William Carter lowered his head in silence. He also wanted to form an organization, but it was easier said than done. He picked up his glass, took a sip, and said, “I’m not against having an organization, but at that time the number of people will skyrocket, and everything—food, drink, fun—will depend on the organization. Tell me, how are we supposed to support them?” The three were stunned. William Carter tilted his head back and finished the wine in his glass, then continued, “Right now, all our money comes from collecting ‘protection fees’ from students. At most, we make no more than twenty thousand a month. How can we maintain an organization with just that? Even if we force it now, it’ll only make us break up even faster.”

　　George Miller asked, “Dong-ge, then what do you mean…?”

　　William Carter smiled slightly, lowered his head, and played with the glass in his hand. Sarah Thompson, being impatient, saw that William Carter wasn’t speaking and shouted, “Dong-ge, say something! We’re all listening to you!”

　　William Carter looked at the three who were staring at him without blinking and slowly said, “Right now, you guys… should… study hard!”

　　Sarah Thompson and George Miller were dumbfounded and blurted out, “Study hard?”

　　“That’s right, you should study hard now. There’s only one month left until the high school entrance exam. All of you have to get into high school. If anyone fails… I, William Carter, will never let him off. Unless you don’t want to follow me anymore!”

　　Three-Eyes was also stunned. “Then… what about me?”

　　William Carter chuckled, “You keep control here, and you need to grow, expand your influence, with the goal being all the middle schools. The underworld doesn’t care about middle schools where there’s only small money to be made. If they don’t want it, we do. Recruit more punks from schools and outside who aren’t too old—that’s our foundation.”

　　Three-Eyes nodded. “Dong-ge, I get it. Small groups like ours are everywhere in J City. We haven’t even touched the edge of the underworld, we can’t compete with them. They’re the underworld, so let’s be the ‘gray world’—not black, not white, right?”

　　William Carter nodded approvingly and said to Sarah Thompson, “Xiao Shuang, Qiangzi, learn more from Brother Zhang, it won’t do you any harm.” George Miller blushed, but still didn’t understand. “Then why are we going to high school?”

　　William Carter stood up, his eyes unusually bright. “To take control of No. 1 High School with me!”

　　Sarah Thompson and George Miller nearly dropped their jaws. “Con… control No. 1 High School? Oh my god!” Sarah Thompson then burst out laughing, “I’m really looking forward to it! Yeah! No. 1 High School, the most notorious delinquent school in the whole province. Hahaha!!” He turned to George Miller and asked, “Qiang-ge, do you know how many criminals in the province come out of our city’s No. 1 High School every year?” George Miller shook his head; he really didn’t know, he’d only heard that it was unusually chaotic there.

　　Seeing George Miller shake his head, Sarah Thompson shook his own and said smugly, “Heh! ‘According to incomplete statistics, eight percent of the province’s criminals are from J City’s No. 1 High School.’ Haha! This is awesome!”

　　Three-Eyes and George Miller both looked at William Carter in disbelief and said, “Dong-ge, that can’t be true, right?”

　　William Carter squinted and said, “I’m not too sure about that either, not sure where Xiao Shuang heard it. But it’s probably not reliable!”

　　Three-Eyes and George Miller exchanged a look, their faces suddenly enlightened. “Oh! So it’s just some people making stuff up!” Sarah Thompson anxiously protested, “What I said is true, believe me!”

　　“Pfft!” Three-Eyes and George Miller simultaneously gave him the finger and turned away, ignoring him. Blushing furiously, Gao Shuang suddenly stood up and shouted, “Where’s Lucas Smith? Get out here! Always feeding me fake news!” From under a nearby table, a hand stretched out and a muffled voice came, “Who? Who… who’s calling me?” “……”

　　Everyone had a great time at this meal, or rather, a great time drinking. In the end, the bill was over a thousand, but the restaurant owner waived the cost of the drinks. They barely ate any of the food, since their stomachs were already full of beer by the time the dishes arrived.

　　William Carter didn’t drink much, but since he wasn’t used to alcohol, he still had a bit too much. His mind was clear, but his body felt like it was floating. George Miller and Three-Eyes drank a lot but weren’t drunk; only Sarah Thompson was completely wasted. One moment he was holding William Carter’s hand, crying his eyes out, the next he was laughing with George Miller, and then he went to kiss Three-Eyes on the face. In the end, everyone agreed: from now on, Sarah Thompson can’t be allowed to get drunk again—his drinking habits are just too bad. George Miller called a cab and took Sarah Thompson home. Three-Eyes wanted to see William Carter home, but he politely refused.

　　【Volume One: Youthful Passion】 Chapter 5

　　William Carter walked home alone. It was past ten at night, and there were few pedestrians on the road. The night wind blew, making a ‘rustling’ sound in the grass by the roadside. The city was unusually quiet at this hour, only occasionally interrupted by cars roaring past. William Carter walked along, kicking stones on the road, lost in thought. What would his future be like? Would he be a small-time punk, neither black nor white, for the rest of his life, or would he go all in and join the underworld? Either way, it wasn’t what he wanted. The deeper he got, the more he realized both paths were endless roads of no return. Suddenly, a thought popped into his mind that even he was startled by. He shook his head, trying to shake the thought away. But William Carter never imagined that, years later, he would be just one step away from that very idea.

　　William Carter shook his head, refusing to think about it. Sometimes a person’s fate can be decided by themselves, but sometimes it’s just up to destiny.