Wu Ximei stood by the roadside, arms crossed.
Her face was caked in cheap powder, gray and dull like a paper effigy from a coffin shop. The tight spaghetti-strap dress clung to her body, accentuating her slender waist. Her lips were painted a garish red—a kind of trademark.
She had been in Ding’an County for over a year now.
After that night, Wu Ximei had braced herself for arrest, but no news ever came from her hometown. It was as if that night had been nothing more than the last frost of winter, vanishing under the spring sun.
Uneasy at first, she drifted through each day until numbness set in. The lies piled up until even she forgot where she came from. Only in nightmares did she sometimes catch glimpses of that towering inferno.
No ID, no education—but she was pretty. It wasn’t long before a “kind-hearted” older sister took notice of her while she was working as a receptionist and introduced her to Dao Ge, where she became a Betel Nut Girl.
The job wasn’t hard. All she had to do was stand by the highway, waving and smiling at weary truck drivers, or stop idle men on the street, coaxing betel nuts into their mouths before haggling over payment.
Though Dao Ge and the middleman took most of the commission, the scraps left behind were enough to keep her fed.
At least it wasn’t as grueling as before—standing all day to collect money, then washing dirty dishes at night.
Only later did she realize the true cost of this job. What people wanted to buy wasn’t just betel nuts.
The blinding white sun made it hard to keep her eyes open.
Faint calls for customers reached her ears. Squinting, she spotted another Betel Nut Girl from a different shop nearby, one foot propped up, hand resting on a car window, tilting her head flirtatiously.
The laughter, carried on waves of heat, made her dizzy and nauseous.
“Hey, little sister,” a sweaty man stopped in front of her, scratching his belly absently. “Any perks if I buy your betel nuts?”
“Buy five, get one free.” She forced a syrupy smile.
“Oh? But others are giving two free with one purchase.” He jutted his chin toward the truck, where the girl there had her arm looped around the driver’s, cozy as lovers.
“So? If you give, I’ll buy yours.”
He grinned at her, slack-jawed.
She didn’t understand his meaning, but the smile carried something filthy.
When she didn’t respond, he took it as consent and reached out to pull her close.
Wu Ximei stumbled back in panic, knocking over the sample tray and landing hard on her backside, drawing stares from passersby.
“Cucumber Egg’s got no fire.” The man frowned and muttered before sauntering off to the next stall, swinging his arms.
There, he and the girl whispered like old friends. Whatever he said made her beam, shoulders swaying as she giggled and playfully punched him twice.
Wu Ximei crouched down, silently picking up the spilled betel nuts.
A wave of defeat washed over her, cold and creeping up her calves like a snagged thread from stockings.
She despised herself—neither clean nor fully fallen, stuck in the gray between black and white, living a shadowed, frigid existence.
These days, she had learned to smile on command and fawn when needed, but she could never bring herself to banter flirtatiously. Her past made her fear men. She knew that even the meekest-looking ones harbored beasts that could lash out at any moment. She kept her distance, stiff as an enemy whenever she had to face them.
The other Betel Nut Girls teased her, saying her delicate face was wasted on her.She also sensed that this twisted life was like a bitter play, yet she refused to close her eyes and follow the wrong path to the end.
Every evening, Dao Ge would come to the shop to hear each of them report the day's sales.
Poor performance meant getting scolded.
Though Dao Ge had never lost his temper with her, she knew it wasn’t because he was gentle by nature—she had seen how he beat another disobedient woman.
Dao Ge spoke little but was generous, and when not angered, he could be considered a good boss.
The other girls in the shop often joked about him in their free time, saying that anyone who could win his favor would never have to worry about food or clothing for the rest of their lives. Wu Ximei had never entertained such thoughts, treating him with polite indifference, her docility carrying an air of unapproachability. When others teased him into buying late-night snacks, she stayed far away, never provoking him.
When it was her turn to report, Wu Ximei lowered her eyes and slowly shook her head.
No sales yet today.
She stood there awaiting punishment, her eyelashes fluttering uncontrollably from fear.
After a long silence, Dao Ge took a breath and stubbed out his cigarette.
"How long have you been here?"
"Over half a year."
"Business hasn’t been great lately, has it?"
"No."
"This can’t go on. I don’t keep idle people," he tapped the table twice with his index finger. "Work overnight tonight. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have to find you another job."
Wu Ximei knew his patience with her was wearing thin.
Days in the southern lands were long, the daylight stretched endlessly, and the night’s revelry refused to end.
Around eight in the summer evening, as twilight settled and the heat dissipated, it was the perfect time for business.
She peddled her wares along the bustling night market, earning a fair amount as she went. Just as she was thinking of making another round before heading back, someone suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her into a dark alley.
The person slammed her hard against the wall, and a cold, hard object pressed against her face.
A knife.
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she vaguely made out five young hoodlums, reeking of alcohol, barely older than her.
"Hand over the money."
"Haven’t made any yet."
A pair of hands roughly searched her body, touching her intentionally or not, quickly finding her wallet and tossing it over her head to the leader.
"Damn Dog Plague!" The man kicked Wu Ximei in the stomach. "Dare to lie to me, huh?"
"Please, leave me something," she trembled. "I’ll get beaten if I go back empty-handed."
"I’ll beat you first!"
A punch to the chest, another to the temple.
The man grabbed the hair at the back of her head, forcing her to look up, but before he could say anything, a beer bottle came crashing down from above, smashing onto the thug’s skull.
Wu Ximei watched as his body shuddered, thick, dark-red blood slowly trickling down. The next second, the once-bragging man was howling and writhing on the ground.
"Chicken Giblets, causing trouble on my turf? You’re asking for death!"
A tall and a short figure roared as they charged into the fray.
The alley erupted into chaos—groans, shouts, and the sound of fleeing footsteps.
Wu Ximei curled up in the corner, covering her head, but didn’t scream. She was used to these brawls; experience had taught her that silence was the key to survival.
The leader, now completely incapacitated, fled under the cover of his lackeys. The remaining three were tangled up with the two mysterious newcomers, locked in a vicious fight.
Someone must have pulled a knife—the narrow alley reeked of blood and sweat.She covered her ears, refusing to listen to the screams, praying for the farce to end soon.
Even though she knew the gods of this world had never answered her pleas.
Suddenly, a hand reached out in front of her and yanked her up. The man was incredibly strong—Wu Ximei stumbled as she was pulled along. She recognized him as the taller, leaner one of the two, the one who had thrown the beer bottle.
"None of your business. Get out of here."
She stood frozen, not moving.
Wu Ximei watched as the man rushed back into the brawl, kicking away a thug to free his shorter companion.
His fighting style was chaotic, lacking any formal technique, but he made up for it with speed and ferocity—like a young tiger or leopard, a natural-born predator. He took few hits himself, but every punch he threw landed hard.
The shorter guy beside him was also a skilled fighter, quiet but ruthless. He never made a sound even when struck, relentlessly pinning one opponent to the ground and pummeling him.
She saw the man who had shoved her earlier get knocked to the ground with a single punch—as if avenging her.
For the first time, fists had been thrown for her, not at her.
A strange feeling stirred in her chest.
The fight was quickly decided. Stepping over the groaning thugs littering the ground, she followed the two back into the glow of the streetlights.
"Why are you following us?"
The taller one stopped, and only then did she realize they were about her age, their faces still carrying traces of boyishness.
She knew the rules and silently handed him her wallet.
He swatted her hand away. "I’ve got hands and feet of my own. I don’t take money from women."
Wu Ximei felt an inexplicable flush of embarrassment. Instinctively, she tugged at the hem of her skirt, her legs trembling, her face burning.
"Does it hurt?"
She didn’t understand.
"You’re bleeding," he said, pointing at her knee, then her face. "Get it treated. Girls shouldn’t have scars."
The shorter one, his face covered in blood, glanced at her briefly before turning away, pretending to examine the coconuts at a nearby stall—scaring the vendor into backing away.
"Don’t come around here again. It’s not safe. You won’t always run into me."
He turned to leave, but Wu Ximei grabbed his shirt again. With a rip, the flimsy fabric tore in half.
"Hey, what the hell do you want—"
He turned back and saw her slender arm trembling in the air. Her sweaty palm was open, cradling a small handful of betel nuts.
"For me?"
"Mhm."
"Free of charge?"
"Mhm."
His eyes sparkled as he grinned, forming two crescents, but the motion tugged at his wounds, making him grimace in pain.
Only then did she notice the scar between his left eyebrow and eye. Yet, for some reason, on him, it didn’t look like a thug’s mark—more like a mischievous child’s.
"Cao Xiaojun. My brother."
The shorter one nodded in greeting.
He lifted his chin proudly, waiting for Cao Xiaojun to introduce him in return. But Cao Xiaojun didn’t take the hint, turning away to continue staring at the coconuts, his face red, even as the vendor frantically began packing up.
"And you?"
Wu Ximei realized her voice was shaking.
"I’m Ni Xiangdong."
Ni Xiangdong.
She silently repeated the name in her mind for the first time.
Watching the two support each other as they limped away into the neon lights.
Ni Xiangdong.
This time, she was braver, whispering it aloud.
A flutter of emotion, never felt before, pulsed through her numb body.It was the sweet after the bitter, the light beyond the darkness, the long-awaited turn of fate's tide, the reward for over a decade of silent endurance.
She laughed aloud amidst the bustling night crowd.
Her world had never known gods.
But from this moment on, her world had a Ni Xiangdong.
OpenNovel