Chapter 202: Chapter 200: No Admittance for Idlers

"A hundred kilometers for sixty yuan? That comes out to sixty cents a kilometer. This car’s even more of a gas-guzzler than that Reina... or whatever it’s called, that Old Chen’s son downstairs bought. It’s really spacious inside, though."

At her daughter’s words, Mrs. Bai nodded, audibly comparing the car to their neighbor’s Reina.

But Mrs. Bai didn’t bother to lower her voice, so her husband and Fang Chenyi in the front could hear her crystal clear.

Hearing his wife, Father Bai pursed his lips.

"You’re talking nonsense. How can the Chen Family’s Reina even compare to Chenyi’s car? That car cost, what, eighty thousand yuan total? Chenyi’s car must be over a million! And what’s this about sixty yuan per hundred kilometers? Don’t be so ignorant. The fuel consumption is in the double digits per hundred kilometers. At a minimum, that has to be over one-sixty per kilometer! Isn’t that right, Chenyi?"

Fang Chenyi, in the passenger seat, naturally nodded again and again.

But Mrs. Bai’s rebuttal from the back seat left Fang Chenyi speechless.

"Hey, you old man, acting like you know it all. Your daughter told me! Your daughter said Chenyi’s car uses sixty liters per hundred kilometers."

SCREECH.

As soon as she said that, Father Bai slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a dead stop. Luckily, there were no cars behind them, or they would have had a very close encounter.

He looked back at his wife with a shocked expression, then at the steering wheel, before turning cautiously to Fang Chenyi, his voice trembling as he asked:

"Chenyi, this car... s-sixty liters??"

Seeing his future father-in-law’s shocked expression, Fang Chenyi gave another sheepish smile.

"Aha, more or less."

Father Bai understood immediately. When he had asked if the consumption was in the double digits, Fang Chenyi had also said ’more or less,’ obviously just agreeing with him.

He reached over to unbuckle his seatbelt, preparing to get out of the car. "My god, sixty liters per hundred kilometers? That’s almost as much as a tank! No, no, you’d better drive, Chenyi. My foot’s too unsteady on the gas—I’ll just waste fuel."

Seeing this, Fang Chenyi quickly grabbed Father Bai. "Whoa, whoa, it’s alright, Uncle. You’re a better driver than me, much better. I’m not used to this car; I have a bad habit of keeping it in low gear and stepping on the gas, which wastes even more fuel. It’s better if you drive."

After giving Fang Chenyi a suspicious glance, Father Bai reluctantly buckled his seatbelt again.

He started the car and got back on the road. But this time, it was obvious that Father Bai was almost too scared to press the gas pedal.

Ten minutes later, the car finally stopped downstairs from Bai Menghan’s home. After getting out, Father Bai patted the hood of the car and sighed emotionally, "Good lord. Just this one trip home, and dozens of yuan gone just like that..."

...

They went upstairs. It was already past eleven at night.

As people who had been around the block, they could already tell that their daughter was living with Fang Chenyi. Nevertheless, Father Bai and Mrs. Bai suggested a sleeping arrangement: Father Bai would share a room with Fang Chenyi, and Mrs. Bai would share with their daughter. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The two of them secretly glanced at each other, both seeing the helplessness in the other’s eyes.

And so, Fang Chenyi ended up sharing a room with his future father-in-law.

Never mind what Father Bai and Fang Chenyi talked about, or what Mrs. Bai said to her daughter.

Bright and early the next morning, the doorbell rang.

He groggily climbed out of bed, only to find that Father Bai was already up.

He scrambled out of bed and left the bedroom, only to find Second Uncle and Second Aunt had already arrived with Bai Mengyao.

He shot Bai Menghan a helpless glare. ’Why didn’t you wake me up? The whole family’s here and I’m the only one who slept in. How embarrassing...’

"You’re up so early, Chenyi? You must have been exhausted last night. Why didn’t you sleep in a little longer?"

Seeing Fang Chenyi walk out, Second Uncle and Second Aunt spoke up before he even had a chance to greet everyone.

Fang Chenyi quickly smiled and returned the greeting. Just then, Mrs. Bai came out of the kitchen and called for him and everyone else to come eat.

After breakfast, everyone returned to the living room and sat down. But Fang Chenyi could tell from their restless expressions that they were all on edge. ’They want to get Mengyao’s situation sorted out quickly,’ he thought, ’but are too embarrassed to ask me directly.’

He glanced at his watch. It wasn’t even seven-thirty in the morning.

He sighed inwardly. ’Can’t be helped, I guess. It’s a family matter for my future in-laws, so I’d better get it over with.’

"Um, Uncle, Aunt, if there’s nothing else, how about Menghan and I take Mengyao to get this matter sorted out now? What do you think?"

Second Uncle and Second Aunt had been waiting for this. The moment Fang Chenyi spoke, they quickly nodded in agreement. But from their expressions, it seemed they really wanted to go along too.

Seeing this, Fang Chenyi smiled slightly. "Uncle, Aunt, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, my car is spacious anyway. If you’re free, why don’t you come along for the ride?"

"Okay, okay! Your Second Aunt and I can’t sit still at home anyway. If there’s room, we’ll go with you."

And so, the group of seven trooped downstairs.

Before they went down, Fang Chenyi pressed the car keys into Father Bai’s hand. He dodged away with a smile before Father Bai could refuse.

When they got to the car, Fang Chenyi didn’t get in the front this time. Instead, he pulled Bai Menghan to the very back, into the two foldable jump seats.

Following the GPS, they got on the highway. Two hours later, the car arrived in the city.

After getting off the highway, Fang Chenyi took over driving since they were in an unfamiliar area.

Glancing at the fuel gauge, Fang Chenyi sighed and drove directly to the same gas station where they had just filled up yesterday. To the utter shock of the attendant, he once again added two thousand yuan worth of gas.

Watching the car drive away, the attendant muttered to herself, "Well, damn. My entire month’s salary isn’t even enough for this guy’s gas money for one day..."

He entered Sanqiang Entertainment’s address into the GPS. Looking at the distance and factoring in traffic, it would be about a half-hour drive.

He thought for a moment, then took out his phone and called Wan Li to let him know he was arriving early. Afterwards, he followed the GPS directions to a three-story building more than ten kilometers from the city center.

"Yes, this is it. This is their company. And that Alpha over there is the one that Mu Linsen drives."

Staring at Sanqiang Entertainment, Bai Mengyao couldn’t help but point to one of the few cars in the courtyard as she spoke.

Fang Chenyi nodded and was the first to hop out of the car. He jogged over to open the door for his father-in-law before finally looking up at the small company.

Sanqiang Entertainment. According to the information he’d gathered, the company wasn’t large, but it had a certain degree of fame. A few of its web series, in particular, had been all the rage for a while.

He looked around but didn’t see any vehicles from Baida Film and Television. ’They must not have arrived yet,’ he figured.

But that didn’t matter. He would just go find the boss here and ask about the situation first.

With that thought, he led the way toward Sanqiang Entertainment’s main entrance.

"Sorry, authorized personnel only!"

But just as they reached the door, they were stopped by a sharp-eyed security guard who recognized Bai Mengyao.

[To be continued...]