"What... what was that just now?"
"That has to be Chu Wang's signature move, right? I was there at that match, I couldn't possibly be mistaken!"
"Side-drift, overtaking on two wheels... no wonder Chu Wang wasn't the least bit worried about his sister stepping in for him."
"I actually thought he hated Chu Zhao enough that he wouldn't care even if she dropped dead."
"He must have coached her beforehand. Where else would Chu Zhao have learned something like that?"
The surrounding chatter buzzed like flies into Chu Wang's ears.
Once the initial shock faded, a complex emotion he couldn't even name began to rise within him. He knew better than anyone whether or not he had taught Chu Zhao anything.
It was unbelievable. How on earth had Chu Zhao learned that maneuver?
He had always spoken to her so cruelly. Regarding Chu Zhao’s interest in racing, he had shown nothing but indifference, mockery, and annoyance. He had erected a wall around himself, refusing to let an outsider like Chu Zhao take even a single step inside.
Yet, she had reached this level.
Why? To curry favor with him? To have common ground to discuss? To share a passion they could pursue side-by-side?
Chu Wang only felt disgusted. He looked at Chu Zhao as if looking at a shameless monster with no sense of dignity.
Chu Zhao disgusted him.
***
"Looking at it this way, I suppose Young Master Su lost."
"Losing to a woman, and to Chu Zhao, whom even Shang Que discarded—what a disgrace!"
"What's the big deal? Chu Zhao just used a trick. If it weren't for Chu Wang teaching her, do you really think she would have won?"
"Definitely not, hahaha! But it doesn't matter; this match wasn't just about winning or losing on the track anyway."
"The real show is still to come!"
"But since Chu Zhao beat Young Master Su, she’s brought some glory to Chu Wang. He won't go back on his word, will he?"
"Go back on his word? Who do you think you're talking about? Our Young Master Chu always keeps his promises!"
"Besides, he hates that sister of his more than anything! Whatever Chu Zhao does is pointless! You just wait and see!"
***
The silver SA crossed the finish line, the blue supercar trailing just a hair’s breadth behind. The result was clear.
Chu Zhao had won; Su Jingmo had lost.
As the SA slowed to a stop, Chu Zhao loosened her grip on the steering wheel. Her fingers were trembling slightly from the strain of the race. It had been two months since she last raced, and she was, after all, a bit out of practice.
Chu Zhao took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, trying to steady her racing heart and breath, forcing them to return to a normal rhythm.
Once she felt a little calmer, Chu Zhao removed her helmet. Her long, black hair cascaded down, and her bangs fell over her eyes, masking her clear, beautiful cat-like pupils. She looked no different than usual, save for the faint curve of a smile on her lips reflected in the rearview mirror.
She had completed an exhilarating race and won against Su Jingmo on her own merit. Naturally, Chu Zhao felt happy.
She pushed open the car door and stepped out. The crowd fell into a deathly, pin-drop silence.
Chu Zhao didn't care about their attitudes. She just held the keys, scanning the crowd for Chu Wang. She wanted to return the keys to him and then head down the mountain to find Aunt Chun. She was in a good mood now, the pent-up frustration released. When Aunt Chun saw her like this, she would surely be relieved and focus on her recovery!
"Chu—"
Chu Zhao started to speak, but before she could finish his name, a burst of raucous laughter erupted all around her.
It was like cold water splashing into a pot of hot oil, like a hammer shattering glass. Chu Zhao froze, at a total loss. The smiles vanished from her own heart and appeared on every face within her line of sight.
"Hahahaha, my god, Young Master Chu, that was brilliant! Truly!"
"You just said Chu Zhao only learned to race to suck up to you, and that her amateur skills weren't worth mentioning. And yet?"
"She even learned your signature move! Hahahaha!"
"Honestly, you did that on purpose, didn't you? Just to trick our Young Master Su into putting up that wager! Hahaha, using your 'Sister Zhao' to race for her life just to win that Water Villa your other 'Sister Fu' has been wanting for so long—"
"I have to say, you really know how to play the game!"
"..." A roar echoed in Chu Zhao’s brain, and every expression vanished from her face.
"Hahaha, no matter how good Young Master Chu is at playing games, he still needs a fool willing to take the bait!"
Someone began to mockingly imitate what Chu Zhao had said to Chu Wang before signing the life-or-death agreement:
["Chu Wang, I’ll take this bet for you, just this once."]
["If I win, you must promise that from now on, you will never bet your own life on any race again, besides official competitions."]
["Do you understand?"]
"Hahahaha, 'Do you understand?' What touching sibling love! Learning to race for our Young Master Chu, then risking her life in a bet for him!"
"You didn't actually think our Young Master Chu was that stupid, did you?"
"That’s right, look at her face—hahaha, she's completely stunned."
"You idiot! What Young Master Chu and Young Master Su were betting on was whether you would step in to race once you found out he was gambling with his life!"
***
"..." Chu Zhao stood there, rigid.
The sharp laughter mixed with mocking words, the malice pouring down on her like a torrential downpour. Her brain had already gone on strike. She couldn't comprehend the sounds reaching her ears.
For a moment, she couldn't even distinguish reality from a nightmare.
Chu Zhao suffered from severe sleep disorders, one of which manifested as what was commonly known as "sleep paralysis." When someone was in sleep paralysis, their consciousness was awake and they could perceive everything around them—but they couldn't open their eyes, and their body wouldn't obey them. Only fear would spread, unceasingly.
It swallowed everything.
Her heart began to ache, her breathing became difficult, yet the instinct for survival surged within her. It was human nature.
Externally, this manifested as tremors and spasms, a twisted, twitching face. Countless times, in a desperate attempt to escape the nightmare, Chu Zhao would bite her own tongue, craving the sharp pain that might jolt her awake. Sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she didn't.
But regardless of the outcome, Chu Zhao knew very well that the version of herself struggling against a nightmare was pathetic, ugly, and hard to watch.
What about now? Was she normal?
Chu Zhao wasn't sure—she didn't dare to touch her own face.
"My god, what's wrong with her? Is her face twitching?"
"That's terrifying. I heard she has a mental illness; I guess it's true!"
"How unlucky! It’s like a horror movie. No wonder Shang Que called off the engagement. Who would dare to marry a freak like that?"
"Young Master Chu really has it hard, having to deal with a sister like that..."
"Disgusting."
The buzzing of the flies in the crowd suddenly ceased. Across the throng of people, Chu Wang stared at Chu Zhao’s face with a blank expression, repeating:
"Having a breakdown in public—you're truly disgusting."