Night Rose

Zhou Zheng raised an eyebrow, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. "What is it?"

"You'll see when we get back." Su Jin patted his shoulder, then turned to Wang Tianle and said, "Little Fatty, oh no, Tianle, you're not Little Fatty anymore, you've finally lost weight. Come on over, there's a gift for you."

"What about mine?" Tu Ying rubbed his hands together excitedly.

Su Jin chuckled, led Tu Ying to another spot, and whispered, "Boss Tu, the gifts I'm supposed to give them are the ones you're supposed to prepare. You're asking me for gifts? I haven't even asked for my salary yet."

Alarm bells rang in Tu Ying's head. Afraid that Su Jin would change her mind, she quickly stepped aside. "Hey, we agreed that engineers don't get paid, you can't go back on your word! We can always pay you next time! I don't need the gift!"

The four of them made their way back to the tavern, encountering familiar faces along the way, with some even greeting Tu Ying from across the driveway.

"Hey, Boss Tu, off to practice driving?"

The other party's tone was full of mockery. They simply did not believe that Tu Ying, an outsider, could lead such a small group to victory. They thought the group was just there to embarrass themselves.

"Oh, what's up? Want to invest? I can accept your investment now. There's still space on the race car for a 'GG' sticker." Tu Ying pointed generously to the car behind, his attitude quite arrogant, not being led by anyone at all.

The man glanced at the unremarkable car with disdain. "I heard professional racing teams are here. Do you think this piece of junk can win? Do you even have an engineer? You didn't just rely on a mechanic shop to modify it, did you?"

Tu Ying looked at Su Jin as if she had heard a joke, and said, "Master Engineer Su, someone is questioning you."

"We'll see who wins on the field, there's nothing more to say." Su Jin made a throat-slitting gesture.

Tu Ying was so happy he just laughed. As the red light turned green, he left the man with only one sentence, leaving him bewildered in the wind.

"If this piece of junk wins, you'll have to kneel down and call me grandpa!"

Tu Ying glanced at the rearview mirror; the man's middle finger was almost blurry, and the car behind him was still honking at him relentlessly.

"That was so much fun!"

Several packages were piled up at the entrance of the tavern, with two tightly wrapped boxes blocking the doorway.

Tu Ying leaned closer to take a look and saw that the recipient was Su Jin, but the sender was overseas!

"What is this?"

Su Jin took a pair of scissors and handed them to Zhou Zheng.

"Go ahead and dismantle it."

Zhou Zheng held the scissors, still warm from her touch. "A gift?"

Su Jin crossed her arms and nodded vigorously, "Yes, hurry up and take it apart, don't dawdle."

Zhou Zheng wasn't one to dawdle. He jabbed the tape with the sharp end of the scissors and smoothly pulled it apart. He then made two cuts on the left and right sides, and the package unfolded, revealing the foam padding inside.

Through the transparent foam padding, Zhou Zheng could vaguely see what was inside, but he wasn't sure. He looked up at Su Jin, who winked at him happily, signaling him to continue unpacking.

With a few scissor cuts from Zhou Zheng, the foam pad was pulled out, revealing the carbon fiber helmet inside.

The black helmet was almost brand new, with no fancy accessories, and a barely noticeable scratch on the left side.

Tu Ying stared wide-eyed. No wonder Su Jin said that he, as the boss, should have bought these for them, but how could he afford such expensive helmets?

"Didn't you say that you only get it if you beat He Zhangxing?" Zhou Zheng said, his eyes glued to the helmet, unwilling to look away.

Su Jin scoffed, "I was just kidding. Besides, it's not new. It was bought for me by a contestant I know. It's secondhand, so it'll do."

The helmet was said to be second-hand, but it was actually very new, with no strange smell and almost no wear and tear on any part.

"We didn't have time to order custom racing suits, so I talked to the venue and we'll just rent the two sets you use for practice," Su Jin said.

Zhou Zheng stared at her intently, about to say something, but she raised her hand to interrupt him.

"I know you're going to say again that it's a waste of money and unnecessary. But I don't want anything to happen to my racers. If there's a fire, you'll all be burned to death. Understand? I don't want to bear the burden of your lives, and I'm sure Boss Tu doesn't want that either."

"Nothing will happen." Zhou Zheng said arrogantly, full of confidence in himself.

Su Jin sighed. She wished she could be that confident, but the lesson from two months ago was still fresh in her mind.

Those were athletes with professional protective gear, and they've all been in a coma since the car accident. Su Jin wouldn't dare let Zhou Zheng and Wang Tianle, those two half-baked athletes, compete without any safety precautions.

Wang Tianle also received his helmet, a dark blue one. He held it up and thought it fit him well, perfectly matching his head circumference.

"Sister Su, you're so thoughtful! My parents would be so happy if I had a girlfriend like you. You agree, right, Brother Zhou?"

"No," Zhou Zheng retorted almost instinctively.

"Ah, what's wrong with this... Ugh! Ugh..." Before Wang Tianle could finish his rebuttal, Tu Ying covered his mouth and led him away.

"Come on, try on your new helmet!" Tu Ying shouted, winking at Zhou Zheng to give them some space to get along.

"Did something get in your eye?" Zhou Zheng asked in surprise.

Tu Ying, speechless, pulled Wang Tianle away. "How tactless!"

Su Jin ignored their teasing, squatted down and unpacked the other packages. After finishing, she casually tossed one to Zhou Zheng, saying, "Stand aside and help out. Don't think you can slack off."

"This helmet..." Zhou Zheng hesitated.

"No need to thank me, and there's no need to return it. If you don't need it anymore, I can sell it or send it back to him."

"Him? Who is he? It's not your ex-boyfriend, is it?"

Su Jin shifted her body, feeling inexplicably angry at the mention of her ex-boyfriend.

"What's our relationship? He's a racer I used to know. He's rich, a helmet or two is nothing to him. He didn't ask me for money, I just treated him to a meal."

The words "He's got a lot of money" struck a chord with someone, and Zhou Zheng's heart started racing; he guessed that Zhou Zheng was furious.

But the gap between being rich and not being rich is indeed too large to bridge.

Zhou Zheng was a pragmatic person; he didn't throw a tantrum and say he didn't want the helmet, nor did he get angry. The person had gone to great lengths to get him the helmet and had even considered his pride by not buying him a new one; he should be grateful.

"Wait until I win you a championship," Zhou Zheng said in a deep voice.

"Okay, I want this one." Su Jin turned around and smiled at him, her smile bright and radiant, which, combined with her beautiful face, was truly captivating.

Zhou Zheng forced himself to look away, stomped on the stone with his toes, and kicked it far away.

"By the way, we're surveying the route tomorrow, are you coming?"