Prologue (pt. 2)
Months after the first event, everyone in the team is still busy with their jobs, but at least they still held occasional meetups in Sundays about the event. Still, everything is still not yet done, since there’s probably one more person needed to fill the gap.
Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
3 March 2021
11:00 PM
11PM should be the time where everyone goes to sleep. But not in Wuhan, where the city is still vibrant even in the wee hours, as people are still active due to work, or maybe to find some street food, liquor or something else.
At the same time at the Hankou area, in a restaurant famous for serving local delicacies, Tsai is barely enjoying some local food, as he still isn’t fully adapted to the local tastes even after months moving to Wuhan from his home at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Tsai: 天啊，这些东西我还是吃不下，我还是想念在瑞丰夜市那些好吃的。(Oh god, I really can't eat these stuff, I kinda miss the stuff we got on Ruifeng Night Market.)
Suddenly, both Jiang and He came to the restaurant for supper. They are talking about the (then) upcoming race in Sweden, and Tsai overheard their conversation.
Tsai: 欸，你们怎么会来这里？(Eh, why did you all come here for some supper?)
Jiang: 这里的东西好吃呀，来，既然你在这里，我们一起吃饭好吗？(The stuff they sell here is really great. Since you’re here, can we sit down and eat together?)
Tsai: 没问题。(No problem.)
On the meeting, Tsai knew about the “project” junkyard ride and the duo’s plans to join the clunker run hosted by the Swedish auto magazine Trafikjournalen. Of course, Tsai is pretty interested in it, and also have plans to join them, although he is doubting the car’s condition for the race, since all vehicles Tsai owned are often new and Japanese.
He later do told Tsai that he knew a lot about vehicle repairing, and of course, Tsai do felt a bit relieved after hearing about this. But still, he is faced with a dilemma whether to join them or not.
Infact, Tsai knew them both online since 3 years ago, on a Discord group about automobile racing. (of course, both Jiang and He actually used a VPN to access services that are blocked by the Great Firewall) They are pretty close and even shared some info, including that black GR Yaris he bought last year.
It’s only when he moved to Wuhan for work when he actually seen them in real life. He and Jiang often took his friend to experience how the locals live, and sometimes they even treat him local delicacies, most of them Tsai isn’t a fan of.
Still, Tsai is enjoying the place a lot. After meals they keep having a good time with bottles of Tsingtao beer and left at about 1:00am.
Tsai’s home
4 March 2021
3:00 AM
Tsai is still up on his bed, probably because he ate too much. And also he is still wondering about the team since he still has thoughts about it.
Immediately, he took out his phone and opened Weixin (Wechat), found Jiang’s number, and tried to talked with him about it. But several minutes passed, nothing happened. Maybe Jiang is sleeping, or he’s busy on his work since medical issues are the hot topic right now.
Still, Tsai laid down, and pondered about whether he should join the challenge or not.
6:00 AM
Thanks to the decisions he considered, he haven’t get any sleep again. But still, he took out his phone again, and replied “Yes.” at the chat.
As it’s already 6 in the morning with no time left to sleep, Tsai then promptly prepared himself for work, despite feeling fatigued after not getting any sleep.
—TBC—
