188 A Lackey, a Friend, a Fan, or a Pet 2 in 1 (1/2)
City planning would often bring many changes. The changing of the function of the city center, the transference of management, the update of the business sector and residential area, the transformation of the environment… as well as the revision of the roadmaps through the city.
As its name suggested, San Lin City had many mountains and forests. The earliest highways and roads were built around the geographical conditions; therefore, they had many twists and turns. After the city grew to a certain size, new straight roads were fixed to save travelling time, and the roads became wider and flatter. This was the reason the earlier roads had been abandoned.
Yao Zhixing and his racers often had their races on these abandoned highways. A not so bad route could be bought for several ten thousand. Of course, this meant that maintenance of the roads fell on the shoulders of the racers as well, and most of the money for maintenance came from the racing bets; it could be considered to be shared by everyone.
Every time before a race started, Yao Zhixing's group would close and check the route to ensure there was not a civilian car that had accidentally entered the race track, so since they did not need to worry about running into civilians, the officials would often pretend not to notice about their activity. After all, this was better than having them race on the normal city streets.
Therefore, with it being half underground and half official, whenever it was midnight or sometimes in the morning, one could the sound of car engines cutting through the air on these routes.
The empty highway was free of people and cars. The end of the road twisted and turned into the mountains and jungles. The place was silent and chilly under the glow of this wintry sun. From afar, it looked like a sleeping viper. Suddenly, a humming motor and grinding tires shattered this silence. The sounds echoed down the route from the start of the highway.
Then a race car blasted out from a twist in the road. With a roar that sounded like it would tear through the air, it made a stable yet swift drift around the corner and shot forward without decreasing its speed. It was like a beast that was trying to break through the limits of space and time.
The race car that was as unruly as an uncaged beast used a beautiful drift to come to a halt at the end of the road. The front of the car aligned perfectly with the parking line that was drawn on the road, and it was the size of a palm away from knocking into the placed rail. It gave the security guards who had been hired by the racers quite a scare. They had thought they were going to be rammed into by the car!
Then, a large, handsome man with a majestic presence pushed the door open and stepped out of the car. He had a light smile on his face like the life and death racing that happened earlier was just their imagination. He gracefully showed the security guards a card to clarify his racer identity.
Then, the passenger seat's car opened, and a man with his two legs shaking and his clean face incredibly pale toppled out of the car. He needed to hold the car itself for support, or he would have had trouble standing upright. Actually, even though he was holding the car, he had trouble finding firm ground. His quivering lips were open, but it was unknown whether he was trying to scream or suck back the soul that had been flung out of his body due to the high speed. He sounded so weak that tears could be heard lacing through his voice.
”Bro… Bro… Brother Ye…”
Ye Shuang raised an eyebrow and turned to glance at An Zixuan. She still had that smile that was as warm as the coming of spring on her face. As she waited for the security guard to check the card, she took a step backward to give An Zixuan some support. An Zixuan's body was as soft as a cooked noodle, and he practically collapsed into Ye Shuang's arms.
The security guard checked the number on the card and confirmed that the card indeed belonged to a member of the racers. He immediately returned the card to the handsome man in a polite manner. If it was not a member, then he would have jotted down the plate number for this car and reported it to Yao Zhixing. The man would then have handled it in private. This stretch of road had been privately purchased, so if they did not take a good care of it and let anyone to come here and race, they could get in serious trouble if there was an accident.
Ye Shuang nodded at the security guard and turned around to help An Zixuan get back into the passenger seat. An Zixuan saw the car like it was a death machine. He gripped Ye Shuang's arm tightly, or else he would have crumbled to the ground already. His lips moved as he tried to request for a lighter punishment. ”Wait a minute, let me rest for five… No, just one minute!”
Ye Shuang shoved the man inside the car and walked around it to get into the driver's seat. The security guard did not have the heart to look at the pained and pale expression on An Zixuan's face. They quickly ran over to help raise the bar to allow Ye Shuang's car to pass through. After driving past that roadblock, to give An Zixuan some time to recover, Ye Shuang purposely slowed the car down. Compared to the high speed earlier, the current speed was not much different from a walk in the park.
”Now are you feeling better‽” After a while, when color eventually returned to An Zixuan's face, Ye Shuang finally broke the silence in the car. An Zixuan's soul gradually returned as the car was moving with a speed that was lower than normal. However, when he heard Ye Shuang say that, there was still the desire for tears to come to his eyes. ”I'm feeling much better.”
So please don't do that crazy thing again.
A small smile appeared on Ye Shuang's lips. She did not turn her head around but continued to speak in a calm and even tone. ”Life is filled with challenges and hurdles, and your tolerance will decide your ability to withstand pressure.”
The slightly low voice slowly swam through the interior of the car. ”For example, when you are young, a break-up might cause you immense pain, but when you are older, looking back, you will realize how dumb and juvenile you were for acting that way when you were young.
”Furthermore, why is there a language barrier between a man and a woman? Because women like to talk about gossip, the price of meat, the things that happened to the family, and so on, whereas a man's nature dictates that their goal is set much further than females. They need to expand their territory, so they think the women's topics are frivolous and boring. The men cannot understand what the importance is in discussing stuff like which supermarket's potatoes are cheaper by several cents!
”If the limit in your eyes is only one meter, you will feel claustrophobic within this one meter. The space will be so small that you'll find difficulty breathing.”
Ye Shuang kept her hands on the steering wheel as she made a turn. The car made a beautiful turn as it drove into the traffic that headed into the city.
”However, if you can put your sight further, this one meter will appear so insignificant. Now, you are so concerned about people's gazes and are wrapped in pain and shame due to it. However, if you're standing at a spot that is beyond their reach, will these gazes that cannot even reach you continue to be so important‽
”What you care about dictates where your limitation is. If you're feeling excited or down for ten dollars, then the standard of your valuation will revolve around ten dollars. If your emotions are disturbed by the criticism of a normal person, then you are putting yourself to be nothing more than a normal person.”
Ye Shuang cared about her friends. Even though she was not really that close to An Zixuan, since he was one of her fans, Ye Shuang felt like she could not just ignore the man. If it was within her power and would benefit both parties, she was glad to extend an olive branch.
I suppose it was no different from the feeling of, 'Since you admire me so much, in the future, I'll be looking out for you.' No matter the position, be it a lackey, a friend, a fan, or a pet, at the very least, Ye Shuang had considered An Zixuan a part of her social circle. Of course, they were not close enough for Ye Shuang to go out of her way to help him, but since she was so bored…
An Zixuan was rather quiet. He probably understood what she was saying, or perhaps he simply did not have the energy to counter or had used every ounce of energy within him in that scream earlier and his brain was still in shut down mode. Ye Shuang looked at the man, and she thought about it before asking, ”I heard that Tony has been trying to teach you how to snipe the market.”
An Zixuan had to say something since Ye Shuang asked a question. He contemplated it for a while before answering with some hesitance, ”Yes…”
Then confusion came over his face, and he turned to Ye Shuang with a lost expression. ”Do you think I should learn it?”
Ye Shuang shrugged and asked him back flatly, ”Do you have any interest in it?”
An Zixuan was silently for a very long time. ”Before this, the family said I had to inherit the family business, so I went to enroll in courses for business management. Then Anthony said I have the talent, so I started to learn how to snipe. Actually, it's not really the matter of interest, but since I have the talent and resources, it would be such a waste not to pick up the skill, right?”
”Understood.” Ye Shuang nodded. She had finished her analysis on An Zixuan. The man was the type that had no definite views of his own but was very good at taking orders. If someone pointed him in a direction, he would do his best to charge down it.
Earlier, she had heard from Anthony that An Zixuan was a very good student; he was very hardworking and active in asking questions and trying to learn. On the surface, it looked like the man was very interested in this, but actually, he was merely operating on his habit of giving his all when he was tasked to do something.
Interest and pursuit were two completely different things. An Zixuan was the kind that had a clear distinction between the two. He could not find anything that interested him in life, but he could follow a very close and hardworking pursuit based on the direction given by others. Therefore, when his family told him that he would be inheriting the family business, he came up with all these tricks and tactics to resolve all the issues that stood in his way.
However, in reality, if his family told him to go down another route, this man probably would have put in the same amount of effort. He would be so hardworking that others would have the impression that this was his interest.
”Actually, it is not such a bad thing.” Ye Shuang thought about it and smiled when she noticed the nervousness that appeared on An Zixuan's face. ”A person's interests can naturally change by time and one's environment. Sometimes, it can even be purposely directed in a certain direction. If there's something that you do not like now, it doesn't mean that you won't like it later. It is a good thing if you have a goal to work toward. To be honest, how many people in the world can live however they like? Most of the people in life are like cows being led by the nose.”
As this sentence ended, An Zixuan suddenly realized that the car had stopped. Then Ye Shuang cut the ignition and pulled out the key. She pushed at the door, signaling non-verbally to An Zixuan that it was time to get out from the car. It was then that An Zixuan realized that they had arrived at a restaurant.
The restaurant was not that high-end, but it was not a place where people would just wander in either due to the taste and price of the food served. However, if for Ye Shuang, An Zixuan still had the belief that a more high class place would be more matching to his presence. Therefore, An Zixuan blinked as they walked to the door of the restaurant. He suggested, ”I know a good restaurant that is near this place…”
”Oh, that won't be necessary.” Ye Shuang was wearing a thick scarf and tinted sunglasses. After scanning the room for an empty table, she walked directly to a table next to the window and sat down. Then she waved for the waitress' attention for the menu.
After she had the menu in her hands, she turned to smile at the confounded An Zixuan, who had sat down across from her. She coughed and said in a whispered tone, ”Actually, I just wanted to find someone to walk the streets with me, but earlier, I saw a familiar person walk in. I'm sorry, but I'll need you to accompany me for a little while longer.”
”It's okay. After all, I have nowhere else to go to.” An Zixuan was both a little excited and a little bit disappointed. Who is this familiar person? So annoying.