Dazzling

Huang Mao's unrestrained joke had an oddly muted reception—no one pressed for details, not even Li Lanfang, though a brief silence fell over the courtyard. Within moments, everyone carried on as if they hadn't heard a thing.

This left Huang Mao sweating bullets. He kept shooting guilty glances at Xing Wu, itching to apologize, but Xing Wu's indifferent expression suggested he hadn't taken the thoughtless remark to heart. Huang Mao spent the entire evening fidgeting like he had ants in his pants.

After dinner, Qing Ye retreated to the office to tally the accounts. Soon after, Xing Wu entered with a drink and said, "Wrap it up and call it a day once you're done. No more work tonight."

Qing Ye glanced outside, then lowered her voice: "Did your mom ask you anything?"

Xing Wu unscrewed the bottle and handed it to her. "No," he replied, meeting her gaze.

Qing Ye slumped into her chair. "That Huang Mao..." She took a large gulp of water and returned the bottle. "Don't you think it's strange? Nobody said a word."

Xing Wu recapped the bottle and set it aside, amused. "Ever consider they might've already figured things out?"

His words made Qing Ye's face shift instantly. She took a moment to collect herself, suddenly feeling like a fool—had everyone around her known all along while she thought she was being discreet?

"Snap out of it," Xing Wu reminded her. "Finish up so we can go."

Qing Ye refocused, quickly reconciling the day's cash, Alipay, and WeChat transactions. She looked up at him and asked, "Guess how much we made today?"

Xing Wu set his phone down. "At least ten thousand."

"Over fifteen thousand, minus costs."

Xing Wu let out a sigh. "Better than expected."

"I plan to repay Quan Ya first, then give Du Qiyan and Liu Nian some wages. They've been working tirelessly."

Xing Wu took her hand. "Your call. Ready to go?"

Seeing the glimmer in his eyes, Qing Ye smiled. "Let's go. No more work. It's Sunday tomorrow—can we take two hours off?"

Xing Wu said meaningfully, "What do you want to do?"

"Sleep."

"Just sleep?"

"What else did you have in mind?"

They shared a laugh and left the office. Outside, the others were still cleaning up. Xing Wu helped Liu Nian and the rest move tables back. Huang Mao was bored, popping balloons with cigarette burns—each "pop" made Fang Lei scold him, which only egged him on. He chased her around with the lit cigarette, provoking her until she nearly fought him.

Shi Min smiled at their antics while organizing leftovers. Quan Ya dismantled stands by the gate, watching them with a lopsided grin. Pang Hu filmed the chaos on his phone.

Qing Ye picked up a pack of Small Sweet Potato Jerky, feeding one to Shi Min and taking one herself as she watched Huang Mao and Fang Lei's balloon battle.

Pang Hu approached Qing Ye and aimed his camera at her. "Tasty?"

She handed him a piece, then suddenly launched into a polished London accent to describe the sweet, soft jerky. Pang Hu chuckled and asked, "What else have you got?"Qing Ye took another packet of snacks from Shi Min, then seamlessly switched to a flawless New York accent, making Pang Hu and Shi Min burst into laughter.

Xing Wu also came out and stared at her with a smile. As Qing Ye spoke, she switched to an Indian accent, the constant rolling and trilling of her tongue amusing Li Lanfang so much that she exclaimed from the side, "What's that? Did you burn your tongue? Your 'swa-swa' is making everyone's heads ache!"

Qing Ye stared blankly at Li Lanfang, completely baffled by what she was saying. Meanwhile, Pang Hu and the others were nearly doubled over with laughter, and even Quan Ya cracked a smile.

After packing up, the group left the factory building and headed outside. Fang Lei and Huang Mao were still bickering, having somehow transitioned from arguing about balloons to literature. Huang Mao insisted he was well-versed in poetry and lyrics, so Fang Lei casually recited a couple of ancient verses and challenged him to continue. Not only did Huang Mao fail to respond, but he accused Fang Lei of deliberately making things difficult by choosing obscure poems. He then turned to Qing Ye and asked her to recite one.

Qing Ye had already mounted Little Angel and, without looking back, shouted at him, "The sunlit Censer Peak exhales incense-like cloud."

As soon as the words left her mouth, a chorus of voices chimed in from behind, "Reach into my pocket, not a penny to be found."

Qing Ye smiled and turned her head. They waved at her under the night sky. In the prime of their youth, with years still bright ahead, a sudden thought crossed her mind: it wouldn't be so bad if time stood still at this very moment.

That evening, she stood in the bathroom showering for a long time, so long that Xing Wu nearly barged in to ask if she had fallen asleep washing up.

When she opened the door, she stared blankly at Xing Wu, then suddenly slumped in dejection and said, "I used to always complain about my dad taking too many calls, only caring about his company. Now I realize how hard it is to earn money. Do you know, after working ourselves to the bone for half a month, that ten thousand yuan—after deducting costs, paying Quan Ya for the packaging, and covering wages—is practically nothing."

She stood pitifully by the bed, on the verge of tears. "I still owe Grandpa Xie for a batch of goods, and now the goods are gone too."

Xing Wu put down his phone and looked up at her. "The first step is always the hardest."

Qing Ye suddenly slumped onto the edge of the bed in frustration. "The middle is hard, the end is hard—everything's hard. I really want to buy an ER200, but I can't bring myself to spend the money."

"You mean that electronic dictionary you used to have?"

Qing Ye nodded. "I'll wait a bit longer."

Xing Wu didn't say anything, just lowered his head and picked up his phone. Qing Ye's phone suddenly buzzed. She picked it up and saw that Xing Wu had transferred five thousand yuan to her. Stunned, she looked at him. He pulled her closer and smoothed her hair. "Buy it."

But Qing Ye struggled to sit up. "Don't you still need to pay for Grandma's hospital fees? Where did you get this money?"

Xing Wu replied nonchalantly, "Picked up some odd jobs."

Qing Ye frowned and stared at him. Xing Wu lazily curled his lips. "I'll figure out the money."

Suddenly, Qing Ye asked, "Do you... still need to go to driving school? It's been over three months, and you haven't passed the test yet?"

Xing Wu lowered his gaze and said casually, "Well, the New Year break delayed things a bit."

"Hmm..." Qing Ye lay down. Xing Wu turned off the light and wrapped his arms around her from behind. As their fingers intertwined in the dark, Qing Ye quietly traced the calluses that had formed on his palms at some point.

Qing Ye turned in his embrace, held him tightly, and silently choked back a sob.After the first diagnostic test since the start of the semester, both Shi Min and Fang Lei had broken the 400-point mark, while Pang Hu was already closing in on 450. Qing Ye remained steadily above 700. Lao Yang advised her to ease her pace slightly in the final few months, assuring her that maintaining this score would guarantee no issues for the college entrance exam.

Notably, aside from Qing Ye, several other students from Anzi High School had scored above 500 this time—all of them from Qing Ye's Night Cram Class.

Anzi County was, after all, a small place with limited educational resources, and the test banks they usually practiced from had certain limitations. During this period, Qing Ye had extensively shared the question sets that had helped her the most with her Night Cram classmates, which significantly enhanced their thinking skills and familiarity with question patterns.

As a result, their Night Cram Class had grown by over twenty people in just a month, and the workshop was almost at full capacity.

Time flowed like the sand in the hourglass Xing Wu had given Qing Ye, slipping away incessantly. In the blink of an eye, it was late March. Recently, Lao Dong had been visiting the class to see Xing Wu more and more frequently, and Qing Ye knew the day of that match was drawing near.

The county sports meet was held on a Saturday at the end of March. The weather that day was poor, much like when she had first arrived at Zhazha Pavilion—the sky was thick with clouds, blocking out the sun, with no sign of clearing.

Xing Wu had told Qing Ye the competition would end by noon and asked her not to get up early to go with him, promising to return for lunch. But that morning, as dawn barely broke, Qing Ye woke up. She lay with her eyes closed, listening to the sounds of Xing Wu getting up, dressing, and washing up. Before leaving, he planted a light kiss on her forehead.

Only after Xing Wu closed the door did Qing Ye suddenly open her eyes and sit up in a flash. She then headed early to the spot where she had agreed to meet Huang Mao and Pang Hu. When she arrived, Lang Dai, Zhang Kai, and the others were already there. Surprisingly, Huang Zhiming, Sun Dongcheng, Xiao Ling Tong, and the rest from Class Two had all come with Pang Hu too—a crowd of nearly twenty people.

Huang Mao asked her, "Has Brother Wu gone already?"

Qing Ye nodded. Pang Hu quickly followed up, "D-did he still not s-say anything last night?"

Qing Ye shook her head again. Lang Dai cut in, "Never mind, let's just head over first."

What they didn't expect was running into Da Hei and his group on the way to the county sports meet. Huang Mao shouted across the street, "Brother Hei, did my Brother Wu call you here?"

Da Hei walked toward them and said, "No, we just came because we were worried. What about you guys?"

It was only then that everyone exchanged glances, realizing that Xing Wu had truly gone to the competition alone—he hadn't called anyone.

Lately, whether it was Huang Mao and the others asking directly or Qing Ye probing indirectly, Xing Wu had always brushed it off lightly, saying he was just going to compete and didn't need to call anyone or have anyone accompany him.

But everyone in the area knew that Xing Wu and Da Cao were settling their score at the county sports meet. Since Da Cao had been so confident in forcing Xing Wu to participate, he must have made thorough preparations. How could Huang Mao, Da Hei, and the others just stand by and watch Xing Wu go into danger alone?

When they reached the entrance of the competition venue, they saw cars lining both sides of the road, and the situation inside was far more complicated than they had imagined.The county sports meet required tickets for entry. In previous years, the event had drawn only sparse audiences, mostly consisting of family members or friends of the participants. This low-profile county sports meet naturally attracted few spectators.

The competition venue in the county town wasn't large, but today the stands were unexpectedly packed. From the moment Da Hei and the others entered, they were met with numerous unfriendly glances from all directions.

They took seats in the last few rows near the entrance. Qing Ye frowned as she scanned the arena but couldn't spot Xing Wu. However, she quickly noticed the strange atmosphere in the stands. Apart from some track and field team members and teachers, the left side of the stands was occupied by at least a hundred people who didn't seem to be there to watch the games. Their expressions were stern, and the air felt unusually tense.

Hua Bi leaned over and whispered, "The Dark Hall is here."

These words made Qing Ye's heart tighten. She had heard this name from Xing Wu long ago, back when they went to bail out Du Qiyan and had a conflict with Da Cao. Xing Wu had told her that the Dark Hall was not to be trifled with—Da Cao, born and raised in the target factory, had their backing. Though Qing Ye hadn't fully understood what the Dark Hall represented at the time, the current scene made it clear even to the most oblivious that there were undercurrents of power at play.

Huang Mao, unusually serious, looked toward the group and added, "Anzhi Vocational School has brought quite a few people today. Cao Ping must have called in everyone he could."

Da Hei leaned back in his seat, watching coldly. After a moment, he remarked, "Over there, Shen Si and the other senior figures have all shown up. A shabby county sports meet has drawn an unprecedented crowd."

Qing Ye listened silently, her heartbeat quickening. She quickly grasped the situation: all the troublemakers in the county had gathered here today, from the petty thugs who couldn't make a scene to the influential senior figures.

That so many had been summoned left no doubt about Da Cao's malicious intent. He aimed to publicly humiliate Xing Wu, crush his spirit in front of everyone, and force him to live in shame forever in this county, defeated by Cao Ping.

But why would Xing Wu walk knowingly into the tiger's den?

From the moment she sat down, Qing Ye's eyes kept darting around the arena. She felt something was off but couldn't pinpoint what. Since entering the venue, her heart had been restless with an indescribable unease.

With about ten minutes left before the competition officially began, she couldn't hold back and stood up, saying, "I'm going to the restroom."

Da Hei immediately rose and nudged Hua Bi. "Let's go together."

When Qing Ye came out of the restroom, Da Hei and Hua Bi were standing nearby, smoking. Though they didn't say anything, she could sense something unusual in their close watch.

On their way back to the stands, they encountered a group heading toward them. Qing Ye, walking at the back, saw Da Hei and Hua Bi staring coldly at the other side. The group consisted of about four or five people, led by a man in his thirties with stubble and a rugged, untamed appearance. Qing Ye had never seen him before, yet his gaze fixed directly on her face.Among the group, someone suddenly threw a water bottle at Qing Ye. Da Hei reacted swiftly, raising his hand to punch the bottle far away, sending it bouncing twice after hitting the ground.

Hua Bi immediately cursed, "Fuck your mother, are you blind?"

The bottle-throwing crew-cut guy lunged forward and grabbed Hua Bi by the collar. Da Hei stepped directly in front of the thirty-something man, sneering, "Didn't expect someone like Brother Fang to get involved in this. When the wall collapses, everyone pushes?"

The man called Brother Fang raised his hand, yanked the crew-cut guy back by the collar, and said with a half-smile, "Just joining the fun, that's all. We're all here for the match. Since it hasn't started yet, we should still show some respect to the athletes. Let's not cause trouble."

Da Hei stared at him expressionlessly while Hua Bi spat in disgust. Brother Fang soon turned his gaze to Qing Ye, giving her a casual once-over before asking, "You're Qing Ye, right?"

Qing Ye frowned slightly, watching him warily without responding. Da Hei shifted sideways to block Brother Fang's line of sight and said to Hua Bi, "Let's go."

As Da Hei brushed past Brother Fang, Hua Bi glared fiercely at the crew-cut guy. Qing Ye lowered her eyes and followed behind Da Hei, but as she passed Brother Fang, he suddenly leaned in and whispered to her, "You'd better leave early later."

Qing Ye froze in shock. When she turned back to look at Brother Fang, he was already walking toward the other side of the venue with his people, acting as if nothing had happened.