Seeing Beauty, Forgetting Friends

At this moment, the pretty young girl also spotted Zhang Shuai. When she saw Coach Wu leading him over, her eyes lit up; perhaps she had run into an acquaintance, as she appeared extremely surprised and excited.

"Handsome, are you here to get your driver's license too?"

Zhang Shuai nodded with a smile. "Yeah, what a coincidence. I didn't expect to see you learning to drive here."

"I came with my best friend. Hehe, I dragged her here myself. My name is Sun Xiaoya. Look, that one over there is my best friend, Lin Xiuwen. She's the campus belle of our school. Take a look, isn't she pretty?"

Following the direction of Sun Xiaoya's finger, Zhang Shuai saw a graceful girl with flowing long hair. She stood quietly beside the training car, wearing a simple white T-shirt paired with jeans, looking clean and refreshing. She had large eyes and long eyelashes. Seeing Zhang Shuai looking at her, the girl waved at him in a generous, friendly manner and offered a faint smile.

It was this slight smile that caused Zhang Shuai's heart to skip a beat, a wave of youthful energy washing over him.

What a pure and delicate girl; she was practically the embodiment of Zhang Shuai's ideal type.

Seeing Zhang Shuai staring blankly at Lin Xiuwen, Sun Xiaoya felt a slight pang of jealousy. "Handsome, how about it? Isn't my best friend pretty?"

Zhang Shuai managed to pull his gaze away with some difficulty and praised, "Truly beautiful!"

"And what about me? Am I pretty?"

"Uh, you're pretty too!"

"Handsome, you're the new guy named Zhang Shuai who joined the group, right?"

"That's right, it's me."

"Then I'll add you on WeChat, make sure to accept it!"

Zhang Shuai took out his phone and checked; Sun Xiaoya's WeChat name was simply Xiaoya. He casually accepted her friend request.

Coach Wu, standing beside Zhang Shuai, understood Sun Xiaoya's personality. Knowing she was cheerful, lively, and a bit talkative, he quickly interrupted, "Sun Xiaoya, you two can chat later. I need to teach Zhang Shuai how to drive first!"

Sun Xiaoya stuck out her tongue in slight embarrassment and explained, "Brother Wu, I just ran into an acquaintance, so I got a little carried away."

Coach Wu laughed. "You can chat all you want after you leave the driving school, I don't mind, but right now I have to teach Zhang Shuai!"

Afterward, Coach Wu turned to Zhang Shuai beside him and said, "Starting today, you'll practice with them. They've been practicing for three days longer than you, so you'll need to put in more effort to catch up. You'll take the second subject test in ten days, so aim to pass on the first try. I'll start by teaching you the basics of parallel parking."

Then, Coach Wu called over the girl who was currently practicing and the boy in the passenger seat. "Come on, take a break for a moment. I need to teach the new student first."

Zhang Shuai noticed that the few people learning to drive were all quite young, looking like university students.

This was normal, as it was currently summer vacation, and many college students would take the time to get their licenses.

At this point, Coach Wu sat in the driver's seat himself to explain the steps for parallel parking.

"This is the reverse gear... this is the forward gear... the first thing you do when you get in the car is fasten your seatbelt..."

Coach Wu personally demonstrated the steps for parallel parking once, then let Zhang Shuai get in to try it out, with Coach Wu sitting in the passenger seat to guide him.

This was the first time in Zhang Shuai's life he had touched a car. Although the training vehicle was an old, beat-up second-hand car, Zhang Shuai still found it quite novel.

When he first started, Zhang Shuai was a bit clumsy, and it was only with the reminders from Coach Wu that he managed to complete the parallel park.

On the second attempt, without needing any verbal reminders from Coach Wu, Zhang Shuai completed the maneuver with extreme proficiency. Throughout the entire process, Coach Wu couldn't find a single thing to criticize.

Zhang Shuai's performance left Coach Wu greatly astonished. He had been at the driving school for over a decade and had taught so many students, yet none had grasped the techniques as quickly as Zhang Shuai. His performance didn't look like that of a beginner at all; he looked more like a veteran driver with years of experience.

Even the few female students watching from the sidelines were amazed. They hadn't been able to master the techniques nearly as quickly when they first started.

Coach Wu had Zhang Shuai practice two more times, and each time he performed perfectly. Even if Coach Wu were to demonstrate it himself, he wouldn't necessarily be able to do it more accurately than Zhang Shuai.

"Alright, Zhang Shuai, you're very smart and pick things up quickly. To be honest, in all my years at this school, you're the fastest learner I've ever seen. You've basically mastered parallel parking, so use the remaining time to consolidate your skills. Tomorrow, we'll start on the next project: reversing into a parking space."

Coach Wu stepped out of the car and instructed the students to continue practicing, two turns per person, taking turns. He required that whenever someone was practicing, another student had to sit in the passenger seat to hit the brakes in case of an emergency.

Afterward, Coach Wu went to another practice area for S-turns, where he also had several students under his instruction. Since those students had their exams in four days, most of Coach Wu's energy was focused there.

The students began to practice again. Zhang Shuai felt a bit strange; he had originally thought driving would be difficult, but he hadn't expected it to be so simple.

Watching these college girls practice now, they would still make mistakes on such simple parallel parking from time to time, either parking crookedly or driving over the lines.

This left Zhang Shuai speechless. Were college students these days really that slow? He had mastered it on his first try, so why were they still making mistakes after practicing for days?

It seemed that being well-read didn't necessarily mean one learned to drive faster.

At this moment, Sun Xiaoya and her best friend Lin Xiuwen walked over to Zhang Shuai's side.

Sun Xiaoya said with an expression of admiration, "Handsome, is it really your first time driving? How did you control the car so well? Watching you handle the steering wheel so skillfully, I almost thought you were a veteran driver."

"Parallel parking is quite simple, isn't it? There are only a few steps in total; shouldn't it be something you learn as soon as you try it?"

Sun Xiaoya replied, "It's not that simple at all. It took me a whole day just to barely manage to park the car inside the lines, and if I'm not careful, I still hit them. It's not like you, being able to park so perfectly on your first try. You're just talented."

"Maybe I just have a good feel for the car. You'll be fine after practicing for a couple more days."

Sun Xiaoya asked, "When it's my turn to practice later, can you sit in the passenger seat and give me some pointers?"

Before Zhang Shuai could answer, Sun Xiaoya's friend Lin Xiuwen spoke up, "Xiaoya, weren't we supposed to be a team? Just let me sit in the passenger seat."

Sun Xiaoya turned around and glared at Lin Xiuwen. "Your technique is too poor to help me. It's better to let Zhang Shuai sit there and guide me."

Lin Xiuwen received a stern, murderous warning from Sun Xiaoya's eyes and didn't dare to say anything more, only muttering under her breath, "What a woman, forgetting her friends for a pretty face!"

Although the voice was soft, Zhang Shuai heard it clearly.