He answered a call from their main sponsor and walked a bit farther away, constantly apologizing and explaining:
“Yes, it was our problem… We’re terribly sorry… This accident… We’ll do everything we can to repair it… Right, we won’t make it for the first race round… Yes, it’s very regrettable…”
After hanging up, he wearily rubbed his brow and walked over to the data screen. Staring at the dismal qualifying results and the estimated massive repair costs, he fell into a long silence.
The team’s months of hard work and already tight budget had been nearly exhausted by this single crash.
Even worse was the public backlash.
The moment the accident happened, the internet and various racing forums had exploded.
“As expected, the ‘Rain Battle Goddess’ can’t drive without rain?”
“Just a flash in the pan. Pearl City was just luck from the rain.”
“Mental toughness is too weak. Crumbles under pressure—won’t amount to much.”
“Maple Grove Racing Team’s car still has an uncrossable gap with top luxury teams. Push it and it falls apart.”
Song Zhe securely claimed pole position, with Jiang Chengfeng in second.
Feng Yuxiao took a deep breath, tried to steady his emotions, and walked over to his sister in the corner, attempting to comfort her:
“Xiaowan, don’t blame yourself too much. Street circuits are like that—accidents can happen to anyone…”
“Let’s figure out how to fix the car first. There’s still the second round tomorrow. Starting from the pits isn’t impossible…”
But before he could finish, Feng Miwan abruptly stood up, head lowered, and cut him off: “Bro, stop…”
With that, she skirted around Feng Yuxiao and quickly left the pit area, heading back to the hotel alone.
Feng Miwan rushed back to her hotel room, locked the door behind her, leaned against it, and slowly slid down to the floor. She buried her face deep in her knees, curling up in the corner.
Silent tears finally burst forth, quickly soaking her pant legs.
Her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
As dusk fell, she remained in that position.
The failure footage, the crash’s thunderous roar, the team’s heavy gazes… they looped wildly in her mind.
Just as these negative emotions threatened to swallow her whole, her phone rang in her pocket.
She didn’t want to answer, but the ringtone persisted relentlessly, as if it wouldn’t stop until she picked up.
Feng Miwan haphazardly wiped her face, pulled out her phone, and saw “Xiong Yibai” flashing on the screen.
Her finger hovered over the red hang-up button for a few seconds before she finally pressed the green answer key. But she didn’t speak, just held the phone to her ear.
From the other end came Xiong Yibai’s cool voice:
“Feng Miwan, are you okay?”
Feng Miwan bit her lip and stayed silent.
Xiong Yibai waited a few seconds without a response and pressed: “Tell me, are you hurt?”
“…No.”
Feng Miwan finally spoke, her voice hoarse and thick with nasal tones.
Xiong Yibai let out a breath of relief. Then, silence lingered on the line, as if she were gathering her words.
Her voice came again:
“No one hurt is the greatest fortune. Cars can be fixed, races can be rerun, but there’s only one you.”
“Street circuits have zero margin for error by nature. Any driver pushing the limit there is walking a tightrope.”
“The loss of control wasn’t because you’re not skilled enough—it’s the essence of street racing.”
“I watched the race. You set purple sectors in the first two timed laps. That means your feel and speed were there.”
“The final accident was more likely the car hitting the kerb at the limit, causing dynamic imbalance beyond control—not your mistake.”
“This has no direct link to your hand injury recovery.”
“As for the car’s gap and budget issues, that’s not your concern. Your job is to drive.”
“Under the current conditions, deliver the fastest, steadiest speed. Clearly, you did that for most of today.”
Feng Miwan listened quietly. Xiong Yibai seemed to understand her perfectly, knowing exactly what she was doubting and blaming herself for.
Her comfort avoided empty platitudes like “Don’t be sad” or “You’re great.” Instead, she rationally dismantled Feng Miwan’s mental burdens point by point.
She broke down those vague self-denials into objective, specific factors.
“…But,”
Feng Miwan’s voice was still choked, but she was willing to engage now,
“the team spent so much money… My bro, he…”
Xiong Yibai cut her off:
“Feng Yuxiao is the team manager. Handling accidents and budgets is part of his job.”
“If he thought you weren’t worth the investment, he’d decide that. But right now, like you, he needs solutions—not apologies or self-blame.”
Silence fell again on both ends, but it was a settling, digesting quiet.
After a while, Xiong Yibai spoke again, her tone softening a bit:
“Wipe those tears.”
“Then go find your brother. Not to apologize—ask him how you can support the team next.”
“Tomorrow, or the next race—figure out how to claw back those points.”
Feng Miwan sniffed hard and scrubbed the tears from her face with her sleeve.
“Mm…” she murmured softly.
“Hanging up.” Xiong Yibai ended the call without another word of comfort.
Feng Miwan clutched the now-silent phone, stood up, went into the bathroom, and splashed cold water on her face. Her emotions felt somewhat steadied.
She took a deep breath, left the room, and returned to the brightly lit team pit area.
By now, most mechanics and engineers had dispersed—either handling the damaged car or in meetings discussing fixes.
In the empty pit bay, only Feng Yuxiao remained, standing before the data screen, brows furrowed at the complex data and damage reports. His profile looked utterly exhausted.
He heard footsteps and turned. Seeing his sister return, he opened his mouth, seemingly to comfort her again:
“Xiaowan, you…”
Feng Miwan spoke first: “Bro,”
“I’m okay now. Sorry about earlier…”
Feng Yuxiao studied her expression and saw she truly wasn’t as broken as before. He relaxed with relief and smiled faintly:
“Silly girl, no sorrys to your bro. No one hurt is worth more than anything.”
He stepped forward and patted her shoulder:
“Don’t worry about team stuff. Money and parts—I’ll figure it out.”
“Your job now isn’t self-blame. It’s getting your mindset right.”
He pulled her to the data screen and pointed at the analysis charts, starting to explain:
“See, this crash damage is worse than we thought.”
