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Realizing she had overthought things, Jiang Meilin quickly came back to her senses.
She glanced at her watch, then smiled at Xu Ye and said, “I’m not here to blame you today. I don’t even mind you being friends with Qingqing, but I hope you don’t cross certain boundaries. You’re a smart kid—you should understand what I mean.”
Xu Ye smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, Auntie. That kind of thing won’t happen.”
“Thank you.”
Jiang Meilin stood up, about to leave, but suddenly turned back and asked, “May Auntie add you on WeChat?”
“Of course.”
Xu Ye took out his phone for Jiang Meilin to scan the QR code. After she added him, she reminded, “My surname is Jiang.”
“Got it.”
Jiang Meilin smiled faintly and walked out of the tavern.
Once she got back into the car, she told the driver to take her home. Wang Ruxue saw Jiang Meilin return and came forward to greet her, “Director Jiang, the noodles are already cooked in the pot. Qingqing is eating now. If there’s nothing else, I’ll head home first.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“It’s my duty.”
Jiang Meilin walked into the living room. By the dining table, Chen Qingqing was eating noodles in small bites. Since the noodles had just been scooped from the pot, before each bite, Chen Qingqing would purse her lips and blow on them to cool them down.
Smiling, Jiang Meilin stepped forward, took a hair tie from her bag, and after gathering Chen Qingqing’s sleek black hair, skillfully tied it up.
Then she went into the kitchen, served herself a bowl of noodles, and sat down across from Chen Qingqing.
“Qingqing, Mom’s work at this stage is basically done. I can rest at home for a while.”
“Oh.”
“Do you want to go traveling? Mom can take you out for a few days.”
Chen Qingqing shook her head and refused outright.
Jiang Meilin had no choice but to change the subject and patiently asked, “Your college entrance exam results will come out in a few days. Have you decided which university you want to apply to?”
Chen Qingqing put down her chopsticks, hesitating.
After a long moment, she said, “I’m going to Modu.”
Although Jiang Meilin had long known her daughter would choose between Zhongyang Music Academy and Modu Music Academy, hearing Chen Qingqing ultimately pick Modu still made her heart skip a beat.
Not for any other reason, but because earlier in that tavern, the boy named Xu Ye had clearly said he was going to Modu too.
Could it be that Qingqing chose to go to Modu because of him?
Jiang Meilin asked again to be sure, “You’ve already made up your mind?”
“Yes.”
…
Jiang Meilin’s visit was just a small interruption for Xu Ye.
The summer job had to continue.
The money still needed to be earned slowly.
Those dramas where rich people throw a million at a man to leave their daughter only happen in novels and TV shows—such things never happen in real life.
After finally making it through another day, Xu Ye dragged his tired body home. Since Father and Mother were already asleep, he deliberately slowed his steps. When he saw a stack of money on the living room table, he paused for a moment, then smiled as he picked it up and took it back to his room.
After a cold shower, he changed into shorts and a faded white T-shirt. Xu Ye opened his stock account to check and saw there was little change in his funds. He felt indifferent—stock trading couldn’t be rushed. No increase today just meant the right moment hadn’t arrived yet.
Xu Ye opened QQ and sent a message to Qin Zhiwei.
“Brother Wei, are you asleep?”
Qin Zhiwei wasn’t asleep yet. After three years of nightly study sessions in high school, he had developed a habit of staying up late. Seeing Xu Ye’s message, he thought maybe Gu Mengyao had come looking for Xu Ye today. He quickly replied, “Not yet.”
Xu: “Do you want to go get your driver’s license together tomorrow?”
Autistic patient: “Driver’s license?”
Autistic patient: “Isn’t it a bit too soon? There’s plenty of time to learn in university, right?”
Xu: “I’m planning to register tomorrow. If you want to come, we can go together. The sooner we finish, the less we have to worry about it in university.”
Qin Zhiwei didn’t have much initiative on his own. He was used to doing things with Xu Ye, so he quickly said, “I’ll ask my parents tomorrow. If they agree, I’ll go with you to register.”
“Okay, then I’ll come find you tomorrow.”
“OK.”
Nothing happened through the night.
The next morning, after Xu Ye had a bowl of porridge, he set off for Qin Zhiwei’s house.
Their homes were not far apart—about a fifteen-minute walk, even faster by bike. When Xu Ye reached the supermarket on the ground floor of Qin Zhiwei’s building, he greeted the woman busy organizing the shelves inside, “Aunt Wang~”
“Xiao Ye’s here.”
“Yeah, I’m here to see Zhiwei.”
“Go on up, he probably hasn’t gotten up yet.”
Qin Zhiwei’s family ran a supermarket—not much bigger than a convenience store. Usually, Qin Zhiwei’s Father, Qin Wenliang, handled the restocking, while Aunt Wang Mei took care of running the shop.
Xu Ye walked straight through the supermarket and climbed the stairs to find Qin Zhiwei still sound asleep in bed.
“Get your ass up already!”
Seeing Qin Zhiwei lying there like a dead pig, Xu Ye yanked the blanket off him.
Qin Zhiwei slowly woke up, saw Xu Ye, yawned, and asked, “Why the hell are you here so early?”
“Early my ass. Did your father agree to let you learn to drive?”
“He did.”
Qin Zhiwei put on his shoes, stretched lazily, and said, “My dad said the money’s going to be spent sooner or later anyway. He even knows a driving school instructor who called this morning to ask about the registration fee.”
“How much?”
“Two thousand eight hundred.”
Xu Ye hadn’t expected learning to drive to be this cheap nowadays. In his previous life, he spent over three thousand on his license at university.
His mother had left him 3,500 yuan last night, so he could ‘embezzle’ seven hundred yuan. With that, he was one step closer to becoming a millionaire.
Qin Zhiwei pointed at the computer and said, “You play on the computer for a bit. I’ll brush my teeth and grab something to eat. Then we’ll go register.”
“Make it quick.”
“Just start a round of the brawl; I’ll be ready soon.”
Xu Ye sat down in front of the computer. Of course, he wasn’t really going to play—his skills now were so poor he probably couldn’t even beat a bot online.
He opened the browser and casually glanced through the latest trending news.
Qin Zhiwei finished washing up in the bathroom quickly. Just as he walked into the kitchen to get something to eat, Xu Ye’s voice came from outside.
“Qin Zhiwei, you bastard! Watching videos until two in the morning last night—are you even human?!”
Qin Zhiwei bolted back to his room, shouting, “How the hell did you find out?”
“You forgot to delete your browser history.”
“Damn.”
…
They left home just after nine o’clock.
The driving school was about four kilometers away. Qin Zhiwei rode the family’s little electric scooter, carrying Xu Ye, and they quickly arrived at the school.
After arriving, Qin Zhiwei found his father’s friend. Under his guidance, the two quickly registered at the driving school and received an umbrella along with a Part One test question book.
“Uncle, when can we take the Part One test?”
“In about a week or so. You young people find Part One easy. Just review the materials these days. This afternoon, I’ll be taking a group to the Part Two test. If all goes well, you can start practicing with me tomorrow.”
Qin Zhiwei rubbed his hands together, a little excited. “Uncle, can we get in the car now to get a feel for it?”
“Let’s go.”
Coach Liu led them over to his driving school car, then opened the driver’s door and said to Qin Zhiwei, “You two can take a few laps steering to get a feel for it. I’ll teach you the rest tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Qin Zhiwei turned the steering wheel a few times inside, then was about to invite Xu Ye to try when Xu Ye shook his head and said, “I’m not getting in. Driving is easy for me.”
“Stop bragging.”
“Don’t believe me? Fine.”
Coach Liu heard this and couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head. “Watching someone else drive and driving yourself are two completely different things. Don’t think driving is easy just because you see others doing it.”
Xu Ye smiled and said, “Uncle, have you ever heard of launch control and drifting through curves?”
…