After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

Guo Erjia's racing line was very clean, and he handled every curve perfectly, without any unnecessary corrections or hesitant braking.

"Guo Erjia is in very good condition," Wang Xiaoying said.

Lin Ye exhaled a puff of smoke. "She didn't sleep well last night."

How did you know?

"Her linework was too clean. A perfect linework means she's rehearsed it countless times in her mind. This might work in practice, but it's more likely to cause problems in a real match. What you need in a match is instinctive reaction."

Wang Xiaoying glanced at him but didn't say anything.

Shao Yang leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on the pink Ninja 400.

Bai Xiaojing entered the second lap in eighth place.

Her lap time was consistently around one minute and fifty-eight seconds. Of the seven cars ahead of her, six were last year's top ten riders, and the remaining one was a newcomer who had emerged this year, riding a Yamaha R3 and finishing third in qualifying.

Bai Xiaojing began to accelerate.

She doesn't like following behind others. She's never liked it since she was little.

When she was a child, she always had to be in the lead when running track and field. Even if she couldn't outrun him, she would chase him with all her might, running until she was breathless, her legs were weak, and she tasted blood in her throat.

This habit has never changed. From the track and field to the karting track and now to the national competition, she has never learned how to obediently follow behind other cars.

On the fourth lap, she hugged the wake of the Yamaha R3 in front of her as she exited Turn 6. Then, she made a daring maneuver in the right turn of Highway 7, entering the corner at 132 km/h, three kilometers per hour faster than the normal entry speed. She pushed her body to the limit, and her left knee slide left a long trail of white sparks at the apex of the corner.

She walked right up to the inside of that Yamaha R3.

overtake.

Seventh place.

In the stands, Lin Ye stubbed out his cigarette on the armrest of his chair.

He stood up, walked to the very front of the stands, braced himself against the railing, and looked down at the pink Ninja 400 on the track.

The wind blew from the direction of the racetrack, carrying the smell of burnt rubber and engine exhaust, and hit his face hot.

"Bai Xiaojing," he said.

"Hmm?" Wang Xiaoying looked up at him.

"We can make it into the top five today."

Shao Yang stood up and walked to his side, standing side by side with him, his hands also resting on the railing.

The collar of the shirt dress swayed slightly in the wind, and the red mark on her collarbone flashed in the sunlight.

"You have that much confidence in her?"

Lin Ye did not answer.

On the track, the pink Ninja 400 is making a run for sixth place.

Bai Xiaojing's exit speed from the corner was 0.4 seconds faster than the car in front, and this difference would be magnified to at least one car length on the straightaway.

She did it.

On the seventh lap, she overtook a Honda CBR400 from the inside at the end of the long straight, the car almost skimming the grass as she passed it, with the throttle on her right hand never turned off from the start of the corner to the end.

Sixth place.

In the maintenance area, a row of people stood in front of the Mars team's tent.

Ash stood at the front, holding a timing board in his hand, his eyes fixed on the seven race cars on the track.

Xiaoyu stood next to him, her bun swaying in the wind, and the lollipop at the corner of her mouth had been replaced with a third one, this time orange-flavored.

"Bai Xiaojing is sixth," Xiaoyu said.

Xiao Zhi didn't say anything, but drew a line on the timer board with his pen.

On the track, as a car was exiting Turn 12, it suddenly slowed down.

It was Zhang Jingjing's blue Ninja 400. Her motorcycle wobbled as she exited the corner, her speed dropped noticeably, and a plume of black smoke came out of the exhaust pipe before returning to normal.

Xiao Zhi stopped writing.

He stared at Zhang Jingjing's car for a second, then turned and ran towards the repair area passage.

"What's wrong?" Xiaoyu chased after her.

"There's something wrong with her car. The rear shock absorber rebounds a beat too slowly when exiting a corner, which might be due to a hydraulic fluid leak."

Xiao Zhi didn't even turn his head. "Go prepare the backup car."

On the track, Zhang Jingjing slowed down by one gear at the second bend.

She clearly felt the abnormality of the rear shock absorber. Every time she exited a corner, the car would sway a little more, and the rear wheels would briefly lose grip at the moment of exiting the corner. Although it only lasted for a fraction of a second, at high speeds, this time was enough for the rear of the car to swing out.

She cursed inside her helmet.

But she didn't slow down much.

The 21st place ranking isn't great among 48 cars, but it's not bad either. There are 20 cars ahead of her and 27 cars behind her.

If she goes to the repair shop now to get a replacement vehicle, she will drop to at least 40th place, and all her efforts will be in vain.

She didn't go in.

She adjusted her riding style, reducing her exit speed by two kilometers per hour on each corner and starting the throttle half a meter earlier to allow the rear suspension a fraction of a second more to rebound.

The lap time dropped from 2 minutes and 3 seconds to 2 minutes and 5 seconds.

But she was running.

On lap 22, Bai Xiaojing forced a KTM RC390 in front of her to reveal its cable routing.

The KTM entered Turn 13 three meters later than normal, causing the bike to sway dramatically under heavy braking. The rider had to correct the direction, wasting 0.6 seconds.

Bai Xiaojing cut in from the outside, pushing the car to its limit, and the slider on her left knee left a one-meter-long white arc at the apex of the bend.

Fifth place.

In the stands, Lin Ye finally took the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and threw it into the trash can at his feet.

"It's the fifth one," Wang Xiaoying said.

Lin Ye hummed in agreement.

Shao Yang stood beside him, his hands gripping the railing, his knuckles white.

"How many laps left?"

"Eighteen laps."

Shao Yang took a deep breath.

She turned to look at Lin Ye's profile.

His jawline was sharp in the sunlight, a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were fixed on the track, the shadow of the pink Ninja 400 reflected in his pupils.

"Linye," she said.

"Um?"

"If we win."

"How was it if we won?"

"If you win, I'll treat you to dinner."

Lin Ye turned to look at her, his gaze lingering for a moment on the red marks on her collarbone.

"What will you treat me to?"

Shao Yang's ears turned red again.

We'll see when the time comes.

Wang Xiaoying coughed beside her.

"Gentlemen, the match isn't over yet."

Lin Ye turned his head back and his gaze fell on the racetrack again.

Bai Xiaojing was still chasing on the track.

The fourth person was only 0.8 seconds away from her.