Afei and Ning Qiaoqian stared intently at the t-shirt, while Chen Yang remained nonchalant.
Just as the t-shirt hit the ground, the previously languid Chen Yang sprang up like a spring, his eyes suddenly flashing with a sharp light. He pressed the clutch, shifted gears, and accelerated—his movements fluid and lightning-fast, a stark contrast to his previous languid demeanor.
Afei had clearly prepared well in advance, but the moment the starting signal sounded, it was Chen Yang's car that surged ahead, crossing the starting line first…
The two race cars sped across the starting line like arrows released from a bow, hurtling off at breakneck speed. In moments, they left the headlights and cheers of the crowd far behind.
Ning Qiaoqian felt a tremendous force slam into her seat, causing her to feel dizzy. When she regained her senses, she saw the streetlights outside the window flashing by like shooting stars, their light fleeting. Ahead lay the wide Third Ring Road, its view unobstructed. Clearly, Afei's car was already lagging behind at the start.
Ning Qiaoqian was experiencing such a strong push-back feeling in her own car for the first time. It was obvious that Chen Yang had pushed the GTR's power to its limit from the moment it started. She couldn't help but cast an astonished glance at Chen Yang beside her. He had a slight frown, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, his expression focused intently on the road ahead. His right hand was frequently shifting gears; the coordination between the accelerator and clutch was fluid and precise, demonstrating exceptional professionalism.
After rounding a small bend, a long straight road appeared ahead. Chen Yang sighed slightly. He had already pushed the car's performance to its limit, but on such a wide, straight road, the GTR, with its inferior power compared to Afei's Porsche, was destined to be overtaken.
Sure enough, a moment later, the dazzling headlights of a Porsche 911 appeared in the rearview mirror, and the roar of an engine came from the side. Afei arrogantly drove past Chen Yang.
Ning Qiaoqian gripped the handrail above the car door tightly with her right hand, as if she could help Chen Yang by doing so. Seeing A Fei overtake her, Ning Qiaoqian punched the glove box in frustration, turning to look at Chen Yang, wanting to ask why he didn't block the overtaking lane, but hesitated, afraid of disturbing him.
Chen Yang seemed to know Ning Qiaoqian's thoughts, focusing intently on driving while casually saying:
"This road is so wide, you can't possibly block it even if you wanted to. Don't worry, the race has only just begun; it can't all be straightaways!"
Chen Yang's confident demeanor resonated with Ning Qiaoqian, calming her nerves considerably.
After the straightaways came several small curves, which A Fei passed almost without slowing down, widening the gap between the two cars. Ning Qiaoqian grew increasingly anxious, but seeing Chen Yang's confident expression, a glimmer of hope returned.
Sure enough, on the next S-curve, seeing his significant lead, Afei became a bit cautious. Chen Yang, however, maintained high concentration throughout. Ning Qiaoqian clearly felt that his entry speed into the curve was considerably faster than Afei's, but Chen Yang's entry angle was perfect. Therefore, although the car sped towards the curve, there was absolutely no sense of loss of control; the car traced a perfect arc and accurately entered the bend.
Smoothly navigating the final corner of the S-curve, Chen Yang deftly shifted into top gear, floored the accelerator, and the car sped out of the curve. As soon as he emerged, Afei's taillights were almost within reach.
"Yay!" Ning Qiaoqian clenched her fist excitedly, her eyes shining with anticipation.
Afei also noticed Chen Yang's approach and frantically accelerated, trying to use the car's performance to shake Chen Yang off again. No matter how he changed his route, Chen Yang's car stuck to his rear like glue, neither trying to overtake nor falling behind.
Ning Qiaoqian looked at Chen Yang, somewhat puzzled. Just now, on a bend, A Fei had made a mistake in his haste, choosing the wrong route. Chen Yang clearly had a chance to overtake directly from the inside lane, but he didn't do so, choosing instead to stick close to A Fei's car.
Chen Yang felt Ning Qiaoqian's gaze, smiled slightly, and said calmly:
"That's called the wake effect. Overtaking now is pointless. Once we get to the straight, that kid can immediately overtake us. It's better to stick close to him; it's less effort and more worry."
Ning Qiaoqian's mouth dropped open, staring at Chen Yang as if he were an alien.
As a racing enthusiast, Ning Qiaoqian naturally knew about the so-called "wake effect." When a vehicle travels at extremely high speeds, a small vacuum is created behind the car. When a car approaches from behind, because this is a vacuum area, the drag is much less, which is equivalent to gaining extra momentum. Everyone understands the theory, but Ning Qiaoqian had never seen anyone apply it in practice at this level of underground racing, because C-sections were simply too difficult to execute.
Upon hearing Chen Yang's words, Ning Qiaoqian suddenly realized that from the moment they emerged from the S-curve until now, Chen Yang's GTR had been almost glued to the rear of the Porsche 911 in front. No matter how A Fei changed lines, Chen Yang could easily keep up, and in fact, Ning Qiaoqian had clearly felt a significant increase in speed.
No wonder A Fei couldn't shake off our car on the straight ahead! Ning Qiaoqian suddenly understood. At the same time, her interest in Chen Yang grew stronger. He used to be a quiet, reserved person, but in just a week or two, he not only dared to flirt with her but also displayed exceptional musical talent. Today, he even showed off his almost superhuman racing skills. Just how many more surprises could this kid have in store for me? Ning Qiaoqian cast a playful glance at Chen Yang.
Chen Yang, oblivious to everything, was focused on driving. A few meters ahead, a Porsche 911 was also speeding along.
A Fei had clearly noticed Chen Yang's intentions, but was helpless. Chen Yang's driving skills were exceptional; no matter how he changed his approach, he couldn't shake him off.
After rounding a bend, A Fei suddenly saw a slow-moving car ahead. This was a car that shouldn't have been there. Before the race, the organizers would clear the track, but this was an underground race, not an official one, so oversights were inevitable. The Third Ring Road was newly built; although not fully open, people often drove up there for a spin.
A Fei's eyes darted around, and a plan suddenly formed in his mind. With years of racing experience, he immediately realized that this was a bend, and Chen Yang couldn't see the car from his angle. So…
A sinister smile crept across A Fei's face.
Chen Yang continued to follow closely behind the Porsche, his eyes completely focused on the rear of the 911, utterly absorbed.
Suddenly, without warning, the car in front abruptly changed lanes, darting from the leftmost fast lane to the rightmost slow lane.
The same trick again!
Chen Yang sneered inwardly, and just as he was about to change lanes to follow, his eyes suddenly narrowed!
Another car had appeared ahead! And this car was incredibly slow; almost the instant Chen Yang reacted, its bright red taillights were already upon him!
There was virtually no way to avoid it!
Ning Qiaoqian also immediately noticed this, and instinctively screamed.
Chen Yang instantly calmed down, his mind clearing. He swiftly pulled the handbrake, simultaneously giving the steering wheel a slight jerk to the left. The GTR's tires screeched, and the rear of the car swung violently to the right.
Chen Yang immediately released the handbrake, his movements lightning fast, shifted gears, and slammed on the accelerator. The car almost grazed the rear bumper of the slower car in front, hurtling towards the outside of the curve at high speed.
Ning Qiaoqian instinctively closed her eyes the instant the accident occurred. When she opened them, the slow-moving car had disappeared from sight, but hurtling towards her at high speed was the concrete guardrail on the outside of the curve. Ning Qiaoqian couldn't help but scream again.
As Chen Yang avoided the slow-moving car, he immediately pulled the handbrake again and steered to the right. The car fishtailed again just before hitting the guardrail, its front end aligned with the road.
Shift gears!
Accelerate!
Chen Yang's actions were fluid and seamless, without the slightest hesitation, and the car returned to normal driving.
The high-speed swaying created a tremendous centripetal force, and the seatbelts locked instantly. Still shaken, Ning Qiaoqian rubbed her shoulder, which ached from the seatbelt, and turned to look at Chen Yang. He remained calm, focused on driving the race car. Ning Qiaoqian couldn't detect a trace of emotion in Chen Yang; even his fingers on the steering wheel didn't tremble.
The whole process took only a second or two, but the two experienced a brush with death.
"What's this kid's heart made of? How can he remain so calm!" Ning Qiaoqian, a survivor, thought to herself.
Chen Yang's emergency maneuver disrupted his rhythm and affected his speed. Afei's car pulled further ahead, and now Chen Yang could only see Afei's taillights from a distance. However, Ning Qiaoqian remained confident in Chen Yang. The earlier C-section had shown her Chen Yang's true ability, and she knew very well that Afei, this so-called retired racer, was not in the same league as Chen Yang.
Sure enough, Chen Yang, with his perfect cornering technique, relentlessly pursued, gradually closing the gap between the two cars. The finish line was also in sight. Only one hairpin turn remained, followed by a straightaway, ending at the finish line.
In the blink of an eye, the two cars plunged into the hairpin turn, one after the other. Afei also pushed his skills to the limit. He chose the conventional outside lane to enter the corner, then cut to the innermost part of the bend, controlling his speed perfectly. In the final stage of the race, his focus was extremely high; he couldn't allow himself to lose to an unknown newcomer.
Ning Qiaoqian's eyes dimmed when she saw Afei's entry line. His opponent's car was far superior, and he hadn't made a mistake on this last corner. Even with Chen Yang's extraordinary skills, there was no hope of winning.
To Ning Qiaoqian's surprise, the hairpin bend was almost upon them, but Chen Yang didn't slow down at all. The car sped towards the bend like a runaway bull…