Driving a few kilometers from East Zhongshan 1st Road, the car was met with a series of red lights.
Zhou Fu habitually turned on the radio to stay alert; the female host's voice was gentle, blending with the rain tapping against the car windows.
Wen Wanning withdrew her gaze from the distant streetlights, listening drowsily to a listener's letter.
The letter writer had adopted a stray puppy years ago, but when she moved to another province for university, her parents secretly threw the puppy away without her consent. She never expected to meet it again while visiting her hometown for the first time after getting married this year.
It had grown up, its beautiful fur covered in the dust of the journey.
The hometown and the new home were hundreds of kilometers apart; she didn't know how it had followed her. Its black eyes were wet, and it hesitantly leaned in to nuzzle her palm.
"Turn off the radio," Wen Wanning said.
Having pulled several all-nighters, Zhou Fu just assumed she was tired and didn't care about it much.
She turned the volume down, glanced at Wen Wanning, who was bundled up like a rice dumpling, in the rearview mirror, and turned the air conditioning up by two degrees. "That car that just swerved out from beside you, I saw Xu Jiashu's manager in the passenger seat."
The space in the car was so small that her voice was loud enough that it would be hard to pretend not to hear.
Wen Wanning's mind wasn't on this; she gave an "oh" and shrank her face further into her furry collar.
"I really misjudged him back then," Zhou Fu said, feeling blocked by her indifferent attitude. "Think back to when you just graduated; who knew who Xu Jiashu was? It was all thanks to the company's arrangements, using your popularity for CP Farming."
"Now look at him, the number one at burning bridges, sitting in his old agency's car just to be disgusting to us."
Hearing no response, she tapped her fingers on the LinaBell doll sitting on the steering wheel and glanced back again.
This time there was a reaction: "If you have something to say, say it, but don't touch my doll."
"It's this year's winter limited edition; it was hard enough to get it from a scalper. It's quite expensive."
The studio's car was Wen Wanning's own SUV. Because they couldn't afford much staff, Zhou Fu and Ruan Jia usually took turns driving.
During her most popular years, the company insisted on forcing a high-end persona on her.
She had to say she liked shiitake mushrooms and greens, preferred black Americanos, and even the Nanny Van used for photoshoots had a minimalist, cold style. Aside from a designer scarf over her legs, not even a speck of dust was allowed.
There are benefits to having flopped; one is free and unrestrained.
The first step for Wen Wanning as a boss: display all the dolls she collected at home.
The topic had drifted miles away, and Zhou Fu conceded, changing the subject again. "That handsome guy who dropped you off earlier, is he your friend?"
"I don't know how long he had been standing there; he walked with you the whole way since you came out."
She recalled, "That car of Xu Jiashu's was acting crazy and tried to splash you, but the handsome guy specifically blocked it for you. His reaction was as fast as lightning; it stunned me."
"Who is he? You're so close, how come I've never heard you mention him?"
...How could she have never mentioned him?
She had even met him before.
But after Zhou Fu's prophetic words about him being a "predestined scumbag" flashed through her mind, Wen Wanning thought it was better that she didn't remember; it saved a lot of trouble.
She looked out the car window. "Not a friend, just an accidental encounter."
They really couldn't be considered friends.
And he probably... wasn't waiting for her specifically.
On such a cold, rainy day, waiting in the wind until three in the morning, only to not say a word when they met.
Given the gap in status and relationship between her and Ling Ye now, either he had lost his mind, or some scammer was borrowing money in her name.
Whichever option it was, it was outrageous.
As soon as she finished speaking, Ruan Jia's flushed face deflated like a punctured balloon, instantly wilting. "No way... I'm heartbroken."
"I thought you were close with Ling Ye, Teacher Wen, so I could use your connection to have an accidental encounter and get an autograph next time."
"...Ling Ye?"
Zhou Fu's hand paused on the steering wheel.
Ruan Jia was incredulous. "Are you serious, sis? As a modern person with a smartphone, you actually don't know Ling Ye?"
"He's the Driver Number One for the F1 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. He missed the season champion by two points last year. Who else in the domestic sports circle is as popular as him right now?"
The moment the words Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team were mentioned, it was Wen Wanning's turn to be surprised.
Six years had passed since they last met.
She was so busy with work that she didn't even celebrate holidays, let alone specifically search for Ling Ye's name. All the news about him was forced upon her by the young people around her.
This young person mainly referred to her cousin, Wen Jing, a male university student who grew up with her and whose bedroom was filled with car models and mini helmet collections.
A few years ago, Wen Jing took advantage of his vacation to fly around the world, calling her via video call from various Grand Prix races. Once connected, the fanboy screamed and cried with genuine emotion:
"Who understands? Ling Ye is my own brother; he is so damn awesome."
"It's terrifying; he can even drive that piece-of-junk kindergarten car from Haas to Mars, damn..."
"This guy is truly a miracle that we in China have waited five thousand years for. Just breathing under the same blue sky as Ling Ye makes my life worth it, wuwuwu."
As it turned out, just a year later, Ling Ye, who was then with the Haas F1 Team and wearing a white racing suit, exploded in popularity across the internet thanks to his aggressive, cold, and handsome face under the helmet.
Beauty is a hard currency, even in a relatively niche circle like F1.
The largest-scale crossover effect in the sports world in the last decade came fiercely and rapidly.
Wen Jing would buy tickets and draw lots but never win, almost turning from a fan to a hater. Yet, Wen Wanning still remembered the shock of seeing Ling Ye's tens of millions of followers on Weibo on her cousin's phone for the first time—
He was a sports star, but the list of fan photographers was endless. A sea of young girls carrying long lenses and cameras occupied the first and second floors of the grandstand like a mountain's roar and the sea's surge; who had ever seen such a scene?
For the past two years, her cousin had been busy with internships, so Wen Wanning's impression of Ling Ye hadn't been updated, remaining at the time he first stood on the podium of a Grand Prix race, his wet side profile as he popped champagne while draped in the national flag.
She had always known Ling Ye had talent, but she didn't expect that in just a few short years, Ling Ye would have truly carved out a bloody path among the world's top white race car drivers.
Not only did he sit in the top seat of a top-tier powerhouse team like Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, but the season champion was also within his reach.
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