Wait, let's split the 300,000 fifty-fifty.

"Sure, let's talk after the race," Su Yang said, winking at Sang Sang.

"We'll be waiting for you then~"

"No problem, race first."

"Alright, we'll head over now. It should be starting soon."

"Okay, thanks."

"You're welcome."

After finishing their conversation, the two turned and walked toward their own cars.

Once they were gone, Zhuang Mengli pulled Su Yang's arm in dissatisfaction. "You're really going to get late-night snacks with them?"

"Nope."

"Then why did you agree?"

"Just agreeing for now. I'll make up a random excuse to brush them off later. Besides, whether I go or not is up to me anyway."

"I thought you were actually going. Having some drinks, an arm around each, and once you've had enough, heading to a hotel with those two hot girls..."

At this point, Su Yang interrupted her with a laugh, "Haha, stop talking. If you keep going, I might actually be tempted."

"Tch! Go if you want to, I'm not stopping you. I won't tell your friends when I see them tomorrow either. Can you men really resist such a good 'two birds with one stone' deal?" Zhuang Mengli said deliberately.

Su Yang turned to Zhuang Mengli, frowning. "Is that how you use 'two birds with one stone'?"

"It means something like that anyway, double whatever," Zhuang Mengli said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh ho, I didn't expect you to know so much. But with a great beauty like you right here, why would I waste my time drinking with two girls who aren't even close to your league? Why wouldn't I just drink with you?"

"Who wants to drink with you?" Zhuang Mengli crossed her arms and tilted her head.

Su Yang smiled and didn't say anything more.

Just then, the doors of one of the two commercial vans parked nearby opened, and two men around thirty years old stepped out.

They were wearing what looked like uniforms, likely the staff for tonight.

It was unclear if there was anyone in the other van; the windows were heavily tinted, making it impossible to see inside.

The two staff members walked to the center of the lot, raising their hands and shouting, "Handsome guys and beautiful ladies, quiet down, please quiet down!"

As their voices faded, the chatting crowd of men and women gradually fell silent.

Seeing everyone quiet down, one of them spoke up: "Alright everyone, it is now nine o'clock. The friends who have arrived so far will be tonight's competitors. Anyone who arrives after this will be pushed to tomorrow."

"I've checked the cars here tonight, and there are exactly eight, so no one will be left out. We will draw lots immediately to determine your opponents. You'll be paired up in groups of two. The winner advances to the next round, and the loser is eliminated. The ultimate champion tonight will receive a 300,000 prize and advance to the subsequent races."

After finishing, the staff member swept his gaze over the crowd and asked, "Is everyone clear on the rules?"

At this moment, a guy raised his hand and said, "I have a question."

"Go ahead, man."

"You just said we're drawing lots to form groups, right? Does that mean we're completely ignoring car classes?"

The staff member smiled. "What class do you mean?"

"For example, my car is a Mitsubishi EVO. If I draw that Lamborghini, wouldn't I be at a huge disadvantage?"

"I get what you mean. Here, any car under five million is considered the same class, so there's no such thing as being at a disadvantage. If anyone thinks this is unfair, you can choose to withdraw before the draw begins."

"Holy crap? It works like that? Cars under five million are all in the same class?"

"Yes, those are the boss's rules. Since basically all of your cars have been modified, we have to do it this way. Sorry about that, man."

"Oh, what's there to be afraid of? We're already here. Who cares what car it is? So what if it's a Bugatti? We aren't drag racing; it's a five-kilometer mountain road race. If you're scared, just quit!"

Another guy chimed in at this point.

"What do I have to be afraid of? I was just asking a question I had in mind. Since I'm here, let's do this!"

"There you go then. Everyone's car performance tonight is actually pretty similar. Let's hurry up and draw."

"Alright, does anyone have any other questions?" the staff member asked again.

Everyone shook their heads. Seeing this, the staff member smiled and said, "OK, let's begin the draw."

After he spoke, the other man turned and walked back to the van he had stepped out of, retrieved a square box, and returned to the center of the lot.

"There are eight balls already placed inside this box, numbered one through eight. Those who are racing will come up one by one and pick a ball. One will race against two, three against four, five against six, and seven against eight."

"Alright, then how will the winners be matched up after the first round?"

"It's actually just like a World Cup bracket. It's divided into upper and lower halves. One through four is the upper bracket, and five through eight is the lower bracket. For example, if number one wins, they will race the winner of three and four. The same goes for five through eight. The final two winners will then face off to determine tonight's ultimate champion."

The staff member holding the drawing box explained.

"Oh, oh, if you put it that way, I get it. OK, let's draw."

"Alright, there's no set order. Those racing, come up now and grab a ball."

As his voice fell, Su Yang glanced at Zhuang Mengli and said, "I'm going to draw."

"Mhm. Why am I getting a little nervous?"

Su Yang smiled faintly. "Don't be nervous. We'll split the three hundred thousand fifty-fifty later."

"Tch, win the first round before you start talking."

"You got it." Su Yang said as he quickly walked to the center of the lot. He waited for a man and a woman ahead of him to finish drawing, then stepped up, reached into the box, grabbed a random ball, and returned to Zhuang Mengli's side.

"What number?" Zhuang Mengli asked curiously.

Su Yang opened the ball and looked inside. There was a smaller ball enclosed, with the number six written on it.

"Number six."

"Six is good, smooth sailing!" Zhuang Mengli smiled.

Soon, all eight people had finished drawing. The staff member in the center looked at everyone and said, "Alright, the draw is complete. Everyone, please take a step forward and show your numbers."

Su Yang stepped forward holding his ball, and the eight people all reached out to display their numbers.

The other staff member checked them one by one.

Su Yang also turned his head to look at the numbers in the others' hands. He saw a man with a short ponytail holding the number five.

Su Yang had already observed everyone present tonight and their respective cars. This number five guy was driving a BMW M5 CS.

Oh ho, looks like a battle between brothers.

"OK, it's all clear now. Everyone, please stand with your respective opponents."

As the staff member finished speaking, Su Yang walked toward number five.

"Hey man, it's you and me." He said, smiling at number five and holding up his number.

From the front, the number five guy looked decent. He was about the same height as Su Yang but a bit on the skinny side, looking somewhat like an artist.

Number five looked at Su Yang's number, nodded, and smiled. "Hello there. May I ask what car you're driving?"

"An M8."

"Oh? I have an M5. I guess we're from the same family."

"Haha, exactly."

The two chatted idly for a few moments. Once everyone had gradually gotten into their groups, a staff member announced, "Alright, tonight's race is about to begin. We'll proceed in numerical order. Numbers One and Two will go first. Please get in your vehicles and head to the starting line to prepare."

Su Yang turned to look at Numbers One and Two. Both were young men of similar age, around twenty-five.

They gave each other a brief nod before walking over to their respective cars.

Number One was driving a GTR, and Number Two was in an RS7.

The overall matchups were as follows:

GTR vs. RS7, Lamborghini Huracán vs. Mitsubishi EVO, M5cs vs. M8, and Ferrari 296 GTS vs. R8.

At that moment, contestant Number Four, the guy who had jumped out to ask a question earlier, grumbled with a look of utter displeasure, "Damn it, I actually drew the Huracán. What a load of crap."

Vroom! Vroom!

With the roar of two engines, the GTR and the RS7 started up and drove toward the starting line of the mountain road race.

That was just inside the main gate of Wushan.

The gate was a rectangular iron structure, similar to a highway gantry. At the top hung a massive screen, about a hundred inches wide, allowing spectators and waiting racers to watch the race unfold, functioning much like a live broadcast.

However, since this wasn't a professional racing event and lacked a full crew, it wasn't a continuous live feed.

The race could only be seen at certain key checkpoints.

Standing outside the gate and looking in, you could only see the stretch of road illuminated near the entrance. Beyond that, the night swallowed everything in pitch-black darkness.

Winding mountain roads like this didn't have streetlights; they were actually quite similar to the twisting national highways found in Guizhou and Sichuan provinces.

However, the elevation of Wushan wasn't particularly high. Overall, the terrain was relatively gentle without massive drops or steep inclines.

But it did feature a ton of hairpin turns, making it quite challenging.

The cars would depart from the starting line, climb all the way up the mountain, and upon reaching the summit, follow the road down the other side to loop back to the start. Essentially, it was a full lap around the mountain, totaling about 5.1 kilometers.

By now, both cars had arrived at the starting line and were waiting. A girl wearing a black leather skirt walked out and stood in front of them.

The others all turned their heads to watch, waiting for the race to begin.

About two minutes later, a staff member holding a walkie-talkie received the signal and shouted to the girl standing in front of the cars, "Good to go!"

Hearing the shout, the girl called out to the two drivers, "Honk your horns when you're ready!"

Beep, beep.

Following two sharp honks, the girl nodded, raised her hand, and shouted, "Get ready! On my mark."

Vroom, vroom! The moment she spoke, both cars erupted with deafening engine roars.

"Three, two, one... GO!"

...