Chapter 54: You’re Flattering Yourself a Little

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: You’re Flattering Yourself a Little

Holding the cigarettes, he looked at Song Jianye, who had herself bundled up tightly.

Zhou Jianye nodded. "Don’t worry, I’m a pretty good-tempered guy."

The five of them arrived at the training car, and Zhou Jianye began explaining the key points of Subject Two.

After he finished, they got into the training car. Chen Yuan and Song Jianye sat in the back while he started explaining the in-car operations for Subject Two.

Adjusting the seat, buckling the seatbelt, getting a feel for shifting gears, and what it’s like to press the brake, accelerator, and clutch, and to pull the handbrake.

Song Jianye listened attentively, but her wide eyes were filled with immense confusion.

’Why doesn’t my family’s car have a gear shift?’

The entire explanation took over half an hour.

It was everyone’s first time operating the car, and they were all a little nervous.

The guys were fine, gradually getting used to the feel of it after one or two tries, but Song Jianye was a bit slow to react.

"Press down on the clutch and the brake, shift into gear, slowly release the clutch..."

"Oh, oh..."

Song Jianye attempted the maneuver. "I’ve shifted gears and released the clutch, so why isn’t it moving?"

"Try releasing the handbrake."

"Coach, it’s moving!"

"It’s supposed to move..."

"It’s going a little fast. I don’t dare to drive. I’m afraid I’ll hit someone."

"Just drive. Don’t worry. I have a passenger-side brake here. I’m not about to entrust my life to you."

"Oh, okay."

When dealing with Song Jianye, Zhou Jianye’s temper was noticeably better.

However, Song Jianye truly had no talent for driving and kept making mistakes.

"You’re just too nervous. I’ll demonstrate once, you watch."

The one who spoke was another guy in the car. Chen Yuan didn’t know his name, but he could tell he was a student from some university, and not a freshman.

Zhou Jianye’s attitude toward him was also pretty good; he had probably given him cigarettes too.

Song Jianye remained expressionless and ignored him, sitting down next to Chen Yuan.

The entire afternoon, everyone spent their time in the car.

Song Jianye was a bit slow on the uptake, but thankfully, she managed to keep up with the pace.

That evening, after everyone else had left, the two boxes of cigarettes Chen Yuan had given him paid off. He was allowed to stay and practice for two extra laps before heading back.

Not long after the two of them left, Uncle Zhang drove to the driving school and found Zhou Jianye.

"Coach Zhou, hello. I’m Song Jianye’s driver. My name is Zhang Shuchun." Uncle Zhang extended his hand.

"A driver?"

Zhou Jianye also extended his hand and shook it, not quite understanding the situation.

During practice that afternoon, Zhou Jianye had learned Song Jianye’s name and saw how she kept herself completely covered, but he still didn’t know what she looked like.

’But could a profession like a chauffeur really show up in a small driving school like this?’

"Song Jianye is our family’s Young Miss. I’m her chauffeur," Uncle Zhang said with a smile.

"Does the driving school have a two-person VIP class? I’d like to upgrade them."

While the two were practicing, Uncle Zhang had watched for the entire afternoon, smoking one cigarette after another.

He had discovered that his Young Miss had little talent for driving. If she kept learning with everyone else, it would take her forever to pass Subject Two.

"Yes, yes, we do."

With a big spender at the door, he naturally had to be hospitable. Zhou Jianye welcomed Zhang Shuchun into the building, only coming out more than half an hour later.

Seeing Zhang Shuchun leave in a Maybach worth over three million, Zhou Jianye’s feelings were a bit complicated.

’Now I’ll have something to brag about when I get back. A rich young miss is getting her driver’s license from me.’

"Uncle Zhou, are you done with dinner? Let’s get back to practicing."

The speaker was a young man, the very same one who had tried to get close to Song Jianye that afternoon.

His name was Sui Junjie, and he was holding a bottle of iced tea, clearly having just returned from dinner.

Zhou Jianye knew his dad, which was why he had signed up here. With that connection, he naturally received some preferential treatment.

"Something came up and I got delayed. I’m going to go grab a bite, then I’ll take you out to practice."

"No rush."

Sui Junjie went back into the building with Zhou Jianye.

"Uncle Zhou, have a smoke."

"No thanks, I just put one out."

"Uncle Zhou, that girl in our group, do you know her name? Can you look up her phone number?"

"What, you’ve got ideas about her? She hasn’t even shown her face. Do you even know what she looks like?"

"You can tell from her figure that her looks can’t be bad."

Sui Junjie gave a sly chuckle. "Besides, I’ve been watching them. Their relationship doesn’t seem to be that of a boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Just give it up. The girl has a chauffeur and her family drives a Maybach. Don’t have any unrealistic fantasies."

"They drive a Maybach? They’re that rich?"

The mention of a Maybach didn’t seem to crush Sui Junjie’s confidence; on the contrary, it made him even more excited.

’If I really get a chance to know her, or if we hit it off, this could be my chance to rewrite my destiny!’

"They’re definitely rich. They’re not in the same league as us. Don’t even think about it."

In contrast, Zhou Jianye, who had been beaten down by life, was much more pragmatic. He knew that the gap between social classes was difficult to cross.

"I still want to try. Can you create an opportunity for me next class? Find a way to kick her classmate out."

"Forget it. They upgraded to the two-person VIP package. From now on, I’ll be teaching just the two of them. You’re the one who’s been kicked out."

...

After leaving the driving school, the two of them returned to their university.

"How do you think I did today?"

"You almost broke the handbrake."

Song Jianye’s little face tensed up. ’Is my flaw of being too strong about to be exposed?’

’I didn’t even use that much strength.’

"The training car is too old. The handbrake was probably about to break anyway. Besides, I’m not that strong. Look at my arms, I don’t have any muscle."

Chen Yuan poked Song Jianye’s bicep.

"And you say you don’t have muscle? It’s rock-hard."

"No way! I don’t have any muscle at all. Let me see yours."

Chen Yuan rolled up his short sleeve, and Song Jianye poked his arm too.

"Yours is actually a little soft."

Huh?

’Who taught you to talk like that!’

The two returned to the university and ate together in the cafeteria.

"Want to go to the library and memorize vocabulary together?"

"Memorize vocabulary?"

’Such a niche term. Such an unfamiliar place.’

"If you don’t score above an 80 on the final English exam, you can’t register for the CET-4 next semester."

"That’s all stuff for poor people to learn. Even those who’ve passed the TEM-8 don’t make as much in a month as you get for living expenses. Don’t bring shame to the ’rich second-generation’ demographic. Go do what you’re supposed to be doing."

Song Jianye looked at Chen Yuan, not understanding what he meant by "what you’re supposed to be doing."

"What am I supposed to be doing?"

"Beating the blind, cursing the mute, kicking the crippled, teasing the foolish, kicking down a widow’s door, digging up an ancestorless grave... there are lots of things you can do."

Song Jianye stared with her big, beautiful eyes, as if the door to a new world had just been opened.

"So a person can do that many wicked things."

"There are even more wicked things to do. The point is, don’t study. That’s for poor people to do."

Song Jianye pouted, resting her cheek in one hand.

"But if you’re not going to play basketball, I don’t have anything else to do, so I can only go to the library."

"Let’s go."

After dinner, the two of them went to the library.

Song Jianye wrote as she memorized, while Chen Yuan just read, leaving it completely up to fate how much he remembered.

’Back when I didn’t have Tongzi, you could say I’d be obsolete the moment I graduated, and that’d be fine. But now that I have Tongzi, what should you call me?’