Chapter Forty-One: We're Not Close

Braving the scorching sunlight of a midsummer afternoon, Li Mu hurriedly climbed into Chen Wan’s car. His first words upon entering were to ask Chen Wan to take him to the registration point at Jin’an Driving School.

Chen Wan didn’t probe further; in her view, Li Mu indeed needed to get a driver’s license. Knowing how to drive wasn’t enough—getting caught driving without a license would only cause trouble.

After waiting about ten minutes, Chen Wan drove Li Mu to the registration point. It was around two o’clock. From a distance, Li Mu could see a crowd of students, young men and women, lined up at the entrance. Even before the car stopped, he spotted Su Yingxue at the end of the line.

Su Yingxue stood quietly at the tail of the queue, not moving forward with the others. Her expression was as calm as ever, but her searching gaze revealed traces of anxiety. Only when she saw Li Mu step out of the parked Audi did that anxiety dissipate completely. Yet, upon noticing the beautiful young woman in the driver’s seat, she felt a flicker of confusion and a subtle, inexplicable insecurity.

Li Mu ran straight to Su Yingxue as soon as he got out of the car, and when he reached her, he asked, “How long have you been here?”

“Just a few minutes,” Su Yingxue replied with a gentle smile. She wanted to ask who was driving Li Mu, but upon reflection, realized she had no reason to ask such a question, so she let it go.

Li Mu glanced at the thirty or forty people ahead in the line and sighed, “There sure are a lot of people.”

Su Yingxue nodded, “They’re all high school graduates.”

Li Mu laughed, “Learning to drive at this time of year, you’ll have to pay attention to sun protection.”

He remembered the misery of learning to drive after graduating from university—so many students crammed into one car, suffocating in the summer heat inside, roasted outside, queuing all day for barely a turn at the wheel. By the end, even the fairest girls would be tanned.

Looking at Su Yingxue’s porcelain skin, Li Mu couldn’t help but worry for her.

But Su Yingxue shrugged it off, “A little sun is good. It’s healthier for the skin.”

“That’s true. You’re naturally beautiful, anyway,” Li Mu said with a smile. With Su Yingxue’s features and temperament, a touch of tan would hardly dent her charm.

Su Yingxue blushed at Li Mu’s compliment—a reaction she’d never experienced from other men’s praise. She quickly changed the subject, “What about your best friend—the one you always go to and from school with? Isn’t he learning to drive with you?”

Li Mu slapped his forehead in regret, “Ah, I really am putting friendship second to romance.”

Without noticing Su Yingxue’s deepening blush, he pulled out his phone and called Zhao Kang.

No answer.

What the hell?

He tried again, but still no response. Helpless, he sent a text: “I’m at Jin’an Driving School registration point. Hurry over if you can, or send me your ID number and I’ll sign you up.”

Su Yingxue saw Li Mu had bought a new phone and said, with a hint of dissatisfaction, “I left my number for you on QQ. How come you bought a phone and didn’t tell me your number?”

Li Mu gave a sheepish grin, “I forgot, just got it and haven’t gotten used to it.”

He handed the phone to Su Yingxue, “Call your own number and we’ll save each other’s contacts.”

As Li Mu and Su Yingxue chatted, several young men in the queue kept stealing glances at Su Yingxue, their eyes full of hope—wishing, perhaps, to be in the same driving class as such a goddess.

Just after exchanging numbers, a young man with a side-parted haircut suddenly broke away from the front of the queue and strode toward Li Mu.

He’d been observing Su Yingxue for a while, and when he saw Li Mu chatting with her, he was surprised. He studied Li Mu for a long time and finally decided to make his move.

“Hey, Chen Mu!” The side-parted youth shouted with exaggerated enthusiasm, walked up in a few steps, and slung his arm around Li Mu’s neck, pretending to be extremely familiar. “You changed your hairstyle, I almost didn’t recognize you!”

Li Mu frowned. This guy looked familiar, especially with that side part—he resembled the petty villains in wartime dramas. Still, Li Mu couldn’t recall his name, but he figured they weren’t close; otherwise, how could he get his name wrong?

The side-parted youth felt the same—Li Mu looked familiar, and after racking his brain, he vaguely remembered he was one of the children from the Xiling Coal Mine community, with a name like Mu, and his intuition conjured up the name Chen Mu.

He tried to get chummy, but seeing Li Mu not respond, he grew annoyed, glanced at the frowning Su Yingxue, then hurriedly said to Li Mu, “Come on! We’ve been childhood friends for years. Now you’re pretending not to know me outside the neighborhood? That’s not cool! I, Guo Yuhang, have always considered you a good brother!”

Ah, Guo Yuhang.

Li Mu remembered.

The infamous second-generation heir from Xiling Coal Mine.

His father, Guo Lin, was the mine director. They’d lived in the same community for over a decade, but Li Mu had little contact with him in his previous life—he’d only heard other children of mine workers curse him behind his back. Guo Yuhang was arrogant and self-important; even the adults in the neighborhood, when greeting him warmly, would be ignored.

From what Li Mu recalled, Guo Lin was an old bureaucrat, sitting as director for nearly ten years. Rumors of his corruption circulated within the mine—alleged amounts in the millions, some said over a hundred million. Yet, when the mine reduced production and eventually went bankrupt, he never got caught, and was transferred to the mining group, retiring peacefully.

Guo Yuhang, Guo Lin’s only son, was spoiled from childhood. In middle school, he was always up to no good, his only skills being spending money and chasing girls. He loved flirting with young women, got into trouble often, and his father always paid to clean up after him. Supposedly, he stopped attending high school, but his father paid to get him a graduation certificate from Number Five High, then sent him to a third-rate university in Yanjing.

After 2010, Guo Yuhang’s net worth exceeded a hundred million. The reason was simple: since 2001, his father had bought him over a dozen properties in Yanjing. As property prices soared, this second-generation heir—who only indulged in pleasure—became a big winner in life. Li Mu, drifting in Yanjing himself, had often marveled at the disparity.

Knowing exactly what kind of person Guo Yuhang was, Li Mu felt no interest in him now, and easily saw through his motives: he’d seen Li Mu talking to Su Yingxue and simply wanted an introduction.

Li Mu smiled faintly, “You must be mistaken. I don’t know you well, and my name is Li Mu, not Chen Mu.”