"Alright, alright, enough of this nonsense. Can we get to the point now? If you two spill the details, I'll treat you both to meals for an entire week."

"Seriously? You better keep your word!" Both of them grabbed onto my arms, one on each side.

"Well, well, who knew Lefty Fei was such a little tycoon?" Huang Jie even leaned against my shoulder with a sly grin.

"Have some dignity, will you?" HOUZI followed suit, pressing against my other shoulder. "Little tycoon, from now on, I'm rolling with you!"

"Enough! Get to the point!"

Both of them straightened up. HOUZI began, "When the Ninth Prince came around to collect protection fees, I refused to pay. Things escalated until Big Cat had to step in. When Big Cat arrived, Huang Jie handed me a knife, and I put him down with a single stab. After that, just like you said, the Ninth Prince started treating me with respect, acting all polite."

"And isn’t that a good thing?"

"No, it's not," HOUZI said, shaking his head. "That wasn’t my goal."

"Then what was your goal?"

"To replace the Ninth Prince."

I blinked, momentarily stunned. "You want to be his boss?"

Huang Jie groaned. "For God's sake, what kind of IQ is this? What HOUZI means is that we’re going to overthrow the Ninth Prince and take over as the top dogs of our grade."

"Ohhh, now I get it."

HOUZI continued, "After stabbing Big Cat, I expected him to retaliate fiercely, giving us a legitimate reason to take out the Ninth Prince. But that spineless coward folded too easily. Not only did he stop demanding protection fees, but he also started treating me with excessive courtesy. I even went out of my way to provoke him—bumping into him in the hall, kicking his dorm room door open—but he just swallowed it all, responding with calm, measured words. I was left with no excuse to go after him. So, I’ve been stuck in limbo, a nobody in this school, with no real power to my name."

"So you used me and Lin Ke’er as an excuse to provoke Big Cat, just to force his hand and make him retaliate?"

"Exactly. That way, I’d have a legitimate reason to eliminate him," HOUZI declared, clearly pleased with himself.

Though I felt a bit like a pawn in his game, it hardly mattered now. "But tell me this—why do you want to be the boss?"

Both HOUZI and Huang Jie looked at me as if I had just asked why people need to breathe.

"Isn’t it obvious?" Huang Jie scoffed. "What man doesn’t want to be in charge?"

HOUZI added, "Binzi is the boss in your area, right? Have you ever asked him why he wants to be in charge? A real man lives to fight, to strive, to conquer! Otherwise, what's the point of even being here?"

Looking at their determined faces, I felt a surge of excitement. They weren’t entirely wrong. Where we came from, chaos reigned, and we often heard about guys who had "made it"—rolling in luxury cars, basking in success. That was true power. Even Binzi always talked about becoming the underground king of our district, proving that this dream wasn’t uncommon.

But one question still nagged at me.

"You two seem to have skipped over an important detail. Once we take out the Ninth Prince, who gets to be the boss?"

"Me, obviously!" They both shouted in unison.

I looked at them, stunned. They turned to each other, eyes narrowing, hands shooting up to grab each other’s collars.

"What did you just say?"

"I'm the boss, you idiot!"

"Screw you, I’m the boss!"

"You wanna settle this with a fight?!"

"Bring it on! Let’s see who’s tougher!"

They were seriously about to throw down.

I burst into laughter. "You two are fighting over leadership, but you don’t even have a single underling!"

Both of them turned to look at me.

That’s when I snapped. Slamming my palm onto the table, I stood up. "To hell with that—I’M going to be the boss!"

I grabbed HOUZI by the collar, HOUZI grabbed Huang Jie, and Huang Jie grabbed me. The three of us were locked in a ridiculous, endless argument.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"You? Be the boss? Get real!"

"The boss should obviously be me!"

"If you don’t agree, let’s settle it with a fight, right here, right now!"

"Fine! Whoever wins gets to be the boss!"

"Settle your bill first!" The restaurant owner finally lost his patience.

I grudgingly handed over the money, and the three of us stormed out of the restaurant, still bickering, ready to duke it out in the middle of the street.

Then, I suddenly paused. "You know, isn’t it kinda stupid to fight over who's boss when we haven’t even taken out the Ninth Prince yet?"

HOUZI stopped, releasing Huang Jie’s collar. He frowned, deep in thought. "Yeah… that is kinda stupid."

Huang Jie let go of me, sighing. "Really fucking stupid."

I released HOUZI as well. "So how about this—let’s take down the Ninth Prince first, and then figure out who’s in charge?"

The three of us sat down on the sidewalk, smoking in silence. Then, I voiced the real concern on my mind.

"Do you guys actually think we can take on the Ninth Prince?"

Huang Jie exhaled slowly. "The Ninth Prince only has nine core guys, but each of them has their own little crew—some with three or four, others with seven or eight. If they all mobilize, we’re looking at forty or fifty people minimum… So, do you really think we can win?"

Silence fell over us again. The more we thought about it, the more absurd our earlier argument seemed.

I glanced at them, growing more frustrated. "So you got yourself stabbed, and yet you don’t even have a solid plan to take him down?"

HOUZI shrugged. "Why waste brainpower on that? Let’s go play a game first and think about it later."

"Good idea," Huang Jie immediately agreed, already standing up.

I knew them too well. Once they sat down to play, they wouldn’t stop.

I stepped in front of them, arms crossed, fuming. "Like hell you will. Nobody’s going anywhere until we figure this out!"

HOUZI studied me for a moment, then asked, "Lefty Fei, do you really want to take down the Ninth Prince?"

"Are you kidding?!" I practically shouted. "It's only the third day of school, and I’ve already been beaten up six times! How can I not take revenge?!"

"They have the numbers, the resources, the advantage. You’re sure you want to go through with this?"

"Of course!"

HOUZI chuckled. "Heh, no wonder you're Binzi's brother. Alright, let me lay out my plan."

He sat back down and continued, "Zuo Fei, on the first day of school, did the Ninth Prince come to your dorm to collect protection fees?"

"In our dorm, Ma Jie handled it. He said he was paying on behalf of the Ninth Prince, but I refused to contribute, so I ended up getting beaten."

HOUZI nodded. "Right. Every year, the Ninth Prince collects protection fees, but there are always a few stubborn ones like you who refuse to pay. These students usually have some prior experience in the underworld, and they naturally want to assert themselves in a new environment. But in the end, after a good beating from the Ninth Prince, they all end up paying."

I gritted my teeth. "Even if they beat me to a pulp, I won’t pay."

HOUZI nodded again. "Very few hold out till the end. In my year, apart from me and Huang Jie, there were only seven or eight others who never paid. These were the real tough ones. Huang Jie and I seized the opportunity to befriend them, hoping that one day we’d have the chance to overthrow the Ninth Prince."

"And what happened to them?"

"Well..." HOUZI hesitated.

I understood immediately. "You kept borrowing money from them, didn't you?"

"Ah, let’s not dwell on the past!" HOUZI waved his hand dismissively. "What I’m saying is, once military training ends, the Ninth Prince will target those who still refuse to pay. That’s the perfect chance for us to recruit more fighters. Once we have the numbers, we can take him down!"

I slapped my thigh. HOUZI’s plan made perfect sense. Anyone refusing to pay was, first and foremost, a fighter—someone unafraid of conflict. Secondly, they had already been beaten by the Ninth Prince, so resentment was inevitable. That meant they’d be easy to rally. With such a group, we could amass real power.

Just imagining the downfall of the Ninth Prince sent a thrill of excitement through me. "We really have to wait until the end of military training?"

"Yes, it’s their tradition."

"Fine, then we wait." I clenched my fists, eager for the fight. "That gives you time to recover. Once you're back in shape, we go to war."

Huang Jie grinned. "Satisfied now? Can we go play our game in peace?"

"Go, go. I have to get back to training. I’ve been gone so long, the instructor is bound to chew me out."

"Pfft, what kind of coward are you, afraid of skipping a bit of training?" The two of them slung their arms around each other and headed toward the internet café.

Suddenly, I called after them. "Once we start recruiting, you two better not borrow money from our new guys!"

HOUZI turned his head with a smirk. "With a little tycoon like you around, why would we need to borrow from anyone? Just keep a low profile during training and avoid any trouble with the Ninth Prince’s people until the time is right!"

"Got it!"

But whether the Ninth Prince’s men would leave me alone wasn’t up to me.

Back on the training ground, the instructor immediately tore into me, demanding to know where I’d been since yesterday afternoon. His tone was sharp, even threatening to report me to the homeroom teacher. Irritated, I snapped back, "I got beaten up and had to go to the hospital. Can’t you see the bruises all over me?"

The instructor, who had seen me take hits before, scoffed. "Look at you. No wonder people keep beating you up."

That nearly made me lose my temper right then and there. I wanted to take a swing at him, but then he sighed and said, "Fine, go sit under the tree. You’re excused from training, but you have to stay here. If your teacher comes looking for you, I need to have an answer."

That took the edge off my anger. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. So while they trained under the blistering sun, I lounged in the shade, scrolling through my phone.

During a break, Liu Yina came over and asked how HOUZI was doing.

"He’s alive and kicking. Right now, he’s probably glued to a screen at the internet café."

She nodded, relieved, but then let out a small sigh—almost as if she was disappointed.

Then Lin Ke’er walked over with a bottle of water for me, also asking about HOUZI.

With two beauties hovering around me, I immediately felt the envious stares from all directions.

As we chatted, Lin Ke’er suddenly waved her hand. "Zhang Xuan, come here!"

I turned my head and, sure enough, Zhang Xuan was nearby. My expression darkened instantly. I had no fondness left for that woman. But since she and Lin Ke’er were close—especially with Wang Yao mediating—their friendship had returned to normal.

Zhang Xuan walked over, and the three girls linked arms, chatting away, completely ignoring me. That suited me just fine—I had no desire to talk to her anyway. I went back to my phone, enjoying the peace.

"Zuo Fei, are you still mad at me?"

I looked up. Zhang Xuan was gazing at me pitifully.

I scoffed. "Would I dare? You’re one of the ‘Thirteen Roses,’ after all."

"Come on, don’t be angry. I was wrong yesterday. I’ve already broken up with Xing Qiu."

Seeing her like this, I couldn't keep up the cold act. I sighed. "It’s fine. Even Ke’er isn't mad anymore—what right do I have to be?"