"The test is next week. Is one week enough time?" Qiu Mengze grew nervous.

He had seen plenty of people at the DMV looking miserable after failing their tests, so he thought, ’The exam must be really hard.’

Xue Rui smiled. A lot of people thought that way. In reality, learning to drive wasn’t that difficult. As long as you weren’t especially dense, you could definitely learn in a week.

The driving test sounded difficult, but the hardest part was actually your mindset on test day.

Many people did perfectly fine on the practice course, passing every time on their first attempt.

But what happened when they got to the actual test site? They’d get nervous and fail multiple times in a row...

"With an attitude like that, you’re definitely going to have a hard time passing," Xue Rui chuckled.

Coach Li chuckled. "Relax. You young folks are fast learners. Get in."

Qiu Mengze nodded numbly and instinctively moved to get into the passenger seat.

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you here to learn to drive or to get a ride? Why don’t you sit on the roof while you’re at it?" Coach Li yelled.

The girl flinched, shrinking her shoulders. ’This coach is just as scary as I thought.’

Seeing how timid the girl was, Coach Li’s voice softened a little. "Miss, you and this young man can sit in the back and watch."

Qiu Mengze was so bewildered by the scolding that he just stood there, frozen.

Xue Rui sighed, palming his forehead. "The driver’s seat," he reminded him.

They all got in the car. Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi sat in the back, Qiu Mengze took the driver’s seat, and Coach Li settled into the passenger seat, sipping goji berry tea.

"I already went over the basics with you on the training rig the other day. Now, I’ll teach you how to shift gears..." Coach Li went over all the controls inside the car.

Xue Rui listened attentively as well, not letting his guard down just because he already knew how to drive.

In fact, he hadn’t driven in a very long time. He didn’t drive much even in his previous life. Since he drank frequently, he had hired a full-time chauffeur and rarely touched the steering wheel himself.

Besides, every car handled differently. And now, faced with this old Jetta that shuddered to life and had side mirrors adjusted with a manual stick, he had no choice but to take it seriously.

The girl tilted her head, her eyes following the coach’s movements as she diligently memorized every step.

"Got it?" Coach Li asked.

He glanced at the back row. Lin Ruoxi nodded seriously, while Xue Rui just smiled politely.

One of them had a photographic memory, and the other already had driving experience; of course they’d get it on the first go.

"What about you?" Coach Li asked Qiu Mengze.

"Coach, could you... maybe go over it one more time?" Qiu Mengze asked with a sheepish grin.

Coach Li sighed. "Are you guys really in the same class? What did you score on your entrance exams?"

"Over seven hundred," Lin Ruoxi replied instinctively, thinking the coach was asking her.

Qiu Mengze had been about to brag that he’d basically scored 500...

’But if you rounded Lin Ruoxi’s score up, wouldn’t that be 800?’

The sudden interruption killed his urge to brag. He felt a tightness in his chest, as if something was lodged in his throat.

"Over seven hundred? My son only got a little over two hundred a few years back. Miss, your score alone is worth three or four of his!" Coach Li laughed.

Coach Li didn’t follow educational news closely, so he didn’t immediately grasp what a score of over 700 on the college entrance exam really meant.

He patiently explained everything to Qiu Mengze one more time, and even got out of the car to show them how the side mirrors should be adjusted.

As Qiu Mengze watched Coach Li walk to the back of the car, he muttered under his breath, "I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or what."

Xue Rui smiled. ’This is nothing,’ he thought.

Qiu Mengze was the classic type who got more flustered the more you lectured him. In reality, if you just explained things slowly, he could learn quickly. After all, nobody who gets into college is truly dumb.

But if someone was constantly pressuring him, Qiu Mengze’s performance would plummet, trapping him in a vicious cycle.

The only reason Qiu Mengze had performed so well on his college entrance exams was that he’d studied by himself with Xue Rui. If teachers had been pressuring him, he never would have scored that high.

"Reverse parking is the hardest part, and it’s also the easiest section to fail. We’ll start with that," Coach Li instructed from outside the car.

Xue Rui had now moved to the front passenger seat. The trainer car had a brake on the passenger’s side.

"When you see the corner line in your side mirror, turn the wheel. When you see this brick, start turning it back..."

Coach Li stood outside the driver’s window, guiding the steering wheel with one hand as he taught Qiu Mengze how to reverse into the spot.

Xue Rui thought, ’Driving schools are all the same. They just teach you a bunch of formulas, prioritizing the pass rate above all else.’

’You might pass the test, but what happens when you’re actually out on the road?’

’This is why so many people get their license but still have terrible skills. They can’t even pull into a parking spot...’

Qiu Mengze managed to get the car in, more or less, his first few attempts, though he nearly crossed the line and got an earful from the coach.

But the more the coach yelled, the worse he drove. Xue Rui even heard the engine roar. Seeing the car inching closer to the curb behind them, he quickly slammed his foot on the passenger-side brake.

Hearing the engine rev, Coach Li bellowed, "Didn’t I tell you not to touch the accelerator? Are you an idiot?"

A thin sheen of sweat broke out on Qiu Mengze’s forehead. At this point, he had no idea what he was doing.

"Rui, you take over. I need a break," Qiu Mengze said, taking a sip of water. ’Driving is so damn hard.’

As he got out, he noticed a Red Bull can under the pedals. Assuming it was trash, he instinctively tossed it out of the car.

Xue Rui was just rounding the car to the driver’s side when he saw his friend toss out the can. "Don’t throw that!" he urged.

But it was too late. Qiu Mengze had already thrown it.

His eye twitched. ’That’s what the driving school uses to block the accelerator, to keep students from hitting the wrong pedal...’

When Coach Li saw the Red Bull can get tossed, he started yelling again. "Why’d you throw out the senior student? Shove it back in!"

"Huh?" Qiu Mengze scratched his head, then obediently put the Red Bull can back.

Seeing Xue Rui in the driver’s seat, Coach Li stood beside the car to instruct him.

He knew Xue Rui could already drive, so he didn’t bother supervising from the passenger seat as he usually would, leaving it empty.

Xue Rui was a bit taller than Qiu Mengze, so he adjusted the seat after getting in. Watching the side mirror, he slowly released the clutch and backed smoothly into the painted space. His movements were fluid and seamless.

Coach Li nodded. "Hmm, a little crooked. Just a few more practice runs and you’ll have it."

He gave a quick assessment. Xue Rui had no bad habits; he’d even put on his seatbelt despite the accelerator being blocked. The test would be no problem for him.

Qiu Mengze watched in a daze. ’This is Rui’s first time in this car, too, isn’t it? How is he so good at this?’

’More importantly, Coach Li’s attitude toward Xue Rui and Lin Ruoxi is completely different from how he treats me...’

He thought for a moment. ’Maybe I really am just a little slow...’

Typically, driving schools teach you how to reverse into a spot on the left before teaching you the right.

Coach Li gave a few brief instructions and had Xue Rui try reversing into the right-side spot.

And, without relying on any of the usual reference-point tricks, Xue Rui performed just as well, backing steadily into the spot.

"Okay, let the young lady in the back have a turn," Coach Li nodded.

Lin Ruoxi was a bit nervous and glanced timidly at Xue Rui.

Xue Rui smiled and patted her shoulder. "I’ll be in the passenger seat. You just focus on driving."

Coach Li also smiled kindly. For one, he assumed this was Xue Rui’s girlfriend, and for another, who could bring themselves to yell at such a pretty girl?

Xue Rui smiled and gently pinched Lin Ruoxi’s cheek. "Relax."

A girl as beautiful as her would get preferential treatment wherever she went; it was one of the invisible perks of being attractive.

But the girl herself was completely oblivious to this fact and would never think to use her innate advantages, preferring to hide herself away from the world.

Coach Li stood outside the driver’s window. When he reached in to guide the steering wheel with one hand, he was careful to avoid touching Lin Ruoxi’s hands.

However, what Lin Ruoxi did next stunned both men.

The girl merely glanced at her side mirror, shifted into reverse, and backed into the designated area—no hesitation, no sloppiness. Her movements were even smoother than Xue Rui’s had been.

She didn’t even glance down at the gearshift...

Xue Rui sucked in a sharp breath. He had assumed that a genius at test-taking would have to be lacking in other areas, but that wasn’t the case with her at all. Not only was her theoretical knowledge solid, but her physical coordination and spatial awareness were also terrifyingly good.

He glanced at the side mirror; the car was almost perfectly parallel to the white line. He leaned over to check the other side’s mirror and saw the same thing. Even the spacing on the left and right was identical.

Coach Li sized it up. ’This girl’s got some good luck,’ he thought. ’She parked it more perfectly than I can.’

A little incredulous, he said, "Miss, let’s try the right-side spot."

The result was exactly the same.

To the naked eye, the space on both sides was perfectly equal. The car was positioned dead center, without the slightest deviation.

Coach Li sucked in a breath. ’I’ve run into a natural,’ he thought.

"Do it a few more times to get it down," Coach Li said before stepping back to watch from a distance.

But no matter how many times she did it, Lin Ruoxi parked in the exact same spot every single time...

Xue Rui lamented the vast difference between people. This was definitely Lin Ruoxi’s first time behind the wheel, unlike him with his past experience. He started scratching his head, feeling a sense of helplessness...

Coach Li was scratching his head, too. He was utterly baffled. He’d been planning to teach her diligently to make a good impression on Xue Rui, but how was he supposed to do that when the girl was a prodigy?

"Holy crap..." Qiu Mengze was stunned. ’How are both of them so damn good?’

’He thought since Lin Ruoxi was so nervous, she’d be even worse than he was...’

The three of them weren’t the only ones who were surprised. So were the other students who had been sneaking glances at Lin Ruoxi.

They were regulars at the driving school, and while a beauty of Lin Ruoxi’s level was a rare sight, it was her first time practicing, yet her skill was incredible!

On her next few attempts, she had the clutch almost halfway out, reversing much faster than they could.

The main thing was, she was both fast and steady.

"What’s wrong?" Lin Ruoxi asked, looking a bit lost. Xue Rui had been frowning ever since she got behind the wheel.

"Nothing, you were just going a little fast," Xue Rui murmured. He’d been ready to slam on the passenger-side brake at a moment’s notice...

It seemed he had underestimated Lin Ruoxi.

"Oh, okay. I’ll go slower then," Lin Ruoxi said softly, ever the obedient listener.

Xue Rui sighed. The girl had always been good with her hands. She wasn’t just a genius on paper; she was a genius in practice, too.