Seeing Ma Minghan's emotions somewhat out of control, the person standing next to him, Liu Shaoquan, reached out to stop him.
Street racing has its own rules. Any grievances here are settled by racing, and resorting to insults or violence is considered bad sportsmanship.
Those who can't handle it will naturally be looked down upon.
But since he accepted Ma Minghan's money, Liu Shaoquan had to handle the matter. He looked at Chen Xiangbei in front of him and said, "Kid, you're quite arrogant. How about we race tonight?"
"Who are you?"
Facing this man with a buzz cut wanting to race out of the blue, Chen Xiangbei felt somewhat baffled.
"Liu Shaoquan from Hong Kong Island, invited by Young Master Ma to race against you."
"Oh... so you're a hired racer. Line up and wait your turn."
Chen Xiangbei had stated that the time, place, and method of the race would be decided by him, not allowing the other party to race whenever they wanted.
Initially, Liu Shaoquan could restrain Ma Minghan, but upon seeing Chen Xiangbei's demeanor, his own face turned dark.
As a "German-trained" professional racer, it's already lowering his status to race against a high school student, considering the handsome price involved, but this kid here is putting on airs.
"Kid, remember, arrogance comes with a price."
Upon hearing the threat in Liu Shaoquan's words, Qin Lianjie stepped forward and said, "Car lord Quan, tonight it's my setup; find your own venue if you want to race."
After all, Qin Lianjie is the local figure of Nanyun Mountain, so Liu Shaoquan had to give some face. He glanced at Chen Xiangbei with a cold smile and then stepped back.
Suppressing the trouble-making intentions of Liu Shaoquan, Qin Lianjie turned his gaze to Chen Xiangbei and said, "Since you're so confident, let's prepare to start."
"Bayshore style, overtaking counts as a win, any problem?"
The "cat and mouse" rule often used in mountain roads actually evolved from the Japanese Bayshore rules. Qin Lianjie had studied in Japan and was accustomed to more formal terms.
"No problem."
"Then I'll extend my hospitality. Do you want to start in front or the back?"
Qin Lianjie generously asked.
Due to the differences in model, power, and control, street racing doesn't particularly prioritize the starting order.
Otherwise, a powerful twin-turbo modified car could instantly beat a small-displacement naturally aspirated car at the start, deciding the outcome on the spot—making the race pointless!
This is why in the Bayshore method, if there's no clear winner and loser, you swap positions and run again to ensure relative fairness.
As the local figure and his Civic Type-R is a tailor-made one, Qin Lianjie didn't want to gain an advantage over Chen Xiangbei at the start, so he simply let the other person choose the sequence.
"Let's start normally, but I'd prefer running in front."
Chen Xiangbei candidly said what he truly felt.
"Afraid you can't overtake?"
Qin Lianjie had a playful smile at the corner of his mouth. He knew Chen Xiangbei, the high school student, was capable, but as a racer, he always considered himself stronger!
"No, afraid you'll drive too slowly and block the road, I'm in a hurry."
This sentence brought a twitch to Qin Lianjie's mouth, his smile freezing directly on his face.
This kid's arrogance truly knows no bounds, does he really think he's like some hapless rookie?
"Fine, then let me see indeed how fast you can drive."
Qin Lianjie still had some grace, enduring Chen Xiangbei's "taunt."
Honestly speaking, Chen Xiangbei was more stating facts than taunting Qin Lianjie.
After both parties agreed on the rules, they returned to their respective cars; accompanied by the ignition start, the roaring sound of the engines instantly resounded throughout the mountain top platform.
At this moment, Light Point Team's racer Tao, approached the captain Cao An and whispered, "Captain An, that high school kid has something going on. I looked carefully at the Subaru Impreza and found it truly has custom carbon fiber components, not just a film cover for show."
Tao's tone was somewhat amazed, knowing the hassles of replacing custom carbon fiber parts in street car modifications.
It's known that China's early carbon fiber needed imports, with raw material prices as high as 2500 yuan per kilo. Not only couldn't street racing afford it, but even the industrial sector had to use it sparingly.
Not until 2004 did domestic carbon fiber go into mass production, reducing the price to 350 yuan per kilo.
But even with the price drop, due to its extensive customization difficulty, it still hasn't become widespread. Street carbon fiber modifications often just involve film coating for appearance, with a fundamental difference from custom components.
Tao wanted to alert the captain that anyone who could afford carbon fiber modifications was definitely no ordinary!
"No worries, Jie's Civic Type-R's modification costs and difficulty aren't lower than customizing carbon fiber parts."
For ordinary street racers, carbon fiber is considered high-end merchandise.
But for captains like Cao An or affluent offspring like Qin Lianjie, the pursuit in modification isn't merely for pure lightweight purpose but tailoring personalized uniqueness.
If Chen Xiangbei's Subaru Impreza just had its shell modified, then Qin Lianjie's Civic Type-R probably had everything modified except its shell.
Ignoring the suspension and damping for now, but this K20A redhead engine has directly transplanted the K24 engine's top cover. Power surged from the original 225 horses to 355 horses, and the revs even reached racing levels of ten thousand!
Don't underestimate the 355 horses; it's known this is a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine, squeezing the power out to its limits without turbocharging.
Post-modification, it not only has the robust power of a turbo engine but retains the linear output of a naturally aspirated engine, showing Qin Lianjie's immense effort in his Civic Type-R.
At that moment, a hot-looking lady appeared between the two race cars, spreading her arms for a countdown.
"Five, four,..."
With the countdown proceeding, Chen Xiangbei's expression gradually became serious, as the feeling of racing on track seemed to return to his body.
Left foot on the clutch, right hand in first gear, while the right foot began pressing the accelerator to rev up.
Although this EJ20 engine hadn't undergone any modifications and had the "easy-explode" nickname in later years, the past racing pedigree made its strength far beyond any civilian engine like a Corolla comparable.
Chen Xiangbei could wildly rev up, keeping the engine consistently within its maximum horsepower output range to achieve the quickest launch.
At this point, Qin Lianjie glanced sideways at Chen Xiangbei's profile through the window.
The focused expression on the other's face suddenly gave him an inexplicable pressure.
To be honest, Qin Lianjie himself couldn't quite understand why racing against a high school student brought about this feeling, is there something like aura really existing?
"Three, two,... "
With the countdown nearing its end, Qin Lianjie deeply inhaled, discarding miscellaneous thoughts in mind, concentrating fully on racing.
"GO!"
Upon hearing "GO" as the start command, Chen Xiangbei immediately released the clutch, then pressed the handbrake with a "snap," as the clutch disc began coupling with the engine flywheel, sending the Subaru Impreza speeding away like an arrow, displaying a perfect launch!
Honestly speaking, Chen Xiangbei had been in this world for nearly half a year, and almost every start had been cautious, either fearing burning out the client car's clutch disc or worrying about long-term revving causing engine blowout.
Even last time carrying Liang Chi for a test drive, considering unfamiliarity with performance and mechanical quality, he still hadn't let loose.
And this time, he finally had the opportunity to open up and drive fast!
PS: Thanks to the brothers for the rewards and votes yesterday. Plus, end-of-month tickets expire if not given. Lastly, officially wishing everyone a Happy New Year, may you have good health and all wishes come true.