It was finally during the feast when Song Ye officially introduced Yun Hua to Xu Zihang and company.
“Sister Yun, both you and Xu Zihang will manage the daily operations of the organization on my behalf when I’m not around in the future.” Song Ye presumed she would be so busy traveling around the world that she wouldn’t stay in one place for long. It was crucial for her to groom her trusted aides.
Both parties exchanged greetings and a handshake. Xu Zihang barely hid his curiosity for the woman. Song Ye might have brought Yun Hua in. However, the latter had no skills at all. Recently, the way she handled internal matters had shown how rigid her methods were. Most likely, she was a layman with no prior experience. He wondered how she could have followed Song Ye to start the organization.
He remained doubtful until they arrived at the training ground. Yun Hua’s ruthlessness and decisiveness put all his doubts to rest. It was at that moment when he finally believed the blood flowing inside Yun Hua was the same as the one in Song Ye.
“Those dozens of men are working faster now that Zhou Zheng is dead. Currently, we already have five cabarets and bars under our control. No one has come forward to object, too. Everything went very smoothly.” Yun Hua updated the present situation to Song Ye while they were having their meals.
Song Ye responded in indifference as she continued to eat. One wouldn’t be able to tell if she was happy from her facial expression. Xu Zihang, on the other hand, was surprised. He slanted his head towards the expressionless Song Ye and asked, “Have you already predicted this outcome? The Land Tiger may not have many men, but this is a big place with a mix of good people and scumbags. Not one of them had retaliated since Zhou Zheng’s death. Can things possibly be any easier?”
As a matter of fact—if they were to include the men guarding the turf, the Land Tiger had closed to one thousand men. Xu Zihang dared not make a move for the past three years because of this. However, he never thought that Song Ye would be able to lay her hands on the turf in just a few days.
“That’s right, Song—I’m sorry… Boss, this is too good to be true. We took over the Land Tiger with only a dozen men; it’s incredible.” Wang Tiechuan changed his tone and chipped in from the side. He, too, wished to know Song Ye’s secret.
Very patiently, Song Ye began explaining when she saw everybody’s curiosity. “They were afraid. Zhou Zheng had so many things around him, but overnight, he still lost his life. Cloud City is merely a small city; one can own it simply by owning a weapon. A veil of mystery surrounds us as long as we don’t show ourselves. It allows us to run things smoothly.” This was also why she didn’t reveal her weapon that day or asked her own men to complete the takeover of the turf. With half the effort, the effect she reaped was twice by waiting for the dust to set before she showed her face to take stock of the situation.
Everyone couldn’t help but show Song Ye their thumbs-up after they listened to her analysis.
“One needs to depend on one’s brain even when it comes to fighting or killing.” Everyone was amazed. Once again, they were totally convinced and conceded to Song Ye, their boss.
After their meal, Song Ye led them to a deserted housing area located on the outskirts. She planned to use the dilapidated area as a temporary training ground.
Song Ye opened the schoolbag which she had been dragging along the floor in one swift action while the rest were taking in the poverty-stricken environment. The dozen of weapons fell out with a loud crackling sound. Their eyeballs bulge, shocked by what they were seeing.
“Wh-where… did you get all these from?” Wang Tiechuan gulped as he asked. Fortunately, he did not bite his own tongue off.
Song Ye picked one of the weapons up and passed it to him as she replied nonchalantly, “From Zhou Zheng’s safe.” She set the fire the other day because she felt these things and thought they were important to Zhou Zheng. It was a ruse meant to distract him. Till his death, he was absolutely clueless that he had spent all the effort to protect an empty box.
The group was in admiration of her treacherous action. One by one, they started to pick their preferred weapon. The youths were going to try their skills, exhilarated to see real weapons for the first time. Song Ye turned around unexpectedly and ordered them to hit the sandbags.
The dilapidated housing estate was fully equipped with all sorts of sports and battlefield facilities. Song Ye removed her jacket. She was wearing a cool vest underneath. There was an irresistible look of authority on her calm face. “You will keep practicing as long as I am. I don’t stop; you don’t stop. You are not allowed to touch those things unless you meet your monthly target.”
The youths were full of energy even though it was a command issued by their boss. After all, Song Ye was a slender woman. It would really hurt their pride if they couldn’t win in terms of stamina, no matter how strong she was or how mighty her martial art skills were.
The dozens of them mustered their spirits and willfulness as they gave their all at hitting the punching bags. They punched and listened to Song Ye’s commands at the same time. “The sandbag must be slanted at a forty-five-degree angle each time you hit it. Adjust your breaths. Pay attention to the rhythm of your punches and control your strength from the muscles.”
All these orders seemed like an idle theory which was largely ignored by the youths when they started. After using their brute strength for an hour, all of them collapsed from exhaustion. Every one of them was covered in sweat as they watched Song Ye kicked or punched at regularly but thoroughly. They felt an undeniable sense of defeat.
Finally, she also collapsed from exhaustion after two hours. At the end of the day, a fifteen-year-old body wouldn’t be able to sustain unless it had gone through rigorous training.
Perhaps, her body had been strengthened by superhuman powers. She didn’t display any signs of exhaustion when she woke up the next morning. As lithe as a swallow, she got up and went to school. Her zombie-like subordinates greeted her at the school gate.
Muscle aches and stiffness in limbs were common side effects after exercise. Even an active fifteen- or sixteen-year-old could escape after rigorous training. All the youths looked pale.
Song Ye was the only one who thought it wasn’t sufficient. She walked across the basketball court, saw the fine weather, and promptly announced, “Let’s have a friendly match after school. Thirty minutes will be deducted from the training for the winning team.”
It was between a pain that was as good as death and minimizing training hours. They fought it out during the friendly match which attracted countless audiences. Boys and girls flocked over to watch and cheered for them. The school prince, Xu Zihang, received the loudest cheer of all.
“Go, Master Xu! Go, Master Xu!”
“Master Xu, you are the best!”
…
Xu Zihang’s face was turning greener in the midst of this loud cheering. His body was obviously falling apart. However, because of his famous name, he had to force himself into good postures.
Among the stiff-limbed youths, someone soon noticed an exceptionally nimble silhouette.
Under the rays of sunlight, the slender figure was wearing an oversized T-shirt and appeared smaller compared to the others. However, her actions were quick like a serpent. The huge basketball seemed like a toy in her palm with every action she made. What attracted people’s attention the most was her fair and exquisite face. The layer of sweat made her so beautiful that she resembled a prince from the comics.
Once again, the girls by the court went into a state of craze.
“Oh… which class is he from? He’s so handsome!”
“Besides Master Xu, I never thought there would be such a handsome boy. He’s prettier than a girl.”
…
Although Song Ye shot to fame when she first joined her class, not many people in the school could link her face with her name. After all, her eloquent look was meant to confuse people in the first place.
Nevertheless, among so many students in school, there was bound to be one or two persons who knew Song Ye. Take for example Wang Han who had prepared mineral water and towel for Xu Zihang when she heard about this friendly match.