Halfway up a hill on Laoshan Highway was a developed large and wide square, surrounded by dozens of searchlights, illuminating the entire square.
On the square, hundreds of young men and women in gaudy clothes wandered around the long tables, which were temporarily placed in rows. The long table was filled with all kinds of booze and delicacies. The young men and women were enjoying them while hanging around and chatting; it was very lively.
And in the surrounding square, aside from cars of various designs, there were super luxurious supercars parked a little further in some places, whereas some people were sitting on them with glasses of wine in their hands, while some others embraced hot girls as they leaned on the carsâ doors.
In front of one of the long tables, a 30-year-old man was hugging a hot young girl, merrily laughing and chatting with several young men. He was Ji Mu, nicknamed Mu Zi.
Ji Muâs mobile rang, but he didnât hear its sound because of the clamoring in the surrounding. But the mobileâs vibration was sensed by him. As he took the phone out and saw the caller ID on the screen, he looked a bit surprised. Then, he released the hot young girl from his embrace and motioned for the other young men to be silent as he spoke, âHello, Big Sis Nan. How come such a busy person like you remembers to give me a call?â
âIs there a car race on Laoshan Highway tonight?â Chi Nanâs voice was heard from the phone.
âYup!â Ji Mu laughed and said, âIt will start about half an hour from now. Anyhow, are you gonna join the game tonight, Big Sis Nan?â
âPostpone the race and start it about an hour later! Iâm going there with a very important person to join the game, and weâll be arriving there at nearly 11 PM.â
Ji Mu was stunned as he laughed, âThen I look forward to it, Big Sis Nan. I hope you can join the game and spice it up. And donât worry! Iâll tell the others that tonightâs game will be postponed for an hour. Right, can I ask you whoâs the VIP youâre bringing tonight?â
âNo need to ask. In short, you gotta treat him better than you treat me!â
Ji Muâs handsome face changed a few times after he heard the hanging sound from the phone. He knew that Chi Nan was the deputy manager of Shanghaiâs Everlasting Feast Hall. She was a capable woman. And in particular, her car racing skill was not something he could hold a candle to.
A few professional racers from Hong Kong had once come and suppressed the enthusiast amateur car racers from several cities nearby. Back then, they were miserably suppressed. Even he, who was known as the King of Racing, lost miserably. They utterly lost face, and he had to call Chi Nan for help. After some effort, Chi Nan was finally able to defeat those Hong Kongâs professional racers, saving their faces.
To sum it up, he really owed Chi Nan a big one!
âHou Zi, tell the others that tonightâs race will be delayed for an hour,â taking out a cigarette and lighting it up, Ji Mu said after taking a deep puff.
The one who was called âMonkeyâ was a thin youth. He looked somewhat excited as he asked, âBoss Ji, was it Big Sis Nan who called you just now? Is she going to join the game today?â
âYup, sheâs coming,â Ji Mu nodded and said, âI heard sheâs also bringing a VIP to join the game. So tell the others that weâll begin the race by 11 PM.â
âBoss Ji, Li Zhen wouldnât be enraged because of this, right?â Hou Zi forced a smile and said, âI believe you too know why he came today. He must want to wash away his defeat more than a month ago. I heard he invited a professional racer from Hong Kong who won the Asian Racing Championship.â
With a solemn expression, Ji Mu said, âI did hear about the guy Li Zhen invited. Heâs well-known as Junior Racer God in Hong Kong. His record is only a bit worse than the crowned Racer God, who has won the World United Racing Championship seven times. I originally had the intention to lose, but I didnât expect that Big Sis Nan would suddenly come. Maybe, if Big Sis Nan were to play, we should have a 50% chance of winning.â
âYeah, I hope she can win,â said Hou Zi.
A few minutes later, a group of young men and women surrounding a young man with bleached hair and explosive hairdo in front of Ji Mu and the others.
âJi buddy, I heard you have to postpone the game for an hour, eh? Are you afraid of losing miserably, thus you tried finding outside help? Hahaha, I gotta tell you one thing dude. Iâm afraid thereâs only one outcome for you: failure. Youâll utterly and miserably lose today.â The youth gave Ji Mu a provocative look with a rampant and arrogant tone.
With a cold and detached expression, Ji Mu said, âYou win some, you lose some. Itâs just a common occurrence for me. Even if we lose today, itâs only our first loss. But if you were to lose yet again today, thatâs another shame for you. Li Zhen, if I were you, Iâd better wait honestly for the game, since acting too rampant and arrogant will only more seriously disgrace me once I lost the game.â
âHumph,â Li Zhen gave white eyes and sneered, âItâs not in my fucking intention to lose again. If you can win again this time, I will never step here again.â
âIâve prepared 20 million,â Ji Mu nodded and said, âYou can take it if you can win.â
âJi Mu, I have a condition since you changed the time,â Li Zhen rolled his eyes and said, âDouble the bet!â
Ji Mu chuckled, âDoubling it is only 40 million. Easy.â
âIf so, then you had better prepare the money and give it to me obediently!â Li Zhen proudly said, âIâll tell the other participants. If they want to follow the bet, they must also bet 20 million. And if they can win, they will get 80 million from both of us.â
Money was not something Ji Mu lacked. Running car races here gave him a billion annually. Added with him betting and playing from time to time, he had won a fortune. 40 million was only a small sum for him. There was not much difference between 20 or 40 million, as both were only a small sum of money.
Yet, for people like them who were of big background and status, oftentimes money was less important than face. Especially in their young mastersâ circle, their faces was the most important of all.
At 10:40 PM a black Lamborghini roared into the square, displaying wonderful drift and attracting almost everyoneâs attention.
A group of young men and women under Ji Mu quickly walked toward it, as they then saw Chi Nan in the driver seat. The latter quickly opened the door and got off, as she slightly ran to the copilot door and opened it personally. Immediately, everyone saw a young man with a smiling expression coming out from the car.
Of the hundreds of people present, seventy to eighty percent of them knew who Chi Nan was, as well as learned that she was the deputy manager of Shanghaiâs Everlasting Feast Hall. But the most inconceivable thing for them was that, the usual proud and elegant Chi Nan unexpectedly became someone elseâs driver. She even personally opened the door for that young man under everyoneâs watchful gaze with an assistant-like behavior.
Li Zhen, on the other hand, also knew who Chi Nan was. He also knew that Chi Nan had once participated in the game here and defeated several professional racers from Hong Kong. Yet, he was still very confident toward the Junior Racer God he had invited, so he didnât pay much attention to Chi Nan.
A young man standing beside Li Zhen asked with a cool tone.
Li Chun, standing among the young people, asked coolly.
âSheâs the woman I have told you about, Huan Yu. The one who has defeated some skillful professional racers from Hong Kong. But as for that guy beside her, Iâve never seen him before,â said Li Zhen.
âI did have a match with those guys who competed with Chi Nan. They are indeed very good; I even had to go all out to defeat them. Since this Chi Nan can defeat them, Iâm afraid that her skill is not much lower than mine. However, donât worry. I have received your money, so Iâll help you win this game tonight,â Hong Yu nodded and said.
âYouâre a powerful figure touted as the Junior Racer God,â said Li Zhen with a smile, âSo Iâm confident that youâll win this race. Come on, Iâll treat you to a drink after the game is over.â
"No problem!" said Huan Yu in a cool voice.
Leading a group of young men and women, Ji Mu came in front of Chi Nan and Tang Xiu. With an amiable and warm expression on his face, he called out, âBig Sis Nan, how have you been? This one isâŚâ
Taking a step forward, Tang Xiu extended his hand and smiled, âHi, my name is Tang Xiu. You can regard me as a bystander here. I just came to play here. I didnât disturb you, did I?â
After having a handshake, Ji Mu laughed, âOf course not! Youâre Big Sis Nanâs friend, so youâre this Ji Muâs friend also. Iâm very glad you came today!â
âTo be honest, I had only seen car races on TV before; itâs my first time seeing it in real life. May I participate in the game?â asked Tang Xiu with a smile.
âYou havenât seen a car race once in real life?â
For a moment, Ji Mu was stunned, as a strange expression was cast on his face.
He originally expected that Chi Nan would bring a skillful racer. Even if he were to thicken his skin or pay a price, he intended to ask the other party to win tonightâs gamble. But he didnât expect that the other party was not even a player.
âThatâs right,â said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Ji Mu let out a hollow laugh and then said, âNever mind. Letâs just focus on partaking the game.â
Having said that, he turned to look at Chi Nan as he smiled and said, âBig Sis Nan, are you going to join in the game tonight? Someone came with the purpose of smashing our gathering field. If you donât go on stage, Iâm afraid weâre gonna lose.â
Before replying, Chi Nan glanced at Tang Xiu, and then said, âI came here today as a guest, not for the gamble.â
With a somewhat awkward expression, Ji Mu looked at Tang Xiu, since he found that Chi Nan seemed to very much heed Tang Xiu. Hence, if he wanted to make Chi Nan participate in tonightâs gamble, perhaps the only chance was to ask Tang Xiu.
âSince he requested you, then letâs play!â laughed Tang Xiu and said, âHowever, it seems like we donât have enough cars to participate in the race.â
âBig Sis Nan can take my car,â said Ji Mu quickly.
âAlright, then Iâll play,â Chi Nan nodded and said, âBut I donât care about winning or losing. I will only do my best.â
Ji Mu laughed, âI feel relieved if Big Sis Nan is gonna do her best. Donât worry, though. Iâll give you the stake money if you win. Iâll also take the full responsibility if you lose.â
âThereâs a gambling stake? How much is it?â asked Tang Xiu, surprised.
Ji Mu said with a smile, âThe set stake was supposed to be 20 million per person, but since Li Zhen insisted to raise the stake against me, the stake went up to 40 million, while the stake for the rest is still 20 million.â