Some of those watching the celebration for Zhu Liuyue, or those who thought she was just putting on a brave face, couldn't help but change their opinion of her when they looked at the big screen.
"Hey, you've got to admit, Zhu Liuyue really knows what she's doing. If I were driving, I'd probably be at about her level."
"I never knew Zhu Liuyue was this aggressive at racing before. Honestly, if she joined our club, she'd be the best female racer we've got."
"She's pretty good, but let's not exaggerate." One of the Zhao kid's boys couldn't help but say, "She's still almost a full car length behind. Like this, she won't catch up to our Brother Zhao."
Ye Yunche's boys also asked in hushed tones, "Yunche, if it were you, is there any way to overtake at this point?"
Ye Yunche stared at the screen.
The contempt that had been in his eyes gradually turned into something more serious and cautious.
It was as if he were seeing Zhu Liuyue for the first time, his gaze locked onto that cement-gray 718.
His voice was soft.
"If it were me, there is one perfect overtaking spot, but it's way too dangerous..."
If you made one wrong move.
You'd be dead in a wreck.
So he wouldn't do it!
Not because he was afraid, but because if something happened to him, his older brother would be in danger too. The price was too heavy.
Zhu Qi lowered his head and prayed silently, "Cousin, please don't let anything happen. Please, please protect her."
On the big screen, the two cars had reached a critical point in the race.
The next section they were about to enter was the steepest, most treacherous part of the cliff-side road.
It was also the part that truly tested a driver's nerve.
The road was less than three meters wide.
On the left was solid rock face, and on the right, there was no guardrail at all—just a danger warning sign.
The asphalt was damp from the mountain mist, and the cars had very poor grip here.
The Zhao kid was a veteran.
So when he got here, he visibly eased off the throttle, dropping his speed from a hundred and thirty to a hundred and ten.
He thought to himself, Zhu Liuyue is driving this track for the first time. Surely Ye Yunche told her to slow down on this cliff section before the race started.
At the same time, one of Ye Yunche's boys asked, "Yunche, did you tell Zhu Liuyue to slow down on the cliff section?"
Ye Yunche's face went pale.
His voice trembled as he said, "I... forgot."
Zhu Qi, standing nearby, immediately panicked and almost threw a punch at him.
"Are you out of your mind?! How could you forget something like that? What if my cousin doesn't know and speeds up?"
The onlookers couldn't help but worry silently.
They thought to themselves, the engagement ceremony between the eldest young master of the Ye family and Zhu Liuyue is tomorrow. Surely nothing bad will happen.
On the track, out of curiosity or caution, the Zhao kid couldn't help but glance at the cliff on his right.
Just for that one glance—less than half a second.
But Zhu Liuyue didn't look at the cliff.
Her eyes were fixed on the taillights of the car ahead.
A slight smile curved at the corners of her lips.
This was exactly the moment of hesitation she had been waiting for.
She released her throttle a beat later than he did.
The 718's nose shifted, and the whole car body sliced precisely into the gap that was barely wider than the car itself.
The tires rolled over the loose gravel at the edge of the road, with a drop of dozens of meters into the canyon just beside the car.
The Zhao kid, at the next right-hand turn, noticed in his rearview mirror that the cement-gray car had disappeared.
Then, like a ghost, it appeared on his right side.
The 718's front bumper was level with the B-pillar of his M4.
The two cars were now driving side by side on a road that was only wide enough for one and a half cars.
The Zhao kid couldn't help but turn his head and glance over.
He saw the number on the speedometer: a hundred and twenty kilometers per hour.
And she wasn't slowing down—she was still taking the corner.
"Crazy. She really has no fear of death!"
Cold sweat began to run down the Zhao kid's back.
His hands instinctively turned the steering wheel, pulling half an inch to the left.
But at this point, his right front wheel was already pressing on the edge of the shoulder.
He couldn't give any more ground. If he gave any more, half his car would be in the canyon.
So he steeled himself and floored the throttle.
Zhu Liuyue seemed to have anticipated this exact move.
She didn't keep fighting him side by side. Instead, she eased off the throttle and slipped back in behind the Zhao kid's car.
The Zhao kid felt cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
Just a moment ago, he had actually felt a flicker of fear—as if Zhu Liuyue wasn't trying to race him, but was genuinely trying to kill them both.
Luckily, she'd backed off.
The Zhao kid didn't know whether to feel relieved or terrified.
But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he noticed the road ahead had changed.
Three consecutive downhill hairpin turns.
Each turn had to be taken at no more than seventy kilometers per hour on entry. This was the hardest section of the entire track, and the only place where the race could truly be decided.
After the terrifying moment just now,
the Zhao kid's M4 made a mistake at the first hairpin.
He braked two car lengths earlier than usual, and his speed was noticeably slower entering the corner.
He felt furious, but couldn't blame anyone else.
He was too desperate to shake off the car behind him, and that desperation turned into brute force—he cranked the wheel too sharply.
He could no longer stay calm.
His heart was rattled.
Zhu Liuyue watched the M4 ahead and smiled at the corner of her mouth.
This was what she had been waiting for.
The Zhao kid's M4 had its strengths, but it also had weaknesses.
Its strength was that at full throttle, it was faster than her car. But its weakness was that its suspension travel was too long.
Through a series of rapid weight transfers, the springs couldn't rebound fast enough to keep up, and the body would start to sway side to side.
Her 718, with its mid-engine low center of gravity and short wheelbase, was far better suited to these kinds of corners.
Zhu Liuyue didn't try to overtake on the first downward turn. Instead, she stayed glued right behind the M4's rear.
She used the slipstream of the Zhao kid's car to hold her own car in place, saving fuel and brake wear.
At the second turn, she braked a full full car length later than the Zhao kid.
His M4's brake lights were already glowing, and she was still pressing the throttle.
Only when the suspension had compressed to its limit did she slam hard on the brakes.
The car body sliced into the apex of the corner practically glued to the M4's rear bumper.
The Zhao kid instinctively glanced at the rearview mirror again, his panic growing.
Sure enough, he saw the gray 718 suddenly poke its nose out on the inside of the turn.
It's over!
She's caught up!
Sweat dripped more and more thinly from his forehead. He thought to himself, it wouldn't be shameful to lose to Ye Yunche.
After all, Ye Yunche was the god of racing around Daqishan.
But if he lost to Zhu Liuyue—a young lady who didn't know a thing about racing—that would be humiliating.
No, wait.
Judging from the precise driving skills Zhu Liuyue had just shown, she wasn't some clueless beginner at all. If anything, she'd been playing the fool all along.
Zhu Liuyue's racing skill was on par with his, if not better.
The Zhao kid began to regret ever challenging Ye Yunche in the first place.
He cursed his luck inside.
His hands kept moving, instinctively jerking the wheel left to block her line.
But the M4's front end was too heavy. In the few seconds it took for the steering to respond,
the nose of the 718 had already cut precisely through the gap on his right.
The cement-gray body shot ahead like a fierce cheetah.
The Zhao kid's composure shattered completely!!!
It was over. He'd lost!
Ye Yunche watched the big screen as the 718 overtook the car in front, and cheered along with the crowd.
Only his gaze directed at Zhu Liuyue grew brighter and more scorching by the second.
His Adam’s apple bobbed.
His blood ran hot, surging through every vein.
Zhu Liuyue—even if she was going to be his future sister-in-law, so what?
