Chapter Twelve: The First Assignment

“What use could you possibly be?” Chu Dong employed a provocative tone.

“Who says I’m useless? My sister listens to me the most! As long as you do what I say, I’ll sing your praises to her every day.” The little girl, sensing an opportunity, hastened to highlight her influence over her sister.

“Deal. Tell me, what do you want me to do?” Chu Dong was straightforward, and fearing she might back out, agreed at once.

“It’s nothing much, actually. I just want you to give those Brotherhood punks a good scare. They’re infuriating.” The moment she mentioned the Brotherhood, her anger flared.

“What’s the Brotherhood?” Chu Dong truly hadn’t heard of them.

“They’re Tian Hai, Li Da, and Wang Yue—a bunch of slackers at my school who form cliques and bully others,” Tan Yuer replied indignantly.

So it went: Chu Dong asked, and Yuer answered. Slowly, he pieced together the origin of the Brotherhood and the Fragrant Society.

Tian Hai, Li Da, and Wang Yue were students at Yuer’s school, all with notable family backgrounds. They were birds of a feather, but since all three were captivated by Yuer’s beauty, conflict soon followed. After several brawls, for reasons unknown, they called a truce and formed an alliance—a pact of offense and defense—founding a small gang called the Brotherhood, led by Tian Hai, Li Da, and Wang Yue.

Their main aim was to deal with other boys who were similarly taken with Yuer. This did bring Yuer some peace, but many boys who interacted with her normally suffered at the Brotherhood’s hands. Yuer was furious, and the consequences were severe. She announced the formation of the Fragrant Society to rival the Brotherhood, dragging Four Eyes and Zhu Dawei into her group. But after several confrontations, they were defeated each time—if not for the Brotherhood’s chivalry, the results would have been worse. The last incident happened because a boy was beaten up by them. Having watched gangster negotiations in TV dramas, Yuer decided to meet the Brotherhood at a hotel.

During that meeting, Tian Hai made some suggestive remarks, and in a fit of rage, Yuer threw freshly boiled tea in his face. The water was scalding hot; as Yuer fled the hotel, she could still hear Tian Hai’s agonized screams echoing behind her. The Brotherhood gave chase, but what happened next, Chu Dong had already witnessed, so Yuer didn’t need to say more.

“A bunch of childish games—do you really need me for this?” Now that Chu Dong understood the whole story, his interest waned.

“But you already promised! You can’t go back on your word.” Seeing Chu Dong’s reluctance, Yuer was anxious.

“I never said I wouldn’t help. Sit down,” Chu Dong gestured for her to take a seat, lit a cigarette, and leisurely exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“Here’s what we’ll do: tell Uncle Li not to pick you up from school tomorrow. I’ll come get you. If those brats show up, I’ll teach them a lesson and help you vent your anger.”

“Alright, it’s settled. But you’ll have to tell Uncle Li yourself—he never listens to me,” Yuer replied, rather aggrieved.

“So you have no authority at home, do you?” Chu Dong seized the chance to tease her.

Yuer was about to retort, but remembering she still needed his help, pouted in silence and obediently followed him out of the hotel.

“Uncle Li, I’ll pick up Yuer tomorrow. I’ll find an excuse to join you for dinner in the evening, if that’s alright...” Chu Dong spoke politely.

“That’s wonderful! Master has been wanting you to visit. I won’t go to the school tomorrow afternoon, just bring Yuer home,” the butler, Uncle Li, replied with a knowing smile.

The next day, Chu Dong started preparing himself at three in the afternoon. He glued on a beard, donned sunglasses, bought a tattoo sleeve from a parlor and stuck it to his arm. A tight black T-shirt showed off his muscular build, making him look utterly “intimidating.”

Once he finished, Chu Dong drove the borrowed Audi—still unreturned—to Redwoods High, the elite school Yuer attended.

Though classes hadn’t ended, a long line of luxury cars already waited outside the school. Those driving Audis were too embarrassed to park near the entrance, preferring to keep their distance. Chu Dong, however, had no such qualms. He drove straight in and parked in a prominent spot.

Soon, the bell rang, and a tide of students flooded out.

“Hey, beautiful, looks like your car isn’t here today. Come with me, I’ll be gentle,” Wang Yue, tall but rather awkward-looking, whistled shrilly at Yuer when he saw her usual ride—a Mercedes—was absent. Tian Hai and Li Da stood beside him, shoulder to shoulder.

“Shameless,” Yuer retorted without a hint of courtesy.

“Come on, you know I’m devoted to you. Don’t break my heart,” Wang Yue replied, unfazed by her attitude.

“If you want to see the sunrise tomorrow, stay away from me.” Spotting Chu Dong’s car, Yuer felt emboldened and raised her chin, feigning indifference.

“Oh? You think you’re unbeatable just because you have a couple of nobodies with you?” Tian Hai laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.

Four Eyes and Zhu Dawei, hearing Wang Yue’s laughter, began edging backwards, ready to bolt at any moment.

Yuer shot her two “bodyguards” a look of disdain, lifted her head haughtily, and declared, “Maybe not unbeatable, but more than enough to handle you!” With that, she beckoned toward Chu Dong’s car.

Chu Dong knew it was his cue.

He stepped out, holding a huge apple, pulled a fruit knife from his breast pocket, and began peeling as he strode toward them, occasionally popping a slice into his mouth.

“So, you’re the ones with this Brotherhood nonsense?” Chu Dong spat out a chewed piece of apple, grinned, and flashed his white teeth in a menacing smile.

“Yeah, so what? What do you want?” Tian Hai, clearly the leader, mustered his courage to reply.

“I’m warning you—don’t mess with my Yuer, or you’ll seriously regret it.” Chu Dong deliberately deepened his voice, making himself sound even more intimidating.

At first, Yuer didn’t recognize him, but when she heard his voice, she realized he was in disguise and quickly hid behind him.

“And what if we don’t? I don’t believe you’d dare do anything to us. If you’ve got the guts, let’s settle this one-on-one,” Li Da blurted out—he was clearly the dimmest of the trio.

“One-on-one?” Chu Dong turned to him. “You?”

“What about me? Don’t think you can scare me just because you’re holding a knife. I’m not buying it,” Li Da said, though his body retreated a step.

Chu Dong chuckled inwardly—what a bunch of kids. But as he smiled, he sensed trouble: his fake beard felt loose. Time to wrap this up quickly.

He tossed the apple from his left hand, then, with a flick of his right wrist, sent the fruit knife spinning after it. The blade flashed in the sun, caught up with the apple, and pinned it to the willow tree by the school gate. The handle quivered for a long moment before coming to rest.

Tian Hai and his friends were dumbfounded; they’d never seen anything like it.

Now Yuer was all swagger, clutching Chu Dong’s arm as they strode nonchalantly to the inconspicuous Audi.