Chapter 50
Through the pitch-dark car shop, Jin Chao glanced at Jiang Mu’s silhouette, then turned around and pulled down the shutter door. His steady footsteps echoed through the empty workshop as he stopped at the door to the lounge. He watched Jiang Mu stand up when she saw him, a faint blush creeping onto her face from the rush of emotion. After all, she was still young, she couldn’t hide her feelings in front of him. Just a few days ago when she left, she had looked heartbroken, eyes full of sorrow. But now, they were bright with anticipation.
Jin Chao silently stared at her for a moment before uttering just two words, “As expected.”
Jiang Mu didn’t know what he meant by “as expected.” She just sensed that Jin Chao wasn’t all that surprised to see her at the car shop, waiting for him this late at night.
He was wearing a simple dark half-sleeved button-up shirt, different from his usual work overall. Like this, he looked clean-cut and reserved, with a touch of mature elegance.
He didn’t say anything more. He just turned and took a bottle of coconut milk from the fridge in the corner and handed it to Jiang Mu, then turned back and started brewing a strong cup of coffee.
Jiang Mu set the coconut milk on the table absentmindedly and walked over to him, asking urgently, “What did you mean by ‘as expected’? That guy… the one surnamed Lu, the anti-smuggling officer, did he tell you he saw me?”
Jin Chao’s hand, stirring the coffee, paused slightly. He lifted his eyes and looked at her, calm and focused, lips parting slightly, “You know too much.”
Jiang Mu gripped the edge of the table with both hands, looking like she was both scared and anxious. “Are you going to silence me?”
Jin Chao took a sip of his coffee, the corner of his lips lifting into a faint, ambiguous smile. There was a shifting gleam in his eyes as he looked at her deeply, “What do you think we are?”
Jiang Mu tried to force a light smile, but she couldn’t relax. It felt like she was caught in a giant net, lost and tense.
Jin Chao set down his coffee, picked up the coconut milk, twisted off the cap for her, and handed it over. “Sit down, let’s talk.”
Jiang Mu followed his instructions mechanically, dragging the chair behind her to sit directly in front of him. She took a big gulp of coconut milk, screwed the cap back on, placed it beside her, and fixed her gaze firmly on him.
Leaning against the table, Jin Chao sipped his coffee slowly before lifting his eyes and speaking in an unhurried voice, “Since Jin Fengzi mentioned my situation to you, you probably already understand my position. After I’d been at Wanji for over two years, Wan Shengbang occasionally started asking me to handle things outside the car shop.
“He had a gambling problem. At first, I thought he just liked playing mahjong or maybe the occasional casino trip, but I found out he had a group of young guys who took part in underground racing bets and then racing cars, with stakes in the six-figure range.
Once, one of his drivers got into trouble. The deposit was paid, but there was no one to race, so he threw me in last minute. I always felt I owed him, so I agreed. I won, and he made a lot of money off it. He wanted me to quit the car shop and work for him full-time, offered me a big cut. But I refused.
Sometime later, he asked for my help again and swore it’d be the last time. I was still under him, and couldn’t just say no, so I agreed. But that time, our route got leaked. We got busted, and that’s when Officer Lu approached me.
He didn’t spell it out, but he wanted me to keep an eye on Wan Shengbang, and feed him intel. At the time, I didn’t know Lu was anti-smuggling, thought he was just a regular cop investigating illegal street racing. I brushed him off, and never followed up.
It wasn’t until later when I found out Wan Shengbang had set me up as the fall guy, that I left Wanji and reached back out to Lu.”
It was only then that I found out that they weren’t really after Wan Shengbang or even illegal street racing. What they wanted was to use the racing ring as a way to track down the smuggling syndicate behind it.
“Before this, they’d already cracked smuggling cases all over the country, some involving luxury cars, others involving imported car parts, you name it. But during the investigations, they noticed a pattern. Every time they thought they’d caught the mastermind, another operation would pop up somewhere else after a while. The people behind it were buried deep, and even had access to foreign companies’ official seals and documents to pull off their schemes.”
“Later, they zeroed in on the street racing crowd and realized many of those cars were smuggled in illegally, or modified with smuggled parts. That’s when they locked onto the racing ring.”
“But this time, they didn’t want to tip their hand. Most of the people they caught were just fined and released. What they really wanted was to plant people inside to infiltrate the scene through racing and get to the smuggling ring from the inside.”
“The problem was, this alliance, extremely cautious. You couldn’t just throw an outsider in and expect them to blend. Anti-smuggling had been trying for a long time to get someone on the inside, but it was almost impossible. Not until I contacted Officer Lu.”
Jin Chao lowered his gaze and took another sip of coffee. Jiang Mu’s expression was more serious than ever before, more focused than she’d ever been even in class, her mind painting a picture of something completely foreign and terrifying, a world of crime and danger she’d never even heard of in her life.
She picked up where he left off, “So they chose you. Because you’d raced for Boss Wan before. The organization, or whatever this ‘alliance’ is, already knows you. And with that compensation hanging over your head, everyone would assume you needed fast cash after leaving Wanji. It made perfect sense for you to get back into it.”
A faint smile tugged at Jin Chao’s lips. “Not bad, you’re not slow. But it’s not just that. I had something even more convincing, something no one could question. They’d think I got involved at this time because of Wan Shengbang. I had a falling out with him and wanted to go against him. Even Wan Shengbang thinks that. And honestly… that is part of it.”
Jiang Mu’s eyes widened in realization. She hadn’t even considered that. Jin Chao’s background was too perfect. He’d been into cars since high school. Everyone in Tonggang’s underground scene knew his name. Some of them probably even had close ties to him and knew him well. Even though he’d stepped away from that world after leaving Wanji, falling out with Boss Wan made for the perfect excuse. No one would suspect a thing.
But she caught his wording. “Part of it? Then what’s the other part?”
Jin Chao lowered his eyes slightly, his whole body going still as if frozen in time. After a long pause, he finally spoke, his voice low and calm, “As part of the deal, Officer Lu promised me that if we cracked this case, they’d take down Wan Shengbang and his people. And once they did… they’d reopen my case to clear my name.”
A surge of heat rushed through Jiang Mu’s body, her palms damp with sweat. It was like she’d been transported back to that night… the night she went racing with Jin Chao. On that deserted hillside, she had pleaded with him to get his life together, to stop messing around. Jin Chao had just clenched his jaw, eyes steady as he looked at her, never once giving her a clear answer.
She never imagined that what he was really holding onto wasn’t the money, it was the chance to reclaim the truth to clear his own name.
Right now, she couldn’t even put her emotions into words, excitement, shock, fear, all of it tangled together.
Her gaze burned into him as she asked, “Did Officer Lu contact you? Did he tell you I followed him?”
Jin Chao didn’t deny it, and Jiang Mu pressed further, “Did he say anything to you?”
“Just gave me a heads-up and left it to me to handle.”
Her fingers trembled slightly, her voice unsteady. “Then… aren’t you worried now, telling me all this?”
Jin Chao lowered his head, the sharp line of his brow casting a deep shadow. Suddenly, he let out a quiet laugh. “Worried about what? That you’d sell me out?”
“Of course I wouldn’t!” The words burst from her almost too loudly.
Jin Chao’s world was filled with all kinds of people, some of them called him brother, others acted close, but the number of people he could truly trust could be counted on one hand. And Jiang Mu was the most unique of them all. They weren’t bound by blood, but he knew, that even if the whole world turned against him, this girl sitting in front of him never would.
He lifted his eyes, the smile in them still lingering as they swept over her face. Jiang Mu had never known a man could speak straight to your soul with just a look. Her heart beat in rhythm with the warmth in his gaze, rising and falling with it.
Then she heard him speak, his voice steady, “On the way back, I kept thinking about how to cover this up. How to make sure you can focus on your college entrance exam first. By the time I got here, I figured it out.”
He took a slow breath, then leaned down slightly, bringing himself closer to her level, and said, “I could lie, say something to quiet your questions for now. But then I’d just have to keep making up more lies to cover the first one. Instead of distracting you with all that, I’d rather just tell you the truth.”
“The thing that happened to me before my exams… it’s probably going to be the biggest regret of my life. If my mess ends up messing you up too, that’d be a regret I’d carry into the next life.”
“Now, can you promise me you’ll go home and get a good night’s sleep?”
He straightened slightly, his gaze holding hers. “So. Now that you know—can you promise me you’ll go back and get some sleep?”
Jiang Mu blinked slowly, looking at him without moving. After a few seconds, she suddenly asked, “Then… you…”
Jin Chao raised an eyebrow, puzzled. “Me what?”
“You went to those places… was it also to get in with those people?”
“What places?”
Jiang Mu’s gaze darted away, her lips pressing together as she stared down at her lap for a while before finally muttering, “You’re… not clean anymore…”
Jin Chao gave a dry cough, picked up the coffee next to him, downed the rest, and set the cup aside. He leaned in toward her, amusement in his eyes, the scent of coffee lingering between them as he spread his hands and said, “How do you want me to prove it?”
Jiang Mu’s mind was a complete mess, overwhelmed by that intoxicating closeness. Her face flushed bright red, and she lowered her head so far it looked like she was trying to bury it in the floor. She mumbled, “How would I even know…”
Seeing her both embarrassed and flustered, Jin Chao didn’t tease her any further. He picked up his phone, glanced at the time, and reminded her, “It’s getting late.”
Jiang Mu’s head snapped up in protest. “But I don’t want to leave yet! I still have so many questions. You just got back, can’t I stay a little longer?”
Jin Chao lowered his lashes, his voice teasing, “You really want to spend more time with me that badly?”
That did it. Jiang Mu was truly mortified now. She turned away and said, “Did you really have to say it out loud? Do I not care about my dignity?”
The corners of Jin Chao’s eyes crinkled as he smiled, straightening up and saying, “Come on, let’s talk on the way.”
He drove one of the car shop’s cars to take Jiang Mu back to Jin Qiang’s place. Along the way, her emotions kept surging, and she couldn’t help but ask, “So, what have you found out so far?”
Jin Chao raised an eyebrow slightly, his tone teasing yet cautionary, “Haven’t you considered that what you’re asking about is classified information?”
Jiang Mu instinctively slapped a hand over her mouth, looking both alarmed and extremely curious.
Jin Chao kept his eyes on the road, but he clearly noticed her little reaction and let out a quiet laugh as he continued, “This racing alliance has a ranking system. It records every participant’s race, placements, and prize money in detail. Officer Lu and his team suspect this ranking is tied to the larger smuggling operation. For such a large-scale transnational smuggling operation, there must be people working it from top to bottom, but they still need local connections to distribute the goods. The masterminds behind it wouldn’t just hand over their inventory recklessly. The racing scene is just a front, a way to scout or groom the right people for the job.”
“It also involves a complex risk classification system. Some shipments can be handled by established local figures like Wan Shengbang, but riskier goods need smaller, disposable runners. If those get caught, it’s easy to cut ties without sacrificing the bigger players. That’s why anti-smuggling units keep hitting dead ends.”
“But not everyone has the nerve or psychological strength to handle this kind of work. The racers at the top of the rankings tend to get noticed because they share certain traits. They’re reckless, desperate, and in serious need of money.”
The more Jiang Mu listened, the more engrossed she became. She unconsciously leaned closer to Jin Chao. “So that’s why you’ve been competing in race after race? To get noticed?”
Jin Chao glanced down at her and said, “I don’t have a network like Wan Shengbang. For me, racing was the fastest way onto their radar. Earlier this year, their suspicions were confirmed. Someone reached out to me about moving a shipment. At first, it was just a test run. They’d arrange the buyers, and I’d handle the delivery. Over time, the quantities grew.”
Jiang Mu suddenly remembered something and frowned. “During New Year’s at Wuyin Temple, that man said you were planning to get involved in the Xikou Pass business. What did he mean by that?”
“His name is He Zhang. He works closely with Wan Shengbang, handling that side of the business. His nephew, Wan Dayong, is also involved now. The two of them got greedy and partnered up. It was because of a slip-up on Wan Shengbang’s end that someone reached out to me to test-run a shipment before the New Year. Unexpectedly, my deliveries went smoother and smoother. I didn’t expect things to go so smoothly on my side. Now, control over Xikou Pass has become a public dispute between me and Wan Shengbang.”
Jiang Mu recalled the day Wan Qing came to see her. “So that time… they were trying to sabotage your shipment?”
Jin Chao sighed and rolled down the window. The night breeze drifted in, carrying away some of the tension. His voice, too, seemed to dissolve into the wind, leaving Jiang Mu with a strange sense of unreality.
“Losing that shipment did hurt my credibility within the alliance. But everyone knows what really happened. To wreck my car thoroughly in such a short time, only someone in the same business could’ve pulled it off.”
“Once the tension between me and Wan Shengbang starts affecting the alliance’s operations, they’ll demand a solution. From a business standpoint, they won’t just sit back and watch us tear each other apart.”
Jiang Mu felt herself growing more and more anxious. “What kind of solution?”
Jin Chao tapped the steering wheel lightly. “The traditional kind.”
Jiang Mu seemed to have guessed what he meant, but the flood of information hitting her all at once left her a little stunned. Then she heard Jin Chao continue, “Wan Shengbang knows just as well as I do, once our conflict becomes public, someone in the alliance will step in and force us to settle it cleanly. The issue now is control over Xikou Pass. The only way I can get closer to the higher-ups is by securing that route. And by tradition, if a private agreement can’t be made, the most ‘traditional’ way to settle things is with a car race. The winner takes the territory. The loser is no longer allowed to interfere with the other’s shipments. That’s the rule.”
Jiang Mu slowly began to understand. “No wonder they destroyed your shipment and your car. They were trying to cut off your way forward.”
Jin Chao didn’t answer, but the slight twist of his lips said everything.
Jiang Mu straightened up from the backrest, eyes sharp. “When? I mean, when’s the race with them going down?”
“Mid-month.”
“Can the car be fixed in time?”
Jin Chao remained silent as he pulled up to the neighborhood gate. He shifted into the park and turned to her. “We’re here.”
But Jiang Mu didn’t move to get out. She turned to face him, locking eyes with an intensity that wouldn’t let go. “I promise I’ll focus on my exams. This won’t distract me. But you have to be honest with me, I need to know what’s really going on.”
Jin Chao turned to meet her anxious gaze, hesitating for a full half-minute before finally stepping out of the car. He lit a cigarette and exhaled slowly before explaining.
The car, both its exterior and interior, needed a complete overhaul. There were too many modifications required. Speedy Auto Car Shop didn’t have the hardware or capabilities to pull it off. And now, every major repair shop in Tonggang had outright refused to take on the job. To purchase all the necessary equipment and tools himself would require a massive investment. The loss from the last destroyed shipment had already caused heavy losses to Jin Chao. Even if he tried to set up his own workshop capable of such modifications, he lacked both the funds and the time.
Then there was the issue of the parts. Whether it was the V6 twin-turbo engine, second-gen wide-body kits, or the components needed for the intake, turbo, full exhaust system, suspension, and shock absorbers, none of it could be sourced completely.
It was obvious that Wan Shengbang’s people had already cut him off at the source. In Tonggang, everyone from the repair shops to the parts suppliers had picked a side. Helping Jin Chao meant cutting off Wan Shengbang’s flow of cash. Boss Wan had held influence in Tonggang for decades, no one dared to challenge that lightly.
Jiang Mu hadn’t expected the situation to be this dire. She got out of the car and asked,
“Can’t you ask Officer Lu for help? Maybe he can get you a car that’s race-ready?”
Jin Chao shook his head. “No. All the cars on his side are confiscated vehicles. If one of them suddenly showed up in a street race, people would start asking questions.”
Jiang Mu grew more anxious. “Then is there no other way?”
Jin Chao just took a slow drag from his cigarette, his brows deeply furrowed.
“I’ve asked someone from out of town to source the parts. What I need now… is a repair shop willing to take the job.”
Jiang Mu was so anxious she started pacing back and forth, and said, “What if, just what if, the car can’t be fixed in time? Then what?”
Jin Chao turned his head and exhaled a slow stream of smoke from his lungs before replying,
“Then I’ll just find some random car and drive that over.”
Jiang Mu didn’t know much about cars, but she had seen the speed and power of the ones used in the races before. If Jin Chao just drove some stock factory-made car, it would be completely outclassed by those heavily modified race cars. No matter how good his skills were, no matter how steady he drove, he’d still be at a serious disadvantage.
She stopped pacing and stood directly in front of him, her face filled with worry. “Isn’t there any other way to settle this? Do you have to go?”
Jin Chao countered with a question of his own, “What other way? You think I can sit down and have tea with Wan Shengbang to talk this out?”
“If this were just about doing business, sure and there’d be room to negotiate. But I’m not in this to sell shipments or make money. If we want to settle it privately, either he gives in or I do. Do you really think he’d give in? If he bows to me, he loses the reputation he’s built over decades in Tonggang. But if I bow to him… I carry this criminal record for the rest of my life.”
Jin Chao crushed the cigarette beneath his shoe with force, then locked eyes with Jiang Mu, his gaze burning with intensity. “You think Wan Shengbang’s hands are clean? Do you think that his racing crew of his is clean? How many accidents from illegal racing have just been brushed off as normal traffic incidents?”
“Those illegally imported cars might look brand new on the outside, but inside, a lot of them are just patched-together scrap. When they crash, no one takes responsibility.”
“The person who died back then, he was driving one of those swapped-out, defective vehicles. The part was switched by Wan Dayong. You think I’m going to just stand by while more people get buried by their dirty hands?”
“I could choose to move on, to let the past stay buried but that means living with my head bowed forever, branded as a murderer by everyone who knows me. Even if I leave Tonggang, that record would follow me like a shadow, haunting me no matter where I go. I’ll never shake it off.”
“I lost my chance at college. Spent half a year in a cell. And after getting out, I’ve spent the last four years living like I’m not even human. What, am I supposed to spend the rest of my life with my head down like this?”
Jin Chao’s eyes burned with a ferocity Jiang Mu had never seen before. He stared directly at Jiang Mu, each word cutting sharp and clear, “This is the only chance I have to clear my name.”
The moment those words left his mouth, something inside Jiang Mu shook and her soul trembled. She couldn’t even form a reply.
As she walked into the neighborhood, her mind was a storm, and the night’s revelations twisted reality into something surreal. She had been in Tonggang for over half a year now, and in that time, Jin Chao had always just been a quiet, hardworking mechanic, managing a small car shop, and sticking to a routine. He had a few close friends, drank a little, and grilled skewers on weekends. His life seemed no different from anyone else’s.
But tonight, he had revealed a part of himself she never imagined existed. Beneath the calm exterior was a man who refused to surrender, a man whose reality seemed like something pulled straight out of a gritty old Hong Kong crime drama or some high-stakes action film.
Special. Mysterious. Dangerous. All of this made Jiang Mu feel like she was dreaming.
She didn’t go back to Jin Qiang’s house right away. Instead, she sat down at a piece of fitness equipment near the building. She needed time to think, to breathe, to process everything Jin Chao had just told her.
Putting herself in his shoes, could she have swallowed such injustice? Knowing she’d been framed, that her future had been destroyed by someone else. And then, to spend four years working for the very man who had done it, loyal and dependable every single day, while staring into that hypocritical, disgusting face… only to be rewarded with silence, no remorse, and even more pressure, more suppression until she was pushed to the brink. What would she have done?
In that instant, she understood Jin Chao’s desperate counterattack. There was no other way out. Even if he wanted to live quietly running his car shop, Boss Wan would never allow it. If coexistence were possible, the past year wouldn’t have been filled with people constantly stirring up trouble at his door. Sooner or later, the car shop couldn’t hold on anymore. Business would suffer, and Jin Chao would have no way forward.
He wasn’t the type to let others trample over him. The Jin Chao she knew had always carried lofty ambitions and he wouldn’t let himself be tarnished, wouldn’t resign himself to a wrongful conviction. This path was the only one left to him. Even with tigers ahead and wolves behind, he’d walk it without hesitation.
That criminal record. The shame Aunt Zhao couldn’t bring herself to mention, the topic Jin Qiang dodged, the original sin Jiang Yinghan despised.
If he could overturn it, would the barriers between them finally crumble?
A fire ignited in Jiang Mu’s chest, blazing through her veins until her whole body thrummed with adrenaline.
……
After dropping Jiang Mu off, Jin Chao drove back to the car shop. He’d barely sat down for ten minutes when the rolling shutter door shuddered under frantic knocking.
Frowning, he strode back to the workshop and yanked the door open, only to find Jiang Mu standing there, breathless, her cheeks flushed. Jin Chao looked at her in disbelief. “I just took you home. Why are you back?”
She grabbed his sleeve, eyes blazing. “I have a plan. Come with me. There’s somewhere we need to go.”