An Qiqi's car was a parallel import. There wasn't even a dealership for its brand in Dragon City, so repairs had to be handled by another garage.
Fortunately, Bai Hongbo had a wide circle of friends and knew all sorts of people, so he found Su Tianyu and An Qiqi an auto service center that handled similar cars.
Outside the Baotong Auto Service Center in Longkou District, a mechanic was inspecting An Qiqi's car. Bai Hongbo and Su Tianyu stood in the shade, quietly sizing up the three girls from the Yu family as they chattered nearby.
"Those three girls are hot. Just looking at them gets me rock hard," Bai Hongbo whispered to Su Tianyu. "Hey, do you know how they're related?"
"I think two of them are Yu Mingyuan's sisters, and An Qiqi is their cousin," Su Tianyu replied quietly.
"In the prime of their youth, fresh and gorgeous, every inch of skin glowing with collagen. Damn!"
"Where do you get all these descriptions every day?" Su Tianyu asked, rather speechless.
"...Come on, let's go talk to them. What's the point of just standing here?" Bai Hongbo urged, unable to hold himself back.
"I'm texting Tian Nan."
"Fuck, what's the point of texting him? Unbelievable!" With that, Bai Hongbo hurried over to An Qiqi and the others. "Hey, girls, what are you chatting about?"
The three girls turned around, and one with a baby face casually replied, "What is it, mister?"
"What kind of way is that to address me? Call me big brother!"
"You've got to be at least thirty-five, mister. That's almost half my age again," the baby-faced girl replied, pursing her lips. "Calling you big brother wouldn't really fit, would it?"
"Girl, you need your eyes checked! I'm only twenty-five!" Seeing that she was willing to talk, Bai Hongbo immediately perked up. "It's so hot out. Let's not stand around here. Come on, I'll buy you cold drinks. They'll need a while to check the car."
"Maybe not. We'll pay once they're done, then head back. We have evening classes," An Qiqi said, politely declining. She had a feeling Bai Hongbo was no good.
Bai Hongbo's greatest talent was his ability to force a conversation with absolutely anyone without ever feeling awkward. If someone talked about cosmetics, he could start discussing menstrual cycles. If someone said seawater was salty, he could say he'd just drunk a couple of mouthfuls yesterday. In short, he was a true talent when it came to finding something to talk about.
In the shade by the entrance, Su Tianyu held his phone and kept stealing glances at the pretty girls. Suddenly, the mechanic called out, "Hey, I'm done checking the car."
Su Tianyu turned around. "How much?"
"Around three thousand." The mechanic pointed at the rear of the car. "It needs repainting, and the windshield has to be replaced..."
"My friend checked with a full-service dealership in District One. Even they wouldn't charge that much!"
"Of course it's cheaper to fix it in District One, but we have to get the paint, windshield, and everything shipped over before we can work on it. That drives up the cost," the mechanic replied. "Or we could use parts from other manufacturers. That would be a lot cheaper."
"Never mind. Use the original parts." As he spoke, Su Tianyu walked over to the car, picked up a mat, and bent down to sit on it while examining the damage. "I won't haggle over the price, but when you paint it, you need to take off the underbody shield and remove the rear bumper so you can get all the gaps. And this fender-you can't just force it out from the inside. It won't come out even that way..."
The mechanic stared at Su Tianyu in surprise. So this guy actually knows his stuff.
Su Tianyu did know a fair amount about cars. He had served in a frontline military unit, where maintaining mechanized equipment in the field was commonplace. He wasn't exactly an expert, but he at least knew enough not to be taken for a ride.
After discussing it with Su Tianyu for three or four minutes, the mechanic finally said quietly, "All right. Pick it up in ten days."
"Sorry for the trouble." Su Tianyu brushed the dust off his clothes and slipped the mechanic a pack of cigarettes. "Take good care of it for me."
"Heh, sure!" The mechanic smiled and nodded.
Bai Hongbo, An Qiqi, and the others came over.
"How'd you end up crawling under the car?" Bai Hongbo asked.
"Just helping check it." Su Tianyu turned to An Qiqi. "The price is settled. You can pick it up in ten days."
"Okay." Standing in the sunlight, An Qiqi raised her slender arm and shaded her eyes with her small hand. She looked Su Tianyu over with her big eyes, then smiled. "Thanks for all your help."
An Qiqi had initially been quite angry about her new car getting smashed up. But after seeing Su Tianyu running around taking care of everything, even lying beneath the car himself to discuss the repairs with the mechanic, she could tell he was taking it seriously. Her anger faded.
"You're welcome. I'm the one who caused you trouble. Heh, now that the car's getting fixed, don't go telling on me to your big brother!" Su Tianyu replied with a smile.
"Oh, right. You work for my brother, don't you?" An Qiqi asked.
"Yeah, I work at his company."
"Oh, then I'll put in a good word for you with him. Hehe!" An Qiqi replied casually. Turning her head, she spotted a pink car wrap hanging on the display wall inside. "Oh, that wrap is so pretty! How much is it?"
"For your car, it'd cost a little over eight hundred."
"That's so expensive!"
"This is the best Llumar film. Even small stones won't scratch it," the mechanic said, launching into his sales pitch.
An Qiqi looked at the wrap and hesitated briefly. "Never mind. I'm totally broke lately. Maybe another time."
"Would five hundred work?" Su Tianyu asked the mechanic.
"Not for five hundred."
"Come on, we're already getting so much work done here. Give us a discount."
"Six hundred and change is the absolute minimum." The mechanic shook his head.
"Fine. Add the wrap and put it all on the same bill," Su Tianyu said generously.
"No, you can't." An Qiqi immediately tried to stop him. "Just fixing the car is enough!"
"It's been dragging on for almost two months. I feel pretty bad about it, too. Consider it interest on what I owe you." Su Tianyu turned to Big Bai. "Pay up, brother."
Bai Hongbo rolled his eyes and muttered, "Fuck, showing off with my money!"
Despite his complaint, Bai Hongbo still followed the mechanic inside to pay. An Qiqi tried a couple more times to stop them, but when Su Tianyu kept insisting, she gave up and smiled. "All right, then you don't have to pay me back for Winnie the Pooh. I'll treat you to dinner sometime."
"A candlelit dinner?" Su Tianyu asked with a grin.
An Qiqi paused, then pursed her lips. "Isn't that a little clumsy for a pickup line?"
As the two chatted, Su Tianyu's phone rang. He immediately stepped aside and answered. "Hello?"
"I've rented the speedboats and the place. Come over," Linda said.
"Okay." Su Tianyu hung up and turned back to An Qiqi. "We have something to take care of, so we need to leave. Just leave the car here and come pick it up when it's ready."
"Okay." An Qiqi nodded.
Bai Hongbo came out of the shop after paying. He had still been hoping to get cold drinks with the three beauties, but Su Tianyu dragged him away to handle their actual business.
On the way back to school, the baby-faced girl asked An Qiqi, "Hehe, so he's the one who wanted to pick out your mammary glands? I thought he was pretty handsome...!"
"He's all right. Doesn't really do anything for me," An Qiqi replied offhandedly.
"Hey, Doll, did you get Bai Hongbo's number just now?"
"Yeah. He said he studied directing and could help me find an internship," the baby-faced girl replied innocently.
Just then, Doll's phone rang. She held it up and saw a text from Bai Hongbo. The message was simple: a date and time precise down to the millisecond.
Intrigued, Doll texted back, "What does that mean?"
"Nothing. That's the moment you and I met..." Bai Hongbo replied tenderly.
"Haha, I'm gonna puke!" Doll laughed as she looked at her phone. "The fucking moment we met? This old guy's pretty funny..."
That evening.
Three box trailers were parked on a rural road somewhere in Zhannan District. Linda said quietly to Su Tianyu, "There are three speedboats inside, for transporting cargo. I also rented a third-floor space a little farther ahead for storing goods."
Su Tianyu nodded. "All right, got it."
"Mr. Yu said you'll be in charge of bringing goods in and shipping them out," Linda added.
Su Tianyu grinned. "All right. I'll give it a try."
Yu Mingyuan was decisive and methodical. Once the team was assembled and all the preparations were complete, he contacted the supplier.
A week later, the first shipment arrived.
A little after eight that night, everyone gathered at the Su Family Garbage Dump, ready to get to work. A thrilling, dangerous night slowly unfolded.
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