An hour later, Zhao Jie slumped in the passenger seat of the new car, looking utterly done with life.
With that resentful gaze, he looked every bit like a two-hundred-pound woman who had been seduced and abandoned.
He turned to look at Chen Lin, who was stroking the steering wheel like a lover, and felt his entire worldview shatter.
"A Qin Plus DM55 Champion Edition. Seventy-three thousand eight hundred yuan, on the road."
"Lin, this is what you call 'under a million'?"
Zhao Jie's voice brimmed with the outrage of someone who had been deceived.
Chen Lin chuckled and gave the steering wheel a hard slap, producing a dull thump.
"You don't know shit!"
"This is called being practical! Seeing the big picture! Two thousand kilometers on a full tank and full charge, and only 2.9 liters of fuel per hundred kilometers. With this performance at this price, what more could you want? One twist of the throttle on that scooter of yours costs enough to keep me driving all day!"
Zhao Jie's chubby face twitched violently.
He simply couldn't understand it.
An hour ago, this man had been brimming with confidence, talking big about buying a car under a million and telling him to pick whatever he liked.
He had even run through Rolls-Royces and Bentleys in his head, wondering how to convince his buddy to keep things low-key and settle for a Cayenne or Panamera to show off in.
And what had happened?
He had ended up accompanying Chen Lin to a BYD dealership, where they spent half an hour arguing with the salesperson, spittle flying, all for a set of floor mats and a dashcam.
Seeing Chen Lin's satisfied expression as he swiped his card, as though he had landed the bargain of a lifetime, Zhao Jie felt like a clown.
Chen Lin started the car, and the brand-new domestic model glided smoothly out of the dealership, so quietly that there was almost no engine noise at all.
"How does it feel?" Chen Lin asked smugly, as though showing off a luxury car worth ten million.
"It feels..." Zhao Jie leaned weakly against the seat. "Like the roar of my scooter could blow a hundred of these things out of the water."
Ignoring his sour tone, Chen Lin drove straight to the biggest mall in town.
Pushing a shopping cart, Chen Lin looked like a king surveying his domain, his targets clear and his decisions swift.
He headed straight to the tobacco and liquor counter and pointed at the deep-blue boxes lining the shelf.
"Hello. Six bottles of Sea's Blue, please."
Then he turned and pointed at the black cigarette packs on the other side.
"Six cartons of Yellow Crane Tower Soft Treasure."
The sales assistant's eyes lit up. She briskly fetched the goods and put them in the cart. Following behind, Zhao Jie's eyelids twitched wildly.
Five or six thousand yuan had vanished with a wave of his hand.
And he wasn't done yet.
Chen Lin pushed the cart onward, loading up on rice, flour, cooking oil, shampoo, and body wash. He even bought an outrageously expensive large tin of goat milk powder imported from New Zealand.
The cart soon held a small mountain of goods.
Zhao Jie finally lost his composure. He grabbed Chen Lin's arm and lowered his voice as though they were committing a crime.
"Buddy, are you going to someone's house to propose? Why are you buying so much? Didn't you say you hadn't saved any money in Shanghai? Take it easy! Even if you have money, you can't blow it like this!"
Zhao Jie genuinely hated seeing him spend so much. He knew how hard the past two years away from home had been for Chen Lin. Now he had only just returned and was already throwing money around. What was he going to live on later?
Chen Lin grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth. The bottles and jars in the shopping cart clinked together, crisp and pleasing to the ear.
"They're for my second uncle!"
Zhao Jie froze.
Looking at the relaxed, carefree smile on Chen Lin's face, he suddenly felt as though he no longer quite understood his best friend.
After dropping Zhao Jie off outside Brother Jie Communications, Chen Lin lifted a heavy bag from the back seat and shoved it straight into his arms.
"For your dad!"
Inside were two cartons of Yellow Crane Tower cigarettes and two bottles of Sea's Blue.
"Holy shit! What are you doing?" Holding the bag like a hot potato, Zhao Jie tried to put it back in the car. "Take it back! My dad doesn't drink this!"
Chen Lin waved him off and stepped on the accelerator.
The brand-new Qin Plus slipped silently into traffic, leaving behind only a stylish retreat and Zhao Jie standing bewildered in the breeze.
Zhao Jie stood outside his shop, staring at the cigarettes and liquor in his hands, unable to collect himself for a long while.
What... had gotten into this guy?
He felt completely different from before.
He wasn't the kind of person who would spend beyond his means just to look rich.
Zhao Jie pushed down his mounting doubts and carried the bag into the shop. No, he had to have a proper talk with the guy tomorrow and find out what was going on.
The Qin Plus, bearing temporary plates, sped along the paved road back to the village.
Chen Lin was in an excellent mood.
The car really was great to drive: quick acceleration, stable handling, and incredible value for money. Its performance was easily on par with foreign joint-venture models costing well over a hundred thousand yuan.
When the brand-new white sedan stopped outside Chen Guofu's courtyard gate, his second uncle and aunt, who were tidying up farm tools inside, were both stunned.
"Lin, this..." Liu Shuqin circled the car in disbelief, running her hand over the paint again and again, afraid she might damage it.
Chen Guofu planted the hoe in his hand on the ground with a dull thud.
He walked over with a serious expression, scrutiny and wariness written all over his dark face.
"Where did you get the money for a car? Lin, listen to me. If you want a car, I can help scrape the money together. Don't you go taking out those online loans! Those things will eat you alive. Once you get tangled up in them, they'll ruin your family!"
The older couple knew Chen Lin's circumstances very well. How much could a college graduate who had only been working for two years possibly have saved? A few young men in the village had strutted around driving Mercedes and BMWs and smoking 1916 cigarettes. Then the truth came out: each of them owed hundreds of thousands in online loans, and their parents had ended up borrowing money to clean up their messes. That was why Chen Guofu was so wary.
"Don't worry, Uncle. I paid in full. No loans."
Chen Lin quickly opened the trunk and began carrying the mountain of goods into the house, explaining as he went.
"Didn't I tell you I quit my job? Actually, I took the fall for one of the company's executives. The company knew they'd wronged me, so they paid me compensation. A few hundred thousand."
He had come up with an excuse that was half true and half false.
Chen Guofu stared at him skeptically, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.
The boy had always been sensible. He wasn't the kind of child who lied to people.
He didn't press further. He simply took the things from Chen Lin's hands and warned him sternly, "Even if you have money, don't waste it! You're still young. There'll be plenty of things you need money for later!"
But when he saw the expensive cigarettes and liquor Chen Lin brought out, his face instantly darkened, almost turning purple.
"What is all this stuff?"
He snatched them away and made to put them back in the car.
"Take them back and get a refund! Loose baijiu is good enough for me! A farmer like me smoking Soft Treasure? Even the village Party secretary only dares smoke Hard Treasure!"
"Uncle!" Chen Lin hurriedly grabbed the cigarettes and liquor back and pushed them into Liu Shuqin's arms. "These are gifts for you! How could I take them back? If you keep getting angry with me, I really will get upset!"
Holding the cigarettes and liquor, Liu Shuqin smiled from ear to ear and gave Chen Guofu a reproachful pat. "You old man! The boy's trying to show he cares. Who are you pulling that long face for? You look like someone owes you money!"
With Liu Shuqin backing him up, Chen Guofu finally stopped insisting. He still muttered about the "wasteful brat," but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes relaxed.
By the time he had taken his uncle to retrieve the three-wheeler, it was already six in the evening.
After dinner, Chen Lin returned to his old house.
He sat on the edge of the bed, feeling a headache coming on.
The company compensation excuse could only work once. He needed a more plausible, lasting source for those millions.
Otherwise, never mind his uncle-the villagers' gossip alone would drown him.
He had to find a way to make his explanation for the money watertight.
Just as he was racking his brains, faint mewing came from the cardboard box in the corner.
Only then did he remember the two little creatures he had picked up that day.
He carefully took the milky-white Spirit Jade Bottle from the drawer.
The instant he removed the stopper, an indescribably fresh fragrance spread through the room. A single breath made him feel as though all his internal organs had been washed clean, and much of the day's fatigue melted away.
The kittens in the box mewed more urgently, filled with an instinctive longing.
An idea stirred in Chen Lin's mind.
This spirit spring water had to be good for animals!
He found a small saucer and carefully poured a single drop of the clear, waterlike liquid into it.
Just one drop.
Something miraculous happened.
The two kittens, whose eyes had yet to open and who could barely walk without wobbling, suddenly seemed to have been injected with stimulants. They rushed unerringly to the saucer, stuck out their tiny pink tongues, and lapped eagerly at an almost frenzied speed.
Chen Lin crouched beside them, hardly daring to breathe.
The drop of spirit spring water was soon licked clean.
The two kittens smacked their lips, then flopped limply onto the T-shirt as though their power had been cut and fell asleep.
They lay completely still.
Chen Lin jumped in fright.
Holy shit! Was it poisonous?
He hurriedly reached out to check them. Only when he could clearly feel the strong, steady beat in their little chests did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Apparently, they were just asleep.
Reassured, Chen Lin began scrolling through short videos. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he too drifted off to sleep.
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