Chapter 25: The Familiar Mini Car

Words : 1510 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: The Familiar Mini CarIn the afternoon, Chen Rui didn’t go to haul goods but instead took Chen Feng to look at storefronts suitable for opening a shop. In the end, they took a liking to a rundown, low house near the national highway that had been abandoned. They found the property owner after asking around briefly and discovered they had some distant relations with their family, which made negotiations relatively easy. After some bargaining, they bought the house and almost an acre of land for 120,000 yuan. The price was mainly for the land, as the house was several decades old and not worth much. Of course, in rural areas, such transactions are private and not officially recognized by the government. The reason they chose to buy instead of rent was because the location was good, but they had to demolish the old low house to rebuild and renovate it. If everything was fixed up and the next year the landlord raised the rent or decided not to lease it to you, that would be a problem. It was better to just buy it outright. In the following days, the two brothers worked together to find a construction crew to start work. First, they demolished the old house and built a row of simple bungalows in its place, with five rooms in total: two served as the storefront, and three were operation rooms for parking, washing, and beautifying cars. Furthermore, they also paved the area in front of the store with cement for the convenience of vehicles entering and parking. At the same time, there was the matter of registering the shop, completing formalities, and choosing a franchised brand. The two brothers busied themselves for about half a month and finally got the car beauty shop up and running. In total, they spent about 470,000 yuan. Chen Feng contributed 400,000 yuan and Chen Rui 70,000 yuan. Chen Feng had a 70% share in the shop while Chen Rui held 30%. Originally, Chen Feng wanted a 60% share, but Chen Rui wouldn’t agree at all, so he had to let it go. However, Chen Feng still set his elder brother’s salary as the shop manager at 8,000 yuan a month, which was supposed to be 10,000 yuan, but they didn’t come to an agreement, so it was set at 8,000 yuan. The brothers even found a middleman to draft a formal contract, which they both signed and affixed with their fingerprints. On the opening day, business boomed due to a few large billboards near the national highway. Most of the services were car washes, and as it was a franchise of a big brand, they had employees sent from the headquarters who had been trained, wore uniform clothing, and provided enthusiastic service, showing a touch of class without being expensive. Compared to the other two private open-air car wash shops, it was far better. Business was very good for several consecutive days, making the whole family happy and smiling. That afternoon, Chen Feng saw that the car beauty shop was on the right track, so he didn’t plan on staying to watch over the shop any longer. He had just left the shop riding his father’s electric scooter when he saw a mini coming up ahead, which then suddenly honked a few times and stopped. A girl’s head then poked out from the car window. It was a beautiful woman, with flowing long hair and a radiant smile, waving at Chen Feng. As soon as Chen Feng saw her, he felt somewhat dazed, but he quickly stopped the scooter. "Brother Chen, what a coincidence. I really didn’t expect to run into you here." Wu Mengting got out of the car and greeted Chen Feng with a smile. Chen Feng finally snapped out of it and hurriedly parked the electric scooter, smiling as he said, "Yes, very coincidental. How come you’re here?" Chen Feng had become somewhat numb to these unexpected encounters, but he didn’t expect to run into Wu Mengting, the beauty editor, this time. Wu Mengting said with a smile, "One of my good high school friends is getting married in Lin Nan, and tomorrow’s the wedding day. I came over today to be her bridesmaid. I saw your billboard while passing by and thought I’d come over and get my car washed." Chen Feng then realized, nodded, and said, "Okay. I’ll take you inside to get your car washed. This shop is run by my family. It’s pretty new, so today’s wash is on the house for you." Chen Feng said and mounted his scooter again. "Ah, how can I accept this?" Wu Mengting said, somewhat embarrassed. "It’s just twenty or thirty yuan, nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s rare that we’ve met again here; it must be fate." Wu Mengting blushed and eventually nodded, "Then thank you very much." Chen Feng waved his hand and turned the scooter around to head back to the shop. "Little Feng, why are you back? Did you leave something behind?" Chen Rui happened to be standing at the entrance of the shop and saw Chen Feng return, asking out of curiosity. "Not here, just ran into a friend. She happened to come by for a car wash, so I brought her along and gave her a freebie." "Oh, a friend, eh? Cool." Chen Rui had just agreed, then saw Wu Mengting inside the mini through the car window and was momentarily taken aback. He leaned in and asked in a low voice, "She’s pretty, is she really your friend?" Chen Feng replied with a brief explanation, "Met her in Xiu Zhou, she’s from Lu City’s urban area. She’s come to Lin Nan this time to attend a classmate’s wedding." Chen Rui nodded, not quite convinced. After parking her car, Wu Mengting got out and walked over to Chen Feng. "Brother Chen, I’ve troubled you again," Wu Mengting was still very polite. "Hello, beauty, I’m Chen Feng’s brother, Chen Rui. He owns this place; what’s your name?" "Hello, I’m Wu Mengting," she said her name with grace and ease, then turned to Chen Feng with surprise, "How come you’re back home running a car wash? Aren’t you planning on going back to Xiu Zhou?" Chen Feng glanced at his grinning elder brother and explained, "This shop is a joint venture between us two. My brother takes care of the management, and I just provide the funds. I might go back to Xiu Zhou after a while." Wu Mengting nodded and didn’t press further. Chen Rui offered with a smile, "How about you two go inside for a chat? The office is free right now." Wu Mengting hurriedly shook her head: "No need. My classmates are waiting for me. I’ll head over once the car wash is done." "Well, alright then, you guys chat," Chen Rui said, giving Chen Feng an encouraging look and deliberately left them. At that, Chen Feng found it somewhat laughable and frustrating. Does he not realize the age difference between me and Wu Mengting? "You two brothers don’t look alike at all," Wu Mengting joked. Chen Feng nodded with a smile, "That’s true; everyone says that. He has a round face, looks like our mom; I have a square face, look like our dad." "That explains it." "Is your classmate from around here? Also from the urban area?" "No, he’s from Feiyun City, which is very close to Lin Nan County. They’re a love match, met by chance on a trip—it’s really quite romantic when you think about it." They chatted together for over ten minutes until the car was finally washed. "I should go now. Thanks for this time, and last time too. I’ll buy you dinner when you return to Xiu Zhou." Standing next to her mini, Wu Mengting said her goodbyes to Chen Feng. Chen Feng nodded perfunctorily, "Sure, I’ll contact you when I’m back in Xiu Zhou." But he definitely wouldn’t contact her. And it seemed like she hadn’t tried to reach him after their last parting either. Wu Mengting got into her car, rolled down the window, waved to Chen Feng, and then drove off. "Little Feng, that girl is nice, probably doesn’t have a boyfriend, right? You should make a move soon." Chen Rui popped up from somewhere, urgently pushing Chen Feng like an eunuch more anxious than the Emperor. "Don’t you see the age difference between us?" Chen Feng retorted, annoyed. "I reckon it’s only a five or six-year gap. Even if it were six or seven years, that’s nothing. I have a friend, also called Feng—Feng as in mountain peak. After he divorced, he found a wife eight years younger than him. They just had twins last year." "Enough already. Mind your own business. I’m leaving." Chen Feng hopped on his electric scooter and quickly rode away. But as soon as he joined the cement road beside the national highway, he saw the mini parked on the national road.

Chapter 25: The Familiar Mini Car

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