The day after Huang Yaming’s inauguration ceremony, Xu Tingsheng heard him, Old Jin and Little Jinshan properly narrate the events of that night for the first time.

  After listening to them, Xu Tingsheng realised that he had not seen the meritorious general of that night, He Chunhua.

  In truth, He Chunhua could not really be considered Old Jin’s subordinate. She had been unrestricted under He Twenty-seven, without any official position as well. In other words, He Chunhua herself had had the autonomy and independence to decide what to do and how to do it.

  She had contacted Old Jin the year before last via a conversation with Little Jinshan. How old had Little Jinshan been then? No one would suspect anything.

  She had also very seldom contacted Old Jin in the two years afterwards, much less provided him with any intel.

  “Actually, she chose not to speak of a lot of things, such as He Twenty-seven looking for Ding Miao. I came to know afterwards that she was actually long aware of this but didn’t say it,” Old Jin said.“Why?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

  “Because she was never my subordinate at the end of the day. She was her own person, acting for her own motives……why didn’t she say it? It’s because she feared He Twenty-seven wouldn’t have a chance, wouldn’t dare to act against me. In other words, if He Twenty-seven never got any opportunity, did nothing, she would even have helped him to create an opportunity, egging him on. Amongst the Binzhou Thirty, it was only possible for He Twenty-seven to thoroughly meet his doom if he acted against me. Only then would she have a chance to fully be free, escaping his clutches.”


  “Wow,” Xu Tingsheng said before asking, “Then, what about the dagger that night? You didn’t communicate about it before then?”


  Old Jin shook his head, “We didn’t. There wasn’t any chance for us to communicate in the first place. Still, I guessed she could think of it, and she also guessed I could think of it. That night, the sole person who could be used to dispel the situation was Jiang Three. All the other four were insufficient. If she acted against He Twenty-seven, she would surely die, so she wouldn’t choose him too. That night, it could only be Jiang Three.”


  “Also, who would she have the greatest opportunity to stand beside that night? Jiang Three, of course. He has that fetish and was free, also having a status where he was free to do whatever he liked. So, of these five, my ‘explosives’ scam also targeted Jiang Three.”


  The tacit understanding between intelligent people left one feeling amazed.

  Xu Tingsheng was not surprised that Old Jin had this level of capability. Conversely, he was now very interested in taking a look at He Chunhua whom he had never once met before, seeing exactly what kind of figure she was.

  “That kind of intellect-given the chance, couldn’t she be another He Twenty-seven?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

  “She had the chance, but she herself wasn’t willing to take it,” Old Jin said.

  “Where is she?”


  “She took a few million and left.”


  “Right. From her perspective, since she wasn’t willing to be the next He Twenty-seven, maybe only leaving and going far away to start over was the best choice.”


  “Starting over is true, but leaving and going far away is not. She isn’t afraid of this in the first place,” Huang Yaming suddenly said in a strange tone, “She’s still in Binzhou. In a county not too far away from the mine district, it seems she has just opened a hotpot shop.”


  “Invite me for hotpot then. Take me to see her. Just looking, not interrupting her,” Xu Tingsheng said excitedly.

  Huang Yaming shook his head in a panic, saying awkwardly, “No, I’m not going.”


  “Why?” Xu Tingsheng and Old Jin were both curious.

  Huang Yaming was conflicted for a while before he gave up and asked, “Wasn’t I acting dumb and always hanging out with He Twenty-seven before? At first, when I saw her, I didn’t know of the situation and no one told me too. That tempting creature! Her looks, so bewitching……”


  “Of course, I mainly wanted to make He Twenty-seven a cuckold, try to conquer her and insert a spy while I was at it……”


  “You made a move on her?” Goosebumps rose on Xu Tingsheng’s entire body.

  “I secretly tried to seduce her several times,” Huang Yaming wanted to cry but lacked the tears for such, “There were a few times when I invited her to dance, then touched……she also didn’t resist……argh, I so wanna die! Luckily, I didn’t find a chance to make an appointment for that step.”


  Xu Tingsheng and Old Jin were nearly rolling on the floor in laughter.

  “Now that you say that, I’ve really got to see her,” Xu Tingsheng said, laughing till he nearly ran out of breath……

  After locating the hotpot shop, the three all made themselves less conspicuous a bit, especially Huang Yaming.

  They sat down and ordered hotpot. Not long after they began eating, a group of youngsters entered the restaurant. Their leader was wearing sunglasses, a toothpick in his mouth. He brought twenty underlings with knives and rods with him, making for an intimidating lineup.

  The customers were all so scared they couldn’t move.

  Xu Tingsheng asked Huang Yaming and Old Jin if they were going to help.

  Old Jin said to watch for a while first.

  Huang Yaming asked someone from the neighbouring table, “What’s the matter? Just a few days after opening, they’ve already provoked someone.”


  That person whispered, “That bunch of people takes ‘protection fees’ from these few streets. Just earlier, not long after we sat down, two underlings came in and asked for eight hundred every month from the boss.”


  “The boss wouldn’t give it to them?”


  “Actually, he insisted on giving three thousand a month. Still, he had to give it to their big boss in person. Say, is something wrong with his head?”


  “.……What happened then?”


  “They started arguing. Then, the two underlings said they would go find their big boss……and here they are now. It looks like it’s gonna be messy.”


  The whole gang walked menacingly towards the counter.

  Still, the boss of the restaurant, He Chunhua, was very calm. His back to the counter, he was slowly and meticulously arranging the wine cabinet. While he had not yet seen his face, Xu Tingsheng had to admit that his back figure after becoming a man again was very handsome and elegant too.

  An underling slammed his knife on the counter as the boss sat down on a high-seat chair and lit a cigarette, saying in an unfriendly tone, “Bro, what’s the meaning of this? I asked for eight hundred, but you insist on giving three thousand? Are you showing off how rich you are or deliberately looking for trouble?”


  It was obvious that no one would want to hand in more protection fees for no reason, even requesting to see the gang boss. The boss felt that he should be here to find trouble and also very likely had some enemy organisation behind him.

  He Chunhua did not utter a sound.

  The big boss slammed the table, “The heck, this old man’s asking you a question!”


  After a short silence, still facing away from the counter, He Chunhua finally said slowly, “No. It’s just that I once had a very good friend. As we were looking at the meat in other peoples’ bowls and eating soy sauce with rice, he told me-when he could earn three thousand a month in the future, he would take me to live with him, eating meat everyday.”


  He suddenly recited a tale. As everybody was feeling perplexed, unexpectedly, that big boss suddenly got up to leave……also, he clearly appeared rather frantic and flustered.

  “What? Running? A big boss like you daren’t even dare chat a little after meeting?” He Chunhua yelled behind him.

  The big boss stopped in his tracks but did not look back. He did not speak too, his shoulders trembling slightly.

  He Chunhua continued saying slowly, “Once, we were bullied. Two versus over a dozen, sustaining injuries all over. We hid at the back hill behind the school. Crying, he took the red ointment and helped me to apply it to my wounds from my body to the corner of my mouth. He was very focused, very gentle, very thorough……”


  The big boss looked back and said in a severe tone, “Stop it, or I’ll hack you.”


  He Chunhua turned back too, still looking a bit feminine as there were tear stains on his pale, beautiful face, “Come on, hack me. If you dare to do it, how can you be afraid to listen? Just who was it who, while rubbing ointment that day, actually turned it into a kiss all of a sudden?”


  A kiss? A kiss, he said? Suddenly mindblown now, all the customers and underlings nearly collectively collapsed right there and then.

  The big boss froze for a moment before rebutting furiously, “Your ass! It was clearly you who initiated it!”


  So they had really kissed. The restaurant’s boss and the gang’s big boss……

  He Chunhua said, “See? So many years, and you still daren’t admit it like always. Just like that time, when I returned to school the next day and somebody’s seat was empty. Unable to find you afterwards, I neglected myself and fell into a downward spiral……do you know how much suffering it took before I managed to return?”


  The big boss was clearly in the wrong here as he had no way of refuting it.

  Capitalising on his momentum, He Chunhua continued unrelentingly in a bit of a feminine manner, “Did you think that by avoiding me and leaving to be the big boss of a gang, you could run away from yourself and hide the fact that you love me and are an uke?”


  The big boss raged in a panic, “Your ass! You, who are you saying is an uke? This old man licks blood off blades in the dark underworld……the uke is clearly you……”


  Simply from outward appearance alone, Xu Tingsheng would definitely choose to believe the words of the big boss. Still, Huang Yaming and Old Jin had both said that He Chunhua was a seme! Also, it was because he could not accept being an uke that he had been determined to render He Twenty-seven dead and escape his clutches.

  The restaurant boss smiled gently as he looked at the panicked big boss, waiting for him to finish before he said warmly, “But you didn’t deny that you love me! Little Chun, it must be really tiring for an uke to be a big boss, right? How about you quit?”


  The big boss chortled lightly, yet as everyone thought that he was going to continue refuting He Chunhua, he actually only asked, “What will I eat if I quit?”


  A smile blossomed on He Chunhua’s face as he said, “Protection fees from me! Three thousand per month.”


  Everybody fell silent. This really just too resembled Stephen Chow saying to Cecilia Cheung: I’ll upkeep you.

  The big boss was conflicted as he resembled a young girl having her first love, fidgeting and lovable. While it was very hard to accept, everyone began to believe He Chunhua’s words.

  He Chunhua emerged from behind the counter, walking over to the big boss as he said, “We have money now. So, do your words from last time count or not?”


  “What words?”


  “Living together!”


  The big boss shook and hesitated for a while, giving up on his struggle.

  However, he still shook his head and said, “Sorry, I can’t leave these brothers alone. Also, it has not been easy for us to reach where we are today. I really can’t give up just like this.”


  Looking at him, He Chunhua was initially silent before looking like he had made a difficult decision, he asked, “How about this? In the future, I’ll be the big boss for you. I’ll take care of the bros.”


  While he wasn’t even willing to be the next He Twenty-seven, he was willing to be the big boss of a gang.

  Surprised, the big boss looked up and said, “Huh? No……”


  He Chunhua smiled and broke him off, “What no? Relax. Wasn’t it always me taking care of you in fights before? Even if you can do it, why can’t I?”


  At this point in this whole farce, the underlings finally got a grip on themselves. They quit listening, grabbing their blades and howling at He Chunhua about who he thought he was and what the hell he wanted……

  Someone made as if to charge over……

  “Nobody move!” The big boss spread his arms wide to block everyone, surveying his band of brothers before he finally clenched his teeth and averted his gaze, saying, “Go on. Call him big boss!”


  His underlings were stunned. Having been gangsters for so many years, they knew that it was not easy to find a good big boss. The one they were following now happened to be one.

  Unwilling to separate, his underlings asked sorrowfully, “What about you, big boss? You won’t care about us anymore?”


  “I will!” The big boss lowered his head, his face red as he bit his lips and said, “I, you……how about you call me big sister-in-law then.”


  Who knew how many chopsticks and ladles dropped on the floor throughout the entire venue at this moment.

  Huang Yaming appeared disbelieving as he blankly drank a ladle of the hotpot’s spices as soup.

  Yet, some underlings were still unable to accept it as pandemonium ensued. There was crying, kneeling, even those who wanted to resort to violence……

  The big boss pursed his lips, saying with tears in his eyes, “Do you guys think that someone with as girlish a heart as mine can really be happy as a big boss? Sorry, your big boss……is an uke! Sob……it’s been so many years. I thought he had totally vanished. Actually, I really miss him……”
……

  That day, Xu Tingsheng’s trio really didn’t interrupt Hu Chunhua……maybe he wasn’t called He Chunhua anymore.

  Anyway, spring flowers (Chunhua) fell to the ground……as lovers reunited, had a happy ending.