Chapter 90: Anything Can Happen at the Driving School
Although Xu Guosheng was an excellent candidate, it was always better to be self-reliant. If Xu An had his own driver’s license, he wouldn’t have to panic if something came up for Xu Guosheng at the last minute.
After closing up for the day, Xu An rode his tricycle to the entrance of the driving school in Qianhai Town.
This driving school had been around for several years. It was always packed for two months after the college entrance exams ended, filled with recent high school graduates.
Xu An parked the tricycle at the driving school’s entrance. As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, two small heads poked out from the cargo bed. They curiously sized up the surroundings, their gazes ultimately landing on the slow-moving training vehicles inside the driving school grounds. The red and yellow car bodies were exceptionally eye-catching.
"That car-car is going so slow, even slower than I walk."
"Big Brother, I want to get down and see the car-cars!"
"Big Brother!"
"Big Brother, I wanna get down and see the car-cars! Carry me down!"
The kids’ clamoring made Xu An’s head throb. He glanced at the vehicles behind the gate, which were crawling along one moment and then lurching forward the next. Then he looked back at the two children demanding to get down and see the "car-cars." Xu An decisively put on a stern face and refused their request.
’Are you kidding me? This is a driving school! Out of ten cars, you’ve got ten unlicensed drivers. It’s way too dangerous!’
In his past life, when Xu An was getting his license, he’d even seen a student who couldn’t be stopped by the instructor. The student just drove straight into a wall, knocking a huge hole in it and bursting out onto the main street.
But in the face of their curiosity, Xu An’s refusal had no deterrent effect. The two continued to fuss, trying to clamber down with their short little legs. If Granny Xu hadn’t been holding onto them, they really would have managed to run off.
"See the car-cars, or get some tanghulu. Pick one." Xu An unleashed his ultimate move. The two instantly quieted down.
They could see car-cars on the road every day, but they didn’t get to eat tanghulu every day.
The two chose tanghulu without hesitation. Before Xu An even had to say another word, they obediently sat back down in the cargo bed.
Seeing that the two were no longer making a fuss, Xu An finally walked toward the small, single-story building on the driving school grounds.
The inside of the building was simple: a large ceiling fan, two office desks, and a water cooler.
A young man was hunched over a desk, scribbling and drawing, completely unaware that Xu An had walked in.
Xu An curled his fingers and tapped lightly on the desktop twice. Only then did the young man raise his head, looking at Xu An with a somewhat dazed expression.
"Hello, could I get one of the driving school’s informational brochures?"
"Are you a recent high school graduate? We have a promotion right now. If you show this year’s high school diploma or a university acceptance letter, you can get a 200 yuan discount or an extra practical lesson," the young man said as he handed a flyer to Xu An.
Xu An took the flyer and looked first at the price, then at the timeline.
The driving school offered two packages: one for 2,500 yuan, which included fifteen practical lessons, and another for 2,000 yuan, which included ten.
The soonest they could schedule the test was in 25 days.
’Twenty-five days is a bit long.’
’I got my license in my past life. Although I didn’t practice much after passing the test, the requirements aren’t as high these days. Three to five lessons should be more than enough.’
"After passing the written exam, how soon can I schedule the Subject 2 and Subject 3 tests?"
"We have a requirement here. You need to take at least three practical lessons, and the instructor has to approve you before you can apply for the Subject 2 and Subject 3 tests." The young man had seen plenty of people ask the same thing. They were usually the type who already had a car at home and had been taught to drive by family. They just needed the license itself.
After thanking the young man, Xu An folded the flyer, put it in his pocket, and walked out the door.
’I’ll bring my high school diploma and sign up tomorrow. That’ll save me two hundred yuan!’
Just as he stepped outside, a training vehicle seemed to lose control. It suddenly accelerated, rocketing toward Xu An amidst a chorus of screams from onlookers.
Before Xu An’s brain could even process what was happening, his body instinctively took two steps to the right. The training vehicle scraped past him as he dodged it by a hair’s breadth.
The car finally screeched to a halt just ten centimeters from the wall of the small building, avoiding any further commotion.
The driver’s side door opened, and a tall figure whose gender was impossible to discern stepped out of the car.
They wore a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a face mask. A towel, cooling sleeves, and long pants wrapped them up so tightly they looked like a mummy.
"I’m so sorry! Did I hit you? Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need to go to the hospital for a check-up?" The person immediately launched into a sincere apology, and the flicker of anger that had just risen in Xu An’s heart was instantly extinguished.
"It’s fine. I’m okay." Xu An sighed. "Just be more careful next time. If I hadn’t dodged so quickly, you’d be visiting me in the hospital for the next few months."
"Why don’t you give me your contact information? If any problems come up later, you can get in touch with me." The person pulled out a cell phone and looked up at Xu An.
Or maybe they weren’t looking at Xu An. With the sunglasses on, it was impossible to tell where their gaze was falling.
"130-XXXX-XXXX," Xu An recited a string of numbers, thinking to himself, ’This person is way too trusting. If they’d run into someone with bad intentions, they could have been extorted for a hefty sum.’
The person entered the number Xu An recited into their contacts and hit the call button. Only after hearing a phone ring from Xu An’s pocket did they put their own phone away.
"My name is Lin Xinyue. Call me if you feel any discomfort later on."
’Lin Xinyue... so it’s a girl under all those wrappings. She must be at least 172cm tall. That’s really tall.’
Xu An saved the missed call’s number into his contacts, then held his phone up in front of Lin Xinyue’s sunglasses for a moment before walking back to his electric tricycle.
Everything had happened in a flash. Granny Xu had been watching Xu Kang and Xu Le and hadn’t noticed what was going on. By the time she heard the screams, all she saw was the car heading for the wall, not the dangerous scene that had just unfolded.
So, when Xu An got back on the tricycle, Granny Xu simply remarked on how dangerous driving was and told him to study hard and not be careless.
「Xu Family Village.」
After returning and getting Granny Xu, Xu Kang, and Xu Le settled, Xu An headed for Xu Guosheng’s house.
"Uncle Guosheng, are you home? It’s Anzi."
The sound of heavy footsteps approached, and the courtyard gate was opened. It wasn’t Xu Guosheng behind the gate, but his wife. "He went down to the river to fish. You’ll find him if you just walk along the bank."
After thanking her, Xu An walked along the riverbank.
In Qianhai Town, every village had a river dug in front of it. The river could be deep or shallow, long or short, but it had to be there.
He hadn’t gone far before he spotted a stocky figure by the river. The man’s back was to Xu An, his form as imposing as a mountain, pressing down on the small folding chair beneath him until it creaked.
"Uncle Guosheng!" Xu An called out to the stocky figure.
Xu Guosheng quickly turned his head, held a forefinger to his lips in a shushing gesture, then whipped his head back around to stare intently at the water’s surface.
Xu An tiptoed up behind Xu Guosheng and saw that the fishing rod in his hands was bent into a deep arc. The line was pulled taut, darting wildly through the water.
’Whoa, he’s hooked a big one!’
Xu Guosheng sat on the folding chair, cool and composed. He would occasionally let the line out by a few turns of the reel, then reel some of it back in.
As time went on, the fish’s struggles in the water grew weaker, and its movements became slower.
Xu Guosheng slowly reeled in the line. When the fish’s body was clearly visible, he grabbed his landing net and, with one scoop, hauled out a three-jin carp.
"Not bad, not bad at all. This carp alone made the whole trip worthwhile." Beaming, Xu Guosheng placed the carp into a bucket covered with a straw hat. Inside were three or four palm-sized crucian carp.
He reached into a small bowl by his feet, picked up an earthworm, snapped it in two, and carefully baited his hook. As he did, he asked nonchalantly, "So, Anzi, what did you need me for?"
After Xu An explained his reason for visiting, Xu Guosheng showed no interest in the pay. Instead, he asked, "Is lunch included?"
"It is..."
Hearing that lunch was included, Xu Guosheng’s face lit up, and he immediately agreed.
Back when Xu An was making boxed lunches in the village, the aroma was so fragrant that Xu Guosheng could eat an extra bowl of rice just by smelling the food in the air.
If not for the fact that Xu An’s boxed lunches were for his stall, Xu Guosheng would have shown up at his door with ingredients long ago to eat his fill.
Not to mention, after Xu Lili started helping out at Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, she would come home every day and boast about all the delicious dishes she had eaten, describing the flavors in detail and making his mouth water uncontrollably.
To hear about it, to imagine it, but to not be able to eat it—could there be anything more tragic in this world?
’Now that Xu An has come looking for me, I have a legitimate reason! Nothing can stop me from eating that delicious food now!’
"Alright. As soon as you buy the small truck, I’ll start working."