*How to hand them over?*
Xie Tang thought for a moment, “Let’s meet at the usual spot.”
Peng Guoqing shivered at the words “usual spot.”
As kids, Xie Tang used to thrash them there—Tai Wu included. Every single one of them had taken a beating.
One got hit, the others, feeling defiant, would challenge her, only to get beaten too.
Wait, why was he scared? Today, he was a hero, not a villain!
“Great, great, the usual spot it is!”
Xie Tang hung up, ready to change and head out. Hou Zhixiu, catching a bit of the conversation, realized “Peng Greenhair” was Peng Guoqing and was puzzled.
“Didn’t you say Peng Guoqing and his crew were childish and you were done with them? Why’re you hanging out again?”
Peng Guoqing and Xie Tang were worlds apart.
Aside from her insistence on staying in Shanghai, Xie Tang never gave her family cause for worry.
Take her studies—Hou Zhixiu could’ve pulled strings, but Xie Tang was capable enough not to need favors!
Peng Guoqing was a different story.
He changed schools as often as he dyed his hair, nearly cycling through every school in Beijing. With a kid like that, the Peng family lost face in social circles.
If he were a Xie, Hou Zhixiu would’ve pinned him down and shaved his head clean.
Parents couldn’t control him? Fine.
After high school, toss him into the military, to the harshest conditions. A few years there would remake him.
Xie Tang had no idea her mother was thinking so much.
Why’d she stop hanging with Peng Guoqing’s crew? The age gap, for one. In college, she had an image to maintain—couldn’t just go around beating people up. Not that she was violent, but Peng Guoqing and his gang were like crooked trees, always dangling in her face, tempting her to “prune” them.
Now, it wasn’t about hanging out. Compared to Tai Wu and the other rich brats, Peng Guoqing was the least bad, showing some responsibility.
“His childishness has nothing to do with me. I’m not his mum or sister. I just ran into him in Shanghai and needed him for something. Mum, I’m heading out. If Xie Qian finishes talking with Dad, tell him to call me!”
Xie Tang changed into a camel-colored coat.
The double-breasted style looked sharp on her.
No skirt—she paired it with skinny jeans tucked into leather boots. As she rounded the corner past the wall, stepping closer, Tai Wu’s eyes were glued to her.
*Sister Xie Tang is so stunning.*
Her face might not be the prettiest, but her height was unmatched.
Those as tall as her lacked her aura.
Gentle? Bookish? Those weren’t Xie Tang’s descriptors.
Under the streetlamp’s orange glow, she was captivating. Tai Wu wasn’t the only one mesmerized—Peng Guoqing was speechless.
Her entrance was too striking. When she reached Tai Wu, he grinned dumbly.
“S-Sister Xie Tang!”
Then Tai Wu got flipped.
Xie Tang threw him over her shoulder.
He hit the ground, stunned, unmoving.
Every rich kid who’d mocked Yan Yuchuan got floored, one by one.
While beating them, Xie Tang lectured them on manners, leaving them bruised and battered.
Tai Wu, groaning on the ground, still grinned stupidly.
“Sister Xie Tang, does this mean you forgive me?”
Xie Tang sneered, “Next time you meddle in my business, I’ll beat you again!”
She wasn’t just hitting Tai Wu for meddling but for his lack of respect.
Xie Tang looked *too cool* while throwing punches. Tai Wu, even while taking a beating, felt his crush doubling—whether that was Xie Tang’s charm or his own weirdness was unclear.
The only one spared was Peng Guoqing.
His legs trembled, but his heart raced, pounding faster than usual.
He didn’t have time to ponder the feeling. Xie Tang steadied her breathing and beckoned him.
“Come here.”
Go over for what, to get beaten too?
Peng Guoqing thought it but couldn’t stop his feet, drifting to her like a ghost.
“Sister Xie Tang—”
She smiled, “I won’t hit you. Just tell me, what’s this thing you did that you can’t share?”
*Peng Guoqing, stay cool. Don’t brag until it’s done. Save the big reveal to stun everyone…* But was stunning everyone really his goal?
He couldn’t hold back his excitement.
“Sister Xie Tang, can we talk somewhere else?”
No problem with that.
Xie Tang clapped her hands, “Let’s go. I’ll treat you to a popsicle. When you got beat as a kid, you’d cry, and crying meant popsicles. Wonder if that corner shop still sells them.”
Peng Guoqing’s face flushed red.
Liking popsicles as a kid didn’t mean he did now!
Those cheap old popsicles didn’t suit him anymore. He wanted to tell Xie Tang he could buy anything in Beijing she wanted—
But Xie Tang wasn’t one to be led by him. Minutes later, they stood in the corner shop. She had the owner grab two popsicles—one for her, one for him.
Peng Guoqing finished his cheap popsicle, reluctant to toss the stick, as if his brain had frozen too.
Xie Tang grew impatient, “Are you talking or not? If not, I’m leaving.”
She wondered what Xie Qian and her dad discussed. If she hurried back, could she help Xie Qian score some benefits?
She didn’t understand why Xie Qian was rushing into a film company or if he had the energy to juggle it, but she’d back him up!
No question!
Even if Xie Qian failed and burned through the film company’s funds, it’d be practice.
Better to let Xie Qian use the money and resources than let Third Uncle sneak them to his illegitimate kids!
As Xie Tang itched to leave, Peng Guoqing didn’t dare stall. Tossing the stick, he leaned close and whispered, “I contacted Aunt Tai and asked her some things. She knows that Zhuo woman. They used to hang out when they were young. I told her about Zhuo and Third Uncle. Aunt Tai laughed, saying Third Uncle’s an idiot—Zhuo had more than just him as a boyfriend before leaving the country… Sister Xie Tang, is this info useful?”
Xie Tang, sharp as ever, caught his drift before he finished.
*Zhuo had more than one boyfriend?*
She couldn’t believe it, “You mean my Third Uncle might be a green-turtled fool, raising someone else’s kid?!”
Peng Guoqing felt wronged, “Why’re you insulting me?”
“Greenhair” hit a nerve with him.
Suddenly, the once-cool hair color felt embarrassing.
Xie Tang casually reassured him, still skeptical of his news.
Multiple boyfriends likely wasn’t a lie—Aunt Tai had no reason to make it up. Others who knew Zhuo back then could confirm her story.
