My Perfect Enemy is Finally Broke Novel - Chap 23
For those who don’t watch races, watching a CCTV of a car where there was no competitor nor commentator was no different to a silent movie.
At least, this was the case in Qin Man’s eyes. He used to have a business partner who loved to watch races and he watched it together to fulfill social obligations. He only felt it was incredibly boring. Perhaps, he was naturally disinterested in cars.
But now he knew that a person’s nature could be changed.
Obviously, it was just a car going round the circuit and the driver didn’t have a single iota of expression, but he still watched it extremely keenly until Ji Ran finally stopped. He even wished it would go on.
But Ji Ran didn’t have any intentions of continuing. He took off his helmet and asked, “How many seconds?”
“Three rounds, four minutes and forty-seven seconds.” The manager smiled, “Brother Ran, a treasure knife truly doesn’t age. It looks like the championship is yours already.”
Ji Ran didn’t pay attention to his flattering, his brows scrunched.
It was slower.
After he stopped participating in competitions, he spent less time racing cars. Declining was extremely natural.
He fastened his helmet. “Continue.”
“Alright.”
Ji Ran kept practising until night fell. The tires of his cars changed several times.
Cheng Peng and Yu Wen Wen had long left, but Qin Man still sat in the rest area. The buttons of his suit jacket had been unfastened while his arms slung over the armrest of the sofa. He looked rather pleased.
Ji Ran had taken many breaks but he was always pacing near his car. Other times, he would be discussing how to shorten the time with the coach or calling the car workshop to request for modifications on his car.
Even until night time, they hadn’t spoken a word to each other.
After talking to the coach regarding their practices for the next few days, Ji Ran went to the rest area. He casually grabbed a bottle of mineral water, twisted the cap and drank from it. From the corner of his eye, he spotted the person sitting on the sofa.
“Cough! Cough!” He choked and wiped his mouth with the back of his hands. “Why are you still here?”
“Where else could I be?” Qin Man replied.
“Didn’t I say you can leave any time?”
Even Yu Wen Wen and Cheng Peng, who liked to watch races, couldn’t last a day. There was no need to mention this old-fashioned nerd.
“I enjoyed watching it. Why should I leave?” Qin Man answered. “Aren’t your legs sore from sitting too long?”
If Qin Man hadn’t mentioned it, he wouldn’t have noticed. Now, even his back was aching and he really wanted to lie down.
He hadn’t stayed in a car for an extended period of time for a long time. He had gotten unused to it.
“It doesn’t…Wait for a while. I’ll go change.”
They left the rest area together and Qin Man opened the driver side door very naturally. “I’ll drive. You can rest.”
Ji Ran suddenly noticed that he quite enjoyed Qin Man’s manner of sucking up to him. All of a sudden, he didn’t want to confine himself within the speed limits and crawl the whole way back.
The track was a distance away from home. With Qin Man’s speed, they would need at least half an hour, but thankfully he was prepared when he left home this morning. The car he used today was a sedan, comfortable for sleeping.
He sat into the passenger seat and reclined the backrest after putting on his seatbelt. Before the car even moved, he was already asleep.
There wasn’t any music. Driving for some distance, Qin Man heard the sound of steady breathing coming from the seat beside him.
Ji Ran hadn’t slept well during the past few nights, but was passed out in the car at this moment.
During a red light, the car came to a stop. Qin Man turned to look at the person who had turned to face the window in an attempt to find a more comfortable position. In the dark, his nose bridge casted a beautiful line of shadow on his face.
The man who was like a wild beast on the race track earlier was now sleeping defenselessly beside him.
Unable to resist the urge, Qin Man reached out and gently pinched his nose.
Ji Ran slept deeply, not feeling the tiniest bit of discomfort.
In the middle of the night, the air was a little chilly, so it wasn’t suitable for turning on the airconditioner or shutting the windows. The wind blew in from a small crack between the windows, tussling the hair that covered his forehead.
Qin Man stared for a few seconds before taking off his own coat and covering the other person.
It was a dreamless sleep. Ji Ran slept very well, all the way until the morning.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Qin Man’s face.
At such close proximity, their noses would have touched if it were just a little bit more. Ji Ran’s mind went blank for a few seconds before he shot backwards.
Although he hated Qin Man, it must be acknowledged that this person’s appearance was truly outstanding. With deep features, he really looked like a person of mixed race.
He sat up and was just about to pick up his phone when he was startled by an abrupt chill.
He instinctively looked at his own body, then widened his eyes-
He was actually only in his underwear!
No wonder he felt particularly comfortable. He never liked to wear clothes to sleep, especially a top, or he would feel stifled.
Ji Ran angrily pinched Qin Man’s nose.
Half a second later, the man finally opened his eyes after not being able to breathe.
Qin Man grabbed his hand and asked languidly in a voice full of sleepiness that had yet to subside, “…What’s wrong?”
“You fucker…” Ji Ran cursed, “Where’s my clothes?!”
Qin Man was amused. “Aren’t they hanging on the rack?”
“I’m asking you, why aren’t they on my body?!”
“Your clothes were dirty from the car workshop. I was afraid of dirtying the bed, so I helped you to take them off.”
Ji Ran didn’t speak. He was trying to feel if a certain part was hurting.
The last time he woke up, he felt as though he’d been beaten up. That feeling left a psychological shadow in his heart.
Qin Man watched him survey his own body and couldn’t help laughing. “I only helped you to take off your clothes. Don’t be scared, we didn’t do anything else.”
“…Scared your ass.” Ji Ran turned around and got off the bed. He took out a fresh set of clothes to go take a shower.
“If you’d really dared to do anything while I was asleep, I’d sue you until your family went bankrupt.”
Qin Man sat up and shrugged nonchalantly. “My family is already bankrupt.”
“…”
Ji Ran couldn’t be bothered wasting any more words. He turned around and left.
On the fourth day at the track, Ji Ran received a call from Ji Guo Zheng.
He had coincidentally just finished a round when he saw the incoming call. Taking off his helmet with a frown, he walked over to a corner to pick up his phone.
Qin Man watched him through the CCTV. Their conversation was brief, ending in less than three minutes. Afterwards, Ji Ran didn’t return to the car.
He exchanged a few words with the manager before returning to the rest area.
Qin Man asked, “Are you stopping here today?”
“Yeah.” Ji Ran quickly changed his clothes and threw his car keys to Qin Man after he came out. “You drive.”
Qin Man caught it breezily. “Where to?”
“Yong Shi.”
Ji Ran didn’t tell that father about his contract with Qin Man. Instead, he had sent over a file.
Evidently, Ji Guo Zheng had just seen it.
The car stopped in the parking lot of Yong Shi’s headquarters.
“Do you need me to go in with you?”
“No, wait here for me,” Ji Ran told him.
Ji Ran got out of the car and right before leaving, he contemplated for a moment before pulling out a peaked cap. He put it on, covering his hair colour.
He was going to see Ji Guo Zheng and had to pass through the receptionist. His identity was something most employees knew about, so there were quite a few who tried to peek at him. Ji Ran returned every gaze, scaring them into looking away.
He swaggered into the lounge and waited for close to 20 minutes.
Another game had fallen through. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as his patience disappeared. He stood up, wanting to leave but coincidentally met Ji Guo Zheng who had just exited the meeting room.
There were several senior-level executives following behind him.
Today, Ji Ran was dressed casually for the sake of comfort. Standing beside those people wearing suits, there was a sense of unspeakable discomfort.
Ji Guo Zheng’s conversation with the others was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He turned to look at the person from the lounge and frowned.
“It looks like President Ji has other matters to tend to.” One of the middle-aged men said tactfully. “Why don’t we continue this report at a later time?”
Ji Guo Zheng grunted an agreement and waited until everyone left before looking away from Ji Ran, as if he couldn’t be bothered to spare an extra glance at his son. “Come in.”
“Those people earlier were your seniors. Don’t you know how to greet them?” Inside the office, Ji Guo Zheng sat down and asked.
Ji Ran stood lazily and replied leisurely, “I don’t know them. What’s there to say?”
“You’ll be entering the company in the future, so you should have good relations with them.” After saying all these, he went for the main point. “When did you sign the contract with Qin Man? Why didn’t the legal department notify me?”
Ji Ran laughed. “They don’t know about it. How could they notify you?”
“What do you mean?” Ji Guo Zheng looked up.
“Qin Man signed a personal contract with me. It has nothing to do with Yong Shi.”
Ji Guo Zheng froze for a second before slamming the table. “You’re causing trouble! Do you know how complicated contracts are? A simple term can set up countless traps for you!”
“Where’s the contract? Give it to me!”
“I didn’t bring it. I already had a lawyer look over it, there are no problems.” Ji Ran raised an eyebrow. “Moreover… Even if there’s a problem, it doesn’t concern Yong Shi, so you don’t have to worry.”
Ji Guo Zheng finally understood. “You did this on purpose.”
But he quickly recovered his senses and asked, “Are you using work-related matters to infuriate your brother?”
“I wouldn’t dare.” Although Ji Ran said so, his tone was filled with disdain. He couldn’t be bothered to waste any more time so he directly pushed the blame aside. “It was Qin Man who didn’t want to sign with Yong Shi. I only managed to convince him after coaxing him for a long time.”
Ji Guo Zheng didn’t expect Ji Ran would do something like this and was more surprised that Qin Man would actually agree to a contract like that. For a period of time, he couldn’t think of any way to salvage this situation.
Forget it. In any case, Qin Man was considered one of his people now. He could only wait and see how things unfolded.
Ji Guo Zheng calmed down relatively quickly. After a second of silence, he said, “I’ll have my secretary prepare the information on the company and pass it to you later. Next month, someone will inform you to report to work. You should just stay at home and read these files over the next few days. I plan to assign you to your brother’s department. He will teach you everything else.”
“Also, you have to dye your hair back to its original colour.”
“If you aren’t worried that Ji Wei and I would torment the police, by all means, put me with him.” Ji Ran grinned.
“…” Ji Guo Zheng’s hand froze. In the end, he compromised. “Go home and wait for me to notify you.”
Ji Ran was already used to this sort of speech. He turned around to leave.
Pulling open the door, he seemed to have thought of something and turned back with a sneer. “Dad, I quite like this colour, so I won’t be dyeing it. Moreover, it’s very tiring for the employees, so when they sometimes look at me, it might relieve some of their stress”
The secretary outside couldn’t help snorting.
Ji Guo Zheng was infuriated. “You…”
“I’m leaving.” Ji Ran waved and left without turning back. “You’re getting old. You need to drink more hot water.”
