ABT ### Chapter 0089
Looking at the pile of crumpled papers in front of him and the group of nervous teenagers reaching into the small basin, Li Fanyu felt a chill in his heart. The attitude of the organizers reminded him of a story he had read before.
It was about a plane crash where survivors from various countries ended up stranded in the wilderness. They divided into groups by nationality to survive. After a month, everyone died and went to heaven. God asked them, "Do you know why you died?" All the spirits complained incessantly.
After a long while, God stopped them and pointed to the British spirits, saying, "You died due to arrogance and stubbornness, refusing help and cooperation." He then pointed to the American spirits, saying, "You died due to excessive reliance on your abilities, succumbing to pride and arrogance." At this point, the Chinese spirits stepped forward and asked, "What about us? We didn't make any mistakes. Why did we die?" God stroked his chin, shrugged, and said, "You indeed didn't make any mistakes, but you also didn't do anything. You lived and died passively, so you died due to passivity and indifference."
The words "passivity" and "indifference" had struck Li Fanyu at the time. Now, looking at the scene before him, his heart trembled again.
"Hey! Hurry up and draw the lots; don't delay others," a staff member shouted, pulling him back from his reverie.
Although this race was of a higher level, Li Fanyu was still the oldest. He looked at the hesitant children holding the papers and approached.
"No need to draw lots; give me that car," he said, taking the basin that was originally used for screws and addressing the staff.
The staff couldn't believe that someone would be so straightforward at this moment and double-checked with Li Fanyu. Once he confirmed, they breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had finally solved a big problem.
The children nearby were also surprised and quickly put down their crumpled papers.
"Wow, big brother, you're really kind."
"But that's a four-stroke engine. The track for this race is so long; you're definitely going to lose!"
"Yeah, it's better to draw lots. At least it's fair. If you draw that car and lose, you can only blame it on bad luck."
Li Fanyu smiled at them but didn't say anything. He had come to this race originally to broaden his horizons. Being able to compete on the same stage as Alonso, the king of racing, was already rare. Winning would be great, but even if he lost, it wouldn't be a big deal. Besides, he still had Xapp's speed boost, so the car wouldn't be too much of a disadvantage in his hands.
"Look! It's Alonso!"
Just then, someone shouted, and all the young drivers around immediately looked excitedly in that direction. Indeed, the king of racing, with his curly hair, beard, and iconic thick eyebrows, was walking towards them.
"What's going on, guys?" Alonso, a Spaniard, asked in his strange accented English.
He had just been interviewed in front of the news center and saw all the drivers gathered with crumpled papers. He thought they were holding some special ceremony, so he came over curiously to take a look.
The staff looked embarrassed, but with Alonso's inquiry, they explained the situation to him.
Alonso's thick eyebrows furrowed as the staff explained, and he quickly interrupted, "No, no, no, this isn't right. They've all received my invitation and must be treated fairly."
The staff hurriedly explained, "Someone has already volunteered to drive that car in the race. The matter has been resolved, Mr. Fernando."
Alonso looked at him with a questioning gaze, "Who? Did he really volunteer, and not for any other reason?"
The staff nodded firmly and pointed to Li Fanyu, "It's him."
Alonso looked at Li Fanyu for a moment, then walked over and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Kid, I want you to know. Although this is an exhibition race, you were all selected through the Red Bull sponsorship method. Winning this race is a shortcut to gaining favor from high-level karting teams."
Li Fanyu struggled to understand his words, but thankfully Alonso spoke slowly. Otherwise, with his level of listening comprehension, he definitely wouldn't understand. Seeing the king of racing for the first time, Li Fanyu couldn't help but feel excited. After organizing his words for a moment, he shrugged and replied, "It's okay, I'm a bit older and have confidence in myself."
The reason he said this wasn't because he was overflowing with confidence, thinking his driving skills could win against the world's top racing king with a slow car. It was because he couldn't think of appropriate words after pondering for a while... So he could only roughly summarize it with "confidence."
His original intention was actually that, being older, he naturally should give way to the younger kids...
But in Alonso's ears, naturally, his words were understood as a kind of unwavering confidence in victory.
Even on the F1 circuit, it's rare for someone to say such things to Alonso's face. Even though his peak years have passed and he hasn't won any championships in the past couple of years, his achievements still secure him a leading position. With the downfall of Schumacher and others, his status and position in the entire F1 world are hard to shake.
After hearing Li Fanyu's words, Alonso was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter. He said something in Spanish very quickly, then waved to the staff.
Ignoring the staff's repeated dissuasion, he gave a few instructions and then gave Li Fanyu a thumbs up, winked, and walked away.
After Alonso left, Li Fanyu approached a staff member and asked, "Hey, what did he just say?"
The person looked Li Fanyu up and down, silently sighing that fools are indeed lucky.
"Mr. Fernando said to leave that four-stroke car to him. He also said that in terms of confidence in victory, he won't fall behind anyone."
Uh... Did I sound that arrogant just now? Did the king of racing misunderstand me...
After being speechless for a moment, Li Fanyu shook his head, deciding to let Alonso interpret it however he wanted.
After this episode, the drivers finally arrived at the track and began their trials. Li Fanyu, wearing a slightly small racing suit, carefully climbed onto the car, holding his helmet, afraid of tearing his pants.
Some drivers around him had already started their trials, while others were still listening to instructions from their parents or accompanying coaches. The conversation between a young driver and his father next to Li Fanyu caught his attention.
The young driver, wearing a helmet and looking to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, was fiddling with the steering wheel with a troubled look on his face.
His father, with a dark complexion and wrinkles on his forehead, wearing a worn-out jacket, was half-kneeling in front of the kart, hesitatingly discussing, "Son, this is your chance. If it doesn't work out, listen to me and go home to study hard."
Upon hearing these words, the young driver's hands, which were fiddling with the steering wheel, suddenly clenched into fists. Although his expression under the helmet couldn't be seen, Li Fanyu could imagine the struggle he was going through.
After a while, the young driver took a deep breath and relaxed his fists, nodding to his father. But behind the glasses inside the helmet, there was a look of determination and resolve.
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