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

The dampness of Chengdu's night air carries the aroma of spicy hot pot broth.

The door to the private room in the restaurant was closed, and the air conditioner vents were constantly humming.

The red oil broth on the table had been simmering for almost an hour, and the oil stains around the edge of the pot had been pushed up by the repeated steaming heat to form a ring of brownish-red marks. Several empty beer bottles were leaning against the corner of the table.

Lu Jianguo picked up his glass, tilted his head back, and gulped down the last mouthful of beer. The glass slammed onto the table with a dull thud.

He was in his early forties, rather thin, and wearing a dark blue short-sleeved pl-shirt with the collar hanging loosely on his collarbone.

He leaned back in his chair, turned his head to look at Chen Haitao sitting opposite him, his expression full of resentment and frustration.

"This Mars convoy is too troublesome."

Chen Haitao was looking down, picking at the last few strands of cold noodles in his bowl with his chopsticks, when he heard this and looked up.

He was a few years younger than Lu Jianguo, with a stocky build and broad shoulders. He wore a dark gray crew neck t-shirt, the cuffs of which were stretched so tight they revealed the outline of his arms.

"They are very difficult to deal with."

"But the tough one isn't the team. It's that guy surnamed Lin. It's Zhang Yu's car. It's Bai Xiaojing and her group. Did you see today's practice data? Bai Xiaojing's fastest lap time is 1 minute 46.8 seconds, Guo Erjia's is 1 minute 47.3 seconds, and Xu Lizhu's is 1 minute 47.9 seconds. The top three are all theirs. Our people are in fourth, fifth, seventh, and ninth place. The top three positions are all blocked by the Mars team. We can't even touch the edge of the podium."

Lu Jianguo: "At this rate, we'll have a hard time even getting into the top five." "If we can't even get into the top five, how are we going to explain this to the sponsors?"

Chen Haitao turned his head to look at him.

"How much of the funding gap remains in your energy drink sponsorship contract for the second half of the year?"

Lu Jianguo: "The contract is based on annual performance. If the team doesn't rank in the top three at the end of the year, the sponsorship fee will be cut in half. If it doesn't rank in the top five, it will be terminated directly. Right now, those 820rr cars from the Mars team are dominating us at every race. Forget about the top three, even the top five is in doubt."

"No results, no sponsorship. Without sponsorship, the team simply can't survive. Racing is extremely expensive."

"Have you done the math? We consume at least twenty sets of tires for each of our two cars per race. How much does a set of racing slick tires cost? Add in brake pads, chains, oil, transportation, accommodation, insurance, and the expenses for driver salaries and the mechanic team, and it comes to at least 300,000 yuan a month. If we don't make it into the top five at the end of the year, the sponsorship fee will be cut in half, and we'll have to cover the remaining shortfall ourselves. How many months can your training school's cash flow last?"

Lu Jianguo looked ashen. He reached into the cigarette pack on the table, took out a cigarette, and lit it after pressing the lighter twice.

"I can't hold on for more than a few months. The school's enrollment was already bad this year, and the venue rental has increased by nearly 20%. If I have to spend even more money, I can't survive."

He turned to look at Chen Haitao: "Haitao, how about your side? Can you get the money out of your driver management company for this year's accounts?"

Chen Haitao shook his head decisively: "We can't move the money. The drivers I signed have already had a portion of their appearance fees and prize money pre-paid this year, and the remaining cash flow is just enough to maintain daily operations. If we move more money to the teams, the management companies will cut off their services. You know the consequences: drivers will leave, clients will demand compensation, and once your reputation is ruined, it'll be hard to rebuild."

Lu Jianguo stubbed out the cigarette halfway through in the ashtray. The cigarette butt twisted at the bottom of the ashtray before he pressed it flat.

"So what do you suggest we do? Just watch the Mars team fill every podium at every race? Every point they get is a loss for us. If they pull ahead in the year-end rankings, sponsors won't even bother talking to us next year." "On the track, we can't beat them. That's a fact. The 820rr's chassis and electronic controls are definitely better than ours. Zhang Yu spent three years developing something that we can't catch up to by buying a few used race cars and modifying them."

He paused for a moment, staring at Lu Jianguo.

"But things outside the race track don't necessarily mean you can't outrun them."

Lu Jianguo: "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, if you can't beat them head-on, try another way. Racing rules aren't just about lap times on the track. Vehicle inspections, eligibility, pre-race practice schedules, and the decisions of the race organizers—these things can all affect results."

Lu Jianguo: "You mean, start with the competition organizers?"

"I have connections with the tournament organizers."

Chen Haitao lowered his voice even further.

"An old colleague I knew from my time at the Sports Bureau is now a technical representative on the event organizing committee. He doesn't directly manage the competition, but his team is responsible for implementing the pre-race vehicle inspection procedures and standards. If, during the inspection, certain parameters of some vehicles are deemed 'not fully compliant with the event standards,' that vehicle must be required to undergo modifications. During the modification period, it cannot be driven on the track and must wait until it passes the re-inspection."

Lu Jianguo leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on Chen Haitao's face, but he didn't respond immediately.

Of course he understood.

The car inspection is the last and most crucial step before the race. If the Mars team's main car gets stuck during the inspection, even if it only delays them by half a day, their practice time before the race will be compressed, and the car's setup rhythm will be disrupted.

The difference between top riders is often just a fraction of a second. Losing half a day of practice time can result in a difference of more than half a second in lap time.

Are you sure you can do it?

Lu Jianguo asked.

"That technical representative, would he dare to tamper with the vehicle inspection?"

"It's not about tampering with things."

Chen Haitao corrected him.

"It's about enforcing the standards more strictly within the limits of the rules. For example, inspecting the welds on the chassis, reading data from the electronic control system, and measuring the suspension travel. These items inherently have some flexibility; whether to be stricter or more lenient is up to the technical representative. As long as that 'strictness' is applied in the right places, we can achieve the desired effect."

Lu Jianguo: "What if it gets found out?"

"They can't find anything wrong. All the procedures are followed according to the standards, only the standards are a bit stricter than before. Even if they feel something is wrong, they can't find the specific violation. Because the technical representative didn't do anything wrong; he just enforced the rules more strictly."

Lu Jianguo remained silent for a long while.

"Okay. Go and let them know first. Don't rush things, test their attitude first. If they're willing to cooperate, then we'll discuss the specifics." Chen Haitao nodded: "I'll contact him tomorrow morning. I'll let you know when I have news."

"etc."

Lu Jianguo called out to him.

"Don't let a third person know about this. Not even your assistant. Too many people will talk too much, and if it gets back to the Mars team, we'll be in trouble."

"I know. I won't tell anyone."

Chen Haitao walked to the door of the private room: "Keep an eye on things over there too. That guy surnamed Lin from the Mars Racing team is not someone to be trifled with. He was able to bring down the Zhao family in Shanghai, get in touch with the Shen family, and even get the Shao family and Song Qingci on his side. The things behind this guy are more complicated than we think. If he finds out that we're messing with the vehicle inspection, his retaliation won't just be limited to the racetrack."

"I know."

"But we have no other way to go. If we can't outrun them, we can't outrun them. Sponsors won't wait for us to catch up. If we don't achieve good results again, we won't even be able to raise the registration fees for next year's competition."