"How about that last thousand we agreed on?"
The G-Wagon had barely pulled out of the parking lot when Cao Xue couldn't help urging Li Xian to pay the remaining balance. She was a bona fide money-grubber, afraid Li Xian might stiff her.
Two thousand yuan for one slap. That was some easy money.
Still, if it made him feel good, what was a measly ten thousand?
Money couldn't buy happiness—except it could buy his.
These days, money was the one thing Li Xian didn't lack.
"I sent it to you on VX!"
After transferring a thousand yuan to Cao Xue without hesitation, he turned his attention back to the road, carefully steering and keeping the speed around forty.
It was pretty frustrating to drive a G-Wagon like such a scaredy-cat.
But there was nothing he could do. He hadn't driven a car since the day he got his license, and it had been four or five years. He was very rusty now.
For the time being, he could only get used to it gradually. In a few days, he'd probably be able to unleash the car's full potential.
He wasn't bragging!
When he took his driving test, he'd passed every section on the first try. He had a real talent for driving, and he'd even gotten his license in a manual. Driving this automatic now would be a piece of cake.
"Li Xian, is this Mercedes really yours?" Cao Xue asked suddenly after accepting the transfer and checking the balance in her VX wallet.
She hadn't failed to notice the car earlier; she'd just been more concerned about her money. Now that it had sunk in, she was curious about the car.
After all, it was a G-Wagon, with such a bold, handsome look. It was hard not to notice.
Cao Xue didn't know much about cars, but she knew the familiar brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen. Her instincts told her this Benz was expensive.
"Yeah, it's mine. Why?" Li Xian replied casually, his eyes still fixed on the road.
He was practicing on a main road in the most badass G-Wagon around. He didn't dare let his guard down for a second. He wasn't worried about someone hitting him, but hitting someone else would be a problem.
"It really is yours? I never would've guessed you were hiding this from everyone!" Cao Xue said in amazement, running her hands over the superb leather seats. "This Benz must cost at least several hundred thousand, right?"
"Several hundred thousand?" Li Xian shook his head with a laugh. That might get you a wheel and some interior trim.
"Not enough?" Seeing him shake his head, Cao Xue exclaimed, "Don't tell me it's over a million! Damn, what a luxury car!"
Cao Xue's eyes darted about as she looked Li Xian up and down again. Who would've guessed that this chubby homebody in bargain-bin clothes, smoking White Pagoda Mountain cigarettes, drove a car worth over a million?
Sigh, I should gouge out my own eyes.
No, Zhang Ning was the one whose eyes deserved to be gouged out.
Just as Cao Xue was lamenting her own poor judgment, Li Xian gave another slight shake of his head.
They were passing an intersection, and the light ahead was red. He brought the car to a stop, turned toward Cao Xue, and said, "Look it up on Baidu yourself. I don't have time to explain right now. I need to focus on driving."
"Even a million-plus isn't enough?" Cao Xue was so shocked she nearly jumped out of her seat.
"Keep your voice down. The light's green." Li Xian reminded her helplessly, released the brake, and pressed the gas.
"Oh, right..." Cao Xue quickly covered her mouth, then pulled out her phone. She glanced at Li Xian and asked quietly, "What model is your Benz?"
"Mercedes-Benz G65. Limited edition."
Cao Xue opened a webpage on her phone, silently repeating the model Li Xian had named as she typed it into the search bar and started searching.
In no time, a whole heap of information about the G65 came up: things like the first G-Wagon spotted in Magic City, who owned one in Capital City, and, farther down, the official price and performance specs.
A 6.0-liter V12 with twin turbos, 1,000 newton-meters of torque, 630 horsepower, and a 5.3-second zero-to-100-kilometer-per-hour time...
She couldn't make heads or tails of any of that.
Handcrafted diamond-pattern leather seats, a sporty black-and-orange color scheme, a traditional gearshift, a mechanical handbrake, and three differential locks...
She didn't understand those either.
The front seats had five features: heating, ventilation, massage, pneumatically adjustable side bolsters, and full-body support. The side bolsters were pneumatically adjustable...
She could understand some of that. The seats could even give you a massage. That was so badass!
All right, none of that was the point.
The point was the official price listed on the page.
The base price was 3.5 to 3.78 million yuan, and the total came to around 4.3 million.
At the sight of that shocking figure, Cao Xue felt as if she'd been struck by lightning. Her whole body shuddered, and the phone slipped from her hand onto her thigh.
"Oh my God, over four million! Your car is terrifyingly expensive!" Cao Xue said, trembling. She felt her blood rush and her heart race. Her gaze fixed on Li Xian, suddenly burning with admiration.
It was as if Li Xian were her beloved little cutie. No, he was even cuter than money.
"Damn... traffic's backed up." A long line of cars stretched ahead, and Li Xian had no choice but to stop.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Cao Xue staring straight at him from the passenger seat. It made him uncomfortable all over. "Could you not stare at me like that? I'm driving. What's four million anyway? There are tons of cars worth tens of millions, and plenty of off-roaders better than mine."
She was making a huge fuss over nothing!
In Li Xian's eyes, four million was just the entry-level price for a luxury car. It couldn't compare to cars that easily cost tens of millions.
Still, the G-Wagon was a dream car. It meant something different.
That might've sounded a little boastful, but it was the truth.
Was he getting a little carried away?
With a system, it was hard not to.
"Four million... You could buy a two-hundred-square-meter apartment in the best neighborhood in Xinghai Bay with that." Cao Xue had always been fixated on houses in Bin City, so she naturally used one as an example. "In High-tech Zone, you could buy two. Don't even get me started on Jinzhou. As long as you're in the city, you can live wherever you want."
Li Xian rolled his eyes at that. Did she think he didn't know?
Traffic had started moving again. Li Xian had no time to humor her, so he started the car and continued on.
The girl seemed completely obsessed. After going on about houses, she brought up Lu Yang.
She gesticulated wildly, exaggerating as she described how Lu Yang had bragged about his BMW 3 Series, which cost over three hundred thousand yuan.
"You've no idea how full of himself he was. And Zhang Ning kept showing off, saying she had a great eye for men and had found herself a high-quality meal ticket for the long haul. It made me sick. That slap just now felt so good. I've wanted to hit her for ages." Cao Xue made a disgusted face.
"Heh." Li Xian couldn't help laughing. Relationships between girls really were complicated.
"Li Xian, if Zhang Ning finds out your Benz is worth over four million, she'll regret it so much. Actually..." Cao Xue paused. "She probably already regrets it. She's always researching cars, watches, clothes, and stuff like that. She must've realized your Benz was worth a fortune."
"Heh. Whether she regrets it or not has nothing to do with me anymore," Li Xian said mildly. "By the way, your place is near Heishijiao, right? We're almost there."
"Yeah. I live at Penglai Garden, next to the bus stop," Cao Xue said without thinking. Then she realized his tone sounded off and guessed, "You're not trying to kick me out, are you? Don't do that!"
Li Xian smiled without answering. Smart girl. That was exactly what he meant. She was such a handful.
With her pestering him like this, when was he ever going to get the car home?
"Nooo," Cao Xue drew the word out, speaking softly and sweetly. "Don't make me leave, okay? I won't annoy you anymore. I'll shut up, all right? I'll just take some pictures, okay?"
Hah. Nothing she said would work!
Li Xian still ignored her. He even pressed hard on the gas, and the Heishijiao bus stop was just ahead.
About three minutes later, they finally arrived. Li Xian brought the car to a smooth stop by the roadside.
Before you continue