28 The Race (1)

When I got down to the parking lot, following Li Fei's memory, I spotted a white luxurious car sitting quietly next to a Ferrari. I strode towards the car and unlocked it before getting inside.

The moment I shut the door, put on my seatbelt and grabbed on the steering wheel, my eyebrows were pulled into a frown. Flashes of memories went through my head and each of them were sending signals to my body, awakening my muscle memory.

In my previous life as Airi, I had only learnt driving for five months, but Li Fei was different. She had been sitting behind the wheel for a few years now.

I started the car and gently stepped on the accelerator. When the car began to move, it was as if my body was on autopilot and my mind went into a trance. With a smooth turn of the car wheels, I successfully steered the car out of the parking lot and onto the highway.

Although the way I drove currently was a little stiff as if I was copying someone's movement, but slowly my body was adjusting. Both Li Fei's and my mind seemed to have assimilated themselves and formed a cooperation with my body. It allowed me to completely utilized Li Fei's driving skill as if it was my own.

Thus, my driving became a lot steadier and I felt more at ease as I started to pick up the speed. In the end, a thirty five minutes drive or so, had been cut down to twenty minutes only.

When I arrived at the factory district, it was quiet already since it was currently half past nine, way passed the working hours. Even though I could still hear few noises from some of the buildings, most of them were already emptied.

As I drove deeper into the area, following the GPS, the surrounding got quieter. The buildings on this side of the area were mostly either still on sale or abandoned. The only sound one could hear was perhaps from one or two flickering street lights.

I maneuvered the car towards a factory building which was located near a connecting bridge. When I saw a crowd of people along with the noises that got louder and louder as I steered closer, I was a hundred percent sure that I had successfully reached the meeting point.

In the distance, I could see some of the people who were wearing flashy clothes, especially females with miniskirt or short dresses, even shorts that did not cover their thigh at all. Although it was currently Fall, it did not stop them to dress up provokingly underneath their coats and expensive jackets.

Meanwhile, the males were fairly dressed down, though most of them wore accessories or had tattoos that were still eye-catching.

But, that didn't caught my eyes, what drew my attention was the rows of sport cars that would cost me an arm and a leg in my previous life.

I scoffed.

Yet again, I was reminded the difference between Li Fei and me. I could never imagine myself, in a flash, seeing not one but twenty super cars at the same like this before.

Being reminded of the disparity between us over and over again, it was like rubbing salt onto a wound. It kept telling me, I was still alive. It was such a revolting notion that made my stomach churned.

.....

Once I arrived at the meeting point, I could feel everyone's attention was directed at me. Some of them looked at my car and laughed disparagingly and some of them just didn't give a damn as they merely glanced before looking away.

I parked my car at one of the empty spot near a sleek black car. There were less people hanging around this spot, just a couple of them and they were all men.

There were two guys who were sitting on top of their car hood at the other side of the black car. Cigarettes were pinched between their fingers as they smoked them once in a while during their talk.

When my car approached the area, one of them who was dressed casually with a threatening aura surrounding him, stared at my direction with vigilance. Then, I saw him getting up once my car drew closer.

He was about to walk towards me when I saw him stop at the appearance of a long slender hand from behind the window of the black car. Alas, the man returned back to his friend after slightly bowing towards the owner of the car.

I raised an eyebrow before swiftly parking my car at the empty spot. As soon as I did, the window of the black car beside me was rolled down. I knitted my eyebrows before rolling down my window as well.

From the dark veil of the night, two sharp eyes greeted me. They were gleaming under the blessing of the moonlight.

A smirk of his thin lips was akin to a blooming red rose. Enchantingly beautiful yet painfully thorny.

"A greenie."

A lazy voice escaped from between his sexy lips. It brushed gently against my ears. From the tone of his voice, it didn't sound like a greeting. It sounded more like he was teasing playfully.

But for me, he sounded like a burden.

Hence, I ignored him and rolled up my window again. Though before I could completely sealed off his voice, I heard him speak again.

"Are you here to hang out or to race?"

I turned my window back down again and as I looked on expressionlessly at him, I answered, "Race."

The smile on his face became more prominent and dangerously chilling. It was as if I could sense a bloodthirsty excitement emanating from him.

"What's your name?" He asked.

My eyebrows immediately scrunched up at the question and even after a two minutes silence, I still remained unresponsive. But, the temperature around me had unknowingly dropped several degrees.

"Where do I go for the race?" I asked emotionlessly, treating his previous question like air.

For that, I earned myself a round of laughter from him. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. At that time, I had wondered if the people who were hanging out here were mostly a loony like him.

"Can you even race? You look like you're gonna faint from the speed itself."

I kept quiet as I watched him smirking ambiguously at me.

Nevertheless, I asked for the last time, "Where?"

He chuckled. This time, without beating around the bush, he ordered, "Follow me."

I nodded, then he drove away from his parking spot and I followed him from behind. He brought us straight to the starting line not too far away from a connecting bridge.

Three sport cars had already stood by their positions. The man drove towards the middle spot and I beside him, the fourth position from the right.

I blinked my eyes when my car had reached the starting line. It was strange. Before we drove by, I could still hear people chattering around the starting line and three other racers were provoking one another playfully.

However, the moment we took our positions, I could only hear faint whisperings and the gazes of the people around were especially penetrating as they stared at the black car.

The owner himself didn't seemed to be bothered by the extra attention everyone was showering him with. He only had his eyes towards a certain direction.

"You sure you wanna do this?" He asked which won him nothing but a stifling silence.

"Well, good luck, little one."

I didn't bother to reply him and shut off my window on his face. Because of that, I had missed the cunning smile spread across his face.

Right now, I had only one goal. Not to win, but to feel once again.

So, I would ride. I would ride against the wind and raced without restrain, until my heart awakened from its slumber.

Until the numbness melted into fear.