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That night, after Xiao Taozi and Zhou Sao fell asleep, Wen Tingli went to see Head Nurse Liu to practice shooting as usual. After practicing for a full hour, she felt a lot more relaxed and fell into a sound sleep as soon as she came back.

***
That morning, Qiu Dapeng came to the White Dragon Gang's general meeting as usual. When he entered the room, he saw Cao Zhenyuan reading a newspaper.

The old gang leader turned two heavy silver balls in his hands, but his lips were tightly pursed.

This is a sign that he is unhappy.

Qiu Dapeng put on a smile and put the food box on the table: "I just bought Dingsheng cake from Dayuanlou, please try it."

"Definitely win?" Cao Zhenyuan snorted, "I think this time we are doomed to fail."

He signaled Qiu Dapeng with his eyes to read the newspaper himself. Early in the morning, several newspapers reported that tickets for the Xinxin final night were hard to get. In comparison, Yifeilin seemed much quieter.

"I underestimated Dong Qinfang!" Cao Zhenyuan snorted and laughed. "It's also a beauty pageant, but she managed to do so many tricks. Even if Gao Tingxin practices for another hundred years, he still won't be Dong Qinfang's opponent!"

Qiu Dapeng blinked, he knew very well why Boss Cao cared so much about this game.

In order to start a business, Gao Tingxin persuaded his father to buy two plots of land. The plot in Hongkou was to be used as an amusement park, and the plot in Xiafei Road was to be used as a department store. Both plots were originally very stable deals, but this young master Gao was ambitious and wanted to do everything to the best of his ability. Only half a year after the construction started, there was a shortage of funds.

Gao Tingxin was afraid that his father would know that he had caused trouble, so he could only raise money secretly. After raising money for a long time, he was still short of a large sum of money. When Gang Leader Cao heard the news, he took the initiative to take out some money to induce Gao Tingxin to sign a stock investment contract with him. Gao Tingxin suffered a loss but dared not say anything, and was beaten half to death by his father.

Nowadays, people outside think that Yifeilin is the property of the Gao family, but in fact, the Bailong Gang is the largest shareholder behind the scenes. If Yifeilin makes a profit in the future, the Bailong Gang can enjoy half of the profit.

After suffering this loss, Gao Ting learned a lot. When preparing for the amusement park in Hongkou, he no longer tried to show off his strength. Instead, he went around looking for shareholders to invest. He successively approached the Meng family, the Bai family, and the Wang family, and recently he also discussed cooperation with the Lu family.

After searching everywhere, they only managed to bypass the White Dragon Gang.

How could Boss Cao be willing to be left aside like this? He regretted that the construction period of the amusement park was longer than that of the department store, and it required more funds. Even if he wanted to snatch the amusement park from Gao Tingxin, he would have to take out a large sum of cash first to trick Gao Tingxin. But if the money was not enough, it would not be enough to impress Gao Tingxin. After all, Gao Tingxin had already negotiated with several powerful shareholders.

Fortunately, at this time, Master Lu San, who was far away in Peking, took the initiative to extend an olive branch to Boss Cao...

Qiu Dapeng smiled and said, "I dare to say that Miss Dong only contributed 30% of the success to the situation. The biggest cause of the trouble is this person."

He pointed to the bust of Wen Tingli in the newspaper.

Cao Zhenyuan did not comment, but picked up the pipe on the table and knocked it. Qiu Dapeng immediately helped to add tobacco and continued to speak:

“As far as I know, when the two companies held the preliminary round, Xinxin had very few spectators. This shows that Mr. Gao’s initial publicity was definitely better than Dong Qinfang’s. Who would have thought that Wen Tingli, who can perform comedy, would suddenly appear in Xinxin.

"Think about it, everyone is tired of the beauty pageant tricks. Who has ever seen a beautiful beauty pageant contestant pretend to be ugly? I haven't seen it at all. Dong Qinfang just took advantage of everyone's curiosity and pushed the situation forward. In addition, I heard that Huang Yuanshan of Golden Pictures had previously asked Wen Tingli to act in a movie. In order to build momentum for his film in advance, Huang used his connections in the film industry to help promote it. Several forces worked together to create today's situation, but if we have to say who is the instigator, it is definitely Wen Tingli."

Cao Zhenyuan blew a smoke ring at Wen Tingli's photo and said slowly, "Let's not talk about who caused this situation first. Tell me how to break it. Looking at the situation, Xinxin will have to stay busy for a few more months. The more busy it is, the more deserted it will be here. You know what's going on inside Yifeilin. We don't have that much spare money to keep throwing at it."

Qiu Dapeng said confidently: "I came here this morning to help you solve your problems. Please tell me about the situation with Miss Zhu first."

Cao Zhenyuan shook his head slowly. That night, Zhu Zihe reported to him that Lu Shicheng would have dinner at Zou Zheping's house. He thought she was sure of it. No matter how cunning Lu Shicheng was, he was still a young man after all. Zhu Zihe's appearance and talent were one in a million, and she had a relationship with Principal Zou. Even if she didn't say anything, she would quickly become close to Lu Shicheng and there would be no problem in persuading Lu Shicheng to go to Yifeilin to watch the game. But it didn't work out.

"This really doesn't make sense..." Qiu Dapeng was half-believing and half-doubting, and suddenly something happened in his mind, "Ling Yun has seen Lu Shicheng and Wen Tingli together more than once recently. This girl has always had a way of dealing with men. Ling Yun still misses her. Before that, there was also Qiao Xingchu. If she has been entangled with Lu Shicheng recently, it is not surprising that Miss Zhu can't intervene."

Cao Zhenyuan narrowed his eyes: "She just said that things were not going well, and she never mentioned Wen Tingli to me from beginning to end. But now that you said that, I have to wonder whether Zhu Zihe has told me the truth——"

"How dare she disobey?! No problem, let Alu secretly find out what's going on with Xinxin. If Wen Tingli is pestering Lu Shicheng, she will definitely invite Lu Shicheng to watch the game. In order to attract more partners for her family, Dong Qinfang will definitely spread the news in advance. Once it is confirmed that Lu Shicheng will go to Xinxin to watch the finals, it will be easy to deal with."

The two smiled tacitly.

As long as they were sure that Lu Shicheng would go to Xinxin to watch Wen Tingli's competition that night, winning or losing the beauty pageant would be secondary. The biggest benefit was that they could join forces with Mr. Lu San to set up a plan to deal with Lu Shicheng.

"I'll make a phone call first to find out the situation, and then ask Mr. Lu San to come over to discuss this matter together."

The message came back quickly and the answer was "no".

Qiu Dapeng's smile froze. Could it be that the relationship between Lu Wen and him was not as close as they thought?
Cao Zhenyuan tapped the ash in his pipe and said indifferently, "You always boast of your wisdom and foresight, but you sometimes fail."

"Don't worry, boss. This plan won't work. I have another plan."

Cao Zhenyuan interrupted him with a fake smile: "Even gods can't solve this situation. No matter how capable you are, you can't decide for the citizens where to go to join in the fun that night - wait, are you planning to kill Wen Tingli directly? You'd better give up this idea as soon as possible. Wen Tingli's every move is now followed by a large number of newspaper reporters. If something happens to her, someone may think of Yifeilin. Affecting business is secondary. If it causes other troubles, it will not be worth it."

A smile appeared on Qiu Dapeng's broad, dark face. "Killing is a very bad idea. I can guarantee that this method will not hurt Wen Tingli at all. Just wait and see. In just two days, I can make Xinxin Department Store lose everything, and - without sacrificing a single soldier."

***
Two days later, Li Chengying called Wen Tingli and told her that the number of people sent by Lu Sanye to monitor her companions had suddenly decreased by more than half. She secretly guessed that Lu Shicheng had begun to set up a trap against Lu Sanye, and she also guessed that there was some movement in Nanyang because Kuang Zhilin seemed to have left Shanghai yesterday.

At the same time, Wen Tingli was told that during this period, Zhu Zihe seemed to have not been able to find a new opportunity to contact Lu Shicheng. After hearing this, Wen Tingli simply concentrated on her own affairs.

On this day, with the help of Dong Qinfang, she officially signed an advertising contract with Fulishi Garment Company.

After signing the contract, Wen Tingli took hundreds of photos in one go wearing the ready-made clothes provided by Fu Li Shi.

In order to please her boss, she tried her best to show her best side in front of the camera. The effect was very good, and her honey-like smile alone made everyone at the scene unable to take their eyes off.

The manager of Furnishing was full of praise: "Miss Wen is so lovely and dedicated! Once these photos are developed and hung up, I wonder how many girls and wives will be attracted to come to Furnishing to order clothes. I will discuss with several employers when I go back today. After Miss Wen finishes the finals, we at Furnishing will most likely ask her to shoot the next set."

Wen Tingli was overjoyed and immediately decided to quit her odd job as a switchboard operator at Yorkshire & Co. Not only was the job low-paying, but it also required her to spend an entire afternoon at the company every day. After quitting her job, she could have four more hours a day to rehearse.

He also used half of his advertising fee to buy a house.

The place they live in now is still the one that Mrs. Qiao rented. It's very shabby and small, and the neighbors don't seem to be very clean. Fortunately, Wen Tingli has formed the habit of carrying important things with her, otherwise her mother's jewelry would have been lost long ago.

This was not unbearable. The night before last, when she was taking a shower in the bathroom, she suddenly saw a pair of men's feet appear under the door, standing there quietly. She didn't know how long they had been eavesdropping outside the door.

The scene was so horrifying and disgusting that Wen Tingli was furious and scolded the man through the door. But when everyone came rushing over after hearing the noise, the man had already run away. It seemed that it was probably one of the neighbors. Wen Tingli packed her luggage and fled to Ci Xin Hospital overnight.

After looking for a house for three whole days, I finally found a satisfactory residence near Hujiang University. The location is very remote, with an abandoned factory nearby, but it is a large suite, more than enough for a family.

Outside the suite is a small circular foyer. Opposite lives a newly married couple who work in a bank. They are not often at home during the day, and even when they are at home, they are very quiet.

The key thing is that the house has 24-hour hot water and a separate bathroom (note), which is what Wen Tingli is most satisfied with.

Once the door of the suite is closed, it becomes a world of its own. You no longer have to endure the sounds of neighbors playing mahjong day and night, nor do you have to worry about being peeped at by disgusting and lecherous neighbors.

Although Wen Tingli was satisfied, she wondered why such a good house had not been rented out. After asking around, she learned that strange noises were always coming out of an abandoned factory nearby at night, and three previous tenants had been scared and moved away.

Wen Tingli was not at all averse to these things. To her, bad guys were much scarier than ghosts, so she paid the deposit without saying a word.

After the rehearsal in the afternoon, Wen Tingli took a car to Zhao Qingluo's house to wait for news. The three of them had submitted their application forms half a month ago. Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen both applied to St. John's University, one to study drama and the other to study foreign languages.

Wen Tingli finally chose to apply to the Education Department of Hujiang University because the academic pressure of the Education Department was not as heavy as that of the Economics Department, which made it convenient for her to do part-time jobs in addition to her studies.

The three schools have not yet officially announced the admission, but all kinds of rumors have already spread. Some say that St. John's University and Hujiang University are competing to admit Chen Xiaohong, and some people saw the Academic Affairs Office copying the admission notice on red paper while playing at Aurora University, and the student happened to see his name on the long list.

The three of them were upset by the news every day.

It happened that the Zhao family had a relative who worked in the Education Bureau, so Mrs. Zhao copied the names of Yan Zhenzhen and Wen Tingli and asked this person to help inquire. Today, that person went to deliver invitation letters to the presidents of various universities on behalf of the Education Bureau and promised to get back to him at noon, but there was no news until the afternoon.

Zhao Qingluo was so anxious that she was pacing around the room. "It's all over. I must have failed the exam, otherwise Uncle Liu would have called me a long time ago."

Although Wen Tingli was also nervous, she pretended to be calm: "Why scare yourself? Maybe he just can't spare the time for the time being."

Suddenly, they heard a phone ring downstairs. The three of them rushed downstairs, only to see Mrs. Zhao answering the phone with a happy face: "Okay, okay, I'll let Qingluo answer the phone herself."

As soon as Zhao Qingluo put down the phone, she burst into laughter: "It's done!"

It turned out that this relative of the Zhao family had asked about Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen at the admissions office of St. John's in the morning. Unfortunately, the person in charge of admissions at Hujiang University was not there today. After returning to the Education Bureau, this person asked another old classmate who taught at Hujiang to help inquire, so the news has been delayed until now.

"Fortunately, you are now quite famous. Although Uncle Liu's friend was only responsible for transcribing the list, he had some impression of your name and photo. Otherwise, it would take another two or three days to find out." "Two or three days? Then how can I sleep tonight?" Wen Tingli put her arm around Yan Zhenzhen's shoulders and laughed.

"Okay, okay, now I can rest assured. Three college students, please come over for dinner." Mrs. Zhao was so happy that she didn't know what to do and hurriedly asked someone to serve dinner.

On the way back, Wen Tingli was thinking about buying a ticket to Nanjing to pay homage to her mother. Her father's health had improved recently, so maybe she could go by the end of the year. She had also moved to a new house, so it would be convenient for her to go to school in Hujiang in the future. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that everything was going well recently. She couldn't help but laugh secretly several times in the rickshaw along the way.

I returned to Ci Xin Hospital excitedly, but found something wrong as soon as I entered the ward.

The corridor was packed with members of the White Dragon Gang. They were standing in a row against the east wall, and in a row against the west wall. At first glance, it looked like a military parade, but these hooligans were either leaning over to smoke or looking around sinisterly. The originally quiet corridor was filled with smoke and foul smells.

Dr. Thompson stood in front of the doctor's office with a sullen face. The nurses also looked angry. Suddenly, they saw Wen Tingli coming back. Several nurses tried to stop her. A gangster held a cigarette in his mouth and shouted, "Go away, this is none of your business. Go back and do your business."

Wen Tingli knew something was wrong. Suddenly, she heard Xiao Taozi crying in front of her. She was startled and ran to the ward where her father was.

As soon as I entered the room, I saw Qiu Dapeng sitting beside his father's bed. The room was filled with all kinds of gift boxes and fruits.

Qiu Dapeng was holding his father's hand and whispering something with a friendly look on his face.

Mrs. Zhou and Xiao Taozi were trapped in a corner by two strong men.

Xiao Taozi had already cried so hard that she was out of breath. Mrs. Zhou hugged Xiao Taozi tightly, her face full of fear and hatred.

On the bed, my father's face was purple and swollen, his chest heaving, and his eyes stared at Qiu Dapeng.

Wen Tingli was about to rush in, but two strong men stopped her outside the door without saying a word.

Wen Tingli cursed: "Qiu! Who asked you to come?"

Qiu Dapeng just spoke to Wen Guofu in a soft voice.

Wen Desheng's chest rose and fell more and more violently, and he suddenly raised his hand to grab Qiu Dapeng's throat. Qiu Dapeng seemed to have anticipated this move and dodged to the side in advance.

Wen Desheng then fell limply on the side of the bed, his head facing the bottom of the bed, his shoulders rising high, and large mouthfuls of blood spurting out of his mouth.

"Dad!" Wen Tingli was so anxious that she jumped up and down, "Qiu Dapeng, get out here right now!"

Qiu Dapeng turned a deaf ear to him and stepped forward to gently pat Wen Desheng on the shoulder: "Brother, brother?"

As if she realized that Wen Desheng was still breathing, she leaned over and whispered something in his ear again.

Wen Desheng suddenly trembled all over, and used all his strength to grab the corner of Qiu Dapeng's clothes, cursing: "You beast! If you dare to send Tingli to Boss Cao, Arou and I will not let you go even if we become ghosts!"

Wen Tingli was shocked. She had expected Qiu Dapeng to have bad intentions, but she had never thought he could come up with such words to disgust her father. She said angrily, "Dad, don't listen to Qiu's nonsense! If he had the ability, he would have done it a long time ago. He doesn't have this ability!"

But Wen Desheng seemed to have exhausted the last bit of energy in his body.

Qiu Dapeng just smiled and gave a gentle push, and the patient fell back onto the bed like a dead leaf.

Wen Desheng opened his empty eyes and looked out the door. He gasped a few times and then stopped moving. In an instant, the room seemed to have turned into a tomb. A deathly silence spread quietly. Xiao Taozi seemed to sense this deathly aura and her crying became sharper.

"Dad!" Wen Tingli's eyes were bloodshot, and she pushed the burly man in front of her like crazy, but the other party was like an iron tower, so she had to turn around and run to the end of the corridor, "Dr. Thompson! Head Nurse Liu! Come and help! My dad is dying."

At this moment, Thompson and head nurse Liu also pushed away the hooligans who were blocking their way. They ran to the front of the ward and heard Qiu Dapeng exclaiming, "Brother, brother. Oh, my brother is not well. Hurry up and find a doctor."

Wen Tingli rushed in with a pale face. There was sticky blood on the floor beside the bed.

The corners of my father's mouth were stained with blood, and his face was shockingly gray. His eyes were open, but his pupils seemed to have turned into a pair of glass beads, cold and lifeless.

Wen Tingli's mind went blank. She leaned over and mechanically wiped the dirty blood from her father's mouth. The blood was still hot, which gave her a glimmer of hope.

Thompson led people to rescue, and Wen Tingli stepped aside woodenly. There was nothing she could do now except leave it to fate.

A series of orderly rescue operations began at the bedside, but the medical staff soon seemed to realize that it was futile. Some whispered something to Thompson, some silently turned back to look at Wen Tingli, and some put down the medicine bottles and syringes in their hands with great regret.

Thompson walked over and patted Wen Tingli's shoulder heavily.

Wen Tingli's ears were filled with buzzing noises, but she was more clear-headed than ever before. She heard the sound of her teeth grinding, and slowly turned her gaze to Qiu Dapeng opposite her.

Qiu Dapeng sighed hypocritically beside the bed, but there was no guilt in his eyes. When he met Wen Tingli's gaze, there was even a flash of provocation and pride in his eyes.

That ugly face kept getting bigger and bigger in front of Wen Tingli's eyes!
She walked towards Qiu Dapeng with an expressionless face.

As she walked, she reached for the school bag that she never left behind - her gun was there.

During this period, she would learn skills from Li Chengying or Liu Xiangzhi almost every night. After learning for so long, her shooting skills had become very accurate. Should she smash Qiu Dapeng's face into pieces or shoot this bastard's chest into a honeycomb?

No, no, no, these are not enough. It would be better to let this beast suffer all kinds of torture, and then watch him wailing and dying slowly at her feet.

Her eyes were red and she was filled with murderous intent. She was about to pull out the gun quickly, but someone suddenly grabbed her hand from behind.

Wen Tingli's face turned pale and she shook her head vigorously. No matter who came, no one could stop her!

But the person behind her held her school bag tightly.

She looked back fiercely, but it was Head Nurse Liu. Head Nurse Liu was sweating profusely, her eyes were full of heartache and warning. She hinted Wen Tingli to pay attention to her surroundings: Qiu Dapeng was accompanied by four bodyguards, and there was a large group of thugs from the White Dragon Gang in the corridor, all of whom were armed.

If she took action at this time, Wen Tingli would be able to get her revenge happily, but she would also die on the spot.

No, definitely not now, because it’s not worth it!

Noticing that Wen Tingli was still holding the gun tightly in her bag, Head Nurse Liu pinched her hard with her sweaty fingers and calmly shouted over there, "Xiao Taozi, come to your sister quickly."

"Sister." This childish cry finally brought Wen Tingli back to reality. She turned to look at Xiao Taozi in a daze, and seeing her sister crying and running towards her, her clenched hands unconsciously loosened, and she squatted down without saying a word and held her sister in her arms.

Tears flowed without warning.

Head Nurse Liu was right. Not now, because she had to protect herself and Xiao Taozi, but the account would have to be settled sooner or later. She swore to herself that she would skin this beast with her own hands!

She clenched her teeth, lowered her head and hugged her sister tightly in her arms, but she could no longer hold back the heavy tears in her eyes. The tears fell to the ground one by one, and she sobbed softly and full of hatred.

***
That night, Wen Desheng's body was sent to the morgue.

Wen Tingli stared at the empty bed.

In the past few months, her family has been living and eating here, which gave her the illusion that this place is home.

Only at this moment did she understand that the reason she became the head of the family here was because her father and Xiao Taozi were here.

Once my father left, this place became just an ordinary ward.

Xiao Taozi fell asleep in her arms with tears in her eyes, and she asked Mrs. Zhou to take Xiao Taozi back to her apartment to sleep.

Head Nurse Liu came over and sat silently beside Wen Tingli's bed. Although it was a silent companionship, it made Wen Tingli's inner courage and strength begin to awaken little by little.

No matter how difficult this hurdle was, she had to get through it first. The afterlife, the coffin, the mourning hall, the grave… these were all practical issues that had to be resolved as soon as possible… Various thoughts filled her mind, which allowed her to temporarily forget about the gun in her bag.

Head Nurse Liu stayed with Wen Tingli the whole night. At two or three o'clock, Wen Tingli was extremely tired and fell asleep curled up on the bench in Head Nurse Liu's office. Head Nurse Liu found a quilt and gently covered her with it.

(End of this chapter)