Chapter 1: My Name is Yang Yun

My name is Yang Yun, and I have been an orphan since I was a child. It wasn't until I was thirteen that she, the one who would define my life, appeared. It was a bitterly cold winter day, and with just half a sesame seed cake, she brought me home.

My life improved because of this. Beyond my food and shelter, Sister Shuang even spent money to send me to school. Those were the two happiest years of my life, but good times do not last. Sister Shuang went away for work, and my simple days changed with her departure.

Although Sister Shuang left me ten thousand yuan, I was young and didn't understand how to manage money at all. I followed a group of bad friends, eating, drinking, and playing, and I even got hooked on slot machines. In just three months, I was not only penniless but also expelled from school. By a twist of fate, I ended up guarding a venue for a certain gang boss in our district.

The boss's name was Zhang Longtao, and people in the underworld called him Brother Tao. He had over a dozen men under him, usually guarding bars, KTVs, and the like.

As for me, I was guarding the Lihuang KTV near my home. There were five of us guarding the venue at Lihuang KTV, and the leader was Wang Li, whom everyone called Brother Li. Aside from me, the other four had a particularly good relationship with Brother Li. It wasn't that I didn't want to get along with Brother Li, but no matter what I did, they didn't like me.

They always liked to pick on me, making me treat them to meals. Any dirty or tiring work was mine, I took the blame for everything, and they took all the benefits. Twice I secretly went to find Brother Tao, but Brother Tao ignored me completely. Since then, Brother Li and the others became even more unscrupulous. This was completely different from the glorious life I had imagined. A few times I found a new job, but they dragged me back and beat me up.

This day, I came to the KTV to work as usual and found that the employees inside were actually standing at the entrance, dressed neatly. I asked around and learned that the KTV had a new boss, but that didn't have much to do with me. We were just there to symbolically guard the place and collect protection money; as long as the venue was still there, it was fine. We weren't bound by these bosses; we just had to listen to Brother Tao.

Ignoring the big scene at the entrance, I walked straight toward a private room. That room was where we usually hung out, but when I pushed the door open, I was stunned by the sight before me.

A woman came into view. Embarrassingly, she was in the middle of changing clothes. Even though it was just her back, the smooth skin, the perky buttocks, and the long, beautiful legs made my heart race. However, my first reaction was to turn around quickly: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"

Yet, after a long while, there was still no movement inside. I was a bit puzzled, so I turned my head to look.

The woman before me was already dressed. Because it had been too rushed, I hadn't seen clearly before, but now I was completely dumbfounded, because this woman was truly too beautiful. She was at most around thirty years old, her thick, dark hair was coiled on her head, her face was oval-shaped with light makeup, her cherry lips parted slightly, and her charming eyes were bright and piercing. Her whole body exuded a seductive, sexy beauty that made one afraid to stare directly.

"Are you one of Wang Li's men?" the woman suddenly spoke.

"Ah, yes!" I finally came back to my senses.

"Oh? Is that so? How come I haven't seen you before?" The woman looked a bit suspicious, stood up, and walked around me, scrutinizing me carefully.

The fragrance coming from the woman made my heart flutter uncontrollably. I forced myself to calm down, swallowed, and said, "I don't usually spend much time with Brother Li!"

"Oh? You must be that Yang Yun, right?" The woman stopped, leaned in very close to me, and said this right in front of my face.

"Yes, do you know me?" I looked at her with some curiosity.

"I've heard Little Tao mention you. From now on, just work hard here. If you need any help, don't hesitate to come to me. By the way, my name is Yu Manling, the new boss of the KTV. You can call me Sister Ling!" Yu Manling gently took out a cigarette and handed it to me.

"Sister Ling, I don't really know how!" I truly didn't know how to smoke, mainly because I had no money and couldn't afford it. But I was even more surprised that she was actually the new KTV boss. Oh my god, would she not hold my previous offense against me?

Yu Manling ignored me, took out a lighter, lit her cigarette, took a deep drag, blew the smoke ring into my face, and then said to me, "In the future, if someone gives you a cigarette, take it. Whether you know how to smoke or not, you must take it. This is giving people face, understand?"

After saying this, Yu Manling turned and left.

I was a bit dazed, and just then, I suddenly heard someone calling me.

"Yang Yun, come over here, Brother Li is looking for you!" someone shouted from not far away.

I hurried over. After entering the private room, I looked around and found that everyone's things had already been moved here. It seemed the base had been transferred here. This place was much larger than the previous room; it was clear that the new boss was still taking very good care of us.

Wang Li was sitting on a chair, and when he saw me come in, he handed me twenty yuan directly: "Go, buy me two packs of Zhonghua!"

Hearing Wang Li's words, my heart sank. Even hard-pack Zhonghua cost forty or fifty yuan a pack. He gave me twenty, clearly wanting to scam me and make me pay the difference. Usually, once or twice wouldn't matter, but this was already the seventh time this month, and my salary wasn't much to begin with.

I looked at Wang Li with some difficulty, then said, "Brother Li, I!"

Before I could finish, Wang Li looked at me viciously and cursed, "I told you to go, are you deaf?"

"No, Brother Li, I wanted to ask to borrow some money. I don't have enough on me!" I had intended to tell Wang Li clearly that twenty yuan couldn't buy two packs of Zhonghua, but seeing his vicious look, I was too scared to bring it up.

"Borrow money? Sure, but there's interest, five percent. How much do you want to borrow?" Wang Li smiled as he looked at me after hearing my words.

Hearing "five percent interest," my heart skipped a beat. Five percent was basically usury; how could I afford that? So I quickly said, "Ah, never mind, I won't borrow it!"

"What? You're not borrowing it? You think you can just say you're not borrowing it after saying you would? Are you playing me?"

Wang Li got off his chair, grabbed me by the collar, lifted me up, and cursed angrily.

"Brother Li, I'm sorry!" I was so scared that I begged for mercy.

"Nothing? Good, then tell me, how much are you borrowing?" Wang Li threw me onto the ground.

I felt my body hit the ground hard, causing some pain. I slowly crawled up and said, "Borrow one hundred, borrow one hundred!"

Before I could recover, I suddenly felt a heavy force swing against my face.

"One hundred? And you still have the nerve to say you're not playing me? Damn it, get him for me!"