Why race if you don’t have money?

Chapter 8 This Fish Isn't Taking the Hook
Chen Xiangbei attended a key middle school with Hong Kong investment background. The school had very strict requirements on discipline and academic style, and its undergraduate admission rate was as high as over 85%.

Keep in mind that universities weren't expanding enrollment at this time, and the approval process for undergraduate admissions was even stricter. An 85% undergraduate admission rate was already quite impressive. Essentially, those who could get into this school were either top students or the very wealthy.

However, with the rapid economic development of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and the substantial increase in the number of children from wealthy and powerful families, the school's overall atmosphere and academic performance began to decline. Last year, the undergraduate admission rate barely exceeded 80%.

In response, the school began to tighten discipline. The dean of studies would go to the school gate every day to catch late students and assign each student a conduct score. If they failed to meet the standard, their parents would be called in for a talk. If they continued to show no signs of improvement, the school would expel them.

Of course, Chen Xiangbei didn't want to be caught as an example, so he immediately took his hand off his shoulder and pulled Fatty Wang's hand. The two of them trotted into the school gate.

In the past, Chen Xiangbei and Wang Yidong were the typical "transparent" students in the class.

After all, in this key high school where only the rich and powerful can attend, they don't have prominent family backgrounds, outstanding academic performance, or any special talents.

Apart from the fact that Chen Xiangbei looks a little handsome and is known as the Edison Chen of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, he really has no other outstanding advantages.

The problem is that at this age in high school, he is neither too young nor too young to be a rich woman. When he tries to date girls of the same age, he encounters a fishing expert. Naturally, he cannot become a celebrity on campus.

But this time when Chen Xiangbei stepped into the classroom, he attracted many pairs of eyes, including Sha Minghui and his group of rich kids, all of whom showed expressions of dissatisfaction or dissatisfaction on their faces.

The news that Sha Minghui lost the race at Nanyun Mountain last night quickly spread within the small circle. After all, it would be hard not to become famous if he lost to a Toyota Corolla while driving a Mercedes-Benz AMG.

However, for the small group in the class who did not see it with their own eyes, they were not only shocked but also a little bit unconvinced.

Even the legendary driver Takumi Fujiwara, known as the "God of Driving in the Akina Mountains," was outclassed by Kyoichi Sudo's Mitsubishi EVO in a specially tuned AE86. How could Chen Xiangbei, driving a regular Toyota Corolla, possibly even outperform the Mercedes-AMG?

If you tell this to others, they will probably think it is a fairy tale.

In the end, this group of rich second-generations unanimously agreed that it was not that Chen Xiangbei was too strong, but that Sha Minghui was too weak.

After all, "晒命" (shaiming) in Cantonese means to show off or flaunt. Since ancient times, there have only been wrong names, not wrong nicknames. Shai Minghui is one of those half-baked talkers who wouldn't be surprised to lose to anyone.

In addition to the small group showing off their glory, there was also Xue Meiting who glared at Chen Xiangbei angrily.

For Xue Meiting, Chen Xiangbei has never been her type. The reason she is willing to keep him at a distance is because she enjoys the vanity of being pursued, which indirectly proves that she is very popular.

But recently, not only has Chen Xiangbei stopped taking the initiative, he also seems to be indifferent and has not read or replied to the messages he sent.

This made Xue Meiting feel very frustrated in her self-esteem. She hoped to provoke Chen Xiangbei by showing her anger. If she was sensible, she would quickly admit her mistake and coax this princess!
It was just that Xue Meiting had chosen the wrong person this time. Chen Xiangbei simply ignored her angry look, went straight to his seat and sat down, then supported his head with his hands and closed his eyes to rest.

Morning self-study starts at 7:00, so Chen Xiangbei has to get up at 6:00. He didn't go to bed until almost 3:00 last night after taking a shower, which means he only slept for about three hours the whole night. He barely closed his eyes when the alarm clock rang them open, and he had to catch some sleep before the teacher arrived.

If I get caught sleeping in class, I will lose some conduct points, which is really not worth it.

Seeing that the first thing Chen Xiangbei did when he came to the classroom was to fall asleep, Xue Meiting felt even more angry. She couldn't understand why the boy would be like this. He gave up on pursuing her halfway, what a scumbag!
Xue Meiting's angry look and the various movements she made while searching for books and stationery were naturally noticed by her deskmate Dong Yuanxi.

She put down the textbook in her hand and asked, "Who made you angry?"

"Who else could it be? Chen Xiangbei!"

"What's up with him."

"I sent him several messages last night but he didn't reply. He even ignored me when he came to the classroom this morning. He really thinks he's something special."

Hearing this, my deskmate smiled faintly and said, "How many messages has Chen Xiangbei sent you that you didn't reply to?"

Xue Meiting was speechless for a moment after hearing this. After a long while, she said unreasonably, "No, why are you speaking for Chen Xiangbei?"

"I'm not helping anyone, I'm just telling the truth."

"So with all the boys pursuing you, have you responded to every one of them?"

Xue Meiting asked back. Her deskmate Dong Yuanxi had become the focus of everyone's attention since she entered Guangzhou-Shenzhen High School. Her family background, appearance, and personality were all impeccable. Countless boys regarded her as the white moonlight in their hearts.

During his two years of high school, Dong Yuanxi never lacked active suitors.

“If I don’t like it, I won’t give others hope.”

"I'm not trying to give Chen Xiangbei hope, but I just can't bear to hit him."

In response to Xue Meiting's sophistry, Dong Yuanxi smiled and shook his head, then turned his gaze back to the textbook and said no more.

As the bell rang, Chen Xiangbei was awakened from his drowsiness. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a thin boy wearing glasses running into the classroom on the late arrival line, almost following the teacher.

Seeing this, classmate Wang Yidong couldn't help but praise him, "Zhou Yanjing, I admire your ability to get to class on time. If you were even a second late, your parents would have to come to school tomorrow."

Zhou Yanjing's full name is Zhou Chenshu. He sits in the front row in front of Chen Xiangbei and is a mutual friend of him and Fatty Wang.

Unlike the extroverted Wang Pangzi, Zhou Chenshu was an introvert and a homebody. Apart from attending classes, he spent his days at home playing games and computer games. Judging by the dark circles under his glasses, he must have played all night long last night, which was why he was almost late for class.

"Hey, I'm used to it."

Zhou Chenshu just smiled shyly and didn't say much.

The morning self-study content was Chinese. The teacher marked the key points and the whole class read aloud and recited them. Taking advantage of the time when no one was paying attention, Wang Yidonggang patted Zhou Chenshu on the shoulder and asked quietly.

"Zhou Yanjing, were you playing DOTA or CF last night? How was your record? If you have time, take me to show off and fly." "I didn't play either."

Zhou Chenshu shook his head.

"Then why do you have panda eyes?"

"I went to the forum to do 3D modeling last night with a great guy."

"What is 3D modeling?"

Wang Yidong asked back in confusion.

"You're so uneducated! Aren't you ashamed to ask such a question?"

Chen Xiangbei, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but complain that this kid was really uneducated.

"What's there to be ashamed of? I'm just asking questions without any shame!"

"Shame on you."

Chen Xiangbei added another sentence.

"By the way, why do you two have panda eyes?"

It was only then that Zhou Chenshu noticed the heavy dark circles under the eyes of Chen Xiangbei and Wang Yidonggang. You know, they usually sleep soundly, especially Fatty Wang, who is the type that can't be woken up even if you shout at him. How could he have the same look of staying up late as himself?

"Don't say anymore. I went to push the cart with Chen Xiangbei last night."

“Why push a cart?”

Fatty Wang's answer made Zhou Yanjing more and more confused.

"The car broke down."

"Dude, you won't believe me if I tell you this, but Xiangbei drove my Corolla last night and instantly defeated the AMG that was showing off on Nanyun Mountain Road!"

After hearing Wang Yidong's words, Zhou Chenshu finally reacted and asked in surprise, "Did you go to Nanyun Mountain to race last night?"

"Yeah, you didn't see how frustrated Sha Minghui was. He still had a Sima face this morning, hahaha!"

When talking about Sha Minghui's loss, Wang Yidong couldn't help but feel happy. It would be worth it even if he had to push the car two more times.

"That's quite a coincidence! Last night I was also modeling a performance car with a forum expert, and I was planning to replace some carbon fiber parts to reduce the weight of the car."

Hearing Zhou Yanjing's words, Chen Xiangbei instantly became interested and asked, "Who is so professional in car modification that he needs to customize carbon fiber to reduce weight?"

There is a famous saying in the racing modification world: one kilogram on the wheels equals ten horsepower on the car.

For racing cars, lightweighting is the most effective modification solution, which is why many professional competitions dismantle everything that can be dismantled, making the interior of the vehicle look empty.

However, compared to simply modifying the engine to increase horsepower, lightweighting is actually more professional and difficult.

It’s like modifying carbon fiber parts to reduce weight, which requires automotive engineers to measure and model them, and then they have to have connections to find a manufacturer to customize it for you, and finally their craftsmanship must be good enough to assemble it seamlessly.

If your requirements are higher, you also have to consider the vehicle weight ratio and aerodynamics to avoid the modified parts destroying the original aerodynamic balance and affecting the front and rear weight distribution.

Modifying a good car has always been a profound science. The effort and cost required are far more than buying ready-made modification parts, replacing a few parts of the engine, or modifying the mushroom head intake.

In street racing, you can see the thousand-horsepower Nissan GTR, Toyota Supra, etc., but it is rare to see a lightweight modification of the entire car with customized carbon fiber, because this may require the cooperation of the entire racing team!

At the same time, this is why in the movie "Initial D", Fujiwara Bunta spent a full month adjusting the shock absorbers and tires of Takumi's AE86 to achieve the best balance.

“I don’t know who modified the car.”

Zhou Yanjing shook his head. He never liked to pry into other people's private affairs, let alone the projects of the great people he admired.

"What kind of car is this?"

"Subaru Impreza."

“Nice car!”

Chen Xiangbei praised it with an appreciative tone, saying that the Subaru Impreza is one of his favorite Japanese performance cars.

Just as they were chatting enthusiastically, the head teacher Wu Jiang, who was standing on the podium, noticed this scene and knocked on the blackboard to remind them, "Chen Xiangbei, you three, stop whispering. If you continue to whisper, you will be punished by standing outside!"

The head teacher's warning made Chen Xiangbei and the others shut up tactfully, and then they opened their books and pretended to read aloud.

PS: Extended chapter, brothers who haven’t collected it, please remember to collect it. If you have tickets, you will get two copies for free.

(End of this chapter)