Gold-Devouring Bottom: A Guide to Pampering - Chapter 16

Playing a game? Are you sure you aren’t trying to send them straight to the hospital?

Han Xu knew full well that neither Ye Xiuchen nor Shen Xinghuai belonged to this world of professional racing. If the pressure on the accelerator wasn’t controlled perfectly, or if a car had even a minor mechanical hiccup, neither of them would be walking out of this racetrack today.

While Shen Xinghuai and Ye Xiuchen remained silent, the onlookers surrounding them grew increasingly excited by Han Xu’s proposal. People love a spectacle, especially when they aren’t the ones at risk. “This is a great game!” one man chimed in.

“Brother Xu’s suggestion is thrilling! I love it!” another added.

Shen Xinghuai shot the second man a sharp glance. “If you love it so much, why don’t you join in?”

The man instantly shut up, shrinking back into the crowd like a startled quail. Watching the thrill was one thing, but participating was out of the question. After all, being alive was quite a nice arrangement.

The atmosphere hit a stalemate, but Han Xu remained unfazed, tossing out barbed comments from the sidelines. “Is Xiuchen afraid to participate? Or are the rumors true—that your mental health is so far gone that the doctors won’t let you behind a wheel?”

Although Ye Xiuchen was notoriously private about his mental state, secrets in Lincheng had a way of leaking. Lu Yan had fought him long enough to want to know exactly what time he slept and what he ate; finding out he had seen a psychiatrist was easy. As Lu Yan’s fiancé, Han Xu was naturally privy to that information.

Han Xu’s “accidental” revelation sent the quieted crowd back into a frenzy of whispers. Though low, fragments of their conversation reached Shen Xinghuai’s ears.

“So, he really is a lunatic!”

“No wonder he takes a driver everywhere. He’s too mentally unstable to drive.”

“Madmen belong in asylums, not out here biting people like rabid dogs.”

The more Shen Xinghuai heard, the colder his expression became. He pressed closer to Ye Xiuchen’s side, taking his icy fingers into his own. “They’re full of sh*t. Don’t listen to them.”

As his warm palm enveloped the man’s fingertips, the heat slowly transferred, and the frost on the “ice sculpture” began to thaw. Ye Xiuchen looked down at him. “I’m fine.” The ones who won’t be fine are them.

Shen Xinghuai squeezed his hand even tighter. Fine? He was practically vibrating with rage on Ye Xiuchen’s behalf; how could Ye Xiuchen be fine? “I’m going to make them all shut up.”

Ye Xiuchen’s large hand gripped back, trying to stop him. He had come prepared today; the more Han Xu gloated now, the harder he would fall later. But Shen Xinghuai was already past the point of no return. Ye Xiuchen’s grip didn’t stop the words from leaving Shen Xinghuai’s mouth: “I’ll play this game with you.”

“You?” Han Xu smirked triumphantly. “Fine. You and Xiuchen are a couple anyway; it doesn’t matter which one of you plays.” Han Xu had viewed Shen Xinghuai as an eyesore for a long time. Shen Xinghuai had escaped his trap at the hotel last time, but he wouldn’t let him get away twice.

Ye Xiuchen yanked Shen Xinghuai toward him, his voice low but laden with an undeniable, heavy pressure: “Don’t agree. I will handle this.”

Shen Xinghuai’s shoulder pressed against his chest. As the man spoke, Shen Xinghuai could feel the vibration of his ribcage, causing his own heart to skip a beat. “No. I won’t let them insult you!”

Ye Xiuchen had heard such insults since he was a child. He was no longer moved to simple rage; he had developed much more effective ways of silencing people. “Stay out of it.”

Shen Xinghuai glared at him, his face stern. “They can’t talk about you like that! I’m staying in it!” With that, he tried to push Ye Xiuchen behind him, as if shielding him.

Unfortunately, Ye Xiuchen was half a head taller; there was nowhere to hide him. Looking down at the soft, fluffy crown of Shen Xinghuai’s head, Ye Xiuchen’s eyes darkened with an unreadable depth. For years, he had stood alone.

Everyone was always on the opposite side. Today, he realized for the first time that a person’s back could actually radiate warmth.

Shen Xinghuai turned back to Han Xu. He wasn’t about to play for free. “Since it’s a game, the winner should get a prize. What are you putting up?”

Han Xu gave a grand sweep of his arm toward the garages on the east side of the track. “If you win, take any car in my collection.”

The Han family’s status was slightly lower than the Ye or Lu families, but they were still elite. Any car in Han Xu’s garage was worth tens of millions. The eyes of the crowd lit up; the chance to win a supercar for one game was enticing.

But to Shen Xinghuai, these were irrelevant. “So, the prize is just that junk?”

Junk? Those were Han Xu’s prized treasures! Hearing them dismissed so casually made him snap. “What did you say? Do you have any idea how much those cars cost? How long the waiting lists are?”

Supercars worth ten or twenty million? Shen Xinghuai’s housekeepers in his former world owned plenty of those. He shrugged. “If the prize is that poor, forget the game.”

Han Xu’s blood pressure spiked. “What do you want, then?”

Shen Xinghuai scanned the surroundings. The racetrack was quite nice; he liked this prize. “If I win, give me the racetrack.”

Han Xu thought he had misheard. “You want what?”

“Your racetrack.”

Han Xu let out a sharp, angry laugh. “You have quite an appetite. But what if you lose? Even if you sold the entire Shen family estate, it wouldn’t be enough to cover the value of this track.”

“The Shen family doesn’t have it, but I do,” Ye Xiuchen said coldly. “The land in the Eastern District is enough to cover the bet.”

The area fell deathly silent. Those who had been eager to jump in and “scavenge” a win quickly retreated. The stakes were too high for them to follow. The “Eastern District land” referred to a prime plot that the Ye family had recently acquired for hundreds of millions. This game had officially become a high-stakes duel between Shen Xinghuai and Han Xu.

Han Xu was stunned for a moment, then his smile widened. This man really is a lunatic. Who else would double down on a losing bet like this? He agreed immediately. “Fine. Let’s play for high stakes. Since Xiuchen is being so generous, I can’t be stingy. If Xinghuai wins, the racetrack is his.” Han Xu was 100% certain that Shen Xinghuai couldn’t win. Being able to drive and being a professional racer were two entirely different things. To him, Shen Xinghuai was just a pretty face with no brains.

With the stakes set, the crowd followed Han Xu down from the stands to the emergency stop area. The “Emergency Stop” game meant both parties agreed on a stop line. The cars would accelerate to over 200 km/h and head toward the line; the first one to decelerate would lose.

It sounded simple, but the danger lay in the choice of the “line.” It wasn’t a line painted on the ground—it was a wall or a pillar. If you didn’t slow down in time, you’d slam into it head-on. Best case scenario: the hospital. Worst case: the morgue.

The coward stops first and loses the bet to save their life. The brave one wins the prize but might end up turning it into an inheritance. If both were rational and didn’t crash, the winner would be determined by the braking marks; the person with the shorter marks and a stopping position closer to the “line” would win.

Han Xu stopped beneath a ten-meter-high podium and pointed up at it with a smirk. “How about this?”

The podium was originally used for winners to drive their cars onto so they could be toasted by their rivals. Shen Xinghuai looked at it. “Is there somewhere more spacious?”

Han Xu’s finger slowly pointed upward. “Not down here. We’re going up there.”

Shen Xinghuai’s gaze followed his finger to the very edge of the podium. From a height of ten meters, being a split second late with the brakes meant flying off the edge. Han Xu wasn’t just playing a game; he was playing with lives.

Shen Xinghuai was about to agree when a large hand suddenly clamped over his mouth from behind, muffling his words. Ye Xiuchen pulled him into a tight embrace, pinning Shen Xinghuai’s arms to his sides so he couldn’t move.

“Mmph!” Shen Xinghuai struggled. In his desperation, his pinned hand flailed and accidentally grabbed a very sensitive spot on Ye Xiuchen.

“The Eastern District land is—” Ye Xiuchen’s words cut off mid-sentence. His face turned dark, but he didn’t let go.

Shen Xinghuai, deciding to go for broke, gave a little squeeze.

“Hiss!” Ye Xiuchen sucked in a breath of cold air, his forehead dropping onto Shen Xinghuai’s shoulder. The pain was so intense the veins in his neck bulged. With so many eyes on them, he couldn’t exactly stick his backside out to dodge Shen Xinghuai’s hand; he had to endure it. He hissed into Shen Xinghuai’s ear, “Let go! Where do you think you’re grabbing?”

Shen Xinghuai offered a silent apology to “Little Ye Xiuchen” and signaled with his eyes for Ye Xiuchen to let go first. Ye Xiuchen glared at him with a murderous look but eventually released his hand.

Shen Xinghuai turned to Han Xu, who was watching them with a bizarre expression. “Fine. We go up there.”

Han Xu gave them both one last deep look. “I’ll lead the way.”

As everyone headed up, Shen Xinghuai let go of Ye Xiuchen and made a quick apologetic gesture. “Sorry, I was just in a rush.” He was too afraid to look Ye Xiuchen in the eye, fearing the man would snatch him again, so he turned and scurried off.

Ye Xiuchen took a long, deep breath to steady himself, made a quick phone call, and then followed them up to the podium.

Han Xu arrived first, standing in the center of the podium as he waited for Shen Xinghuai.

Catching sight of him, Han Xu flashed that hypocritical smile again. “Xinghuai, it’s spacious enough up here, don’t you think? Once we lower the guardrails, it’ll be even roomier.”

It was indeed spacious—wide enough for three cars to drive abreast with room to spare. Once those guardrails were lowered, it wouldn’t just be a track for cars; if someone played it wild enough, they could practically take flight.

Of course, they wouldn’t fly far. Whoosh! Slam! They’d crash into a thousand pieces, parts flying everywhere.

But Shen Xinghuai didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. He checked the time and said, “I’ll do a lap to inspect the grounds, then we can begin.”

“Fine. I’ll go to the garage and pick out a car.” The mention of his garage brought back Shen Xinghuai’s “junk” comment, giving Han Xu a fresh pang of irritation. “Since you don’t think much of my collection, I won’t bother picking one for you.”

That was exactly what Shen Xinghuai had in mind; he wouldn’t dare drive a car Han Xu had hand-picked anyway. “Good. I’ll arrange a car myself.”

Once Han Xu left, Shen Xinghuai stood by the guardrail and called Tian Yuanyuan, telling him to bring “Little Fa” over.

By the time he hung up, Ye Xiuchen had walked up beside him. He was looking down, his eyes darker than the night sky, his voice bleeding into the chilly evening breeze. “It’s a long way down. Aren’t you afraid?”

Shen Xinghuai glanced over the edge. “Not really. It’s only about ten meters; it’s not that high.”

Ye Xiuchen’s brow arched imperceptibly. He stared at him for a long time before finally speaking. “It’s just a game. There’s no need to take it so seriously.”