TF01 19

The CEO returned faster than Shi Yi and Ying Ming had expected.

The previous call had already alerted the rest stop, and they had sent out a vehicle. It happened to cross paths with the CEO on his way back, so he led them straight over.

Ying Ming and Shi Yi stepped aside to give the paramedics room to work. Dong Xiao was covered in blood, the sight of it almost too much to take. Shi Yi could not look anymore and took a few steps away.

Ying Ming glanced at him. “What’s wrong?”

“How the hell did he end up like this?”

Even if he had been pushing himself for a bet, he would not have driven like he had a death wish.

But Ying Ming had no answer for him.

The two exchanged a look before turning their eyes back to Dong Xiao, now surrounded by the paramedics. A heavy feeling settled in their chests.

Just then, Ying Ming’s phone rang.

It was Kou Jing.

As soon as he picked up, the other man started yelling. “Mingzi, are you okay?”

“I’m not the one in trouble.”

“I was outside the whole time and didn’t have my phone on me. I missed Shi Yi’s calls. I only just got back and found out what happened. Scared the hell out of me.”

Kou Jing clearly already knew about Dong Xiao. Ying Ming frowned. “Can you arrange to get him to a hospital as soon as possible?”

By the time the paramedics arrived, Dong Xiao could barely make a sound. His breathing was so faint it was impossible to tell what he was trying to say. His condition looked bad. Who knew how much longer he could hold on?

Kou Jing tried to reassure him. “Don’t worry, the hospital has been informed. They’ll handle it. No one wanted this to happen, but you guys need to be more careful. This race is just a game. There’s no need to risk your lives.”

“So you’re saying the race is still going on?”

“The media is being kept in the dark for now. This event had a huge promotional push. If something really goes wrong, it’ll be a mess. I can’t explain everything right now, but the race is definitely going to continue.”

It was obvious Kou Jing was not alone. He spoke vaguely, and before Ying Ming could press him for details, the call ended.

That annoyed him.

He pocketed his phone. Meanwhile, the paramedics seemed to have stabilized Dong Xiao a little. The three of them lifted him onto the ambulance. Shi Yi and Ying Ming went over to check, asking about his condition, but the doctors remained vague. “It’s too early to say, but it doesn’t look too serious.”

With that, they shut the doors and drove off.

Dong Xiao’s car was totaled. The CEO had taken Ying Ming’s car, while his own would need a tow truck. They could not just stay there, so in the end, Ying Ming rode with Shi Yi.

The other racers were not all aware of Dong Xiao’s accident. The race was still ongoing.

As soon as he got in, Ying Ming lit a cigarette.

Shi Yi glanced at him. “You’re smoking in a car like this? What if you burn yourself?”

One rough bump and the lit end could touch anything.

Ying Ming did not turn his head, just exhaled a mouthful of smoke. “I’m pissed off.”

“Didn’t the doctors say Dong Xiao isn’t in critical condition?”

“They always say that unless someone dies.” Ying Ming’s tone was sharp. “Does he look ‘not serious’ to you?”

He had seen people in the ER bleeding from their heads, getting yelled at by nurses to go queue up at registration. To doctors, as long as someone was still breathing, they were not considered critical.

He was fuming. His brows had been knotted this whole time as he took hard drags from his cigarette.

Shi Yi had not been in a great mood either, and Ying Ming’s frustration was rubbing off on him. In the end, he slammed the brakes and brought the car to a stop.

“Give me one.”

Shi Yi took the cigarette from Ying Ming, leaned against the door, and stared into the vast expanse of yellow earth in the distance without saying a word.

The silence between them was suffocating.

Ying Ming finished his cigarette, but the frustration still gnawed at him. He reached for another, only for Shi Yi to press down on his hand.

“If you keep smoking like this, you won’t need atypical pneumonia. The regular kind will do you in just fine. Smoking won’t solve anything.”

They both knew that.

But knowing didn’t mean they could just turn off their thoughts and stop brooding. It was always easier said than done.

Ying Ming frowned. “Just one more.”

There was only one cigarette left in the pack. Shi Yi hesitated for a moment before handing it over, listening to the flick of the lighter. He let out a deep breath, unconsciously mirroring the motion.

Then, without warning, Ying Ming asked, “Have you ever thought about what you’d do if you became disabled one day?”

Shi Yi was taken aback.

He turned the question over in his mind before looking at Ying Ming. “Dong Xiao’s condition is that bad?”

If Ying Ming was bringing this up now, it was not out of nowhere.

The man beside him let out a quiet chuckle, as if surprised by Shi Yi’s sharpness. He did not turn to face him, only continued gazing into the side mirror.

“Doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Dong Xiao,” he said. “Just crossed my mind.”

The cigarette in his hand burned idly, barely smoked. Its faint trail of smoke curled upward, dissolving into the scorching sunlight.

“I’ve never really thought about it. If it happened, I guess I’d just focus on living,” Shi Yi eventually said, watching Ying Ming thoughtfully. “What about you?”

“I don’t know…” Ying Ming answered almost instantly.

Then, after a pause, he added, “I’d probably do everything I could to make sure it never happened.”

A healthy person could never truly understand what a disabled person had lost.

Until that moment comes, anything you say is pointless.

Hearing Ying Ming’s answer, Shi Yi chuckled with a hint of mockery. “No one wants to end up in that kind of situation, but if it really happens, the only thing you can do is figure out how to keep going.”

That was how Shi Yi saw things.

No one wanted accidents to happen, but when they did, the first thing to think about was what came next.

Ying Ming wasn’t surprised by his answer. In fact, if anyone around him would say something like that, it would be Shi Yi.

There’s a saying about people who fear nothing. They’re called reckless.

Shi Yi had a bit of that in him. But most of the time, people who feared nothing simply had nothing to lose. They were barefoot and had no reason to fear those wearing shoes. Shi Yi was the opposite. He had almost everything he wanted within his grasp. He had felt the taste of success too clearly, which was why he didn’t fear challenges.

He was confident he could handle whatever came his way.

Timing, opportunity, and connections, he had them all. Success was just a matter of time.

Ying Ming thought about it and curled his lips, throwing out a teasing remark. “Living like you do must feel pretty damn good.”

No need to worry about all the messy bullshit. Just decide whether you want to do something or not.

Shi Yi glanced at him but stayed silent. The words didn’t sit well. He understood the underlying meaning behind them, and if it had been anyone else, he might have snapped.

But maybe because today was different, or maybe because it was Ying Ming who said it, he only furrowed his brows slightly.

Even if you didn’t smoke it, a cigarette would still burn out eventually.

Shi Yi saw that Ying Ming’s cigarette was nearly finished. Without asking, he started the car.

The road ahead was as rough as ever.

Neither of them spoke in the car. The GPS showed that there were far more cars ahead than before. At some point, they had fallen quite a bit behind.

Ying Ming held onto the roof handle with one hand. Dust filled the air outside, but he had no intention of closing the window. The wind swept the dust inside before the car’s speed sent it rushing out again.

Shi Yi kept his pace steady, neither rushing to catch up with the cars ahead nor trying to put distance between them and the ones behind. A drive that should have taken two hours stretched over forty extra minutes before they reached the next rest stop. By then, others had already finished lunch.

Some had even left ahead of them.

Shi Yi and Ying Ming got out to use the restroom. Then Ying Ming went to refuel while Shi Yi went to buy lunch. As he stood in line, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

A missed call.

The call had already ended before he could answer. The screen showed the name of a director from Weisai Group.

They had shared a few meals before, so they had each other’s contact information.

The staff serving food asked him what he wanted, but he stood there holding his phone without responding for a long time. When Ying Ming returned and saw what he had bought, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“What’s this about?”

Both of their meal boxes had four servings of stir-fried eggs with chili. The rice was buried underneath, making the whole thing look ridiculous.

In this scorching heat, eating that much spicy food was just asking for trouble.

Shi Yi only raised an eyebrow when he realized his mistake. “Just eat. It’s only meant to fill the stomach anyway.”

Ying Ming shrugged, sat down, and started eating without another word.

The restaurant had a television playing sports news on a loop. Their rally race was being broadcasted live. Someone with too much time on their hands kept flipping through channels before finally landing on the right one, drawing a few glances from the people around them.

The news report had nothing new to say. It was the usual, talking about how lively the event was and how dedicated the drivers were. The headline about challenging oneself was printed in large bold letters, and the Weisai logo was deliberately placed beside it.

Ying Ming glanced at the screen. “They actually managed to keep it under wraps.”

Such a major incident had occurred midway through the race, yet the news was filled with praise without a single mention of it.

Shi Yi took a sip of soup and watched the footage in silence.

He was starting to understand why Ying Ming had been so agitated earlier.

Dong Xiao’s injury was not just about how bad it was. The real issue was what kind of outcome this accident would bring in the end.

Looking at how things were unfolding, the result was not going to be satisfying.

At the very least, Dong Xiao would not be happy about it.

Right now, he was probably in the hospital undergoing emergency treatment, yet among the dozens of people sitting here, only a handful even knew what had happened.

That handful included Shi Yi and Ying Ming, the only two people who had saved his life.