Chapter 20

The Biao-ge Gang: "..."

The young man who had suggested street racing took a deep breath, then removed his helmet with obvious frustration, revealing a head of red hair. In a low voice, he said, "How about this? We each take a step back. Let's race horses..."

Red Hair pointed toward the racetrack surrounding the horse field. "If you win, we apologize. If we win, we call this whole thing even. Sound good?"

Red Hair had figured it out too. These kids might be young, but every one of them was hard to deal with. Especially the one holding the little girl in his arms—he talked in circles and was sly as hell.

Lu Chi raised an eyebrow. Before he could speak, someone had already eagerly agreed. "A horse race it is!"

Yue Bin stretched his limbs where he stood, then shot Lu Chi a look that said, Watch your brother work. Eager for a fight, he said, "What are the rules? Lay them out. Speed or hurdles? Even if it's dressage, Little Master will practice with you—"

"Hold it!" Before Yue Bin could finish, Yellow Hair, whose head Xing Yuan had blocked earlier, stepped forward while rubbing the back of his head. Pointing at the tall and sturdy Xing Yuan, he said, "The race is fine. But it'll be between me and him. The rest of you stay out of it."

Everyone's expressions changed again. Yue Bin immediately said, "He can't. He's on our school basketball team, and he has a game next week—"

Yellow Hair scoffed. "What's wrong with being on the basketball team?"

"He can't street race, and he can't race horses either? You guys were jumping around pretty happily just now! So he grew that big for nothing? Like a dog lifting a curtain—he's got nothing but a mouth?"

That was far too insulting. Forget Xing Yuan, who was being targeted—even the others couldn't stand it.

With a livid face, Xing Yuan stepped forward. "Fine, I'll do it. It's just a horse race. I'll still crush you."

Yellow Hair sneered, running his tongue along the inside of his cheek before making a throat-slitting gesture at Xing Yuan.

In an instant, the air turned charged with hostility.

Chapter 20

Once word got out that someone was going to race horses, members who had been elsewhere in the horse field or club all came to watch. The railings on both sides of the track were quickly packed with people, and club staff hurried over to maintain order.

Led by Red Hair, the Street Racers drifted through the crowd of spectators, loudly urging everyone to bet on the horses. When Red Hair reached Lu Chi's group, he grinned with particular arrogance and taunted them, "Want to show your support for that big dumb classmate of yours with some real cash?"

"He plays basketball, right?" Red Hair swung his arm and mimicked Xing Yuan's earlier move with an airborne block. "Let's hope he doesn't get turned into a basketball while racing!"

"He actually dares to race Mad Dog? Doesn't he know Mad Dog loves playing bumper cars when he street races? He's so big—if he falls off the horse and breaks a leg, will he still be able to play basketball? Hahaha..."

The Street Racers' alarmist words made everyone pale. Qiao Shiyu and several female classmates helplessly clasped each other's hands tightly, as though doing so could help share Xing Yuan's burden.

The boys didn't look much better either. They exchanged glances, and Yue Bin gritted his teeth. "Damn it. We shouldn't have fallen for their taunts. I should've gone up myself."

Lu Chi patted Yue Bin on the shoulder, then turned and went to find one of the horse trainers maintaining order nearby.

As one of Yanjing's premier equestrian clubs, the Royal Estate occasionally hosted horse-racing competitions. They were therefore fairly familiar with situations like this. After hearing Lu Chi's concerns, the club's horse trainer assured him that the club would do everything it could to ensure the members' safety and told them not to worry.

Hearing the assurance from a professional, everyone finally let out a breath of relief.

The Street Racers, who had been following behind them, scoffed. Slinging their arms over each other's shoulders, they taunted, "Hey, seriously? You're actually scared? If you're scared, you don't have to race. We adults would feel bad bullying a bunch of high schoolers anyway. Besides, we should leave the little sisters some dignity, shouldn't we? But if that's the case, that big idiot who plays basketball has to apologize to us. And these little sisters should show us something too—"

"So noisy!"

"What a nuisance!"

Yue Bin dug at his ear with his pinky and deliberately asked with an arm around Lu Chi's shoulder, "Do you hear flies buzzing?"

"I do." Lu Chi replied blandly, "Understandable. It's summer. Mosquitoes and flies breed easily, especially in wild places with lush vegetation. For example, XX."

The place Lu Chi referred to as XX happened to be where the Street Racers regularly gathered to challenge one another.

After hearing Yue Bin and Lu Chi's little back-and-forth, the several dyed-hair punks immediately wiped the irritating smiles off their faces.

"Fine!" Red Hair rubbed his lips with his hand and nodded. "You want to keep talking tough? You'll be crying soon enough!"

With that, the Street Racers angrily turned and left under Red Hair's lead. Before going, they jabbed their fingers through the air at Yue Bin and Lu Chi, their provocation unmistakable.

Yue Bin watched coldly as the Street Racers marched into the track with great fanfare. After meeting up with Yellow Hair, they huddled together and whispered about something. Uneasily, Yue Bin asked, "Do you think they'll pull something?"

"Obviously." After considering it for a moment, Lu Chi led everyone over to Xing Yuan to encourage him.

Yue Bin pulled Xing Yuan aside and whispered to him for quite a while, occasionally gesturing as he spoke. Clearly, he was teaching Xing Yuan the essentials of riding.

The Street Racers stood only a few meters away with their arms crossed, looking as though they were watching a show. From time to time, they whistled or raised their arms to flip them off. Seeing Xing Yuan grow increasingly nervous atop the horse, Yue Bin patted the horse's neck and reassured him, "Ignore them. They're deliberately trying to make you nervous. That's what they do in illegal street races. Zero class."

Yue Bin's words made Xing Yuan laugh, and he immediately felt less nervous. The Street Racers, however, glared viciously at them, their provocative gestures becoming even more aggressive.

The staff responsible for maintaining order had no choice but to escort both groups away from the track. Two minutes later, the race officially began.