Chapter 54: Four People in the Backseat of a Taxi on a Summer Day

Early morning of June 9, 2004, a certain villa at Donghu Manor.

Xin Chanxi finished two sets of twenty push-ups, walked out of the third-floor training room, returned to the second-floor bedroom, and ate half a banana.

After showering, she went to the first floor to finish breakfast.

Then she lay on the bed applying sun protection cream to her snow-white calves.

The knees, the instep, and the back of the calves—these areas have thin, tender skin, are prone to redness and peeling from sun exposure, and heal slowly.

Of course, other parts easily sunburned are also key areas for application.

Xin Chanxi stood before the dressing mirror: long, snow-white legs, wearing denim shorts, a white cropped tank top exposing her waist, an outer blue-and-white plaid shirt, faint red lips, her hair in a side braid, and a light blue baseball cap.

"Xiao, why aren't you wearing sun protection clothing! Dressed so beautifully, which boy from your school are you dating today?"

"Dad, what are you talking about? At nine o'clock today, the theory exam for the driver's license."

Xin Yuansheng smiled, looking at his daughter, and said no more; 'A woman adorns herself for the one who delights her.'

"By the way, what date do you fill out your college preferences? Where are you planning to study? I need to prepare for the graduation banquet in advance."

Xin Chanxi said, "June 26th to 28th. Dad, you know I want to be a Police Officer, but..."

Xin Yuansheng sat on the sofa, took the black coffee handed to him by the nanny, took a light sip, and wore a gloomy expression. "It's all your grandfather's fault... and your third uncle, Xin Yisheng."

Xin Chanxi's family were not locals; her grandfather had three sons.

In the early eighties, her grandfather brought his eldest son from the north to Mingzhou to make a living.

After her grandfather was released from prison once, he was stabbed to death by enemies; the eldest uncle, Xin Chanxi's father, who went to pick him up, also died.

Her father, Xin Yuansheng, who lived far away in the north, and her third uncle, Xin Yisheng, divided the family assets.

Xin Yuansheng established Source Land Real Estate, doing real estate development, while Xin Yisheng inherited his grandfather's evil path.

After the severe crackdown in recent years, Xin Yisheng reined himself in, opened a Logistics Company, and said he wanted to do legitimate business.

Her almond eyes twinkled; Xin Chanxi hugged Xin Yuansheng's neck and said softly, "I'll study law and become a lawyer; by then I'll save Dad's company a huge amount in legal fees."

A warm smile appeared on Xin Yuansheng's face. "By the way, for the graduation banquet, should we invite your third uncle?"

"Dad, invite him; otherwise, Grandma will be unhappy."

"Who is talking about me?"

With a creak, the first-floor bedroom door opened, and an old woman walked out. Her gaze was kind as she looked at Xin Chanxi: "Xiao, is it you!"

Xin Chanxi stuck her tongue out at her grandmother. "Where is that! Dad said it."

As soon as she finished speaking, she ran into the Kitchen, took out a Thermos Cup, and then ran toward the door.

Her grandmother's voice came from behind: "Xiao, it's such a hot day; it's better to stay home and not run outside."

Xin Yuansheng's voice replied: "Mom, Xiao has already passed her eighteenth birthday and is soon to be a university student. Naturally, she needs to go make some friends."

"A boyfriend? Is it the boy from the Cai family or the Xu family? Tell Xiao, she must let Grandma see him first."

At the main gate of Mingzhou First Hospital, Wang Chuan, panting heavily.

Yesterday was another emergency Night Shift; after handing over at eight in the morning, he was now extremely sleepy.

Since returning from the Driving School last Friday until now, he had practiced operations a full forty times, causing 【Virtual Operation Training】 to activate for the eleventh time and be used up.

【Virtual Operation Training】 had only 【Drainage】 and 【Puncture】 remaining at the beginner level, both now reaching intermediate level; 【Suturing】 remained at 【Advanced Level】.

After waiting a while, Li Wei, Wang Jia, and Luo De came out. Pei Nanli said she needed to consider whether to sign up for the Driving School.

"Uncle Wang Chuan... Brother Wang Chuan, over here, cross the road to save the taxi from having to turn around."

A beautiful girl wearing a baseball cap stood beside the taxi, waving toward Wang Chuan.

This made Wang Chuan and Li Wei's hearts tremble instantly; this was a college-student version of Xiao Yuchu who looked remarkably similar.

Li Wei stole a glance at Wang Chuan's expression, seeing only his mouth twitch slightly; Wang Chuan had already hurriedly crossed the traffic and reached the opposite side.

Wang Jia followed closely behind, thinking, 'Early morning, more gossip; so awesome!'

Wang Chuan had originally planned to take a taxi; leaving at eight, arriving at eight forty, then resting for twenty minutes, just in time for the exam—perfect.

Four people again, fifty yuan for the fare, twelve yuan and fifty cents each; on the way back, if he had no urgent matters, he could leisurely walk to the bus stop several kilometers away.

The taxi driver said, "Sister, how can five of you sit? It's not possible."

Xin Chanxi took out a ten-yuan bill. "I'll pay extra for you; squeeze in. This chubby brother, go sit in the front; I, Wang Chuan, and you two will sit in the back."

Luo De said, "Alright, but how will you four sit in the back?"

In the back seat, from left to right: Wang Jia, Wang Chuan, Xin Chanxi, Li Wei.

Luo De was quite satisfied with this result; swapping positions between Wang Chuan and Xin Chanxi was best. He had noticed Li Wei's gaze toward Wang Jia had been off these past few days, so he regarded Li Wei as a potential rival.

He knew Wang Chuan had no interest in Wang Jia, so the two of them sitting together didn't matter.

Inside the car, Xin Chanxi handed Wang Chuan the Thermos Cup. "It's coffee inside. You didn't sleep last night, and you have an exam this morning; you must use coffee to perk up."

After the college entrance exam yesterday, Xin Chanxi had sent him a text message; Wang Chuan replied politely, and they only chatted a few sentences.

With gossip skills activated, Wang Jia, with thick skin, leaned over Wang Chuan and asked, "Ten Yuan Sister, what is your name? I am Wang Jia, Wang Chuan's sister."

"Wang Chuan, you actually have such a beautiful sister?" Xin Chanxi was very surprised.

As soon as she finished speaking, except for Wang Jia who felt very pleased, Li Wei and Luo De felt secretly delighted inside: 'The person I like, how could she not be beautiful?'

"This Wang Jia just shares my name; we intern at the same Hospital, but we are not from the same School," Wang Chuan explained. "Also, Wang Jia, this sister is not called Ten Yuan."

The moment he heard "Ten Yuan," Wang Chuan thought of the Japanese celebrity Shiina Satomi, who, like Xin Chanxi, was also born in 1986; it seemed last year, 2003, Shiina Satomi starred in her first TV drama.

Xin Chanxi reached her right hand across Wang Chuan's chest and abdomen, shook hands with Wang Jia, and said, "Xin Chanxi."

Wang Jia asked, "The Xin of 'hard work'? The other two..."

"You could also say it relates to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches; Xin is the eighth position among the Heavenly Stems. Chanxi—you can imagine placing both feet into a cold stream, hearing the cicada chirps from the trees above."

After hearing Wang Chuan's explanation, Xin Chanxi felt a little excited: "Brother Wang Chuan, what you said is so visual."

Li Wei and Luo De thought in their hearts: 'Damn, Wang Chuan, I've learned this move of yours; you really know how to pick up girls.'

Actually, if you are handsome, whatever you say normally is right!

Forty minutes later, at the designated driving license office testing site, Wang Chuan and Xin Chanxi entered to take the exam, while Li Wei and the other two waited across the street at a cold drink shop, cooling off and chatting.

The cold drink shop had no air conditioning, only electric fans; Li Wei took a sip of chilled Mung Bean Soup.

Pretending to look for a spot where the electric fan could blow, he moved the stool across and sat naturally beside Wang Jia.

"Wang Jia, you've been hanging out a lot with Pei Nanli these days—what are you up to?"