Extra Story: Tales of the Capital - Victory or Defeat

Just as the leading Li Xiujian thought he could win this race, Lu Mingye, who had been following closely behind him, suddenly gave up the chase.

He reined in his horse and stopped.

Everyone was stunned.

Including Li Xiujian.

He looked back, puzzled, at Lu Mingye.

Lu Mingye did not look at him.

Instead, he flashed a brilliant smile towards a certain direction in the stands.

He dismounted, handed the reins to a groom who came running over, and then walked straight towards the stands.

He had forfeited the race.

Because he saw that the pretty girl he had invited seemed to be growing impatient.

For him, winning or losing a race was far less important than a date.

On the terrace, Lu Chengsi's expression finally showed a flicker of change.

The fingers holding the celadon teacup seemed to have whitened slightly from excessive force.

"Hahahaha!"

Li Hongji burst into loud laughter.

"Brother Chengsi, your son is quite the romantic!"

"Willing to forsake the crown for a beauty!"

"How interesting, how interesting!"

Just as everyone was captivated by Lu Mingye's antics, no one noticed that Mo Zhenbang, who had been lagging in last place, began to accelerate.

His horse had been held back at a controlled pace all along.

Its stamina had been preserved exceptionally well.

Now, he loosened the reins.

The chestnut steed, like a shell fired from a cannon, began a frantic pursuit.

By the time Li Xiujian snapped out of his distraction caused by Lu Mingye's spectacle, he heard the urgent sound of hoofbeats behind him.

He looked back, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Mo Zhenbang was less than fifty meters behind him.

And the distance was closing rapidly.

"Damn it!"

Li Xiujian cursed angrily, lashing his horse's back fiercely.

The black Arabian horse, stung by the pain, accelerated again.

But it had expended too much energy from the very start.

Its final sprint was already somewhat struggling.

The finish line was right there.

Forty meters.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters.

Mo Zhenbang caught up.

The two horses were almost neck and neck.

Li Xiujian's face flushed crimson.

He absolutely could not lose!

Especially not to Mo Zhenbang!

At the very moment they were about to cross the finish line, Li Xiujian made an extremely covert move.

His whip was not aimed at his own horse.

Instead, with a flick of his wrist, the tip of the whip, like a venomous snake, silently grazed past the head of Mo Zhenbang's horse.

The startled chestnut warmblood jerked its head to the side.

Its speed faltered for an instant.

That instant was enough.

Li Xiujian's black horse crossed the finish line first.

He had won.

By only half a head's length.

He raised his arm high, declaring his victory to the entire field.

But the expected cheers did not rise from the stands.

Everyone's expression was somewhat subtle.

Many had seen what just happened.

Li Xiujian's win was not honorable.

Mo Zhenbang reined in his horse, stopping past the finish line.

He did not look at Li Xiujian.

He simply leaned down and gently patted his horse's neck, soothing it.

Li Xiujian rode over to him.

"Mo Zhenbang, you lost."

"The plot of land in the east of the city is mine."

Mo Zhenbang looked up.

His face remained calm.

"I only agreed to race you with you. When did I agree to a wager?"

"What did you say?"

Li Xiujian's eyes instantly turned dangerous.

"Are you going back on your word?"

Mo Zhenbang remained utterly unmoved, continuing calmly,

"Moreover, the ownership of a piece of land shouldn't be decided by a horse race."

"That would be too childish."

"You!"

Li Xiujian was furious.

He felt humiliated.

The victory he had worked so hard for, even resorting to underhanded tactics, was considered merely "childish" in the other's eyes.

Just as he was about to erupt, Lu Mingye walked over with the pretty girl.

"Alright, alright, Young Master Li, don't be angry,"

Lu Mingye said with a smile, trying to smooth things over.

"The three of us are spoken of together, yet today is the first time we've all gathered."

"How about this? Tonight, my treat, at Caesar's Palace!"

"The gathering of the three young masters of Jingzhou will surely make for a fine story."

He skillfully shifted the topic, trying to ease the tension.

Li Xiujian looked at him coldly.

"Not interested."

Then, ignoring everyone else, he turned his horse and headed straight for the exit.

Li Xiujian's blatant disregard left Lu Mingye somewhat embarrassed.

The farce thus came to an end.

Lu Mingye took the pretty girl and got into his newly bought Ferrari.

The roar of the sports car soon faded into the distance.

The equestrian club gradually returned to calm.

Mo Zhenbang led his horse, walking slowly back to the stables.

His father, Mo Jingsheng, was already standing there, though no one knew when he had arrived.

"Dad."

"Mm." Mo Jingsheng nodded.

He glanced at the chestnut horse.

"Good horse."

He then looked at his son.

"You did well too."

Mo Zhenbang said nothing.

"Sometimes, losing is better than winning,"

Mo Jingsheng said slowly.

A glimmer of understanding flashed in Mo Zhenbang's eyes.

"I understand."

Elsewhere.

Lu Chengsi stood on the terrace, watching his son's red Ferrari disappear in a cloud of dust.

His face was calm, his thoughts inscrutable.

Only, the aura around him grew colder and more forbidding.

His secretary behind him didn't dare to breathe too loudly.

Lu Chengsi stood there for a long time.

Until the setting sun stretched his shadow long.

He picked up his cell phone.

Dialed a number.

"Old Liu, help me arrange a meeting with Director Li from the National Development and Reform Commission."

"Tell him I'd like to personally report to him some... immature thoughts regarding the future industrial planning for the new eastern district."

The person on the other end of the line immediately agreed.

Lu Chengsi hung up.

His gaze once again turned towards the distance.

Victory or defeat on the racecourse truly didn't count for much.

The real game hadn't even begun yet.

He glanced at the seat where Li Hongji had been sitting earlier and recalled Mo Jingsheng's words, "They're all still just children."

A cold, sharp curve appeared at the corner of Lu Chengsi's mouth.

The farce at the equestrian club was like a stone thrown into water.

The ripples slowly spread within their respective families.