Ah Heng sighed with some regret. She had thought that today she could properly "defend herself" and make some people bleed.
Ning Yuan smiled slightly, her large eyes curving into a look that concealed a hint of ferocity: "What's wrong, you surnamed Xing? Weren't you going to teach me a lesson and make me wish I were dead? Go ahead and do it."
Old Xing's face turned ashen as he stared intently at Ning Yuan: "Who exactly are you? How come I had no idea there was someone like you, someone with connections in both the legitimate and underworld circles, in this area?!"
He then realized that this female student was someone he could not afford to mess with!
As soon as Ning Yuan saw Lao Xing's expression, she knew he was imagining himself to be some kind of powerful and influential person.
She didn't expose his imagination, and gave a lazy sneer: "Money is a really good thing. Boss Xing instigated Fatty Jin to try and get a share of my pie, but you should also see if you have the luck to take what's mine."
Old Xing's face darkened: "What do you want?"
Ning Yuan scoffed, arms crossed, a hint of malice in her eyes, and said with a light laugh, "You want to force me to die, and now you're asking me what I want?"
In this life, from the moment she forced herself to start setting up a stall and began learning to scheme against Tang Zhenzhen in the countryside, she was no longer the Ning Yuan who always backed down in her previous life.
Old Xing's body stiffened, his teeth clenched: "I'll give you my life! My brothers... you spare their lives, but you can't implicate me and my brothers' families! One must take responsibility for one's actions!"
He kicked a knife, but he was blind and accepted it!
She looked at Lao Xing mockingly: "You're quite the righteous one, aren't you? You really think you're something special!"
Ning Yuan glanced at the door of her rented apartment not far behind her and suddenly spoke up: "We're all law-abiding citizens, don't you think, Uncle Jiu?"
As they were speaking, the door suddenly opened, and a somewhat stocky, short figure walked out.
The middle-aged man was also dressed in steelworker's clothes, with a towel draped around his neck. He looked to be in his fifties, like a honest and skilled senior technician at a steel mill.
Uncle Nine glanced at Old Xing indifferently: "Xing Erjiang, you've really made something of yourself. Are you trying to use the old Green Gang tactics from before Liberation to deal with a female student?"
Upon seeing the other person's face, Old Xing was instantly terrified, his face turning pale as he stammered, "Ninth... Ninth Brother."
He learned his methods and rules of the Green Gang from Ninth Brother, who was originally from a gang, when he was young.
Before liberation, Ninth Brother was only ten years old when he became the head of a gang in Shanghai and was highly regarded by the gang leaders. Unexpectedly, he is now a steel mill worker.
Uncle Nine smiled, his honest and gentle demeanor sending chills down one's spine: "You've really made something of yourself. This is a new society, and you still dare to stick to these old ways. You really lack ideological reform."
He walked slowly to Lao Xing's side and gently patted him on the shoulder: "Since you still recognize me, you know that Ninth Brother is now a Level 6 worker. You should also strive for ideological progress."
Old Xing stiffened and lowered his head: "Uncle Jiu... I didn't know that girl was you..."
"Now that you know, think about how to apologize to Xiao Ning. Since you like the old ways so much, apologize according to the old rules, okay?" Uncle Nine smiled slightly, slowly taking out the dagger in his hand. His smile was so calm that it sent chills down one's spine.
Old Xing gritted his teeth, suddenly grabbed the dagger from Uncle Jiu's hand, and stabbed himself through the left shoulder with it.
The dagger was long enough to pierce right through the flesh.
Old Xing groaned, sweat beading on his forehead. He pulled out his dagger again and, with a heavy heart, stabbed two holes through his thighs.
This was the gang rule in the old society—if you did something irreparable and asked the other party for forgiveness, you had to pierce three holes in your own body with a sharp blade!
Old Xing's is already the lighter version; there are some rules—you have to poke a hole in his stomach!
Even so, by the time Lao Xing pulled the knife out of his other leg, he was almost half-covered in blood and couldn't stand, so he knelt down with a thud.
His face was ashen, and he trembled as he slammed his forehead on the brick floor with a thud: "Miss Ning, I was wrong. I was blind to your greatness!"
Ning Yuan looked at him coldly: "Your three cuts and six holes can't make up for this. You have about thirty men under your command, don't you?"
The group of idle thugs who followed Lao Xing turned pale instantly!
Do they also have to be stabbed three times and have six holes pierced into their skin, kneel down and apologize?
Kneeling is nothing, but to stab yourself three times like Boss Xing, and still manage to avoid major blood vessels in your leg, is truly—
They can't do it!
Seeing that they refused, Ning Yuan looked at Uncle Jiu and smiled: "What did Uncle Jiu say?"
Since that bloody night in Guangzhou, she has become even more ruthless and decisive in her dealings with others.
Uncle Nine turned around and patted Old Xing's uninjured shoulder, giving him a dangerous smile—
"Alright, if you're going to apologize, at least be sincere, right? Your men aren't like you, who followed me and offered incense to Guan Yu. They're just a bunch of amateur scoundrels. Let's settle this with one strike."
"One cut to settle scores" is a simplified version of the "three cuts and six holes" punishment—it only requires stabbing one hole in the body.
As Old Xing tore his clothes to tie the bloody wound on his thigh, he got up, his face pale, and bowed to Uncle Jiu: "Yes!"
He dared not refuse Uncle Jiu, and his gang targeted Ning Yuan and the others when the police were not around.
But they had already had people watching them, otherwise Uncle Nine wouldn't have appeared at this crucial moment—the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
They were no match for the real gang leaders.
Old Xing pressed his still-bleeding shoulder and sternly shouted at his men, "If you do it yourselves, you can at least choose where to strike. But if you get Uncle Jiu's brothers to help, it won't be so simple! Don't you want to go home?"
Old Xing's last words made his men tremble with fear.
Those who were bold and clever enough to know they couldn't escape immediately took out a knife or dagger, chose a non-lethal spot on their body, such as their shoulder or arm, and then, with trembling hands, stabbed themselves.
The alleyway was filled with the stench of blood, and screams of pain rose and fell.
Ning Yuan watched calmly, neither pleased nor angry, as if it were just a task to be completed.
Looking at Ning Yuan's cold and delicate features, Uncle Jiu felt no pity whatsoever; her composure bordered on ruthlessness, which surprised him quite a bit.
This little girl is ruthless.
Lacking womanly compassion and unafraid of bloodshed, he is capable of great things.
After looking around for a while, Ning Yuan felt a little bored. She looked at Uncle Jiu and smiled, "Uncle Jiu, I have some fresh imported herbal teas. Would you like to try some?"
When she smiled, the coldness in her eyes seemed to have never appeared; she was just a simple and lovely female student.
Uncle Nine smiled and said, "Alright, I've tried quite a few domestic teas in the past, but I've never tasted any imported ones."
Ning Yuan tilted her head and said earnestly, "Foreign teas are no better than ours; it's just something new to try."
Under the dim light, amidst the strong smell of blood and the scene of a group of people stabbing themselves, an old man and a young man chatted with smiles about whether the tea was good, and then entered the room together.
It made the people around him feel a little uneasy.
Only Ah Heng, who had been on the battlefield and witnessed carnage firsthand, secretly shook his head, wondering where his captain had gotten such a treasure.
It's truly both sweet and ruthless.
But it's just to my liking; this move is so beautiful it's captivating.
Ah Heng stared at Ning Yuan's slender back, pondering, "Tsk, why am I not a man?"
Ah Heng knew that Uncle Jiu's men were here, and since he had nothing else to do, he simply stretched and followed them back to his residence.
Manhua and Huazi were taken aback by the scene, but they had been through a lot before, and apart from being a little pale, they quickly regained their composure.
They followed them into the house.
Ning Yuan and Uncle Jiu went up to the living room on the second floor.
A lean and vigorous old tailor-looking man, wearing an apron, a measuring tape around his neck, and sleeves, was sitting at the table slowly drinking tea.
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