A Coincidental Beginning

A red Ferrari turned off the main road of an upscale district, turned left into a lane of opposing traffic and tried to speed off. The red Ferrari swerved back into the correct lane just in time to avoid hitting a car that was moving in the correct direction.

Boom!

Ultimately, the Ferrari had still hit a tree by the roadside. Yang Yi was feeling relieved since the Ferrari would have hit him had it not swerved into the tree instead.

Yang Yi whistled in joy after the shock of nearly being hit by his favourite car passed. "Wow… a Ferrari 488. Gee… at least a hundred thousand gone with that one hit," he said, clear regret in his voice.

Though it was an uncommon car accident, that did not stop Yang Yi from taking out his handphone to accept a ride order.

As a part-time TNC driver (TN: e.g. Uber driver), Yang Yi had seen a wide variety of car accidents, yet this was his first time witnessing a Ferrari hitting a tree right in front of him.

A lady climbed out of the Ferrari. "Beautiful" would be the most precise and simple word to describe her. Moreover, the lady owned a pair of long legs and Yang Yi estimated her height to be about 1.75 meters tall. Most crucial of all, the lady had not put on any make-up.

Throughout the year, beautiful ladies were not an uncommon sight. What's rare is a lady who is beautiful even without make-up.

A very eye-catching supercar. A costly car accident. An extremely beautiful lady. The combination of these three points caused massive congestion on this narrow road.

In a minor car accident where the driver was fine, Yang Yi, who was currently occupying the best viewing angle, ended up admiring the beauty of the woman instead, since the crashed Ferrari was blocking the road.

Walking to the front of the car, the lady inspected the front bumper, which was dented inward, and paused for a moment in thought before taking out her handphone.

The lady made a hand gesture as an apology to Yang Yi before bowing her head to fiddle with her handphone.

"That is right, something has happened. Quickly send someone over to deal with it," the lady said into her phone.

Yang Yi, who was talking to himself, would not have guessed what happened next. His handphone gave off notification and he immediately unlocked it to discover that there was a passenger very near to him waiting for a ride.

Yang Yi was stunned for a moment before winding down the car's window and stretched out his head.

"Beauty, are you the one who ordered a ride?" he called to the woman still standing by the Ferrari.

"Are you the one who accepted the order?" she called back, looking up from her handphone.

The beautiful lady scrutinized Yang Yi with a sense of uncertainty before checking out his car. Then she immediately said, "Take me to the airport."

Yang Yi beckoned with a laugh. "Get in the car."

"I am in a rush and need to reach the airport in forty minutes. Can you make it?"

Yang Yi immediately decided to give up on the order since he was currently on the western side of Third Ring Road. Although the beautiful lady had let him witness a lively show just now, there was no way he could have reached the airport in forty minutes.

It was currently four o'clock in the afternoon. Although traffic had yet to reach its peak hours, reaching the airport in forty minutes was impossible given the capital's perpetual traffic condition.

Unless he exceeded the speed limit. However, the penalty he risked would be too high. Yang Yi would not suffer a great loss for a small gain.

"I am sorry. It is impossible to reach the airport on time. You should ask someone else. Can you please cancel the order?"

The beautiful lady looked at Yang Yi's car and then spoke with confidence. "Your BMW M3 has been modified. Are you a car lover?"

Yang Yi smiled as he replied, "I cannot take this lightly and harm myself by getting my license revoked."

The beautiful lady did not hesitate, "I will give you five thousand RMB if you get me there on time."

Yang Yi shook his head like a rattle drum and said with an apologetic look, "It is best that you do not waste time. You should quickly take care of this accident, since it is blocking my path. Also, you should quickly find someone else for the ride."

"Ten thousand! I will give you ten thousand RMB as long as you arrive on time!"

"Well, this…"

It was ten thousand RMB! Yang Yi, was immediately jolted. Using a modified BMW M3 as a ride for hire, he was either doing it for amusement or because he was short on cash. Regrettably, Yang Yi's reason was the latter.

He scrutinized the beautiful lady's Ferrari. Although the car had hit a tree, the extent of damage to the front was rather light. It certainly would not affect its capability to be driven.

Hence, Yang Yi immediately came to a decision.

"We will use your car and the speeding ticket will also be on you. It's still ten thousand RMB. Proceed or not?"

"Get in and let's go!"

The beautiful lady did not mince words. Despite that, Yang Yi would still need to get his car parked. Fortunately, there was some space right behind him and on the shoulder which would not impede traffic, but he would definitely be fined for parking in a no-parking zone. He immediately parked his car there.

Exchanging a two hundred dollar fine for ten thousand RMB in earnings was an acceptable trade.

Yang Yi got out of his own car and got into the driver's seat of the Ferrari.

Yang Yi than put on his seat belt and started the engine while waiting for the beautiful lady to get in the passenger side.

"Do you know how to drive a manual?"

Yang Yi had already looked at the back mirror and reversed the car out before the beautiful lady had finished asking the question.

The car started moving slowly as the V8, the twin-turbo engine burst into a roar.

"Can you speed up?"

The beautiful lady was extremely impatient and had almost bitten her tongue when she couldn't resist the urge to ask Yang Yi to make haste.

Although the 488 was the relatively low-end of the Ferrari line, it was still a supercar. It hit a hundred km/h within three seconds. The beautiful lady had almost swallowed her tongue because the car had hit 200 km/h within eight seconds when Yang Yi floored the accelerator.

Yang Yi had managed to pass through the gap between two cars in an alarmingly dangerous manner before casually saying, "Let's get this straight. Based on the current traffic condition, it will take us at least one-and-a-half hours to reach the airport if we follow the speed limit. It's not impossible to reach the airport within forty minutes, but we will have to severely exceed the speed limit, collecting lots of speeding tickets along the way. I also need to make it clear that your driver's license might get revoked if we are apprehended."

"It's fine."

Despite her words, the beautiful lady's expression was one of disapproval.

Yang Yi suddenly rushed past a car, overtaking it and laughing as he said, "It's fine as long as you are aware of it. Don't blame me later. In fact, I should thank you for giving me this opportunity for drifting. Sit tight. I'm going to speed up."

Despite the heavy traffic, Yang Yi continuously overtook the stream of cars as he swerved onwards. Thankfully, traffic had yet to reach its peak hours. If the traffic had formed into a long, congested line, the only option then would have been to exchange the car for an aircraft.

The beautiful lady's mind was preoccupied. Though she was looking out of the window, there wasn't the slightest bit of reaction despite Yang Yi's driving style, which was absolutely thrilling.

Beloved heavy heart, Yang Yi's driving style was absolutely breathtaking, but the woman's eyes were out of the window with little reaction at all.

"What's up? Rushing to the airport to send someone off?"

"Yup."

The beautiful lady only gave a brief answer when she heard Yang Yi trying to strike up a conversation.

"Boyfriend?"

"He could be considered as such."

Yang Yi laughed and replied with a contented look, "That's my guess, then."

Cab drivers were pretty common. Though Yang Yi was not one, his role was rather similar. As such, it was unavoidable that he would attempt to strike up a conversation, especially when the passenger was a beautiful lady. The ride would be rather dull otherwise.

"Did you just come back from abroad? England?"

The beautiful lady finally turned her head to focus on Yang Yi before asking in a surprised tone, "How did you know?"

Yang Yi was pleased and replied, "It was just an observation. It would be apparent to anyone who was paying a little attention to it: you turned onto the left side of the road when you exited the neighborhood and your wipers were on instead of your turn-signal. Most drivers' instinct would have been to step on the brake, but that would have resulted in hitting the car coming towards you head on. You promptly turned to avoid the car and, given your reaction, you are not a novice driver. This means you are used to driving on the left-hand side of the road, right?"

"Why then do you say that I came back from England? Japan is also a country where you drive on the left-hand side."

Yang Yi smiled smugly.

"It's your bag. It is from a brand specializing in handmade bags and based in West London. Strictly speaking, it can't even be considered a brand since it is only a family-operated store. I happen to know that despite it not being some large brand, the bags are still rather expensive. These two points were enough for me to determine that you are from England. Quite simple."

"Then why do you think I am going to the airport to send off someone instead of welcoming someone?"

Yang Yi continued to laugh as he made an S-shaped swerve to consecutively overtake two cars. "From your expression, it doesn't seems like you are rushing to catch a flight. Though being late when welcoming someone is not alright, there is no need to rush so desperately, right? Usually, that leaves sending someone off. It would seem to be a boyfriend since you are anxiously rushing as if the sky is about to collapse. I am just making a random guess and it would have been normal if I didn't get it right. Please don't mind me."

The beautiful lady just nodded her head instead of responding. Yang Yi, who was waiting for the beautiful lady to praise his observational skills, was disappointed.

"What's up? Had a disagreement with your boyfriend?"

The beautiful lady continued ignoring him and Yang Yi finally lost interest in attempting conversation.

Though Yang Yi had finally decided to shut up, he couldn't help but speak up again due to his chatty nature. From the reflection in the mirror, it seemed like the beautiful lady was biting her lips in melancholy. Yang Yi felt the need to cheer her up as she seemed like she was about to cry.

"Beauty... Without a doubt, you are a beautiful lady, but it's still inappropriate for me to continuously call you 'beauty' since I would appear frivolous. If you don't mind, could you tell me your name?"

Yang Yi's self-esteem was hurt as the beautiful lady continued to ignore him. Thus he gave off a forced smile, "My name is Yang Yi. It's not the 'Yang Yi' as in 'over brimming with warmth,' but rather the 'Yi' of being 'continuously outstanding.'"

"My name is Xiao Ran. The 'Ran' meaning the 'passing of time.'"

"What a nice name! It has the ring of a protagonist name."

Yang Yi had casually praised her highly, but the beautiful lady had rejected the option to continue the conversation any further.

"You should focus on the road. I would like some peace and quiet."

Yang Yi was prudent enough not to retort by asking what's "Peace and Quiet."

Yang Yi did not continue chatting, yet his self-esteem had not been injured, nor had he lost interest in holding a conversation. It was one of life's great pleasures to have a witty and cheerful conversation with a beautiful lady. How could he have given up so easily?

Due to the high amount of traffic on the road, Yang Yi had to stop chatting and pay full attention to his driving instead. Though traffic was slightly less on the Fifth Ring Road, Yang Yi was driving at the speed of a hundred-and-sixty km/h on a road where the speed limit is either eighty or ninety km/h. Any mistake now would have caused fatal injuries rather than anything minor.

The airport was finally within sight and Yang Yi slowed down the car.

"Terminal T3."

Xiao Ran finally spoke.

Yang Yi cleared his throat and said naturally, "It's 4.42 pm right now. Thirty-seven minutes have passed since the time I got onto your car. I certainly have fulfilled your request to reach the airport within forty minutes. Please settle the payment now."

They quickly reached the terminal's entrance. Yang Yi did not want to stay in the car, waiting. Given that he had been speeding all the way here, Xiao Ran might not have cared if her car was seized, but it would be troublesome if they were arrested as well. Therefore, he would like to leave quickly.

Xiao Ran opened her bag and took a glance inside before naturally saying, "I did not bring my purse."