reason, they must be after something...

Jing... what is she after?

I thought it over.

On the day of our assessment, before I made a move on Team Leader Li and before that supervisor gave us trouble, Jing was already acting strangely.

Before the supervisor spoke, she had declared I passed the assessment, standing up for me.

Given her usual aloof demeanor, indifferent to everyone, she shouldn’t have done that...

So why did Jing start treating me kindly from the day of the assessment without reason?

Could it be, as she said, that she knew I had made a move on Lao Hei and thought I was different? Some kind of “hero”?

But... how could I face Sister Yuzhu again?

My heart was tangled with confusion!

Until I rubbed my face, took deep breaths, and calmed myself down.

Then I remembered, I still hadn’t gotten Ma Fei’s address from Jing!

The urgent matter was to clarify Ma Fei’s affair, so I had to find Jing again...

I bit my lip and turned around, just meeting a familiar, cold and elegant face.

It was Jing, already changed into a black leather outfit, her brows resuming their usual proud and aloof expression.

“Ma Fei’s hideout is a bit far. Come with me,” she said, then strode toward the area where bicycles were parked near the factory gate.

I took a deep breath and followed Jing.

She pushed out a fiery red men's motorcycle from among the bicycles.

Thinking about it, that motorcycle must have been the then-imported Suzuki King, costing around twenty to thirty thousand yuan altogether.

At that time, a house cost about the same amount...

Jing swung her long curls and mounted the motorcycle, nodding at me.

Without much thought, I climbed on as well, sitting behind her.

Jing grabbed my hand, pressed it against her waist, and said, “Hold tight,” then led me out of the factory.

We took the main road heading opposite the market.

It was about half past eleven, yet the street was still lit with neon lights and bustling with people.

Especially the street food stalls, filled with diners enjoying late-night snacks.

They all glanced sideways as Jing rode the motorcycle, which looked incredibly cool at the time.

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This gave me an uncontrollable feeling of happiness.

I felt so glamorous riding with Jing, and besides, I had already been with her—Jing was mine...

If those diners knew, they’d surely be green with envy.

Thinking this, I straightened up and sat even more upright.

Until Jing led me off the main road onto a wild trail.

She slowed down, telling me to hold her tight because the trail was bumpy.

I complied, and as I pressed close behind her, I caught a familiar fragrance emanating from her—just like the tobacco scent in her room that had made me dazed...

The scent was faint, probably not perfume, but naturally coming from her.

Along with the rough bumps on the path and our bodies brushing together more intensely, I felt my mouth dry again...

This intensified my guilt, forcing me to loosen my grip on Jing and instead hold onto the raised rear end of the motorcycle.

Just then, Jing stopped the bike.

I got off and glanced ahead; the trail led to a sparsely lit cluster of old houses, seemingly a village.

“Follow this road into the village. At the innermost part, there’s an old courtyard—that’s Ma Fei’s hideout.”

After Jing spoke, I nodded and began to head that way.

But Jing stopped me again.

She took a slender box from the side of the motorcycle, like a fishing rod case.

Opening it, she pulled out a sleek black steel pipe.

“Watch this.” She gripped the middle of the steel pipe with one hand, then with the other swiftly pulled at the head.

With a sharp “swish,” a bright blade appeared! The black pipe concealed a slender machete!

Jing closed the blade and tossed it directly to me.

I caught it; it weighed almost the same as an ordinary steel pipe and felt just right in hand.

“Thanks, Jing.” I hid the pipe in my sleeve, my palm gripping its end perfectly.

Jing lit a cigarette, crossed her arms, and leaned against the motorcycle: “Chen Hui, I’m waiting for you...”

I was stunned...

This was, aside from my father, the first time someone called me by my full name...

It meant Jing no longer saw me as a child...

That feeling was wonderful! So wonderful that I wanted to step forward and kiss her deeply!

But then Yuzhu’s face flashed through my mind...

I bit my lip, suppressing the guilt swelling inside, nodded at Jing, and turned to walk alone toward the dimly lit village, never looking back...