Chapter 1

At two o'clock in the morning, Cheng Xiaoyu was already half-drunk at the Soho Bar, while his friend Dafei had passed out. Dafei, who was about to turn thirty-three, was getting married the next day. The bandmates who used to play rock and make music together had all changed careers as the music industry declined, but Dafei and Cheng Xiaoyu were still working in music-related fields.

Dafei ran a music store near the university town and also offered various music training classes. Cheng Xiaoyu worked as a music director at a provincial TV station. He was supposed to be the best man the next day, but after work, he went to a private restaurant on Dufu Street to meet up with Dafei and a few other friends for a bachelor party. He hadn't even had time to go home and get his suit.

Cheng Xiaoyu took out his phone, checked the time, and, seeing it was quite late, got up and patted Wu Jun's shoulder. Wu Jun, the drummer of their band, was now a qualified civil servant, standing at 1.75 meters tall and weighing close to 200 pounds. Everyone now called him "Leader." The music was too loud, so Cheng Xiaoyu leaned in close to Wu Jun's ear and said, "I'll go home to get my suit and call you guys later." Wu Jun shouted back, "Okay, we'll keep drinking for a while and then head to the Wenhua Hotel. You can go straight to the hotel." Cheng Xiaoyu gave a thumbs-up, said goodbye to the other guys, picked up his coat, and walked out of the bar with unsteady steps.

Leaving the deafening music behind, he stepped out of the bar's main entrance, and the low, rhythmic beat of BIGBANG's "BoomShakaLaka" faded away. Cheng Xiaoyu took a deep breath of the smoggy air, put on his coat, and instinctively checked his iPhone 6. The time was 2:31 AM on November 7, 2015. The bar street was still crowded with people, and luxury cars lined both sides of the street. The sluggish economy hadn't stopped the rich and the second-generation wealthy from enjoying themselves. This real world was so beautiful; with money, you could have anything you wanted. This real world was so cruel; without money, you had to work hard to pay for your house and car.

Cheng Xiaoyu's second-hand Audi A4 was parked on Yanjiang Road, about a mile away from the bar. He buttoned up his coat and slowly walked along the street toward the river. The weather in the provincial capital in November was mild, and as long as it didn't rain, it was a beautiful early autumn scene. The cold wind rustled through the leaves of the plane trees, and the golden leaves fell one by one. The city's night sky was murky and deep, and the neon lights of the high-rise buildings flickered. This city, like a mirage, could instantly swallow a person's heart. The poetic sentiment of the falling leaves would instantly disappear with the energetic dance of the Korean girl group T-ARA on the giant screens. The young people on the street, who were loud and carefree, exaggerated the bleakness of the year. Cheng Xiaoyu's mind was filled with thoughts. Among so many old friends, he was the only one still single. Many of his college classmates already had children. He had lived selfishly in his narrow world for the sake of his so-called music dream.

At the end of the bar street, Cheng Xiaoyu's second-hand silver Audi was parked on the wide Yanjiang Road across the street. The pedestrian overpass was on the other side, quite far away, but most Chinese people would choose to save their steps and cross the road directly to reach the parking lot. Cheng Xiaoyu, of course, didn't complain about the poor planning and didn't think much about it. Taking a shortcut was almost an instinct for every Chinese person.

He looked left and right. At around two in the morning, there weren't many cars on Yanjiang Road, so he quickly crossed to the other side. This was a standard eight-lane road. The 25 meters, a distance that Bolt could cover in three seconds, was the fuse that would deviate the protagonist's life trajectory.

Just as Cheng Xiaoyu had crossed the double yellow line and taken a few more steps, the low rumble of an engine echoed from a distance, shaking the entire Yanjiang Road. Cheng Xiaoyu felt the gathering gazes from all around and looked up to the left. An orange supercar with a bull emblem filled his entire field of vision. In his last moment of consciousness, he recognized it as an LP700. Yes, there was also a red Ferrari 599GTO beside it. Cheng Xiaoyu didn't have time to marvel at the luxurious send-off; his last words were a spontaneous "F*ck."

At 2:47 AM on November 7, 2015, the iPhone 6 in Cheng Xiaoyu's hand miraculously didn't slip out. However, it inexplicably froze at that time. According to the medical staff, the victim had no signs of life at the scene, but the phone screen flickered like a heartbeat until the battery was drained.

The incident caused a stir in the newspapers and online. The theme on the internet was the high-speed racing of luxury cars causing an accident. However, the newspapers focused on the pedestrian's illegal crossing of the road, as this was not the first time such an accident had occurred, and they subtly criticized the government's poor planning.

A few days later, the traffic police concluded that the driver was not under the influence of alcohol and that the speed at the time did not exceed the 60 km/h limit. They reminded the public to always use crosswalks, overpasses, or underpasses and to be more aware of traffic rules.

A few more days passed, and Double Eleven arrived, shifting the focus to how much money Jack Ma would make and how many billions would be broken this year. As for Cheng Xiaoyu, he only existed in the memories of a few people. No one paid attention to the small music director at the small TV station. After Cheng Xiaoyu's parents received a large compensation, his relatives and friends did not support his parents' intention to sue the driver for dangerous driving. The other party also sent a message saying that he, Ye Liangchen, was a local and had a hundred ways to escape legal punishment. Of course, these matters were no longer relevant to Cheng Xiaoyu.