----o-֎-o----
Liangmei Li had been insufferable gloating about winning the pole for the Blue Coast 400, and Kai Qiang was determined to knock her off her high horse. But then his car had a coolant leak, and before long it was overheating and he had to make an unplanned pit stop. He was now near the back of the field, and it was going to take some friggin' amazing driving to get anywhere close to catching Li -- who was off to a great start and had lapped him. He was gaining ground, fighting his way back into the race, but then when he came to pass Li, trying to get back onto the lead lap, she crowded him into the wall. Rather than his usual custom of spouting obscenities in dozens of languages, he got on the radio and gave Li an angry lecture about national solidarity and general common courtesy -- all in Chinese with a thick southern accent that she could barely understand. Li started yelling back, lecturing him about the dangers of trying to talk and drive at the same time. "If it's so dangerous, then why are you fucking talking???" Qiang demanded.
"Because you're on my radio frequency, you asshole!"
"I would have shut up five laps ago if you weren't fucking yelling at me!"
"Yeah, well, better late than never!"
Qiang was too far behind by this time to have any chance of winning, but in the last laps of the race he did manage to fight his way up a few places so he wouldn't fall as far in the points standings.
After the race, he didn't confront Li directly. Instead he went and found Skip Stiller. "Hey, Stiller!" he called in heavily accented English. "Skiiiiiip! Hey, you know that Liangmei Li look-alike you see at the strip club? That wasn't look-alike. That was her. That club was have amateur night."
----o-֎-o----
All three teams from the Sherpa Empire thought it was bizarre racing against ferrets and Cocoabo. The reporters and marketing people that traveled to NSSCRA races to film also thought it was bizarre. And so did the Highland Tire engineers that came to collect data on how their tires performed. With the next race scheduled to take place at the Ferret National Autodrome in Aavak City, they were now wondering what to expect from a city where everything was run by ferrets.
TMW and Highland Tire both decided that it was too risky to send their people. They had been a bit reluctant to send anyone to Kermania as well, but the Kerbals were at least close to human. The Tibetan companies had more trust in human decency than they had in ferrets. There would be plenty of other opportunities to shoot commercials, test their products, etc.
Some of the other sponsors like the Guilin Tourism Board, Yulha Sherpa College, and the Deaf Cultural Association had never had as much of a presence on the ground at the tracks.
Only China Girl Magazine and Xianglian Sportswear -- both of which were among Liangmei Li's sponsors -- were really excited to visit the Ferret Lands. They thought it was a wonderful opportunity to capture unique images they would not be able to find in any ordinary human nation. (In addition to recruiting Li as a spokesperson, Xianglian had also licensed the rights to sell NSSCRA-themed products featuring names, numbers, car designs, etc. from all the Sherpa Empire's teams, from both NSSCRA 6 and NSSCRA 7.)
Beihua Network was a bit skeptical about the whole concept of civilized ferrets, but they dutifully sent a camera crew to get the footage they'd need for their live NSSCRA coverage.
Liangmei Li didn't trust ferrets to cook, so she brought a whole suitcase of non-perishable Vannish food. She also complained (off-camera) that Kai Qiang would have an unfair advantage dealing with the ferrets because he was the only human driver who would blend in. Somehow, Kai Qiang heard about this and confronted Li.
"What is your problem with me?" he asked. "You've hated me since way before I pulled that stunt asking if you'd pay me to dance around naked."
Li spat on the pavement. "You're a Zhuang dog who thinks he's hot shit just because you were in the right place at the right time last year!" (The Zhuang are a Chinese ethnic group. Part of the bickering between Li and Qiang is motivated by ethnic rivalry Han vs. Zhuang.)
Qiang knew Li could be nasty, but it still was a shock to hear her say something so openly racist. Usually, she was more subtle. "Really?"
"Really."
"You're a real bitch, you know that?" said Qiang. "You should leave racism for the Sherpas. They're better at it."
"Sherpas are dogs, too."
"Sherpa chicks are hotter than you."
"If you like skin the color of shit!"
"No, really, Li. Sherpa chicks are hotter than you," said Qiang. "Sometimes, when you get to know someone, it changes the way you see them. If they're a nice person, you don't notice their flaws so much because you're not looking for flaws. If they're nasty, all you see is their flaws, and even if you thought someone looked good before you knew what they were like, it's just not attractive anymore. So really, Sherpa chicks are hotter than you."
He stalked away. He found Tsering Chu and Mendok Sherpa standing by their hauler engaged in an animated exchange of hand gestures. "Hey, Mendok, have I ever told you you're hotter than Li Liangmei?"
"Haha, very funny," Mendok said sarcastically.
"No, I mean it. You're hotter than her."
Mendok paused signing in mid-sentence, with her hands in a position that looked like she was making dinosaur finger puppets. "Wait... Do you actually think I'm hot?"
Qiang shrugged. "You're okay. But I'd definitely take you over Li."
Mendok grinned and put her hands down. "I'll go out with you if you want to go out!"
"Maybe," said Qiang. "I just don't want you looking up to Li thinking the way she struts around is something you should aspire to."
"Of course not," said Mendok. "I would never aspire to be like someone who wasn't Sherpa!"
Qiang buried his face in his hands. "Never mind."
"I'm not racist against anybody," Mendok tried clarifying too late to be convincing. "I'm just proud of my own race."
"You should probably stick to dating guys from your own race."
"Oh, it's not like that," said Mendok. "I would still go out with you."
"Because you like me or because I have money?" Qiang asked.
"I could find someone richer than you if I was a gold-digger," said Mendok. "I'm going to one of the best colleges in the Empire! But you're cool because you race. That's way more fun than some billionaire that sits around making business deals all day and wants a trophy wife that'll just shut up and stand there looking pretty."
Qiang laughed. "How do you know I don't want a trophy wife that'll just shut up and stand there looking pretty?"
"Cos you don't," said Mendok. "Thea Alvarez wouldn't just stand there looking pretty."
Qiang sighed. "That's true. I just wish she liked me as much as I like her..."
Mendok shrugged. "I think she's just not interested in men. It doesn't seem like she's even noticed what you look like or anything."
"Yeah, I know. It's frustrating."
"Would it be better if she turned you down because you were too short or someone told her Asian guys are bad in bed?"
Qiang was annoyed. "Do you think about what you're saying at all before you open your mouth or do you just say anything that crosses your mind?"
Mendok looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind."
----o-֎-o----
