Volume 1, Chapter 53: Zhao Zhengzhong is Surrounded

As the minibus climbed up and down the mountains, navigating an increasing number of winding and twisting roads, Li Shuai finally fell silent.

Suffering from severe motion sickness, he had simply reached his limit.

Shu Qin breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to Li Yan, "I honestly can't take it anymore, Li Yan. How can someone be so endlessly confident of himself?"

Li Yan replied, "Well, after all, he is a journalism major. He’ll have to make a living with that sharp tongue of his in the future."

Shu Qin muttered, "I feel like he's even more nagging than my mom. It's utterly terrifying."

Li Yan chuckled and offered a few words of comfort to Shu Qin.

Truth be told, she had endured undeserved suffering today, and he genuinely sympathized with her.

After a bumpy journey, they finally arrived at the county town by noon.

Upon getting off the bus, Shu Qin asked Li Yan, "Li Yan, are you heading to Yuncheng today? Care to go together?"

Li Yan answered, "Hard to say, not quite sure yet. But since I'm just getting hungry, let's go grab something to eat first."

At that moment, Li Shuai, who had been vomiting the entire way, suddenly pushed forward and chimed in, "Let's go together! My treat."

Why on earth was it so impossible to shake this guy off?

Both Li Yan and Shu Qin were left speechless.

As for Li Shuai, he convinced himself that his motion sickness had prevented him from properly displaying his brilliance and talents.

Therefore, he decided to press on.

Shu Qin stammered, "Uh, well, maybe not. I actually have a classmate here whom I'd like to visit."

Li Yan also nodded and said, "Is that so? That works too."

Li Shuai, however, was displeased. "Not to lecture you, Shu Qin, but before we left, your dad specifically told me to look after you. And you too, Li Yan—I already said it's my treat. Come on, let's go have a proper meal."

Li Yan wasn't inherently opposed to someone else treating him to a meal.

However, this dude was just too much.

And judging by his attitude, refusing didn't seem to be an option.

After a moment of thought, Li Yan said, "Alright then, wait for me here for a second. I'm going to get my car."

"Get your car?" Shu Qin asked with a puzzled look.

Li Shuai was equally perplexed.

What kind of car could he possibly have? An electric scooter?

Without offering any explanation, Li Yan walked straight toward the nearby parking lot.

Before long, Li Yan drove out in a brand-new Cadillac.

Upon seeing a pristine black Cadillac heading toward him, Li Shuai looked on with intense yearning and remarked, "I'm going to buy one of these after I graduate from college. It looks so cool, don't you think?"

He glanced at Shu Qin, feeling quite pleased with himself and convinced that this moment made him look cool as well.

Shu Qin also noticed the approaching black Cadillac.

The car came to a smooth halt, and the window rolled down.

Li Yan poked his head out and called out, "Come on, get in. Weren't you guys going to get something to eat?"

"Li Yan?"

"Li Yan, is that you?"

Both of them stared in sheer astonishment.

Li Yan waved at them and urged, "Hurry up and get in, parking isn't allowed here."

At that exact moment, Li Shuai fell completely silent.

He felt an overwhelming wave of embarrassment wash over him. It seemed his attempt to show off had failed—and spectacularly so.

Standing frozen in place for a moment, he stammered, "Actually, I just remembered my mom is coming to pick me up, so I won't be joining you guys after all. Once you both come to Shanghai to hang out in the future, I'll treat you to a meal then!"

Without a second thought, he turned around and walked away briskly.

With an expression of utter astonishment, Shu Qin pulled open the car door and settled into the front passenger seat.

"Li Yan, is this your car?" she asked, completely unable to suppress her curiosity.

Li Yan nodded. "You could say that. I'm hungry, let's go get some food. Do you have any recommendations?"

Shu Qin replied, "I know a nice place. Take a left over there..."

On the way to the restaurant, Shu Qin bombarded Li Yan with wide-eyed, curious questions about how he managed to buy a car.

However, Li Yan simply brushed them aside with vague answers.

Seated in the passenger seat, Shu Qin gazed at Li Yan with a mix of awe and curiosity, feeling strongly that this junior high school classmate of hers was far from ordinary.

The two arrived at a specialty restaurant, and just as they finished ordering their dishes, Li Yan's phone rang.

The call was from Lu Jiazhuang.

"Li Yan, I'm so upset."

Li Yan asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Jiazhuang pouted, "My mom insists on accompanying me to report for school. I had originally planned to go with you, but now I can't. I'm so mad."

The original plan had been for Li Yan and Lu Jiazhuang to travel to Yuncheng together.

Lu Jiazhuang had even imagined sitting in the passenger seat next to Li Yan, chatting endlessly with him—just the thought of it had seemed so romantic.

Yet now, the plan had fallen through, leaving her both angry and helpless.

Li Yan offered some soothing words: "Auntie is just worried about you and wants to make sure you're safe on the road. Actually, spending a bit more time with them is a good thing."

Lu Jiazhuang grumbled, "But I only wanted to go with you to register! This is so depressing."

After comforting Lu Jiazhuang, Li Yan finally walked into the restaurant.

Although Shu Qin wasn't a stellar student, her character was commendable.

The dishes had already been served, but she hadn't touched her chopsticks, waiting for Li Yan to return so they could eat together.

"Dig in, it's all getting cold," Li Yan said with a smile, inviting Shu Qin to eat.

As they ate, Shu Qin inquired, "Li Yan, are you planning to drive all the way to Yuncheng?"

Li Yan nodded. "Mmm."

With a tentative and pleading tone, Shu Qin asked, "Um... could I tag along with you? The sleeper bus smells terrible, and so many people have stinky feet."

There was no high-speed railway connecting Ningshun County to Yuncheng.

The bus ride took seven or eight hours, which led many people to opt for the sleeper buses.

Yet anyone who had ever ridden a sleeper bus knew how truly agonizing the experience could be.

Realizing that driving alone would be rather dull anyway, Li Yan figured having Shu Qin along wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

"Sure, I was just thinking that driving all by myself would be boring."

Granted permission by Li Yan, Shu Qin beamed brightly, her two charming dimples making her look exceptionally lovely.

Shu Qin insisted on paying for the meal herself, and Li Yan did not refuse.

They set off a little past one o'clock in the afternoon, estimating that they would reach Yuncheng by nightfall.

Throughout the journey, Shu Qin and Li Yan chatted quite harmoniously.

Li Yan even mentioned to Shu Qin that he was planning to open an online store dedicated to selling specialty products from his hometown.

Shu Qin thought the idea was wonderful, her face lighting up with eagerness and enthusiasm.

In truth, Li Yan harbored an even grander business blueprint in his mind; if brought to fruition, it would secure him a formidable standing in China's commercial world and ultimately upon the global stage.

Opening an online store was merely a tiny fraction of his entrepreneurial ambitions, meaning he naturally wouldn't devote excessive time or energy to running it personally.

Since Shu Qin was greatly interested and her major happened to be relevant, she was the ideal candidate to operate it, while he would simply provide the capital and offer assistance from the sidelines.

By the time they had traveled quite a distance, the two of them had practically finalized the operational details of the venture.

All that remained was to arrive in Yuncheng and officially put the plan into motion.

Just as Li Yan was about to enter Yuncheng, his phone suddenly rang with a call from Zhao Zhengzhong.

Besides Lu Jiazhuang, Zhao Zhengzhong was the only other person who knew that Li Yan was heading to Yuncheng today.

"Hey, Li Yan, where are you?" Zhao Zhengzhong's voice carried a hint of panic.

Frowning slightly, Li Yan asked, "I'm almost there. What happened?"

Zhao Zhengzhong cursed, "Damn it, get your ass over to the West Bus Station right now. We've been surrounded."

"What? Surrounded?" Li Yan asked, baffled.

Zhao Zhengzhong explained, "Yeah, damn it! These unlicensed cab drivers tried to rip us off, and when we wouldn't let them, they ganged up and surrounded us."

Li Yan's frown deepened. "Hold tight. Exactly where are you?"

Zhao Zhengzhong answered, "Right by the West Bus Station. Hurry up and get over here—they've even snatched my buddy's luggage."