Rebirth to Save Myself

Chapter 124: Car Viewing

Lu Jingnian's car and Su Xia's car arrived at the basement of the residential complex one after the other. The two looked at each other from a distance as they got out of their cars. Chen Jianguo was angry, but he also knew that since they lived in the same complex, they would inevitably meet. Besides, Lu Jingnian's father had business dealings with him, so he told Su Xia and Chen Yuan to each push one of their luggage.

As soon as Lu Jingnian opened the door, Xie Yuezhi, who was sitting on the sofa, looked at the door and asked, "You're back? Where's Xiaxia?"

"She just got home too." Lu Jingnian changed his shoes and smiled knowingly when he saw the pair of slippers that Su Xia had kept in the shoe cabinet after she visited. His mother would have the housekeeper wash these slippers every year and put them in the usual shoe cabinet, just waiting for Su Xia to wear them when she came over.

"Let's have dinner together sometime, at our place or out, it's fine," Xie Yuezhi suggested happily. She had wanted to make the date for a long time, but her husband said he would wait until their son came back and ask for his opinion.

"Mom, I've only just started dating. What if you scare her away by being so eager?" Lu Jingnian sat next to Xie Yuezhi with a helpless expression. His girlfriend had hesitated for four years before agreeing to date him. What if his parents were too enthusiastic and scared her away?

"I just think Xiaxia is the kind of daughter-in-law I'm comfortable with. Besides, even though you two have only just started dating, you've known each other for a long time." Xie Yuezhi was a little unhappy, but she still spoke up to express her thoughts.

"What? If my girlfriend wasn't Xiaxia, but someone else, would you still try to stop me, thinking she's not the kind of daughter-in-law you're looking for?" Lu Jingnian immediately retorted upon hearing Xie Yuezhi's words. He wasn't dating to find a daughter-in-law according to his mother's wishes.

"Oh, that's not what I meant. I just said that Xiaxia and I have known each other before, she's a nice girl, and we also know her parents." Xie Yuezhi's voice trailed off, and then she waved her hand and said, "I don't care anymore, okay?"

"Don't worry about it. When the time is right, I will take her home myself." Lu Jingnian knew that his mother had no bad intentions, so he comforted her after she spoke.

"Hmph, I'm usually too busy to care about you."

"Yes, yes, yes, it would be nice if you could invite a few girlfriends to go for a beauty treatment together when you have time."

"Then you decide for yourself."

"Okay, thanks mom."

Lu Jingnian returned to his room and chuckled as he recalled his mother's eagerness for him to get married. Xie Yuezhi was the youngest in her family, pampered by her two older brothers and sister from a young age. Moreover, her parents were both leaders in government agencies, so she had never suffered much hardship.

She met Lu Zhongqing through a matchmaker. Their families were of similar backgrounds, and neither of them had the worries of inheriting a family business. Lu Zhongqing had an older brother who inherited the family business, and he was able to start his own business with his brother's help. Xie Yuezhi was even better off. When she got married, her parents gave her a house, a car, and a dowry of 880,000 yuan, just to make sure their daughter wouldn't suffer.

As for mother-in-law/daughter-in-law issues, those didn't exist. Lu Zhongqing's parents both had pensions. Xie Yuezhi had just given birth to Lu Jingnian, and her mother-in-law and father-in-law immediately booked a postpartum care center for her. They would hire a nanny after her postpartum period. The Xie family also sent an aunt who had lived with Xie Yuezhi since she was a child to help. When Xie Yuezhi was happy, she could hold and comfort the baby; when she was unhappy, she had time to go shopping and get beauty treatments.

She initially continued working, but as Lu Zhongqing's company grew, she resigned to help out. When she heard the women in the office complaining about how unreasonable their mothers-in-law were, Xie Yuezhi couldn't understand it. Her son had never needed her to worry about him; his grades had always been excellent, and Lu Zhongqing had planned his education very well.

Xie Yuezhi is like a rich young lady in a novel. She didn't suffer much when she was young, her husband dotes on her after she got married, her children are well-behaved and good at studying, and her family is rich and powerful. Her daily routine is just to please herself and make herself beautiful.

Lu Zhongqing had already planned to have his son join the company to familiarize himself with the business, since Lu Jingnian's major was also financial management. However, Lu Jingnian directly rejected his father's suggestion, saying, "My girlfriend is going to pursue a master's degree, and I have to go to work in her city."

"Where is she pursuing her master's degree at?"

"It's located within the province, in Xiamen."

"Then it's the same if you work in the provincial capital. It's less than a two-hour drive from here. I can just provide you with a car."

"That won't do. I got together after graduation because I didn't want a long-distance relationship. Now you want me to be in a long-distance relationship again. I won't do it."

“You, you’re my only son, who else would I give the company to if not you?”

"Dad, you're still young, wait a few more years."

"Hmph, two years, it's two years. If your girlfriend continues pursuing a PhD, then I won't interfere."

"Okay, two years."

Although Chen Jianguo was angry, he still prepared gifts for both of his daughters who had successfully graduated from university. Su Xia's gift wouldn't arrive from overseas for a while, so Chen Yuan's gift was put on the agenda. Chen Yuan continued working at her previous internship company, so the task of choosing a car fell to Su Xia, who was on summer vacation.

Su Xia had no idea how to do that, so she could only look online and research the performance. Lu Jingnian, knowing this, helped her choose. He sent her a few cars he had selected and said:

All the way to summer: I think these cars all have pretty good performance.

Coffee for a Breakthrough: Hmm, the presentation doesn't seem quite right.

All the way to summer: I think the lines are quite smooth and clean, and the colors are also nice.

Coffee for a lifesaver: You've chosen things that are too masculine. You need something cute and adorable, and preferably not too big, otherwise it will be hard to open.

Coffee is essential for survival: but it also needs at least four doors and five seats, otherwise it's too crowded to fit friends in.

Coffee to keep you going: [Image]

Coffee to keep me going: What do you think of this car?

Lu Jingnian clicked on the picture. It was a pink and white car with a rounded exterior, large headlights, and even pink and white wheels—clearly a car a girl would like. If it were him choosing a car, he definitely wouldn't want it, but considering it was Chen Yuan's car, he replied to Su Xia:

All the Way to Summer: Let me check the performance.

Coffee to keep me going: Mmm!

All the Way to Summer: I took a look, the performance is okay, quite suitable for commuting. But it's not fast, the space is alright.

Coffee to keep her going: That's enough. She hasn't driven much since getting her driver's license, and besides, it's more convenient for commuting.

All the Way to Summer: Let's go to the store tomorrow to see the actual product. There's a store nearby.

Coffee for a Break: Okay, I'll take Yuanyuan with me tomorrow, it's the weekend.

All the Way to Summer: Okay.

The next day was the weekend, and since Lu Jingnian was also going, Chen Yuan invited Chen Wenwei along as well, otherwise the two young lovers would be all lovey-dovey and she would be a third wheel.

Lu Jingnian and Su Xia lived in the same neighborhood, so they drove together, while Chen Wenwei went to the store to meet them. It would be too much trouble to go all the way to pick him up. Chen Yuan, sitting in the passenger seat, excitedly picked out songs, then said to Lu Jingnian in the back seat, "Do you two have a date at home?"

"No, today is the first time." Lu Jingnian looked at Su Xia in the driver's seat with a hint of resentment.

Su Xia coughed awkwardly and said, "I'm just organizing photos. I haven't finished processing the photos from our trip abroad, and the graduation photos from our dorm haven't been edited properly either."

"Summer vacation has just begun, no rush," Chen Yuan waved her hand, indicating her understanding. Su Xia herself is a photography enthusiast, and with so many photos collected, she definitely wanted to organize them. Moreover, Su Xia felt that photos didn't feel right unless they were printed out; her bookshelf had three whole rows of thick photo albums. Whenever Chen Chunqi wanted to reminisce about the past, she would take them out to look at.

"Mmm." Su Xia nodded in agreement, very grateful to Chen Yuan for helping her out of the predicament.

Chen Yuan didn't think much of it. She and Chen Wenwei had passed the honeymoon phase, and their lives were now quite mundane. They used to eat together every day in school, but now they only saw each other a few times a week, going through the routine of eating, watching a movie, and going home. Sometimes, just thinking about this date routine made her not want to get up, put on makeup, or put on clothes—it was too much trouble.

Besides, Chen Wenwei is currently starting his own business and is very busy, so their dates are always squeezed out. Sometimes, even when they have a meal together, their conversations are so short that they can't keep up with each other. Chen Yuan would rather stay at home than go out on dates with him. Eventually, they'd end up going to his company, and seeing that he was too busy to eat, he'd order takeout, and then he'd drive her home after get off work. It was incredibly boring.

The four of them had the same goal, and when they arrived at the car dealership, they went straight for the car. Seeing this, the salesperson quickly followed, saying as they walked, "Hello, which car would you like to see?"

“This one,” Chen Yuan said, pointing to the pink car.

"This is our new fresh and cute series this year. The rounded shape and the large headlights are very attractive to girls." Seeing that they went straight for this one, the salesperson didn't hold back and started introducing it directly.

"How much does this car cost?" Although Su Xia had checked the price online, the discounts offered by physical stores varied.

"The base model here is 88,000 yuan, and the high-end model is 128,000 yuan," the salesperson said kindly.

"The final price?" Lu Jingnian asked.

"The final price includes insurance. If you buy today, we also have a promotion: a free set of window tinting film," the salesperson quickly explained, listing their store's offers.

"No need for the car window tinting. It's better to just pay for it inside the car and save some money." Lu Jingnian shook his head, not having a good impression of the tinting the store offered as a free gift.

"Are you sure you'll make a decision today? If you are, I can ask my manager for permission," the salesperson said, undeterred.

"What's the difference between the low-end and high-end versions?" Chen Wenwei asked, as he had only just learned about this car and was therefore asking the question.

"The higher-spec version has some obvious differences, such as a 360-degree surround view camera, automatic parking, heated driver and passenger seats, and a sunroof. There are also more options for ambient lighting and interior trim. The lower-spec version only offers skin-tone or black interior options, but the higher-spec version allows you to choose a color scheme that matches the car's color, including the instrument panel," the salesperson diligently listed out. Then, worried they might not fully grasp the concept, he pointed to a nearby wall and said, "There are samples over there; we can go take a look."

So the four of them, led by the salesperson, went to the display wall and looked at the options, which included the seat fabric and wheel choices.

The salesperson, holding a tablet, began to explain: "For the base model, there are only four options here, and you can't really make any major changes. The high-end model includes all the options in this area of ​​the base model, plus this whole area, which are all optional."

"If I choose the high-end version and customize it myself, will it take longer to get the car?" Su Xia asked a crucial question. These so-called customizations are all private. With car factories producing in large quantities, it will definitely take time to customize.

"It won't take too long. This car is currently a best-selling model. Regular cars can be picked up in just seven days, and customized ones will only take ten days," the salesperson shook his head and then patiently explained.

"Is it a weekday or something?" Lu Jingnian asked.

“It’s not a weekday, it includes the weekends for ten days,” the salesperson replied, shaking his head again.

Are these customizations included in the car price, or are they charged separately?

"It's all included. The total cost of the vehicle is only the price of the car, insurance, and registration fee. There are no other additional charges, so you can rest assured."

"What types of insurance are included in the policy? Is commercial insurance included? Which insurance company do you partner with?"

"It includes all the insurance you need for your car. We're partnering with Huaguo Life Insurance, a well-established and reliable company."

"Does this insurance have to be purchased from you?"

"The first year is mandatory; after that, it's up to you to decide whether you want to change it."

"Okay, let's take another look and discuss it."

"Okay, no problem. Please feel free to call me anytime if you need anything, or we can add each other on WeChat for easy communication."

"Yuanyuan, you add it."

"Oh, good."

After the salesperson left, Su Xia and Chen Yuan took pictures of the car and posted them in the family group chat for Chen Chunqi and Chen Jianguo to take a look:

Chen Yuan: [Images] [Images] [Images]

Su Xia: [Images] [Images] [Images]

Chen Jianguo: Have you decided? I'll go pay now.

Chen Yuan: No, I just really like this car, so I wanted to show you if it's okay.

Chen Chunqi: It looks pretty good, suitable for young girls to drive, it's pink.

Chen Jianguo: How much is it?

Su Xia: Low-end configuration: 88,000; High-end configuration: 128,000.

Chen Jianguo: So cheap? What brand is it?

Su Xia: Liuling.

Chen Jianguo: Oh, that's the brand of the trucks we use for hauling goods at our factory.

Chen Yuan: . . . . .

Su Xia: . . . . .

Chen Chunqi: . . . . .