Chapter 120 - Ah Qing

...

After a bit of persuasion, An Xin agreed to stay at Lu Ziyan's place for a few days. At least until she was brave enough to deal with her own parents. 

As they were walking to the taxi stand, suddenly a man who was walking toward them suddenly bumped into Xiao Lei.

"Sorry," the man muttered softly as he walked off. He was wearing a cap, and a huge sweater, but the weird thing was that Xiao Lei could not help but shiver a little. She was affixed to where she was standing while she rubbed her shoulder that the man bumped into. 

"Xiao Lei? Are you hurt?" Lu Ziyan asked as he looked up at her. 

"He was tall. Almost as tall as..." Xiao Lei thought. Her heart started to race wildly as she made the connection.

It was not just his height, but the way the man walked, the arrogant swagger that could not be hidden under normal everyday wear. Even though it was a long time ago, but Xiao Lei did spend quite a lot of time with the man, and she remembered each and everything about him.

"Murong Yu?" she thought and turned around quickly, but the man was nowhere to be found. It was as if he disappeared into thin air.

However, when she looked at her feet, she saw that a photo was on the ground. And when she picked it up, she saw that it was a photo of her and Murong Yu at the last party they went to.

In the photo, he was looking at her while she was laughing at something he said.

Her hands shook a little when she realized that he knew where she was. There was no way that he would bump into her just like that. 

"Xiao Lei... Are you alright?" An Xin asked when she saw the other woman's face turned pale all of a sudden. She looked at where the man walked toward earlier as well, but there was no one there.

"I-I'm fine..." Xiao Lei smiled weakly at her as she kept the photo behind her. 

While they were waiting for their cab to arrive, Xiao Lei kept looking at where the man disappeared to earlier. She wasn't sure if he were Murong Yu, but her guts told her that she was right. 

"Ah Qing?" 

Xiao Lei heard a woman's voice, but she did not turn back.

"Ah Qing, it's me, Li Li."

It took Xiao Lei a few seconds to recognize that "Ah Qing" was her old moniker. When she turned around in confusion, she saw a beautiful fair-skinned middle-aged woman looking at her with a smile on her face. 

"Li Li?" Xiao Lei looked at the woman's face before she squealed. "Ah!!! Li Li! It's really you!"

She jumped up and hugged the woman. Even though it had been more than a decade since she last saw the woman before her, she could still recognize her. 

"Ah Qing! You're all grown up now! I almost can't recognize you!" the woman, Li Li, said as she cupped Xiao Lei's face. 

Xiao Lei laughed. Back when she was still in a gang, Li Li was the one who took care of her whenever Xiao Yunjie went out for a job. To Xiao Lei, Li Li was like a kind older sister.

"Of course. I'm already a mother, obviously, I'll look different now." 

"Oh? You have a child?" Li Li gasped. "With Ah Jie?"

"Yeah. A son."

"I must see him one day! Back then, I knew that you had feelings for Ah Jie, but I didn't think that the blockhead would be smart enough to realize it. So, where's Ah Jie now?" 

The mere mention of her husband caused Xiao Lei's previously happy expression to be exchanged with one of sadness. "He... He's away at the moment."  

"Erm, Xiao Lei?" Lu Ziyan said as he looked at her. "This is?"

"Oh, this is an old friend of mine, Li Li. Li Li, this is my neighbor, Ziyan, and my colleague, An Xin."

The cab that Lu Ziyan called earlier had finally arrived. However, Xiao Lei still wanted to chat with Li Li, so she asked Lu Ziyan to go to the hotel with An Xin first. They were supposed to drop by the hotel to pick up An Xin's stuff before going back to their apartment. 

Lu Ziyan glanced at Li Li. Xiao Lei seemed to be close to this woman and did not seem to be uncomfortable, so Lu Ziyan nodded and said, "Be careful. I think Han Ye is eating nearby. If you can't get any cab later, just give him a call." 

"It's fine. He's on a date. I can go back by myself." Xiao Lei chuckled. She glanced at Li Li and said, "My neighbor is too kind. He's younger than me but thinks that he's my older brother." 

"Like Ah Jie." Li Li smiled and shook her head as she thought about her friend and protector. 

"Joke all you want," Lu Ziyan said with a smile. He then nodded at Li Li. "Nice meeting you, Ms. Li Li. We'll be taking our leave first." 

"Nice meeting you too." 

After they left, Li Li and Xiao Lei sat on the bench at the taxi stand while they talked about what they had done for the past few years. Xiao Lei told Li Li about how her husband left for a mission and had yet to return even though two years had passed.  

As for Li Li, she told Xiao Lei how she had managed to pay for parents' debts and was now living with her lover.

"You know, I really miss you and Ah Jie," Li Li said as she took Xiao Lei's hand and patted it. "After you guys left, things changed." 

"What?" 

Li Li sighed. "Without Ah Jie there to protect the girls, the boss just went back to his own way..." 

For the girls and guys who sold their bodies in order to keep living, Xiao Yunjie was their best protector. Without him, everyone else just cared about making more money... especially when they were paid based on percentage. 

No one else cared whether they had enough food to eat or if they were well enough to work. All of them forced to continue working no matter what. The never-ending interest... With it constantly there, no one would dare to stop working.   

Upon hearing what Li Li said, Xiao Lei frowned angrily and slapped the bench. "That idiot! He promised us that nothing would change!" 

Li Li nodded. "He only cared for money... Thank god he's dead." 

Xiao Lei gasped at the news. "He is?"

When she and Xiao Yunjie left the gang, they left completely. No more contact with their old friends. They even refused to read any news related to gang fights. 

"The Lion's Herd came a year after you guys left, and the boss was killed by them... Rather gruesomely I should add." Li Li shuddered as she recalled the memory of her boss being executed. Murong Yu led the Lion Herd's and did a sneak attack when the higher-ups of the gang she was in were having a meeting at the headquarters. 

Everyone who had a say in the gang was killed, and the boss was quartered... with a chainsaw. Murong Yu took all the women and the younger gang members and made them watch as he tortured their main boss to death. 

Even though they hated their boss for selling them to men regardless of their feelings, some of the women still fainted from the sight of him being dismembered. These women were not involved in the bloody gang matters, so they were not used to seeing blood. Even the younger gang members who had some experience could not help but shiver from the sight of the bloody scene and their boss' painful screams. 

"That man is crazy..." Xiao Lei shook her head. She knew that Murong Yu did it because he probably found out that the boss sent her. If she were still in the gang, she wondered what he would do to her.

Eager to talk about something less morbid, Xiao Lei changed the topic of conversation by asking, "So, where did you go after that?"

"He didn't harm us. He let all the women go and last I heard, he kept the youngsters to help him expand the Lion Herd's influence." 

"At least he still has a conscience," Xiao Lei scoffed. The women in the gang were innocent. They were merely used as tools and collaterals to help others pay off their debts. There was no reason why Murong Yu should hurt them. 

Li Li smiled. 

A BMW drove past them before it stopped not far away from them. It then moved backward and stopped right in front of the taxi stand. 

The driver got down and called out, "Xiao Lei? Why aren't you home yet?" 

"Oh, hey," Xiao Lei stood up and said, "I met my friend. This is Li Li." 

She then looked at Li Li and said, "That's my neighbor and boss, Han Ye."

Li Li smiled and nodded at Han Ye. She then looked at her watch and said, "I should go meet my lover now, or he's going to be upset. Go home, Ah Qing... Oh no, you're Xiao Lei now? I'll talk to you soon." 

"Alright..." 

They exchanged their numbers, and Li Li took a selfie with Xiao Lei. She then hugged her and said, "I'm sorry, kid..." 

Xiao Lei laughed. "What are you sorry for?"

Li Li released her and smiled. "I hope Ah Jie returns quickly."

"I hope so too..." Xiao Lei smiled. She then got in the car. Before she closed the door, she said, "I'm really glad to see you again, Li Li! Bye!" 

After they drove off, Li Li's expression that was full of joy a minute ago slowly turned into a sad, poignant look. She waited at the taxi stand and five minutes later, another car stopped in front of her. 

She got into the car and put on her seatbelt before she looked at the man who picked her up.

"Murong Yu."