After making a phone call to Liu Yi, which was answered by Xu Shanshan, Chen Zhezhe learned that Liu Yi was not in any serious danger, though he would need to stay in the hospital for a while. Realizing that Liu Yi had been slashed and hospitalized entirely because of him, and having no idea how badly injured his friend was, Chen Zhezhe grew frantic and eager to rush to the hospital to check on him.
He decided to skip his classes for the day. He had already offended Wang Dong yesterday, and for all he knew, he might end up expelled anyway—he might as well just let chips fall where they may!
Having burned through a burst of True Essence in his angry pursuit of Zhang Zhi earlier, he now felt the exhaustion setting in as his mood calmed down.
He would just take a taxi to the hospital!
After confirming which hospital Liu Yi was at, Chen Zhezhe headed out to hail a cab.
The hospital was a fair distance away, and the fare would cost twenty yuan. He reached into his pocket—
Oh no!
Having spent the entire previous night practicing the mental cultivation techniques and combat moves Qin Xin had taught him, and rushing off to school in a panic this morning, he hadn't brought any cash with him at all.
He patted down every pocket on his body and came up with a single ten-cent coin.
That wasn't even enough for the bus fare!
What was he supposed to do?
Just as he was standing there completely at a loss, he happened to see a silver Porsche Cayenne starting up not far away.
What incredible luck!
Wasn't that Jiang Xiaoqiao's car?
Thinking of that exquisitely charming face and her breathtaking figure, Chen Zhezhe couldn't help breaking into a smile.
He felt a genuine sense of affinity for a girl like Jiang Xiaoqiao. She was a bit neurotic, a bit wild, with a personality somewhat similar to his older sister's. That made it completely stress-free and wonderfully easy to talk to her!
He hurried over in two strides, yanked the car door open, and climbed right in.
Although the engine had started, Jiang Xiaoqiao hadn't driven off yet; she was simply sitting there listening to music and zoning out. The sharp snap of the door closing startled her out of her deep reverie.
Recognizing Chen Zhezhe, Jiang Xiaoqiao pushed down her somewhat oppressive mood.
Yesterday morning at the school clinic, she had already noticed how amusing this boy was. When talking to her, unlike other men who either flattered, fawned, or acted completely aloof, he was refreshingly casual.
It was so relaxed, it almost felt... like family.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, Chen Zhezhe flashed her an utterly ingratiating smile. "Hey there, fancy meeting you again. So... um... I need to head over to Jiangcheng People's Hospital. Could you give me a ride?"
Jiang Xiaoqiao rolled her eyes at him. "Why should I?"
"You said it yourself yesterday—if I ever need a car, I can look you up!" Seeing the dark clouds gathering on Jiang Xiaoqiao's face, Chen Zhezhe thought to himself that he was done for; it looked like she was in a bad mood today.
Sure enough, she replied in a flat tone, "You actually believe things women say? Yesterday you acted like you'd rather die than step foot in my car, hmph!"
Chen Zhezhe froze...
Women, oh women. Back home, Chen Qi used to pull the exact same tricks on him. His sister had once promised him ten yuan for snacks if he ran an errand to buy sanitary pads for her. But when he came back and asked for the money, she had simply told him: women's words don't count.
Thinking of his sister, Chen Zhezhe resentfully recalled that he had spent years running those errands for her when he was little...
"How about this?" Jiang Xiaoqiao cut the engine and leaned back lazily against the seat, twirling her key ring around her fair fingertips. "I'm not in a great mood today. You need to figure out something to say to cheer me up, and then I'll drive you."
...
Chen Zhezhe was at a loss. Making a woman cheer up was no easy task.
Still, walking all the way home to get money would take half an hour, so he had better figure something out.
"Beauty, you're so gorgeous, and your figure is—"
"Stop!"
Jiang Xiaoqiao tapped the hand holding the keys against her other palm. "I've heard that too many times, I'm sick of it. Try again!"
Fine!
Chen Zhezhe let his eyes dart around, taking in the interior of the car as he rambled, "The seats in your car are so comfortable, are they real leather? Do they have seat heating? They don't vibrate, do they? No wonder you like this car, though personally I still think sports cars look cooler!"
"Sports cars?" Jiang Xiaoqiao shot him a sideways glance. "Those are cars for women!"
What the hell, aren't you a woman?
However, since he was asking for a favor, Chen Zhezhe didn't dare say that out loud. Jiang Xiaoqiao simply closed her eyes to feign sleep. "Why don't you tell me why you want to ride in my car in the first place?"
"If I ride in your car, since we know each other, you'd be too embarrassed to charge me money, right? Times are tough, and I'm no rich guy, so every little bit I can save helps, right? Uh..." Seeing Jiang Xiaoqiao's expression sour—she was probably in an even worse mood now—he realized that telling the truth was a bad idea. He had to lie.
"All right!" Chen Zhezhe threw up his hands. "I'll just tell you the absolute truth. Do you know why you want to give me a ride to the hospital, and why I'm asking you for one? There's a reason behind all this!"
Jiang Xiaoqiao opened her eyes and stared at him.
Chen Zhezhe looked right at Jiang Xiaoqiao with an expression of profound sincerity. "I've discovered something: I love being with you. Whenever I'm with you, I'm in such a great mood. Whenever I'm away from you, I always feel terrible. I think I've fallen in love with you, and I'm here to court you."
Jiang Xiaoqiao felt goosebumps break out all over her skin, though the main problem was that Chen Zhezhe's acting was so atrocious it was obviously fake.
"Also, I brought a gift for you!"
Fumbling around in his pockets, Chen Zhezhe produced his sole remaining ten-cent coin. "I don't have any money on me, just this. I want to use this as a token of our affection..."
Vroom—
The Porsche bolted forward instantly. Unable to stand Chen Zhezhe a second longer, Jiang Xiaoqiao slammed her foot down on the accelerator, and the car shot down the road like an arrow from a bow.
This time, however, Chen Zhezhe had learned his lesson; he immediately buckled his seatbelt and gripped the door handle tightly.
Staring straight ahead without blinking, Jiang Xiaoqiao said to him, "My mood is even worse now..."
Chen Zhezhe felt quite pleased with himself. Whether her mood was worse or not, he had achieved his goal.
A traffic warning sign flashed past the window as it sped backward. Chen Zhezhe's face drained of color. "This lane has a sixty-kilometer speed limit... Hey! You're already going over a hundred and twenty! You have to obey traffic rules!"
Thank goodness there were hardly any cars on the road and no pedestrians, or someone would have been killed.
Seeing Chen Zhezhe's pale, terrified face only made Jiang Xiaoqiao feel even more smug. She jerked the steering wheel hard, and Chen Zhezhe felt his body tilt to the right as the car swerved into another lane.
"Let me remind you, I'm twenty-two, older than you. From now on, you have to call me older sister." Jiang Xiaoqiao turned her head with a smile and rolled down the window, letting the fierce wind rush in and whip her long hair into a frenzy.
Honk! Honk honk!
Jiang Xiaoqiao leaned heavily on the horn to urge on a BMW Z4 ahead of them, muttering under her breath, "Get out of the way, asshole!"
The BMW ahead was also speeding, and its pace wasn't slow by any means, but Jiang Xiaoqiao's speed was downright freakish. With the car ahead refusing to yield, she had no choice. Spotting an empty stretch in the opposing lane, she spun the wheel, muttered a curse under her breath ("Damn it!"), and veered into the adjacent lane.
Was she out of her mind? This wasn't a racetrack.
Chen Zhezhe started to regret his decision. Jiang Xiaoqiao really was a lunatic—it was one thing for her to treat her own life like a joke, but she shouldn't play with other people's lives!
Still, he didn't dare say a word; who knew which of his remarks might act as a fuse for her barrel of explosives.
She clearly looked even crazier than his older sister, and Chen Zhezhe had no doubt that if he offended her, she might just steer the car straight into the guardrail.
The Z4 was also a high-performance sports car. Noticing Jiang Xiaoqiao trying to pass, the young man inside immediately floored the accelerator.
"Damn it, who dares pass my car?" the young man muttered through gritted teeth as he turned his head.
He caught a glimpse of Jiang Xiaoqiao's profile. Although it wasn't entirely clear, he could already tell without a doubt that she was a stunner.
The young man rolled down his window and shouted, "Hey beauty! Feeling lonely and lacking a man? Why are you tailing me so closely?"
A young woman in the passenger seat said in a panic, "Liu... Liu Jiang, is this really a good idea?"
"Shut your stinking mouth, woman!" Laying eyes on Jiang Xiaoqiao's beauty, Liu Jiang felt a surge of agitation. He stomped on the gas pedal, pushing his car's performance to the absolute limit. Though the Cayenne was more expensive than the Z4, it wasn't a dedicated sports car, so their top speeds weren't drastically different, making it difficult for either vehicle to easily overtake the other.
His voice was loud, and since Jiang Xiaoqiao had her window rolled down, the wind was roaring too fiercely for her to catch more than a few muffled words.
When she turned her head to look, she happened to catch Liu Jiang making a crude, lewd gesture with his tongue!
"Bastard!" Jiang Xiaoqiao gritted her teeth, a trace of madness flashing across her face.
Chen Zhezhe didn't care to look at who was in the other car; right now, he was solely concerned with preserving his own life. With a furious curse, Jiang Xiaoqiao slammed her foot all the way down on the gas pedal.
Honk!
A large truck was approaching from the opposite direction.
We're done for, Chen Zhezhe silently cursed Jiang Xiaoqiao, you're going to get us both killed.
Jiang Xiaoqiao, however, was already well-versed in this sort of situation. With a quick tap on the brakes and a sharp twist of the steering wheel, she tucked her car in right behind the Z4.
Chen Zhezhe felt his body flailing in the wind like a tattered rag. Thank goodness for the seatbelt, or he wouldn't even know where he might have been thrown. He roared inwardly once more: he would never ride in Jiang Xiaoqiao's car again, and next time he would definitely walk home for money and take a proper taxi.
That leading Z4 driver, Liu Jiang, kept making obscene gestures of provocation, which only served to stoke Jiang Xiaoqiao's competitive fire.
Expertly manipulating the wheel, Jiang Xiaoqiao probed left and right, looking for an opening to pass. Unfortunately, although Liu Jiang's driving skills didn't match hers, he kept swerving back and forth to block her path.
Striking the steering wheel hard, she spat, "Damn it!"
Jiang Xiaoqiao turned her head and threw out a remark to Chen Zhezhe: "This is all your fault!"
What the hell? My fault? How was this my fault when she was the one driving like a maniac?
Spotting a gap, Jiang Xiaoqiao whipped the steering wheel around. The Porsche swerved, its front end shooting past Liu Jiang's rear bumper with a mere meter to spare. Startled, Liu Jiang hurriedly cranked his wheel, trying to force Jiang Xiaoqiao back.
But Jiang Xiaoqiao was in a state of absolute recklessness; had it been Chen Zhezhe, he certainly wouldn't have dared provoke her like this.
"Fine, let's play!" Instead of backing off, Jiang Xiaoqiao pressed her car right up against his.
With a screeching *skreeet*, metal scraped metal and sent a trail of sparks flying into the air. Jiang Xiaoqiao's eyes burned with a fierce light. "You're asking for it."
The headlights on both cars were smashed, and patches of paint were scraped clean off, but the Z4 was noticeably lighter and wobbled violently from the impact.
"Oh my god! My car!" Liu Jiang had often engaged in road rage on this stretch of highway, but he had never encountered anyone as suicidally unhinged as Jiang Xiaoqiao, who kept pressing the attack even after she had already collided with him.
Growing genuinely frightened, he immediately gave way, giving Jiang Xiaoqiao the chance she needed to pull her car abreast of Liu Jiang's.
With his heart in his throat—nobody had ever dared to go toe-to-toe with him like this in his entire life—Liu Jiang stuck his head out the window and let loose a torrent of abuse.
"Ha! The fearless are never afraid of the reckless."
Ignoring the cursing Liu Jiang outside, Jiang Xiaoqiao reached out and gently stroked Chen Zhezhe's cheek. "Am I awesome or what, big brother?"