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Psst! We're moving!
Qin Yuan sent a message to the group of five.
“Anyone free? No overtime, right? Meet at Si’er’s shop before dinner, I have something to show you.”
Tang Xizhou replied: “San’er, not sure if your brother is busy these days? If it’s something minor, I won’t come—I still have a case and have to work overtime tonight.”
Yan Qingming: “Agree with the above, Yuan’er, just say what you want.”
Qin Yuan sent a voice message: “I bought a car for Beibei.”
When Jiang Beibei received Qin Yuan’s call, the TV station had just finished a meeting. Huang Yuanbao’s proposal about introducing the funeral home profession had been approved, filming would start next week and air before the New Year. Jiang Beibei was in a good mood.
“Sounds like you’re happy,” Qin Yuan keenly sensed her mood. “San’ge is also very happy today. After work tonight, come to Song Lang’s shop for dinner, San’ge has something to show you.”
Jiang Beibei said, “Did San’ge get a year-end bonus? That’s why you’re so happy.”
“Actually, it’s the opposite — San’ge is spending money to be happy.”
“Oh? Big purchase? What did you buy?”
Qin Yuan said, “I bought a car, for you.”
Jiang Beibei stiffened like a rod. After a moment, she came to her senses and immediately raised her voice by an octave, “San’ge, are you serious?”
“Have I ever lied?”
In her mind, she thought: No, you basically make money by lying.
But out loud she said, “San’ge, I’m not joking, I don’t want it.”
She hung up and sent Qin Yuan a long message roughly saying she couldn’t accept it, she had no intention of buying a car now, hadn’t even driven since getting her license, couldn’t drive one even if given, and cars were costly and troublesome to maintain. In the end, she said if she were to buy one, she already had her eye on a model and had looked into loans.
She sent this lengthy reply to Qin Yuan, who didn’t respond.
Song Lang had been busy at the shop, his phone charging nearby and hadn’t checked the group messages. So when Qin Yuan drove the new red car out of a nearby alley and parked in front of his shop, Song Lang’s first reaction was:
“Whose car is this? Got a new girlfriend again?”
“Get lost,” Qin Yuan got out, draped his arm over Song Lang’s shoulder and said, “This is for Beibei.”
Song Lang: “Huh? Why?”
Qin Yuan laughed, “How do you expect me to explain that to you?”
Of course, Song Lang didn’t know the reason, but Tang Xizhou did.
Tang Xizhou suddenly lunged forward and kicked Qin Yuan’s butt: “You’re asking for a beating!”
“What did I do?” Qin Yuan smiled smugly, pretending not to know.
“Do you have money blowing in the wind? Buying cars on a whim.” Tang Xizhou said.
Song Lang said, “Second bro, we earn money the hard way. Third bro earns all his money from quarrels. Other people quarrel and get hurt; third bro quarrels and earns money. One quarrel, one car. That money might as well be blowing in the wind.”
“How’s the car?” Qin Yuan asked, “What do you guys think?”
Song Lang said: “Is it the car Beibei picked?”
Tang Xizhou finally found a breakthrough and slapped Qin Yuan on the head: “I’m asking you! Did Beibei pick this car? You have money, but did you ask the girl?”
“...” Qin Yuan laughed, “Do girls know how to pick cars? This car is pretty good, all-around performance is solid. I’ve been eyeing it for half a month; it suits her.”
Yan Qingming came over carrying groceries, circled the car, and asked Qin Yuan: “San’er, how much?”
“Just the car, over 200,000 yuan,” Qin Yuan said casually, “Insurance, plates and all, about 260,000 to 270,000.”
Song Lang: “...I still don’t get it, Beibei picked this car, and then you decided to buy it?”
Qin Yuan: “...” Too tired to talk to Song Lang.
At that moment, Chu Yao arrived, looking at the car with a cold face from afar, then walked over and said, “Ugly.”
“Tch, are you a girl?” Qin Yuan got annoyed. “You only judge cars by looks?”
“Beibei definitely won’t like it,” Chu Yao said.
Song Lang added, “That’s exactly what I mean! San’er, I’m saying this — did Beibei pick it? What if she doesn’t like it? Can it be returned?”
“Just get another one,” Chu Yao said, “Ask her what she likes and get that.”
“Did you buy it? Acting on your own.” Qin Yuan glared.
“Let’s crowdfund,” Chu Yao said, “You can’t pay for it alone. If we crowdfund, I’m okay with it. Otherwise, you can just wait for this car to fall on your own head. She definitely won’t accept it.”
Qin Yuan was stunned: “Yao’er, what do you mean? You just don’t want me to give it to her, right?”
Chu Yao looked at Yan Qingming: “Big bro, you speak.”
Yan Qingming exchanged a glance with Tang Xizhou, then said, “Big bro, why don’t you speak? San’er, here’s the deal: we all know you want to give her a car, but you have to actually give it to her. I think Yao’er is right — if we crowdfund together for the girl, we’re a bunch of people so the cost per person is low. That way, it’s a gift from all the brothers, easier for the girl to accept.”
Yan Qingming cleared his throat gently: “Beibei graduated and started working last year, marking her coming of age and entry into society. Normally, if parents were around, there would be some kind of gift, and a car is reasonable. San’er thought further, buying her a car, but we can’t let you bear the cost alone.”
“I don’t care,” Qin Yuan said unhappily, “A few days ago Grandma said she wanted to buy a car. I overheard it, so the car was going to be bought, but it shouldn’t be with her retirement money, right? Anyway, I have no problem paying for it.”
“The main thing is we have to consider Beibei...” Yan Qingming said, “If you give it alone, she will 100% refuse. If it’s from all of us, it sounds better and she’ll accept it.”
“Little missy will definitely pitch in too, believe it or not?” Tang Xizhou laughed.
Song Lang was still struggling with whether Jiang Beibei liked this car or not. He asked, “Can we still exchange this car?”
“Adding money to get a more expensive one should be okay,” Qin Yuan answered weakly.
“Done then.” Tang Xizhou made the decision. “Why are you grown men still hesitating? Be straightforward — call Beibei, let’s take her to pick a car.”
“No money pressure on anyone, right?” Yan Qingming asked with concern.
“Mainly depends on Yao’er and the second brother,” Song Lang said. “I’m not living on a fixed salary, so I do have some money.”
Yan Qingming said, “No problem for Xizhou, if short I’ll cover. Yao’er, how about you? Otherwise I’ll cover your share for now.”
“No need,” Chu Yao said.
Right after work, Jiang Beibei was dragged by her brothers to the dealership.
Jiang Beibei was completely baffled.
“Uh…” She walked around once, hesitated, and pointed to Qin Yuan. “Was that third brother calling me this afternoon?”
“Yeah, I called you,” Qin Yuan smiled awkwardly.
“Well… if I heard correctly, you said you bought a car?”
“That’s right.” Tang Xizhou was quick, interrupting Qin Yuan before he could nod. “Your third brother proposed buying you a car, we’ll all chip in. Just pick one, pick the expensive one.”
“…How expensive exactly?” Jiang Beibei asked timidly. “Give me a standard.”
“About 300,000,” Tang Xizhou glanced back and winked at the others, who all nodded.
“That’s too expensive.”
“Anyway, no less than 250,000. We told the salesman not to sell you anything under 250,000.”
“Does it have to be from this dealership?”
“Yes.” Tang Xizhou continued fabricating, “This dealership gave your third brother a discount coupon, right Yuan’er?”
Qin Yuan could only nod, “Go ahead and pick. Our firm cooperates with them, there will be discounts.”
Jiang Beibei said, “Then… in the end, how much will it cost? I can’t not pay anything, let’s split it evenly.”
Tang Xizhou laughed, “Ha! What did I say? Yuan’er, you heard that, right?”
Jiang Beibei: “So… whose card do we swipe for now?”
Qin Yuan sighed, “Mine.”
“Then from now on, we all pay third brother back, right?”
The brothers all smiled and nodded.
Jiang Beibei bit her lip and smiled, bowing, “Thank you, brothers.”
While looking at cars, Qin Yuan still wasn’t giving up. He pointed at the red car he mentioned earlier and asked Beibei, “Beibei, how about this one?”
Jiang Beibei: “Hahahahaha…”
Well, no need to say anything — her laughter said it all.
In the end, Jiang Beibei chose a black car. Qin Yuan was stunned as she sat in the driver’s seat and finalized her ride.
“This is it!”
Qin Yuan turned to the salesman, “Are there other colors?”
Jiang Beibei: “No, just this color — deep, cool.”
“This color isn’t suitable for a young girl.”
“Why not?” Jiang Beibei said, “Colors don’t have genders.”
Chu Yao: “Listen to her, pay up.”
Jiang Beibei’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Qin Yuan.
Qin Yuan felt exhausted, took out his card and asked the salesman, “Fine, this one then. How much more do I owe?”
“Is it 47,700 each?” Jiang Beibei poked her head out and asked, “Third brother, I’ll round it off — I’ll give you 48,000!”
Tang Xizhou almost laughed himself sick: “Yuan’er, we’ll all round it off for you too.”
They all chipped in five portions of 48,000 for him.
Qin Yuan looked back: “Beibei, please spare third brother — he’d rather you pay less than have everyone round it off to 48,000.”
Only then did Jiang Beibei realize and teased him, “Superstitious.”
Qin Yuan went to pay the extra amount. The salesman curiously asked, “You guys are…”
“Siblings, all her brothers.”
The salesman was surprised, “Really?”
After a pause, Qin Yuan nodded, “Yes, all biological.”
The car was bought, but how to drive it back was the next problem.
Song Lang said, “Stop arguing. It’s rush hour. Can Beibei drive it home? Find someone to drive! The rest take my car back!”
Tang Xizhou had a face full of anticipation, staying put, wanting to see how two of them would decide.
Yan Qingming had already made the arrangements, “I’ll ride with Xizhou in Song Lang’s car. You two watch Beibei drive the car home.”
Jiang Beibei bit her finger and looked at Yan Qingming.
Big brother, you really know how to stir things up.
The only one unaware, Song Lang said, “Done! Hurry up, all this dragging, I have to go feed the big cat!”
Jiang Beibei stood by the car, unsure what to do. She looked left and right, but the two brothers stayed silent.
“Um…” Jiang Beibei said, “Third brother, Yao brother, which one of you two will drive?”
Both moved slightly, then stopped.
“Forget it, I’ll drive…” Jiang Beibei said, half crying, half laughing, sitting in the driver’s seat, wanting to bury her head in the seat.
So who would sit in the passenger seat?
Jiang Beibei suddenly realized her mistake.
She sat in the driver’s seat, so the passenger seat was going to be silently fought over. She privately wanted to invite Chu Yao, but it was obvious today the car was bought by third brother.
Being too blatant, third brother might blow up.
Jiang Beibei opened the door and got out again, smiling awkwardly, “I forgot my driver’s license, I’ll sit in the back, you two decide quickly.”
“You drive.” Chu Yao said, then opened the rear door and got in. Jiang Beibei involuntarily straightened up.
Qin Yuan choked a little, feeling today was just unlucky.
Meanwhile, in Song Lang’s car, Tang Xizhou looked at the rear window and said, “Still standing there, are they going to fight?”
Song Lang finally caught on.
“What’s up? Something going on?”
“Yes.”
“I knew it!” Song Lang slapped his thigh excitedly. “Qin Yuan suddenly buying a car and trying to act nice — there’s definitely something going on! With Beibei?”
“Fourth brother, tell me, who do you think has a better chance, Yao’er or Yuan’er?”
Song Lang thought for a long time, was about to answer, then added, “But it doesn’t matter. It’s not me choosing the son-in-law, who does Beibei like? If Beibei isn’t interested, no matter if number three and five fight even in front of Buddha, it won’t help.”
“Fourth brother, I realized…” Tang Xizhou said, “Sometimes you’re really mysterious.”
“Huh?”
“I’m complimenting you, fourth brother, you’re not stupid at all, really, you know where the problem lies.”
Yan Qingming nodded too, “Fourth brother has his own philosophy, it’s good.”
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