"What’s wrong with you?"
"Did sothing happen to you?"
Lue Xizhou saw Qin Chu’s reddened eyes and the dried tear streaks on her face.
Qin Chu also saw Lue Xizhou’s ssy hair, scruffy beard, and the crumpled collar of his shirt that hung limply, making him look disheveled.
Both spoke simultaneously once again.
"Co on, let’s race one!"
Lue Xizhou glanced at the road ahead, then turned to Qin Chu, "If I win, you tell what’s bothering you so I can have a good laugh. If you win, sa deal. What do you say? Are you in?"
"In! Who’s afraid of who?"
Returning the harsh words Lue Xizhou had ntally cursed himself with earlier, Qin Chu eyed his battered shirt with suspicion, "You’re racing like this?"
Just wearing a helt, no racing suit.
Even if it was just a friendly match, a collision could an real injuries.
Seeing the skepticism in Qin Chu’s eyes, Lue Xizhou chuckled, "My racing gear’s at Si City Race Track. What, should I go back and pick it up?"
This earned him a big eye roll from Qin Chu.
Only after realizing he probably hadn’t raced here before, Qin Chu sighed softly, "You likely haven’t driven on this road, so just ss around for now. Next ti, maybe..."
Then, as the thought occurred to her that there might not even be a next ti, Qin Chu paused mid-sentence.
Lue Xizhou picked up where she left off, "Alright, then let’s call this a preliminary assessnt of each other’s driving skills. Next ti, when we’re prepared, a one-on-one!"
That didn’t sound bad?
Qin Chu nodded. "Deal!"
"Three..."
Roar!
"Two..."
Roar!
"One..."
Before Qin Chu could fully say "one," the engines roared to life and exploded like thunder.
Two black Ferraris shot forward like Dentors from a movie, leaving only two streaks of shadowy trails.
It was called a friendly race, but neither was willing to give an inch.
For a fleeting mont, Lue Xizhou thought he might actually et his end here today!
Killer!
What the heck is up with Miss Ah Li’s best friend?
Didn’t she say they’d just ss around?
Does she usually ss around like this?
But he couldn’t deny that every ti he brushed past death at this speed, his heart ignited like a fla — first spiking sharply, then blazing wildly.
When his car screeched to a halt at a clearing on the mountaintop, Lue Xizhou felt slightly dizzy as he stepped out, his legs sowhat weak.
But the suffocating frustration that had been gnawing at his chest seed to dissipate all at once, leaving behind only faint, feathery sadness that settled quietly sowhere deep within him like an errant plu.
"Thanks, buddy!"
He walked over, slung an arm around Qin Chu, and gave her shoulder a pat. His gaze t hers — icy and piercing as it swept upward.
Only then did he realize he’d made a mistake. Lue Xizhou awkwardly withdrew his arm, laughing nervously, "Sorry, sorry, oxygen deprivation got to my brain!"
Qin Chu wrinkled her nose disdainfully and turned away.
"Wha... what’s wrong?"
"Do you even know how you sll right now?"
"Sll? Really?"
He grabbed his shirt collar and took a sniff — the combined stench of cigarettes, alcohol, and sweat made him grimace with nausea.
"Catch..."
Qin Chu’s voice rang out, and Lue Xizhou turned his head. He raised his hand and caught the bottle of water she’d tossed his way.
A mont later, he noticed her twist open her own bottle and sit down on a rock far away, keeping a noticeable distance.
Lue Xizhou: ...
"Hey, you won. Don’t you want to hear my woes and cheer yourself up?"
"Either soone dumped you, or you’re terminally ill and won’t live much longer — nothing big or unexpected!"
"Pfft, co on... Can’t you wish so goodwill for a change? What if it’s just that my business tanked or sothing like that?"
Another dramatic eye roll ca his way.
Sipping her water and letting the cold mountaintop breeze whip her face and ss her hair, Qin Chu said casually, "If a business problem cropped up, soone with your surna could clean up the ss for you. Unless soone dumped you, that’s the one thing nobody else can help with. What else could it be?"
Fair point?
Lue Xizhou raised a brow, cautiously moved closer, sat down, and sprawled out flat on the ground, looking up at the stars. "What about you?"
She wanted to say, "I’m nothing like you. I don’t even like my last na. I’d rather have never been a Qin or known the Qin family at all."
She also wanted to say that even if trouble ca her way, not only wouldn’t the Qin family help — they might even slam gongs and drums in celebration.
But as she glanced at his nonchalant deanor, he didn’t seem like soone you’d confide such sentints to.
Qin Chu swallowed her words back down and said instead, "My mom’s forcing to get married. But I... I don’t want to. That’s all, boring as it sounds."
Out of nowhere, Lue Xizhou felt better.
"Hey, are you unwilling to marry, or is it that no one wants to marry you?"
He sat up, unconcerned about the dust caking his hair and face, and smugly eyed Qin Chu, "For real though, you’re a cute girl, but your hair’s barely long and doesn’t feel girly at all. And then your clothes..."
He motioned with his chin at her white driver’s suit, his face lighting up with recollection, "We’ve t twice now, right? The first ti, you were wearing all black — T-shirt and jeans. Honestly, if your face weren’t holding things together, let tell you, standing next to Miss Ah Li, you wouldn’t even get mistaken for a maid — people would’ve straight up assud you were her bodyguard."
"Listen up, take so advice from ... Grow out your hair, toss out your wardrobe, and switch to feminine stuff! Within half a year, I guarantee you’ll have suitors queuing from Imperial City to Si City!"
With every word Lue Xizhou uttered, Qin Chu’s expression grew colder.
By the ti he finished, even her gaze had turned frosty.
"Feminine? Ha..."
Slowly getting to her feet, she brushed off the dirt on her clothes, unbothered as the dust blew directly into Lue Xizhou’s face, making him squint and flail wildly.
Qin Chu sneered as she looked at him, "Who decided won only look good with long hair, only look good in skirts, only count as feminine when they have both?"
"Lue Xizhou, no wonder you got dumped!"
"With your clueless taste and mindset, even I wouldn’t want you — and I’m not even the one dating you!"
"Serves you right!"
She spoke derisively as she walked away, her words thick with mockery and scorn.
Lue Xizhou froze.
It... kind of made sense?
In his mory, all those beautiful won with their distinct charms were sohow eerily similar in their appeal.
Looking back towards the driver’s seat of the Ferrari, he saw Qin Chu — aloof in her beauty, cold in her deanor, almost like a race queen incarnate. And for the first ti, he felt sothing — sothing different.
As he recalled his words, which were far from kind, Lue Xizhou hurried to his feet and scrambled after her.
"Sorry, sorry, I was being shallow. You’re magnanimous, don’t stoop to my level, alright?"
"? Angry at you? Who do you think you are? Do I even care enough?"
"...So, uh, since we just had a good night, how about you add on WeChat?"
"No need for that. We’re not the sa type of people. Once we part ways tonight, let’s forget each other exist. You go chase your fair-skinned, big-waved beauties; I won’t trouble you to ’educate’ further!"
"Hey, I..." It was just a random comnt, why is she so mad?
Before Lue Xizhou could finish his sentence, the window rolled up, and the Ferrari zood off.
Leaving him choked on nothing but exhaust fus.
Lue Xizhou: ...
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