Chapter 47. [First Update] A cufflink.
Buy her a car?
Wen Xue's pupils dilated in shock. She even thought she had heatstroke, otherwise how could she have heard such absurd words?
Realizing she wasn't hallucinating and he wasn't joking, she opened her mouth, only to find the salesperson still smiling and waiting nearby. Were they going to discuss this important matter in the bustling showroom? She swallowed back her incredulous words, took a deep breath, and said, "Come out for a moment."
She didn't bother to look at other people's reactions and hurriedly walked out.
He Yan was slightly taken aback, and he and the salesperson exchanged bewildered glances.
The salesperson immediately said understandingly, "You go ahead and do your work. I'll wait for you in the lobby. If you don't see me later, just call me."
As he spoke, he handed over his business card.
“Okay.” He Yan casually put it in his pocket and strode out, following Wen Xue’s steps.
The temperature inside and outside the store was completely different, but Wen Xue seemed oblivious to the heat. She walked a short distance away, and after confirming that no one was around for the time being, she still hadn't processed the shocking news. She stared at him wide-eyed, "Really? Why did you buy me a car?"
She's still a student who hasn't graduated!
Buying her a bicycle is fine, buying her an electric scooter is fine, but buying her a car?
Is she crazy, or is he crazy?
He Yan found her puzzling and asked if it was true or not. Why would he bring her to the 4S store in this 30-degree heat if he wasn't going to buy a car? Did she really think he was just there to enjoy the air conditioning?
"Didn't you say you were going to tutor that kid for four days a week during summer vacation?" he said calmly. "I don't have time to drive you every day. It's too much trouble for you to take the bus and then the subway. It's more convenient to drive."
Wen Xue couldn't hide her shock, as if she were meeting him for the first time.
He once again redefines her understanding of his "spoiled" nature.
"No need." She forced herself to calm down and tried to reason with him. "I tutor Weiwei and can earn several hundred yuan a day. I can easily take a taxi to the subway station."
"I'll have to buy a car eventually, so the sooner I buy it, the sooner I can enjoy it." He had his own principles.
"..."
Wen Xue realized that she had always felt He Heng was occasionally willful when they were together.
For example, because of something she casually said, he was able to secretly buy concert tickets, and not cheap ones at that, front-row tickets.
They were all students, and the money for the tickets was saved up little by little by themselves, yet they could spend it all in an instant without batting an eye.
Suddenly, a phrase popped into her mind: Like brother, like brother.
“That’s not how it works.” She was speechless. “I’ll definitely buy a car in the future, but… but that’s in the future—”
It was something that happened a long time later, something she would only consider after she had saved some money after graduation.
Not now!
“No need to wait until later,” he said. “Right now.”
"Aaaaaah!" For the first time in her life, Wen Xue experienced a feeling even more frantic than madness. She suddenly realized that she couldn't stop him alone; she needed help. So she decisively said, "It's hot outside, you go in first..."
She specifically emphasized, "I'll call you to come see you again after I use the air conditioning."
He Yan glanced at her calmly, nodded, and turned to walk inside. From an angle where she couldn't see him, he took out his phone and sent a message: "Don't ruin my plans."
After watching He Yan walk in, Wen Xue immediately dialed Wu Yuejiang's number. After a while, the call was answered, and the voice on the other end sounded puzzled: "Sister? Looking for me?"
“Brother Yuejiang,” she said, trying to calm her rapid breathing, still anxious, “He Yan brought me to the 4S store and said he wanted to buy me a car. He’s completely joking. Let’s try to persuade him together, okay? He’ll listen to you!”
We have to persuade her to stay. Of course, she could turn around and leave, but what kind of person is He Yan? If we can't convince him and she still leaves, given his sometimes unreasonable nature, he could just take a car and go back on his own.
Just like buying clothes during the Chinese New Year, he is a very assertive person at heart.
Wu Yuejiang, on the other end of the phone, couldn't help but chuckle.
He Yan listens to him? That's the most heartwarming joke he's heard all year.
He tried to sort out his thoughts, but there was still a threatening message on his phone: "Sis, calm down. Actually, I was the one who brought this up with him."
Wen Xue was startled: "Why?"
“Look at the beat-up car he drives every day.” Wu Yuejiang coaxed patiently, “He’s a boss and has to do business with people. Several business partners laugh at him for being poor and complaining about being poor. I’ve advised him to change his car eight hundred times, but he never listens.”
Wen Xue gradually calmed down and listened attentively. She was unhappy that others were making fun of He Yan like that, and she felt very uncomfortable.
“I told him a while ago that we should get my sister a new car so it wouldn’t be inconvenient for her to take a ride when she’s tutoring.” It just goes to show that Wu Yuejiang and He Yan are true friends of over twenty years; he knew exactly what was going on without even asking.
"But……"
"Little sister, think about it, once you start school, you won't be able to park the car at school. Isn't he the one who drives it all the time?"
Wu Yuejiang knew what she was worried about. "Just consider it a favor I'm asking you to let him buy it. We're family, no need for formalities. When you make money later, when you make a lot of money, you can get your brother a new car. Anyway, don't be shy."
Wen Xue's face flushed. "I can't make a lot of money."
“Who said that?” Wu Yuejiang laughed. “I can tell at a glance that I’m a promising person.”
Having spent the past two years dealing with He Yan and various other people, he had long since developed the ability to speak to people in a way that suited them. Sensing that Wen Xue was still somewhat hesitant, he earnestly persuaded her for a while, his mouth almost dry, before finally hearing her say "okay."
After hanging up the phone, Wen Xue stood there in a daze, walking into the store with mixed feelings.
He Yan saw her come in with her head down, smiled silently, and deliberately asked, "Finished the call?"
Wen Xue glanced at him quickly, "Since you and Brother Yuejiang had already discussed this before, why didn't you tell me in advance?"
He Yan was stumped by her question.
When did he discuss this with Lao Wu?
"What did he tell you?" he asked, frowning.
Wen Xue naturally wouldn't mention the real reason, and instead said evasively, "Brother Yuejiang said he was the one who brought this up with you. Next time you two have something important to do, could you please let me know beforehand?" She couldn't help but complain, muttering, "It was so sudden, it was quite frightening."
He Yan: "..."
He laughed, a laugh of anger. "Old Wu, do you have any shame?"
“I told you I wanted to buy a car, and you just kept saying ‘but, but,’” he looked at her unhappily. “You agreed after he said a few words?”
Wen Xue replied, "Because what Brother Yuejiang said makes sense."
“Yes.” He Yan nodded, a half-smile on his face. “He is a top student.”
The salesperson standing nearby could barely contain his laughter. He cleared his throat and said, "Gentlemen, this way please. Let me explain the special offers to you in more detail..."
…
That evening, Wu Yuejiang, under the pretext that nothing bad had happened, coerced He Yan into treating him to a late-night snack. The two sat down at a barbecue stall, and Wu asked, "Haven't you decided which car to buy yet?"
When the topic came up, He Yan was speechless: "She said that any car is good and any car is bad, and you have to do your homework first."
It was his oversight.
If someone needs half an hour to research even going to the mall for a meal, they'll probably spend ten or eight years agonizing over buying a car.
Wu Yuejiang laughed heartily, then changed the subject, hooking his arm around his shoulder, "I don't care, you still have to buy me a car."
He Yan was so disgusted by him that he couldn't even eat his skewers. "Get lost."
In the days that followed, Wen Xue's mind was completely occupied by cars. Apart from eating, sleeping, and studying, she spent all her time on car forums, researching various configuration data. Worried about any oversights, she even joined several groups.
After going through all that, when she went to the store to look at cars again, she could not only fully understand what the salesperson said, but also ask appropriate questions.
When she met He Yan's surprised gaze, she lowered her head and curled up her lips.
-
At the end of July, the temperature in Xicheng reached a new high. Wenxue started driving to Fang's house for tutoring. Fang Lirong ran into her once and saw that she still had to park her car in a parking lot some distance away from Huajun Mansion. So she asked Aunt Zhang to go to the property management office to register the license plate. From then on, her car could freely enter and leave the community.
At four o'clock that afternoon, after finishing her tutoring session, Wen Xue took the elevator down. After getting into her car, she noticed that the SUV next to her was too close to her car. She had misjudged the situation. When she tried to drive out of the parking space, she heard an unpleasant sound, as if her car had been scratched. She was so anxious that she broke out in a sweat. Caught between a rock and a hard place, she simply stopped, opened the car door, and got out.
Upon closer inspection, I wasn't sure whether I should breathe a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, I didn't get hit, but it was by a hair's breadth.
She tiptoed to peek inside, trying to see if the car owner had left any contact information, when suddenly a clear voice came from behind her, "What's wrong?"
Wen Xue turned around and saw Lin Baizhou, dressed in a shirt and trousers. She had no intention of exchanging pleasantries with him and smiled absentmindedly, "The car can't get out."
Lin Baizhou hummed in agreement, walked over to figure out the current situation, and after a moment's thought, calmly said, "If you trust me, I'll help you get it out. Don't worry, you shouldn't get hurt."
A few minutes later, he opened the car door, sat in the driver's seat, shifted gears again, looked up at her standing at the front of the car with a worried expression, a faint smile appeared in his eyes, and looked away, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over the aromatherapy pendant on the air vent, a familiar and tranquil fragrance permeating the car.
He composed himself. This situation wasn't unusual; anyone who drove for a long time would inevitably encounter it. But at this moment, he became uncontrollably tense, haphazardly unbuttoning his cuffs, rolling up his sleeves to his elbows, and concentrating intently on controlling the steering wheel.
As the car wheels moved, Wen Xue's heart was in her throat until it safely drove out of the parking space, at which point her heart finally settled down.
Still a little worried, she hurriedly ran to the car next door and scrutinized it with a magnifying glass to make sure she hadn't scratched anyone else's car. With a sigh of relief, she quickly checked her own car.
"Did you get hurt?"
Lin Baizhou came to her side, leaned down and asked gently.
“No—” She turned her head to look at him, her eyes crinkling with laughter, “That’s great, thank you.”
He paused for a moment, then said, "You're welcome."
Wen Xue felt she shouldn't let someone help her for nothing, so she opened the trunk, took out a bottle of soda, and gave it to him, thanking him again.
Lin Baizhou lowered his eyes, took the bottle of soda that still carried the warmth of summer, and held it tightly.
Worried that her car would block the way, Wen Xue politely said goodbye to him, got back into her car, and left the parking lot. She just wanted to get home as soon as possible and didn't notice at all that the man in her rearview mirror was still standing there.
The sunlight was still very strong at six o'clock. Wen Xue struggled to find a parking space in the shade under the tenement building. As soon as she got out of the car, she was dismayed to find mud spots on the white car. She figured that it must have been splashed by a water truck when she returned to the old town. She looked utterly hopeless.
Now she's even learned to insult people with her face.
Like most people who have just gotten a car, Wenxue cherishes it and drives it to the car wash every few days to clean it thoroughly, leaving the car mats spotless.
Just then, she heard the sound of tires crunching on the gravel road, and she knew whose car it was without even looking up.
"Where to?" He Yan rolled down the car window, and a wave of heat hit him.
"Wash the car," Wen Xue replied softly.
She knew she was washing her car a little too often...
But you can't blame her. It's not only unpleasant to see a brand new car dirty and not washed, but she also felt bad about it.
He Yan's lips twitched. "Count how many times you've washed this week?"
Wen Xue didn't want to answer this annoying question and was about to get into the car when he called out to her again, "Don't you know how hot it is outside? Here, give me the car keys, I'll drive over and wash it."
"oh."
She handed the keys to him, beaming, and ran into the stairwell, leaving He Yan standing by the car, glancing at it with an impatient look.
This isn't a car, it's clearly an ancestor.
The car wash owner was overjoyed to see He Yan drive up in his new car. "Mr. He, here to get your car washed again?"
He Yan chuckled, turned off the engine, and opened the car door. His diligent apprentice immediately grabbed the car washing tools and climbed into the car. He loved washing this car the most; it was spotless, without any clutter, and he could wash it without much effort.
As usual, the boss knocked a cigarette out of the pack and handed it to He Yan.
He stepped aside and waved his hand, "I've given it up."
"It's good to quit, you'll live a long and healthy life."
The two chatted casually. Seeing that his apprentice had almost finished washing, He Yan stepped forward, bent down, and peered into the car. He unexpectedly caught sight of a cufflink gleaming with a dark light on the armrest.
He picked it up and asked his apprentice, "Where did this come from?"
The apprentice pointed to the gap between the driver's seat and the armrest box.
"Is it yours?" He Yan's smile faded, and he asked in a deep voice.
The apprentice shook his head. He was wearing a 25-yuan oversized t-shirt. Could that thing really be his?
He Yan slowly raised his hand, narrowed his eyes, and examined the exquisitely crafted shirt cufflink, his face ashen.
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