Car in hand
"Have you paid Lingling?"
Hu Yufeng talked to a few people for a while, then called Qin Shengtian out and asked him.
Qin Shengtian obviously had no sense of employment, and was a little confused when asked: "Why would it cost so much? She's just sitting there doing nothing anyway, and besides, she volunteered..."
Hu Yufeng glared at him and said, "Look at how conscious you are. Do you need those two kids at home? You let those kids work for nothing. If your elder brother and sister-in-law find out, it will be a big mess. But as a grandfather, you can't see what kind of life Lingling is going through. How can you bear it? How about this, 5 yuan a day. You keep track of the number of days. I'll pay for it after that..."
Qin Shengtian scratched his head. How could he have thought of so much? He nodded in agreement.
Since they hadn't been back for a long time, they decided to stay one night before leaving.
The decision proved to be far from clear, as several waves of relatives and neighbours arrived just after lunch in the afternoon.
Some come to make friends, some come to find jobs, and some come to borrow money.
At this time, Hu Yufeng was particularly envious of Qin Wenli, because everyone in the village knew that Wenli could not take care of the family affairs. He just said hello and that was it, and he only pushed her.
The chattering almost made her deaf, but she still had to patiently greet them with a smile. There was no other way, Lao Gen was here.
It's good to make friends, as long as you don't talk about money, feelings will come out easily. Just then, after listening to Hu Yufeng sincerely talking about how she lent him family grain and how she went to the hospital without his knowledge, the visitor finally fell silent. It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned paying it back, but it turned out that he still owed the other person two bags of wheat!
Forget it, I’ll just slip away.
As for finding a job, Hu Yufeng has only one problem.
“Can you drive a truck?”
“What???” The people looking for jobs were dumbfounded.
After a long while, one of them murmured and opened his mouth: "Who knows how to do this? My child rarely touches it..."
She tried to make a last-ditch effort: "Your Wenli wouldn't know it either, right?"
Hu Yufeng nodded sincerely: "No, that's why I want to find someone who can drive!"
"The factory is in need of drivers right now. If you have the skills, come and get them..."
A few people were silent: If I had this skill, why would I come to your house? Everyone knows that truck drivers outside have very high salaries!
The group of people suddenly lost interest and only two people who came to borrow money were left.
Borrowing money, Hu Yufeng said with a sad face: "My family still has a loan of 200,000 yuan to pay off, the bank is urging us to pay, and we are also very anxious!"
"Why do you think we came back today? We just wanted to borrow some money from our relatives."
This person was not easy to coax, and he said shamelessly: "I'm not borrowing much, just one thousand. You already owe 20, and you still care about this drizzle? Too many lice don't itch, so just help me!"
This train of thought made Hu Yufeng laugh. She asked back, "Why don't you go to the bank and borrow more money to lend to me?"
"That won't work. The bank charges interest!"
After saying this, the man looked embarrassed and blurted out the truth.
Hu Yufeng had already pretended to be annoyed. She shouldn't have had a good face towards such a shameless person. He took advantage of the situation and got angry, then drove the person out.
The good mood of going home was gone, so they stayed for one night and left in a hurry the next day.
…
Qin Wenli thought he would have to wait a long time for news about the car, but unexpectedly, Qin Wenping called him after only ten days.
After hanging up the phone, he rushed over excitedly.
Qin Wenping took him through turns and finally arrived at the automobile trading center.
This area is very desolate, with dilapidated large courtyards next to each other. Some walls were half collapsed, some gates were shaking in the cold wind, and withered weeds were growing out of the flower frames and railings, making the place look even more dilapidated.
Qin Wenping drove him to the gate of one of the courtyards.
The two got out of the car and as soon as they stepped into the yard, all they saw were cars of various brands and colors.
There are five bungalows on the right side of the yard. At this moment, a bearded man is sitting on a recliner under the eaves, rocking back and forth.
Seeing them come in, the man stood up and greeted them warmly.
Qin Wenli withdrew his eyes from the car and looked at the man with a smile.
Qin Wenping introduced the two men to each other and shook hands. The man then invited them into the house for tea.
Qin Wenping refused with a smile, and went to look at the car as soon as he opened the door.
Old Liu turned around, went into the house to get the key, and led the two of them to the right side of the yard.
"Here, this is it. It's a 1999 Foton light truck with a load capacity of two tons. You can drive it with a C license."
Old Liu pointed to a vermilion truck and said to Qin Wenli, "This belongs to a boss I know. His family runs a wholesale shop. Normally, he transports goods. He drives almost every day, so he has a lot of mileage, almost 90,000 kilometers. But something happened at home, the shop is closed, and the truck is no longer useful."
"Lao Niu's?" Qin Wenping raised his eyebrows.
Lao Liu nodded. "Given our relationship, I can't tell your brother about the water accidents. Fortunately, you know Lao Niu, so take a look at the car first..."
Qin Wenli didn't know much about cars. Apart from being able to see that there was nothing wrong with the exterior, he didn't know anything else. So he took a quick look around and then looked at his fourth brother with a sharp gaze.
Qin Wenping was not an expert either, but he knew more than Qin Wenli. He opened the hood, looked here and touched there, and then lay directly under the chassis.
Lao Liu also squatted down and gave instructions with his head down: "The chassis was nicked once and there are some cracks. I applied sealant twice and added guard plates... Two tires were old, so I replaced them with new ones."
After a while, Qin Wenping crawled out from under the car, and Qin Wenli hurriedly helped him brush the dirt off his body.
Old Liu stood up with a smile on his face: "Brother, can you drive? It's hard to fully understand the actual condition of a car just by looking at it with your naked eyes. Many problems can only be discovered by driving it, such as abnormal noises from the engine, brakes, suspension, etc.... Try it?"
Qin Wenli looked embarrassed. He couldn't do it...but Qin Wenping could. As soon as he saw his brother's expression, he took the key without saying a word and got into the driver's seat. Qin Wenli quickly got into the passenger seat.
Start the engine, shift gears... Qin Wenping drove out of the door skillfully. This is the suburbs with few cars and people. Qin Wenping happily took his brother for a few turns, found a deserted place and taught Qin Wenli how to drive.
Qin Wenli was used to driving a three-wheeler, and he was familiar with the brakes, oil and clutch. He was a little confused at first, but gradually he was able to run circles with ease.
"What do you think?"
Since Old Liu was not around at the moment, Qin Wenping took the opportunity to ask his brother what he thought.
Qin Wenli stopped the car carefully and exhaled, "Fourth brother, I felt a bit stuck when I changed gears, and the sound didn't sound right."
Qin Wenping nodded: "It's a problem with the gearbox. These are all minor problems. Let's go back and ask Lao Liu to fix it."
Qin Wenli nodded: "No problem, I'm quite satisfied, if the price is right, I'll take it."
Qin Wenping smiled and then frowned: "This new car costs thirty to fifty thousand, depending on the configuration. This car has no major problems except for the high mileage, so I guess the price won't be too low..."
Qin Wenli thought of the bottom line his mother had drawn and said with a smile, "My family gave me 15,000 yuan. As long as I don't exceed this limit, I can get it."
Qin Wenping said nothing more after hearing this, and the two brothers drove back.
Seeing the two people coming back, Lao Liu smiled and invited them to have tea. As soon as the scalding hot tea entered my stomach, I felt my whole body relax.
Qin Wenping sighed comfortably and said with a smile: "I have seen the car and tried it. Tell me your price."
Old Liu took a sip of tea from his cup and said, "We are brothers. I won't say anything nonsense. Sixteen thousand. If it works, we can go through the formalities now."
Qin Wenping paused and looked at Qin Wenli, who looked embarrassed.
"I know that you gave me a fair price, Brother Liu. I really like this car, but my budget is not enough!"
Old Liu laughed: "What am I supposed to do? If you don't have enough money, ask your brother. He has very strong thighs, so a thousand dollars is not a big deal..."
Qin Wenli had a sad face, and Qin Wenping also showed a distressed look. He pulled Lao Liu aside and whispered something to him. Lao Liu looked at Qin Wenli again and his expression became much more serious.
"Brother, name a price and I'll sell it if I can!"
Qin Wenli gritted his teeth and said, "Fourteen thousand!"
Old Liu frowned: "I don't make any money with 14,000 yuan, so you can add more!"
When Qin Wenli saw Qin Wenping stretching out his hand and making the number "five" behind Lao Liu's back, he immediately understood what he meant and added another five hundred.
Old Liu stamped his feet and said, "Well, the price is 14,800, you can drive away."
Qin Wenli also pretended to have made up his mind and nodded heavily.
After the price was agreed upon, Lao Liu picked up the tools to fix the minor problem with the gearbox.
The two brothers then had time to look at the rest of the cars.
Qin Wenping was interested in a square-faced off-road vehicle and circled around him. Old Liu, who had just finished his work, introduced it from afar:
"Super Cherokee, 2.5-liter inline 4-cylinder engine, 5-speed manual transmission, made in October 1999, 47,000 kilometers, now priced at 88,000 yuan, want one?"
Qin Wenping had an expression on his face that he couldn't afford it, but that didn't stop him from touching it several times to satisfy his urge.
"Mazda 323, 1.6-liter inline 4-cylinder engine, 5-speed manual transmission, imported original car, made in November 1995, ran 170,000 kilometers, selling price, 68,000 yuan."
When Qin Wenli heard the quote, he instantly felt that the car in front of him was not attractive.
The three of them packed up and rode their motorcycles to the vehicle management office.
…
After saying goodbye to Old Liu, Qin Wenli looked at the troubled little guy in front of him. The car was bought, and he could drive it back even if it had some bumps and bruises, but... he would be caught by the traffic police, right?
Qin Wenping laughed heartily when he saw his hesitation: "Let's go, I really want you to drive back?"
"Brother, do you have a driver's license?"
Qin Wenli sat in the passenger seat and asked his fourth brother uncertainly, saying that his brother was a good driver but might not have a driver's license. After all, in this day and age, apart from those who drive sports cars, who would think of spending money to get a driver's license?
Qin Wenping glanced at him and said, "Don't worry, I have it."
Qin Wenli finally relaxed. He was a law-abiding man and if possible, he didn't want to deal with law enforcement agencies in his entire life.
"Have you registered your driver's license?"
"I've signed up, I've already paid for the first subject, I'll practice the second subject in two days..."
Qin Wenping was not surprised to hear this, because his younger brother was a very cautious person and it was impossible for him to drive on the road without a driver's license.
Outside the car, the cold wind whistled against the glass, and in his ears, Qin Wenli muttered about his plans.
There was an endless straight road in front of him. Qin Wenping looked at his brother gently, and then he received a warning from Qin Wenli reminding him to concentrate on the road.
I couldn't help but curl up the corners of my mouth.
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