Chapter 20

Due to the large size of the factory and its complex relationships, the way factory children address others depends on their parents’ relationships with the person.

In other words, it depends on what the parents’ relationship with the other person is.

If the person is a colleague of the parents, factory children, regardless of whether the person is older or younger, should politely call them “Uncle” or “Aunt.”

So, when Ye Manzhi overheard Zhou Mu calling “Uncle Wu” last time, she found it awkward and funny but wasn’t really surprised.

Deputy Factory Director Zhou and Wu Zhengrong were colleagues in the same team, so calling him “Uncle Wu” was only appropriate.

However, Ye Manzhi was different from Zhou Mu.

She had once been romantically involved with Wu Zhengrong, so their relationship couldn’t be assessed by the generational lines of their parents.

When she heard the phrase “this kid Xiao Ye,” Ye Manzhi felt that the person not only took advantage of her but was also a pretentious hypocrite!

She couldn’t hold it in anymore and secretly shot him a glare while standing behind Director Mu.

Wu Zhengrong noticed and smiled. He turned to Mu Lan and said, “It’s pretty hot today. Let’s go inside and talk.”

The ceiling fan was spinning loudly. Qin Xiang added an extra chair to the office and then politely asked, “Director Mu, would you prefer tea or soda?”

“Well, there’s no choice! Haha, at our street office, we always drink big leaf tea.”

“Ah, we usually have big leaf tea too, but knowing you were coming, the leadership specially arranged for ice-cold soda!”

“Oh, Captain Wu, you’re too kind, no need to spend money. We’re fine with tea.”

Mu Lan had never received such hospitality while handling official business before!

The street office director was a department-level official.

But at 656 Factory, department heads and managers were numerous, and she was hardly a big deal in their factory.

If it weren’t for the close cooperation between the two units and her position as the street office head, she wouldn’t normally have any opportunity to enter the factory director’s or military representative’s office.

When it came to tea, Qin Xiang had no objections. He then asked, “What about Comrade Xiao Ye? Would she prefer soda? The leadership specially arranged it to help with the heat!”

Wu Zhengrong couldn’t stand seeing Qin Xiang act so eager. He gestured, “Get two bottles of soda for Director Mu and Xiao Ye, and then you can go. We have matters to discuss.”

Qin Xiang saluted, saying yes, and as he left, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself, last time she was “Comrade Xiao Ye,” and this time, it’s just “Xiao Ye.”

There must be something going on with their relationship!

After the polite conversation and soda had been served, Mu Lan was there for serious business. Seizing the opportunity, she briefly introduced their intention to invite Soviet experts to the upcoming event.

Wu Zhengrong took the application form, skimmed it, and set it aside, asking, “Director Mu, do you have any specific experts you want to invite?”

“No, no, we don’t know any of the experts from the factory, and we’ve never interacted with them. We certainly can’t bypass 656 Factory to contact them directly!” Mu Lan replied straightforwardly, “We’re not picky. Whoever the factory arranges for us is fine, as long as they are Soviet.”

Wu Zhengrong furrowed his brow, paused for a moment, and then spoke, “These experts are here to support 656 Factory’s development; they are not under our jurisdiction. The factory cannot assign them to us. Moreover, this event will involve public speeches, and the audience may not be small. This isn’t just an internal 656 Factory matter, I will need to report it to higher authorities.”

“Ah, will we get a response before this weekend?”

Wu Zhengrong shook his head.

Today was already Thursday.

Mu Lan decided to take a step back and asked, “What if we just invite the family members to introduce Soviet culture? Would that still need to be reported upwards?”

She had heard that experts and their families were not managed by the same unit.

Wu Zhengrong didn’t say whether it needed to be reported, instead he asked, “Do you have anyone in mind?”

Mu Lan couldn’t speak Russian, so she didn’t know any Soviet family members.

However, they had researched two plans before coming. The best outcome would be to invite a Soviet expert, but if the factory’s review process was too strict, they would invite the family members instead.

“Xiao Ye, you know a Soviet girl, right? Tell Captain Wu about the specific situation.”

Ye Manzhi quickly replied, “The girl’s name is Olia. She says she’s the daughter of Sigov.”

Wu Zhengrong nodded. There was indeed an expert named Sigov in the group.

“Olia plays the cello. She seems to really like our ethnic music and often attends our amateur Chinese-style music rehearsals…”

However, after she started working at the street office, she had activities almost every evening, and she had skipped a few rehearsals this month. It had been quite some time since Ye Manzhi had seen her.

As she was explaining, Wu Zhengrong tapped his fingers lightly on his leg, sat in silence for a moment, then stood up and walked out of the office, giving a few instructions to Qin Xiang outside.

When he returned and sat down again, he suggested, “Let’s first confirm whether Comrade Olia is willing to attend the event, and we can discuss the other details later.”

Ye Manzhi had been waiting for this sentence. She pulled out a contact book from her bag, and after receiving permission, used the phone on his desk to ask the switchboard to connect to Sigov’s dormitory.

Wu Zhengrong sat beside her and faintly smelled a light fragrance. His gaze inadvertently landed on a few strands of damp hair sticking to her fair neck.

He cleared his throat and turned his eyes away, resting his shoulders against the back of the chair.

The call was connected, and Ye Manzhi greeted in a crisp and cheerful tone in Russian, sounding very familiar with the person on the other end.

Wu Zhengrong had studied English in school, and his Russian was far from fluent. Although he couldn’t understand everything, he could tell that the accent was very authentic.

Ye Manzhi’s foreign language skills didn’t seem like something a high school could teach, and her accent was quite soft. It seemed her teacher might have been from Belarus or Ukraine.

He inhaled deeply, lost in thought, analyzing the subtle fragrance that lingered in the air.

Meanwhile, Ye Manzhi was very efficient. Soon, she hung up the receiver and smiled, saying, “Olia is willing to participate in the Sunday event and will introduce the real situation in the Soviet Union. I told her the audience might be very large, and she might get nervous and forget her words. So, I suggested she write a speech in advance, and she agreed. After the event, I can translate the speech and leave it for our military representative’s office to file. Captain Wu, is that acceptable?”

Before Wu Zhengrong could respond, Qin Xiang, who had been sent to verify the information, peeked his head into the office and gave a thumbs-up.

This was the military sign for “safe, proceed.”

Wu Zhengrong looked away, smiling as he said, “Alright, Xiao Ye has thought of everything.”

Ye Manzhi felt a little uneasy when he called her “Xiao Ye.”

When he used to call her “Comrade Xiao Ye,” it didn’t feel like much, but now, calling her just “Xiao Ye” made her feel like he was taking advantage of her.

“Then, you…”

“Does this mean our application has been approved?” Ye Manzhi confirmed with him.

Wu Zhengrong smiled and looked at Mu Lan, asking, “Since this is an event to celebrate the establishment of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association branch, the venue should be quite lively. Director Mu, would you mind if our military representative’s office also participates?”

“Of course, I don’t mind at all! You’re most welcome!”

Mu Lan guessed that he probably wanted to send someone to follow up on the event, so she naturally wouldn’t refuse without tact.

With everything settled, she exchanged a few more polite words before leaving with Ye Manzhi.

The ceremony was scheduled for the weekend, and the preparation team needed to invite leaders and members, arrange the venue, and take care of many other tasks.

Ye Manzhi followed Director Mu out of the office building. As they descended the stairs, she suddenly seemed to remember something and exclaimed, “Director, I left my address book in the military representative’s office!”

“Then go back and get it quickly. I’ll wait for you here!”

Ye Manzhi agreed and turned back, retracing her steps through a long corridor to the military representative’s office.

As if knowing she would return soon, Wu Zhengrong was already waiting by the office door, his hands clasped behind his back.

As she approached, he handed her the red address book and asked, “Who is ‘Ya’?”

“Me… Why?” Ye Manzhi blushed a little, feeling embarrassed. He must have seen her name written on the cover of the address book.

This address book had been in use since she graduated from elementary school, and because she hadn’t recorded many contacts, she had continued using it. But the name on the cover was written when she was still in elementary school. The handwriting was round and childish, quite different from how she wrote now.

Her beautiful handwriting was like half a face to her, and Ye Manzhi felt a bit embarrassed.

“It’s nothing, it’s quite good,” Wu Zhengrong said, then asked, “You came back because you have something else to say, right?”

Ye Manzhi quickly nodded. “I’m not sure how late Sunday’s event will go on for, and I’m worried it might interfere with our dinner plans. Should we change to another time?”

She had purposely left the address book behind so she could come back and discuss the dinner invitation.

They had originally set the time for Sunday, but with the Friendship Association’s establishment, there was both the opening ceremony and the first event to organize, and the ending time was uncertain.

Wu Zhengrong was a very busy person, and she didn’t want to waste his time.

However, whether she changed the time or not, it would disrupt Wu Zhengrong’s schedule.

He had already cleared his schedule a week in advance for her invitation.

Normally, in situations like this, he would agree to reschedule but wouldn’t provide a specific date, as he didn’t enjoy attending dinners. He would often delay until it was ultimately canceled.

But as Ye Manzhi looked up at him, waiting for a reply, he casually said, “It’s up to the guest, so let’s change the time. How about next Sunday?”

“That’s fine, we’ve settled it then, next Sunday!”

As she was about to leave, Ye Manzhi glanced back and asked, “Captain Wu, should I call you ‘uncle’ like everyone else in the office?”

Wu Zhengrong paused for a moment, then teasingly asked, “Do you want to call me that?”

“Sure.”

“Then go ahead and call me, let me hear it.”

Ye Manzhi: “…”

Wu Zhengrong was so young, he looked even better than her fifth brother.

She hesitated to say it.

Wu Zhengrong, being particularly considerate, said, “If you don’t want to call me that, then don’t. I’m not going to force you.”

Most of his colleagues were middle-aged, and their children were only a few years younger than him.

If the younger generation started calling him brother, it would place him in a lower position compared to his colleagues, and that would sometimes affect his ability to carry out work effectively.

So when his colleagues’ adult children awkwardly called him “uncle,” he usually just went along with it.

However, when it came to Ye Manzhi, there was no need for such a formality.

Ye Manzhi smiled, her eyes squinting with amusement, and said, “If you’re not letting me call you uncle, then I guess I’ll just be rude and disrespectful!”

“Well, if you really want to be disrespectful, just stop using ‘you’ when addressing me.”

“Hmm, I’ll think about it,” Ye Manzhi smiled sweetly and waved, “Director Mu is still waiting outside, so I’ll leave now. Goodbye, Uncle Wu!”

“…”

After successfully inviting the family members of the Soviet experts, the preparations for the establishment of the branch began to proceed rapidly.

After work, Ye Manzhi, carrying a membership list for the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association, went door-to-door inviting members to attend the founding ceremony of the street branch.

At the moment, most people who could join the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association were intellectuals, cadres, and students.

Most of the people on this list lived in the military industrial complex.

When she entered the compound, there were many people crowded in the open area behind the bulletin board. Someone had driven in a large truck.

The doors of the truck were open, and a group of people were either sitting or standing around the truck, listening to the radio broadcast of a storytelling program.

From time to time, there were sounds of astonishment and applause.

Her nephew, Maddo, was also squeezed in the crowd.

“Maddo, come home for dinner!”

“Aunt, I don’t want dinner. I want to listen a bit longer!”

Ye Manzhi ignored him and walked toward her own building.

Radios, bicycles, watches, and sewing machines were the four main items of the time. Radios had a low production rate and high prices, so there were few in the entire compound except for the cadre families.

Gathering around the truck to listen to the storytelling and news was a common sight in their compound.

As Ye Manzhi was mentally planning the route for her evening visits, just as she was about to reach the entrance of her building, she suddenly heard a sharp, wailing scream from the neighboring door.

The scream gave her goosebumps, and she instinctively rubbed her arm.

She thought to herself that it was probably another couple having a fight, and someone had gotten too rough.

However, just as she turned around, a young man came running out from the neighboring hallway, barefoot and nearly completely naked, wearing nothing but loose pants.

But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that his shoulder and chest were covered in blood, and he was holding his bloody ear with one hand, screaming “Ah, ah, ah.”

Ye Manzhi, with her keen eyesight, vaguely saw that half of his bloody ear seemed to have been torn off, hanging limply without any support.

This scene wasn’t just witnessed by her—several of the neighbors, who had been focused on the storytelling, also turned to look in their direction.

A few men rushed forward and asked, “Qi Maolin, what happened to you?”

The man, Qi Maolin, was still screaming “Ah, ah, ah” and was so agitated that he couldn’t form a coherent sentence.

Right behind him came Aunt Qi, crying and pleading.

“Quick, someone help me get Maolin to the health station! His ear was bitten off by that murderous Qiu Xiaoyan!”

“Wow—”

This was the bloodiest thing that had ever happened in their compound since it was built!

The crowd immediately began to stir.

Ye Manzhi snapped back to reality and ran over, shouting, “Everyone, stop asking! Is there a driver around? Get him to the hospital right away! With his condition, the health station can’t handle it; he needs to go straight to the emergency department at the city hospital!”

The street health station could administer injections and prescribe medicine, but with his ear hanging off like that, the young doctors there wouldn’t be able to help.

“Right, right, get two people to help Maolin into the car.”

The driver jumped into the driver’s seat and prepared to start the vehicle, but Aunt Qi was so scared that her legs gave way, and she couldn’t get into the back of the truck.

Thankfully, Qi Maolin’s older brother arrived just in time and accompanied him to the hospital.

Watching the truck speed off, Aunt Qi collapsed to the ground, clutching her legs and wailing.

“That murderous Qiu Xiaoyan, how could she be so cruel!” Aunt Qi grabbed the nearest person and demanded, “Quick, help me report this to the police. I want her thrown in prison!”

Qiu Xiaoyan and Qi Maolin were a married couple. Usually, when couples had a fight, they didn’t call the police, but after Qi Maolin nearly had his ear bitten off, the situation was different.

The Guangming Police Station rarely handled criminal cases, but after receiving the report from the guard, Liu, the station head, put down the phone and hurried over by bike.

The crying Aunt Qi, the dazed Qiu Xiaoyan, and the rest of the Qi family, who were shouting angrily, were all taken to the police station.

Many people in the compound followed to watch the commotion. Ye Manzhi wanted to go too, but she still had to visit members of the Friendship Association and could only regretfully give up on the idea.

However, the news of a couple fighting and half of someone’s ear being bitten off spread throughout the entire street by the end of the night.

The next day at work, the office was abuzz with discussions about it.

What Ye Manzhi didn’t expect was that this case had somehow involved Xue Qiao’er!

The reason Qiu Xiaoyan had bitten off half of her husband’s ear in a fit of rage was that she had heard that Qi Maolin was having an affair with Xue Qiao’er.

The couple had fought at home, causing quite a scene, and the argument escalated to the point of involving the bed.

If they had been able to make up before the fight reached that level, it would never have gotten so out of hand.

The key point was that Qi Maolin was a carter, tired after a long day’s work, and when he got home, he started arguing with his wife, which led to things spiraling out of control.

This only confirmed Qiu Xiaoyan’s suspicions, and her anger boiled over. After a push from Qi Maolin, she retaliated by biting off half of his ear.

“Qiu Xiaoyan’s quite ruthless,” Liu Jinbao remarked, “She confessed to everything and is willing to face the consequences, but she also wants the police to bring Qi Maolin and Xue Qiao’er to justice. She’s reporting that they’re involved in prostitution.”

Ye Manzhi remembered Director Mu’s investigation results and hesitated before asking, “Wasn’t it said that they caught the couple in the act? How will this be investigated?”

“Sigh, before it was just small stuff, and Liu didn’t put much effort into investigating, but now it’s almost caused a death. He certainly won’t let Xue Qiao’er cause trouble on Guangming Street anymore!”

There were already more than one or two people reporting Xue Qiao’er for returning to her old ways.

As Liu Jinbao was explaining the situation to Ye Manzhi, Chen Cai, who had just returned from the police station, entered the room.

Xia Shishi reported in real-time: “Qiu Xiaoyan has completely torn off the mask and gone all in. Inside, she directly named several carters, all of whom are connected to Xue Qiao’er. Liu has brought them all in and is now questioning them one by one.”

Several young people were hopping around, excusing themselves every few minutes to go out and watch the excitement.

Mu Lan saw that things were getting out of hand and decided to take action. “You all might as well stop sneaking off to the police station. Let’s go and watch openly,” she said.

Of course, everyone was happy to go as long as it was in the open.

Except for Aunt Feng, who wasn’t interested in gossip, everyone else went to the nearby police station.

Liu had already questioned three carters, but things weren’t looking good.

The three men all firmly insisted that they were only coworkers and friends with Xue Qiao’er and that there was nothing improper going on.

However, they managed to get something out of the fourth carter, Zhao Qiang.

“Did Xue Qiao’er give you a handkerchief?” Liu asked. “Why did she give it to you?”

Zhao Qiang nonchalantly replied, “What’s the reason? I was sweating, and she gave me her handkerchief to wipe it off. The handkerchief smelled nice and looked good, and after she wiped my sweat, it got dirty, so I just bought it from her.”

“What did you buy it with? Work points?” Liu asked.

“Yeah, I just charged it to her account for the work I did that day,” Zhao Qiang said.

Liu couldn’t help but ask, “How many handkerchiefs did you buy from her?”

Just when everyone thought the case was about to devolve into prostitution and debauchery, Zhao Qiang carelessly added, “Of course, I only bought one. What would I do with so many handkerchiefs? I’m not stupid!”

“Someone saw Xue Qiao’er go to your house, and your work points in the past few months haven’t just been missing one,” Liu pressed on.

“Oh, I let her come over to do my laundry and cook. She came once a week. Every time she helped me, I recorded a whole morning’s work points on her account,” Zhao Qiang replied, leaning back smugly. “Though I’m not married, my house is pretty neat!”

Liu looked at the man across from him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Based on his years of experience in handling cases, Liu could tell that Zhao Qiang wasn’t lying.

But this conclusion was ridiculous.

Zhao Qiang was an unmarried man without parents. If Xue Qiao’er could go to his house to clean, what about the other carters?

The others were all married with children—they had no use for Xue Qiao’er!

Zhao Qiang swung his leg casually and said, “Liu, don’t worry. I’m still unmarried. If the rumor about me visiting prostitutes gets out, I’ll never get a wife. Zheng Dongmei and I are like brothers—how could I mess with his wife? Not only did I not touch her, but when someone in the car team tried to make a move on Xue Qiao’er, I even helped stop them!”

“How is Xue Qiao’er’s relationship with Qi Maolin? Did Qi Maolin ever make a move on Xue Qiao’er?”

“I don’t know about that. All I know is that Xue Qiao’er has a good reputation in our car team. Even though she’s from Liushao Hutong, she ended up with the Zheng family and is willing to do hard labor. That’s not easy. And Xue Qiao’er, she’s so sweet-talking, soft-spoken. If anyone in our team has a problem, she’s always there to help. She’s recognized as the ‘flower who understands the language’ of our team. Isn’t that better than the wives of those guys who just yell at home?”

Liu was speechless: “…”

A tricycle team, and they have a “flower who understands the language” now?

“Heh, but,” Zhao Qiang chuckled lecherously, “Qi Maolin getting half his ear bitten off? He wasn’t exactly innocent either…”

“He even fought with Old Sun over Xue Qiao’er. If it weren’t for that fight, his wife wouldn’t have found out about Xue Qiao’er,” Zhao Qiang continued.

Liu looked up and asked, “Why did they fight?”

Zhao Qiang sneered, “They both wanted to get close to Xue Qiao’er, fighting over her. They’re no good birds, either! Back in the day, in Liushao Hutong, there were plenty of fools who couldn’t get her but still fought over her. What’s so special about them? The more Xue Qiao’er made them jealous, the more they’d try to win her favor. Me, on the other hand…”

Liu nodded.

These carters, except for Zhao Qiang, were all married. Even if they had some thoughts about Xue Qiao’er, they wouldn’t be bold enough to force themselves on her, taking advantage of their position.

Liu had dealt with similar cases before. In Liushao Hutong, most of the girls knew how to read people’s intentions and learned how to handle customers. Some customers, just to chat and hold hands, would end up spending a lot of money.

But Liu couldn’t just take Zhao Qiang’s word for it; he needed to question the other carters and Xue Qiao’er herself.

Outside, Liu Jinbao asked incredulously, “Is he lying? If Xue Qiao’er isn’t doing anything, why would those carters give her so many work points?”

“Who said she’s not doing anything? Isn’t she the ‘flower who understands the language’?” Chen Caixia shot him a look.

Ye Manzhi thought to herself, perhaps this is what Third Sister-in-law meant when she talked about providing emotional value.

Third Sister-in-law always said Third Brother provided her with emotional value, and Ye Manzhi didn’t fully understand until now. She was starting to get a hint of what that meant.

However, everyone was still half-skeptical about this outcome. Liu wanted to bring Xue Qiao’er to the police station for questioning, but Director Mu stopped him.

“Xue Qiao’er has worked hard to turn her life around. If she steps into the police station now, it will be hard for her to clear her name in the future. How about we go to her home and ask? If we can’t get any answers, we can always bring her in later.”

Liu sighed, waved his hand, and allowed Director Mu to handle it.

Mu Lan chose to take Chen Caixia, who was married and familiar with the Zheng family situation, but Ye Manzhi didn’t want to take the matter lightly. She also requested to go along.

As soon as the three of them entered the door, Xue Qiao’er knew exactly why they were there.

The gossip about the fight and the ear-biting incident had spread like wildfire these past few days, and even people in Yueya Hutong had heard about it.

Mu Lan went straight to the point, “Qiao’er, you must have guessed why we’re here, right?”

Xue Qiao’er nodded.

“Qi Maolin had half of his ear bitten off. You didn’t see it, but it was a bloody mess, nearly resulting in a fatality. This case is different from the past. Liu wanted to bring you into the police station for questioning, but I thought that would hurt your reputation. So I took on this mediation task instead…”

Xue Qiao’er calmly replied, “Director Mu, after I left Liushao Hutong, I completely turned my life around. I haven’t earned any money I shouldn’t have. Even if it’s not for me, I have to think about my four children. If I go back to my old ways, my four kids would never be able to hold their heads up high.”

“Then what about all those work points on your account? We all know you couldn’t possibly have earned that many with just physical labor.”

“Director Mu, I have nine people in my family to support with my rickshaw. I really can’t make enough! Before, I did all the work myself, but the money I brought in was too little,” Xue Qiao’er paused here, remaining silent for a long time.

Xue Qiao’er took a deep breath before speaking again, her eyes reddening. “I can’t just watch my family starve, can I? My mother said that people in the car team have a good relationship with Dongzi and advised me to speak well to everyone. Since I’m a woman, they might be willing to help me.”

At this point, Aunt Zheng suddenly lifted the curtain and came in, asking, “Qiao’er, what do you mean by that? You do those shameful things, and now you say I’m the one who let you do them?”

Xue Qiao’er lowered her head and couldn’t say a word.

“What shameful things has she done?” Mu Lan said, glaring. “You need to leave. I’m here to inquire about the case on behalf of the police station. I didn’t call you in.”

Ye Manzhi escorted Aunt Zheng out, and Mu Lan continued, “Has anyone in the car team bullied you?”

Xue Qiao’er nodded.

“After someone helped me, they tried to do that kind of thing with me. I didn’t agree, but he touched my hand a few times,” Xue Qiao’er said in a low voice. “Later, I got others to help, and once there were more people, they didn’t dare do anything.”

Mu Lan sighed, saying, “They all have families, you know?”

“I know,” Xue Qiao’er said numbly, “But what can I do? I can’t rely on anyone else. I only have myself.”

Chen Caixia asked, “Your parents-in-law and sister-in-law are all able-bodied. Why don’t you try getting them to earn some money?”

Xue Qiao’er’s face carried a trace of sarcasm. “I don’t know. You can go ask them. Director Mu, this isn’t selling myself, I haven’t broken the law, right?”

Mu Lan remained silent.

She wasn’t sure what else to say.

No crime was committed, but it was immoral. The carters all had families.

However, if the carters didn’t have improper intentions, Xue Qiao’er wouldn’t have been able to control them.

It wasn’t unjust that his wife bit off his ear.

Once Mu Lan had a general understanding of the situation, she relayed the results back to the police station.

What happened next would depend on how the police station handled the case.

Everyone at the street office felt heavy-hearted after hearing about Xue Qiao’er’s situation.

But the Chinese-Soviet Friendship Association’s sub-branch was set to be established on Sunday, and they still had to hurry to prepare.

The opening ceremony would be held at the local elementary school, and on Saturday, Ye Manzhi and the other members of the organizing committee worked in the school until after 9 PM.

As they were leaving the classroom, Zhuang Ting suddenly grabbed Ye Manzhi’s arm and pointed towards the west side of the school.

Ye Manzhi turned and looked. There, a towering fire and thick smoke rose into the sky, in the direction of Yueya Hutong…!