Natalie Vaughn walked up to Jay Sterling and saw him with his head down, pointing at the distant sunset.
"Jennings, look."
Jay Sterling looked over.
The sunset was as red as fire, isolating the night from the human world, like two separate realms, with a sowhat surreal beauty. The outline of the mountain beca more pronounced.
"Everyone wants to stand on the mountain top. So people start climbing from the foot of the mountain at four in the morning, while others start the night before. The road is only so long; whoever prepares thoroughly can surpass others and reach the top first."
"Jennings, you’ve been training seriously for only two years, but don’t forget, Haloran started racing before you, beca a racer before you, and it was after a few years of effort that he won a championship. You can’t compare your present to his years of hard work, nor should you doubt yourself because of the disparity between you."
"Mr. Thorne has said you have good potential, though you’re a bit playful and restless. It’s natural for you to want to win a championship. But we must recognize that not winning a championship now doesn’t an you’ll never win one. Everything has to co step by step."
"Think about it, even though Haloran has so much more race experience than you, you were not that far behind when competing with him. Doesn’t that just show your capability?"
Natalie Vaughn said this, turning to look at Jay Sterling.
"So, do you still feel you can’t compare to Haloran?"
For days, Jay Sterling had been tangled up in insecurity, but Natalie Vaughn’s words dispelled much of it.
Yes, he’s still so young, and just new to the profession, so it’s normal to not match up to the veterans.
"Nina, I understand now. I will keep working hard. One day, I’ll be able to match Haloran. One day, I’ll take the championship."
Jay Sterling said while clenching his fists to motivate himself.
Natalie Vaughn looked at Jay Sterling and suddenly understood Zane Thorne’s five years of guilt.
When Zane Thorne first entered this profession, he must have been just as confused as Jay Sterling, and at that ti, it was Gideon Sheffield who encouraged him all along.
But love in this world is too complex, and people are too complex; tis change.
When the two returned, a group of people had already set up the barbecue grill.
Zane Thorne was grilling the at personally.
Seeing this, Natalie Vaughn jogged over.
"What made you interested in barbecuing today?"
Zane Thorne smiled at Natalie Vaughn, then glanced at Jay Sterling, whose eyes lit up upon seeing the barbecue, and shook his head.
Natalie Vaughn noticed his look and laughed, elbowing him.
"If you want to care, then just go ahead and care, why feel embarrassed about it?"
Zane Thorne composed his emotions, maintaining his typically serious deanor to outsiders.
"What did you guys talk about?"
As he spoke, Zane Thorne handed a skewer of grilled at to Natalie Vaughn.
Natalie Vaughn accepted his ’bribe.’
"We figured everything out. Funny thing, if you’d praised him more normally, how could he doubt himself so much?"
Zane Thorne felt wronged.
"I’ve never praised anyone."
"Nonsense— I heard you praised Haloran after the last race."
The man furrowed his brow.
"Did I?"
Natalie Vaughn finished eating the barbecue before nodding.
"Yes, you not only praised Haloran, but also pointed out why Jennings lost. Compared side by side, it’s no wonder he felt neglected."
Zane Thorne hadn’t realized this. In his eyes, Jay Sterling had potential, so he figured as long as he worked hard, achieving success was not a problem.
In thinking about it like this, he did realize his approach might have been sowhat improper.
Zane Thorne handed a few more skewers to Natalie Vaughn.
"Thank goodness for you."
Natalie Vaughn raised her chin proudly, with a defiant little hum.
"You should learn more."
After saying this, Natalie Vaughn sat down beside Jay Sterling with the skewers in hand and gave them all to him.
"Look, these are specially grilled for you by your Mr. Thorne."
Natalie Vaughn emphasized the word "specially."
Jay Sterling looked nervously towards Zane Thorne, who glanced over but didn’t dare take them. Natalie Vaughn simply shoved them into his hands.
Jay Sterling instinctively wanted to return them, but Zane Thorne suddenly spoke.
"Beef or lamb?"
Natalie Vaughn patted Jay Sterling on the shoulder.
Jay Sterling was taken aback, was he being asked???!!!
He swallowed hard and cautiously replied.
"Beef?"
Zane Thorne looked away, and just when Jay Sterling thought he was being over-optimistic, he saw Zane Thorne start to grill a batch of beef.
Jay Sterling: !!!!!
This, this, this! What should he think?
Natalie Vaughn laughed and took half of the skewers from Jay Sterling’s hand.
"I told you, your Mr. Thorne is very gentle too."
Jay Sterling awkwardly pulled his hand back, protective of his food.
"These were grilled by Mr. Thorne for , not even you, Nina, can take them."
Natalie Vaughn: ...
This was supposed to be grilled for her by Zane Thorne.
Is this what it feels like to shoot yourself in the foot?
...
Back ho, Zane Thorne began packing his luggage for a trip to Eldoria.
Natalie Vaughn felt reluctant to part for two days and went up to hug the man around his waist.
"How did the timing just happen to overlap like this?"
She also wanted to tag along to see them prepare for the race.
Zane Thorne turned around and embraced her.
"What ti will you arrive that day? I’ll pick you up."
Natalie Vaughn shook her head.
"By the ti I arrive, it’ll almost be starting, so just stay with them, I’ll be fine on my own."
Noticing Natalie Vaughn’s mood was off, Zane Thorne gently let go and lifted her chin.
"What’s wrong? You seem unhappy."
Natalie Vaughn buried her head back into his chest.
"I feel sorry for you."
His actions paused, and he hugged her, gently patting her back.
"What’s the matter?"
"Seeing Jennings today, I felt like I was seeing you when you just entered the profession. Back then, your parents didn’t support you; did you ever have such confusing tis?"
So that’s what it was about.
Zane Thorne understood why Natalie Vaughn hadn’t continued speaking.
"It’s all in the past."
But Natalie Vaughn still felt sad. She had never felt she could empathize so strongly, but anything related to Zane Thorne made her think so much and continue thinking too much.
Zane Thorne didn’t want her to be affected by his bad emotions. Moving on quickly from past things must have been difficult too.
Seeing Natalie Vaughn still in low spirits, Zane Thorne smiled slightly.
"I’m not like Jay Sterling."
Natalie Vaughn wrinkled her nose slightly.
"How so?"
"I never doubted I was less than others, I always thought I’d win a championship, it’s just a matter of ti."
His monts of confusion ca only when he occasionally faced technical bottlenecks, not knowing how to resolve them.
This is Zane Thorne, with absolute confidence and sufficient ability to maintain that confidence.
Natalie Vaughn didn’t feel as upset anymore.
She asked.
"So do you still want to win a championship?"
The man raised a brow.
"Why would I return to racing if I didn’t want a championship?"
Right, of course.
Natalie Vaughn smiled, realizing she had asked a silly question.
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