Chapter 08

Back at the garage,

"Shen! How dare you take our Garage orders!!" A man with a beard said as he kicked a bucket of used diesel making it spread all over the ground.

"Jason! What the hell are you doing? And when did I ever take your orders?" Shen asked his face showing confusion.

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"Don't act so innocent~ don't you remember the Bike testing project from Bejing was sent to our sector in Chongqing? Our boss worked hard to please the director but in the end, you played some tricks and took away his opportunity!!" One of the men from the other side said,

"Ha! I see so that's what you are talking about? First, I didn't know about all this, and second, I didn't play any tricks to win this project, and lastly, if you said about it nicely I would have thought about it but you came and caused a ruckus, so better leave peacefully or I will report you to the authorities!" Shen said with a stirring look.

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"Report me to authorities?" Jason says and looks at the other side where Xian and Ling entered the room. "Are you sure? It's me who is going to be reported~"

Shen then looks over at Xian and clicked his tongue,

"What do you want?" He asked in a calm tone,

"Shen we have been working in these filed for the same time, so I wouldn't be cruel enough to take over such a big project unfairly~"

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"Jason just come to the point!"

"Let's race, one opponent from my team and one from yours. Whoever wins the project will be theirs~ we can choose each other's opponents plus if you win, I will never disturb your work again."

Shen looks at him and after thinking for a while he agrees.

"You better remember your words!"

"I will, now let's choose the opponents, shall we?"

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"Fine then, I choose that big mouth!" Shen said as he pointed towards the man who spoke earlier.

"Oh! You chose Mike~ He is a newbie then I will choose a newbie too *He looks around at the new faces and points towards Xian* I will choose him!" Jason said with a smile.

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Looking at him pointing at Xian, everyone got tensed, "What!" Ling almost shouted but Xian calmly held his hand and shook his head.

"Why? Did I say anything wrong? He looks like he just came back from racing, he must be a newbie too right...maybe a bit too good that's why you let him ride the newest model out for testing...didn't you?"

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"Jason! Anybody but him." Shen said in a calm tone, Jason smiled and said, "Really then...how about the boy next to him."

This time he pointed at Ling, "Jason He isn't here for racing!"

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"Yet you let him join in the testing field, while you know pretty well that's it's against the rule and can cause you a huge penalty and you even let a newbie ride the bike out for testing when you know we'll only certified bikers are allowed to do so...I wonder what will happen if this news gets out?" Hearing this everyone especially Ling and Xian was shocked.

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"So whatever we did was illegal?" Ling thought and hiccuped,

"Jason! What I do here is none of your business plus they are no strangers. Ling is like my own younger brother and Xian isn't a newbie, if you know he rode before then you must have seen how he rode it too, right?" Shen said with confidence,

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"Fine then, get ready for the competition! It will hold the day after tomorrow. No excuses allowed." He said as he looked at Xian who was standing there with a straight face.

With that, he left the garage and Shen fell to the ground, his hands and legs were all shivering the confident look now replaced by a nervous and pale face.

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"Boss!!" The workers cried and walked holding him up, "Damm! Those cunning foxes! They must have been keeping an eye on us since the beginning!" Shen cursed as he drank water from the bottle nearby.

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"Shen Ge...I am really sorry!" Ling said as he bowed before him.

"Don't do that Ling, you will make me feel worse..*Looks at Xian* my carelessness left both of you in this mess. Don't worry, you don't need to join the race--"

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"But boss you will have to give Jason the project and it will be a great loss for us...plus we have already ordered the spare parts and invited the bikers for testing...you will lose a huge amount!" The workers chirped said in a panicked tone.

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Hearing this Ling felt even more troubled and bad for Shen, but he couldn't just tell Xian to join riding for fun and racing are two different things.

"I will join." Xian who has been quiet this whole time said making Shen and Ling look at him with wide eyes.

"WHAT?" Both of them shouted at the same time.

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"Boy! This is a race and those people are outstanding at playing dirty! And I can't ensure your safety."

"I will be fine and you don't have any other choice."

Shen looked at him with a *nothing can be done with you look* and looked over at Ling whose eyes were fixed at Xian.

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"He-Ling, please tell your friend to reconsider. This is really risky.." Shen said and walked away from there.

"Xian let's go home." Ling said as he smiled at him and both of them bid goodbye to everyone.

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The sky was now turning orange and red making the time for sunset, the birds chirped happily and the road side stalls marked their sales beginning.

Ling and Xian walked side by side on the road quietly, since they left the garage no one has spoke a single word.

Ling was lost in thoughts while Xian was busy looking our for him. The silence was finally broken when Xian's stomach grumbled and he turned crimson red.

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Ling looks at him and Giggles, "Looks like you are hungry", he commented and the next second his stomach started grumbling too.

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"And so are you." Xian says with a smirk,

"Haha!! That's because we skipped lunch today. How about we have some snacks for the time being, I will cook once we reach home."

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"We can just have dinner outside, can't we?"

"No, you still need to eat healthy and nutritional food, plus you need to take your medicines too. They are too strong so heavy food is essential."

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"Fine..." With that both of them sat at a stall and had rice cakes and dumplings, once again Xian got his tounge burned because of the spiciness.

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"Let me take a shower first and then I will stay preparing for dinner." Ling said as he hurriedly enter the bathroom while Xian just dumped himself on the sofa.

He closed his eyes and the time he spend on biking came in his mind, his heart once again accelerated.

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After having dinner, both of them sat on the drawing room doing their own things,

"Ling, why don't you stop me?" Xian asked all of a sudden.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ling who was reading a book asked quite confused.

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"The race...it's risky.. why aren't you saying anything to me?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"...."

"Xian, it's true I saved you but that doesn't mean I own you. You still have your own right and mind...although I am very worried but at the same time I believe that I should trust you." Ling said as he kept his book down and smiled.

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Ling looked at him and then kept his head on his lap, closing his eyes he said, "I just wanted to ride, despite the difficulties...I don't know the past but right now I feel like this is the best thing and I must do it..."

"Then do it" Ling said as he slowly massaged his forhead.

Xian then opened his eyes all of sudden and they stared right into each other eyes.

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"You trust me so much...Ling aren't you afraid of being hurted? Afterall I am still a stranger..." Xian asked his eyes showing pure sincerity.

"Xian if you really didn't meant well, you won't lie here and be worried about me, being hurt. And you are no stranger but my friend." Ling replied with a smile that showed his beautifully arranged bunny teeth.

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"You know, you have bunny teeth." Hearing that Ling covered his mouth and turned to the other side.

"Why are you hiding it?" Xian asked as he raised himself and faced Ling again.

"Because it's funny... my teeth.."

"No, its not, your bunny teeth are actually what make you cuter."

"No it doesn't! Good night!" Ling said with a blushing face and ran towards his room.

"But that's the truth..." Xian said before switching off the TV and returning to his room.

"Why must he say such things..I am a boy not cute." Ling mumbled under the blanket and another night passed peacefully for them.