Location: Three Gorges Dam Bridge, Hubei Province, China
POV: PAI PAI | Time: September, 11:45 AM
“Unnie! Don’t waste your energy pedaling up the mountain. Let’s just hitch a ride on this trailer instead... See that rope?” I pointed to a thick nylon rope dangling haphazardly from the back of the massive semi-trailer. To anyone else, it probably looked like a piece of junk the driver was too lazy to clean up. But for me right now? That was a first-class ticket to the top of the world!
“No way! That’s suicide!” Natalie shook her head so hard that sweat splattered.
“Trust me! Hup!” Without waiting for her to say another word, I lunged toward the back of the truck and grabbed the frayed rope.
“Catch!” I swung another length of rope toward her.
“Wah...!” she shrieked, grasping it just in time. Her bicycle swayed wildly as she struggled to balance... her slender waist twisted back and forth like a reed dancing in the wind.
I rode up alongside her and advised, “Hold on tight, Unnie! If you let go now, you’ll definitely go rolling down like a bowling ball!”
“Actually, I’m afraid of heights! I can’t look down at all. My legs are shaking, and my stomach is completely in knots,” she said, her neck stiffening as her voice trembled.
“Woo-hoo! …Unnie! This view is to die for! Shout as loud as you can, and the fear will vanish on its own! ...
”
The mist and mountain breeze whipped against our faces; I felt completely free. We were ascending toward a bridge so high it seemed to pierce the heavens. The steel path connected to a dark tunnel bored through the Wushan Mountains, like a gateway opening into a new world. Far below, at the edge of my vision, the mighty Yangtze River shrank until it looked like a thin grey ribbon, winding through the deep gorges thousands of feet below.
“Ya-hoo!” Natalie tried to shake off her fear. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted toward the Three Gorges Dam, though her voice lacked full strength. The massive concrete fortress standing defiant against the horizon didn't even flinch.
It had to be me; I’d sing until the dam crumbled! ... “
”
“Vroom…!” The massive engine roared with a power that vibrated right through our bicycle frames. The sudden jerk from the rope sent us surging up the steep incline without having to pedal a single stroke.
“Unnie! We’re going downhill! You can let go now!” I cheered with pure satisfaction, all the exhaustion vanishing from my mind instantly.
As the road began to plunge downward, I released the rope and timed my move to cut in front of another trailer tailgating us, swerving toward the shoulder.
... The air horn blared so loudly I nearly jumped out of my skin. My temper flared up immediately, and I couldn't let it slide—I shouted back at once.
“What are you honking for, huh?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” I turned to glare at that Long-haired Uncle behind the wheel, who leaned out and shouted at the top of his lungs right back at me.
“Hey! You got a death wish?!”
“You want a piece of me, Uncle?! Bring it on!” I wasn't backing down. China is my home—did he think I’d be scared of some foreigner?!
“Pai Pai, stop! Don’t look for trouble!” Natalie veered her bike in behind me.
A massive wall of mist from the dam swept up, swallowing the sunlight and leaving everything damp and slick. Our downhill speed doubled every second. The mountain wind howled like a whisper from the void below. One small mistake, one little slip, and there wouldn't even be bones left to collect.
That Long-haired Uncle hit the air horn again until my ears rang. This guy is really looking for a fight!
***********************
Location: Heading West toward Wushan Gorges, Hubei.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
POV: Tui / Jetdoe | Time: 1:20 PM, September 2025
“I’m gonna flatten them both until their guts pop out,” I muttered, frustrated with the two female cyclists who had broken formation and swerved right in front of me. Those two were being so provocative it was starting to wear my patience thin.
The mountain roads were both slick and dangerous, yet they rode with such reckless negligence. If they wiped out, I’d grind them into the asphalt before I could even slam on the brakes.
Suddenly, the radio crackled, pulling my attention away… “Bro.”
I picked up the walkie-talkie to respond… “What is it, Sawn?”
“I’m in the middle of an argument with Loweis,” Sawn’s voice came through with a bit of static. “He’s trying to feed me this massive fallacy, and I’m not buying it for a second.”
“About what?”
“He claims that no matter how much the world changes, children will always end up just like their parents. Do you think that’s true, Bro?”
“......................”
The moment they mentioned parents, my heart gave a sudden, painful tug. The adrenaline those two girls had stirred up just moments ago plummeted into an abyss, dragging my emotions back down to the depths once again.
“I wouldn't know. I never had parents. But maybe he’s right... being close to someone, you’re bound to absorb their behaviors and habits.”
Suddenly, I slammed on the brakes in shock— “Hey!”
As my truck rounded the curve onto a flat stretch, those two crazy girls veered back in front of me again. My heart hammered, and my rage hit the ceiling. I rolled down the window and roared at the top of my lungs.
“Hey! Get the hell away from me before I chuck a bolt at your heads!”
The cyclist in the white outfit—the ringleader—glared back at me without a shred of remorse. Those eyes had been challenging me with that same provocative, spiteful look the entire way.
I hammered the air horn to chase them off.
“Get lost!” I grabbed a screwdriver and pointed it at her, gesturing as if I were about to hurl it.
“You haven’t seen the last of me, Long-haired Uncle! Don’t let me catch you again… or your tires are toast!” she screamed, flipping me the bird before swerving her bike to hide behind Sawn’s vehicle.
“Yeah?! Well, I hope you break a leg!”
“Why the horn? What happened?” Sawn asked over the radio.
“Look in your rearview mirror. See those two girls tailgating you? That brat in white just flipped me the bird… she’s a real piece of work!”
“Hahaha! Maybe she’s just eyeing your eight-inch?” Sawn let out a provocative laugh.
“Don’t get smart with me,” I barked, shutting him down.
“Forget about that! Just answer my question. I’m not backing down to Loweis yet.” This guy was stubborn; when he dug his heels in, he’d fight you to the wall.
“There’s a Thai proverb: the fruit never falls far from the tree. Children see their parents as examples and follow in their footsteps,” I replied, reciting what the elders always said.
“Loweis is French and said the exact same thing. I guess this proverb is the same all over the world. But I’m not buying it.”
“Why not?” I wondered, curious about what he was up to now.
“If that’s true, then a child born in prison is destined to be a convict just like their parents, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“Then why was I born in a hospital, yet I didn’t end up a doctor?”
“Jetdoe... Hahaha!” I burst into laughter, the dark clouds in my heart vanishing instantly.
He had a point. Being born in a prison doesn't mean you’ll grow up to be a criminal, just as being born in a hospital doesn't mean you’ll become a doctor.
Sawn’s laughter gradually faded, leaving me drifting back to the very first day I met him.
Being denied even the right to dream of a future felt like a brand seared into my skin. When I hit a dead end, the first people I tried to reach for were my parents. But reaching for them was the one thing I could never do.
I had a small, faded photograph of them in my old wallet. I would take it out to look at it over and over again until the edges were frayed and torn. Every time I dreamed of them, I would wake up to a pillow soaked in tears.
It stayed that way until time performed its duty. As the days turned into years, the longing slowly withered away. Death is a cruel separation; it teaches you a hard truth... You can’t talk to them. You can’t go to them. You can’t even catch a glimpse of them from afar.
Until one day...
Luck finally sided with me. A local woman brought her French husband to make merit at the temple. She told the head monk about the French Foreign Legion. In an instant, the flickering candle of my hope exploded into a blinding light.
“Tui! Would you like to go be a soldier in France?” The head monk stroked my head with compassion as I massaged his legs.
In that very second... my heart had already flown to France. I had made my decision before he even finished asking. I was going to gamble my life in a world I had never known. The only exit from a life spent as the target of local gossip was right there in front of me.
I was so overjoyed I couldn't speak. I had no clue where France was or what I would have to face, but I knew one thing for certain… I had to go.
Finally... I reached Marseille, France.
I trained in everything according to the curriculum—and I trained harder than anyone else in my class. I chased my dream of a big payday and achieved it as I had hoped. Football had been my life since my days in rural Thailand. My idol was Ronaldo, whom the reporters called "Jetdoe," and that’s how I ended up with the name—and the catchphrase—I’ve used ever since.
Two years after active duty, I met a tall young man who had fled a murder charge from Shan State, Myanmar. He had bright eyes and a signature dimple, and he often watched me from a distance. I trained him until we became brothers-in-arms—the kind who could read each other’s minds with just a glance.
The French Foreign Legion gave a home to the hopeless and turned the life of a temple boy completely upside down. When I turned 30, I decided to discharge to fulfill the promise I made to Euang.
Sawn followed me out, and we started a new life behind the wheel of a trailer—a life where we didn't have to stare death in the face every single day.
“Whoa!...” Suddenly, my eyes caught sight of the black-clad girl’s bicycle fallen by the side of the road….
“Hahaha! ” I felt a surge of pure satisfaction seeing the girl in white struggling awkwardly to help lift it.
I leaned out to mock her, “Jetdoe! You should’ve just fallen off the cliff and died! Hahaha!”
The racer in white turned to glare at me with a scowl and shouted back, “You’re the one who should fall off the mountain, Uncle!”
She fumed, stomping her feet and pointing a finger at me.
“Hahaha!” I felt like I had finally gotten my revenge; all my anger toward them vanished instantly.
******************************
