Genius Club

Chapter 127: Chapter 120: Leap Across the East Sea

Boom!!!!!!

The 7-million Bentley Continental GT slammed down heavily!

Even with the car’s top-notch suspension, the violent impact still made Lin Xian’s tailbone ache.

He controlled the brake’s intensity meticulously, yanked the steering wheel, and let the car’s body swing wildly under the powerful inertia—

Sssssssssssss!!!!

It was the sound of some part scraping against the cement pavement, sparks flying in its wake.

Lin Xian grasped the steering wheel tightly, constantly adjusting the torque to prevent the car from flipping over.

Now that he had landed smoothly, this maneuver that used the side friction of the tires to counteract inertia was risk-free. He had done it in his dreams for over a decade; the feel of it was etched into his DNA.

Finally.

The blue beast that had roared before, and was now silent, skidded to a terrifying halt in a semi-circle on the road.

It had finally come to a stop.

“Whew…”

Lin Xian took a deep breath, his palms leaving the steering wheel slightly sweaty.

He turned his head to look at the back seat.

It was empty.

The criminal had been ejected at some point.

All that remained was a bunch of crushed roses, still hanging and swaying on the rear car door…

The wrapping paper holding the roses was torn apart, and multicolored ribbons danced in the breeze.

It was then that Lin Xian turned to Zhao Yingjun beside him.

She sat with her eyes closed, clutching her chest, breathing rapidly.

“Are you… okay?”

Zhao Yingjun didn’t make a sound.

Her forehead was furrowed, the ends of her eyebrows trembling, her breathing hurried and her complexion fluctuating.

After several heavy breaths, she slowly lifted her head and looked at the elevated bridge twenty or thirty meters opposite them—

That’s where they had just flown over from.

It was a spiraling downhill exit where the road continuously descended.

But Lin Xian had forcefully driven the Bentley at speeds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour, vertically onto the railing and sound barrier of the elevated road, and, against all odds, flew over…

Zhao Yingjun slowly widened her eyes.

She couldn’t remember anything that happened as they soared across the twenty or thirty meters of sky.

All she remembered was a loud thud upon landing, after which the car spun around violently like a merry-go-round teacup before coming to a stop against the railing on this side.

“You…”

Her breathing began to even out, and she bit her lower lip while looking at Lin Xian:

“Didn’t you say you weren’t very good at driving?”

“Actually, I am a bit capable.”

“This is what you call a bit?”

Zhao Yingjun snorted with a laugh, stiff and forced. It was apparent she didn’t feel like laughing:

“How could you dare to do that?”@@novelbin@@

She still couldn’t believe it:

“Have you gone mad? Do you know… do you realize what you’ve done?”

“Of course, I know…” Lin Xian shifted his position, moved his aching tailbone, and spread his hands as he spoke:

“But I had no other choice; that criminal was a desperate fugitive, he wouldn’t have let us go.”

“Let’s not talk about this anymore, I feel a bit nauseous, I want to get out of the car and walk.”

Zhao Yingjun was holding her chest, looking a bit pale.

She fiddled with the car door latch, but the door wouldn’t budge. She turned to Lin Xian:

“Open the door.”

Lin Xian tried his own door and found it just as unyielding. He pointed to the dashboard shattered by a double-barreled shotgun:

“Looks like the door got damaged in the crash, or something’s malfunctioned.”

“So how do we get out?”

“We’ll have to climb out, I guess. Luckily it’s a convertible; that’s probably the only advantage of this kind of car—you’re never trapped inside.”

“That’s an awfully cold piece of trivia.”

Zhao Yingjun wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, pushing all her hair up to the top, and unbuckled her seat belt:

“You climb out first, then come around here and help me.”

Exiting the convertible was easy for Lin Xian, but Zhao Yingjun, wearing an evening gown with a long skirt, indeed found it inconvenient.

After jumping out of the car, Lin Xian shook out his body, feeling the soreness in his back muscles, probably a strain.

The 7-million Bentley Continental GT in front of him was clearly in a state of total disrepair, severely damaged, even the axles broken.

He walked around to the other side of the car and helped Zhao Yingjun climb out of what was left of the door.

The ground was scattered with shattered glass. Noticing that Zhao Yingjun wasn’t wearing stockings in her high heels, Lin Xian used his own shoes to clear away the fragments, ensuring her safe descent.

“What about the criminal?”

After getting out of the car and moving around a bit, Zhao Yingjun visibly calmed down.

“He must’ve been thrown out along the way.” Lin Xian pointed toward the dark woods between the two elevated lines:

“He might’ve fallen down there.”

Zhao Yingjun and Lin Xian went to the back of the Bentley Continental GT to get a better look at the rear seat structure…

The space was indeed not spacious, but it was still significantly larger than the back of an average convertible, thus explaining why the man had been able to hide in the leg space underneath it.

Back in the darkened parking lot, visibility was poor.

Moreover, with the chaotic scene at the ball, men and women scrambling to drive away, and Lin Xian eager to take Zhao Yingjun away from the trouble, neither of them had thought to check for someone hiding underneath the back seat.

Now the interior was clean.

The thief had been flung somewhere unknown.

Only the crushed bunch of roses remained, hanging from the broken car body, swaying weakly in the evening breeze… swaying… as if telling the tale of the criminal’s unrequited love story that had met its premature end.

“Lin Xian, let’s call the police first.”

“Right.”

…

Lin Xian used his phone to dial 110, giving a precise description of the incident and the location.

The police said they would arrive immediately and told them to wait at the scene while keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Then the call was ended.

The cool night breeze picked up.

Lin Xian saw Zhao Yingjun wrapped in her coat, leaning against the guardrail of the overpass, staring intently at him:

“Lin Xian.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for saving me.”

At this moment, Zhao Yingjun had recovered her usual spirit, looking down at the Bentley Continental GT, now smashed into scrap:

“I can’t clearly recall how many times I’ve thanked you during this period, but I still want to thank you for saving my life.”

“It was nothing, I was saving myself too.”

Zhao Yingjun looked at Lin Xian, her pupils reflecting the neon night scene across the Huangpu River:

“You always manage to surprise me, to do things I didn’t expect. Over this time… I’ve really changed my opinion of you a lot, and I’m glad to see you change.”

“But I can feel… during this period, it’s as if you’re caught in contradiction and confusion, like an ant that can’t find its way, wandering in a whirlpool without an exit.”

Zhao Yingjun lowered her head, clicking her high heels on the cold pavement:

“Perhaps it’s also because you’ve been through too much recently, which has been a big shock to you. That’s why you spoke like you did just now, with a craving for success, a longing for the extraordinary.”

“But actually, Lin Xian, I understand your thoughts very well. I’ve been through this phase too. If there’s any piece of life advice worth sharing with you… I think it would be this one. It can help you get out of your current state—”

She looked up, the round moonlight and the colorful night scene by the river reflected in her eyes, bursting into a kaleidoscope:

“‘Don’t seek success for the sake of success, don’t pursue the extraordinary just to be extraordinary.'”

Zhao Yingjun looked into Lin Xian’s eyes, where the same flowing light and neon shimmered:

“I’ve never told anyone in the company about my parents, about my family…”

Lin Xian silently listened, walking over to Zhao Yingjun’s side.

He leaned on the guardrail of the overpass, beside Zhao Yingjun.

The evening wind lifted Zhao Yingjun’s hair, the soft tips brushing Lin Xian’s cheek, like the touch of time, the fleeting threads of years.

Zhao Yingjun’s dress hem rose with the wind, blooming like a flower before Lin Xian’s eyes:

“My parents are powerful figures in the Imperial Capital. They greatly dislike what I’m doing now and have tried to obstruct my business several times, which is why I came to Donghai on my own.”

“In fact, they’re waiting to see me fail.”

Zhao Yingjun raised her head, gazing at the full moon in the sky:

“My dad thinks that one day I will go back to them, begging them to clean up my mess, to smooth over the trouble I’ve caused. He has never believed that I could achieve anything significant.”

“But you’ve already been very successful,” Lin Xian interjected.

However… Zhao Yingjun shook her head:

“In their eyes, this doesn’t even count as a small success.”

“But actually, I don’t care how they see it; it doesn’t matter at all.”

She turned her head, looking at Lin Xian, who was close by, leaning on the same guardrail:

“Because I’m not doing these things to prove anything. I’m with MX Company, I’m with Rhein Brand cosmetics, simply because I like it; it has nothing to do with whether they like or approve.”

“I don’t live for them, and I don’t need to prove anything to please them. This is also something I want to tell you, Lin Xian…”

Zhao Yingjun smiled, a smile that hadn’t been seen since the Bentley leaped over the overpass:

“You must do what you like, stick to what you’re willing to, engage in something not to prove anything to anyone, but something you’re willing to bet your life on.”

“Even if you haven’t found that thing yet, haven’t discovered what is worth your effort… don’t rush, don’t be confused, don’t feel you must chase after something.”

“That’s enough, Lin Xian. You don’t need to try to be extraordinary on purpose.”

“I believe in you.”

Zhao Yingjun’s gaze met Lin Xian’s, each reflecting the other’s eyes’ brilliance:

“You’re destined to be extraordinary.”

…

Lin Xian looked at the arcs of light in her eyes and said nothing.

“It doesn’t mean anything else,” Zhao Yingjun chuckled, looking down, her eyes catching the red and blue flashes from the other side of the overpass:

“I’m not one to lecture, just sharing some life insights with you…”

Diwu~ Diwu~ Diwu~ Diwu~ Diwu~

Police cars and ambulances approached from both sides of the overpass, their alternating red and blue lights were blinding. Zhao Yingjun turned around, holding onto the railing, and looked up at the moon in the sky.

January 14th, 2023.

Eight days from the Spring Festival.

Seven days from New Year’s Eve.

Five days from Donghai City’s most significant event, the “Donghai Chamber of Commerce New Year’s Banquet.”

It was a very ordinary day.

A day with no special significance.

A day with a beautiful moon.

“The moon is really beautiful tonight,” Zhao Yingjun said softly.

Lin Xian stood behind her, gazing at the bright white disc in the sky.

“Yes.”

He truly sighed:

“Such moons are the most beautiful.”

Beep beep.

The electronic watch on his left wrist emitted two faint chimes for the hour.

Lin Xian looked down at it.

00:00

His heart relaxed.

The time had passed midnight.

It was January 15th, 2023, now.

Zhao Yingjun had safely made it past January 14th, past the age of 23, avoiding the accidental death recorded in history.

Perhaps, at some future time, at some age, she might still die in some accident.

But at least for now, the original course of history had changed.

She would never be annotated in someone else’s biography, 600 years later, with the regretful phrase “died at 23.”

Today marked the day Zhao Yingjun’s fate had changed, a brand new day.

It was also the first day of her 24th year of life.

Lin Xian stepped to the right, walked over to the wrecked Bentley Continental GT, and from the torn rear seat upholstery, he took the bouquet of roses left by the assailant.

He arranged it simply.

Making the crumpled, leaf-dropping roses seem a bit more presentable, adjusting the twisted paper and ribbons to at least resemble a gift.

“It might not be quite proper to regift, but…”

Lin Xian handed the arranged bouquet of flowers to Zhao Yingjun, smiling at her:

“Happy Birthday.”