Damn it!
Gazing at the Haoting Mansion not far away, its lights blazing like a magnificent feast, Gu Wan’er, if you don’t introduce your sister to me, you’re letting me down.
Yu Xiaoduo didn’t have time to overthink it. He wrestled with the wildly unstable motorcycle beneath him.
Thankfully, there was no oncoming traffic. If even one car had appeared around those bends, he probably wouldn’t have lived to see the sun tomorrow.
Still, Yu Xiaoduo couldn’t shake a nagging suspicion. Ever since he’d entered the mountain roads, not a single vehicle had come from the opposite direction. Could someone be helping him out?
“Miss Gu’s riding skills have truly blown us all away. Those few U-turns were practically perfect drifts—who knew you could ride a motorcycle like that? Her guts alone earn my respect as a grown man.”
“Even if we lose tonight, Miss Gu’s performance will be forever etched in my memory. What a pity she already has a boyfriend.”
Once he left the treacherous curves of Longquan Mountain, it was a straight shot to Haoting Mansion. Yu Xiaoduo had already twisted the throttle deep into the engine, but Ye Shishi was only about fifty meters behind him. The rear wheel, however, was clearly starting to act up, and she was gaining on him fast.
The finish line was right at Haoting’s main entrance, with only a short stretch of braking distance left.
The crowd saw the headlights approaching and erupted into cheers. Gu Wan’er, standing off to the side, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thank heavens. Thank the bodhisattvas.
Pan Wei could hardly believe it. Especially when he saw Gu Wan’er cross the finish line by a hair’s breadth—his brain went blank. How was this possible? How did she beat Sister Ye?
He glanced at Yu Xiaoduo, who was just standing there, utterly useless. So why? Why had this happened?
For a moment, the surrounding silence was deafening. The very event Sister Ye had set up—she’d lost it. And she hadn’t lost in years. The usual flatterers fell quiet.
Gu Wan’er was a true force to be reckoned with—a dragon crossing the river.
But just as everyone was digesting this, something felt off. Gu Wan’er was still braking hard on the rear wheel, and the bike’s back end began to fishtail wildly.
Ye Shishi, who had already stopped, watched Gu Wan’er’s predicament with tightly knit brows. Her icy gaze shot toward Pan Wei, as if asking, Was this you?
Pan Wei pleaded innocence. How could he possibly dare to pull something like that? But Fu Yangxue, standing nearby, was eerily calm.
Yu Xiaoduo saw no way out—he had to abandon the bike. A flowerbed loomed ahead.
With a decisive move, he tilted the motorcycle, released his grip, and slid across the concrete on his body, tumbling to a stop. The red Ducati scraped sparks along the ground, launched up the steps, and crashed into the flowerbed with a thunderous boom!
A massive explosion ripped through the air, lighting up the night sky. The sudden turn of events stunned everyone for a beat.
Gu Wan’er snapped out of it first and sprinted toward Yu Xiaoduo. Lu Zhengzhi and Fu Quan rushed over too.
Inside a room at Haoting Mansion, Bai Ji shot to her feet, her face darkening with barely contained fury.
Gu Yuanli, seeing his sister crash, hurled a fifty-thousand-dollar bottle of wine to the ground in rage. “Ye Shishi! If my sister loses so much as a single strand of hair, I swear I’ll bury you alive!”
Gu Mingqin said nothing, but his fists were clenched tight. Someone had tried to harm his sister!
Still, he doubted it was Ye Shishi. She wasn’t stupid enough to pull something so brainless. It had to be someone else.
When the TV showed his sister getting back on her feet, Gu Mingqin and Gu Yuanli let out a long, relieved breath. Thank goodness she was okay. Today, his sister had kept them on the edge of their seats.
The moment Yu Xiaoduo stood up, the crowd cheered wildly. Ye Shishi, standing not far away, seemed almost forgotten—like she’d lost her spotlight. In the past, they’d all have crowded around her with applause.
Yu Xiaoduo’s arm ached. His back hurt too. But thankfully, he’d been wearing racing leathers and a helmet.
See? Always wear a helmet when you ride.
Gu Wan’er pulled off Yu Xiaoduo’s helmet and saw his signature grin. Her eyes reddened slightly.
“I’m fine.” Yu Xiaoduo quickly shot her a look. I’m not dead yet. Don’t cry—people will talk, and I’ll lose face.
Gu Wan’er fought to control her emotions. She was a woman, after all—more prone to sentiment.
Yu Xiaoduo’s gaze shifted to Ye Shishi, and all the pent-up frustration boiled over. He strode straight toward her. “Miss Ye, I’ve heard plenty of stories about you—how formidable you are. But your idea of ‘formidable’ is playing dirty? Messing with the brakes?”
His words sent shockwaves through the crowd. So the brakes had been tampered with.
No way. Sister Ye had never stooped to such low tactics.
“Miss Gu,” Ye Shishi said, her voice cold. “I’ve been in this game for years, and I’ve always played fair. I’ll get to the bottom of this and give you an answer. If whoever did it comes forward now, they’ll only lose a hand. But if I have to drag them out myself, their whole family can kiss their fortune goodbye.” Her beautiful eyes turned frosty.
To sabotage a race—even if she’d won, it would have been tainted. And she’d lost!
Still, no one stepped forward.
“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
“Miss Gu, I apologize for this. You can take a break and
“Heh, do I strike you as a braggart? Didn’t I just take that round with ease?”
“Fine, fine, you’re amazing. Your elbow’s all scraped up, though.”
“Oh, let me see. Tsk tsk tsk. Here, let me lick it clean for you.”
Gu Wan’er: “…”
Lu Zhengzhi and Fu Quan, standing not too far away, couldn’t bear to watch anymore. At least have some consideration for the singles—don’t treat everyone like they’re invisible.
Just then, four or five people in Haoting security uniforms ran over to tow away the exploded motorcycle. Yu Xiaoduo initially wanted to stop them—after all, it was evidence—but once he saw they were Sister Bai’s people, he figured it was fine.
He wondered if Sister Bai had seen his death-defying ride just now. She was probably pissed at him again. Such a cold exterior, yet such a warm-hearted big sister.
Still, it had been a while since he’d done anything like that. Man, that was a rush.
Bai Ji had zero tolerance for cheaters. If Ye Shishi really was behind it, she wouldn’t let her off easy.
But at least the two of them had made it back safely—that was a relief. They were both young ladies of prominent families; if anything happened to either one, the fallout would be a nightmare. If she hadn’t blocked off the roads, Longquan Mountain would’ve been their grave.
“Boss Bai, Miss Ye wants the Beast Cage cleared out, but we’ve got an important match scheduled for tonight,” said Scarface, speaking respectfully.
Bai Ji replied coolly, “If they want to fight in my place, they can wait.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll pass that along.” Scarface had barely taken a few steps when one of his men came up and whispered something in his ear. Scarface turned and walked back.
“Boss Bai, I just got word—Ye Xiang, the fourth son of the Ye family, is here.”
Bai Ji didn’t respond right away. She knew exactly why Ye Xiang had come. As the ultimate doting older brother, he was definitely here to back up Ye Shishi. But if he showed his face in support of her, it would blow Ye Shishi’s identity wide open. Plenty of people had speculated already, but there was never any solid proof.
Bai Ji said flatly, “Keep an eye on things. Don’t let it escalate.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The so-called Beast Cage was essentially an octagonal fighting ring, but this one was different from the usual—it was built from solid steel bars, looking from a distance like a giant birdcage.
Fights were held regularly, and they were bloody affairs, but the wealthy patrons loved them. Some even started training their own fighters to compete. Over time, it became a whole scene. There was no prize for first place, but the prestige was enough—for these tycoons, it was all about spending money for entertainment.
After Bai Ji took over, she started taking 10% of each match’s earnings and giving it to the winner. Some bosses saw the business opportunity and began betting on matches. That 10% cut was no small change, especially for high-profile bouts where betting started at millions—and when people got carried away, the numbers got even crazier.
There was a big match scheduled tonight. One side was a local club, the other was an out-of-town wealthy businessman and his fighters. Kind of like Yu Xiaoduo’s situation—the locals all wanted to take down the outsiders.
But this outside businessman was no pushover. His fighters had already won fifteen matches in a row and were raking in cash, practically acting like they had no rivals. Meanwhile, the local club fighters kept getting pummeled, and the local bosses were feeling humiliated.
Today, though, the local club boss was different—he even had professional fighters on his roster. The stakes for this match were climbing fast: small-timers threw in a few hundred thousand, mid-level bosses tossed in a million or so, and the big shots were betting ten million and up.
Most of these spectators were older now—maybe thirty years ago, they’d been just as hot-blooded as Ye Shishi and her crew, stepping into the ring themselves.
When the younger crowd showed up, they realized the audience was full of their elders, and it got a little awkward. One by one, they were called over to be grilled by their parents.
Yu Xiaoduo had never been to the Beast Cage before. Last time, Sister Bai hadn’t given him a tour.
The place was basically a basketball court-sized pit dug underground, with a massive iron birdcage in the center. Above the cage hung four giant screens—it looked like a professional event arena.
“So this is Sister Bai’s place?” Gu Wan’er whispered beside him.
“Yeah, looks like business is booming,” Yu Xiaoduo murmured. He’d seen scenes like this before. Tonight felt like a trip down memory lane—and thinking back, he really had wasted a lot of time back then.
Gu Wan’er had never seen anything like this except in movies. The atmosphere was heavy—smoke hung in the air, and the dim lighting made it hard to make out faces clearly.
Yu Xiaoduo slung an arm around Gu Wan’er’s shoulder and teased, “What’s this, President Gu? Scared?”
“I am not scared.”
That was a negative statement, so why did your tone sound so uncertain? And if you’re going to act cute, don’t use my body to do it.
“President Gu, can you be a little more manly? I saw Lu Zhengzhi laughing at me just now.”
“How am I not manly enough?”
“Look at those delicate eyes of yours. And the way you’re carrying yourself—I’m grossing myself out.”
Gu Wan’er shot Yu Xiaoduo a look, took a deep breath, and flashed his signature grin. “There. Better?”
“Now that’s more like it. Got a bit of masculine energy going.”
Gu Wan’er was at a loss for words. “Masculine energy,” huh.
Suddenly, a server walked by, hawking his wares: “Betel nuts! Peanuts! Mineral water!”
“Hey, give me a pack of betel nuts.” Yu Xiaoduo remembered his trip to Changsha last year—five days, five days of chewing the local specialty. That fat friend of his had chewed so much his mouth went crooked. It was that hundred-yuan “Harmony” brand; even his jawline got more defined.
The server reached for the pack, but Gu Wan’er cut in: “No need.”
Yu Xiaoduo mentally noted: never bring a woman along when you go out.
“You’re even controlling my betel nut habit now?”
Gu Wan’er said sternly, “That’s how you get oral cancer. Besides, you’re chewing with my mouth.”
“I’m just helping you work out your jaw muscles.”
“Well then, how about I get you a nice set of manicure nails?”
Yu Xiaoduo gave her a big thumbs up. Touché. A wise man doesn’t argue with a woman.
Damn it. No betel nuts, no cigarettes, can’t eat too much—please, just let me live.
“Brother Lu, what’s the deal here?” Yu Xiaoduo walked over, curious.
“I heard we have to wait a bit. There’s a match coming up soon—the prize pool’s already over ten million.”
At the mention of gambling, Yu Xiaoduo’s eyes lit up. “What’s a prize pool?”
“When a fighter keeps winning, the house puts up a cut of their profits as a prize pool. Whoever beats the streak takes the pot—but they have to pay a 20% commission to the house.”
Yu Xiaoduo smelled an opportunity. “What’s the situation specifically?”
Fu Quan walked over from the distance, catching the tail end of the conversation. “I just asked around. Apparently some out-of-town rich guy came here to make trouble, and his fighter’s been on a winning streak. There’s a local pro stepping up soon to take back some pride.”
we’ll continue tomorrow.” Ye Shishi wasn’t completely unreasonable, but Yu Xiaoduo sneered at her approach. A witch hunt, plain and simple.
He said flatly, “Miss Ye, let’s move on to the next round. I need my beauty sleep.”
“Fine. Since Miss Gu is so eager, the next event is free sparring.”
Yu Xiaoduo rolled his shoulders. You asked for this. Don’t think I’ll go easy just because you’re a woman—especially not one as arrogant as you.
Lu Zhengzhi spoke up gravely. “Sister Ye, Gu Wan’er was clearly injured just now. Isn’t free sparring a bit much?”
“She can rest if she wants, but she doesn’t want to,” Ye Shishi replied coolly.
Yu Xiaoduo placed a hand on Lu Zhengzhi’s shoulder, and the latter fell silent.
“Miss Ye, I hope you won’t disappoint me next.”
“Same to you.” With that, she turned and strode into the club. The others hesitated, then followed her inside.
Once they were gone, Gu Wan’er hurried over, concern etched on her face. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ouch—my shoulder hurts. Rub it for me.” Yu Xiaoduo put on his best wounded act, and Gu Wan’er didn’t doubt him for a second, quickly massaging his shoulder.
“How’s that? Feel better?”
Yu Xiaoduo looked utterly content. “Mm, keep going.”
Lu Zhengzhi and Fu Quan exchanged glances. Something about Yu Xiaoduo seemed… softer now.
“Gu Wan’er, free sparring is Ye Shishi’s specialty too. She even won the national youth women’s championship back in the day,” Fu Quan warned. The motorcycle race had been just an appetizer; this was the main course.
Yu Xiaoduo basked in Gu Wan’er’s massage, a satisfied smile curling at the corners of his mouth. “When you’ve watched three hundred martial arts movies, you realize you’ve become a kung fu master yourself.”
“Show-off,” Gu Wan’er muttered under her breath.
