Chapter 28: Twenty Bucks for You

Now, as for Zhang Qing, this time she had truly embarrassed herself. Climbing into her car, she found it wouldn't start—the battery had gone too long without being changed and was too weak. Her face burned with shame. After hesitating for a moment, she went to knock on the door and called Xiao Ma out, pointing at the car. “Come here, help me push the car.”

What!

Did she think he was some sort of ox?

“What, you don’t want to help me?” Zhang Qing eyed him with ill intent. “Don’t say anything, I’ll give you twenty yuan.”

Xiao Ma nearly fainted, thinking, is she paying off a beggar? But since he would have helped her even without the money, after pocketing the twenty, he went ahead and started pushing the car.

“Come on, faster,” Zhang Qing commanded as she operated the controls from inside.

But after a while, the engine still wouldn’t start. Zhang Qing stomped on the brakes and said, “Hey, you’re not putting in enough effort. Come up here and work the controls; I’ll push.”

“Should I give you back the twenty then?” Xiao Ma asked as he approached.

Impatiently, Zhang Qing shoved him into the driver's seat. “Do you know how to drive a stick shift?”

Xiao Ma shook his head.

So Zhang Qing pointed out the controls, murmuring, “Step on the clutch, shift to third or second gear, release the handbrake and watch the speedometer. When you hit fifteen, let out the clutch and gently press the gas. Once it starts, clutch again and stop the car. Got it?”

“Got it, got it.” Xiao Ma’s mind was unusually sharp at this moment, and he was eager to try.

So the anti-terror lady started pushing the car. Her explosive power and endurance far surpassed Xiao Ma’s, and she quickly got the car moving. Xiao Ma followed her instructions.

With a roar, the engine finally came to life.

Overjoyed, Xiao Ma forgot himself in his excitement and neglected to press the clutch when stopping, causing the car to stall again.

Damn it.

Zhang Qing was thoroughly exasperated, but she merely repeated the instructions with patience. “This time, did you really understand?”

“I understood before—I just got nervous and forgot,” Xiao Ma replied weakly.

Zhang Qing muttered, “I have a feeling you’ll wear me out tonight, but there’s nothing for it. I’ll just treat it as strength training.”

On the second attempt, they succeeded.

This time, Xiao Ma didn’t make a mistake: he pressed the clutch, brought the car to a halt, shifted into neutral, and pulled the handbrake before getting out. But as Zhang Qing approached, the car stalled again on its own.

Xiao Ma exclaimed in horror, “That wasn’t me… your car is just too old, the fuel supply isn’t stable. How did it even pass inspection, or get an environmental sticker? You must have pulled some strings.”

Zhang Qing’s face darkened. “I didn’t blame you—why are you making excuses? Hurry up, get back in, let’s try again.”

Xiao Ma retorted, “You’re really something. If you can push it, why not just push it all the way home?”

After some more banter, they tried a third time—and succeeded.

This time, Xiao Ma didn’t dare leave the car; he kept his foot on the gas to keep the engine running.

Zhang Qing walked over. “Don’t let up. I’ll climb in slowly and sit down, and then you can move your foot.”

So the two of them squeezed together, pressed close in the tiny car—it really didn’t have much space.

As they maneuvered into position, Zhang Qing snapped, a bit annoyed, “If you poke me with that hard thing of yours again, I’m going to start swinging.”

Xiao Ma protested, “You’ve got it wrong—it’s my phone, not what you think.”

“I never said it was that! Still, your phone is just as bad. I’m settled now, so why are you still crowding me? Get out, quickly!” Zhang Qing cried, urging him on.

Only after much difficulty did Xiao Ma finally extricate himself. Before she left, Zhang Qing glanced at him several times, her expression rather strange.

After several encounters, she found Xiao Ma’s looks appealing, and his personality had a certain cheerful bent. The only issue was that he seemed idle, a bit of a layabout.

She shook her head to banish these thoughts. “I’m off. Don’t bother calling to harass me.”

…

The atmosphere in the villa was strange now.

The incident had passed, and Xiao Ma had no desire to explain further—some things only get worse the more you try to justify them. Once inside, he pretended to be wounded and ignored everyone, heading straight to his room.

The two girls didn’t know the trouble they’d encountered was because of money. They vaguely suspected that Feng Chenchen had taken offense and called some thugs to stir up trouble, and that things were eventually smoothed over by Ye Gongmin and Ni Feihong.

They felt flattered by the attention from “Young Master Ye” and “Sister Feihong,” but didn’t think much of Xiao Ma. At most, he seemed loyal—he’d tagged along, even if he hadn’t done much. Still, without Xiao Ma’s warning, neither Ni Feihong nor Ye Gongmin would have shown up.

“Is Young Master Ye pulling all this just to get us into bed?” Chen Xiao asked, half-joking, half-rude.

Tao Zi nearly fainted. She now felt nothing but annoyance at the word “us,” thinking, at most he wants to sleep with me—what’s it got to do with you? She replied, “Why do you talk like that? Young Master Ye is known for being gracious and chivalrous. He’s kind and warm-hearted. Maybe he scolded his girlfriend, Feng Chenchen, after hearing about what happened, and came to resolve things out of guilt. That’s just his style.”

“Oh.” Chen Xiao was a bit embarrassed. “Does Sister Hong care so much about us because she wants to put us in important positions?”

Again, Tao Zi bristled at the word “us,” but didn’t want to say more. She replied coolly, “Maybe. That would be a good thing.”

Chen Xiao wasn’t stupid. She could sense Tao Zi’s bad mood and, a little displeased herself, got up with her cup and went upstairs to bed…

A low-profile Lexus glided along the evening streets.

Jiang Yaowen was always like this—wealthy and powerful, yet never ostentatious, usually driving a lower-end Lexus. Of course, people in his circle knew that just the license plate on this beat-up car made it more prestigious than most luxury vehicles in Haizhou.

Inside the car, along with Jiang Yaowen’s bodyguard and driver, sat the stunning Feng Chenchen in the back.

Normally, when Fat Jiang called her into the car, Feng Chenchen was used to being ravished on the move. But tonight, Fat Jiang was acting strangely—he didn’t touch her at all, just stared ahead with a heavy expression.

“What’s wrong, Young Master Jiang?”

Circling around like this was pointless; Feng Chenchen couldn’t help but ask.

Fat Jiang finally came to himself. “Chenchen, has anyone ever told you that being so reckless and stirring up trouble will make those in power hate you?”

Holy hell, Feng Chenchen nearly spat out her drink. She thought these men, who knew nothing about power, were something else. Hadn’t Zhan Yunfei said something similar?

But Fat Jiang wasn’t Zhan Yunfei—he was more forceful and much harder to fool, which made Feng Chenchen nervous. Her face changed several times before she lowered her head in a gesture of contrition. “Young Master Jiang, maybe I was out of line. Could you remind me what I did wrong?”

With a gentle expression, Jiang Yaowen reached out to stroke her hair, but in the next moment, he grabbed a handful and yanked her head toward him.

Feng Chenchen was so frightened she didn’t dare make a sound, her breath coming in quick gasps. There was no doubt—Fat Jiang was genuinely angry, and this was certainly not some twisted game.

“Young Master Jiang… what did I do?” she asked weakly.

Jiang Yaowen considered for a moment and then slowly released her hair. Hesitating, he said, “Last time I warned you—when you’re out in the world, you need self-control and restraint. But you wouldn’t listen, insisting I go after a few newcomers who only had a quarrel with you. It’s caused a lot of trouble, nearly got out of hand, and even forced me to pause a very important business deal. You’re a vampire—a she-vampire! Was I your debtor in a past life?”

Feng Chenchen was bewildered. “Is it really that serious? Even you can’t fix it?”

“You know nothing about power. No one on earth can clean up after them,” Fat Jiang said with a sigh, then changed his tone. “But in the end, it was brought under control. This time, fortune smiled on us—no one had to die.”

At that, Feng Chenchen lifted a hand to smooth her hair, feeling that her allure was her confidence. She was certain of her power over men. As she’d always believed, as long as she retained her charm, no man would truly be annoyed with her, no matter how much trouble she caused.