Chapter 26.2: “That day, I saw you for the first time— —”

In fact, Ye Tianhui had already thought of this, but she couldn’t care less. After all, it was already done. She sighed: “Let fate decide. I do things just to have a clear conscience.”

Actually, there isn’t so much to measure. Seeing the situation go wrong, rushing out was just a split second decision. It’s intuition, it’s instinct. As for the consequences, that’s something to calmly analyze later.

Soon, she was called to Manager Hu’s office. Manager Hu had a serious expression, and after a good conversation with her, he praised her for her calmness in the face of danger, stating that if it hadn’t been for her, Lin Jianquan would have died. He also praised her quick response and praised her skills.

In the midst of this praise, Ye Tianhui sensed something was wrong.

This was clearly a case of praising first, then criticizing.

Finally, Manager Hu looked at Ye Tianhui and said: “You really helped us. In light of your outstanding performance, we will reward you with one thousand Hong Kong dollars. Can you accept?”

With money on offer, Ye Tianhui of course accepted.

However, there was no joy on her face. She calmly looked at Manager Hu, waiting for him to turn his words.

As expected, Manager Hu said, “But I also hope you understand that this incident has caused losses for our racetrack. A seasoned, experienced rider has been seriously injured, trampled by a running horse and suffering from severe fractures. There are also two Chong Zai that are likely to be eliminated. These are riders we have spent a lot of money and effort cultivating, so the loss this time is very significant.”

Ye Tianhui raised an eyebrow and directly asked, “But their accident has nothing to do with me, does it? I only saved Lin Jianquan. I’m just an ordinary person, I can’t save more people. If I hadn’t intervened, there would just be one more person injured.”

Manager Hu sighed, “Miss Ye, I’m very sorry, but you’re only making assumptions. Regardless, the consequences have already occurred. We can’t make assumptions. The current situation is that things happened, and it caused an unfortunate outcome.”

He looked at Ye Tianhui: “Miss Ye must also admit that your appearance may have further disturbed the race, causing congestion and chaos in the race.”

Ye Tianhui sneered, “Shifting the blame onto me, why not investigate the one who started it? Who kicked Lin Jianquan’s horse? Why did he do that? For the sake of winning the race? What right did he have to do that? Was he instructed by someone? Why would he want to harm Lin Jianquan for no reason?”

Manager Hu stared at Ye Tianhui for a long while before finally, with a serious expression, said, “Miss Ye, it seems you don’t understand the competition between the Chong Zai. We train the Chong Zai, choosing those with exceptional talent—stress response, sensory ability, balance, physical ability—all need to be top-notch. In addition to talent, they also need to have strong perseverance and be able to endure hardship. That’s what makes a person stand out. You don’t know how many Chong Zai have given up halfway.”

Ye Tianhui frowned upon hearing this.

Manager Hu continued, “There’s only one way to climb up. This is a job where one success means thousands of failures. When a rider rises, it means others lose their opportunities. When a rider falls, it creates the opportunity for another rider, or a few riders. Do you know, before Ke Zhimin, the most famous rider was a British jockey who won the Hong Kong Obstacle Race three times in a row? But he unfortunately fell off his horse, breaking his sternum. On the way to the hospital in the ambulance, dozens of riders were already eyeing his spot. Everyone rushed to grab it, and that was when Ke Zhimin got his chance, which eventually made him a legend among local Hong Kong jockeys.”

Ye Tianhui understood.

Every Chong Zai wants to climb to the top of the pyramid, but there are only one or two at the very top. The path is too narrow. To climb over others, you must push them down.

The tree that stands out in the forest will be struck by the wind. Lin Jianquan’s excellence had already threatened the future of others.

Perhaps that rider had someone behind him, but jealousy was his greatest motivation.

And such things would happen many more times in Lin Jianquan’s future racing career, even in formal racetracks, where it was possible to be secretly sabotaged at a critical moment.

Where there are people, there are disputes; where there is success and honor, there is rivalry. This is also something he must cultivate in his racing career.

Manager Hu sighed, “There are other reasons behind this, but it’s no longer something I can pursue. The rider will naturally be punished, and the police will handle it. In fact, he also broke his bones and may have just ruined his racing career. However, we can’t keep you here any longer. I also hope you can understand our difficulties. Can you understand?”

Ye Tianhui of course could understand; this was undoubtedly pressure that Ye Wenyin had applied through her words.

As a VIP of the racetrack, the Ye family was the group the racetrack tried its utmost to serve. Not to mention, if the Ye family made any notable achievement this season and advanced to the Jockey Club, they would have more influence in the racing field.

Thinking deeper, if the Ye family’s Sha Tin area could be developed into a new racing venue, then all the racetracks in Hong Kong would have to bow to them.

In this situation, a glance from Ye Wenyin would make Manager Hu do his utmost. And she, being so insignificant, naturally was not worth mentioning and could be sacrificed at any time.

Ye Tianhui then stopped making pointless arguments. The best course of action was to escape from her current identity as soon as possible.

Based on what she had heard before, it seemed the Ye family would arrive on Monday, and that would be her chance.

Otherwise, she was essentially no different from Lin Jianquan, struggling at the very bottom with only her body and flesh, with little chance of rising up.

So, she had to find a way to see Old Master Ye.

And for this purpose, she could lower her stance as much as needed, as long as the goal was achieved.

She seemed careless, but in fact, she was never someone to act impulsively. Small tolerances prevented large mistakes. On the battlefield, one could be full of grand ambition, but one must not act on impulse.

She then softened her tone and looked at Manager Hu, “Manager Hu, I understand your difficulties, and I won’t stay here and make things difficult for you. But I have one request, may I?”

Seeing that she had accepted the situation in such a good manner, Manager Hu naturally sighed in relief and became generous. He said, “I told you, to thank you, we’ll give you 1,000 Hong Kong dollars as a bonus, as a token of our appreciation. As for other things, within the scope of what I can do, I’ll definitely help you.”

Ye Tianhui: “I just started working here a few days ago, and I only moved into the stables yesterday to work the night shift. Before I moved here, to save on rent, I had already canceled my previous housing. Now it’s suddenly very difficult for me to find a place to stay. Could you at least give me some time to find somewhere to settle? Perhaps let me continue working here this weekend? On Monday, there may be guests coming to the racetrack, but I’ll leave early in the morning so no one will see me. Is that alright?”

Manager Hu listened, slightly hesitant. Of course, he wanted Ye Tianhui to leave the racetrack as soon as possible, which would also benefit his future communication with the Ye family.

Seeing this, Ye Tianhui once again pleaded, “I came from the mainland and don’t have much money. I worked hard to get this job, and I want to do it seriously. I never expected that after just two days, this would happen. I feel guilty. Now, I hope you can allow me to stay here for a couple more days. I won’t take the weekend pay, I just hope that I won’t end up on the streets these two days.”

Her words were sincere and a little pitiful. Manager Hu naturally couldn’t bear to refuse, sighing, “Alright, but on Monday, you must move out early. As for the weekend, we might have some cleaning tasks. You can help with those. We won’t withhold your pay.”

Ye Tianhui, having received this promise, thought that on Monday she would definitely be able to meet the old master of the Ye family. She thanked him and then left.

*******************

Since she was going to be fired anyway, she told Jessie. Although Jessie wasn’t fired, he was still penalized.

He seemed a bit listless, but still had the spirit for gossip. He told Ye Tianhui in detail about the questioning process and also mentioned the injuries and futures of the other riders. He even brought up Lin Jianquan.

Lin Jianquan was almost unharmed, but it was said that the Ye family was very dissatisfied with him and planned to give up on him. Because of this incident, he lost his opportunity, and his reputation wasn’t good, so everything had been in vain.

However, due to his talent, after a thorough review, the racetrack decided to keep him and continue to train him. They were hoping that after things settled down, they could pull him out to participate in races, accumulate points, and sell him for a good price.

Jessie was somewhat indignant: “This is clearly your merit, but they’re going to drive you away. They’re just picking the softest targets, and you’ve become the scapegoat.”

Ye Tianhui had no emotional reaction to this matter. She thought that whatever happened, she would just take it step by step.

She smiled and said, “It’s nothing, actually. My original purpose in coming to the racetrack wasn’t pure. After this period of time, I guess I’ve learned something.”

Originally, she came to work at the racetrack to learn the local knowledge and get more familiar with horses. She thought it was fine, but after arriving, she realized that there were a lot of trivial tasks to do, which actually wasted time. The cost-effectiveness wasn’t high. It would be better to borrow more books from the library and buy more racing-related books to study.

Jessie sighed, “I heard that now the racetrack is taking care of the Ye family’s horses. That black rose seems to be in bad shape. They’re feeling guilty, so they can only try desperately to please Miss Ye, hoping she’ll say something good for them.”

Ye Tianhui listened, “It seems that horse really has a problem.”

Jessie nodded and comforted Ye Tianhui, “You should go look for a place to stay. I’ll also ask my friends. If there’s any work opportunity, I’ll recommend it to you.”

Ye Tianhui expressed her gratitude and then left the racetrack.

She thought of Gu Shizhang and was initially going to call him, but then remembered he was far away in the UK.

Although he had given her a contact in the UK and also a phone number for an assistant, she thought it might be best to leave it.

The two of them were certainly friends, and he was very good to her, but it hadn’t reached the point where she reported everything to him. Moreover, with her complicated relationship with the Ye family, and with the matter of recognizing relatives still undecided, she wasn’t willing to explain the details to outsiders.

She decided to give up on it and headed back to her original rental house to ask that old woman about the house.

After leaving the racetrack, she hurried to the bus stop. However, as she passed the roadside parking lot, a car door opened next to her, and a person got out.

Ye Tianhui recognized him at once—he was the one who had given her a ride that day.

She looked at this man and thought about how she had rushed to work that day, full of hope, and now, it was all going to end. She was about to be driven away.

And now, she ran into this man again.

But she couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him and was about to head to the bus station.

Who would have thought that the man would speak up: “What were you going to say to me that day?”

Ye Tianhui stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the man.

She smiled, “Nothing.”

Ye Lixuan pressed his lips together and silently watched her, his gaze probing as he studied her.

Ye Tianhui hadn’t actually wanted to talk to him, considering her current situation with all the legal issues, but when she saw the way he looked at her, she felt inexplicably disgusted—his gaze was scrutinizing, cautious, and probing.

This man was truly despicable. He thought she was some kind of unsavory woman. Had he never seen a woman before? Did he automatically think ill of a young girl just because he saw one?

She had only asked him if he was Ye Lixuan. Since he wasn’t, then forget it. Why would she keep bothering with him?

Ye Tianhui felt this person needed some education.

She walked up to him and looked at him, “Sir, actually, when I first saw you, I thought you looked very familiar, very familiar indeed.”

Ye Lixuan silently stared at her, his eyes showing no emotion.

Ye Tianhui smiled, “The reason I asked you those questions is because I have a relative, and I think you look very much like him.”

Ye Lixuan: “Oh?”

Ye Tianhui sighed with melancholy, “That relative of mine is my dear uncle.”

Ye Lixuan slightly furrowed his brows.

Ye Tianhui continued, “He was weak and sickly as a child, had a low IQ, was frail and ugly, and everyone disliked him. When he grew up, he became lazy and good-for-nothing, dining, wining, whoring and gambling, and picked up a host of venereal diseases. My grandfather drove him out of the house, but my father, who always thought about this relative, kept searching for him. When I saw you for the first time—”

She looked at him earnestly, her eyes full of sincerity: “I thought you looked so much like my uncle, both in expression, temperament, and appearance. That’s why I asked you.”

Ye Lixuan’s eyes suddenly turned cold: “You—”

He naturally understood that she was deliberately insulting him.

Ye Lixuan had grown up to this age and had never encountered such a rude and malicious young girl.

Ye Tianhui sighed: “Although you look very much like my uncle, I don’t think you are, after all, you seem a lot older than my uncle.”

She looked at him with a kind expression: “I hope you can have a healthy and happy life, don’t degenerate, and you don’t need to feel too inferior about your intelligence and appearance. Actually, you’re not that bad, really, believe me. Goodbye.”

She turned and left.

Behind her, Ye Lixuan coldly said, “Young girl, didn’t your parents teach you what manners are?”

Ye Tianhui directly laughed, “Uncle, didn’t your ancestors teach you what self-awareness is? Look at you, your face full of wrinkles, you could crush a mosquito with that. When a young girl talks to you, do you really think inappropriate things? How filthy are your thoughts!”

Ye Lixuan: “Do you not know what you just said? You deliberately said that your last name is Ye? You’re also guessing my identity!”

Ye Tianhui naturally understood that the Ye family was a wealthy and influential family. No matter which branch of the Ye family this man came from, anyone with the last name “Ye” was bound to have women flocking to him.

The words she had used to try to strike up a conversation that day could indeed lead to misunderstandings, making it seem as if she had ulterior motives, as though she had planned it all along.

However, she still found it amusing.

She immediately replied: “Let me tell you, my uncle’s name is Ye Lixuan. I mistook you for him when I approached you. Since you say you don’t have this name, then why would anyone keep bothering you? As for my surname—”

As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing her smooth arms: “I won’t change my name or my surname. My last name is Ye, and I’ve had it for two generations. What does it have to do with you? If you keep bringing this up, do you believe I’ll just punch you?”

Ye Lixuan stood straight next to the parking lot, slightly furrowing his brows, coldly staring at the unruly young girl in front of him.

At first, he had thought she was elegant and graceful, with boundless beauty. Later, he realized she had ulterior motives. Now, he discovered that she could also be rude and vicious to an extreme degree.

He took a deep breath and finally said, “Young girl, you’re still very young, and life is long. Take care of yourself.”