It had been about seven days since Shu-Yang was admitted to the hospital. Because his injuries were serious, the doctors had not allowed him to use a phone during those seven days. Finally, around three in the afternoon, Shu-Yang convinced the doctor and was allowed to have his phone back.
After checking the call log from the past seven days, Shu-Yang discovered that around fifteen different numbers had been calling him repeatedly. The number of missed calls was so high that it was impossible to count them all. However, all fifteen numbers were very familiar to him.
They belonged to the members of Hua-Long Racing Team.
Since Hua-Long Team had no idea that Shu-Yang was hospitalized, he finally responded to their calls after seven days. He called back Tian-Xiang, the manager and team leader of Hua-Long Team.
Shu-Yang: "Why has Hua-Long Team been calling me so many times, Tian-Xiang? And you know very well that besides racing, I'm also an officer in the Special Crime Branch. I have duties to fulfill."
Tian-Xiang: "No matter how much of a police officer you are, the law isn't different for you when you make mistakes."
Because Shu-Yang had irresponsibly waited seven days before returning the calls, Tian-Xiang spoke to him with obvious anger. Hearing the harsh tone, Shu-Yang frowned and replied—
Shu-Yang: "I've been chasing criminals and dealing with the law since I was seven years old. Are you seriously trying to teach me about the law? Why are you so angry? Just tell me what happened, Tian-Xiang."
Tian-Xiang: "Fine. Then listen carefully to why Hua-Long Team has been calling. The National CRRC Racing Championship starts tomorrow, and you're scheduled to race in it. How you race and how you become champion isn't the team's responsibility. But if you fail to become the racing champion tomorrow, you'll be removed from Hua-Long Team."
Tian-Xiang's words instantly ruined Shu-Yang's mood. In an irritated voice, he said—
Shu-Yang: "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? You're telling me about the National Championship only seven days before the race? What kind of team decision is that? Even if I had known about the championship seven days ago, would I have had enough time to properly prepare for it?"
Tian-Xiang: "You were informed earlier that the National Championship League would likely begin very soon and that you should start practicing on the racing track. But because of your police duties, you barely practice racing properly. We've been calling you continuously for the past seven days. We even tried to check on you at your house, but nobody could find you. If your irresponsibility causes me to lose my place in the National Championship League, then I'll personally throw you out of Hua-Long Team."
After hearing Tian-Xiang's words, Shu-Yang thought to himself—
"What kind of ridiculous logic is that? Didn't my fellow police officers tell the team anything? And didn't the team try asking my colleagues about me? What absurd reasoning. The manager clearly wants to kick me out of the team."
Just as Shu-Yang was about to respond, Tian-Xiang suddenly hung up.
Instead of being shocked by the abrupt disconnection, Shu-Yang let out a mocking laugh and muttered to himself—
"Trying to threaten me with removal from the team? Not bad. Teaching a police officer about the law and then threatening him too. Tian-Xiang has certainly become bold. Fine, maybe I didn't answer the team's calls for seven days, and maybe they couldn't find me. But any professional racing team would have substitute racers or replacement riders available.
Besides, my surgical stitches haven't even been removed yet. To be honest, there's no way I can participate in a race right now.
Why am I even worrying about this? The team will obviously use a replacement rider to compete in the championship.
But before they choose a substitute racer, I need to do something.
After all, I still have Racer King Jun-Yu."
As soon as Shu-Yang finished muttering those words, he called Jun-Yu.
But Jun-Yu didn't answer the phone.
★★★
Shu-Yang: "Now do you understand? My place on the team is at stake, Jun-Yu. Please, you have to do something."
After hearing the whole story from Shu-Yang, Jun-Yu was so shocked that he practically jumped out of his seat.
Jun-Yu: "What?! What do you mean I should do something? You know very well that I've never participated in an official race before. I only rode on the circuit with you because I enjoy racing. How is someone who's never raced professionally supposed to compete directly in the Chinese National Road Racing Championship? Are you crazy?"
Shu-Yang: "I know you can do it. But if you don't get on that track tomorrow, then I'll have to race with these stitches still in my body."
Jun-Yu: "Don't be stupid, Shu-Yang. How can I suddenly enter a race like this? If a racer can't participate for some reason, a substitute rider can be registered at the last moment in a national event as long as the team submits an injury report to the league authorities. And you know my racing background better than anyone."
Shu-Yang: "I'll handle the part about getting you into the race. Right now, I need your final decision. Otherwise, I'll show everyone tomorrow that I'm not even in the hospital."
Jun-Yu: "You'll stay right where you are in that hospital if you want to keep your neck attached to your body. Wait there. I'm assigning security guards to surround your cabin right now. Send me your manager's and racing director's phone numbers. I'll handle the rest. And for now, go to sleep peacefully. I'll send a laptop to you so you can join a video conference with your team."
Shu-Yang: "Okay. Just send it quickly."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shu-Yang hung up and smiled to himself.
"The threat worked. I knew that if I didn't tell Jun-Yu I'd race with my injured body, he'd refuse to participate again. Before the team finds another replacement rider, he'll have to compete in the National League. This way, his name will finally be listed as an official racer. Anyway, I'd better send the numbers."
After muttering those words, Shu-Yang sent the contact information of the team's director and manager to Jun-Yu through WeChat.
The moment Jun-Yu received the numbers, he called Hua-Long Team.
Tian-Xiang: "Hello, who is this?"
Jun-Yu: "I'm Shu-Yang's replacement rider. How dare you threaten to remove Shu-Yang from the team without even listening to his full explanation?"
Tian-Xiang: "You've misunderstood. I only said those things because I wanted Shu-Yang to take racing more seriously. But we can't accept the fact that he would put our team in danger because of his duties as a police officer. Because of his irresponsibility, we're considering banning him from the team this time. If Shu-Yang tries to use legal action against us to keep his place on the team, we'll file a counter-complaint. Surely you understand that the law is the same for police officers as it is for everyone else."
Listening to Tian-Xiang's explanation with obvious irritation, Jun-Yu replied—
Jun-Yu: "Shu-Yang spent three days in the ICU. He was shot. Even after he regained consciousness, the doctors only allowed him to use a phone today. If you want to ban him without knowing anything about his medical condition, that's your choice. But tell me this—how does a professional racing team inform a rider about a CRRC race only seven days before the event?
You say you've been trying to contact Shu-Yang for seven days. Even if he had been perfectly healthy, how was he supposed to prepare for a national-level race within only seven days? Doesn't your team bear some responsibility for that as well?"
Tian-Xiang: "Jun-Yu, we did tell Shu-Yang to focus on racing because the National League would be starting soon. However, the exact date hadn't been finalized at the time, so we couldn't inform him of the actual race date earlier. Given that, where exactly do you see negligence on the team's part?"
Jun-Yu: "I understand the situation now. Regardless, Shu-Yang won't be banned from Hua-Long Team. Yes, there has been a misunderstanding, but you should report his injury to the league authorities. I'm sending an email to your team's server right now with all of Shu-Yang's medical information."
Tian-Xiang: "Jun-Yu, we don't know who you are. Even though Shu-Yang is a member of our team, he's never mentioned you as his replacement rider. We also know nothing about your racing background. You're welcome to send us the injury report, but we can't simply accept you as a replacement rider for the National League."
Jun-Yu: "That's a reasonable concern. Please wait a moment. I'll send you some of my racing footage right away."
After saying that, Jun-Yu ended the call and sent several racing video clips to Tian-Xiang.
Tian-Xiang carefully watched ten minutes of Jun-Yu's racing footage. After finishing, he immediately called Jun-Yu back.
Tian-Xiang: "Jun-Yu, I like your racing skills. However, I can't make a final decision without discussing your profile with the rest of the team. Please stay awake a little longer. I'm arranging a video conference with the team. Make sure Shu-Yang joins the conference as well."
★★★
After speaking with Tian-Xiang, Jun-Yu called the doctor and said—
Jun-Yu: "Please, Doctor! Allow Shu-Yang to use your laptop for just five minutes. I'll send him a device first thing in the morning."
Doctor: "Jun-Yu, calm down. There's no need to ask like that. But I do have a complaint about Shu-Yang. Your friend doesn't want to stay in the hospital at all. He's been causing quite a headache because he hates being alone here. I finally gave him his phone today because I had no other choice. You should come and handle your friend."
Doctor Yu-Tong was considerably older than Jun-Yu. He had known Jun-Yu for quite some time, and over the years, a warm and friendly relationship had developed between them.
Jun-Yu: "Thank you, Doctor Yu-Tong. Shu-Yang is probably just bored from being stuck in bed all day. I'll talk to him."
Following Jun-Yu's request, Doctor Yu-Tong went to Shu-Yang's hospital cabin and knocked on the door.
Shu-Yang: "Doctor, come in."
Seeing Yu-Tong, Shu-Yang invited him inside. However, judging from the expression on Shu-Yang's face, it was obvious that he was inwardly annoyed to see the doctor.
Entering the room with a smile, Yu-Tong said—
Yu-Tong: "Shu-Yang, Jun-Yu asked me to lend you this device for a while."
The moment Shu-Yang heard those words, his mood instantly brightened. He had thought the doctor had come to give him another sleeping injection. But when he learned that the laptop had been sent by Jun-Yu, he became overjoyed.
Just as a smile spread across Shu-Yang's face, the doctor added—
Yu-Tong: "However, you'll only have this laptop for one hour. After that, I'll come back to collect it and give you your sleeping medication."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu-Tong left the cabin.
Watching him leave, Shu-Yang made a face behind his back and muttered—
Shu-Yang: "If you could, you'd poke people with needles all day long. What a tyrant. The way you've tortured my body... if I didn't already have surgical stitches, you'd probably have turned me into a pincushion with a hundred and twenty injections. Now please, get out of my sight."
Whispering countless complaints and insults under his breath, Shu-Yang opened the laptop and logged into the Hua-Long Racing Team's server.
There, he submitted an official report regarding his injuries and requested consideration from the team.