The final exams were over. The heavy stone that had been pressing on Kai's chest was finally lifted.
He let out a long sigh. He honestly felt the exams had been more difficult than the team test at Maranello—and not just by a little.
But Kai wasn't in a hurry. His plan was to wait for his grades to be released and use the hard facts to convince his mother. In the meantime, he played the part of the obedient son, helping around the house and preparing for the Lunar New Year.
Everything was calm.
Kai and Jiang Mo never mentioned the Ferrari academy. Lu Cheng never mentioned Maranello. The family had returned to its normal, peaceful state, as if that entire episode had never happened. But it was only a surface calm. The more they avoided the topic, the more the undercurrents swirled, brewing a storm.
They all knew a formal conversation was inevitable. They were all just waiting for the right moment.
For several days, Kai hadn't slept well. His mind was unsettled, and his nights were filled with bizarre, kaleidoscopic dreams. He'd wake up with no memory of them, just the lingering impression of a colorful, hazy light he couldn't quite grasp.
He woke with a start, checking his phone: 2:33 AM.
He hesitated, wondering if he should try to go back to sleep, but his throat was parched. He sat up to get some water.
He pushed open his bedroom door, surprised to find the dining room pendant light still on, its soft glow feeling harsh in the darkness.
Kai rubbed his eyes. He saw his mother, Jiang Mo, at the table, which was so completely buried in documents he couldn't see its surface.
She heard the noise and looked up. "Why are you awake?"
Kai scratched his head. "Just getting some water."
Jiang Mo grunted in acknowledgment and went back to her work.
But Kai's gaze lingered on her. As he drank, he watched her, lost in the late-night silence. It had always been this way, as long as he could remember. His father, too.
Kai could still recall the early years of the garage, before they had any apprentices. His father was responsible for everything. Sometimes, a customer would break down in the middle of the night, and his dad would scramble out of bed to go fix the car, often not returning until dawn.
The life they had now was built on the backs of their relentless, grounded hard work.
Kai's footsteps faltered. "Mom, you're not sleeping yet?"
"Soon," she said, not looking up. "You go to bed. Kids can't stay up late, or you won't grow."
He'd been hearing that line his whole life. He knew she wouldn't be sleeping "soon." It wasn't uncommon for her to pull an all-nighter.
He hesitated, then made a decision.
Jiang Mo heard his footsteps heading back to his room, but a moment later, they returned. She looked up, and he was standing on the other side of the table, his laptop in his hand.
She was surprised. "What is it?"
Kai sat down across from her. "Mom, there's something I want to talk to you about, officially."
Jiang Mo froze. She took a deep breath, deliberately set her work aside, and closed her laptop. She looked at him, giving him her full, undivided attention.
No words were needed. Her actions said everything.
Kai didn't look away. He met her gaze, his heart suddenly pounding. A complex, indescribable wave of emotion washed over him. For a split second, he wanted to turn and run. But he forced himself to stay.
He gathered his scattered thoughts. "Mom, I want to try. I want to race."
The words came out quietly. They weren't a grand pronouncement or a desperate plea. They were just a calm, simple statement of fact.
Jiang Mo's expression didn't change. She had thought she would be angry, frustrated. But in fact, she wasn't. Because she saw the absolute calm in Kai's eyes. It was a strength born of deep conviction. She would give him a chance—and give herself a chance—to hear him out.
Kai took a small breath. He placed his laptop on the table, opened it, and turned it to face her. On the screen was a—
A PowerPoint presentation.
Jiang Mo was stunned. She couldn't help it; a smile broke through. "When did you make this?"
Kai looked a bit embarrassed. "Just in the last couple of days. I was... originally planning to wait, in case my exam scores were lower than expected."
Jiang Mo's eyebrow shot up. "I thought you had those exams in the bag."
Kai sat up a little straighter. "I did my best. I really did."
Jiang Mo gave a noncommittal nod, tipping her chin as if to say, Continue. She had never, in her entire life, expected to be on the receiving end of a formal PPT presentation in her own home.
She watched her son, who had clearly prepared for this.
He began with a formal, serious apology for lying and sneaking off to Rome. He wasn't trying to gloss over it. He knew how serious it was, and he knew that only by facing it could they move on.
Next, he talked about what he had learned in Maranello, his new understanding of racing, and his plan for the future with racing.
Then, he laid out his plan for his education. Even if he raced, he would not drop out of school and was still preparing for the college entrance exams. He even described his long-term vision, his interest in mechanical engineering and artificial intelligence, and how he might combine those interests with racing to build a future.
Only at the very end did he drop the bombshell: the ART contract and its conditions. He said he wanted to give himself one year to try.
Kai laid everything bare—his calculations, his plans, his dreams—to prove to her that this was not a childish whim.
In the late-night silence, only Kai's voice filled the room, his passion and joy radiating as he spoke. But when the presentation was over, he fell silent, looking at his mother, his eyes filled with a new anxiety.
Jiang Mo had listened to the entire thing without interrupting, her expression unreadable.
The silence returned, heavy and unsettling. You could hear the pounding of a heart in the quiet room.
On the final slide of the PPT, Kai had put a meme: a golden retriever with a flower tucked behind its ear, staring out with a goofy, lovable expression.
She could see it was a deliberate tactic. A small smile tugged at her lips, but she suppressed it. She looked up at her son.
Finally, she broke the silence, her voice filled with a deep, profound worry. "Kai... you know that racing is a dangerous sport. That it's a real, life-threatening danger."
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