Chapter 103: Start of the race
The atmosphere on the Laoshan Highway was very cheerful and carefree. The men hugged beautiful women; some of them being college students and others being mature women. The women flirted with the men, which boosted the ego of many of them.
However, away from the bustle of music, alcohol, expensive food, etc., in one corner, as if separated from the rest of the world, there was a jet-black Ferrari that seemed to camouflage itself with the night. The only thing that could be seen was the white cigarette smoke that escaped through the slightly open window.
"Hey, Li Zi. Nangong Chen is not here yet?". In the midst of the noisy atmosphere, a man about 24-25 years old with a beer bottle in one of his hands, approached Li Zi's small group and asked
Li Zi looked at the young man sideways and said, "Ji Juan, don't you know that little bastard well enough? The little brat thinks that because he's the son of a big shot in Beijing he can do whatever he wants".
The young man named Ji Juan laughed mockingly, "So that asshole isn't here yet? I really don't understand who he thinks he is... That guy thinks this is Beijing and his Nangong family is unstoppable or something?". Ji Juan shook his head and unconsciously murmured: "At this rate, that idiot will end up dead one of these days".
Li Zi simply shrugged off Ji Juan's words: "I don't care if he thinks he's unstoppable or not. As long as he has enough money and follows my rules, even a monkey can come and run here. All I care about is business".
In fact, the amount of money Li Zi makes in a year as a race organizer, along with the profit he makes from winning some races, exceeds 200 million yuan.
To be able to win 200 million Chinese yuan, and even more, in just 12 months was shocking enough. But the reason why Li Zi's reputation between Shanghai and Changxi City was so good is that no matter what the problem with the police is, he always solved it all without bothering anyone else.
Although many times Li Zi had to use his own money to hide some things, he didn't even bother his father. Therefore, one could say that he was a pretty decent guy in comparison.
Today, for example, is one of those days when Li Zi was confident of winning the first place.
"I'll be right back". Li Zi told his friends and walked towards a silver Porsche. When he arrived at the car, he tapped on the window pane.
"What happened?". A man about 35 years old asked coldly after lowering the glass.
The man's appearance didn't stand out much. The only thing people would look at twice about him would be his eyes. Eyes that seemed devoid of all emotion, like a living dead person.
The man's name was Hou Zi Yang. Hou Zi Yang was a professional runner from Hong Kong. His reputation in Hong Kong was well known to all racing lovers, no matter if they were legal or illegal. Even the King of Racing, the fastest person in Hong Kong, treats him with some respect.
Li Zi looked at Hou Zi Yang and said with a somewhat worried tone: "Nangong Chen has not arrived yet... I'm afraid he might have regretted it and won't be coming".
More than five minutes passed from the agreed time, but Nangong Chen's car was nowhere to be seen. Although five minutes was a short time, for people with a lot of money and arrogance, five minutes of waiting for another person was certainly something they could not accept casually.
Li Zi looked around and saw that indeed many people had ugly expressions on their faces.
"He will come. He will definitely come. His arrogance and pride will make him think that he is a coward otherwise. Therefore, he will come". Hou Zi Yang's voice sounded extremely confident as if he knew that Nangong Chen would undoubtedly appear there.
Li Zi looks at him in confusion. But before he can say anything, the powerful roar of a speeding car engine silences his words.
Seeing a yellow Lamborghini stopping in the square, Hou Zi Yang said quietly, "You see? Here he is". After these words, Hou Zi Yang closed the window again and ignored Li Zi.
Li Zi shook his head. He did not understand the reason why Hou Zi Yang accepted his invitation. At first, Li Zi offered him 50 million yuan to invite him to be his runner, however, when Hou Zi Yang learned that Nangong Chen would run, he immediately accepted.
Although Li Zi has his theories about it, other people's problems were other people's problems. It had nothing to do with him.
With an angry look, Li Zi approached to the Lamborghini. However, before he said anything, he was surprised to see Nangong Cheng's bruised face. Unconsciously, Li Zi asked, "Man, did you get beaten up or something?".
Nangong Chen looked at him with an unpleasant expression on his face, "Shut your mouth, Li Zi. This happened today at a basketball game". He smiled cruelly and said, "But it's okay. That pretty face will soon know who I am. I heard that his girlfriend is a great beauty too he he...".
Li Zi, used to Nangong Chen's attitude, said nothing about his words. Instead, he said: "Nangong Chen, get ready to run. You are late and everyone is quite upset right now".
Nangong Chen looked around and saw that, indeed, many people were looking badly at him. He simply laughed and went back to his car.
***
Xie Feng looked at the time on his car's digital monitor and saw that it was past 10 pm.
Although Xie Feng clearly heard what Nangong Chen said, even though he knows that Nangong Chen had bad intentions towards Xie Yao, his expression was extremely calm. One could not see the slightest sign of anger on his face.
Soon, all kinds of luxury and extremely expensive cars were positioned in their respective places near the starting line. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, etc. More than 9 cars with a net value that an ordinary family could not even dream of having after a lifetime of hard work, lined up to the race.
Li Zi approached to a small stage and picked up a microphone that was given to him by a beautiful woman. With a smile of apology, he said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone. One of our competitors had a little trouble on the way here. All right, let's stop talking and start running!".
When Li Zi's words ended, the place became bustling as many women and men with money began to get excited. No one was angry with Li Zi, as they were aware of the reason everyone had to wait.
A giant screen of various meters in length and width behind Li Zi was illuminated. On the screen, it was possible to see many places fragmented into panels.
"As everyone probably knows, in order to appreciate the race with more emotion, I and my team took care of placing cameras of the highest quality each 200 meters along the whole cliff. That way, everything that happens in the race can be seen in real time without a single second delay!". Li Zi announcement.
Immediately afterward, a countdown appeared in the center of the screen.
10... 9... 8... 7... 6...
When the counting reached five, all the cars except Xie Feng's black Ferrari began to roar their engines. Some even accelerated with their brakes pressed, causing a cloud of smoke to rise behind them.
"Let's run!". Li Zi shouted aloud, making his voice propagate all over the place. As Li Zi's voice faded away, the count finally reached number 0.
As if the end of the world were approaching, eight of the nine super cars exploded at terrifying speed and, in less than three seconds, disappeared from view.
When they saw the jet-black Ferrari still standing, they were all stunned. Li Zi smiled bitterly and said even with the microphone in hand: "I say, friend? Are you running or what?".
Immediately after that, everyone started laughing out loud. Even if the driver of that Ferrari has a lot of money to spend, he shouldn't just casually give it away like that, right?
For a few seconds, there was no response from inside the Ferrari. Because the windows were closed and the glass was dark, no one could see what was going on inside.
Soon, the driver's window opened and a cigarette tail flew out.
"I'm sorry, I hadn't finished my cigarette yet". Xie Feng said casually.
Without waiting for anyone to respond and without worrying about everyone's thoughts, Xie Feng pressed the accelerator of his car. Like a bullet, the Ferrari shot off the goal line and finally joined the race.
With a delay of approximately 10 seconds, Xie Feng's position as the ninth and last of the race was certainly a great disadvantage from everyone's point of view. Cars such as Nangong Chen's Lamborghini could reach speeds in excess of 300 km/h, so catching up would be a technically impossible feat.