"I don't drink either." Shen Qi raised his glass. "Thank you... I hope I can score some points in the Winter Race."
"You definitely will," Sayaka said earnestly. "I've been following your races. It's obvious the Little Sheep hasn't been going all out. You're holding something back."
Shen Qi didn't deny it. "The T2 Drivers ahead of me are leaving themselves some room too. I have to be careful."
When it came to racing, Sayaka could talk endlessly, brimming with enthusiasm.
"That race car behind me today, the Cultivation Pod-did you think it was very unusual?"
"I caught a few scattered shots of the driver. She was a very young girl."
Sayaka couldn't easily go out, so she could only watch the live broadcasts on television.
The Preliminaries usually focused on star Drivers or dark horses with particularly outstanding performances, leaving little screen time for ordinary Drivers.
Meng Ai had appeared briefly on screen, and Sayaka was very curious about her.
She could learn about the main course of the races through television and the media, but had no way of hearing about the interesting incidents and details at the venue.
Back when she raced herself, she had loved chatting and gossiping with the other Drivers afterward.
Now she could no longer be so freely active at the track. Aside from hearing a few interesting stories about Pokémon-format events from the Lurantis sisters, Sayaka could only turn to Shen Qi for interesting news about Trainer-format events.
"Well, at the Saffron City Regular Race..."
Shen Qi began with his first encounter with Meng Ai and the story of Ayaka. Sayaka listened so intently that she nearly ignored the food the maid brought to her lips.
Ayaka was an extraordinarily dazzling rising Driver, capable of winning three consecutive championships and earning T2