Yu Xuan, the adorable weakling, was assigned to cheer from the sidelines. On Bai Lang’s side, the racers were Qiao Chu herself, Chen Rang, and another guy with solid driving skills.
On Shang Shi’an’s side were Shang Shi’an himself, a filler teammate, and the professional racer he’d hired at the last minute.
While waiting for the starting gun, Qiao Chu tilted her head and glanced into the neighboring lane. A flash of vivid red paint—like blazing fire—burst into her vision, dazzling and untamed.
A slender, bony hand rested casually on the half-lowered window, clad in fingerless gloves. The red-and-white racing suit wrapped a perfectly proportioned body, and the helmet concealed the driver’s expression.
You had to admit—professional really meant professional. Totally different from amateurs like them. Even showing off looked cooler and more stylish.
Too bad he was mixed up with Shang Shi’an. Trash by association. Stripped of his handsome-man license.
Bai Lang was still dazed from the kiss earlier. When he finally came back to his senses, he caught Qiao Chu staring intently at the racer to their right.
“Ahem… actually, racers are just so-so…”
He tried to pull her attention back.“I’ve got a buddy who drives those things. Three-time F1 champion. Quit later ’cause he lost interest.”
Qiao Chu replied half-heartedly, “Wow, that’s impressive.”
She cared about hot cars paired with hot men—what did the race itself have to do with anything?
But Bai Lang didn’t catch that. His jealousy boiled over. His mouth had gone rogue—why the hell was he praising another man in front of her?
“He’s only a little better than me. He even said I’m a natural—any team would’ve trained me as a core driver if I’d joined…”
Bang!
The starting gun fired. Five sleek supercars shot off the line, engines roaring, blood surging, white smoke billowing behind them.
Before Bai Lang could even react, Qiao Chu had already rocketed into the lead.
Meanwhile, that flashy flame-red supercar remained calmly at the starting line, as if treating the serious competition like a joke.
The race started at the mountain summit; the first car to reach the bottom won.
Shang Shi’an had weighed his options carefully. The Shang family fortune mattered—but Qiao Chu mattered more.
If he married into the Qiao family, the entire Qiao Group would be his. Staying in the Shang family meant only scraps slipping through Shang Shi Xu’s fingers.
So he’d taken a gamble and hired that heavyweight professional racer.
Not to guard against Qiao Chu—but against Bai Lang’s two teammates, Chen Rang and Sun Yiming.
After all, Shang Shi’an knew Qiao Chu too well. She looked glamorous on the outside, but inside she was a useless pretty idiot.
Forget driving—she’d probably panic just sitting in the passenger seat.
So his strategy was simple: keep Chen Rang and the others tied up, and let his pro take first place.
That was how the race unfolded:
Qiao Chu in first.Chen Rang second.Shang Shi’an third.Sun Yiming fourth.Liu Shang fifth.
Qiao Chu vanished from sight at the very first turn.
Nerves stretched tight and unable to see what was happening ahead, Shang Shi’an stuck stubbornly to Chen Rang, completely unaware that the car in first place wasn’t Chen Rang at all.
One minute later, the red supercar finally launched from the starting line—accelerating with absolute speed and flawless technique.
Only when the blazing red machine overtook Chen Rang did Shang Shi’an finally relax.
So those pampered young masters really did have some skills. If that man hadn’t happened to be here today, he’d have been forced to swallow the loss.
But from the others’ perspective, the situation was far from optimistic.
Qiao Chu’s performance was astonishing—but compared to a professional, there was still a gap. The distance between the flame-red car and the silver-gray one kept shrinking.
They soon reached the narrowest stretch halfway down the mountain. The road ahead could only fit one car at a time. The red car was right on her tail—one more curve and it would overtake.
Slow down, and she’d lose the lead.Don’t slow down, and the tires wouldn’t grip through the turn—beyond the guardrail lay a sheer cliff.
Under his helmet, the man’s lips curved into a careless, roguish smile, his untamed aura merging seamlessly with the car.
Interesting.
First time since retirement he’d met someone this reckless.
And she even seemed to be a pretty little girl?
Just as he was anticipating her decision, the silver-gray car suddenly jerked its steering wheel, slammed to a stop, and crashed into the mountainside.
The man looked mildly surprised.Can’t win, so she flips the table? Typical unreasonable little-girl move—hurting the enemy eight hundred, hurting herself a thousand.
Forced to brake, You Ziqian removed his helmet, dialed emergency services, and got out to check the situation—
Only to have his expression change drastically when he looked up.
In the middle of the road not far away lay a slender girl sprawled on the ground.
That spot was exactly a blind zone after the curve. If the car ahead hadn’t reacted in time, at that speed, she would’ve been sent flying on impact!
Inside the car, Qiao Chu was dizzy from the airbags, her blood surging painfully. Bai Lang was in even worse shape—the window had shattered into a spiderweb.
Thankfully, it was a luxury car. Expensive for a reason. Even though the front was wrecked beyond recognition, Qiao Chu felt very much alive.
Seriously—what kind of idiot stands in the middle of a racetrack as a living target?
If you don’t want to live, find another way. No need to drag her down with you!
“How are you feeling? Can you breathe?”
You Ziqian knocked on the window first, checking their condition. Before the medics arrived, he couldn’t move the injured.
Qiao Chu had been ready to curse someone out—but upon seeing that the racer was a total heartthrob, she struggled to raise her hand and flashed an OK sign.
Then the handsome bastard jogged off to check on the idiot lying in the road.
Riceball:【Host, the one pulling a hit-and-run scam isn’t anyone else—it’s the female lead, Jiang Yixuan.】
Qiao Chu almost spat out a mouthful of clotted blood.
She hadn’t even gone looking for trouble yet, and the female lead was already trying to kill her?
If she’d known, she should’ve just run her over. Negligent manslaughter wouldn’t be a death sentence, right?
As Riceball quietly healed the host, it pulled up the relevant plot.
【According to Chapter 63 of the original novel, the female lead hikes alone for four hours up the mountain to return Bai Lang’s mother’s keepsake, nearly getting hit by another male lead along the way.】
【At the critical moment, this racer male lead performs an extreme drift brake, stops right in front of her, and gives the weak-legged heroine a ride.】
【They develop mutual feelings from that point, saving and redeeming each other—adding yet another elite driver to the heroine’s harem…】
Qiao Chu felt pain in her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all at once.
“What absolute dogshit writing. The one who spared her today was me. If the female lead doesn’t fall in love with me, I’ll chop the author up myself.”
Riceball replied timidly:【That… might be difficult. The female lead has already started bonding with the new male lead, and her orientation is straight.】
Not far away, You Ziqian crouched halfway down, his cold gaze sharp with scrutiny.
“Miss, would you like me to call an ambulance?”
Normal people didn’t just lie down in the middle of a road. He assumed she’d suffered a sudden medical episode and spoke with standard humanitarian concern.
But Jiang Yixuan didn’t see it that way.
She’d finally reached the new male lead’s plot point. Following the system’s instructions, she instinctively leaned toward him.
“Thank you, I’m fine. That car was just too fast—I was frightened and my legs went weak, so I fell. Could you help me up?”
That single tearful, fragile sentence ignited You Ziqian’s suppressed fury.
“Your legs went weak?” His voice was icy.“Miss, do you have any idea how many lives you could’ve killed by going weak in the middle of a racetrack?! There’s no sidewalk for you to walk on?!”