Qiu Mengze gritted his teeth. He had just started a new match. After watching for so long, he wanted to try a game as Yasuo himself.

And the result? His matchmaking rank had been pulled up by Xue Rui, and he was getting beaten so badly he wouldn’t recognize his own mother. Now, he could only cower under the second turret to lane, all while enduring "greetings" from his teammates, who had cursed out every female relative he had.

The pressure was maxed out. Absolutely maxed out.

When his screen went gray, he saw Xue Rui video-calling Gu Muxue, and he felt a pang of jealousy...

"Sigh, this suddenly isn’t much fun anymore," Qiu Mengze sighed.

You have to win when you play games. If you don’t win, there’s no enjoyment.

’Xue Rui is just too damn amazing,’ he thought. ’Not only are his grades good, but he’s even better at games. The key is, he’s also surrounded by several pretty girls...’

’Thankfully, when Xue Rui hangs out with me, he’s still the same, eating those ten-yuan takeout lunch boxes from the net cafe...’

’Otherwise, I’d really feel like there’s a thick wall between me and Xue Rui.’

"Muxue, I have to go. My phone’s about to die."

Xue Rui glanced at the top-right corner. His battery was at ten percent.

"Okay, remember to eat on time even when you’re gaming. Bye-bye." With that, Gu Muxue hung up the phone.

Qiu Mengze paid his bill and logged off his computer. Without Xue Rui carrying him, he really couldn’t play...

"Let’s go to the driving school," Qiu Mengze suggested.

After logging off, Xue Rui called Lin Ruoxi. The young lady said she had already finished the paperwork and would be at the driving school soon.

As they left and were passing a clothing store, Xue Rui stopped in his tracks. He lifted his shirt and sniffed it.

"What’s wrong?" Qiu Mengze asked.

He copied Xue Rui, sniffing his own clothes, but didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary.

Xue Rui sighed. "Wait a minute, I’m going to change."

Soon, Xue Rui went inside and came out in a fresh set of summer clothes, carrying his old ones in his hand.

Qiu Mengze instantly understood what Xue Rui was doing. ’So he’s about to see Lin Ruoxi and wants to make himself look good first?’

"A date? You’re really putting on an act," Qiu Mengze teased.

Xue Rui explained, "You’re wrong. We’re both practically pickled in the net cafe’s smell. We reek of smoke, and Lin Ruoxi doesn’t like the smell of smoke."

"How come I can’t smell it?" Qiu Mengze asked.

"We’ve gotten used to it, so it’s normal that we can’t smell it. Lin Ruoxi will definitely be able to," Xue Rui said.

Qiu Mengze had a moment of realization. It made sense. The first time he went into a net cafe, he had choked on the smell of smoke, but after a while, he got used to it.

’I’ve learned something new,’ he thought. He felt his pocket. He had about a hundred yuan left, not knowing if it was enough to buy a new set of clothes.

Seeing what Qiu Mengze was doing, the corner of Xue Rui’s mouth twitched. He said irritably, "You don’t need to change."

"Why not?" Qiu Mengze asked, confused.

"Is she going to be standing that close to you? She won’t be able to smell you, so what are you changing for?" Xue Rui said with a smile.

He was changing purely because the young lady stood very close to him and would even sneak a sniff or two sometimes.

"What the fuck?" Qiu Mengze gritted his teeth in anger. ’This guy is showing off again.’

But what Xue Rui said was true. Lin Ruoxi kept a considerable distance from all boys except for him.

"Not changing, then. Let’s go," Qiu Mengze said.

The two of them waited for a bus by the side of the road.

After getting on, they sat in the back row, staring blankly at the lush green scenery outside the window.

"I hope the results come out soon. Then my dad will buy me a phone and a computer," Qiu Mengze said, his face full of anticipation.

He was now very glad that he had trusted Xue Rui back then.

Originally, he might have ended up like those students who drop out of school, finding a place to learn a trade like auto repair after graduation.

But last time they had dinner, he saw them. His former classmates’ hands were covered in hard calluses, with machine oil permanently stained in the cracks of their fingers.

That wasn’t the life he wanted.

Now things were different. Because Xue Rui had dragged him along to study properly, his score was definitely high enough for a bachelor’s degree program.

Although he didn’t know what he would do in the future, his dad had said that as long as he got into university, he could buy whatever phone and computer he wanted.

Xue Rui laughed. "Is that all you aspire to?"

Qiu Mengze waved his hand dismissively. "A rich second-generation kid like you wouldn’t understand."

...

When the two arrived at the driving school, they found Lin Ruoxi sitting blankly under a tree, waiting.

"Here, and this is yours," Lin Ruoxi said softly, her voice melodious and pleasant.

She handed Xue Rui and Qiu Mengze two cups of lemonade, then inserted the straw for Xue Rui.

"All done?" Xue Rui took a sip. The lemonade was sweet and sour.

Lin Ruoxi’s face flushed. She was once again reminded that the house was for having children and their schooling...

"Mhm, it’s done. Aunt Ren also took me to buy clothes, and I’ve already taken them home," Lin Ruoxi said.

After speaking, she noticed that Xue Rui had also changed into new clothes, with his old ones in a tote bag he was holding.

The young lady naturally took the bag from him, stuck her little head inside, and sniffed. It smelled of smoke.

’Xue Rui doesn’t smoke, so it must be a smell from the net cafe,’ she thought, then said softly, "I’ll take them home to wash."

"Okay," Xue Rui nodded, then headed toward the driving school’s administration office.

Now that he had passed the Subject One exam, it was time to be assigned an instructor and start practicing. He planned to just go in and pick any instructor, since he could teach the other two how to drive anyway.

"Hello, we’ve passed Subject One. Can we start practicing for Subject Two now?" Xue Rui asked.

"Of course. Let me introduce you to our driving school’s instructors..."

...

Xue Rui deliberately had the young woman at the desk recommend a more good-tempered instructor; otherwise, a loud voice might scare the young lady.

Of course, this was a case of picking the best of a bad bunch—he was only slightly better, relatively speaking...

The young woman pointed him in a direction where a middle-aged man in a straw hat was resting under a tree.

"Coach Li, the three of us have been assigned to you to learn driving," Xue Rui said in a low voice, casually snatching the lemonade that Qiu Mengze hadn’t drunk yet.

Qiu Mengze’s expression went blank. ’Wasn’t that the one Lin Ruoxi gave me?’

The man lifted his hat and glanced over. On top of the drink Xue Rui was holding were two packs of cigarettes.

Xue Rui had just bought them on the way over. He was hoping to grease the wheels a bit, so the instructor would interfere less with their practice. That way, he could teach Lin Ruoxi himself at the driving school.

"When did you pass Subject One?" Coach Li asked with a smile, accepting the cigarettes and the drink.

"This morning," Qiu Mengze said.

Coach Li thought for a moment. "You all should come back at the end of July. You should be able to schedule your test for August."

Xue Rui’s brow twitched. "Coach, it’s only mid-June right now."

Coach Li sighed. "You’re students, right? The driving school is already giving you special consideration. We’ll see if you can schedule your Subject Two and Three exams back-to-back then, so you can get your license all at once."

Qiu Mengze tugged on Xue Rui’s sleeve and whispered, "This is already really fast. At other driving schools, some people have been waiting to schedule since the beginning of the year..."

When he took the Subject One exam this morning, he had chatted with people from other driving schools and discovered that their wait times for scheduling tests were extremely long. Many recent high school graduates said they wouldn’t be able to get their licenses until next year at the earliest.

But the driving school Xue Rui had brought him to was truly different. They could schedule a test for August right after passing today. If they didn’t fail any part, they could probably get their licenses by September.

He was already very satisfied with this result.

Xue Rui rubbed his face. He suddenly felt like he had wasted his money on the cigarettes.

He was on a tight schedule. He didn’t have this much time to wait...

Coach Li gave a wry smile. "Our driving school is already the fastest in the city. The others are even slower."

Xue Rui frowned. If they had to wait until August to schedule, what would happen if the young lady failed a test?

The student holidays coincided with the holidays for the vehicle administration office...

Which only left the winter and summer breaks...

But the young lady seemed to be really looking forward to getting her driver’s license.

He thought for a moment and said, "Coach, can you find a car for us to practice with first? I’ll see if I can schedule a test for sometime in the next few days."

"Practice after you schedule it. There’s enough time," Coach Li said with a smile, leading them to a corner of the driving school...

"Play with this. Practice how to turn the steering wheel," Coach Li said, pointing.

Following the direction he was pointing, they saw a simple wooden frame holding a scrapped car that had been sawed in half. It had a steering wheel, and below that, a clutch and a brake pedal...

"Half a car? A toy?" Qiu Mengze was in disbelief. "What is this thing?"

Xue Rui pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t schedule an exam, and he had no connections to use money to solve the problem...

Suddenly, he thought of someone—Chen Tingting’s father.

Xue Rui took a deep breath and pulled out his phone to make the call. He had a pretty good relationship with Chen Shen. When they occasionally ran into each other, they would grab a meal at a small nearby restaurant and chat about current events. They had a lot to talk about, like a friendship that transcended their age difference.

He always felt... like he was babysitting for Chen Shen.

"Xiaorui, what’s up?" Chen Shen asked with a laugh. He was surprised that Xue Rui was calling him proactively.

"Uncle Chen, I was just calling to ask if you’re off work. I’d like to treat you to dinner," Xue Rui said with a smile.

Chen Shen could tell immediately that Xue Rui had run into some trouble.

He was in the public security system, so the matters people came to him with were usually tricky...

However, since he was able to call and chat so cheerfully, it probably wasn’t anything urgent.

"Xiaorui, if you need something, just say it. No need to beat around the bush with your uncle," Chen Shen said, laughing.

Even without the connection through his daughter, he was very fond of this kid, Xue Rui. He would definitely help if he could.

"It’s not a huge deal. I’m trying to get my driver’s license, but after passing Subject One today, I found out I can’t schedule the next exam, and I have to leave Hedong at the end of the month..."

Xue Rui briefly explained his situation, thinking that the vehicle administration office was a subordinate unit under Chen Shen’s purview, so it shouldn’t be a difficult matter.

"Hah, is that all? Are you learning to drive by yourself?" Chen Shen asked.

Students usually get their licenses in groups, so he asked casually.

Xue Rui was a little surprised. He had figured sorting out his own situation would be easy, but bringing up his two classmates as well felt a bit awkward. He had originally planned to discuss it with Chen Shen in person.

But from Chen Shen’s tone, it sounded like it was no big deal at all. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Uh... two of my classmates came with me."

"Send me all of their ID numbers," Chen Shen said.

"Okay. I’ll treat you to a meal later."

"I won’t be able to get away. Have Tingting go in my place. She’s been under a lot of stress from studying lately, so she should go out and relax," Chen Shen said with a laugh. His daughter hadn’t seen Xue Rui in a long time, it seemed, and had been listless every day.

"Gotta go, I have something to take care of here."

After hanging up, Chen Shen sighed. ’It’s been two years,’ he thought to himself. ’My daughter has matured a little, but in the end, she’s still a child.’

Listening to the dial tone, Xue Rui was completely baffled. "Huh?"

Coach Li had been listening from the side. Seeing Xue Rui’s expression, he thought he understood what had happened.

He sneered, "Kid, stop with the ’bro’ this and ’uncle’ that all day. When you actually run into trouble, it’s useless."

He had seen plenty of people like Xue Rui, acting all high and mighty, always talking about who they knew...

And in reality? They were all just fair-weather friends. They’d talk big over dinner, but when you really needed them to do something, they’d just find all sorts of excuses to refuse.

Only when they get older do they realize that dealing with those people is just a waste of time.

Xue Rui sighed. Coach Li had misunderstood. He thought Xue Rui’s expression meant he had failed...

In reality, he was just stunned by Chen Shen. He had actually told him to go have a meal with Chen Tingting.

’Uncle Chen is really trusting...’

’Then again, my behavior these past two years has indeed been trustworthy...’

’But... isn’t this selling my looks?!’

"Coach, all three of us are scheduled. The test is a week from now. Can we start practicing now?" Xue Rui said.

Coach Li slowly blew a smoke ring. "Brag. Keep on bragging. Three people at once? Not even the owner of the driving school would dare make a boast like that."