"Alright, go get your driving license as soon as possible, and when you do, Brother Zhou will give you a car." Zhou Xingxing was wealthy and whimsical, tossing out offers for a car as if it were no big deal, his grandiose gesture exuding confidence.
"How could I possibly accept that?" Li Changlin said with an embarrassed smile, knowing full well that Zhou Xingxing wasn’t joking.
"What’s there to be embarrassed about? We’re friends, after all." In truth, Zhou Xingxing’s promise to give Li Changlin a car had an ulterior motive.
After all, he wanted to pursue Qian Ziwei, and that definitely required getting on good terms with Lin Ruonan.
As Qian Ziwei’s bestie, Lin Ruonan’s role in the matter was certainly not to be underestimated.
As for why he chose to give the car to Li Changlin rather than Lin Ruonan directly, that was where Zhou Xingxing’s cleverness lay.
For starters, by Zhou Xingxing’s estimation, Lin Ruonan was surely not lacking in money.
So, if he were to give a car to Lin Ruonan, aside from the possibility of causing misunderstandings, the impact wouldn’t compare to the practical benefit of giving it to Li Changlin.
Because whether it was Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine or Zhou Xingxing, they both could see that Lin Ruonan really liked Li Changlin.
Giving the car to Li Changlin, Lin Ruonan would still owe Zhou Xingxing a favor; that’s reality for you.
"What friends? Xingzi, you’re mistaken. You’re my brother, Changlin is also my brother, so naturally, you two are good brothers as well," chimed in Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine, finding an opening to insert a comment. He knew his little brother wanted to pursue Qian Ziwei and, of course, intended to give him a push.
"Absolutely, we are all good brothers. Changlin, you can’t be formal with me," Zhou Xingxing picked up on the hint immediately, grasping the intent of Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine.
"Okay, okay, then I thank Brother Zhou," Li Changlin quickly gave in, as even Brother Grape had spoken, and he couldn’t bring himself to keep up pretenses, incapable of shrugging off the obligation.
Moreover, he knew that if he were to refuse Zhou Xingxing now, it would amount to snubbing the face of both Zhou Xingxing and Brother Grape.
"It’s only a few hundred thousand; I’ll just consider it a reward from Brother Zhou," Li Changlin thought to himself for a moment, slowly calming down inside.
"Alright, alright, since we’ve all agreed, let’s order then!" Seeing that Li Changlin wasn’t refusing any longer, Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, Brother Grape, Brother Zhou, what do you want to eat? I’ll write down the order," Li Changlin offered as he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from a box on the table and looked up at the two men.
"Qian Bao mentioned those sweet and sour ribs just now, I’ll start with two servings to see how they are."
"That clear soup noodle is really good; I want one of the deluxe sets."
As Li Changlin began to take their orders, Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine and Zhou Xingxing were immediately eager, each quickly naming a dish.
Li Changlin wrote down everything, then ordered a clear soup noodle for himself, and stuffed the piece of paper into a crevice at the edge of the table.
"I’ve finished eating; Brother Changlin, should I call Sister Ruonan out?" No sooner had Li Changlin slipped the paper into the crevice than Qian Bao’s voice rang out beside him.
He turned his head and smiled, "Ruonan is helping your sister in the kitchen, right? Then there’s no need to call her."
"Okay, then I’m off to play." Qian Bao responded, then turned around and placed the dishes and cutlery on a conveyor belt mounted on the wall.
This conveyor belt was constantly moving and could transport the dishes and cutlery into the kitchen. After Qian Bao set down the dishes, he turned and walked out of the shop to play outside.
"That’s really high-tech!" Seeing this, Zhou Xingxing couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. Then, he suddenly remembered something, "Changlin, you should hurry and enroll in a driving school, and get your driver’s license as soon as possible."
"I know, Brother Zhou." Li Changlin nodded, then added, "I heard that getting a driver’s license is very strict now. Even if I want to pass quickly, I might not be able to get it this year."
"Aren’t there VIP services at the driving school? Don’t be reluctant to spend money; it’s only an extra two thousand or so." Zhou Xingxing waved his hand indifferently, as two thousand yuan was nothing to him.
"Alright, then I’ll go sign up the day after tomorrow!" Li Changlin thought for a moment. He had quite a lot to do tomorrow, going to get an IV in the morning and in the afternoon Brother Grape and that Follow The Wind were going to have their showdown, and he needed to be there to support them.
"The day after tomorrow it is, but you still need to hurry," Zhou Xingxing said, feeling the inconvenience of not having a car. Although he had a driver’s license himself, he had been abroad for three years and the license had already expired. Now, it was as good as useless.
"Actually, Xingzi, you could go get one yourself," Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine suggested, aware of the fact that Zhou Xingxing’s driver’s license had expired. Seeing him always urging Li Changlin to learn to drive, he couldn’t help but chime in.
"I’m too lazy to take the test. When I get back to Capital City, I’ll just have Old Five handle it for me," Zhou Xingxing declared, dismissing Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine’s suggestion. He didn’t want to go through all that trouble!
Seeing his reaction, Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine decided it was best not to urge him any further and simply shrugged at Li Changlin with a helpless expression.
Li Changlin smiled and let it go. After all, Zhou Xingxing had already promised to give him a car, so he didn’t feel in a position to tell Zhou Xingxing what to do.
Before long, Lin Ruonan came out of the kitchen carrying a tray.
Li Changlin quickly stood up to meet her, still somewhat uneasy about the incident earlier with the clear soup noodles.
"There’s no need, you sit down. I’ve got this." Seeing Li Changlin reaching to take the tray, Lin Ruonan gave him an affectionate glare, but inside, she felt incredibly sweet.
At that moment, Zhou Xingxing couldn’t wait to stand up, "It smells so good, is this the sweet and sour spare ribs?" Seeing Lin Ruonan approaching, he made room for her, and then his eyes went straight to the two plates of glistening spare ribs on the tray.
"Yes, these are sweet and sour spare ribs, Ziwei just came up with them this afternoon." Lin Ruonan placed the tray on the dining table and began to take out the food, "Go ahead and eat while it’s hot, they’re aromatic and crisp."
"My mouth is watering." Off to the side, Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine laughed heartily, took some chopsticks from the basket, and started eating a piece of sweet and sour spare rib.
"Puge, you can’t eat all by yourself!" Seeing Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine enjoying himself, Zhou Xingxing immediately became envious and hurriedly grabbed a pair of chopsticks, reaching for the sweet and sour spare ribs.
Seeing this, Xiaobudian Under the Grapevine knew this wouldn’t do—the sweet and sour spare ribs were his order, and he couldn’t let Zhou Xingxing have them.
So, Brother Grape immediately raised his chopsticks to block Zhou Xingxing, "Come on, Xingzi, don’t you have your clear soup noodles?"