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Chapter 34: Cleaning Up

"Why are you staring at me?" His aunt suddenly asked.

"Ah, this... I..." Li Xiaofei was startled.

How did she know I was staring? Can she see?

Fortunately, at that moment, Little Jie’s voice rang out from outside.

"I\'m back!" The little girl\'s voice was filled with undisguised happiness.

She had gone to school to register, along with six other school-age children from Guang’an neighborhood. Their admission to school was one of the conditions Li Xiaofei had agreed upon with Principal Chen Fei of Red Flag High School. Chen Fei had secured seven spots for them at Red Flag Middle School without entrance exams, getting these children into the school.

"How was your first day at school?" Li Xiaofei asked quickly.

"Very happy." Little Jie’s small, dark face beamed with joy and happiness. "I made a lot of friends and learned a lot of new things. Thank you, Brother Xiaofei."

Li Xiaofei, still avoiding his aunt\'s gaze, asked, "What did you learn?"

"Teacher Zhang taught me the Lighting Breath Technique and the Ninth Set of Radio Calisthenics for middle school students." Little Jie set down her school bag and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "We also learned other things like literacy, pinyin, biology, chemistry, and physics... Even though I don’t understand a lot of it, I will study hard."

Her small, dark face was full of happiness and anticipation. These seven children carried a heavy responsibility. It was only if they performed well and stood out, earning the school\'s recognition, that more children from the slums would have a chance to attend school.

Li Xiaofei gently patted her head and asked, "Did anyone at school bully you?"

Little Jie shook her head vigorously. "No, everyone was very nice to us."

"That\'s good. If anyone bullies you, tell Brother Xiaofei, and I\'ll take care of it," Li Xiaofei said with a smile.

Children who came from the slums were often wild, unaccustomed to rules, poor, wore ragged clothes, and ate poorly. It\'s easy for them to feel inferior and out of place, which could lead to bullying at school. It was Li Xiaofei\'s only concern.

"Mm-hmm," Little Jie nodded seriously, "If I can\'t handle it myself, I will definitely ask Brother Xiaofei for help."

She set down her school bag and ran to the kitchen. "I\'m going to cook now!"

After a while, dinner was served. The table had meat soup, oat noodles, a plate of pickles, and plain water. It looked simple, but it was much more bountiful than before.

Even though Li Xiaofei was now the undisputed king of the slums, he didn\'t immediately indulge in luxury. There was an old saying.

It\'s easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

Li Xiaofei believed he should maintain a spirit of hard work and perseverance, and not let indulgence ruin his Dao heart. When dinner concluded, Li Xiaofei headed to the headquarters of the Cloudy Sky Gang, which was bustling with activity.

Tomorrow was the seventh day after Zhong Yuanshan passed. According to the old customs of the slums, burial was only to take place after the seventh day. Due to the scarcity of land, cremation was common.

The elders of the Cloudy Sky Gang were busy preparing for the burial ceremony scheduled for the next day. Zhong Ling, Zhong Yuanshan\'s daughter, was not present; it was said she was still at school. Thanks to Li Xiaofei\'s rise, Zhong Yuanshan posthumously enjoyed the honor of being recognized as the martial alliance leader of the slums. Many notable figures were vying to pay their respects.

Li Xiaofei\'s arrival naturally drew attention from all sides, but he did not meet with anyone.Only the old members of the Cloudy Sky Gang, such as Chu Yuntian and Yang Cheng, were present in the meeting room.

"Young Master Fei, the seven major gangs have been reorganized. Aside from a few troublemakers, most are willing to accept your leadership," Chu Yuntian said, handing over a list.

The names of the troublemakers were marked in red. Although Li Xiaofei had earned unparalleled fame in the Martial God Arena, some people were inherently stubborn. They were unwilling to accept Li Xiaofei and would rather die than submit.

Li Xiaofei glanced at the list. He picked up a pen, crossed out a name, Lu Feiqing, and tossed the list back. "Aside from this person, kill all the other troublemakers."

Lu Feiqing was a loner with a strange temperament but no evil deeds. The other troublemakers, however, had blood on their hands, and killing them would be akin to ridding the area of scum. Li Xiaofei had no mercy for these thoroughly wicked gang members. He didn’t have time to deal with them personally. Besides, as the king of the slums, such minor tasks could be delegated to others.

"Brother Xiaofei, there\'s a big problem right now." The chubby Yang Cheng hesitated but then mustered the courage to speak. "You forbade the brothers from collecting protection fees in the various districts, banned drugs entirely, and stopped the trafficking of organs and people. Many of the gang members have lost their sources of income and can\'t support their families. Your reputation can keep them in line for now, but it will become an issue in the future."

Only Yang Cheng, who had the closest relationship with Li Xiaofei, dared to voice such concerns.

"Organize hunting parties to go outside the city and hunt star beasts for money," Li Xiaofei suggested.

Cutting off someone\'s source of income was akin to killing their parents. By banning the old, bloody trades in the slums, he had essentially cut off the gang members\' financial lifeline. While he wasn\'t afraid of these street rats rebelling, he couldn\'t just kill them all either. After all, his mentor Zhong Yuanshan\'s dying wish, and his own goal in unifying the slum gangs, was to improve the area, not to turn it into a bloodbath.

"What? Is such a thing possible?"

"We... can go out and hunt star beasts?"

"Brother Xiaofei, you\'re not joking with us, are you?"

The elders of the Cloudy Sky Gang were suddenly excited. If they could leave the slums and make a living hunting star beasts, they wouldn’t want to remain as petty bullies in their own community.

Yang Cheng quickly reminded Li Xiaofei, "Boss, people from the slums can\'t get permits to leave the city."

Li Xiaofei replied, "I\'ll find a way to handle that."

After a moment, he continued, "In the meantime, before we get the permits, let\'s start a big cleanup. Have those idle thugs properly clean up and repair the slums."

A big cleanup? Everyone was taken aback. What was the boss up to now?

Li Xiaofei didn\'t offer further explanation. He made the arrangements and turned to leave. Everyone in the meeting room exchanged puzzled looks.

"Ahhh, I get it now," the chubby Yang Cheng slapped his thigh, suddenly enlightened.

Chu Yuntian asked curiously, "What do you understand?"

Yang Cheng excitedly explained, saying, "I remember Brother Xiaofei saying, ‘if you can\'t clean your own house, how can you clean the world?’. So, Brother Xiaofei must be using this seemingly trivial task to test everyone. He’ll see who performs well, who is the most loyal, who has the patience, and who is the most enthusiastic. Then, when we get the permits, those people will be prioritized and will follow Brother Xiaofei in doing big things."

Everyone suddenly understood. The thought of being able to follow \'Brother Xiaofei\' in doing great things filled their eyes with eagerness.

***

At the same time, on the way back to Guang’an neighborhood.

"After all, this is my territory now. Seeing it so filthy every day affects my mood," Li Xiaofei muttered to himself. "Since these thugs are so full of energy and have nothing to do, they might as well start by being sanitation workers."

Protecting the environment is everyone\'s responsibility.

***

The next day, the sky was overcast. Li Xiaofei sent a text to Principal Chen, requesting half a day off to handle Zhong Yuanshan\'s funeral.

At nine in the morning, raindrops began to fall from the sky. Li Xiaofei checked the time and frowned slightly. "Let\'s wait a little longer."

Half an hour later, a large black SUV slowly approached, and Zhong Ling stepped out. She had finally come to attend her father\'s funeral.

"Why did you humiliate Senior Zhou Yiyou like that? Don\'t you think you went too far?" The first thing she said upon seeing Li Xiaofei was an accusatory question.