Chapter Fifty-Seven: Murderous Intent

  The sun had just set, and the neon lights were starting to come on. Qiao Bianzi was treating Zhao Heng and Song Qingguan to a meal at a restaurant outside the west gate of their school. The occasion for the celebration was that he had successfully joined the dance association. He used chopsticks to open three bottles of beer and handed them over to Zhao Heng and Song Qingguan. Song Qingguan took a bottle of 10-yuan beer, looked at Qiao Bianzi and shook his head:

  "Heaven is blind! It's blind!"

  "You actually joined the dance association, this coach must be blind."

  In Song Qingguan's teasing, Qiao Baozi chuckled: "What is called blind eyes, this is a wise eye to recognize talent. I twisted the buttocks of those two dance instructors, and they were stunned on the spot. Then they firmly pulled me into the association, and the 500 yuan membership fee was waived. He said my buttocks are electric."

  "Get it? Chinese pop star Diana Dai is just like that."

  Zhao Heng poured a mouthful of beer into his mouth. The injuries on his body had already recovered to about 70-80%, so a little beer wouldn't hurt him, let alone he had never gotten drunk before: "Second brother, are you sure it was your fat that attracted the coach? You're not secretly playing tricks again, are you? If you lose face again, we won't help you."

  Song Qingguan also took two sips of wine, continuing to laugh and tease: "Heng Ge, we don't need to guess anymore, it must be him who 'found' 1,000 yuan during the test and said it was from the coach's pocket, letting the dance instructor take him in without a trace. After all, it's really hard to find someone who is so clever at bribery."

  "Huh?"

  Qiao Pangzi made an exaggerated expression: "Officer, how did you know?"

  Song Qingwan got goosebumps: "Get out!"

  Qiao Yuncai burst out laughing and immediately picked up a piece of white-cut chicken to give to Zhao Heng: "Heng brother, believe me, I absolutely didn't play any tricks. It's really my electric butt that moved the dance instructor, he said as long as he trains me a bit, I can definitely participate in African belly dancing, and even perform with authenticity."

  Zhao Heng's hand holding the wine bottle stiffened.

  "Plop!"

  Song Qingguan spat the wine onto the ground, coughing as he replied: "Africa? I believe you now. For other dances, I had my doubts, but belly dancing, I deeply trust. Second brother, I'll punish myself with a cup, to apologize for doubting earlier." Song Qingguan's apology was serious, but his face was almost bursting with laughter.

  "Laugh, laugh."

  Qiao Yuncai didn't care about the two joking, and self-absorbedly said: "Wait until I've dealt with the beautiful girls in the dance troupe, see if you'll be envious or not. No, it's to make Song Qingyan jealous to death. Eldest won't need to do anything, Du Ziyuan will probably be taken down in just a few days." As he said this, he immediately looked at Zhao Heng with deep meaning:

  "Boss, how's it going?"

  He smiled: "The green official said that in the afternoon, he saw Du Ziyuan with you again."

  When it comes to the word "again", Qiao Yuncai puts his strength on eating milk.

  Zhao Heng said with a straight face: "Du Tianyong is also with me."

  "Plop!"

  Qiao Yuncai and Song Qingguan simultaneously spat out their wine: "What? Boss Du?"

  Song Qingguan suddenly thought of something: "Could it be that the middle-aged man is actually Du Tianxiong?"

  Zhao Heng let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair, saying: "That's right! He brought Du Ziyuan to school today and played around at the Calligraphy and Painting Association." As he spoke, he laid out the whole story. Qiao Yuncai and Song Qingguan were more and more astonished as they listened, but when they heard how Du Tianxiong had resolved the situation, they both cheered up:

  "It's great, with Du Tianxiong taking charge, Qing Bang won't dare to act rashly."

  Zhao Heng smiled faintly: "You really believe in Du Tianxiong?"

  Song Qingguan thought for a moment, then spoke in a low voice: "Boss, although Zhang Aolin is also a big shot in Huahai, he's still inferior compared to Du Tianxiong. Zhang Aolin walks the dark path, while Du Tianxiong plays with official and business connections. It's said that he has good relations with many powerful people in the capital, and even the Ding family looks like a dog in front of him."

  "As long as he agrees to settle this matter, Zhang Xiaolin will absolutely not dare to make another move."

  Zhao Heng took Du Tianxiong's mediation to heart, but not entirely. He was truly relying on himself and that trump card. However, he still listened to Song Qingguan's analysis. In Zhao Heng's original plan, he would first settle down at Huahai University for a few days before turning his attention to seizing power in Huahai.

  It was just a robbery case that dragged him into the whirlpool, and many things were already difficult to proceed according to plan. However, Zhao Heng was born an excellent leader who knew how to adjust his strategy, so he looked at Song Qingguan and Qiao Baozi: "Although Du Tianxiong is of sufficient weight, there's also Zi Yan involved."

  "But whether Qing Bang really intends to take revenge will be known only when we meet again tomorrow."

  Zhao Heng remained clear-headed: "If you were Zhang Aoling, I killed over a hundred of Qingbang's men, would he really compromise and lower his head? This is unlikely. Even if Du Tianxiong really suppressed him, it was just a temporary measure for Qingbang. Zhang Aoling will definitely stab in the dark, so we can't be careless."

  And people's hearts are hard to fathom, Du Tianxiong might just stab me in the back.

  Zhao Heng poured the beer into his mouth, looking at the two people who were staring blankly and laughed: "Of course, this probability is very small, but it's possible to exist. So, Qiao Baozi, you have to do something for me. If I'm in trouble tomorrow and about to die, you help me make a phone call and tell the other person that Zhao Heng is in trouble."

  Qiao Pangzi was overjoyed: "Brother, is this awesome? Do you have a background?"

  Zhao Heng glared at him and replied in a bad mood: "I have a background! If I really had a background, how dare Qing Bang send someone to kill me? That's a friend who owes me a favor. I gave you this number because Ge Qiao, you're calm and ruthless enough when things happen, unlike the Green Official who would lose his composure due to emotions."

  Song Qingguan smiled awkwardly, he indeed didn't have enough stability in his work.

  Qiao Pangzi was praised by Zhao Heng and suddenly felt proud and complacent:

  "Heng ge, don't worry, I guarantee it will be taken care of."

  Zhao Heng handed him a piece of paper, repeatedly reminding Qiao Baozi: "Take this number to the corner and memorize it, then eat it. Remember, I can only call when I'm in absolute distress. What is absolute? It means that things have reached a point where there's no room for maneuvering, and everyone finds it difficult to rescue me. That's when you can make the call."

  "But as long as there's hope, never dial this number."

  Qiao Pangzi took over the note and nodded: "Understood."

  Looking at Qiao's back, Song Qingguan smiled and said: "Heng brother, aren't you afraid that Baozi will fall off?"

  Zhao Heng did not directly respond to Song Qing's question, but instead finished the last half bottle of wine in one gulp. Then he threw out a playful remark: "Old Three, do you really think that Old Two's chess skills are very poor and embarrassing? Did Zhao Siqing win online by relying on mobile phone software rather than his own strength?"

  Song Qingguan was taken aback, clearly not expecting Zhao Heng to bring up this worthless question. He looked up at Zhao Heng's warm and gentle smile, rubbed his head and spoke in a low voice: "Isn't it? I saw him cheating with my own eyes, and that night he lost thirteen games of chess to Zhao Siqing, was he losing on purpose?"

  Zhao Heng smiled faintly: "It's hard to predict what will happen in life."

  "Zhao Siqing's chess level is definitely not something that can be surpassed by a 200-yuan software."

  At the time when Song Qing's face changed slightly, Zhao Heng added very affirmatively:

  "But he is our good brother."

  Just then, a text message flooded into Zhao Heng's phone. Upon opening it, he found it was from Jiang Changlong. The information on the screen made him frown slightly. As Song Qingguan looked at him in surprise, Zhao Heng calmly said: "The Qing Bang issued a kill order against me this morning and even sent some Iron Arhat to deal with me. It seems we should head back to school earlier."

  "Ah? Didn't Du Tianxiong wipe this matter clean?"

  Song Qingguan was taken aback and looked around before opening his mouth: "Does Zhang Shulin dare to ignore the Du family?"

  Zhao Heng finished a cup of tea, his eyes becoming deep and ruthless: "Qing Bang issued the kill order early in the morning, Du Tianxiong only became a peacemaker in the afternoon, Zhang Xiaolin can either take advantage of the time difference or be outside, no matter what he will give us an attack wave. Qing Guan, settle the bill and leave, I'll go call Qiao Baozi."

  The restaurant is just next to the west gate of the school, and it's only a wall away from the campus, but it's still considered an off-campus environment that Qing Bang can mess with, full of uncontrollable variables. So Zhao Heng prepares to enter the school gate more than ten meters away early, as long as they enter the Huada campus, Qing Bang dare not rush in and make trouble.

  Song Qingguan was busy settling the bill, while Zhao Heng walked towards Qiao Yuncai by the window.

  Just as he walked towards the staircase with his arm around the other's shoulder, a sense of danger made Zhao Heng suddenly turn his head back, and his eyes darted towards the open window like electricity. Outside the window, a man's figure could be vaguely seen, looking at Zhao Heng with a careless yet murderous gaze. Their eyes met, and both people were slightly startled.

  Two people saw a knife-like chill in each other's eyes.

  A fallen leaf, swept by the cold wind, swirls in the dark night.