Chapter 78: Narrow Encounter on a Dangerous Path

(Moved by your calls, sisters, I am deeply touched. Grangtaili will offer an extra chapter at six o’clock tonight. Holding my head, continuing to ask for followers, reviews, and all sorts of things, I promise to update more often in the future.) Since that night by the seaside, Su Ziceng and Yan Wuxu got along much better. Yan Wuxu no longer acted cautious around Su Ziceng and would sometimes invite her to Mrs. Yan’s seaside food stall for meals. Su Ziceng didn’t hesitate; firstly, she liked Mrs. Yan’s cooking, and secondly, she could swing by Boss Han’s place to ask some questions on her way to the Sixth District. What disappointed her was that the amount of wine Boss Han smuggled in wasn’t significant. Due to work reasons, they would bring in items needed for car dealerships, like the tires for Su Ziceng’s Ferrari. After the Black Widow wine shop incident, customs scrutiny increased; aside from a few specific private pleasure boats, monitoring was tight. In terms of smuggling, having learned a lesson from the tobacco and alcohol shop incident, Su Ziceng dared not entertain any crooked ideas anymore. If she wanted to run a tobacco and alcohol shop, she would have to move to official channels. Otherwise, if Chang’s mother and daughter noticed any flaws, she would suffer a great loss. "Then can you find out if, apart from you guys in Mo City, anyone else is capable of repairing top-tier sports cars like Aston Martins, especially recently?" These kinds of cars—even losing a screw is costly, let alone a bumper. While Su Ziceng couldn’t bump into Shang Yin in common scenarios, she could still find out some loopholes through some indirect means. "With the kind of cars you’re talking about, there are probably one or two in the country. No specialized shop would repair them; the parts definitely need to be imported. Via official channels, it’d probably take months. People who drive such cars definitely can’t wait," Boss Han thought for a moment. "Any capable garage wouldn’t dare to take on such repairs. Just leaving the car there, a slight knock could add new damages to old ones; it could mean compensating with one’s entire fortune." "So there’s no way at all?" Su Ziceng’s last shred of hope was about to be extinguished, leaving her somewhat disheartened. It seemed she had no choice but to probe Su Qingzhang to see if there’s a chance to create a meeting with Shang Yin. "It’s not completely hopeless. There are only a few people in Mo City who can fix luxury cars. I heard one of my brothers was hired by a wealthy person to manage a privately set repair shop; there might be some news there," Boss Han comforted her for a while, promising to try his best to gather information for Su Ziceng. Yan Wuxu breaking up with her boyfriend at school was something Boss Han vaguely knew about, but he didn’t delve into it. Su Ziceng also hinted about it in front of Yan Wuxu, who just hesitantly said she was still young and would think about these things in a few years. Everyone involved knew deep down; as Boss Han plainly said, Yan Wuxu was his backup. Although one tire is deflated now, and the car is wobbling, once it’s reinflated and patched, it’s back on the road, but a spare tire remains a spare tire. Kelly Women’s College’s semester was more than halfway through. Horse riding class had become the most dramatic. Hang Yishao, however, wasn’t overshadowed by losing a horse. In the class, he was still inseparable from Deng Jiani, but he looked towards Su Ziceng more often than before. Now partnerless, Yan Wuxu paired up with Su Ziceng for the class. But she often got distracted, as Fei Qing had abandoned her and suddenly become ambiguous with Chang Chi, whispering non-stop during the class. Pello was, as usual, very popular among the female students, and his attitude toward Su Ziceng hadn’t changed despite that kiss. Despite this, the atmosphere in the horse riding class was still a bit weird. After discussing with Yan Wuxu, Su Ziceng decided to drop this semester’s horse riding class, and as a substitute, they needed to choose an additional course instead. Since this was their first year, both of them chose primarily theoretical courses, so under Ms. Lin’s advice, they added a practical course in baking. On Friday, during the morning mathematics and physics class, Ms. Qian unusually spent most of the time analyzing basic financial knowledge. In fact, such classes are usually dull and tedious for most girls; even the well-behaved Yan Wuxu was somewhat drowsy. The only ones who could endure it were Wen Maixue and the suddenly spirited Su Ziceng. "Today’s course content is over." Ms. Qian put away the slides but did not immediately announce the end of the class. "Here are three forms, which are the cash flow statement, balance sheet, and profit and loss statement of a dessert shop. Everyone can choose one of them and submit an analysis report to the class leader before next Friday. This report will serve as an important reference for your first academic year’s financial management class." Su Ziceng drew a cash flow statement; she listened to the class groggily and did not look at the form clearly after picking it up. She was enduring the class while thinking of the shame within the Su family. After class, she stuffed her homework into her bag, along with the newly acquired "brick-sized mobile phone." After seeing Shang Yin’s mobile, Su Ziceng immediately nagged Su Qingzhang and got one as well, becoming the first at Kelly Women’s College. During dinner, Chang Chi made a call, deliberately flaunting that she also got a mobile phone: "Tomorrow there’s a grand opening ceremony at Shengshi Huasha; Godfather asked me to remind you to remember to attend." Listening to Chang Chi’s smug tone, Su Ziceng was thinking about the arrogant face on the other side of the phone and fiercely scoffed at the food. Sitting across, Yan Wuxu also heard their conversation, slowed down with her food, her eyes filled with shyness and timidity, all the longing clearly visible to Su Ziceng, "If you’re free tomorrow, you can come with me." Chang Chi also reminded them that friends could attend. "It doesn’t seem quite right." Yan Wuxu picked at her food, hesitating whether to swallow a large piece of roasted pork belly. "I don’t have appropriate clothes for that kind of occasion." "That’s easy; I have plenty of unworn clothes in my closet, and besides, you’ve treated me to so many meals, it’s time to invite you to my house for a simple meal." While saying this, Su Ziceng made a call to the newly arrived butler at home, instructing him to bring a friend over for dinner tonight. "If you don’t like facing that Black Widow face of Chang Chi, we can just dine directly in the garden, and after dinner, I’ll take you back home. It’s a good chance to ask Brother Han..." The previously elated Yan Wuxu, upon hearing Boss Han’s name, stuffed the piece of fatty meat into her mouth, feeling the greasiness stimulating her stomach, then nodded, knowing that Su Ziceng was giving her a chance to enter high society. However, both of them soon lost interest in thinking about tomorrow’s events, and when they arrived at the baking class, the "teacher" standing on the podium caught them by surprise. Su Ziceng had eaten too much braised pork at noon and was already tired of the taste, hoping during the baking class to watch the baking process, try some freshly made crisp-thin pancakes after the dessert teacher’s demonstration, and have some coffee to counter the greasiness. Until Su Ziceng entered the classroom, her beautiful thoughts were immediately dismissed, as the teacher she saw wasn’t it Wen Maixue? The baking class, it seemed, was no longer going to be pleasant.