Chapter 1: The Entanglement of Fate and Enmity, Haicheng's Solitude

  Hei Hudie is the nickname of female thief Gao Chufeng. This nickname conveys two meanings: this woman is not white; this woman is very beautiful. However, this explanation does not fully conform to reality and has omissions. In fact, only her hair and eyes are black; she can play a sharp butterfly knife; she has a strong competitive personality and is reckless. For the past two years, she has been famous in Shencheng's thief circle, having traversed over 100 bus lines in Shencheng without ever losing.

  Everyone in Shencheng knows that Hei Hudie is proud and mysterious, as beautiful as a butterfly. Countless thieves wanted to partner with her, but she extinguished their thoughts with just one sentence. If you like me, I can traverse more than 100 bus lines in Shencheng without losing my hand. Upon hearing this, the thieves retreated in droves.

  Women who pursue higher, faster and stronger lives may be born beautiful, but they are not as attractive to men as those who are gentle and dependent. This is why Jiang Feng would rather risk his life to marry a slave girl than to pay attention to the mistress of Huahua Palace. Therefore, women like this will inevitably end in tragedy if they do not transform themselves while they still have some beauty left in their lives.

  To have a life that is deeply ingrained, one must first follow the rules of being deeply ingrained. This is a woman's rule for life, which is naturally recognized after men and women grow up. A talented man and a beautiful woman fall in love, but the beautiful woman is like the ocean, her heart is as deep as the sea floor, difficult to grasp, always strong-willed and competitive, often inevitably leading to separation. Although the talented man likes the beautiful woman, he is always in a position of pursuit, lacking confidence in his words, and over time, naturally drifts away to love someone else, this is life. Those who focus on a strong-willed woman, like Hu Qingniu and Wang Chongyang, only exist at the tip of Jin Daxia's pen.

  As a female gangster, Black Butterfly needs to make a name for herself, but as a woman, she only needs one man who can move her heart.

  Hei Hu Die was picking the wallet of a man in front of her with her fingers when Li Hu Qiu suddenly appeared beside her and asked, "Sister, we three are here to participate in the competition, can you help us find our way?"

  As soon as he arrived at Huangpu Beach, the grandeur of this city was overwhelming. It could make a confident man feel heroic and a timid man lose his courage instantly. In front of him, there were swarms of people rushing about, and the train station was like a giant mouth spitting out people from all over the country into the city. Li Huqiu stood at the high point of the station square, looking around in all directions, feeling bewildered and clueless. Suddenly, he spotted the female thief Hei Hudie committing a crime, and the golden butterfly embroidered on her black jacket immediately reminded him of the pattern on the invitation card. He jumped down from the square to the base of the monument, ran several steps to catch up with Hei Hudie, who was about to get away, and asked that question.

  The black butterfly looked at him and thought, "Where did this little rascal come from? He looks quite cute, but he's interrupting my work and startling me. How rude." She said irritably, "You're here to participate in the competition, right?" Li Huqiu was taken aback by her directness and nodded. The black butterfly said, "I'm just here to pick up friends from all over the world, but today this lady doesn't want to serve you three. You're all professionals, don't you know that causing trouble is a taboo in your line of work?"

  Li Huqiu didn't rush, and with a smile, handed her a wallet, saying: "Is this what you were talking about? I just picked it up." In her nineteen years of life, this was the first time Black Butterfly had received money from a man other than her father. She liked stealing things, not for the money, but for the free and easy lifestyle of thieves and their incredible skills. She came to meet him because she wanted to see the great thief from all over the world. Just now, as they brushed past each other, he had already snatched the wallet with lightning speed. Her eyes lit up, this was indeed the style of a master thief.

  "Is that the 'Big Hand' from Northeast?" (meaning Big Thief) Black Butterfly asked, taking over the invitation card representing identity handed by Li Huqiu. Hmm! Li Huqiu pointed at the butterfly pattern on Black Butterfly's clothes and said: "I saw the logo on you is the same as the one on the invitation card, so I came to disturb you." Black Butterfly nodded and said: "Consider yourself lucky, I won't bother with you today, your accommodation has been arranged, let's go, follow me."

  The black butterfly beckoned with one hand, and a Santana slowly drove over from a distance. The black butterfly went to open the car door and said to Li Huqiu and the other two: "Get in!"

  Santana walked on the main street of Shencheng, Hei Hudie was in the passenger seat, turned around and introduced herself: "Gao Chufeng, codename Black Butterfly, just messing around on the Shencheng public transportation line... this time I'm the one who invited you all... um, Dad." Li Huqiu introduced her to Da Dingzi and Xiepajia, both of whom used nicknames, but when it was his turn, he gave his real name, "Li Huqiu, from Hacheng, no nickname." Black Butterfly smiled, her eyes lingering on Li Huqiu's face for a moment before turning back around without saying anything. Li Huqiu noticed that her smile was very sweet.

  Santana drove east and west, pulling Li Huqiu and three others to a secluded and quiet place. A three-story villa and a spacious courtyard appeared in front of them. The car stopped at the door. Gao Chufeng greeted Li Huqiu and others to get off the bus, introducing: "Here we are, it's here."

  Li Huqiu noticed that as they walked into the villa, she hesitated for a moment, which was a kind of nervous instinct that most people would have when entering an unfamiliar environment. He glanced at the two old thieves beside him, Da Dingzi smiled back at him, while Xiepaoer yawned and said he wanted to take a bath and sleep first.

  In the large living room, two people were already seated. Seeing Hei Hudie lead someone in, the person sitting in the main seat stood up and said: "Old Seven called to say that you've received friends from Northeast?" "These three are." Hei Hudie pointed at Li Hu Qiu and the others, saying: "Gang Cheng's Ding Ye and Chang Chun's Ba Bi Fo Ye, as well as this Ha Cheng's Zei Gong Zi, all of whom are on your list of registered individuals."

  That person heard, suddenly beaming with joy, walked over and shook hands with Li Hu Qiu and the others. Starting from Da Dingzi, he introduced himself last. "I am Gao Longyu, this Thief King contest is organized by me. You three are all famous figures in the pugilistic world, I'm thick-skinned to say that we're also somewhat colleagues. No need for formalities, come on, let me introduce you. This gentleman is from the northwest." He pointed to a middle-aged man who stood up after hearing Da Dingzi's name. The middle-aged man hastily introduced himself: "I've long admired the great name of Steel City's Da Dingzi. I'm Hu Guangli, from Xianyang, my alias is Black Fox. Here to pay respects to you." He bowed and extended his hands, making a fist with his thumbs sticking out.

  "Ah, Brother Hu, you're too kind! Your great name has been on everyone's lips for years. The case of the 300,000 kilograms of grain coupons that shocked the nation - aside from that gold heist, your deals are top-notch, comparable to the best in the country!" He reached out and clasped Black Fox's thumbs with both hands, and they intertwined their fingers, with Black Fox's tiger mouth facing down, rotating half a circle before returning. Black Fox humbly said, "Compared to those big things we did together, my stuff is just small potatoes. You're too kind, Brother. Let's just consider ourselves equals."

  Li Huqiu watched clearly and understood. He had heard Hao Tuozi and Song Yujia explain the rules of the Jianghu Dao before. The black fox's two thumbs up meant praise and respect, while the big tripod wrapped his hands around to show humility and unwillingness to accept. The black fox opened his palms to indicate that he did not dare to accept the praise from the big tripod, while the big tripod and he touched their thumbs together to indicate equal status in conversation. The black fox's tiger mouth pointing down meant "I acknowledge you as my elder brother". Turning around half a circle was the big tripod yielding. Human speech and animal language, each doing its own thing. This set of hand gestures is often used when two thieves meet on a train and are not convenient to talk while interrogating each other.

  The humility of the black fox was quite targeted, to Da Dingzi he was respectful, to Crab Claw he was polite and courteous, but to Li Huqiu, he didn't even extend his hand, just nodding his head. In his opinion, what a thief like Hu Guangli had always looked down on Hao Zouzi, thinking that his title of Great Chinese Thief King was all hype, not even recognized by their master, let alone a disciple?

  Li Huqiu withdrew his outstretched hand, his expression not showing much embarrassment. He nodded at the black fox and smiled: "Why don't we have a try, to see whether big brother's skills are deep or little brother's tricks are clever?"

  Crab claws early not full black fox Li Huqiu's arrogance, he feared that the world would not be chaotic said: "The best way to get through is to put money on the hands of our slaves, and art on the people in the industry. Without craftsmanship, no matter how big the name or how crazy the person is, it's just a grasshopper jumping around for a few days after autumn."

  The black fox heard the implication in his words and was annoyed at his meddling. He glared at him and said, "Why don't we just have a little spar?"

  "Crab pincer said: 'Am I afraid of you?'"

  The black butterfly looked excited, and the big tripod didn't dissuade him. Once this kind of thing is pushed to the top, it's better not to fight with strong skills, lest you regret it later and stab each other in critical moments.

  The two sides of the fierce battle changed to Crab Claw and Hu Guangli.

  What is meant by "crossing hands" is that two thieves shake hands, touch each other briefly, and see who can get more and more important things from the other. The word "more" is easier to understand, but the word "important" has a saying, it's not just valuable, but the key is that the closer you are to your skin, the more important it is. For example, if Crab Claw took three things from Black Fox's pocket, but Black Fox took Crab Claw's pendant or something close to his body, then Black Fox won, because what he took was more difficult to get.

  The two men's hands were clasped together, with a superficial smile on their faces. Underneath, they subtly applied force to push each other away, only to separate immediately after. The two exchanged a glance, and Crab Claw spread out his hands, revealing a box of cigarettes, a lighter, a rolling pin, a seal, and a handkerchief in his palm. Hu Guangli, despite having confidence in his victory, couldn't help but be startled by this move. This old thief's quick hands truly lived up to his reputation as the Eight-Armed Buddha, Crab Claw.

  Crab Claw's son looked at Hu Guangli with a smug face, he had counted the cash in his mind, and it was all in the bag, nothing on him. He watched as Black Fox rummaged through something. Big Ding came between the two of them, took a look at what Crab Claw's son had placed on the table, then sized up the two of them again before saying: "Hong Jun, you've lost! Hu Laoxiong played this hand wonderfully!"