Chapter Thirty-Five: Buying a Car

Just like that, Shen Ye's seaside cottage gained a new addition—a beautiful waitress with an ample bosom. Thanks to her, the number of diners increased by twenty to thirty percent. There were simply too many people in this world who appreciated good looks.

However, over the next few days, Shen Ye noticed that Wen Xiuting seemed off; her eyes were always red, as though she had been crying. He asked her about it a few times, but she said nothing, and he had no choice but to drop the matter with a sigh.

Shen Ye continued to run his restaurant while gathering intelligence on the Eastern Bear and Western Wolf, plotting to deliver a decisive blow to those two big shots someday.

Time slipped by, and another month passed unnoticed.

Counting the cash on hand, Shen Ye was surprised to find that, in just over three months, his profits were quite substantial. After sending twenty thousand to his mother, he still had more than a hundred and fifty thousand yuan left. But what should he do with so much money?

If he wanted to buy an apartment in Ning County, prices hovered around eight thousand per square meter, so a hundred-square-meter place would cost about eight hundred thousand, requiring a down payment of two hundred and forty thousand. He didn’t have enough for that yet.

Forget it—he might as well buy a car. As for buying a house, he’d wait until he’d saved a bit more. Given how quickly his seaside restaurant was making money, the pressure to buy property wasn’t all that great.

Although he had gotten his driver’s license after the college entrance exam, he didn’t know much about cars. So, he opened his university’s QQ group.

“Hey guys, I have a budget of around 150,000 yuan for a car. Any recommendations?” Shen Ye typed on his phone.

The group had more than fifty people, including his friend Wan Peng and Gao Zi, the one who had once lured him into a pyramid scheme.

“Wow, Xiao Ye, looks like you’ve made it big! Not even a year since graduation and you’re already buying a car,” a girl named Lilac commented in the group. Lilac was the class monitor in their diploma program—pretty, cheerful, and well-liked by both boys and girls. After graduation, Shen Ye had lost track of what she was up to.

“Just running a little shop, nothing special,” Shen Ye replied.

“Damn, I thought you’d already become the chairman of a company, married a rich beauty, and reached the pinnacle of life!” chimed in Flying Pig Style, one of Shen Ye’s former roommates and a hardcore anime fan. After failing to find a job after graduation, he’d gone to an animation base to study, and was still unemployed.

“Shen Ye, impressive! Not even a year out of college and already buying a car. Respect, man.”

“Boss Shen, if you have any moneymaking ideas, bring your brothers along!”

“Boss Shen, please teach us the secret of getting rich!” The group erupted with jokes.

It was true—they’d all graduated from the same little diploma program at Yangning College, in the Chinese department no less. With that background, finding a job was tough. Unless you were someone like Wan Peng, most ended up in factories or as secretaries, scraping by on two or three thousand a month.

By comparison, Shen Ye was doing the best of them all! How could his former classmates not be jealous?

“Seriously though, I just want a cheap, practical car for about 150,000. The rainy season’s coming, and riding my little electric scooter in a downpour would be miserable. Especially since we don’t even have a subway here,” Shen Ye typed, playing the sympathy card.

“With that budget, your choices are limited. Domestic brands, Japanese, German, or American. Forget about French or Korean cars—they’re way too niche,” Wan Peng replied. He was a government official’s son, had been into cars since early on, and bought a BMW X1 right after graduation with his father’s support.

“Domestic cars have good value nowadays, like the Haval H6. But they do tend to have more problems. Usually, you’re fine for the first two or three years, but after that, all sorts of issues pop up, even with the highly rated Haval H6. If you care about reliability, maybe skip the domestic brands.”

“Japanese cars? People say they’re flimsy, but that’s by design—they’re built to crumple and absorb impact energy in a crash. The main advantage is their reliability. The downside is the designs and technology are outdated—mostly ten-year-old tech. And if anti-Japanese sentiment flares up, say during a protest, your car might get smashed, so be mentally prepared.”

“German cars? The legendary Lavida. Very balanced overall, except for the price, which is a bit high. If prices dropped ten or twenty percent, they’d be a great value, but as they are now, not so much. Also, VW’s cars in your price range tend to look a bit mature—more suited to forty-year-olds. For someone our age, they might not feel right.”

“Finally, American cars. They look great and are sturdy, built tough in the American way. The downside is higher fuel consumption—about twenty percent more than other brands—and slightly higher failure rates, more than Japanese or German, but less than domestic. In the end, it’s up to you.”

“Wan Peng, you’re a real keyboard car god. You know so much!” Shen Ye praised. “To be honest, I like the rugged, sturdy style of American cars. Maybe I’ll go with one.”

“If it’s American, there are two mainstream options: Ford and Chevrolet Cruze. Just Google pictures of both, pick whichever you like—they’re both in the 100,000-plus range, with similar prices,” Wan Peng replied.

Shen Ye searched for pictures but couldn’t decide: “Peng, I’d rather see the cars in person. Since you know cars, come with me and help me bargain for the lowest price.”

“Sure, I’m free anyway,” Wan Peng agreed. “I’ll drive to Silver Beach to pick you up.”

“Great.”

With Wan Peng’s help, Shen Ye visited both the Chevrolet and Ford dealerships, trying out several models. During the test drive, he found the new Ford particularly responsive—very sporty. By comparison, the Chevrolet Cruze didn’t handle as well.

There was a car available for immediate purchase. The total price, including all fees, was just over 130,000. Shen Ye swiped his card and paid in full, skipping the loan process entirely.

(Wen Xiuting is a key character in the outline—there’s no way around it.
To those who don’t like the “sister-in-law” character, I can’t help it.
Also, thanks to Pretentious Right Hand and Ziqian’s Passing for their rewards. And thanks to everyone for your votes!)