"By the way, will this interfere with your driving practice the day after tomorrow?"

"No, tomorrow is the last day."

"Huh?! You've already learned it? So fast!"

Xue Fu's attention shifted, and she looked at him with surprise: "You're amazing! You've only been learning for ten days?! Wow!"

Seeing her relax, Gu Chong swallowed hard and nodded reservedly: "Tomorrow, Zhou Zhi and I are going to set off for a short drive. If there are no problems, we'll graduate."

Xue Fu gave a thumbs up: "Great!"

The next day, when Gu Chong and Zhou Zhi entered the city, they visited the black market as customers.

Today is their last day of driving lessons. Thank you for your help, Brother Liu, during this time.

They bought some things on the black market and will give them to Brother Liu as a token of their gratitude.

Brother Liu loves to drink. On nights when he doesn't drive, he always has a small drink with peanuts.

So Gu Chong bought a few kilograms of sorghum liquor. The seller said it was brewed by his family last year, buried in the ground for a year, and the taste was quite good after settling.

As for Zhou Zhi, he saw a freshly slaughtered pig being transported to the black market for sale today, and he bought the whole pig's trotter.

During our last casual chat, I overheard Brother Liu mention that his wife's specialty is stewed pig's trotters with soybeans, and that it tastes absolutely amazing.

The two of them bought their things and headed out of the city.

Brother Liu was waiting for them in his car outside the city.

Since it would be too dangerous for them to actually drive on the road today, Brother Liu found a spacious place where there are usually few cars passing by so they could practice properly.

Of course, Brother Liu also used the excuse of going out on a mission to drive the car out.

His truck was loaded with fertilizer, which he was going to take to the neighboring city.

However, this task is not urgent; it only takes an hour to drive there.

Brother Liu took a risk and gritted his teeth to give Gu Chong and Zhou Zhi the opportunity to drive.

He used to teach people to drive for free, but it was all just theoretical knowledge.

Teaching someone how to start the engine, brake, and accelerator is the end of the lesson; it's absolutely impossible to let someone else drive the car.

Gas is so expensive, dream on.

And if the car gets scratched or damaged, who will pay for it?

It can be said that Gu Chong and Zhou Zhi were lucky.

If it weren't for those two guys helping him out and making him indebted to them, he wouldn't have gone to so much trouble to teach people how to drive.

"You two lads, you're here, what did you bring?"

Brother Liu said with a chuckle, his eyes narrowing into slits as he laughed.

That's what he said, but his actions betrayed him.

As soon as Gu Chong and Zhou Zhigang handed the items to him, Brother Liu seamlessly took them without showing any sign of refusal.

Gu Chong and Zhou Zhi didn't say anything else, but politely thanked them for their teaching over the past few days, saying it had been a lot of trouble.

The two men took turns praising Brother Liu, saying that he was a good older brother, and that only he was so loyal, willing to teach the two brothers everything.

The two men were so flattered by Brother Liu that they were practically floating on air. Brother Liu waved his hand and told them to go to the driver's seat and get ready to leave!

Xue Fu was staying by the fishpond today. After feeding the fish, she was studying in the wooden house when someone came looking for her.

There were three muffled knocks on the door. Xue Fu turned her head and looked over, somewhat surprised to see who it was.

It was Li Jing, whom Gu Fei had met when she took him to register for school last time.

Xue Fu was genuinely surprised: "Why did you come here? Don't you have class today?"

"Is there something you need from me?"

She stood up from her seat, feeling somewhat lost and bewildered by Li Jing's arrival.

I don't know why Li Jing came here.

They haven't crossed paths for a long time.

Xue Fu only wanted to quietly stay away from the original protagonist and become an observer of their story.

Seeing her surprised expression, Li Jing smiled apologetically and explained her purpose.

"I'll be going to school soon; my class is late today."

"I came here to ask if I could borrow a book to look at?"

Li Jing felt a little embarrassed; her uninvited visit was indeed a bit presumptuous.

But she really wanted to study.

When Li Jing went to the countryside before, she didn't bring many books in order to keep her luggage light, only a collection of poems and a book of quotations.

Over the years, the pages of that poetry collection have turned yellow from being read so many times.

She came to find Xue Fu because she had run into Liu Ling and Zheng Peipei a few days ago and saw them holding handwritten copies of books.

So she asked a few questions and discovered that it originally belonged to Xue Fu.

"I'll copy the book down and return it to you. It won't get dirty or damaged, and I won't give it to anyone else."

Xue Fu let out a soft "Ah..." So that's what it was about. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, will you come to the educated youth settlement to find me later? Or I can have Xiao Fei bring it to school for you tomorrow?"

Borrowing books is a small matter.

However, Xue Fu was still somewhat surprised, surprised by Li Jing's keen insight.

Liu Ling and Zheng Peipei started reading, possibly because of Zheng Peipei's influence.

But when Li Jing came to borrow books from her, that was her own initiative. She is very ambitious.

Xue Fu was a little surprised, but also felt it made sense.

Li Jing is indeed such a person; she has a strong sense of purpose and is very driven.

Li Jing smiled broadly, her eyes crinkling with genuine joy: "Thank you so much! You're so kind, Xue Fu!"

"I really like you."

Caught off guard, Xue Fu heard Li Jing, who was usually gentle and reserved, say these words.

Xue Fu's face suddenly flushed red, and she stammered, embarrassed: "Oh... no, it's just so-so... You're very nice too, and I like you very much."

"You're so cute."

Since becoming a teacher, Li Jing has spoken even more gently. Compared to before, she is indeed much more outgoing, and treats others like students, offering encouraging praise.

"I have to go now, I have to go to class. I'll come find you at the educated youth settlement later!"

"Uh-huh."

That evening, Xue Fu didn't stay long at the Gu family's house. Thinking that Li Jing wanted to borrow a book from her, she took a walk back to the educated youth settlement after dinner.

Gu Chong accompanied her back, and Xue Fu asked him how his driving lesson went today.

"Hmm, we drove for a while without any problems. I think..."

He paused, and Xue Fu looked up. Seeing his raised eyebrows and relaxed brows, she smiled and her eyebrows curved in the same way.

"I think I've completed my apprenticeship."

Wow, that's amazing!

Gu Chong chuckled softly, his laughter low and muffled, yet captivating. Xue Fu heard it clearly and couldn't help but blush.

When Xue Fu arrived at the educated youth settlement, Li Jing had already been waiting for her for a while.

She was chatting with Liu Ling and Zheng Peipei in her dormitory.

After Li Jing got married, she didn't see the two of them often. Now that they had some time together, they chatted about many things in their lives.