Chapter 535: As Expected, Just As Predicted

There are many inspection centers here in Guangming District, and it was only after chatting with Fang Dazhuang previously that Zhou Yi learned that modern Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers are no longer run by the government as they were in the past.

Now, some regions have regulations stating that relevant departments are not permitted to operate inspection centers...

Therefore, many inspection centers today are actually private; as long as one has the qualifications and conditions stipulated by law, one can legally apply to operate one.

Consequently, there are inspection centers clustered in many places where S Shops are located, and you don't even need to think about it—they are definitely privately run.

Not to mention that some S Shops now have their own inspection centers...

When Zhou Yi first learned of this situation, he was a bit stunned; he had always assumed such places were managed by the state...

Shaking his head to stop thinking about these issues, this car from the Company is the same one from Tenda before, and it is already in its sixth year, so it must undergo online inspection.

I heard it cost seven or eight hundred thousand when it was bought; I reckon it was for tax purposes.

Many companies often play this game; buying luxury cars, buying planes, and the like, all serve the same purpose.

Just like those who work in construction often encounter ancient luxury cars; those are their family heirlooms, and you'll know their power when it comes to settling debts...

Driving for ten minutes, I arrived at the inspection center near the Company. To be honest, this was Zhou Yi's first time here, and then he saw the local specialty.

All sorts of signs reading "Agency Services" were everywhere, and people kept knocking on the glass asking if you needed an agent. If you did, as long as you spent the money, you wouldn't have to worry about anything.

What agency services? When it comes down to it, they are actually just scalpers.

"Brother, I'm being serious. Look, if you queue yourself, you'll have to wait for half a day, and if there really is any trouble, it won't be easy for you to handle it yourself, right? Let me handle it for you, it'll be very fast!"

Outside, the agent Lao Tan was talking incessantly.

The fees for annual vehicle inspection vary by region; here in Jingzhou, it is three hundred yuan for a small sedan. Zhou Yi specifically checked this last night.

Although he didn't intend to find a scalper, Zhou Yi still rolled down the window and smiled: "If you handle it for me, how much do you want?"

Lao Tan has been in this business for many years and considers himself a good judge of character.

He doesn't approach just any car; Zhou Yi's car is quite expensive, and many of these rich people don't care about this little bit of money—to them, getting it done quickly is all that matters.

Now that the window is rolled down and he sees it's a young man!

A rich young man—nothing more needs to be said; this must be secured.

"Brother, I can see you're a straightforward person, and I don't like to dawdle either. One price: six hundred yuan, and I'll get it handled perfectly for you!"

Heh... this person really dares to ask; he doubled the price right away and still acted as if he were doing you a huge favor.

"The standard fee is three hundred yuan, and you open your mouth to ask for six hundred? Forget it, I'm not talking anymore."

Zhou Yi rolled the window back up.

Lao Tan was immediately a bit helpless and hurriedly said from outside: "Look, if you think it's high, I can lower it. How about five hundred? If that doesn't work, then four hundred fifty. I can't go any lower; I'm just earning some hard-earned money."

Watching Zhou Yi drive inside, Lao Tan shouted from behind: "Four hundred, is four hundred okay!"

Zhou Yi didn't speak, and Lao Tan shook his head and said: "Don't look for us agents and go in yourself; wait until you have trouble and see what you do."

Zhou Yi naturally didn't know what Lao Tan was thinking and drove in on his own. It was very large inside, and there were indicator signs.

He drove to the inspection lane for small sedans and started queuing.

Because it was already noon, they said it wouldn't work at this time, so Zhou Yi even took the time to go eat a meal.

It was truly slow; before he knew it, it was three o'clock in the afternoon, and his phone was almost out of battery. For a moment, Zhou Yi even wondered if those people were intentionally making him wait because he didn't hire a scalper.

However, this aspect was actually quite formal; just queuing along like that, he finally saw the end.

But as he queued, Zhou Yi heard some arguing coming from the side.

"The heavy vehicle inspection now costs eight hundred? How could it suddenly be so expensive!" a person who looked like a driver asked there.

The staff member opposite was quite polite but still said: "We didn't set this; it's useless to tell us."

They were arguing, but Zhou Yi didn't pay much attention; as far as he was concerned, things like heavy vehicles and large trucks were too far removed from him.

Finally, it was his turn. It felt like a real ordeal; this queue had taken way too long!

First was the exterior, then the chassis, brakes, and so on. It was actually beyond Zhou Yi's expectations; everything was finished quite quickly.

Hey, I have to say, the service at these inspection centers seems pretty good after being contracted out to private parties; the staff's attitude was also quite good.

It seems that every industry needs competition; look, hasn't the service improved?

That scalper even said it would be hard to handle without him; he really doesn't care about anything just to make money.

Soon, the exhaust emission test began. The staff member said this car is full-time four-wheel drive, so it had to be driven to the side to be tested using the Dual Idle Speed Method.

Anyway, he didn't understand any of it, so he just let the other party test it.

However, not understanding is one thing, but what needs to be done must still be done.

Zhou Yi habitually picked up his phone to record a video, and the staff member inside the car had already started revving the engine.

It was intense; with a roar, they started stepping on the gas...

Zhou Yi had seen some news before, saying that so-and-so drove to a vehicle inspection, and while it was fine when they arrived, a bunch of fault lights came on after the inspection.

Looking at the way the other person was stepping on the gas, he shouldn't end up like that...

Just at this moment, a staff member nearby noticed Zhou Yi and immediately came over, saying: "Hey, what are you doing? Who told you to record!"

Zhou Yi turned to look at the person and asked with some confusion: "Is recording video not allowed here? You have Monitoring and such, right?"

"We have records here; you cannot record as you please!" the staff member said extremely sensitively.

As long as there is Monitoring, that's fine. Zhou Yi thought for a moment and put his phone away.

He should have said something before recording just now; otherwise, not many people like a guy with a Camera growing out of his head.

Seeing that Zhou Yi had put away his phone, the staff member walked away.

However, facts proved that the power of the system's grandson was much greater than Zhou Mouren had imagined!

When the staff member inside the car stepped on the gas again, Zhou Yi clearly heard the car engine make a "da-da-da" sound, which sounded weak and powerless.

What's going on? It couldn't really be such a coincidence, could it?

Zhou Yi hurriedly stepped forward and asked: "What's wrong with this? Is there something wrong with my car?"

The staff member inside got out and didn't say a word.

Zhou Yi could not care about anything else; he hurriedly leaned over to the dashboard to take a look, and the engine malfunction indicator had already lit up.

In that instant, Zhou Yi's thought was actually... not bad, only one light came on, much better than expected.

But he immediately chased this thought out of his mind; what was he thinking!

"Hey, wait, wait, don't leave yet. My car was perfectly fine when it arrived, but after you messed with it, the engine malfunction light is on now!"

Seeing that the staff member was about to walk away, Zhou Yi hurriedly stepped forward and said.

"I don't know about that; I followed the procedure strictly here."

"You don't know? But now the car has a problem, and you say you don't know? Then go find someone who does!" Zhou Yi said.

"If you say you don't know again, I'm calling the police!"

He wasn't actually angry, because he had already anticipated this earlier...

Sigh, it can only be said that under the efforts of the System grandson, Zhou Yi felt that sooner or later he would encounter every injustice in this world...

Even if the probability seemed small.

The staff member also leaned over to take a look, and finally called out to the side: "Manager Peng, Manager Peng, come over and take a look."

Soon, a person walked over from the side—a middle-aged man with a slightly protruding belly and a pair of glasses.

Zhou Yi's expression was a bit strange; another Manager...

"What is it this time?" That Manager Peng walked over with an impatient look on his face: "What's going on?"

The staff member said: "I just performed an exhaust emission test on his car, following the procedure. It's finished now, but he says his car has a problem and won't let me leave."

Zhou Yi felt annoyed upon hearing this: "Hey, wait a minute, what do you mean 'finished'? You stepped on the gas until my engine malfunction light came on, and then you tell me it's finished?"

"Who knows if your car had a problem to begin with!" the staff member shouted back.

"Enough!" Manager Peng said: "Can you two stop arguing for a moment?"

After saying that, he leaned over to look at the dashboard, and sure enough, the engine malfunction light was on.

"Oh, your name is Zhou Yi, right? This car isn't yours, is it?" Manager Peng picked up the vehicle registration and other documents to look at them, then said.

"It belongs to my Company. So what? Is that not allowed?"

"It's allowed, of course, but you are saying that we caused your engine malfunction light to come on, and you have no evidence, right?"

"We perform exhaust emission tests here completely according to national standards, so I can't say anything about this."

"Can't say anything?" Zhou Yi looked at the Manager and said: "It was perfectly fine when I arrived, and now that you've finished, it has a fault, and you tell me you can't say anything?"

Manager Peng also shouted impatiently: "Then what do you want me to say? Who knows if this car had a fault before you came here!"

"Now you're saying we broke it for no reason, you have to have evidence, right? If anyone can just drive a piece of junk car here and it breaks, they can all extort us, right?"

Although Zhou Yi kept telling himself that this was the System grandson's trick and he absolutely must not get angry, damn it, he really couldn't help but be angry at how this person spoke!

However, what the other party said did have some truth to it; at the very least, he needed to have evidence.

"I passed so many inspections on the way here before I arrived, and I didn't see any engine malfunction. How about this, I'll call some people over to check the onboard computer and see when the fault occurred, okay?" Zhou Yi said, suppressing his anger.

"Didn't you say you wanted evidence? I'll give you evidence."

He had repaired cars several times, so he was quite clear about this aspect.

For a situation where this kind of warning light comes on, as long as you connect to the car, it's very easy to know when the fault appeared.

"That won't work. Hurry up and drive your car away. We still have to perform tests. If your car is parked here, what are other people supposed to do? Drive it away!"

"Anyway, we don't know what's going on with you, and without evidence, we definitely can't do anything."

He actually knew clearly in his heart that it was most likely the staff member who caused the fault when stepping on the accelerator.

But admitting it was impossible. The testing center had been open for so many years, from the past to the current private contracting, they would never admit it.

Otherwise, once this precedent was set, it would be difficult to manage things in the future.

The car could still be driven, but with an engine malfunction like this, heaven knows how far it could go.

But there was no other way. At this moment, the other party was putting on such an attitude, so Zhou Yi could only drive away first; he needed to have evidence.

There were many repair shops outside the testing center, but Zhou Yi still prepared to go to the S Shop. Although the S Shop was also a rip-off, they were still quite standardized on issues that did not involve their own interests.

Not planning to drive it anymore, he called a tow truck directly.

All the way to the S Shop, he explained the situation clearly, and soon a mechanic began to retrieve the data and check what the fault actually was.

Sitting at the S Shop waiting for about twenty minutes, there was already a result.

"Engine Cylinder Explosion?" Zhou Yi said with a look of surprise.

"Yes, Mr. Zhou, the engine had an Engine Cylinder Explosion, and it happened exactly at the time you mentioned," the mechanic said very firmly.

Alright, this time he had evidence.

"Then while you're at it, see how much it will cost to fix it. Make a list, and also list the previous faults for me."

"No problem, Mr. Zhou, please wait a moment."

When money was involved, the efficiency of the S Shop was very high, and before long, the corresponding documents were handed to Zhou Yi.

"The repair cost is over eighty thousand?"

"This is an estimate. The specifics will need to wait until the engine is dismantled to know the situation. Moreover, your car must use original parts, and those parts are not cheap."

Zhou Yi nodded and said: "You guys start the repairs first. Don't worry about the money; I will have the Company's finance department come over later."

It was the Company's car anyway.

Alright, that Manager from before kept saying he had no evidence, but now that he had evidence, he naturally had to go back and demand the money from the other party.

Without a car to drive, he called the Company, and soon a driver came to pick him up.

Returning to the testing center again, because it wasn't for testing, he couldn't drive in, so Zhou Yi had the driver park outside and walked in himself.

Before long, he arrived inside. On the testing line, the staff member Wang Lei, who had caused the problem for Zhou Yi, was busy working.

Looking to the side, that Manager Peng was still the same as before, coming over from time to time to supervise.

Zhou Yi did not hesitate and walked directly in front of the other party: "Manager Peng, right? I have brought the evidence you wanted."

"Look for yourself, the time the malfunction occurred is exactly the time of the vehicle exhaust inspection. Now, the Engine Cylinder Explosion has happened, and repairs will cost over eighty thousand. Tell me, what are you going to do about it?"

There was no surprise on Manager Peng's face; he glanced at the other person and said, "What do you mean what are we going to do? It's your own car that needs repairs, what does that have to do with us?"

Zhou Yi's brows furrowed: "What do you mean by that?"

"I don't mean anything. Your evidence only proves that the car had an engine malfunction at that time, but it doesn't mean that we were the cause of the problem. What if your car already had issues to begin with?"

"Anyway, I'll say this once: we followed the procedures, and we have no responsibility for your car breaking down."

Second update. This chapter is from yesterday. I had originally written four thousand words, but I felt it wasn't written well, so I deleted a portion, which is why it's past midnight and now. The red envelopes have already been sent in the group. Goodnight everyone. I've read all your comments, and none of them are correct. The solution to this matter of mine will definitely exceed your expectations, haha.

(End of chapter)