Chen Ergou didn't know what the silhouette of him squatting beside the purple bamboo chair, silently smoking, would bring to him. He just felt a bit tired, and that bamboo chair might still have the body temperature of that woman who was like a green bamboo leaf. He didn't want to touch it, afraid of getting stained with bad luck, just like how one shouldn't sit on a tree stump when entering a mountain.

  So he squatted down to smoke a good cigarette that could relieve his fatigue. To him, this was just a very natural and unintentional move. As he smoked the free cigarettes from the SD bar, his mind was filled with the image of that woman's bright red lipstick and the bald man's piercing lotus-like head.

  Chen Ergou puffed heavily on his cigarette, an old habit from smoking dry tobacco. Most good cigarettes sold in this city weren't strong enough, and it was hard to get a good lungful after smoking too much. Although better-quality tobacco was healthier, Chen Ergou still felt that it lacked the kind of heart-burning pleasure he got from smoking.

  After squatting for half a day and smoking three cigarettes, his legs were slightly numb. He stood up and leaned against the window, looking out at the woman and the bald man's silhouettes. If Cao Jingjian, who was still somewhat approachable to Chen Ergou in terms of romance, was only out of reach, then the mother snake wine made from bamboo leaves, which was completely beyond his means, had thoroughly trampled him.

  Chen Ergou didn't feel that his self-esteem had been hurt, though. The gap between them was obvious, and even a blind person could see it. However, when he smoked, he thought to himself: one day, I'll strip this woman naked, and then she won't be so arrogant in bed, will she?

  The woman who was indeed surnamed Huangfu, and was indeed the most intriguing and thought-provoking of the SH underground world's women, nicknamed Bamboo Leaf Green, was also known as Black Widow by some, because it was rumored that every time she rose to power, there would be a man's corpse on her bed the night before. The specific details were unknown to anyone, including Hei Hu, who had been defeated by Chen Ergou at Ah Mei restaurant, and certainly not known by Cai Huangmao, one of the many insignificant rascals in SH.

  She had a personal bodyguard named Meng Chong, who was known to acquaintances as Meng Chui, but only those who were big shots on the SH road could call him that. Ordinary bigwigs, whether they hated or resented him, would still have to show respect and address him as "Meng Ge" when they met in person. In terms of seniority, Meng Chong was not worthy of being called "Meng Ge" by the big shots, but his rice bowl was given to him by Zhu Ye Qing, so he had to be mindful of that. Those who knew how to curry favor with their masters also knew how to address their dogs. Meng Chui was no fool and knew that a favored henchman like himself was still a valuable asset in the eyes of many people, so he made sure to remember his master's kindness. Over the years, he had been diligent and conscientious in his work, careful and meticulous in his behavior, and assiduous in his duties as a henchman, all while maintaining his own unique personality. As he started up the Hummer parked at the corner of this old street, he glanced through the rearview mirror at his master sitting in the backseat with his eyes closed, and said softly, "Do you need me to take care of that young man? I'm on good terms with several big shots from the Northeast and JX."

  "Really?"

  The woman rubbed the sun and said lightly: "A man who has a woman to take care of him is not afraid of losing face. Besides, I'm not a Bodhisattva who saves people from suffering, and I don't have any relationship with him. Even if I were to find a young and handsome man to be my gigolo, at least I would choose one with a good face and a strong body. A rural man who comes to Shanghai to make a fortune and doesn't want to suffer a bit, but wants to mix in high society, is just like a duck that relies on its appearance and spirit to satisfy an unhappy wife, it's unbelievable."

  Meng Chong wisely remained silent, she was a woman who was very stingy with her words, once she spoke out a fifty-word statement, it meant that others could no longer change her original intention.

  She shook the wine jug, smiled inexplicably and said: "Meng Chong, he actually looks like someone. When I see him, I inexplicably think of some grievances and reveal some emotions. Even drinking doesn't seem appealing to me. You don't touch Buddhist scriptures, so you naturally don't know about the concept of 'industry obstacles' and 'heart demons'. At that time, I really had an urge to kill him and cut off the threads of trouble. However, this is something that can only be said to you, if I say it to others, apart from Zhu Ye Qing and Hei Guafu, I'll probably get another nickname - Crazy Woman."

  He spoke in a soft and gentle tone, with a Suzhou accent that was misleading: "This is what's called being worldly. We're not like you, we're all ordinary people, just seeking to fill our bellies and keep warm, without any high-flying ambitions or pretensions. To be honest, that little guy isn't bad, his cleverness and ruthlessness are quite common in our circle, but the way he treats Old Man Sun, I can see it's genuine. Nowadays, these young whippersnappers are all ungrateful and disloyal, they'd rather carve 'base' on their faces, and the respect and humility that we used to have when we first started out, are all gone, it's really infuriating."

  "Times have changed, trees move and people move too. What you're saying doesn't work today, don't expect everyone to follow your lead, that's called being stubborn."

  The woman tilted her head back and took a sip of wine, saying lazily: "As for that guy, just let him fend for himself. If he wants to make a name for himself, I won't stop him. If he gets chopped up into dog food, I'll collect his body out of sympathy for Sun Dajie. I don't think we'll ever have anything to do with each other in this lifetime. But if he really can face me one day and talk to me, I'm willing to make a bet with you: if he succeeds, I'll jump into the Huangpu River; if not, you will. How about it, Meng Chong?"

  "In for a penny, in for a pound."

  Meng Chong laughed and said, "Alas, your voice is really too feminine, how can you have the grandeur of a Northeastern big man? I'm not someone who hasn't jumped before. In the past, being chased from HB to GD to SH and jumping into the Huangpu River were all small matters. Following you for ** years, I've never seen you do anything out of line. I'll take a gamble this time, even if I lose it's no big deal, but if I win, I can still see the shocking scene in SH."

  Perhaps it was the most beautiful and poisonous bamboo leaf green, with a subtle smile at the corner of her mouth, she smacked her lips, savoring the aftertaste of that sip of wine, saying: "He's climbing, what, I won't climb next? Even if he luckily catches up to me, you're already an old man with a big age gap, maybe even a grandfather, when the time comes, let's see how your old bones will jump into the Huangpu River in the cold winter."

  The dumbfounded insect was stunned on the spot.

  The most poisonous is the green bamboo leaf, but it's not as poisonous as a woman's heart. Who said this? It's really damn reasonable.

  ——————————

  I don't want to live a mediocre life like Zhang Shengli, so I'll just go to the SD bar and pretend to be a big shot for a month, earning 5,000 or 6,000 yuan. Then, I'll try to get close to Xiao Mei's useless rich kid friends, and every night, I'll roll around in bed with Zhang Jiazhai, who thinks he's some kind of god, and that's basically it.

  But Chen Ergou knew that his so-called ideals wouldn't stop there, so he studied hard, absorbing all the knowledge he could. This was an era of information explosion, and without a framework system, one would be like a headless fly. So he thought of auditing classes at a top university. For college students, Chen Ergou didn't care much, but for famous schools like Fudan or Shanghai Jiaotong University, he still had deep respect. As a result, the first time he took a two-hour bus ride with Xiao Yao to get to Fudan, seeing the young men and women coming and going with style, Chen Ergou stood at the entrance and sincerely exclaimed: "When I was in high school, the principal who hated that the school sign wasn't even plated with gold would have been jealous of this Fudan University. It's really different from those schools that sell fake diplomas for tens of yuan. Even a small gate is built so stylishly. Xiao Yao, look at these young people, they all wear glasses and look like intellectuals, like smart people. Your college classmates looked like they were just pretending to be socialites, not one of them looked serious."

  "Two dogs, this is the main gate of Fudan University."

  Xiao Yao walked away with a depressed expression, and the men and women who passed by them were defeated by Chen Ergou's words, bursting into a fit of snickers, but there wasn't much mockery in their smiles.

  "Is this the main entrance?" Chen Ergou asked in surprise, bending his body to look left and right, as if trying to see something special from that small door. In his impression, the caves of the great sages or monsters in "Journey to the West" were all stunning, even the gate of the third-rate university where Xiaoyao was located was more eye-catching than this one.

  Xiao Yao nodded vigorously and tiptoed to Chen Ergou's ear, whispering: "Zhang Xixi's brother is studying for his master's degree at Fudan University. He once joked that you have to be careful not to get run over by trains and cars on campus. Later, if you see a bus, don't be shocked, or people will think you're an alien."

  The school is really big, there are a lot of students, but beautiful girls are rare. The classrooms are really hard to find. This was Chen Ergou's first impression after sneaking into the classroom at Fudan University. It was a translation and critical thinking class, taught by Professor He. Xiaoyu thought that Chen Ergou's English listening and speaking skills were quite good, and he didn't seem too confused when he didn't understand something. After two classes, Xiaoyu noticed that Chen Ergou was diligently taking notes in the corner of the classroom. When she glanced at his handwriting, she saw that it was very elegant. When the professor spoke slowly, Chen Ergou would write in regular script, with each character having distinct strokes and angles, neat and tidy. But when the professor spoke quickly, Chen Ergou would switch to running script, which was smooth and flowing, yet still retained its spirit. Xiaoyu, who had practiced calligraphy for over a decade, was deeply impressed. When she saw that Chen Ergou occasionally wrote in cursive script, she knew it was called "broken grass" and was shocked. She declared that this was definitely not something an ordinary student could produce casually. Unlike Zhang Xiangxue and his friends, Chen Ergou didn't show off his uniqueness or exceptional talent. He only told Xiaoyu that he hadn't received his university admission letter. She had assumed that a poor kid like him would have terrible handwriting, just like his English skills, but the reality was the opposite.

  "Second Dog, next time it's my birthday, write a love letter to me as a birthday gift, okay?" Xiao Yao said softly.

  "It's so embarrassing, even I don't dare to take it out." Chen Ergou said with a smile, accompanying Xiao Yao out of the classroom. Xiao Yao didn't give a reason, and Chen Ergou had no choice but to promise her. In fact, writing a few hundred or thousand words was not difficult for him, as he had been forced by his crazy old man to copy entire ancient books since childhood, and was used to this kind of physical labor. But how to write a love letter was a huge problem.

  In the afternoon, they also went to audit "Integrated Marketing Communication". Originally, Xiao Yao suggested going to listen to Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" elective course, but Chen Er Gou didn't respond. Listening to "Translation and Thinking" was already his limit, anything more would be a waste of time for him, and he needed to criticize it severely. Now he just wants to get in touch with some practical things, such as "Financial Practice" or "Operational Management". Also, he is interested in "I Ching" and Chinese aesthetic culture, but missed the class, which will be next week. Chen Er Gou heard that Fudan University's best major is Journalism, thinking about when to experience life there.

  Sitting on a long bench under the quiet tree shade at noon, gnawing on the food brought by Xiao Yao, Chen Er Gou said vaguely: "I want to be a cultured person."

  Xiao Yao smiled and said: "What's the point of being a cultured person?"

  Chen Ergou showed a smile and said, "First, I'll write you a love letter. The most important thing is that I want to write a long article about my mother, which will be given to her grandchildren in the future, so they can know that their grandmother was a good person. Although this grandmother couldn't cook the most delicious braised pork with noodles for them to eat, she must have been protecting them."