“So, as I was saying, he was actually quite adorable when he was a child,” Cui Dong Dong remarked. “He was both frank and foolish, completely different from that awkward, explosive, and insufferable person he eventually became. If you ask me, he bottled things up for so many years that he developed a brain full of neuroses. The only thing that never changed was how he valued romance over friendship, hmph.”
The two were seated in a secluded café facing the street. It was the summer of 1996, and the sweltering heat outside baked the asphalt road, yet inside the air-conditioned room, separated by a single pane of glass, a cool breeze drifted. As the Handover Day approached, a small national flag was tucked beside the call bell on their table.
He Chu San cupped his coffee mug in both hands and smiled. “Actually, that wasn’t really the case, Sister Cui Dong. Back then, when he heard I had nearly caused your death, he almost strangled me alive. He even told me that if anything happened to you, he would never forgive me.”
“You deserved it,” Cui Dong Dong said without a hint of politeness.
He Chu San gave a bitter smile. “Yes, I deserved it. So, he already liked Azure Dragon back when he was a teenager?”
“Indeed. Are you feeling jealous?”
“It would be a lie to say I’m not, but as you said, he would rather bottle himself up until he was sick than ever confess his feelings to Azure Dragon.” He Chu San lowered his head to stroke his coffee mug, smiling softly. “He said he loves me—he said it many times. At first, I cherished those words and counted them, but eventually, I truly lost track.”
He was clearly smiling with a sense of triumph, yet his eyes revealed nothing but deep sorrow and inner struggle. Cui Dong Dong couldn’t bear to watch, so she added a spoonful of sugar to his bitter coffee. “Drink up, you silly boy.”
He Chu San took a sip of his coffee and gradually regained his composure. He was not an impulsive man; in the three years since Xia Liu Yi was imprisoned, he had become even more steady and self-possessed, and more suppressed and reserved in his temperament.
“He still refuses to see you?” Cui Dong Dong asked.
He Chu San nodded. “Sister Dong Dong, could you help me try to persuade him again?”
Cui Dong Dong lit a cigarette and took a puff with a furrowed brow. “To tell you the truth, I had a huge row with him over your business last time. Now, he won’t even see me. That worthless bastard; if we weren’t in the visitation room, I would have picked up a stool and smashed it over his head.”
She also gave a bitter smile. “He possesses a ‘virtue’ inherited from Azure Dragon and Big Sister Xiao Man—it’s called ‘I’m doing this for your own good.’ Since they were young, Sister Xiao Man would give him every good thing she had, regardless of how much she liked it herself. Azure Dragon doted on him and was willing to give anything for him without ever calculating the sacrifice. He had no way to repay them, so he could only yield the person he loved most to Sister Xiao Man to fulfill her happiness. Furthermore, he believes that marrying a wife, having children, and living a complete, normal life is the greatest happiness for Azure Dragon—just as he is now forcing you to go seek your own happiness elsewhere. This wretched temperament of his… I scolded him for it back then, and I’m scolding him now. Do you think it’s done any good?”
She exhaled a cloud of smoke with a headache, rubbing her temples with the hand holding the cigarette. “Something needs to come along and strike him over the head to wake him up.”
He Chu San lowered his gaze and gently stirred his coffee with a spoon. “Forget it, let’s not talk about him. He was never as free-spirited and detached as you, Sister Dong Dong. I heard you sold your company a while ago and donated all your family assets, and now you’re working as a social worker with Sister Xiao Luo?”
“I didn’t donate everything; I had to leave some money to buy a few sets of pretty clothes for your Sister Xiao Luo. I sold several properties as well and co-founded a foundation with some social work organizations in the New Territories. We help women in the community who are addicted to drugs or working in prostitution, providing them with detoxification, medical care, and employment guidance. Consider it an atonement for the bad things I did in the past. Does Boss He want to donate a little?”
He Chu San pulled out his checkbook and, without a word, scribbled a few strokes and handed it to her. Cui Dong Dong clicked her tongue as she looked at the long string of numbers on the check. “Boss He is making a fortune now; quite a grand gesture.”
“I don’t need to save money for a wife, since my silly wife won’t recognize me right now,” He Chu San remarked. “Sister Dong Dong, tell me more about the past. How did you meet Sister Xiao Luo?”
“That…” Cui Dong Dong lowered her head to stir her coffee and sighed. “Well, that story has to start with Sister Xiao Man.”
The first time she saw Miss Xiao Man, the scene was quite peaceful. Cui Dong Dong was embracing a pretty girl at the time, with several petite delinquent girls following behind her. As they passed a flourishing brothel in the Walled City, her gaze halted at the entrance.
“What’s wrong? Do you want to go inside and play?” the pretty girl asked, pulling at her jealously.
“Don’t mess around, don’t move.” Cui Dong Dong’s gaze was focused, and she casually pushed the girl’s face away. Besides a few girls striking poses at the brothel entrance, there was also a large record poster. The singer’s stage name had been smeared with profanities, leaving only the album title faintly visible: Starry Sky. The young girl singer was shown with two long braids, sitting in a sea of Baby’s Breath flowers, smiling with a gentle and tranquil expression.
“Damn, it’s like a fairy has descended to earth,” Cui Dong Dong marveled. “Sisters, I officially declare: I’ve fallen in love at first sight.”
“Psh!” her sisters responded, filled with disdain.
Boss Cui said she had fallen in love at first sight, and she truly began to act as if she had. From that day on, she stopped cuddling with pretty girls and announced she was going to be a sincere fan and keep herself clean. One day at the track, she rode her motorcycle while openly carrying a massive cassette player on a shoulder strap. With a press of the play button, she began playing the album Starry Sky by the female recording artist, Xiao Hai Xing.
The soft and melodious singing masked the roar of the motorcycle engine. Cui Dong Dong cut through the wind amidst the graceful melody, invincible and peerless. The night wind billowed her leather jacket and whipped her hair into a dance. The surging slopes were like her youth—full of hardships yet unrestrained and elegant. The beautiful singing drifted into the wind—accompanied by roars, collisions, and screams. Several motorcycles behind her crashed into each other, and the riders jumped off to escape. The erupting flames were sublimated within the music—leaving only one bike to burst through the smoke and fire, trailing closely behind her.
Cui Dong Dong glanced back, then leaned her body low, parallel to the bike, and throttled up. The roar of the engine finally drowned out the singing. Neither bike would yield to the other as they engaged in a fierce competition on the track, ultimately crossing the finish line at the exact same moment.
Cui Dong Dong stopped her bike, paused the music, and took off her helmet, grinning at the other bike. “You’ve improved quite fast!”
The other party also removed his helmet; it was Liu Yi. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he asked, “How do you know this song?”
“This?” Cui Dong Dong opened the player and pulled out a Starry Sky cassette. “I just bought the album. It’s good, right? This singer is gorgeous. The brothels in the Walled City are even using her posters to lure in customers.”
Liu Yi’s face darkened. “What?! Which brothel?!”
“It’s at Ding Sheng Society’s territory… Hey, hey, what are you doing? Where are you going?”
“I’m going to smash their place up!”
“Huh? Why?”
“She’s my sister!”
“Holy shit! Then it definitely needs smashing!” Cui Dong Dong quickly turned her bike around to follow him. “Sisters! Follow me! Let’s go help Big Brother Liu Yi smash the place!”
The group formed a motorcycle squad and rushed aggressively to the brothel where Cui Dong Dong had seen the poster a few days prior—but they arrived too late. The scene had already been smashed to bits by someone else, leaving behind a complete mess. The sign at the entrance had been torn down and burned into charcoal, and all the posters out front had been shredded. A few injured thugs were groaning on the ground, and the once-glamorous girls had their hair and clothes disheveled from the struggle, all of them hiding and trembling in the nearby alleys.
On the other side of the street, the Red Pole of Ding Sheng Society was leading dozens of thugs carrying machetes, rushing toward them in a rage. They shouted as they ran, “Who! Who the hell smashed our place! Was it you brats?!”
Liu Yi leaped off his bike and pulled out two long blades from either side of his seat, ready to charge. Cui Dong Dong chased after him and grabbed his back collar, forcibly dragging the straightforward idiot back. “It wasn’t you who smashed it, so why are you trying to take the credit? Move, move, move! Retreat!”
The group quickly hopped back on their bikes and, under the curses and hacking blades of dozens of thugs, they sped away like lightning.
……
When Liu Yi returned home that night, he learned that A’Ying was the one who had led the men to smash the place. A’Ying had confiscated all of Xiao Man’s posters, but Xiao Man was still deeply traumatized. She hid in her room crying and refused to sing ever again, staying indoors for several days.
Eventually, Liu Yi managed to coax and plead until she finally agreed to go out. Covering Xiao Man’s face with a jacket, he planned to take her to the track for some fun—not for racing, but just to let her ride on his back seat to catch some fresh air and join his friends for some excitement.
That night, Cui Dong Dong was at the track playing a game of “Mwah-mwah” with a newly met beauty. Her brief stint as a star-chaser had ended with her idol’s sudden retirement, and she was ready to return to her free and easy-going romantic life. Liu Yi came roaring in with his sister on the back. Cui Dong Dong whipped her head around—only to see the gentle breeze lifting strands of soft black hair. That refined and beautiful face was half-hidden under the hood of the jacket, revealing the soft lines of a jaw that invited imagination, and a pair of tender red lips.
“My God, I really have fallen in love at first sight!” she thought in shock.
Xiao Man got off the back seat of Liu Yi’s bike. Facing her, for the first time ever, Cui Dong Dong began to stutter. “Hello, I—I’m called Dong, they all call me Cui, they all call me Dong Dong.”
Liu Yi walked over in bewilderment and felt her forehead, looking quite concerned. “Dong Dong, do you have a fever?”
“Shut up, little virgin, get lost.” Cui Dong Dong casually pushed his face away.
Xiao Man lowered her head and smiled, her voice very soft. “Hello, my name is Xiao Man. Liu Yi said you are his best friend; your relationship is truly very good.”
“Oh, oh, is it?” Cui Dong Dong was dazed.
“He usually doesn’t let anyone touch him,” Xiao Man noted. “Much less would he proactively touch someone else.” Yet Cui Dong Dong had just slapped her entire palm onto Liu Yi’s face, and he surprisingly hadn’t jumped up to bite her.
Cui Dong Dong had absolutely no desire to discuss her frigid-natured brother with her. “Do—do you mind moving the jacket away? It’s not—it’s not convenient to talk like this.”
Xiao Man looked around with some anxiety and caution. Seeing that the girls around her all had straightforward and honest faces, she carefully lifted the jacket. Her hair had been messed up by the hood, so she self-consciously gathered it together and wiped her face. “I haven’t been out in a long time; I’m a total mess.”
“No, no, you are truly beautiful,” Cui Dong Dong said, staring at her face like an idiot. “I like you.”
Before she could finish, Liu Yi slapped her on the back of the head. “Pervert! Don’t you dare make a move on my sister!”
“Who’s a per—per—pervert!” Cui Dong Dong replied indignantly. “I am a gentleman—no, I am very ladylike. Big Sister Xiao Man, don’t misunderstand; I’m a girl. But I still like you; you’re truly pretty.”
Xiao Man lowered her eyes and smiled bashfully. “Thank you, you’re a very good person.”
They rode their motorcycles up the mountain path. Cui Dong Dong wanted Xiao Man to sit on her back seat, but Liu Yi naturally wouldn’t allow it, shielding his sister like an old hen protecting its chick. The two rode side-by-side while bickering with one another.
“Pervert! Stop looking at her!”
“Why?! I like her, so of course I’m going to look at her!”
“How can your skin be so thick! Don’t you know how to be shy?”
“Why be shy?! You like someone yourself but won’t say it, and yet you won’t let me speak?”
“Liu Yi, who do you like?” Xiao Man asked.
“I don’t! I’m not! Don’t listen to her nonsense! Dong Dong, if you say another word, I’ll ram you!”
“He likes… Whoa! Help! You’re really ramming me! Whoa! … Fine, fine, fine, he likes me! He likes me, okay?!”
“Like you my ass!” Liu Yi barked.
……
Amidst their playing and bickering, several other motorcycles approached from the opposite direction. As they brushed past, the lead rider spotted Xiao Man, and a mocking voice drifted through the wind. “Hahaha! Isn’t that the whore from the poster?”
Liu Yi slammed on the brakes abruptly, causing Xiao Man to bump into the youth’s firm back. The motorcycle tires let out a piercing screech.
“What did you say?” Liu Yi said, his voice carrying a bone-chilling coldness.
Futile Devices Scans 
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