Chapter 109 - 102: Car Accident

Chapter 109: Chapter 102: Car Accident

Only the wet ground indicated that it had rained last night.

After some thought, he sent a message to Liang City: "How did it go?"

Over on the other end, although Liang City was exhausted and sleepy, he still replied, "No big deal."

"That works."

Chen Jingle felt relieved. He checked the sky and decided to head out for a run.

The air on campus would be incredibly fresh after the rain. As long as the athletic track didn’t have any standing puddles, it would be perfect for a run. So, he rode his electric scooter out and made his way to the Teacher College.

Sure enough, the newly built athletic field was of excellent quality; the track was completely free of puddles. However, the book-holding NPC who usually appeared in the bleachers hadn’t spawned today. She probably assumed Chen Jingle wouldn’t show up in this kind of weather.

He stretched his limbs first and checked the time before taking off. By the time he finished his five-kilometer run, exactly half an hour had passed. Following that, he pushed through several sets of squats and push-ups until he finally collapsed from exhaustion. Yet, after finishing the intense routine, his entire body felt wonderfully refreshed.

[Great job, baby! Exercise task successfully completed. Reward: +0.1 kg of Strength. Current Strength: 44.6 kg.]

Chen Jingle wasn’t quite satisfied with the growth rate of his strength. He felt that after training for a while, the increase shouldn’t be this minuscule. But when he looked down at his still-unimpressive muscles, he fell silent again.

He wondered if he really needed to start juicing.

*No way.* He didn’t want to turn into a pointy-headed meathead who constantly spouted gym bro catchphrases. If his progress was slow, so be it.

Next up was his usual routine: heading to the cafeteria for breakfast. In this kind of weather, Chen Jingle didn’t really feel like having steamed buns. Instead, he opted for century egg and lean pork congee, along with a bottle of yogurt. After a few mouthfuls of the hot congee, his body gradually warmed up. Due to the rain, far fewer students had gotten up early for breakfast today.

On his way back after eating, the number of vehicles on the road had visibly increased as everyone rushed to work. Besides keeping an eye on the road ahead, Chen Jingle also had to dodge the passing cars, especially around the puddles. Some idiots drove like jerks, intentionally speeding through the water to splash pedestrians from head to toe. If you managed to memorize their license plate, you could at least make them pay compensation. But if they sped off before you could catch the number, you just had to swallow your bad luck.

SCREECH.

A sudden, ear-piercing sound of tires skidding rang out. Ahead of him, a white sedan slipped out of control, followed immediately by a loud BANG as the car crashed straight into the roadside greenbelt and came to a dead stop.

Well then. He had just witnessed a car crash firsthand.

The sudden accident instantly drew the eyes of all the drivers and pedestrians on the road. In truth, the white car hadn’t been going very fast. However, on a rainy day like this, with standing water and slick roads, accidents happened easily. That was exactly why one had to be extra careful driving in the rain.

Following the crash, both drivers and pedestrians were startled, deliberately slowing down to cast inquisitive glances at the scene. Some people even pulled out their phones to take photos and record videos. Yet, no one stepped forward to check on the situation. Since the vehicle didn’t look severely damaged, most assumed the driver would handle it themselves.

Chen Jingle slowly rode his electric scooter past the scene, taking a glance. The crashed vehicle was a BMW 3 Series, and the driver was a woman. The airbags had deployed. She sat motionless in the driver’s seat, either unconscious or completely stunned.

Chen Jingle froze, instinctively braking his scooter. He looked left and right before parking it and walking over to knock on the window.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

He wondered if she had already kicked the bucket. Fortunately, the driver was still alive. She must have heard the tapping, as she slowly turned her head. He didn’t see any signs of head trauma, but her face was deathly pale and her gaze was unfocused. From the looks of it, she was in shock, her reactions sluggish.

"Roll down the window!" Chen Jingle shouted, gesturing with his hands.

The scare had clearly drained the strength from her limbs. Her hands trembled so badly that it took several attempts before the window finally rolled down.

Once the window was lowered, Chen Jingle immediately asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

The woman shook her head.

Chen Jingle reached inside to open the door, then unbuckled her seatbelt and carefully helped her out. She was genuinely terrified. As she stepped out, her legs gave way. If Chen Jingle hadn’t been supporting her, she would have collapsed onto the ground.

Chen Jingle first guided her to the curb, then popped the car’s trunk to find the warning triangle. He jogged back and set it up on the road behind the vehicle to alert oncoming traffic. After doing all this, he pushed his own electric scooter to the roadside. Seeing that the female driver had recovered slightly, he asked, "Are you feeling unwell anywhere right now?"

Zhou Manlin took a few deep breaths and shook her head. "No, my arms and legs just feel a bit weak."

She must have forgotten to check her horoscope before leaving the house today. To think she’d get into an accident on such a short drive from home to her shop. It was absolutely ridiculous. She had been driving at a perfectly normal speed, yet the car had suddenly hydroplaned, losing steering control. She had instinctively slammed on the brakes, sending the vehicle plunging headfirst into the greenbelt. Everything after that was a blur.

"Thank you," Zhou Manlin said, looking up and forcing a smile.

Suddenly, she found his face somewhat familiar. She stared for two seconds before she couldn’t help but ask, "Are you Beixing’s..."

Chen Jingle glanced at her and asked in surprise, "You’re Teacher Li’s friend?"

Zhou Manlin nodded mechanically.

*Well then.* To think that a random act of kindness would involve Li Beixing’s friend. Jiangbei really was a small place.

"But I don’t think we’ve ever met, have we?" Chen Jingle wondered how she could possibly recognize him.

Zhou Manlin stiffened for a moment before answering vaguely, "I saw you two together before."

"That time at the milk tea shop?"

"Yeah, exactly. That shop is mine."

"I see," Chen Jingle realized.

Recalling that Li Beixing had a VIP card for that shop, it seemed the two of them were quite close. He then asked, "Do you need to go to the hospital for a check-up?"

"No need, I just need a moment to catch my breath," Zhou Manlin said, shaking her head. It was just her first car accident, and she was overly frightened for a moment. There wasn’t any real harm done, and she had mostly recovered by now. She just felt a pang of heartache for her beloved car, which would likely need major repairs.

"Will you call the traffic police and insurance yourself, then?"

"Mhm."

Chen Jingle looked toward the car. "Do you have any important belongings inside? Although there are no signs of a fire at the moment, it’s best to take out your valuables."

Zhou Manlin thought for a moment. "I have a phone and a handbag in there."

"I’ll grab them for you."

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Chen Jingle retrieved her phone and handbag, pulling a light jacket from the car as well. Seeing this, Zhou Manlin was slightly taken aback, but also deeply grateful. It was a bit chilly this morning. Her attention had been scattered earlier, but now that she was back to her senses, a gust of wind brought on an immediate bout of goosebumps.

The jacket was exactly what she needed, and she draped it over her shoulders. After standing up, her complexion looked much better. She gazed at Chen Jingle with a hint of curiosity.

She thought, "Hmm, I have to admit, he looks quite different in person compared to the surveillance footage. He’s even more handsome. No wonder Beixing is smitten. Judging by his clothes and the faint smell of sweat, did he just finish working out? He’s this disciplined so early in the morning? It’s a pity he’s a bit thin. He’d be perfect if he were just a little more muscular."

Chen Jingle checked the time and said apologetically, "If you’re alright, I’ll be heading off now."

"Alright... Oh, wait!" Zhou Manlin called out to stop him. "Um, is it convenient to exchange contact info? Thank you for saving me."

Chen Jingle smiled. "Sharing contact info is fine, but ’saving’ is an exaggeration. You weren’t injured to begin with, and you would have been able to get out of the car yourself once you recovered from the shock."

"Who knows," Zhou Manlin said, her lips twitching slightly.

If her luck had been bad and the car had caught fire while her limbs were still like jelly, she probably would have been a goner right then and there.

The two exchanged WeChat contacts.

"Zhou Manlin, is that your name?" he asked.

"And you’re Chen Jingle," she replied.

Zhou Manlin saved his contact note. She watched Chen Jingle hop onto his electric scooter, wave goodbye, and ride off until he disappeared into the distance before she finally began making calls to her insurance company and the traffic police.

While she was at it, she opened WeChat and sent a message to Li Beixing.

"Guess who I just ran into? That guy, Chen Jingle. I admit I was wrong earlier; you actually have great taste."

At that moment, Li Beixing, who was in the classroom supervising her students’ morning reading, stared at the message blankly.

Overcome with curiosity, she replied, "Where did you see him?"