Xu Ji really couldn’t bear for him to wash his hands.
Compared to those guys who only knew how to spend money on won or even did drugs, Young Master Zhang was already one of the few with real talent in their circle.
He was clearly not treated well at ho, yet he managed to make a na for himself through the underworld of Qinggang.
When friends in the circle got into trouble but didn’t want their families to know, they always turned to him for help, and he always handled things very properly, making him extrely popular in the circle.
In his surprise, he heard Young Master Zhang sigh lightly and say, “You know, my mom was only my father’s fourth lover. Now that I’m grown, I get a substantial monthly allowance, but the shares in the company and the Zhang family inheritance are all unrelated to .”
“I’m no good at studying. Even though I paid to get into Qinggang University, I got expelled for breaking so brat’s leg. If I wanted into the company, the old man would guard against , and so would the eldest son of the main branch.”
“I wanted to join the military, but my physical fitness didn’t pass the standards.”
“It left with no choice. I bought into all the garbage those people said, thinking maybe the underground world of Qinggang could give a way out?”
“At first, it did seem to go sowhere, but the more I got into it, the more ridiculous it felt.”
“There’s no way out in the underground world. The path I was on was just for low‑level crawlers to fight desperately for a chance to be dogs for the rich. Can you imagine how absurd that is?”
“I spent years in Qinggang’s underworld and realized the best way out was to go be a dog for the identity I originally had…”
“So, I decided not to stay in it anymore.”
“….”
Xu Ji had never considered these problems before and was sowhat stunned hearing him say them.
Zhang He spoke, showing so disappointnt, sighing softly: “Xu Ji, you’re an only child, and the Xu family has roots we can’t imagine, so you just can’t understand people like us.”
“Now I can hang out with you, but for my child, and that child’s child, they’re destined to not even be within reach of your shadow.”
“But that’s not the scariest thing. The scariest thing is, we have no road left.”
“The old n don’t dare to give up the shares they hold, so we don’t have an iron rice bowl. And now, the more they live, the healthier they get. They’re having kids faster than I can find a girlfriend.”
“A few days ago, my mom cried to and said so things, and I realized that now that I’m grown, I have to find a way out.”
“Whether entering politics or joining the company, those high‑level resources aren’t for . So I’m using everything I have now to trade for a way to work in the administrative office.”
“….”
Hearing this, Xu Ji found it odd: “Work in the administrative office?”
“Can you pass the judicial exam?”
He looked completely incredulous—in his eyes, passing the judicial exam was even harder than entering their patriarch’s company.
Most crucially, after having been in the underworld so long, could he really wipe his record clean?
But Zhang He just shook his head at him and said, “There’s not only one path into the administrative office. My grades are ordinary, and I can’t pass the exam, so the path I plan to take is actually another more niche route.”
“I intend to…”
He fell silent for a mont, then said in a low voice: “Work for Secretary No. 5.”
“That’s the only job that would allow to ignore the barriers in our big families and carve out a way for myself.”
“….”
Listening, Xu Ji was taken aback: “I seem to recall that the mayor has only four secretaries.”
Even Han Su, who was nearby observing their conversation through a cara, felt a bit stunned; the person with the most power in Qinggang City was of course the mayor in the administrative office.
And the mayor had only four secretaries assisting him in handling all affairs of Qinggang City—political, economic, security, cultural, and so forth.
The four secretaries beside the mayor were essentially embodints of power.
But as everyone knew, the mayor only had four secretaries. What was this so‑called Secretary No. 5?
“You just need to know.”
Facing Xu Ji’s questions, Zhang He simply patted his shoulder and smiled: “The existence of Secretary No. 5 shouldn’t be a secret to your family. When you grow a bit older, your patriarch will naturally tell you about it.”
“I ca to you now just to say I need to take this path, but I’m not sure where it leads.”
“If one day I suddenly die of illness, or in a car accident, or am killed in so alley…”
He paused for a mont, then looked at Xu Ji intently and said: “I hope that, considering we’re still friends, you’ll look after my sister and my mom for !”
Xu Ji stared at him for a long ti before softly responding, “I will take care of them for you, but it’s best if you do it yourself.”
“All right, with your words, I have no more worries.”
Zhang He smiled and said, “Tonight, we’re going to have one hell of a good ti.”
“Later we’ll leave from here, and whoever reaches the Lilac Courtyard first gets to drink the first glass of whiskey.
Also, that horse you’ve been eyeing—today I’ll let you ride it.”
“……”
As they spoke, they began walking toward the crowd.
Zhang He casually grabbed a young woman from the crowd—dressed revealingly, slender-waisted, with dazzling pale skin—and slid into his car.
Then he leaned out from the driver’s seat, snatched a firework, shot it skyward, then climbed back in, hit the gas, and the steel-and-iron “toad” roared as it sped away.
“Damn it, you wanted to take advantage of one last ti?”
Xu Ji saw this and grew anxious, rushing quickly to his own car.
Many elegantly dressed won nearby were eager to crowd around, but Xu Ji, one hand on his car door, anxiously called out to Han Su: “Brother, get in.”
“……”
Han Su casually turned off the cara and, under the admiring gazes of the eager girls, climbed into the car.
Xu Ji liked having him along for street races because Han Su had once shown astonishing reflexes in front of him—at a critical mont, his tily hand-brake and steering control helped them avoid a bridge pillar, earning Xu Ji’s deep respect.
This ti, too, driven by so intuition, he genuinely wanted to race with him.
In his mind he still thought: “What exactly is this ‘job’ Zhang He ntioned?”
“In the ecological chain of this super tropolis, these people are already at a height ordinary people can’t reach—why do they all look so pessimistic?”
“But…”
His curiosity had just begun to rise when he dismissed it: “What use is it, anyway?”
“According to the interval pattern, I might be dragged back in less than half a month—I can’t even say if I’ll escape again…”
“As for promotion—there’s no place for in it.”
“To soone counting down every day, class barriers don’t even exist…”
“……”
As he pondered these things, Xu Ji pressed the gas, the headlights blazing, and they rushed onto that abandoned, overgrown road.
This guy may radiate loser vibes, but his spoiled habits were backed by real money—his driving was excellent and Han Su need not worry about safety.
Besides, they weren’t idiots—this racing route had already been checked beforehand.
With Xu Ji flooring it, the weeds and trees on both sides whizzed by outside the car windows, but Zhang He had gotten a head start and, as if hell-bent on enjoying one final ride, never slowed. Xu Ji couldn’t catch up.
His taillights glead like ghostly eyes, fading into the night.
“He’s not going to catch up…”
Han Su thought, wondering if he should advise Xu Ji.
Then, unintentionally, he glanced upward and noticed the vague mist outside.
In the deep night, fog had sprung up, wrapping around them in thick bundles.
He felt sothing was wrong and said, “You guys didn’t check the weather forecast before racing the mountain?”
Xu Ji also noticed visibility worsening, but anxious as he was, he hadn’t slowed down. Feeling increasingly uneasy, he said, “We’re just a bunch of car-loving poseurs—do you take us for professionals?”
Although inwardly resistant, seeing visibility truly deteriorating, he could only ease off the gas and watch as Zhang He still sped ahead.
By now, Zhang He had navigated the mountain road and reached the opposite mountainside.
His headlights sprinted through the dark mountain like another parallel world.
He muttered, “Zhang He’s really gone mad…”
From the tone, there probably wouldn’t be another ti like this—this was the last ride. If he’s winning now, let him win…
Just then, he suddenly sensed sothing was wrong, and at the sa ti, Han Su in the passenger seat jerked his head up.
Ahead in the mountain road, in the glare of Zhang He’s headlights, two opposing lights abruptly appeared.
They flickered endlessly, as if from the netherworld—sudden and out of place—swiftly approaching Zhang He’s car.
Speed was so high there was no reaction ti—both sets of lights collided in a flash.
In that instant, flas erupted to the sky. Even from a distance, Han Su and Xu Ji seed to hear the crash and screams—the car had exploded into a fireball.
Those inside surely didn’t survive.
“Fuck…”
Xu Ji slamd on the brakes.
Between violent shaking and the car fishtailing, he forced the car to a stop, wide-eyed staring at the mountain road ahead.
He froze, muttering, “It’s bad, it’s bad—how could this happen?”
“Soone must have been waiting on the other side; they shouldn’t have let the car co up…”
“They were live people…”
“How could this happen…”
“……”
He repeated aninglessly, face pale as paper, as if his soul had left his body.
At the sa ti, Han Su’s hair stood on end, his heart thumped wildly, and his gaze fixed outside the window.
“He’s coming!”
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