Chapter 51: Initiating Contact

What is the meaning of this?
Upon seeing Li Yifeng, he completely ignored me?
Can a guy like this even be an instructor?
"I've already got it."
Li Yifeng glanced at the instructor, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
She detested people like him the most, who only knew how to flatter her. By contrast, someone like Jiang Chen felt much more pleasant, even when they were just playfully bickering as usual.
"Even if you have it, it doesn't matter. I can teach you a few private tricks. They're very useful when driving and also save gas," the instructor, named Li Yuanfeng, continued. "Don't worry, it's free. Come find me tonight at nine when I get off work."
"Not interested!"
Li Yifeng directly revealed her car keys. "I never care about gas consumption when I drive."
Upon seeing the luxury car logo, Li Yuanfeng froze and did not dare to say another word.
Sports cars were essentially gas guzzlers; among those who could afford to drive sports cars, how many actually cared about saving gas?
"Get in the car first, let me take you for a spin."
Li Yuanfeng pulled me toward the car and sat in the front passenger seat.
As soon as I got in, I smelled a strange odor lingering inside the vehicle.
"Instructor Li, has this car been in any sort of accident?" I asked.
"An accident?"
Li Yuanfeng's expression changed instantly, looking somewhat flustered. "How could that be? This car is basically kept right here at the driving school. What kind of accident could it possibly have been in?"
"Are you sure?"
I pressed further.
"Look at what you're saying. I've been an instructor here for three years, how could I not be sure?" Li Yuanfeng insisted. "Stop dawdling and just drive it to try it out."
Is he in such a hurry to cover it up?
I didn't keep asking. Since he refused to say, continuing to pry would be pointless.
After hanging around the driving school for the entire morning, Li Yifeng and I left first.
The written test primarily covered traffic regulations and related knowledge, things that required personal memorization. Once the written test was out of the way, I would come back to the driving school more often during the practical driving phase.
At noon, I treated Liu Qingya to a meal.
The meal wasn't terribly expensive, coming out to around 240 per person. The two of us ordered a few dishes, and the total didn't exceed five hundred yuan.
Just as we were halfway through the meal, I received a message sent by Liu Qingya.
For some unknown reason, this girl had suddenly started giving me the silent treatment last time and stopped talking to me.
Under normal circumstances, I probably would have asked what was wrong, but shortly after, I headed into the shadowy depths of the Qinling Mountains, completely pushing the matter out of my mind.
I never expected that Liu Qingya would actually take the initiative to contact me.
The message she sent said that she wanted to make a trip back to Miaodi Village to observe the hundred-day memorial for Uncle Dazhuang's passing, and she wanted to ask if I was going back.
This girl probably felt too embarrassed to directly ask me to accompany her back, so she adopted an inquiring tone.
I replied with an OK emoji.
After that, Liu Qingya didn't reply anymore.
Once I finished the meal, I dismissed Li Yifeng and went off to find Liu Qingya.
This girl was also rather proud; sending me that message earlier already counted as extending an olive branch.
...
When I arrived at Liu Qingya's home, she was already packing her things and preparing to drive back.
Inside her room was also the old man, Zhang Yuxuen.
"Little Brother Jiang, you're finally here."
A look of relief flashed across Zhang Yuxuen's face. "How about this? You keep Sister Qingya company and chat with her, I'll take my leave first."
Leaving?
How could I possibly let the old man leave just like that?
I was already worried that the atmosphere would become too awkward if I said something wrong.
I grabbed the old man by the arm. "Wait right here."
"Uh... wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate?"
The old man said with a sheepish smile.
I ignored him. Appropriate or not, he was staying right here.
I turned around to look at Liu Qingya. "Since it's just for the hundred-day memorial, you don't need to bring too many things. Just going back to offer sacrifices is enough."
Usually, it just meant burning some joss paper for the deceased elder and offering a few sticks of incense.
Liu Qingya acted as if she hadn't heard a word I said and continued packing.
Look at that!
Good thing I had the foresight; this girl was still angry at me!
I still had no idea what unforgivable crime I had committed to still have her holding a grudge now.
"Little Brother Jiang, when you speak, your tone needs to be a bit more sincere. Maybe Sister Qingya will forgive you then," Zhang Yuxuen reminded from the side.
Sincere?
How else did he expect me to be sincere?
The problem was I had no idea what I did to tick her off in the first place!
"Qingya, I was wrong. I shouldn't have made you mad."
That was all I could say.
"Wrong? Where were you wrong?" Liu Qingya raised her head. Today she was wearing no makeup, her hair draped over her shoulders, and she asked me with an icy expression.
"Wrong everywhere!"
My attitude could no longer be described as sincere; this was pure humility!
Men in this world truly had it too hard!
"Hmph, I'll let you off the hook for now. Come over and help me pack. Put some of my cosmetics into the case, and pack a couple of outfits as well."
Liu Qingya barely spared me.
However, I didn't quite understand this behavior of hers.
We were only going back for a day or two, was there any need to bring this much stuff?
I didn't know many girls, so I had no idea if the veterans who frequently hung out with women could help me make sense of this.
"No problem!"
I nodded. Whatever you say goes, I don't mind at all, as long as you stop giving me a hard time.
After a flurry of packing luggage, I originally thought we would leave the next morning, but unexpectedly, Liu Qingya decided to set off that very afternoon.
Among the three of us, only Liu Qingya knew how to drive, so she was the designated driver.
The old man sat in the back row. I had originally intended to sit in the back as well, but the old man shoved me into the front passenger seat.
Sitting there with no immediate conversation topic to break the ice, I could only pick up my phone and review the driving test manual to memorize the relevant traffic regulations.
"Little Brother Jiang, don't you usually only care about reading those two yellowed ancient books? How come you love playing on your phone today? Are you chatting with some girl?"
Before the car had even left the urban area of Chang'an, Zhang Yuxuen chimed in at the worst possible moment.
Chat with your sister!
He always had to bring up the most sensitive topic.
The two yellowed ancient books Zhang Yuxuen referred to were precisely the ones left to me by my grandfather.
Those two ancient books, much like my runic greatsword, possessed boundless and infinite power, but I was still in the exploratory phase and hadn't yet fully unlocked their miraculous uses.
Today we left in too much of a rush, so I hadn't brought either the ancient books or the runic greatsword.
Who could have guessed that Liu Qingya would decide to leave on a whim?
"You're the one with too much time on your hands!"
I glared at Zhang Yuxuen, and then hastily explained to Liu Qingya, "Don't listen to that old die-hard Zhang Yuxuen's nonsense. I'm looking at the driving test manual. I just signed up for a driving school today, getting ready to get my driver's license by the end of the year."
"You don't need to explain to me, it's not like I don't know that you're surrounded by beauties," Liu Qingya retorted.
"This..."
Could the phrase "surrounded by beauties" really be applied to me?
Heaven have mercy!
I quickly scrambled to defend myself, taking the opportunity to flatter Liu Qingya. "You've got it all wrong. Where would I have any beauties around me? The only beauty here isn't that you?"