"Qin Miao! Qin Miao!" A peer who looked about the same age as Qin Miao, upon seeing him, nervously approached and then excitedly asked, "Can I take a picture with you?"
At the same time, his companions also looked at Qin Miao with hopeful expressions, clearly wishing to ask for an autograph or a photo as well.
Qin Miao was somewhat of a celebrity, having met many F1 fans in his daily life who sought his autograph. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
But those people usually just happened to see an F1 driver on the street and, surprised, asked for an autograph; they weren’t necessarily Qin Miao’s fans.
After all, Qin Miao was only famous in F2, having just entered F1, and it was hard for him to have followers outside of the domestic racing fans.
To be honest, this was Qin Miao’s first time meeting his fans offline.
Hearing their fluent Chinese and considering the current environment, it’s not surprising that these were students studying abroad from home.
Given the current situation, hardly any parents would allow their children to go abroad.
"Of course, but you know the situation now. Can we take the photo a little further apart?" Qin Miao didn’t let them get too close, stood not far behind them, and let them take a selfie at an angle.
Meeting fans certainly isn’t just about taking photos. After taking the picture, they handed Qin Miao a poster and a marker, wanting him to autograph the poster.
Qin Miao naturally had no reason to refuse, so he took the poster they handed him and prepared to sign it.
But when Qin Miao saw the image on the poster, he was stunned.
Because on the poster was a driver standing with arms akimbo in the rain, beside an F2 car already stuck in the gravel, while other F2 cars could be seen whizzing past on the track.
The contrast of stillness and motion inexplicably added a sense of loneliness and poignant heroism to the driver standing in the rain.
Anyone seeing this poster would first think of words like regret and pity.
Along with the raindrops on the car and the track, it was a perfect picture of "The Desolation of the Loser."
But if you had watched that F2 race, you’d know that this seemingly desolate person was actually the F2 season champion, ahead of the second place by 330 points, winning with an unprecedented consecutive victory record.
This was also his only mistake of the season, running off the track.
Because of Qin Miao’s terrifying achievements that season, this mistake held a special significance.
Outsiders might think this mistake ended Qin Miao’s winning streak, which was a pity.
But Qin Miao really didn’t mind.
However, when he saw this picture, he couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, as this was a bit of his black history.
That mistake shouldn’t have happened; he was too impatient.
Because of that, the student who earlier seemed quite pleasant now appeared annoying to Qin Miao.
Qin Miao’s wry smile was naturally noticed by these fans, who were delighted to see such an expression and felt the meeting was worth it.
Most fans who see their favorite driver offline simply want to chat a bit, make a harmless joke, and get a photo and autograph. Having experienced all that, they were quite satisfied.
They prepared the poster specifically to see Qin Miao’s reaction to his "black history" and then record it to flaunt online.
Despite the wry smile, Qin Miao still signed his name on the poster.
Using, of course, Chinese characters.
After signing three posters and one of the fans’ hats, the fans were all very happy.
Qin Miao returned the items to them and advised, "It’s not safe outside now, so take your autographs and get back quickly. Don’t spread this around, or it will be more dangerous with crowds gathering."
They nodded happily and agreed.
After finishing with the fans, Qin Miao waved at them and turned around to enter the paddock.
Those fans stood outside the turnstiles, watching eagerly as Qin Miao gradually disappeared from their sight.
Throughout this, they were holding their phones up, evidently planning to use the video to show off after the meeting.
Qin Miao felt no extra emotion about it, having been accustomed to the camera lifestyle ever since he entered F2.
After Qin Miao left their sight, the small group of fans was still excited about having met him and chatted with him for a while.
Walking into the paddock, Barber frowned and said, "The situation remains less than optimistic. Meeting fans, the correct action should be to distance yourself, not indulge them by giving autographs."
Qin Miao couldn’t explain to Barber that he wasn’t worried about catching anything, but knowing Barber was speaking from his professional standpoint, Qin Miao didn’t blame him for meddling. He simply shrugged and said, "Okay, okay, I’ll be more careful next time."