Back to the prime of life

Chapter 14 Learning to drive
Lu Changge stayed at home for two days before learning to drive. He was afraid that Cai Yue would call him again and talk nonsense.

Besides, the weather was very hot now, the sun seemed to be steaming people, and he was too lazy to go out. In fact, his habit was to go out for a swim at this time, but there was no swimming pool in the whole county.

I remember that Huaishui County will build a theme park in two years, which will include a sports stadium where badminton halls and swimming pools can be privately contracted.

Because it was a new thing in the county, it became very popular after opening, and the swimming pool was directly transformed into a bathhouse.

Lu Changge remembered that this business had considerable profits. In fact, in 2006, the entire society was in the early to middle stages of urbanization. With a large number of people moving to cities and the impact of the gradual popularization of the Internet on young people, many new things in the county town were prone to become popular.

Although it will eventually calm down, at least it was popular.

Early in the morning on the 29th, Lu Changge rode his family's electric scooter to Xiangyu Driving School.

It was a little far and took him half an hour to ride there, which was a little different from his estimate, and Zhu Xingyu had to wait for him for seven or eight minutes.

After arriving at the venue, Lu Changge looked at the white prefabricated house and the air conditioner hanging outside it and said, "Brother Zhu, you can go to the driving school to learn how to drive, and you can also enjoy the air conditioning without any effort. Isn't that great?"

Zhu Xingyu naturally understood that he was referring to the fact that he had been too casual in collecting the debt before.

"But I was next to my mom when she called, and she didn't specifically ask for anything like that!"

Lu Changge didn't know what to say. Damn it, it turned out that it was his mother who contacted about this matter, not Director Zhu himself, and all he had to do was make a phone call.

People are really like this. If they don’t show off once, they don’t realize how beautiful the world is.

A few minutes later, a white Santana with the words "Xiangyu Driving School" written on the body drove over. After it stopped, a middle-aged man got out.

He was wearing a black shirt and had a crew cut. He was about 1.70 meters tall, quite sturdy, and a bit dark, probably from being a coach. He had a square face, narrow eyes, and when he spoke, he revealed a mouthful of large yellow teeth.

"You guys are here early."

"Coach Meng?"

"Yes. It's me. You can call me Coach Meng, or just Meng Meng."

"I guessed it. I'm Zhu Xingyu, and this is the person who signed up with me, Lu Changge."

He should have known the identity of his student, so Zhu Xingyu took a few more glances at him, while Lu Changge just glanced at him.

"I'll open the door. It's not even nine o'clock yet, and the sun is quite strong."

It was then that Zhu Xingyu noticed that Lu Changge was holding a paper bag and asked, "What is this?"

"For Coach Meng."

Meng Meng turned his head, "What?"

Lu Changge said without hesitation, "Just two packs of cigarettes for the coach to smoke."

Zhu Xingyu felt like he hadn't made the arrangements properly, so he said, "Didn't I say it's not necessary?"

"I'll explain it to you later." Lu Changge said softly, then handed the item to the coach opposite. "It's not a courtesy."

The coach was already used to this, so he took it without saying anything, smiling more at Lu Changge. "You're so kind, thank you."

Then he skillfully put the things in the trunk of the car.

The coach walked away, and Lu Changge explained, "As for me, I've actually driven a relative's car before, so I know the basics. That's why I don't come here every day. But as a student who skips classes every day, I have to maintain a good relationship with the teacher. That's the main consideration."

Zhu Xingyu said, "If you don't send him off, what can he do to you?"

"You can say that, but you can't do it that way."

"If we can talk like this, why can't we do things like this?"

Lu Changge didn’t know how to explain this young man.

If the coach had a problem with him, even if he didn't give him a hard time because of Zhu Xingyu, he'd still inevitably be irritated or perfunctory. Even if he didn't do anything, a sour face would be okay, right?

What to do then?
He endured it? That seemed stupid. There wasn't only one driving school in the world. He spent money and still had to look after the other person's mood? Wouldn't that be like begging for food?
But if he couldn't bear it, would he have to ask Zhu Xingyu to support him every day for trivial matters? This was even more unnecessary. Besides, he didn't like people who relied on others for power, and people who complained were the most hateful.

So, this is not the way to do it.

"How many days do you plan to be away?"

Lu Changge said, "Your question should be changed to how many days I plan to stay."

"If you say so, are two cigarettes enough?"

"Gifts aren't about the amount, but about exceeding expectations. Because of you, he definitely didn't expect anything. Now that I've given it to him, that's called exceeding expectations."

Zhu Xingyu was really impressed. "Fuck, you haven't even entered society yet, and you've already been dyed all over the place."

Hey, same here.

When Coach Meng came back, he was obviously happier and more diligent. He quickly found a green rag and wiped the two square tables in the house twice.

There is mahjong on one table and playing cards on the other. It’s so perfect.

"Except for me, there are five of you. One of you can practice driving with me, and the other four can play cards here. That's perfect."

Lu Changge asked: "Is there another person?"

"I don't know. I thought four."

Coach Meng said: "There is another one I brought, he is my nephew, Qiao Guofan. He just graduated this year and is your age. We can get along well." Okay.

Anyway, when doing something like this, everyone likes to find someone they know.

Less than twenty minutes later, the other three people arrived.

Taking advantage of this time, Lu Changge went to the building in front to pay the fees.

When he came back, he saw that the four of them had already sat down and were drawing cards. As expected, Yin Anyan was there too. She still had her hair tied in a ponytail today, which made her fair and slender swan neck stand out even more. This time, Lu Changge got closer and found that her skin was even whiter than Xu Qiuxue's, like white jade that had never been seen before.

The other unfamiliar boy should be Coach Meng’s nephew Qiao Guofan. He has a pretty boy hairstyle and is thin and fair.

"Coach Meng, let me go first." Seeing that they were already having fun, Lu Changge volunteered to learn how to drive first.

"Okay, get in the car!"

Old Meng waved his hand, and it felt like he was heading to the ends of the earth.

After getting in the car, Lu Changge did not interrupt his explanation, only occasionally saying "I know" to speed up the progress. During the actual operation, he would say a sentence, and before he finished speaking, Lu Changge had already done it, and his movements were as skillful as an old driver.

Coach Meng, after all, had taught so many students that he noticed it immediately. "It's quite smooth. Have you driven a car before?"

"I drove it in the country."

It sounded simple, but in reality he easily completed the reverse parking maneuver several times.

"Your is good, it's easy to teach."

"I know a little bit about folk methods, but if I want to pass the exam seriously, I still need Coach Meng's guidance."

Meng Meng thought that this kid was not only good at dealing with people, but also had a sweet mouth, which was quite interesting.

Twenty minutes later, the next person comes on stage.

Lu Changge returned to the boarding house and decided on his own that Qiao Guofan would be the next one. "Brother, it's your turn."

"You called me?" He seemed reluctant to put down the cards in his hand, as if he had forgotten that he was here to learn how to drive. He even secretly glanced at Yin Anyan, which was simply too much.

"Yes, I called you." Actually, no, but Lu Changge just opened his mouth and said it.

"Then pick me up, I'll be right back."

Lu Changge didn't want to say anything. He really thought that driving a car was easy to learn. Manual transmission required the coordination of the clutch and gear, and the timing had to be well judged. Although everyone could learn it, it was almost impossible not to get flustered when first getting started.

"Once you receive someone else's cards, you have to play them no matter how bad they are." Uncle He acted like a little gangster.

The game they played was called Guanpai, commonly known as running fast and striving to be the best. The gameplay was very similar to the later game of Throw Eggs.

Lu Changge has never been interested in these things, and only plays with them when he wants to kill time.

Yin Anyan was probably the same. He couldn't tell the difference between three with one and three with two. Although his fingers were slender, he was not very skilled in holding the cards. Occasionally, some cards would fall down, and the bombs were put together and placed aside, which could be seen clearly.

Perhaps having discovered it, Yin Anyan feigned anger at Lu Changge and said, "You've been peeking at my cards. You're cheating."

"Well, it's not intentional. It's mainly because your fingers are not flexible enough."

"I know. It still hurts when I grab it."

Is it still painful to grab it? Lu Changge couldn't help but think of something wrong.

Zhu Xingyu chuckled, "Maybe he was just peeking at you, not your cards."

After hearing this, Yin Anyan became shy, and her delicate little face, as delicate as an egg, turned slightly red.

The key point is that Lu Changge is not a real teenager. Not only did he not make a triple negative affirmation of "no, no, no", but he also boldly looked at the other person's pretty face twice more.

Children will think a lot, while adults will think... it's obviously good-looking but they have to resist watching it. Are they burdened with national hatred and family feuds that they have to be so cruel to themselves?

However, Yin Anyan also noticed his boldness. She had never thought that this guy dared to look at her like this before, and she didn't know what was going on when they met again this time.

Fortunately, his eyes are just a little bold, and his behavior and words are always normal, without any strange expressions or looks.

On the contrary, the strange boy just now, because he was not as handsome as Lu Changge, the secret glances at him always made her feel a little vulgar.

After a while, Qiao Guofan came back from studying and excitedly prepared to change people to play cards. He also pointed at Zhu Xingyu as the next one.

Zhu Xingyu was too lazy to pay attention to him, "I'll go later."

Lu Changge knew that Yin Anyan didn't want to play cards with this stranger whom she just met today, so he winked at her.

The child was not stupid. He immediately stood up and said, "Then I'll go."

At lunchtime, the four of them were together, and Yin Anyan asked him how he knew to wink at him in the morning.

Lu Changge said, "I can see that guy is looking at you, don't you feel it yourself?"

"Oh..." Yin Anyan understood and thought that he didn't expect Lu Changge to be so thoughtful.

He Feier secretly gave him a thumbs up, then slowly came over and whispered, "You're quite caring."

Lu Changge said with a forced smile, "I can't say she plays cards too badly. Do you want to change people?"

(End of this chapter)