Chapter Eighty-Nine: A Wealthy and Handsome Rival in Love

Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Handsome Rival

Su Xiaoran had always felt that she handled herself well enough in driving school practice to take to the road with confidence. Yet with someone sitting beside her now, she found herself uneasy. Such a nimble little car, and she had turned it into a lurching, jerking thing, her foot alternately stamping the accelerator and the brake, the body rocking as though it were a pig catching sight of fresh cabbage.

Guoguo was utterly despondent. “Dad, why don’t you just sit back there again?”

“Not confident in your old man’s skill?” Xu Yun frowned. “Fine, then I’ll show you what I can do.”

Guoguo looked at Xu Yun with excitement, clearly waiting for a show. “What can you possibly do from the passenger seat?”

Su Xiaoran was curious as well.

“Teacher Su, pardon me.” Xu Yun smiled faintly and said softly, “Let’s go.”

Suddenly, Xu Yun placed his left hand on Su Xiaoran’s knee. Taken completely by surprise, she pressed down on the accelerator, and the engine roared as the car shot straight toward the vehicle ahead. Su Xiaoran went pale with fright. But Xu Yun’s right hand darted to the steering wheel, and with a swift tug he made the car slip past the car in front by a hair’s breadth.

After that, Xu Yun never even gave Su Xiaoran a chance to touch the brake. He calculated the distance and the timing of the traffic lights, and along the entire way he merely controlled Su Xiaoran’s right leg, easing her foot on and off the accelerator in measured strokes, while with one hand he handled the wheel with complete ease, weaving gracefully through the traffic.

His driving was admittedly domineering and somewhat rough around the edges, but he never crossed the center line or did anything improper. If there was any violation at all, it was only overtaking from the right. Even that hardly counted as much these days; the road was full of lane bullies, and for experienced drivers, right-side passing was perfectly normal.

Before long, under Xu Yun’s control, Su Xiaoran mechanically drove the car all the way into the school without once needing to step on the brake. Xu Yun’s skill was nothing short of divine, and it left the novice driver in complete admiration.

“Less than a minute left. I really can’t afford to delay any longer. Bye, Dad. Bye, Teacher Su!” Guoguo opened the door and got out, then vanished in a flash with her backpack on her shoulders.

Xu Yun smiled. “Teacher Su, thank you so much today. Otherwise Guoguo would certainly have been late.”

Su Xiaoran hurriedly shook her head. “I should be the one saying thank you. If I hadn’t run into you two, I’m afraid I would have been late as well.”

“Then I won’t keep you. You should be getting ready for class too,” Xu Yun said as he opened the door and prepared to leave.

Su Xiaoran also got out of the car, but said to him, “Well, um, I don’t have any classes today. Every week the school arranges one class to have a full day of foreign-language lessons, so the children can experience Western classroom education. It’s my turn and Guoguo’s class today, so I’m free.”

Xu Yun smiled. “Even so, you still need to stay on duty. Teacher Su, I’m heading off now. See you later.”

“Wait a moment,” Su Xiaoran called again.

“Hm?” Xu Yun paused, slightly surprised. “Is there something you need help with?”

Su Xiaoran looked a little embarrassed. “There is something I’d like to ask you about. I want to learn how to drive from you. Could you teach me?”

Xu Yun rubbed the stubble on his chin. Driving skill was something gained entirely through practice; it was hard to explain in theory.

When Su Xiaoran saw that he was not answering, she added, “The office has air conditioning, and all the teachers have classes today, so there shouldn’t be many people in there.”

“All right, then.” Seeing how sincere she was, and having nothing else to do himself, Xu Yun agreed. He certainly wasn’t going back to the medicinal cuisine hall. The reason Chu Yan had sent him to drop off Guoguo was precisely so he could protect her every step of the way. After all, it was still a mystery who had rescued Red Scorpion, and danger still lurked around Guoguo.

Hearing Xu Yun agree, Su Xiaoran felt a burst of delight. She could not have said why, only that she was happy.

Su Xiaoran parked the car, and the two of them walked one after the other toward the teaching building. Just then, several boys and girls who looked to be sixteen or seventeen passed by them. The girls were dressed in a style that was downright mature and alluring, while the boys were equally trendy and fashionable.

“How come there are students this old?” Xu Yun asked, somewhat puzzled.

Su Xiaoran explained, “Bilingual International School is divided into two sections. The eastern campus is our primary school area, while the western side is the middle school campus. By regulation, the middle school students are supposed to use the west gate, but there are always a few unruly ones who come through our primary school’s east gate.”

Only then did Xu Yun understand. No wonder Bilingual International School was so famous—it turned out to be a school that covered grades one through nine, plus the full three years of high school. That completely solved the problem of children’s entrance exams, which was surely why so many parents sent their children here.

Soon, Xu Yun followed Su Xiaoran to her office. The room was decorated in a very modern style, and the glass partitions with their crisp, angular lines gave the space a pleasant character.

“Pretty nice,” Xu Yun said with a grin. If the environment was this good, how wonderful it would be to come here and work as a teacher.

Su Xiaoran first invited him to sit, then poured two glasses of water and brought them over. “Xu Yun, I just want to know how you achieved that feeling of man and car becoming one. On the road, I felt as if the car would do whatever you wanted it to do. It was simply... amazing!”

Xu Yun took a sip of water. “Anyone can drive, but fully mastering a car is not so simple. If you can’t truly control it, then it is a killer that can bring danger at any moment. But if you can make it obey you, then it becomes your most powerful helper.”

Su Xiaoran laughed awkwardly. “Then am I considered a road killer now?”

“A textbook road killer.” Xu Yun smiled. “A lot of people are road killers these days. Driving school instructors can mechanically teach someone to drive, but they cannot teach someone to truly master a car.”

Su Xiaoran was especially eager. “Then how can I become someone who can truly control a car? Like Vin Diesel in Fast and Furious.”

Xu Yun shrugged. “Those movie stunts aren’t something ordinary people can learn. I can only teach you a few small techniques so that, when you’re driving alone in the future, you’ll have a sense of what you’re doing.”

Su Xiaoran nodded vigorously. In her eyes, Xu Yun was the Vin Diesel of China. She quickly took out a notebook and pen, ready to record everything. “Mm-hmm, go on!”

Since he had nothing better to do, Xu Yun took on the role of driving instructor. “I’ll start with the relationship between the size of a vehicle’s image in the rearview mirror and the distance to that vehicle. What you need to remember is this: when the vehicle fills the entire rearview mirror, the distance is roughly three meters. Next is how to judge the distance of the car ahead when you’re stuck in traffic. When you can see the upper edge of the front car’s rear bumper, the distance is about one meter...”

Xu Yun lectured seriously, and Su Xiaoran took notes just as seriously. Although what Xu Yun was saying could not possibly make her into a man-and-car-as-one racing master, it could at least teach her how to respond to different situations on the road. To reach that level of unity with the car, she would need real practice, and plenty of it.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open, and a man over six feet tall walked in. He had a cool, handsome face, thick brows, a straight nose, and wore a fitted Calvin Klein shirt that accentuated his athletic build. On his feet were polished Prada leather shoes, gleaming brightly. He was clearly the kind of rich, handsome, accomplished man who radiated noble refinement from head to toe.

“Liu Tianyi?” Su Xiaoran’s brow visibly tightened when she saw him, though only slightly.

The rich and handsome man smiled with polished courtesy. “Xiaoran, don’t you have class today?”

“Teacher Liu, please call me Teacher Su,” Su Xiaoran said, clearly uncomfortable with how familiarly he addressed her.

Liu Tianyi frowned. He had been pursuing Su Xiaoran for more than a day or two, yet she had always treated him with cool indifference. Today, in the academic affairs office, he learned that she had no classes, and since he happened to be free as well, he hurried over to her office soon after the class bell rang.

What displeased Liu Tianyi most, however, was the man’s voice he had heard outside the door.

And not only that—the man sounded absurdly pretentious, actually lecturing someone on driving technique. He thought with contempt, Damn it. If I brought out a Ferrari, no amount of so-called skill would keep you from being left in the dust.

Though Liu Tianyi very much wanted to rush in, drag the man out, and beat him up, he forced himself to endure it so as to preserve the good impression he had built in front of Su Xiaoran. After steadying his breathing, he pushed the door open and walked in.

But once inside, he was even more astonished. Sitting beside Su Xiaoran was a man wearing shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops! Someone like that might not even be able to afford a car, so how dare he talk to Su Xiaoran about some technique of becoming one with the vehicle?

Even so, Liu Tianyi held back his contempt as hard as he could and greeted Su Xiaoran with elegance. Yet her cool response still wounded him.

“Xiaoran, if you want to learn how to drive, I can lend you my car. Take it and practice with it,” Liu Tianyi said generously, producing a Jeep Grand Cherokee key from his pocket.

Xu Yun glanced at it. Well, so he really is rich. Even the cheaper version of that car costs six or seven hundred thousand.

Su Xiaoran still remained cool and distant toward Liu Tianyi. “Teacher Liu, thank you for your kindness, but I’ve already bought my own car. I can practice with my own.”

Liu Tianyi was stunned, then suddenly enlightened. “Xiaoran, don’t tell me that red Golf is yours?”

“Yes.” Su Xiaoran’s expression still didn’t change. She repeated, “Please call me Teacher Su.”

Liu Tianyi clearly didn’t hear her. “Xiaoran, we really are fate’s chosen pair. Heh, I just parked my car right beside yours!”

Su Xiaoran gave a polite smile. What kind of fate was that supposed to be?

“Xiaoran, if you want to learn driving, I can teach you. This is something you need to practice. All these theoretical things anyone can talk about, and no matter how brilliantly they’re explained, they’re still meaningless.” Liu Tianyi’s words were plainly aimed at Xu Yun. After a pause, he added, “Besides, that car doesn’t suit your status. If you like, I can give you an Audi tomorrow. A BMW would be fine too!”

At last Su Xiaoran could hardly endure it. “Teacher Liu, thank you for your kindness, but one should not accept gifts without merit. Also, I still hope you can respect my wishes. Please call me Teacher Su. Do not call me Xiaoran anymore.”

Liu Tianyi had been shut out so firmly that his face fell. “Xiaoran...”

“Teacher Su has asked you to call her Teacher Su. Are you deaf?” Xu Yun could not help himself anymore. Su Xiaoran had already reminded this man three times, and he still shamelessly kept calling her Xiaoran. Xu Yun had seen thick-skinned people before, but never one this thick-skinned.