Olivia no longer had the nerve to stay on. She lifted the hem of her dress and fled the scene, her limited edition crystal heels instantly becoming a huge burden in her attempt to escape.It was raining outside the banquet hall. Olivia was afraid the crew might catch up to her with cameras in hand, and rushed into the rain in hopes of hailing a cab without bothering to shield herself from the rain.When she finally reached home, her haute couture gown had become completely drenched. Her limited edition heels were completely ruined by the rain and mud. She looked completely disheveled and dreadful.Mrs. Hans comforted her daughter while keeping an eye on the storm brewing online.Olivia’s father, Nelson Hans, had been on the line with his brows furrowed, desperate to suppress all news about what happened to Olivia today. Tomorrow was the first day of the mountain bike cross-country race. Many domestic and international bigwigs would have their eyes on the Hans family. If they were
Nelson was the main organizer, yet he didn’t understand the basic requirements of a mountain race. With this in mind, Melanie had to summarize the key points that she felt he would be able to understand or at least care about.“Have you considered the fact that the bikers will be racing on mountain roads, and that if it were to start raining in the next two hours, a mudslide might occur that might put the bikers’ lives in danger? If anything were to happen, would you and your men be able to drive in from the base camp to rescue the bikers in time?”Reason finally returned to Mr. Hans as he pondered over Melanie’s words. The risk she described did exist on Mount Coloss. This was the first mission Johnson Corporation tasked him with. He had to do a good job and claim credit for it. He couldn’t allow anything to go wrong under his watch.Nelson’s eyes narrowed as he waved his assistant over.“Announce to everyone that there might be rain in two hours’ time. Shorten the race by two
The mountain roads were difficult to drive on. It began raining two hours after Jones Enterprise’s vehicles entered the mountain, and the rain was escalating into a storm.The leading vehicle stopped on the road and informed the vehicles behind him, “Things are looking bad! We can’t drive on the roads ahead and can only walk.”“Miss Melanie, are you okay with that? Why don’t you return to the base camp and wait for our updates?” the leader asked.Melanie looked up the mountain, and said, “We need all the help we can get. Don’t worry, I have experience walking on mountain roads.”The leader nodded, and led everyone into the mountain with supplies on their backs.There were a total of six refreshment stations set up for this mountain race, and Quincy was assigned to the third one.The roads between the third and fourth refreshment points were the most rugged, with many steep rocky cliffs that were impossible for vehicles to pass. Rocks and sand covered the roads with no canopy ov
The biker didn’t go on, but everyone else fell silent. Even people who were used to extreme sports feared matters of life and death. “Don’t worry, my colleague is already on his way to save them,” Melanie said, trying to comfort them.They weren’t far from the refreshment station, yet due to the terrible weather conditions and muddy ground, Melanie and her team took one hour to reach there, with the six bikers in tow.When they finally reached the tent of the refreshment station, which had been heavily battered by the storm and cold wind, the employees of Jones Enterprise quickly started up a fire and boiled some water to warm up the bikers.The bikers changed into clean thermal wear as they felt their body temperatures return to normal. The blood returned to their faces.After settling down the bikers, Melanie and her employees reorganized their supplies and headed off to find Quincy by following the map.After another half an hour, Melanie and her employees spotted some colorf
Many hands make light work. The men in the water gradually arrived at a consensus, and order ensued amidst the chaos. Slowly, the heavy rock crushing the bikers started being lifted.Some of the men continued lifting the rock with all their might, while other men tried to rescue the bikers from the gap.The bodyguards of Morgan Group were well-trained in outdoor survival skills. They used rope and a makeshift stretcher to lift the badly-injured bikers up and out of the pit, while everyone else helped the bikers with minor injuries as they walked forward.“This is the midpoint between the two refreshment stations. Which of the two should we head to?” Quincy asked.“Let’s go back to the station we came from,” Melanie suggested. “We settled down six bikers there before coming here. Let’s go back and meet them.”Everyone nodded in agreement, and started the strenuous hour-long journey back to the refreshment station.After everyone’s energy was restored in the refreshment station, th
An old woman sat before the vanity mirror, with a girl next to her. The girl looked to be slightly over 20 years old. The old woman had a head of white hair, donning a sheepskin robe with dyed embroidery flowers. At the man’s declaration, the old woman turned around and looked shocked at the sight of Melanie.Silence ensued for a few seconds, and Melanie took the chance to survey the old woman. Although she was advanced in years, her skin remained fair and dewy. Her eyes were crystal clear. She must have been an outstanding beauty when she was young, Melanie thought.After a while, the old woman composed herself. She stood up and walked toward Melanie. She held Melanie’s hand, and mumbled something. The young man standing next to her interpreted her words. “My mom asked if you’re injured?”“I’m not. The bikers are the injured ones.” Melanie pointed outside the window in a panic.The old woman mumbled a few more times, and the young man translated what she said again. “Don’t w
A scene right out of a horror movie unfolded before Melanie’s eyes in the dark cave.Jeffrey quickly pulled Melanie behind him, and stepped forward to investigate. “These aren’t human bones, but of wild beasts?”The old woman nodded. The young girl said, “Wild beasts often appear in the mountains. If we turn on the lights at night, it’ll attract wild beasts here. That’s why Mom dug a tunnel in front of the house. We even hid an animal trap in our yard. If you walked about our yard, you might have gotten hurt by it.”“That’s impressive of you!” Melanie praised the old woman from the bottom of her heart once more. “But why isn’t there a smell from all these bones piled up here?”The young girl piped up proudly, “This is where my mom is truly impressive! The potpourri she makes can cover up the smell in here.”She looked up, and pointed at the ceiling above. Melanie looked up and saw sachets of potpourri hung above along their way here. The potpourri looked exquisite, and gave off
Words of rejection were at the tip of Melanie’s tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to utter them. Her hands that were pushing against Jeffrey gradually stopped. She simply laid her hands softly on his chest, and felt his heart beating rapidly.She didn’t dare to meet his searing gaze and shrunk back instead, curling up in his arms and falling asleep. After a long while, Melanie found herself awakened by steady snoring sounds.She had never experienced what it was like to sleep in the same room as thirty other men. Some of their snores sounded like complaints, while others sounded like angry shouts. There was a mix of high and low-pitched snores that was so noisy, it chased away all sense of drowsiness in Melanie.She gently pried away Jeffrey’s arm, threw on a jacket, and headed outside.The weather on the mountain was so strange, it was shocking.After an entire day of strong winds and storms, the night was eerily quiet, without a trace of wind. She couldn’t hold herself ba