Chapter 7

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He Asked How My Driving Skills Were\n

Xie Qingcheng, who was once a doctor, reacted almost instantly. He shook off Bai Jing’s wrist and leaned down to check on the old man’s condition.\n

In clinical terms, an acute myocardial infarction was an acute cardiovascular disease with an extremely high mortality rate; a sudden spike in emotions was one of the major triggers that could lead to an onset of this disease amongst the elderly.\n

Bai Jing hadn’t realized it yet and was still busy cursing at him.\n

Xie Qingcheng rolled up his sleeves and began to administer first aid, turning back to her with an angry yell, “What are you standing there for?! The patient is experiencing acute myocardial infarction! Call for an ambulance! Hurry up!”\n

“What’s there to fuss over acute myocardial… Acute myocardial infarction?!?!”\n

Bai Jing was dumbfounded for a moment.\n

Her eyeliner dusted with specks of golden glitter was unable to conceal the astonishment and fear in her eyes. The colour drained from the girl’s face as she stood there like a dazed goose, neither advancing nor retreating.\n

Xie Qingcheng: “Don’t you know the emergency number?!”\n

Bai Jing might have known, but under such circumstances, her mind went entirely blank. “W–what is it?”\n

“120!”\n

“Ohhhhh……!” Bai Jing had not expected that the situation would end up involving a human life at stake, so she hurriedly grabbed the phone Xie Qingcheng had tossed her, and dialled the emergency number.\n

“Hello? 110? Ah, it’s not like that! Don’t hang up! I misspoke! I wasn’t going to call the police, it was you guys that I wanted to call! I— There’s an old man here who suddenly suffered from acute fainting…… Ah, that’s not right, what was it, acute myocardium……”\n

“Acute myocardial infarction!”\n

“Ah! Yes! Myocardial infarction, myocardial infarction!”\n

After ending the call in a tongue-tied mess, Bai Jing breathed out a sigh of relief and calmed down a little. However, she still didn’t dare get close to Xie Qingcheng and the old hobo.\n

Xie Qingcheng cleaned up the secretions around the old man’s mouth and nose, and carefully laid him flat to prevent him from being suffocated. His forehead was already covered with a layer of sweat at this point as he lifted his head and said to Bai Jing, “Lend me a hand.”\n

Bai Jing’s reply was instantaneous, “I don’t want to! How disgusting, who knows if he has AIDS or some other contagious disease! And my clothes are expensive, they will be ruined if they get dirty.”\n

Xie Qingcheng couldn’t conceal his anger. “AIDS isn’t transmitted this way! What’s more important, your clothes or someone’s life?! Come over and give me a hand!”\n

“I don’t want to. Isn’t this moral blackmailing ? Do you know how hard I had to work to be able to afford such clothing? Besides, he must have some underlying condition that caused this, it’s not my fault, I……”\n

The old man vomited another mouthful of white foam. The sight of it made Bai Jing’s throat tighten up, and she nearly retched from it. She continued to retreat backwards, “Don’t force me…… I can’t do it.”\n

Fortunately, at this time, an older woman emerged from the crowd and lashed out at Bai Jing first. “Little girl, do you have a conscience? One day you’ll grow old too! You’re dressed so glamorously, so how is your heart this rotten?!”\n

Bai Jing said, “I—”\n

The older woman ignored her with a roll of eyes and said to Xie Qingcheng, “Tell me what to do, I’ll help.”\n

Sometimes, crowds of people were just like this. A group of people would stand quietly while watching from a distance, not taking the initiative to help. Only after the first person spoke up would the rest follow, springing up like spring bamboo shoots after a rainfall.\n

In a moment, the bystanders who were previously afraid of getting involved and didn’t dare approach started to gather around now. Some offered to look for nearby pharmacies to buy emergency medication, while others used their fans to keep them cool, forcibly squeezing Bai Jing to the side.\n

But no matter how enthusiastic the crowd of onlookers were, they still couldn’t solve the urgent matter at hand and could only wait anxiously as the minutes ticked by.\n

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. At this time, Bai Jing’s phone rang with a call from the hospital.\n

“There has been an unfortunate situation. The main road leading to your area is flooded due to the busting of a huge water pipe from a sinkhole, leaving us with no way through. There’s another street, but we can’t access it either since there’s a huge traffic jam and it’s only a one-way road. We have to turn around.”\n

Bai Jing relayed the situation to Xie Qingcheng, who was still administering emergency first-aid on the old man. Xie Qingcheng asked in a stern voice, “How long will it take?”\n

Bai Jing, who had grown timid, hurriedly conveyed the question, “H–how long will it take?”\n

“Another route would take us at least thirty minutes to get there.”\n

Xie Qingcheng assessed the old man’s condition. Thirty minutes to get here… That’s long enough to take a life!\n

How could they be so unlucky that an accident just had to occur at this moment? And it’s even a sinkhole that led to a water pipe burst, flooding the main road too!\n

Just as he was at loss on what to do, two blinding headlights suddenly flashed from the intersection, rectangular tail lights lighting up casually along with it. A black Cullinan embellished with a little wing rolled out silently from the bright lights and, as if by coincidence, veered from the one-way street towards this intersection.\n

It was difficult for Bai Jing to hold back her desire to turn on the livestream at the sight of anything luxurious. Even though someone’s life was on the line here, she still subconsciously raised her mobile phone and aimed it straight at the big Cullinan, in fear that it was going to drive off if she were a second too late.\n

What she hadn’t anticipated was that the Cullinan would actually drive straight up to them at a slow pace before rolling to a stop.\n

Bai Jing’s eyes widened in disbelief.\n

The following scene made her pupils tremble even further. The rear window of the luxurious car of her dreams silently rolled down, and a girl poked her head out to shout at Xie Qingcheng, who was currently administering emergency first aid to the old man beside her—\n

“Da-ge!”\n

Bai Jing: “??!!!”\n

Xie Xue said, “He Yu invited me out for barbecue. We were just passing by when I saw a figure from afar that I thought resembled you, so I asked him to come over and take a look. It really is you…… Ah! Oh my God! What’s wrong with the person next to you? Did something happen?!”\n

Xie Qingcheng raised his head and looked up. He Yu, who sat on the genuine leather seat on the other side, was shrouded in darkness. Other people could only see his calm and elegant profile, and his silhouette appeared to be particularly handsome and refined. But upon closer inspection, they would also sense a sort of beastly and degenerate aura surrounding him.\n

Xie Qingcheng didn’t want to bother He Yu, but he couldn’t care much about that at this point in time. “We ran into a patient. He got agitated and suffered from acute myocardial infarction. I gave him the basic treatment, but he needs to be sent to the emergency room.”\n

Xie Xue was shocked. “Where’s the ambulance?”\n

“We called, but the road conditions are terrible. They’ll take thirty minutes to arrive.”\n

Upon hearing this, Xie Xue immediately opened the car door and jumped out. She rushed to the old man’s side without a trace of disdain towards him. However, she did not know first aid, so she stood there at a loss, not knowing how to help. She was so anxious that she shouted straight into the car, “He Yu! He Yu, come down quickly and help!”\n

The polished degenerate got out of the car, took one look at the old man’s purpling lips, and immediately made a decision. “Take my car.”\n

Xie Xue, who wasn’t very smart, said, “What if the other drivers don’t make way for you? It’s the rush hour after all.”\n

He Yu sneered, “Then let them try and crash into me.”\n

He turned back to the driver and asked, “Old Zhao, can you drive steadily?”\n

“I can drive steadily but I’m too used to being cautious on the road, so I might not necessarily be fast……”\n

Besides, Young Master He, even if you told me to crash into someone, I still wouldn’t dare!\n

“Then get out.” He Yu rolled up his sleeves and maneuvered his long, straight legs into the driver’s seat. He pulled down the hand brakes without sparing it a glance. Still chewing on gum, he said, “Get in. We’ll be at the municipal hospital in just ten minutes.”\n

Xie Qingcheng: “Do you have a driver’s license?”\n

He Yu’s face was devoid of any expression as he said, “No. Are you coming or not?”\n

“He does!” Xie Xue was truly done with the both of them, especially He Yu, who was still trying to pick a fight with her older brother even at this time. “He’d just converted his overseas driver’s license into a domestic one! Ge, don’t listen to his nonsense!”\n

Under Xie Qingcheng’s guidance, the old man was carefully and steadily transported onto the backseat of the Cullinan. The rest of them had gotten into the car as well; He Yu fastened his seat belt and was about to step on the gas pedal and accelerate the car to a deathly speed when suddenly, the lame puppy from before rushed over and started to bark at them from outside the slowly-closing car doors.\n

Xie Xue was soft-hearted. When she saw the lame puppy with matted fur still following them outside the car, she couldn’t help but say, “Poor thing…..”\n

He Yu glanced at her. Then, the passenger door opened once again. “Carry it in.”\n

Xie Xue immediately jumped out of the car, her hands curled underneath the little dog’s front paws as she picked it up and carried the dirty little yellow dog into the car.\n

The little yellow dog whimpered.\n

As if sensing that it hadn’t been abandoned, the little yellow dog turned to look at the old man lying in the back seat first, then raised its furry snout to sniff at Xie Xue’s cheek gratefully with its black bean-like nose. Then, it placed its head over the driver’s seat and stretched out a damp tongue to carefully lick at the young man’s face.\n

He Yu ignored the dog’s display of affection. He manipulated his rearview mirror to its original position with a press of a button and gripped the steering wheel with his large hands. “Call the emergency services from earlier on and explain our situation to them while we’re on the way. Let’s go.”\n

Luckily, because the old man had received professional first aid immediately and was taken to the hospital in time, after being in critical condition for half a night, he was finally stable and out of danger. \n

It was nighttime outside the emergency care unit’s patient ward. Xie Qingcheng signed a stack of forms and opened up an app on his phone to pay the bills, only to find out that he did not have enough money for it. He was pondering on what to tell the service window staff on duty when suddenly, a hand reached out from behind him and slipped a credit card through the window.\n

Xie Qingcheng turned around and saw He Yu’s face.\n

“Why are you here?”\n

He Yu said, “It’s fine. No need to thank me.”\n

As the old man was homeless, they couldn’t look for any of his family, nor did he have any identification card on him. It made certain administrative procedures a hassle to deal with. If it weren’t for the fact that Xie Qingcheng had once worked at this municipal hospital and had gotten acquainted with the director of the night-shift emergency care unit, things would not have gone so smoothly. Now, even though the old man was out of danger, there were still many administrative procedures that needed to be settled. The hospital had even contacted the managing department responsible for the homeless population and requested them to come and help with the procedure.\n

Being part of the enthusiastic group of righteous people, He Yu and the others weren’t able to leave for the time being as well.\n

“Was that young lady surnamed Bai your matchmaking date?”\n

After settling the bill, He Yu and Xie Qingcheng went to the gardens behind the hospital block to get some fresh air.\n

He Yu said, “Yes. Where is she?”\n

“Resting with Xie Xue in the underground car park. It’s already this late, so both of them were getting a little sleepy. Xie Xue was worried, so she had me come up and see how you were doing.” He Yu asked, “How did you end up on a matchmaking date with a girl like that?”\n

Xie Qingcheng kept a straight face, “It was just a casual dinner.”\n

“Then you might as well just reject the matchmaker. The way I see it, you weren’t taking it seriously either. And besides, isn’t she about the same age as Xie Xue? You’re already middle-aged, it’s not very appropriate.”\n

Xie Qingcheng was a little more relaxed now. He found him annoying and crazy. Thirty-two years old was middle-aged? If He Yu hadn’t helped him out today, he definitely would have said, \n

xiao gui, it’s none of your fucking business. However, not only did he make this Young Master He his driver, but he had also made him his ATM, so he really couldn’t lash out at him too viciously. Thus, Xie Qingcheng looked at him with bloodshot eyes, forcibly accepting the “middle-aged” remark and said in a cold voice, “I’ve been enlightened, Young Master He. I truly don’t want to converse with little kids under the age of thirty anymore.”\n

“…”\n

The little kid and the middle-aged man were tit-for-tat; neither of them was able to get the verbal upper hand, so Xie Qingcheng simply turned away.\n

The wisteria-covered walkway of the municipal hospital’s back garden was very long. With his hands in his pockets, Xie Qingcheng walked forward in silence, a sullen look painted across his face. This was a path he often passed through ten years ago, back when the garden wasn’t even completely built yet—unlike the ‘beautiful scenery with each step’ now. Back then, there were even unauthorized vendors who would line their stores up on both sides of the road, taking advantage of the fact that the city management did not come here, and sold Jianbing Guozis, porridge, noodles, and rice balls.\n

Later, he resigned from the municipal hospital and, in the years that followed, never once walked along this wisteria path again.\n

Perhaps it’s because he’d just revisited the memory lane and felt nostalgic, but Xie Qingcheng was silent for a long while. He suddenly said, “Hey, Xiao Gui.”\n

“En?”\n

“Do you youngsters nowadays all want to be internet celebrities?”\n

“I’m not interested. But you can make a lot of money off it, so a lot of people want to become one. That Bai Jing is an internet celebrity?”\n

“… How did you know?”\n

He Yu smiled. “I figured it out.”\n

Then, another question. “That old man’s condition now is related to her, isn’t it?”\n

The evening breeze rustled the Chinese wisterias.\n

Xie Qingcheng replied, “He mistook her for his daughter, so Bai Jing chased after him while livestreaming. The ill man kept avoiding the camera, begging her to stop filming, but she couldn’t hear him. She could only see how many people entered her livestream and wanted that attention.”\n

After a pause, he said coldly—\n

“Who does she think she is?”\n

He Yu sighed. “Xie Qingcheng, this may not matter to you, but for others, this could be a bargaining chip that would change their entire lives. You find it strange that they seek fame and riches; likewise, they’re unable to understand why you’d think this way. Humans are the same species, but they’re also the most estranged species. They’re often unable to trust each other, let alone understand one another. Sometimes when two people look at each other, it’s like looking at another class or order .”\n

After He Yu’s words, his phone suddenly rang. It was from the driver. It turned out He Yu drove his car too arrogantly and was simply being a street bully. The patrolling traffic police were furious to death and had chased him all the way to the hospital.\n

The driver said, “Young Master He, let’s have the doctor explain the situation to them… That we were under special circumstances…”\n

He Yu said, “It’s fine, let him deduct the points and give me a fine. There’s no need to waste my time.”\n

He hung up the phone.\n

Xie Qingcheng: “You have too much money to burn?”\n

“For me, time is money. I don’t like to waste time on unnecessary things such as explaining myself to government officials. Who knows, maybe they’d find a reporter to produce a tear-jerking interview.”\n

He Yu’s almond eyes lowered. The depths of his dark eyes appeared cold, perhaps even a little pathological, yet the corners of his lips were set in a smile. “Then I’d rather chat with you more. Either way, what they can do, you can do too, right? For example, checking my driver’s license.”\n

“…”\n

Seeing how uncomfortable the other looked, the ridicule by the corners of He Yu’s lips slowly melted into his eyes. He stuck his hands into his pants pockets, his gaze no longer falling onto Xie Qingcheng’s face, but on a random spot in front of him. Then, he leaned forward and lowered his head to the side of Xie Qingcheng’s neck, his thin lips coming to a stop not far from his carotid artery.\n

Just like that, the boy maintained this bent-over position with his eyes staring into the distance. His low voice clung to the man’s ear, “Ge, how’s my driving skills?”\n

When his tone deepened, his voice would also become more turbid, bringing with it a stronger flavour of mockery. “Are you satisfied with my service, Ge?”\n

“…”\n

Xie Qingcheng’s expression grew worse.\n

Why was he still fussing about the driver’s license matter?! How unsurprising— the more narrow one’s heart is, the more sarcastic their tongue is! \n

With a darkened face, he sneered, “Practice more when you have the time. Young man, don’t be so short-tempered, you can become a driver after you graduate.” \n

Then, no longer wanting to talk nonsense with He Yu, he brushed away the Chinese wisteria hanging in front of his face with a cold expression and left. \n

He Yu hadn’t finished exhausting him yet; possibly because he’d taken interest in mocking him, he stood there eccentrically and mercilessly said, “Then, President Xie, I’ll become your driver. What kind of car will you give me? How much is the monthly salary?”\n

Xie Qingcheng didn’t turn back, but his voice still carried over. “I’ll give you a Wuling Hongguang and some medicine. If you want to do it, I welcome you. If you don’t, piss off.”\n

With his hands still in his pockets, He Yu kicked his sneaker against the ground, his eyes morbid. He softly cursed, “And some medicine? …….You’re really capable, Xie Qingcheng, I’m truly lacking compared to you.”\n

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The author has something to say:\n

Two straight men discussing their driving skills – purely their real driving skills. Young Master He wouldn’t concede and mocked him… Because Xie Qingcheng actually thought he didn’t have a driver’s license… \n

But, why does it sound kinda weird… \n

When straight men bicker, they’re purely devoid of pretence and simply unfiltered. Then… Why don’t you bicker more? \n

Mini Theatre:\n

Big Rolls-Royce Cullinan: When driving on the road, nobody would dare crash into me. When following the examples of Comrade Lei Feng , one must have a good car!\n

Wuling Hongguang: The Wuling Hongguang was manufactured in the city centre. Every good gong should have a Wuling Hongguang!\n

Ambulance: …I was stuck on the road. The main road was flooded because a water pipe burst and the other was a traffic-jammed one-way reverse road through an old district. Forget it. To put it bluntly, I was unable to arrive at the scene because the plot required it, but in reality, everyone must please leave a road of life to ambulances. Our thankful hearts are grateful to all.\n

<hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-css-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide">\nA note from the translator:\n

Happy New Year! \n

Thank you everyone for supporting RSG and Phoenix Walk. On our Discord, we made an announcement about changes to RSG – as you can tell, we’ll be releasing chapter parts from now on to provide a consistent release frequency. Our Patreon is also back with options for you to read up to 3 advanced RSG chapters. Let 2023 be our year with consistent releases and more projects for you to enjoy!!\n

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