"Miss Liu!"
"Hello, Miss Liu!"
"..."
As one student took the lead, the others quickly followed suit in greeting her.
The sight of over twenty young men with dyed hair shouting in unison was quite a spectacle.
Liu Yutong really wanted to explain that she wasn’t some "miss" or high-status figure, but some things were just impossible to clarify.
Otherwise, Yun Cheng and the others wouldn’t have insisted on following her.
"Ma Da, how much money have we made so far?" Liu Yutong suddenly asked.
At the mention of money, Ma Da immediately perked up. He swiftly pulled out a black bag from the car.
"Miss Liu, all the money’s here. Aside from what we spent on food and lodging, every last cent is accounted for."
"Total’s fifty-nine thousand three hundred yuan—give or take some loose change."
"Miss Liu, this money is yours!"
Though the past week of traveling to rural areas to buy fish and lobster had been exhausting, seeing this much cash made everyone buzz with excitement.
In 2007, in a small county like this, many people earned just a few hundred yuan a month. Even in Bright Pearl City, wages rarely exceeded eight hundred or a thousand.
Yet Ma Da and his crew had made nearly sixty thousand in just a week.
Of course, that didn’t account for their labor costs.
Still, the speed at which the money came in gave them the illusion that this was even faster than collecting protection fees from small businesses back in the day.
Truth was, when they were still part of the gang, they were just low-level lackeys—foot soldiers under Yun Cheng, the rising enforcer of their generation, assigned to guard a couple of small establishments under the gang’s control.
After handing over their share to the higher-ups, what little remained each month barely covered their expenses.
That was the reality for most low-ranking gang members. They might look tough, but the real money always went to the bosses at the top.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have arrived in Wushui County so broke that they could barely scrape together a thousand yuan among them.
Of course, if their boss hadn’t died and the gang hadn’t fractured, sticking around might’ve eventually paid off.
But all that changed because of one man—Yun Cheng.
Though Yun Cheng hadn’t been with the Righteous Union long, the boss had seen great potential in him.
A shame, then, that just as Yun Cheng’s reputation was rising, the boss passed away.
Yun Cheng had joined the gang out of loyalty, to repay the boss’s kindness.
After the boss’s death, his sense of honor made it impossible for him to keep working under the remaining faction leaders.
So he gathered his most loyal brothers and headed to Wushui County to find "Miss Liu."
A wise decision, as it turned out.
Not long after they left, the gang was cracked down on after a massive brawl disrupted public order in Bright Pearl City.
Arrests, trials—those who stayed behind were now behind bars.
Had they remained, they’d likely be locked up too.
Liu Yutong stared at the bag of money, both surprised and moved.
Honestly, Ma Da and the others might’ve been street thugs, but after working so hard to earn this money, they hadn’t pocketed a single cent—instead, they were handing it all to her.
All she’d done was give them an idea, something to keep them busy.
When Liu Yutong hesitated to take the money, Liu Da shoved the bag into her hands.
"Miss Liu, a lot of this came from selling the fish from your grandfather’s pond. And the whole plan was yours—we just did the legwork."
"This is all thanks to you. We wouldn’t have made this much otherwise."
"You have to take it."
Liu Yutong took a deep breath. "Alright. Since you trust me this much, I’ll handle the distribution."
She began calling names. "Yun Cheng!"
She handed him a thousand yuan.
Next was Ma Da—another thousand.
Every brother received the same amount.
Sixteen thousand handed out in total.
Since they weren’t a formal company yet, there was no need for complicated rules. Equal shares for now.
"The rest will be used for bigger things, so I won’t divide it further. But I promise, you’ll all earn even more in the future," Liu Yutong declared.
"Thank Miss Liu!" Yun Cheng shouted.
"Thank you, Miss Liu!" the group echoed.
The vocational school students watched as Liu Yutong publicly distributed cash, their faces alight with envy and longing.
They’d followed Liu Hao for ages, yet never saw a single cent—instead, they had to spend their own money on him, treating him to internet cafes and cigarettes.
Of course, that was partly because they had no income to begin with. They stuck together mostly for the thrill of feeling tough.
But now, seeing Miss Liu reward her people right in front of them, they realized: This was what real brotherhood looked like.
Share the hardships, share the rewards.
Yet the real surprise was still to come.
"Since they’re here, give each of them two hundred," Liu Yutong suddenly told Ma Da.
Instead of grumbling, Ma Da was impressed.
With a leader this generous, who wouldn’t want to stick around?
After the distribution, about half the money remained—37,800 yuan.
Once the students had their share, Ma Da barked, "Thank Miss Liu!"
"Thank you, Miss Liu!"
"Thank you, Miss Liu!"
"..."
The vocational students couldn’t hide their delight.
Two hundred yuan was more than most got in a month for pocket money.
Their school covered meals, and tuition was prepaid, so their families usually gave them just fifty or a hundred for extras.
That barely lasted a weekend out with friends.
Now, with this sudden windfall, they felt rich.
Some were already fantasizing about slamming down cash at the internet café: "A cup of noodles—and throw in two eggs!"
"This money isn’t free," Ma Da reminded them. "From now on, when Miss Liu gives an order, you follow. Understood?"
"Yes!" the students chorused.
They were genuinely eager to follow her now.
First meeting, and not only had she forgiven their earlier disrespect, she’d handed out cash. They’d have charged into battle for her right then.
And seeing how much Ma Da and the others got?
They couldn’t help imagining what they might earn if they proved themselves.
Though they’d never held real jobs, they knew the local scene—internet café attendants made just a few hundred a month.
Plus, Miss Liu had promised even bigger rewards later.
They weren’t stupid. She’d already shown she wasn’t stingy, and with her status as the Righteous Union’s "miss," following her seemed like a sure path to success.
After the handout, Liu Yutong had Ma Da collect phone numbers from the few students who owned mobiles, then sent them on their way.
Then, the group once again piled into their overloaded minivan and headed to the local used car market, where they spent seven thousand yuan to buy another second-hand "divine car."
With that, only thirty thousand yuan remained in their budget.
Before returning to school, Liu Yutong treated Yun Cheng and the others to a meal at a restaurant called "Zhao's Fish Pancakes" across from Youth Square.
By the time they stepped out, it was already past eight in the evening.
"Miss Liu, the place you picked is absolutely amazing. I’ve never had fish pancakes this delicious before," one of them exclaimed.
"Yeah, the other dishes were decent, but the signature dish is truly unbeatable," another agreed.
"Let’s come back here next time we eat out!"
"Deal!"
"......"
The group, now full and satisfied, couldn’t stop praising the restaurant’s flavors.
Even at eight o’clock at night, the place was still packed—proof of just how popular their specialty dish was in the area.
"Imagine if we had a restaurant with business this good—we’d be rolling in cash!" Ma Da suddenly mused.
"Then what do you think about me taking over this place?" Liu Yutong casually suggested.
Ma Da’s eyes widened in shock. "Miss Liu, you’re joking, right? With business this booming, why would the owner ever agree to sell?"
He had no idea what the restaurant’s daily revenue was, but it had to be at least ten thousand yuan.
He had assumed Liu Yutong brought them here not just to treat them but also to explore supplying ingredients to the restaurant.
After all, aside from buying crayfish from the countryside, they also dealt in fresh catches—and a thriving restaurant like this would surely have high demand.
But never in his wildest dreams did he expect Liu Yutong to have her sights set on the entire establishment.
Would the owner really agree?
"I think it’s possible," Yun Cheng nodded, as if he had already pieced something together.
Ma Da was even more confused. "Wait, who in their right mind would sell a goldmine like this?"
But then it dawned on him what Liu Yutong really meant.
They were, after all, part of the underworld.
Did they really need to worry about making the owner "willingly" hand over the restaurant?
......
