Lin Xian sat up in bed.

He pulled open the curtains, looking at the warm sun in the sky.

There was no warmth whatsoever.

The book from 600 years later had clearly written that Zhao Yingjun had died unexpectedly in a shooting at midnight, at the age of 23.

Tonight, after 12 o'clock, would be Zhao Yingjun's 24th birthday.

So…

"According to the original historical trajectory, Zhao Yingjun is definitely not going to survive tonight."

The current time.

January 14, 2023, 10:00 AM.

There were still 12 hours until Zhao Yingjun's historically predetermined death.

How to save her?

The day before yesterday, January 12th, Zhao Yingjun had originally scheduled a meeting with a composer, where she would sing a Rhine Cat theme song for them, but he had persuaded her to cancel the meeting.

Yesterday, January 13th, Zhao Yingjun had planned to meet with an animation director, but because of his dinner invitation, she had also made an exception and canceled that meeting, instead going to dinner with him.

Today, January 14th, Zhao Yingjun had mentioned yesterday that she was going to meet with a female singer to discuss singing the Rhine Cat theme song, and that she had finished the demo and was going to give it to the female singer to listen to.

He couldn't just keep finding reasons to make her cancel today's meeting, could he?

That would be too deliberate!

Things can happen once or twice, but not three times.

If it happens a third time, there's bound to be something fishy.

Considering that Zhao Yingjun might be a member of the Genius Club... Lin Xian couldn't take the risk of having his life threatened.

Between Zhao Yingjun's life and his own life, it was obvious that his own life was more important.

So…

Was there any way to have the best of both worlds?

…

X Company

22nd floor.

In Zhao Yingjun's consistently unchanging office, there was still a lingering feeling of time standing still.

The day before yesterday, when Lin Xian was playing the guitar, he sat on the sofa and wiped the dust off it with a piece of paper… that was probably the cleanest spot in the whole room.

"How's the demo coming along? Is it done yet?"

Zhao Yingjun finished reading the documents in her hand, looked up at Lin Xian, and said:

"I'm meeting that female singer tonight, it'll be easier to communicate if I let her listen to the demo directly."

"It should be almost done," Lin Xian said:

"I contacted them earlier, and the recording studio said the demo will be ready soon, and they'll let me pick it up this afternoon."

"Okay, bring it over as soon as possible."

Zhao Yingjun continued to read the documents on her desk, then looked up at Lin Xian:

"Do you want to come with me tonight?"

Lin Xian was stunned, not expecting Zhao Yingjun to actively invite him:

"Can I go?"

"What's wrong with that…" Zhao Yingjun lowered her head and smiled:

"Tonight isn't a private meeting. There's an entertainment industry ball tonight, and I already arranged to meet that female singer there."

"I was just planning to say hello, but since you've already made the demo, we can just give it to the female singer to listen to directly."

"If you don't have anything else to do, come along. This is your cat, and you have the right to decide whether or not the female singer sings the theme song. What's more... if you come with me, you can help me fend off a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Recalling the last time he attended a banquet.

Lin Xian understood.

Zhao Yingjun was asking him to go mainly to be her shield, wasn't she?

An entertainment industry ball was bound to be a mixed bag, and inevitably many men would come looking for Zhao Yingjun to dance with various motives.

If she refused outright, it might not look good, since everyone wants to save face.

But if she actually danced, Zhao Yingjun definitely wouldn't want to.

So.

The best solution...

Was to bring him along.

If he stood next to her, at least everyone would know that Zhao Yingjun had come with a partner, and anyone with any sense wouldn't come to ask her to dance; even if there were some who didn't get the hint, Lin Xian could help her fend them off, which would be more polite and courteous.

That's how social circles are, don't hit a man in the face, leave him a way out.

"Okay."

Lin Xian replied:

"Anyway, I don't have anything to do tonight, so I'll go and listen to the female singer's timbre, and see if it's suitable."

He never expected...

It was truly a case of passing through mountains and rivers, doubting there was a road, then finding a new village bathed in flowers.

He had been wondering how to "manipulate" Zhao Yingjun to stay away from the shooting and avoid her death.

But now everything had become clear and easy.

The currently known situation was that the shooting occurred at midnight and on Zhao Yingjun's original itinerary.

So, as long as they changed the time and itinerary, they could definitely avoid the shooting.

Lin Xian's plan was this.

Even if the female singer's timbre was terrible, Lin Xian would immediately applaud and say it was perfect!

They wouldn't need to discuss any details, they would just decide it was her!

He would finalize the collaboration as quickly as possible, and then leave early with Zhao Yingjun.

For example, they could find an opportunity to leave around 9 o'clock.

That way, the time Zhao Yingjun originally left the ball would be changed, it would be much earlier than midnight, and if all went well, Zhao Yingjun could be home before 10 o'clock.

But to be on the safe side, Lin Xian not only had to change the time Zhao Yingjun left the ball, but also her original route home.

On the way back, he could slightly detour and change direction. Lin Xian could use the excuse that he had something to do in another place, and ask Zhao Yingjun's driver to give him a ride, she definitely wouldn't refuse.

As long as he found a location in a perpendicular direction, had Zhao Yingjun's driver drive there, and then got out of the car, when she went home, her original route home would also be changed.

With this two-pronged approach, he could 100% avoid the shooting.

Zhao Yingjun nodded when she heard Lin Xian's agreement.

She opened the drawer below, searching as she said:

"Can you drive?"

"I can drive a little."

Zhao Yingjun looked up at Lin Xian:

"Do you even have a driver's license?" There was a hint of distrust in her eyes.

"Of course, I do..."

Lin Xian hadn't actually driven a car in reality, he had only touched one for a short period of time when he was taking his driver's license test at driving school.

But in his dreams, he had been driving for a full decade.

Not to mention being an experienced driver, he was also proficient in all kinds of stunt driving, wild racing, and extreme speed racing... a live-action version of *Morality and the Rule of Law* wasn't just for show.

He had basically driven all the luxury cars he could encounter in his dreams. As long as there was enough horsepower, he could do small operations like crossing elevated bridges, drifting tail flicks, and passing through drainage ditches with his eyes closed.

CC had previously complained that Lin Xian's Big Face Cat van was bumpy.

But that wasn't Lin Xian's fault, it was just that Big Face Cat's car was too broken. Even if Big Face Cat himself drove it, it would still be bumpy, it had nothing to do with driving skills.

"That's good then."

Zhao Yingjun continued to rummage through the drawer:

"Because today is an entertainment industry fashion gathering, we need to be a bit careful about the car we drive... let's take this one."

Whoosh—

She threw a key over.

Thwack.

Lin Xian reached out and caught it.

"Pick me up at the office at seven thirty, don't be late."

After hearing Zhao Yingjun's instructions, Lin Xian was very surprised.

Was she asking him to be her driver?

Had her original driver taken a leave of absence?

He looked down at the car key in his hand—

The car key in his hand was for a Bentley, and it was attached to an electronic key chain for a garage.

"The car is parked in the garage in the underground parking lot, you can just drive it to the recording studio to pick up the demo. Remember to keep track of the time to pick me up, it's very impolite to be late for the banquet."

"Okay, I got it."

…

Lin Xian took the elevator directly to the underground parking garage.

He pressed the garage remote control, and soon found the location of the corresponding garage. The roller shutter door slowly rose, revealing the vehicle parked inside...

It was a blue convertible sports car, a Bentley Continental GT.

This car was very rare in the country, not to mention that there was a "12" emblem written on the side of the car.

Although Lin Xian didn't have a car in reality, he was still very knowledgeable about cars. This 12-cylinder twin-turbocharged engine had a displacement of 6.0T, and its maximum horsepower could reach over 650 horsepower, making it a proper performance beast.

In fact, few people in China would consider buying a convertible, and Lin Xian didn't know where Zhao Yingjun got this car.

This woman was too mysterious, she was probably even richer than the various rumors in the company said.

Lin Xian felt that Zhao Yingjun wasn't short of money, and even didn't take money seriously most of the time.

So, why was she working so hard, working day and night?

He pressed the unlock button, sat in the car, and pressed the one-button start button—

Roar!!!

The roaring beast of a 12-cylinder engine.

"I'm back."

Lin Xian closed his eyes, feeling the vibration of the full horsepower.

It was just like entering a dream on the spot...

The feeling of being one with the car was all coming back.

He turned off ESP and a series of other vehicle control systems and vehicle assistance systems, putting this beast into a fully manual control state, and directly floored the accelerator!

嗡！！！！！！！

Explosive tire screech!

The pungent smell of burnt rubber filled the air!

Under Lin Xian's manual control, the blue Bentley Continental GT drifted 90 degrees out of the garage in a single turn, roaring towards the exit.

"Hmm, the feel is not bad."

Then Lin Xian obediently turned on all kinds of vehicle control systems and vehicle stability systems, and switched to automatic mode.

Unlike robbing cars and racing in dreams... he had to return this car to Zhao Yingjun after driving it, so he couldn't wreck it.

"Hey, I promised Gao Yang that I would buy a car from him, but I haven't had time to do it yet, I'll find time to fulfill that promise later."

Lin Xian was already a multi-millionaire, and it would be easy for him to buy a car at Gao Yang's car dealership.

But for him now, he had already experienced all the exciting things in his teens in his dreams. Seriously... the flashy world in reality was a bit too low compared to his threshold, and it was already difficult to stimulate him.

This was why he had always been living a low-desire life.

In the previous dream, Li Cheng's garage had countless vehicles that were several or even dozens of times more luxurious than the Continental GT, and Lin Xian had long been tired of driving them.

In his view now, there was no difference in personal mood between driving a Wuling mini electric car and driving a Rolls-Royce.

He turned the steering wheel in his hand, very satisfied with the progress of the plan so far.

He had thought that Zhao Yingjun would ask the driver to take the two of them to the ball...

But he didn't expect that the driver would actually be himself.

Since the steering wheel was in his hands, then where they went and how big of a detour they took that night was up to him, wasn't it?

"Tonight, I'll take Zhao Yingjun on a big detour in the opposite direction of the East Sea to go home."

Lin Xian turned on the left turn signal and smiled slightly.

Time, route, and driving distance were now all in his hands, and he could easily carry Zhao Yingjun to avoid the midnight shooting.

…

Afternoon.

Lin Xian went to the recording studio to pick up the recorded demo.

Then he went home to change into his ball clothes.

Finally, he went back to the company to pick up Zhao Yingjun and headed to the venue where the entertainment industry ball was being held.

"Why do we have to drive this convertible? The weather... doesn't seem to be that warm."

Lin Xian watched Zhao Yingjun get into the car, wearing a blue evening dress and sapphire earrings.

This woman might really have some kind of obsession with clothing matching...

It would be one thing if the color of the earrings strictly matched the dress, but today it even matched this blue Bentley.

"Because the nature of today's ball is different, it's more appropriate to drive this car."

Zhao Yingjun put her handbag on her lap and looked straight ahead:

"Actually, balls themselves are imported goods. In the business world, they're also a combination of Chinese and Western styles that are done quite well. But entertainment industry balls are different, the goal of packaging and marketing themselves is greater, so they're done very formally and rigidly."

"But these things have nothing to do with us..."

The vehicle started, and a breeze brushed Zhao Yingjun's fine bangs:

"We're just going to meet that female singer. If you think her timbre is okay, you can directly finalize this matter."

Lin Xian nodded, and drove Zhao Yingjun to the hall.

The location of the hall was relatively remote.

But fortunately, there weren't many cars on the road, so they drove relatively fast.

Night fell, and darkness swallowed the entire East Sea...

Lin Xian parked the high-profile blue Bentley Continental GT at the entrance of the hall, and then opened the car door for Zhao Yingjun:

"President Zhao, we're here."

Zhao Yingjun lifted her long dress, got out of the car gracefully, and slowly stepped into the golden hall.

Lin Xian glanced at his watch.

20:00

Until midnight…

Until Zhao Yingjun's 24th birthday…

Until she escaped her historically predetermined death…

There were still four hours!