Additional Wager

“Did you see it? What do you say?” Hou Rui quickly withdrew his gaze from the edge of the cliff.

“From here to the cliff, it’s exactly 1,850 meters. Each of us gets a car, and we keep accelerating the whole way. Whoever chickens out first—touches the brakes or slows down—is the loser, the coward.” Liu Hai shouted his explanation, and the crowd behind him immediately burst into excited cheers.

To come up with such a race, Liu Hai must have been truly desperate. Last time at Tomorrow’s Shooting Range, Liu Hai’s embarrassing accident had already spread throughout the social circles of the capital’s elite. The once-glorious Liu Hai, Young Master Liu, had become a laughingstock. Now, whenever he walked the streets, he felt uncomfortable all over, as if everyone was whispering about him. If he couldn’t win back his pride this time, the only option left for this young master of the Liu family would be to escape abroad.

“And if neither of us slows down?” Faced with this life-or-death wager, Hou Rui started to take it seriously, his earlier contempt vanishing.

“Then we go off the cliff. Heaven decides our fate. Whoever survives, wins.” As Liu Hai spoke, his eyes reddened, gleaming like those of a starving wolf.

“You’re really going to bet your life on this?”

“I am! I’m betting my life against yours! Dare or not?” Liu Hai shoved aside the girl next to him, his gaze locking onto Hou Rui with the madness of a wild beast. For a moment, he even managed to project a sense of reckless determination.

Just then, the boy who always acted as if he couldn’t read the room piped up again. This time, though, he didn’t dare provoke Hou Rui. Instead, he scurried over to Liu Hai’s side. “Young Master Hai, you’re a precious heir—why bother with a scoundrel like him? Betting your life just gives him what he wants. If you ask me, why don’t we all just jump him and settle this right now?”

Hearing this, the other pampered sons in the crowd perked up. Waving baseball bats, extendable batons, and brass knuckles, they surged forward, shouting all sorts of threats.

“Yeah, let's just take him out!”

“Twenty grand for whoever beats him up—I’ll pay!”

“Exactly, I’ve been itching for a fight!”

“What’s the point of this contest!”

“That kid? Just watch, I can handle him myself in no time.”

“Shut the hell up, all of you!” Just as Hou Rui was bracing himself for a brawl, Liu Hai unexpectedly barked at the crowd. “What are you all yapping for? You bastards have been secretly mocking me this whole time, haven’t you? If I don’t beat this guy myself, you’ll laugh at me forever—and that, I can’t stand! Tonight, I have to settle this with him, see who’s really afraid to die!”

After silencing his fair-weather friends, Liu Hai turned back to Hou Rui, pointing at the Mustang with Cheng Lin locked inside. “You use that car. It’s yours now. Let’s go, right now.” With that, Liu Hai jumped into a Ferrari 458, whipped the car around with practiced ease, and pulled up beside Hou Rui.

Things had come to this—a life-or-death showdown with Liu Hai, who seemed completely unhinged. Hou Rui slowly walked to the Mustang, opened the door, and climbed in. He immediately began peeling the tape from Cheng Lin’s mouth.

“Hou Rui, what’s going on? Call the police!” Cheng Lin blurted out anxiously.

“It’s no use. You can’t count on the police to deal with people like this,” Hou Rui replied as he started the Mustang and began checking it over, wary that Liu Hai’s crew might have sabotaged it. It would be too bitter a fate to fall for such a trick.

“But…but…” Cheng Lin stammered, unable to finish her protest.

By now, Hou Rui had finished his inspection. He drove the Mustang over to Liu Hai’s side, parking the two cars side by side.

Seeing that the two were truly about to risk their lives, the rich onlookers grew tense. Some started their cars and blocked the downhill road to prevent Hou Rui from escaping. Others ran to the far end, tearing down the crash barrier at the cliff’s edge, clearing the path to the ocean below. Most, however, simply whipped out their phones and aimed them at the two cars, eager to record the madness about to unfold.

Hou Rui untied the cable ties on Cheng Lin’s wrists and whispered, “Get out. I’ll take you back to campus after the race.”

“No!” Instead of leaving, Cheng Lin clicked her seatbelt into place, her face set with stubborn determination and anxiety.

“You’re too heavy. If you stay, I’ll be at a disadvantage. You’d better get out,” Hou Rui tried, inventing a lame excuse to persuade her.

“I only weigh forty-eight kilos. That’s nothing,” Cheng Lin replied, just as stubborn.

As Hou Rui debated whether to force her out, Liu Hai grew impatient. “What are you waiting for? Let’s get started—I can’t wait any longer!”

Hou Rui gestured toward Cheng Lin, while the uneasy girl dug in her heels, clutching her seatbelt with both hands as if nothing could budge her.

“Damn, what a pain. Fine, I won’t take advantage of you,” Liu Hai shouted. He turned to his hangers-on and called out, “Any girl here with guts? Get in my car!”

For a moment, silence fell. The girls who usually hung around Liu Hai suddenly found their phones fascinating or gazed up at the stars, as if struck deaf and blind. No one wanted to join him in this madness.

Feeling his pride slipping, Liu Hai snapped, “Whoever gets in my car tonight—if I survive, you’ll marry me tomorrow and become Mrs. Liu!”

The mood changed instantly. To be a plaything for a rich kid was one thing, but a legitimate marriage into the Liu family was another. Tempted by the chance to marry into one of the capital’s wealthiest clans, more than a few girls were moved, though the sight of the cliff ahead was enough to make even the bravest weak at the knees. The girls hesitated, torn between ambition and fear.

Suddenly, a girl with long, shapely legs emerged from the crowd of spoiled youths. She strode forward, yanked open the Ferrari’s door, and climbed in, fastening her seatbelt in silence.

“And you are?” Liu Hai asked, struggling to recall her familiar face.

“My name is Wenwen,” she replied, her body trembling but her eyes locked firmly on the cliff ahead.

“You’re not afraid to die?”

“I can swim.”

Liu Hai burst out laughing. “Good, you’ve got guts. You’re my Liu family’s little mistress now.” Satisfied, he leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips, then started the engine and revved it hard, building power for the coming dash.

On the other side, Hou Rui glanced at Cheng Lin one last time. The girl showed no sign of yielding, her grip on the seatbelt unrelenting.

So be it! Forcing her out now might do more harm than good. If he lost, they’d both end up in the sea; leaving her behind would just hand her over to these spoiled heirs. What was the point of coming tonight, then? If she insisted, they would risk it together.

Resolved, Hou Rui stopped debating. He began preparing just as Liu Hai did, eyes flicking between the Mustang’s dashboard and the road ahead. He spoke to Cheng Lin in as calm a tone as possible: “When the car hits the water, don’t panic. There’ll be enough time before the cabin fills up. Remember—unfasten your seatbelt first.”

Cheng Lin’s only reply was the sound of her teeth chattering.

Enough! Hou Rui dropped the conversation, focusing entirely on the race.

“Three, two, one—go!”

The designated referee shouted the countdown, then swung his arm down. The high-beams of the spectators’ luxury cars flashed on, illuminating the road from the starting point to the edge of the cliff. With the roar of engines, the Mustang and the Ferrari shot forward like arrows.

The two cars covered over half the 1,800 meters in just fifty-six seconds of wild acceleration. The engines screamed, the bodies of the cars shuddered, and the edge of the cliff loomed terrifyingly close.

Hou Rui’s heart pounded violently in his chest. He had planned for everything, but speeding headlong toward a precipice at maximum velocity was enough to make anyone’s blood run cold. He forced himself to stay calm—only calmness would keep him alive.

But the more he tried, the harder his heart hammered. He feared he might faint, so he sought any distraction to stay conscious.

“Scared? If you’re scared, just scream! It helps!” Hou Rui shouted at Cheng Lin, eyes never leaving the road. But there was no response. A glance revealed that Cheng Lin had already fainted in blissful ignorance, her trademark waves of hair bouncing with every jolt of the car.

Perhaps that was for the best—now he could focus on his plan. Hou Rui stomped the accelerator again, wringing every last bit of power from the Mustang as it thundered toward the abyss.