"Forty-two thousand!"
"Forty-three thousand!"
"Forty-four thousand! Ziyan, how much is in that pile of change you have?"
In the courtyard of an old house in West City, Wang Zihao sat on a bluestone slab, clutching a thick stack of cash. As he counted the last bill, he turned to Prince Ziyuan with a look of excitement.
"Brother, there's only two hundred and thirty-four in total."
Prince Ziyuan hung her head, questioning her life choices. She had carefully checked every transaction, but in the end, they were short two hundred and ten yuan.
"It's just a loss of a few hundred. We'll just be more careful next time."
Before Wang Zihao could react, Chen Yansen understood what Prince Ziyuan meant and offered words of comfort.
At a rural town market, it's always crowded and chaotic. A small loss like this was within an acceptable range.
Instead of dwelling on the missing two hundred yuan, it was better to calm down and think carefully about which town's market to hit next.
"Chen Yansen, we made 20,484 yuan today!"
Wang Zihao held up the money, eager to share the news.
"Oh, is that so?"
Chen Yansen's reaction was flat, his expression completely unfazed without the slightest hint of surprise.
This amount of money was hardly enough to pique his interest.
"Do you think we should order another batch? I feel like 2,000 MP3s and 600 MP4s are nowhere near enough to sell!"
Wang Zihao asked loudly, his tone slightly urgent.
In Zhongqiao Town alone, they had sold 336 MP3s and 141 MP4s in a single morning. And there were 22 other towns similar to Zhongqiao around Chunshen.
If they hit one town a day, wouldn't they be able to make four hundred thousand before school started!
Wang Zihao's idea sounded reasonable at first, but in reality, it was completely off the mark.
"First, foot traffic varies between markets; it's impossible for every town to go as smoothly as Zhongqiao Town. Second, people move around. When we were selling our second batch, people were already riding their bikes over from other places. This means our actual sales coverage today might have spanned two, or even three, towns."
"Third, never assume everyone is an idiot. In less than half a month, someone will definitely figure out our supply channels and start copying our sales method."
"Blindly hoarding inventory without analyzing the situation is a dead end."
Chen Yansen smiled faintly and patiently explained to him.
Never mind the still-naive Wang Zihao; in his past life, even old hands who had been in the business world for years would make the mistake of getting greedy and overreaching.
It couldn't be helped; some temptations were just too great, always enough to cloud a person's judgment.
"No way, right?"
Wang Zihao was stunned by the words, as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over him, and he instinctively asked.
"I suggest you first think about how to use this money! After all, making money is never the goal. Spending it is."
Chen Yansen stood up and patted his friend's shoulder.
"Holy shit! You make a lot of sense!"
Wang Zihao chuckled and couldn't help but grin foolishly.
"Stop messing around! Hurry up and gather the money so I can deposit it before the bank closes."
Chen Yansen gave him a light kick and urged him on.
Too much cash was heavy, for one, and risky, for another. He hated both hardship and hassle, so depositing it directly in the bank was, of course, a much safer option.
"Yeah, okay, right away."
Wang Zihao understood the stakes and quickly agreed.
But then he thought of the Subject One exam the next day and couldn't help but laugh. "What kind of face do you think Coach Huang will make when he sees us tomorrow?"
"Should he call you Boss Chen or Chen Tongxue?"
The more Wang Zihao thought about it, the funnier it seemed. His mouth hung wide open, his eyes filled with anticipation.
...
...
「The next morning, at Da Xiang Driving School.」
"Brother Sen, what score did you get?"
Wang Zihao, who had just left the exam room, immediately trotted over the moment he saw Chen Yansen.
"90."
Chen Yansen replied casually.
The August weather was sweltering. He hadn't done anything all morning, but his white shirt was already half-soaked with sweat, and even his underwear felt damp.
"Then I scored higher than you, 98!"
Wang Zihao said with a shameless, beaming grin.
"Damn it, a few extra points aren't going to put food on the table."
Chen Yansen scoffed. He couldn't be bothered to compete with Wang Zihao over something like this. 'Just wait until we're practicing for Subject Two,' he thought, 'you'll get what's coming to you.'
A man is known by his reputation, just as a tree is by its shadow, and Huang Boxiang's foul temper was known throughout the entire school.
Very few students were willing to choose him as their instructor.
Most high school graduates signed up in June and got their licenses by mid-to-late July, so this was the driving school's off-season. The number of students under Huang Boxiang could be counted on one hand.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been thinking about driving an unlicensed taxi.
Even though his older brother was the owner of the driving school and he didn't have to worry about being fired, he still had to think about his livelihood. He couldn't support a family on his base salary alone.
Sure enough, when he came over to collect his students, there were only two names on the list.
The three of them looked at each other: one was stunned, one was grinning foolishly, and one was as calm as a summer breeze.
"Boss... Boss Chen, you're here to get your driver's licenses too?"
Huang Boxiang's mind was a mess. He stood there stunned for several seconds before he remembered to speak.
"Master Huang, what a coincidence."
Chen Yansen extended his hand for a brief shake. Until all the merchandise was sold, he didn't want Huang Boxiang to know his true identity.
"Since we all know each other, I'll definitely give it my all when I'm teaching. I guarantee you two will get your licenses as soon as possible."
Huang Boxiang slapped his chest and promised.
"Master Huang, to be honest with you, I actually know how to drive, I just don't have a license. This time, it's mainly my colleague here who's learning. So you can go ahead and train him hard—don't go easy on him."
Chen Yansen spoke with a serious expression.
"Oh? Then shall we find a practice area and see what you can do?"
Huang Boxiang didn't show much surprise. He had seen plenty of self-taught drivers like Chen Yansen.
Some people drive without a license for decades. When faced with a traffic officer who wants to deduct points, they'll even throw their hands up and brazenly admit, "I don't even have a license, what fucking points are you going to deduct?"
"No problem."
Chen Yansen agreed readily. He didn't want to come here every day just to bake in the sun; otherwise, he'd probably end up darker than Wang Zihao.
"Wait, when did you learn to drive?"
Wang Zihao got anxious in an instant, the thought blurting out of his mouth.
The two had grown up together. To put it crudely, he knew exactly how long Chen Yansen's dick was.
"My family has a used Jinbei van. I secretly took it out for a drive a few times last year."
Chen Yansen lied without batting an eye. Whether Wang Zihao believed him or not was completely unimportant.
"Boss Chen, it's still better to drive with a license."
Huang Boxiang hesitated for a long moment before offering the gentle advice.
"Master Huang is right, which is why I'm here, isn't it?"
Chen Yansen laughed it off and smoothly followed up.
Wang Zihao, who was following behind him, was full of doubt, but he didn't ask any more questions.
The three of them went to the training grounds. Huang Boxiang found a student car for him and then got into the passenger seat.
Chen Yansen smiled faintly, skillfully starting the engine and shifting gears. He drove at a steady speed along the S-curve, never once touching the line.
His parallel parking and reverse parking maneuvers were also incredibly smooth.
"Boss Chen, this doesn't look like you've only done it a few times! Your skills are steadier than some drivers with over a decade of experience."
Huang Boxiang praised him sincerely.
"Master Huang, I won't be coming for the later sessions. Please put some extra effort into my colleague here."
Chen Yansen got out of the car and said directly.
"Alright, I'll arrange the registration slot. I guarantee you can take the Subject Two exam next week."
Huang Boxiang nodded, taking full responsibility.
After all, Chen Yansen would still be renting his car for at least nine more days, so it was only reasonable for him to do a little something in return within his power.
"Holy shit! Chen Yansen, you're really not coming with me anymore?"
Wang Zihao couldn't hold it in any longer and let out a loud wail.
"With Coach Huang here, you can just relax and practice hard."
Chen Yansen said comfortingly, a mischievous smile on his face.
After speaking, he turned back to Huang Boxiang and instructed, "The day after tomorrow, seven in the morning, we'll meet at the usual place. We're going to Anfeng!"