Chà Chà Novel

Everyone dissolved into laughter, paying no attention to whether Tan Shengbie survived the ride.

Ji Shileng raised an eyebrow, unscrewed his water bottle, and took a sip to moisten his throat.

“He’s our guest. Show a little respect”

Despite his words, his eyes remained indifferent. He hardly seemed concerned about Tan Shengbie at all.

“Haha, trust Shileng to keep us in line”

A friend clapped him on the shoulder, taking none of it seriously.

If Ji Shileng had truly wanted to spare Tan Shengbie, he would never have let Su Ke drag him into the car.

They all knew exactly how well Su Ke drove.

A single circuit of the mountain roads would take at least several dozen minutes.

The group of privileged young heirs moved from discussing stocks to interstellar affairs, each speaking with apparent expertise.

They had teased Su Ke for following the Interstellar Military Competition, but in truth, every one of them was keeping a close eye on the results.

Their families might not need them to shoulder any responsibilities yet, but they still had to understand the things that mattered.

Meanwhile, after Su Ke took him around the mountain roads several times, Tan Shengbie barely made it out of the car before collapsing to his knees on the asphalt, his normally straight back folding into a tight curve.

No one stepped forward to help. They merely looked down at him, assessing him.

“Tsk”

With a cigarette between his lips, Ji Shileng approached and helped him up.

“Feeling sick? Shall I take you to the hospital?”

Tan Shengbie forced a smile. His lips were white, his face drained of color, and the resulting expression was rather unsettling.

“No, no need. It’s my first time racing. I’m probably just not used to it”

Su Ke “took over” supporting Tan Shengbie.

“As long as you’re all right. If you ever want another go, come here and mention my name”

This time, Tan Shengbie could not even manage a smile.

He could feel the spectators’ amused gazes around him. But what choice did he have? Without putting up with this, he would never have gotten close to Ji Shileng.

“All right, Su Ke. Take him back to rest”

Ji Shileng slowly exhaled a smoke ring. His finely sculpted features flickered behind the haze, difficult to make out.

It was the first time Tan Shengbie had seen him smoke.

His movements were unhurried. One breath of smoke after another drifted into the dusty air, his expressive eyes slightly lowered.

Tan Shengbie had no idea whether Ji Shileng had smoked before.

“Sure”

Su Ke opened the car door and bundled him inside.

“Where are you staying?”

Tan Shengbie clung desperately to the door.

“Perhaps I should make my own way back? There’s no need to trouble you, Young Master Su”

Remembering his fellow researcher, he hurried to add:

“A colleague drove me up here. He may still be waiting at the entrance”

A few of the young heirs chuckled. One of them said:

“We told your friend to head back”

Parking outside the entrance without coming in looked awkward to anyone passing by, so they had simply sent him away.

Tan Shengbie answered blankly, still struggling to collect himself.

Then he hurriedly took out his communicator and discovered several messages from his colleague.

[Colleague]: Tan, I’ve had enough of those people. I’ll wait at the foot of the mountain.
[Colleague]: If they give you trouble, call me right away. I’ll drive straight back up there.
[Colleague]: Who’s afraid of them? Do they really think they can push me around?

Tan Shengbie quickly replied that he understood, trying to calm him down.

“That’s enough. Stop teasing him”

Ji Shileng walked to a nearby trash bin and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on top.

Then he turned and beckoned to Tan Shengbie as though calling a puppy.

His casual manner was worlds apart from the person Tan Shengbie had met at that banquet.

Tan Shengbie sighed inwardly, but his hands moved quickly. He opened the car door and jogged straight over.

Su Ke’s driving had now left him thoroughly traumatized.

His knees weakened at the mere sight of the man.

“I’ll take him back. You guys carry on”

Ji Shileng pulled his car keys from his pocket and waved to the others.

Whatever else might be said, Tan Shengbie had never wronged him.

There was no need to bully him quite so much.

The black Bugatti sat motionless on the road like a dangerous beast lying in wait.

Tan Shengbie’s gaze traveled from its emblem to its license plate, and the chill inside him deepened.

He might be a bookworm, but he knew something about the things that mattered.

He could scarcely imagine how someone as privileged as Ji Shileng had endured so many years of humiliation in the Empire.

The only Bugatti La Voiture Noire in the entire interstellar world stood right before him.

And its owner was Ji Shileng, the very man everyone had mocked as an unsophisticated orphan from the slums.

Noticing the shift in Tan Shengbie’s mood, Ji Shileng assumed he resented Su Ke.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Tan. My childhood friend can be a little reckless behind the wheel. Let me apologize on his behalf”

Tan Shengbie would hardly dare blame Su Ke. He shook his head vigorously.

“It’s all right. It was my first time racing. I’m simply not used to it”

“Good, then”

Out of consideration for Tan Shengbie’s condition, Ji Shileng drove the supercar as though it were an ordinary sedan.

If Su Ke witnessed this, he would surely laugh at him for years.

Tan Shengbie took a few steadying breaths, though he still looked pale.

Ji Shileng frowned, unable to put his concerns aside.

“Mr. Tan, perhaps I really should take you to a hospital”

“No, there’s no need”

Tan Shengbie changed the subject.

“I heard someone reserved the Bugatti La Voiture Noire for a hundred and twenty million star coins. I never imagined it was you”

“My sister gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday”

“Ah, I see”

Almost involuntarily, Tan Shengbie asked:

“Why didn’t you go home after graduation?”

If he had been Ji Shileng, he probably would have wanted to leave the moment people began targeting him at Imperial First High.

Ji Shileng turned the steering wheel and laughed softly.

“Because I was young”

His eyes were carefree and unrestrained, as though nothing in the world could hold him captive.

He continued at an easy pace.

“I was too young back then. I mistook love for the whole of life”

Tan Shengbie nodded dazedly. When he lowered his eyes, his thoughts were a tangled mess.

In those reckless days of youth, Ji Shileng had known no limits. Foolishly, he had laid his heart bare and given it away.

He had always known how to love someone. What he had never considered was that some people had no heart to give, and had never known how to love at all.

“So don’t come to me on Shang Jianli’s behalf again. He doesn’t deserve me”

Tan Shengbie swallowed the ache rising in his throat.

“All right”

To put it bluntly, Shang Jianli and Ji Shileng belonged to entirely different worlds.

They were not suited to each other.

At the foot of the mountain, where Tan Shengbie had arranged to meet his colleague, Ji Shileng let him out.

Once he had walked a few steps away, Ji Shileng lowered the window and called after him.

“Tan, I’m glad we met. If you ever need help, just call the Ji family’s public contact number”

Tan Shengbie turned around, only to see Ji Shileng speeding away in the Bugatti.