Saving the Heartthrob Frenemy-Chapter 567: Go karting incident

"I don’t think you should get him that car. I will get him an SUV," said Qie Ranzhe still taking a stand.

"Why, why is it such a problem for me to get my grandbaby a sports car?" asked Nana Qie aggressively pulling off her gardening gloves.

Qie Ranzhe glanced at Wen Qinxi and the two of them couldn’t say a word. It’s not that they were stingy or anything. Their son got whatever he wanted. If he didn’t get it from them his grandmothers would provide.

The issue with the car was because of the go kart incident. They got him in a sprint race at the local track with other kids because he liked it and they thought nothing of it. But once that brat got on the wheel they almost had a heart attack.

***

Qie Xieling felt a surge of adrenaline when they strapped him into the go kart. He had never done it before but he was so thrilled to try it.

There were other kids, who seemed more experienced and confident than him. They had helmets, gloves, and racing suits. Qie Xieling only had a borrowed helmet that was too big for his head.

When the race started he pressed the gas pedal as hard as he could, hoping to catch up with the others. Because it was harder than it looked he had a really hard time. He had to steer, brake, and avoid obstacles and other racers. He swerved and skidded, barely keeping control of his vehicle.

But his parents also discovered that he had a natural talent for speed. He zoomed past the other kids, who looked surprised and annoyed by his sudden appearance. He was so reckless and fast that his parents were holding their breath. When he reached the final lap, with only one kid ahead of him. He saw a gap on the inside of a sharp turn and went for it.

He slammed into the other kid’s kart, sending both of them spinning out of control. Qie Xieling managed to recover and cross the finish line first. He won the race that day.

The pair of dads were terrified by his reckless driving and his near miss. A coach who was watching the race even had the balls to walk up to them. He introduced himself and said he was impressed by Qie Xieling’s performance and potential. He said he wanted to offer him a chance to join his team and train as a professional racer. He said go-karting was a stepping stone to motorsports and it was great to start training while young.

But after these two dads almost saw their cub drive into the bushes they couldn’t do it. The nipped it in the bud before it sprouted into something else. Qie Xieling didn’t seem bothered when his parents refused. He seemed to care more about having pancakes and lots of syrup.

***

They thought he wouldn’t race ever again. He was into programming like his dad and rarely went out. That was until he got his hands on Wen Danzhe’s car. This time he went wild up the mountain road and didn’t even have a license so forgive them for being stingy but they didn’t trust their son with a sports car.

Even the motorcycle was a stretch. They gave him strict rules otherwise it would get taken away. But sometimes the harder one tries to prevent fate it comes down crushing hard. In the game, their son had just experienced the rush and there were no guarantees now that he wouldn’t pursue a career in that direction.

Qie Xieling had no idea that his dads were worried for him. He was busy trying to get out of this conversation as fast as possible.

"Nana, I need to take my pills," he said as he rushed towards the stairs.

Just when he reached the bottom of the stairs his grandma who couldn’t catch a hint said, "Where are you going? Your pills are here."

Qie Xieling’s steps paused before he turned around meeting everyone’s gaze. He smiled nervously before saying, "Uh yes, I forgot. Thanks, Grandma." He walked back looking dejected. When he opened the medicine drawer he heard his nana continue to say, "What colour would you like? There are plenty of colours. Ohhh, I like the green one. It looks nice."

"Let me see... woah, I also like the red one," chimed in his grandma.

Qie Xieling, "..."

Did he look like a donkey to them? They were baiting him with a carrot on a stick. Damn it, he was a donkey. He couldn’t take it.

"Ah no no, the red one is too popular," said Qie Xieling sitting next to his nana to look at the tablet.

He scrolled up and said, "This one is nicer. I like that one too."

Qie Ranzhe leaned in towards his husband and whispered, "Maybe he won’t be reckless."

Wen Qinxi sighed. This was after all his precious baby. He was worried half to death and afraid of seeing him get hurt.

Two hours later, Qie Xieling was lying in his bed with his legs swinging as he set up his new phone. After twenty minutes the up-to- date back up of his old phone had been installed and he opened his chat app and his phone was bombarded with tons of messages.

There were people worried for him from his university. It was too overwhelming having so many messages. He decided to call Bo Ailun first because he didn’t know what to say to Luo Muchen. He pressed his chat interface labelled BoBo. There were already ten unread messages but before he could read it his phone suddenly vibrated.

When he saw who it was his breath got caught in his throat. He sat up at the edge of the bed his palms clammy.

All these years he had never been nervous to answer Luo Muchen’s calls. He was always so casual about it. Luo Muchen even video called him once while he was in the shower and he didn’t care. He just answered it. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Now he felt paralyzed with fear. What if he said something stupid? What if Luo Muchen didn’t like him back? What if he rejected him? Worse, what if he didn’t remember anything that they did in the game

"Fuck," he swore while pushing his hair back.

He wanted to answer the phone, but his hands were shaking so much that he couldn’t press the button. The phone felt hot in his palms as if it was burning him. He tried to calm himself down, but it was too late. He dropped the phone on the floor, hearing it clatter loudly. He cursed under his breath and quickly picked it up.