At the break of dawn, on the Minshan Expressway, descending the mountain's winding roads, the roar of a sports car's engine echoed. Soon, a silver-white Ford Mustang came into view, its headlights shining bright as it drifted around a corner.
But just as the tires of the Ford Mustang began to skid and drift, the front right tire suddenly lifted off the ground.
"Hey, hey, fatty, slow down, the car is lifting off!"
Inside the Ford Mustang, Ye Qiu was the first to notice the front tire on his side starting to lift off the ground as Cheng Jie slammed on the brakes to drift.
He had noticed it earlier, but it wasn't this severe. Now, with Cheng Jie increasing the speed on this last downhill bend, Cheng Jie intended to drift entirely through the curve.
Full drifting means continuously drifting from the beginning to the end of a corner, constantly applying the brakes to use the tire's friction with the road to drift through.
But because Cheng Jie was too heavy, during this last corner, he drove the Ford Mustang too fast, causing the entire vehicle to tilt towards his side.
Moreover, the front tire on Ye Qiu's side had already lifted significantly off the ground, and if Cheng Jie didn't brake in time, the newly purchased Ford Mustang would surely overturn.
Cheng Jie wanted to say it was fine, but he also felt the car's abnormality and panicked, shouting to Ye Qiu beside him, "Ye Qiu, what should we do?"
Ye Qiu was anxious too, watching the Ford Mustang sliding sideways. His brows furrowed, and then a thought struck him. He quickly grabbed Cheng Jie's head and yanked it towards his side.
Bang.
A miraculous scene happened. As Ye Qiu yanked Cheng Jie over, the Ford Mustang, which was about to overturn, straightened up as Cheng Jie's body shifted. The originally raised left tire hit the road with a bang.
"Watch out."
However, at the moment the Mustang hit the ground, due to the previous slide, it deviated and was now veering towards the guardrail.
Below the guardrail was a cliff. If they crashed, both Ye Qiu and Cheng Jie would surely die, so Ye Qiu shouted loudly and grabbed the steering wheel.
Cheng Jie, on the other hand, closed his eyes, refusing to look.
...
A moment passed, and Cheng Jie didn't feel death approaching. He only heard the screech of tires and then the car stabilized. He knew they had stopped, slowly opened his eyes, and saw Ye Qiu sitting in the driver's seat.
"Ye Qiu, are you okay?" Cheng Jie asked, confused by Ye Qiu's silence.
"Huh?" Ye Qiu, who had just escaped a life-and-death crisis, was looking at the system's reward of 1500 Experience Points when Cheng Jie interrupted his thoughts. He stopped talking with Fle and looked at Cheng Jie's worried face, smiling, "I'm fine, fatty. How about you?"
"I'm okay too." Cheng Jie shook his head, then looked at the intact Ford Mustang and sighed, "Ye Qiu, you saved my life again. So now, I owe you two lives."
Ye Qiu laughed and shook his head, "Don't talk about debts. Aren't we friends? The best of friends."
Cheng Jie glanced at Ye Qiu, wanted to say something, but just nodded, punching Ye Qiu's chest, then opened the door and got out of the car.
Ye Qiu saw Cheng Jie get out and he too stepped out of the car.
At this moment, the early sun was still brewing on the horizon, the sky still dim. Cheng Jie stood by the battered guardrail, looking at the steep cliff below, and said to Ye Qiu, "Ye Qiu, do you have any dreams?"
"Dreams?"
Ye Qiu slightly frowned, gazing at the distant horizon, falling silent.
When it came to dreams, he once had them. There was a time he was madly passionate about racing, swearing to become the world's strongest racer. He worked hard, achieved some success, and was on his way to becoming the best.
But as he climbed his way up, certain events made him disillusioned with racing.
Though he regained some confidence now, his past dreams were gone.
His dream now was just to become stronger, bring Lin Xirou back, and defeat Aik.
Aik, who once fought alongside him but ultimately betrayed him, humiliating him endlessly. Ye Qiu aimed to defeat him and make him bow on the racetrack.
After achieving all this, Ye Qiu thought he might just quit racing, or perhaps not. Everything would depend on that moment.
"Do you know what my dream is?"
Seeing Ye Qiu silent, Cheng Jie said, "My dream is to be a racer, like my idol Ye Qiu..."
He looked at Ye Qiu, "But not you, of course..."
Ye Qiu chuckled but said nothing.
He naturally knew Cheng Jie loved racing and admired his former self, but Ye Qiu never intended to tell him he was that Ye Qiu.
Because Ye Qiu could see Cheng Jie's love for racing and his lack of self-confidence, if Ye Qiu revealed his identity, Cheng Jie surely wouldn't treat him the same as before.
In future encounters, Cheng Jie might instinctively show respect and awe, causing a gradual disconnection...
Thinking of this, Ye Qiu felt somewhat helpless. Why did everyone he's met recently prefer his former self? Was his past fame really that immense?
"I like Ye Qiu's hard work, and I like when he said: 'I want to conquer the world with an Eastern face.'"
Hearing Cheng Jie's words, Ye Qiu shook his head. The line: 'I want to conquer the world with an Eastern face,' was indeed something he said after winning the intercontinental battle and setting his sights on the world championship.
And it was precisely that statement that earned him countless loyal fans in Huaxia and throughout Asia.
"I've heard that Ye Qiu is down-and-out now, seems he's become a wreck." Ye Qiu said.
"Nonsense." Cheng Jie said angrily, but then quickly told Ye Qiu, "I'm not angry with you."
After speaking, deep conviction shone in his eyes: "I believe in Ye Qiu. I believe he will not become a wreck. He's definitely somewhere consolidating his strength, and when he makes a comeback, he'll surely shock the world. I believe he... he will definitely start anew, and astonish those who once mocked and humiliated him."
"Start anew?"
Ye Qiu looked at Cheng Jie's back, took a deep breath, and then gazed at the distant horizon. Suddenly, his eyes flashed with a confident light, and he started shouting loudly.
Cheng Jie was startled by Ye Qiu's sudden shouting: "Ye Qiu, what are you doing?"
After shouting, Ye Qiu just felt comfortable all over. Previously, perhaps it was Fle's provocation that made him decide to return to racing, but now he was truly moved by Cheng Jie's words, reaffirming his inner conviction.
He wanted to return to the arena, he wanted to speed through the track again, to fulfill the promise he once made: He wanted to conquer the world with an Eastern face; he wanted to conquer the world with a Huaxia face.
Ding.
Due to your high level of conviction, Spiritual Value +50
Listening to the system's voice, the confident smile on Ye Qiu's face grew stronger, and he then looked at Cheng Jie, who was puzzled and staring at him, stepped forward and hugged him.
"Hey hey, what are you doing Ye Qiu? I'm not into guys, I like beauties, I don't like men..."
Cheng Jie was initially shocked by Ye Qiu, and then struggled desperately but was tightly held in Ye Qiu's embrace. Then the two fell to the ground...
Pressed under Ye Qiu, Cheng Jie raised his hands above his head, looking at Ye Qiu with a face full of terror, like a scared little girl: "Ye Qiu, you, you, what are you going to do?"
Ye Qiu grinned, then patted Cheng Jie's chubby face, and said: "Fatty, thank you!"
After saying that, Ye Qiu got up, while the bewildered Cheng Jie, once standing, looked at Ye Qiu, momentarily at a loss, just as he was about to speak, suddenly heard the roaring sounds of car engines from afar.
"Is someone racing?"
Ye Qiu and Cheng Jie exchanged glances, and then Ye Qiu saw their Ford Mustang blocking the road and urgently said: "Quick, move the car..."
But before Ye Qiu could finish speaking, the sounds of horns and braking were heard, and soon Ye Qiu saw a light green Lamborghini Huracan come to a screeching halt right in front of the Ford Mustang.
Whoosh...
After this Lamborghini Huracan stopped in front of the Ford Mustang, several other cars followed suit, stopping with similar braking sounds.
"McLaren MP4-12C, Ferrari 488!" Ye Qiu looked at the Lamborghini Huracan and the other two cars, all worth a fortune, and began to speculate about the identity of these late-night racers.
Fatty Cheng Jie also came to Ye Qiu's side, looked at the cars they had forced to stop, and worriedly asked Ye Qiu: "Ye Qiu, what should we do? We've interrupted their race, and these people don't seem to be ordinary."
Minshan Expressway often has races, so it's not surprising to Ye Qiu and Cheng Jie.
Ye Qiu heard Cheng Jie's words, frowned, and looked at the young man with green-dyed hair, wearing leather clothing and a large necklace, who got out of the Lamborghini Huracan, feeling somewhat speechless.
And then, several trendy-dressed young people, all styled like the green-haired guy, non-mainstream, also got out of the cars.
After getting out, the green-haired guy said to a man from the McLaren MP4-12C, the only one dressed normally with clean short hair and black-framed glasses: "Yue Shao, how do you want to handle this?"
The young man known as Yue Shao, heard the green-haired guy, adjusted his glasses, and said: "This race can't count, I was just behind you, but I was clearly going to overtake you at that bend."
The green-haired guy heard Yue Shao's words, furrowed his brows, then laughed: "Yue Shao, you must be joking. As far as I know, you're a D-level driver, while I, Wang Long, am Jiying Racing Team's main force, my skill is at C-level. Yue Shao, you don't really think a D-level driver can beat a C-level driver, do you?"
"Moreover, my Lamborghini Huracan has all parts at Level 1 peak, and it's about to reach Level 2 racing. Do you really think that McLaren MP4-12C can catch up to me?" The green-haired Wang Long shook his head.
Yue Feng, the man called Yue Shao with black-framed glasses, after hearing the green-haired guy's words, showed a smile and said: "You won't know until you race, but right now Wang Long, maybe you should move that obstructing Ford Mustang."
Yue Feng said as he glanced at Ye Qiu and Cheng Jie, and at the same time, Ye Qiu looked at Yue Feng. At the moment their eyes met, Ye Qiu felt something was up, silently thinking: "This guy is definitely not as simple as he looks; his McLaren MP4-12C is definitely something special."