Volume 1: The Starting Chapter 5: Opportunity

  "Little treasure." The uncle, both annoyed and amused, rubbed his head again and said, "It's much more precious than platinum, take good care of it, don't lose it no matter what."

  As he spoke, he glanced at Xia Wenjie's relatively slender fingers and reminded him: "After going home, find a chain, hang it around your neck, and keep it safe."

  "Uncle..." Xia Wenjie said with a difficult expression: "Since it's so valuable, uncle, you'd better take it yourself..."

  Looking at the wolf-head ring being played with by him, Uncle's eyes were deep and he said quietly: "If I could bring it myself, why would I have sent it to you? Keep it well."

  Uncle had never asked him to do anything before, and the things he was asking him to do today were just a matter of lifting his hand, so Xia Wenjie couldn't open his mouth to refuse.

  He nodded, carefully putting the ring into his pocket and said solemnly: "Uncle, rest assured, I will take good care of it and return it to you when you come back."

  "En." The uncle took a deep breath, nodded in relief, and patted Xia Wenjie's shoulder, saying: "You're very smart. When I was your age, I was still a confused young man who didn't understand anything. However, smart people are also easily misled by their own intelligence. In the future, you must be cautious in choosing your path. Life only comes once, and if you don't cherish it, it will leave you. Remember, no matter what time it is, never take risks with your own life. The thing I regret most in my life is taking risks."

  Xia Wenjie nodded repeatedly and said, "I've taken note of everything you said, Uncle." After a brief pause, he half-jokingly added, "Uncle, it seems like you're giving your last words today."

  The uncle was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

  Xia Wenjie was just a joke to ease the atmosphere, but unexpectedly, it became a prophecy. This encounter turned out to be his last meeting with Uncle, and from that day on, Uncle disappeared from his life, thoroughly and completely, never to appear again.

  The uncle is like an enigma. Xia Wenjie doesn't know the uncle's name, origin, or background, nor does he know where he went after leaving this time, whether he's dead or alive. In short, he's gone, as if Uncle had never existed in this world. Even if he wanted to report a missing person, he couldn't provide a complete and accurate set of information.

  If it weren't for the wolf-head ring and that laptop, Xia Wenjie would probably suspect that he had developed schizophrenia, and that for more than a year now, he had been communicating with someone who didn't exist at all, but was just a product of his own imagination.

  The uncle never came back, and Xia Wenjie continued to do what the uncle entrusted him with. On the 15th of every month, he opened the webpage of that adult products company, logged in, switched pages, and then entered the number 200,000 for transfer.

  He was also very curious about how much money Uncle's account had, but he never checked it. He knew that the deposit in this account would definitely be an astronomical figure. He didn't want to and didn't dare to look at it, fearing that after seeing it, he would have greedy thoughts in his heart.

  He did open a chat room, but there was no one inside. In the sidebar of the chat room, there was only his name.

  The old man disappeared, but his life went on, and the days passed one by one. He also persisted in his daily habit of running with a heavy load.

  Time flies, Xia Wenjie was promoted to the third year of high school, and his studies became more and more heavy. Even at home, Xia Wenjie was forced by his brother to get up early every day to study hard.

  In the second semester of his senior year, Xia Wenjie finally waited for the opportunity he had been waiting for, an opportunity to bring Jin Er to death.

  Now, he truly felt how accurate the old man's prophecy was. A long time ago, the old man had told him that someone like Jin Er would eventually cause trouble, so it wouldn't be difficult to wait for an opportunity to deal with him.

  As expected, the opportunity really appeared.

  Jin Er did something extremely stupid, he had an affair with Zhang Fan's wife. Zhang Fan is a notorious big shot in the G district area, running showrooms and dance halls, involved in prostitution, gambling and drugs, he has his own henchmen and thugs, a true and proper underworld figure.

  Compared to him, Jin Er is just a small hoodlum. But he doesn't know his own death and actually messed with Zhang Fan's wife. After the affair was exposed, Zhang Fan vowed to dismember Jin Er into eight pieces, while Jin Er was so scared that he hid away and didn't even dare show his face.

  Of course, Jin Er also had something to rely on. He had someone in the police station, his uncle was the captain of the criminal police team at the sub-bureau. In the past, whenever he got into trouble, it was always his uncle who helped him get out of it. He thought that this time wouldn't be a big deal either, as long as he could avoid Zhang Fan for a while, and then have his uncle step in to mediate, Zhang Fan wouldn't be able to do anything to him. After all, you can't offend the monk if you want to get by in the temple, unless Zhang Fan didn't want to live a good life from now on.

  No matter what Jin Er had in mind, this incident made Xia Wenjie keenly aware that he had finally waited for the opportunity to avenge himself.

  That day, after school, he came to the Dragon Tiger Bar. The bar was filled with soft and melodious music as well as enchanting singing voices, he looked up and saw that it was Hui Ru Jie who was singing.

  He sat down in front of the bar and called out to the bartender: "Tie Ge."

  The wine keeper's name was Zhang Tie, who was five years older than him, and Xia Wenjie had always called him Iron Brother.

  As a bartender, Zhang Tie faces all kinds of people every day and is very well-informed. It was Zhang Tie who told Xia Wenjie about Jin Er's affair with Zhang Fan's wife and how Zhang Fan later tried to kill him.

  "Hey, Wenjie." Zhang Tie called out, then tacitly poured him a glass of orange juice.

  Xia Wenjie took a sip and let out a comfortable sigh, smiling brightly as he said, "Tiege's orange juice is really good to drink."

  Listening to his praise, Zhang Tie was overjoyed and couldn't close his mouth. Normally, a young man like Xia Wenjie at this age would be in a rebellious phase, very violent and rebellious, but Xia Wenjie was different, becoming more and more lovely, with a better temper, and even more talkative than before.

  "Wenjie, come here and let Iron Brother take a look. Is your mouth smeared with honey? How can it be so sweet?" Zhang Tie said with a chuckle.

  Xia Wenjie pouted and then casually asked, "By the way, Tie Ge, didn't you say last time that Zhang Fan was hunting down Jin Er? Have you found him?"

  "No, Jin Er has been mixed up for so long, if he deliberately hides, it's not easy to catch him."

  "It's possible." Xia Wenjie nodded and said: "However, I've heard that Zhang Fan's influence is very great."

  "No matter how powerful the forces are, they can only operate openly in District G. If Jin Er hides in another district or is not even in D City, Zhang Fan won't be able to find him."

  "En." Xia Wenjie asked: "Where is Zhang Fan usually?"

  "Of course it's at his own dance hall, Wenjie, what are you asking this for?"

  "Nothing, just curious, by the way, his dance hall is our old dance hall, right?"

  "Ah, Golden Star Dance Hall, it's really old. That dance hall is probably older than you are. In D City, it was one of the first batch of dance halls. Don't look at its decline now, but in the past, it was incredibly popular!" Zhang said with a chatty tone.

  Xia Wenjie laughed and said: "Zhang Fan's trip to Jinxing Dance Hall was worth it."

  "He made a big profit, I heard he didn't spend much money, it was almost like they were giving it to him for half price." Zhang Tie shook his head repeatedly, as if lamenting that such good fortune hadn't befallen himself.

  Xia Wenjie chatted with Tie Ge for a while longer before picking up his bag and saying, "Tie Ge, I'm heading home first."

  "Hao Ge is upstairs, aren't you going to go take a look?"

  "I see Wei Ru Jie is also here, so I won't stay and be a light bulb."

  "Haha, clever." Zhang Tie laughed and praised.

  "What's with the light bulb?" Along with a gentle breeze, Zhou Huiru, wearing a red skirt, stood beside Xia Wenjie and casually put her arm around his neck, smiling and asking: "Little brother, are you talking badly about sister?"

  Feeling his head pressed tightly against Huiru's chest, the warm and soft sensation made Xia Wenjie's face immediately turn bright red, stuttering: "N...no..."

  As he spoke, he awkwardly stood up and tried to break free from Zhou Huiru's embrace.

  However, Zhou Huiru obviously didn't want to let him get away with it. Her pale and tender arm wrapped around his neck even tighter, while her other hand pinched his cheek relentlessly, as if she had discovered a new continent, 'wickedly' smiling: "Hmph, little brother now knows how to be shy."

  "Hui Ru, I'm not a kid anymore, I'm already eighteen years old by Chinese age reckoning." He grumbled discontentedly, then struggled free from her embrace, grabbed his backpack and ran out of the bar in a flash.

  Looking at his back, Zhou Huiru pouted and muttered: "Really getting more and more unlovable."

  Zhang Tie smiled wryly and said, "I think Wen Jie is getting more and more aware of the situation."

  Zhou Huiru is now Xia Wenhao's girlfriend, in other words, Wenjie's future aunt. Even if the uncle and aunt are close, they can't hug each other, let alone Wenjie saying that he's not a kid anymore.

  He ran out of the bar, Xia Wenjie let out a long sigh, his face didn't show any displeasure, but instead showed a hint of happiness. Now, he no longer had the infatuation for Zhou Huiru as he did in the past, but rather developed another kind of feeling. He felt that being in her arms was like being in his mother's embrace. Thinking about this, Xia Wenjie himself felt embarrassed, perhaps he lacked maternal love too much!

  He left the bar and didn't go home but took a taxi to Jinxing Dance Hall in G area.

  Jinxing Dance Hall is a veteran dance hall with over 20 years of history, and its ticket price has never been raised. Twenty years ago it was five yuan, and now it's still five yuan. However, the people who go to Jinxing Dance Hall to dance nowadays are mostly middle-aged men and women who have aged, or some migrant workers. The clientele is no longer comparable to what it was in its heyday.

  Xia Wenjie came to the Golden Star Dance Hall and bought a ticket for five yuan before walking in.

  It's not yet six o'clock in the evening, and the dance hall is very quiet, with many chairs still stacked on tables. The lighting inside is dim, not to the point of being unable to see one's hand in front of their face, but visibility is limited.

  After entering, he walked around looking for Zhang Fan's figure.

  He had never seen Zhang Fan, but he knew that Zhang Fan was a big fat man. In Zhang Tie's words, he looked very kind and gentle, like a Maitreya Buddha. Of course, if you think he is a good person because of his appearance, then you may not even know how you died in the end.

  He had been in the dance hall for a short while when a waiter came over, looked him up and down, chuckled and asked with an air of superiority: "Young man, how old are you to be hanging out in a dance hall?"