Damn it!
Gazing at the Haoting Mansion not far away, its lights blazing like a magnificent feast, Gu Wan’er, if you don’t introduce your sister to me, you’re letting me down.
Yu Xiaoduo didn’t have time to overthink it. He wrestled with the wildly unstable motorcycle beneath him.
Thankfully, there was no oncoming traffic. If even one car had appeared around those bends, he probably wouldn’t have lived to see the sun tomorrow.
Still, Yu Xiaoduo couldn’t shake a nagging suspicion. Ever since he’d entered the mountain roads, not a single vehicle had come from the opposite direction. Could someone be helping him out?
“Miss Gu’s riding skills have truly blown us all away. Those few U-turns were practically perfect drifts—who knew you could ride a motorcycle like that? Her guts alone earn my respect as a grown man.”
“Even if we lose tonight, Miss Gu’s performance will be forever etched in my memory. What a pity she already has a boyfriend.”
Once he left the treacherous curves of Longquan Mountain, it was a straight shot to Haoting Mansion. Yu Xiaoduo had already twisted the throttle deep into the engine, but Ye Shishi was only about fifty meters behind him. The rear wheel, however, was clearly starting to act up, and she was gaining on him fast.
The finish line was right at Haoting’s main entrance, with only a short stretch of braking distance left.
The crowd saw the headlights approaching and erupted into cheers. Gu Wan’er, standing off to the side, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Thank heavens. Thank the bodhisattvas.
Pan Wei could hardly believe it. Especially when he saw Gu Wan’er cross the finish line by a hair’s breadth—his brain went blank. How was this possible? How did she beat Sister Ye?
He glanced at Yu Xiaoduo, who was just standing there, utterly useless. So why? Why had this happened?
For a moment, the surrounding silence was deafening. The very event Sister Ye had set up—she’d lost it. And she hadn’t lost in years. The usual flatterers fell quiet.
Gu Wan’er was a true force to be reckoned with—a dragon crossing the river.
But just as everyone was digesting this, something felt off. Gu Wan’er was still braking hard on the rear wheel, and the bike’s back end began to fishtail wildly.
Ye Shishi, who had already stopped, watched Gu Wan’er’s predicament with tightly knit brows. Her icy gaze shot toward Pan Wei, as if asking, Was this you?
Pan Wei pleaded innocence. How could he possibly dare to pull something like that? But Fu Yangxue, standing nearby, was eerily calm.
Yu Xiaoduo saw no way out—he had to abandon the bike. A flowerbed loomed ahead.
With a decisive move, he tilted the motorcycle, released his grip, and slid across the concrete on his body, tumbling to a stop. The red Ducati scraped sparks along the ground, launched up the steps, and crashed into the flowerbed with a thunderous boom!
A massive explosion ripped through the air, lighting up the night sky. The sudden turn of events stunned everyone for a beat.
Gu Wan’er snapped out of it first and sprinted toward Yu Xiaoduo. Lu Zhengzhi and Fu Quan rushed over too.
Inside a room at Haoting Mansion, Bai Ji shot to her feet, her face darkening with barely contained fury.
Gu Yuanli, seeing his sister crash, hurled a fifty-thousand-dollar bottle of wine to the ground in rage. “Ye Shishi! If my sister loses so much as a single strand of hair, I swear I’ll bury you alive!”
Gu Mingqin said nothing, but his fists were clenched tight. Someone had tried to harm his sister!
Still, he doubted it was Ye Shishi. She wasn’t stupid enough to pull something so brainless. It had to be someone else.
When the TV showed his sister getting back on her feet, Gu Mingqin and Gu Yuanli let out a long, relieved breath. Thank goodness she was okay. Today, his sister had kept them on the edge of their seats.
The moment Yu Xiaoduo stood up, the crowd cheered wildly. Ye Shishi, standing not far away, seemed almost forgotten—like she’d lost her spotlight. In the past, they’d all have crowded around her with applause.
Yu Xiaoduo’s arm ached. His back hurt too. But thankfully, he’d been wearing racing leathers and a helmet.
See? Always wear a helmet when you ride.
Gu Wan’er pulled off Yu Xiaoduo’s helmet and saw his signature grin. Her eyes reddened slightly.
“I’m fine.” Yu Xiaoduo quickly shot her a look. I’m not dead yet. Don’t cry—people will talk, and I’ll lose face.
Gu Wan’er fought to control her emotions. She was a woman, after all—more prone to sentiment.
Yu Xiaoduo’s gaze shifted to Ye Shishi, and all the pent-up frustration boiled over. He strode straight toward her. “Miss Ye, I’ve heard plenty of stories about you—how formidable you are. But your idea of ‘formidable’ is playing dirty? Messing with the brakes?”
His words sent shockwaves through the crowd. So the brakes had been tampered with.
No way. Sister Ye had never stooped to such low tactics.
“Miss Gu,” Ye Shishi said, her voice cold. “I’ve been in this game for years, and I’ve always played fair. I’ll get to the bottom of this and give you an answer. If whoever did it comes forward now, they’ll only lose a hand. But if I have to drag them out myself, their whole family can kiss their fortune goodbye.” Her beautiful eyes turned frosty.
To sabotage a race—even if she’d won, it would have been tainted. And she’d lost!
Still, no one stepped forward.
“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
“Miss Gu, I apologize for this. You can take a break and we’ll continue tomorrow.” Ye Shishi wasn’t completely unreasonable, but Yu Xiaoduo sneered at her approach. A witch hunt, plain and simple.
He said flatly, “Miss Ye, let’s move on to the next round. I need my beauty sleep.”
“Fine. Since Miss Gu is so eager, the next event is free sparring.”
Yu Xiaoduo rolled his shoulders. You asked for this. Don’t think I’ll go easy just because you’re a woman—especially not one as arrogant as you.
Lu Zhengzhi spoke up gravely. “Sister Ye, Gu Wan’er was clearly injured just now. Isn’t free sparring a bit much?”
“She can rest if she wants, but she doesn’t want to,” Ye Shishi replied coolly.
Yu Xiaoduo placed a hand on Lu Zhengzhi’s shoulder, and the latter fell silent.
“Miss Ye, I hope you won’t disappoint me next.”
“Same to you.” With that, she turned and strode into the club. The others hesitated, then followed her inside.
Once they were gone, Gu Wan’er hurried over, concern etched on her face. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ouch—my shoulder hurts. Rub it for me.” Yu Xiaoduo put on his best wounded act, and Gu Wan’er didn’t doubt him for a second, quickly massaging his shoulder.
“How’s that? Feel better?”
Yu Xiaoduo looked utterly content. “Mm, keep going.”
Lu Zhengzhi and Fu Quan exchanged glances. Something about Yu Xiaoduo seemed… softer now.
“Gu Wan’er, free sparring is Ye Shishi’s specialty too. She even won the national youth women’s championship back in the day,” Fu Quan warned. The motorcycle race had been just an appetizer; this was the main course.
Yu Xiaoduo basked in Gu Wan’er’s massage, a satisfied smile curling at the corners of his mouth. “When you’ve watched three hundred martial arts movies, you realize you’ve become a kung fu master yourself.”
“Show-off,” Gu Wan’er muttered under her breath.
