Chapter 1

When Qi Xiu Yuan was detained by a bunch of gangsters and dragged inside a room, there was a man standing in front of a French-style window with a phone pressed closely against the side of his ear. Seeing as how he was there alone, he was likely in the middle of discussing an important matter.

With a glance at the man, Qi Xiu Yuan quickly surmised that he was 'probably' not that virtuous. However, being someone that did not like to jump to conclusion about anyone's character, Qi Xiu Yuan began to secretly evaluate him instead. Even though the man's tall and slender build was adorned with a western style suit, it was still impossible to conceal the dark and sinister air that seemed all too willing to weave into his silhouette. A pair of dark shaded sunglasses hid his eyes, making it hard to seeing what kind of expression they were exuding now. But even then, the contours of his strong and intrepid face was still visible.

As Qi Xiu Yuan tried to pick up on the man's conversation, he noted that, although there was a dark aura looming clandestinely above him, his voice was surprisingly very pleasant to the ear. It was deep yet smooth and steady, and if truth be told, it was charming— alluring even. It was a pity that…

"Then chop off one of his arm and leg… do it quickly… no. I have other matters to attend to today. Yeah, just let Shou Zi come tomorrow instead."

Once the man said those grotesque words, he turned around. It was then that Qi Xiu Yuan caught sight of a long scar along the other side of his face. The scar started close to the side of his forehead, ran almost to the corner of his eye and swept down under his ear.

"Qi Laoshi1, you're finally here." The man said and walked towards him with bold steps, all the while, simultaneously reprimanding his subordinates.

"Is this how you handle things? Why haven't you loosened your grips? Didn't I tell you to kindly invite Qi Laoshi over?!"

At those words, the strength of the grips on Qi Xiu Yuan's arms quickly disappeared. But feeling grim, he couldn't help but to sneered at the person approaching him.

Upon closer look, Qi Xiu Yuan thought with certainty that the man's attitude was remarkably similar to Hatoyama2 of the Legend of the Red Lantern3 who captured Li Yu He4 and pretended to be extremely benevolence and friendly toward her.

Just as Qi Xiu Yuan let his mind wander off for a moment, the man had already stopped in front of him with his right hand extended out towards him.

"Hello, Qi Laoshi. I'm Xiao Yang's brother, Xiao Li."

"I can guess." Qi Xiu Yuan ignored his hand, "Mr. Li, what did you invite me here for?"

Hearing the word, 'invited', said in such a serious and willful tone, Xiao Li was somewhat taken aback. But soon after, he seemed to have become a bit embarrassed instead. He let out a few awkward coughs, followed by a long sigh. Then, to Qi Xiu Yuan's surprise, Xiao Li started to explain himself.

"Qi Laoshi, I'm very sorry. It's true I wanted to invite you over, but my men misunderstood my intentions. Please forgive me."

Qi Xiu Yuan simply 'grunted' as an answer, which unintentionally provoked a light chuckle from Xiao Li. Once he regained his composure, Xiao Li pulled back his right hand, that had reached out to shake Qi Xiu Yuan's hand earlier and placed it back into the side pocket of his trouser.

Afterwards, he said, "Yesterday, Susu called and said—"

"Please address her surname as well," Qi Xiu Yuan immediately interrupted.

"Yesterday, Ms. Qi Susu called me. She wanted to break up with Xiao Yang and said that you didn't want her to associate with a dangerous gangster's younger brother." He paused, somehow there seemed to be a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Xiao Yang is my only brother and I don't want him to be unhappy because of me. Qi Laoshi, we're both someone's older brother, please understand my position. Can we sit down for a chat?"

Qi Xiu Yuan silently scrutinized him then coldly said, "What if I don't agree?"

Xiao Li was slightly shocked at the straightforward remark, while Qi Xiu Yuan laughed grimly.

"Mr. Xiao, was the call just now meant for me to hear? It's quite impressive honestly. If I don't agree, are you going to chop off one of my arm and leg as well?"

"Qi, Qi Laoshi, you've misunderstood." Xiao Li stammered to answer, finally understanding what he meant. "That was only a coincidence. There's no other meaning behind it, please don't take it seriously."

The corner of Qi Xiu Yuan's lips rose as he continued to be fastidious about every word Xiao Li said. "Mr. Xiao, don't you think it's impolite to talk to someone with that sunglasses on?"

Xiao Li was hesitant for a moment before he reached over to remove his sunglasses.

"Li Ge."5 One of his subordinates called out, taking a step forward to stop him.

However, Xiao Li signaled for him to step back with a wave of his hand. Then, he removed his sunglasses and explained, "Qi Laoshi, my eyes suffered a small injury two days ago which made them sensitive to the light. I'm not trying to disrespect you in any way."

Xiao Li's eyes were red with a wisp of blood— the array of bruises that scattered along the outer rim reached the corner of that terrible scar. Truthfully, anyone would tremble in fear at first glance.

But, even then the expressions in his eyes were still sharp and clear. If one were to disregard that scar, Xiao Li was an unexpectedly handsome man.

Seemingly absent-minded again, Qi Xiu Yuan sobered up and quickly averted his eyes.

"Qi Laoshi, I don't any formal education, knowledge or accomplishments. If I did something wrong to offend you, please pardon me. I only want to have a proper discussion with you about Xiao Yang and Su…Qi Susu's matter. They…"

"Okay," Qi Xiu Yuan interrupted again but this time, his tone was a bit more relaxed.

"Where are we going to talk? You don't want to talk standing here, do you?"

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Translator's Note:

1 Qi Laoshi – laoshi means teacher

2 Hatoyama (or Jiushan in Chinese) – chief of the Japanese gendarmerie (military police)

3 The Legend of the Red Lantern - one of the Eight model plays, the only operas and ballets permitted during the Cultural Revolution in China. From 1966 till 1976 these plays were played in Chinese opera to foster the ideals of communism and to facilitate the avowed goal of social reforms.

The play is based on a movie titled There Will be Followers made in 1963, which is based a novel titled, There Will be Followers of Revolution by Qian Daoyuan ) first published in 1958. The novel in turn, is based on a true story of communist undercover agents working at a Huicui railway station in Hulin, fighting the Japanese invaders during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

4 Li Yu He - a female railroad worker who engaged in secret underground work

5 Ge – used to address older male brother, friends, etc, or someone of higher status.