It was already the break of dawn by the time Su Qiubai reached home. He had been restless recently. He travelled to Cang Zhou the day before and last night he was at the Lan Ruo Temple.
He wondered, was he going to have to worship the Buddha for a good marriage tonight…
The two dogs ran towards him when he entered the house. The little white dog was actually laid out on the back of w.a.n.g Cai. It seemed that they were getting along pretty well.
After feeding them a couple of slices of tiger meat, Su Qiubai prepared a bowl of instant noodles for himself. As a taxi driver, he usually didn't eat a proper meal on time, after a while it became a habit of his.
After closing the curtains, Su Qiubai sat down in a comfortable posture while turning on his phone. The two dogs seated themselves next to him. He had used the phone's inbuilt torchlight at the Lan Ruo Temple earlier, so it had ran out of charge a long time ago.
He was shocked to receive so many new messages on his social media accounts. He was overwhelmed for quite a while before he came to accept the fact that this was indeed his mobile phone.
It's certainly a bit strange. Su Qiubai pondered as he went through the messages swiftly.
The messages I received after graduation were all related to my taxi job. My friends and relatives pretty much stopped contacting me after finding out that I work as a taxi driver.
Everyone basically ignored me during holiday gatherings. Occasionally, they'll say a few lines but those are all cynical words. If they don't brag about the houses they bought, then they'll brag about their cars. All of them flaunt their superiority to me since they all have important positions in high-end companies.
However, Su Qiubai's character had always been very n.o.ble, so he never bother about them. Since they like to brag then I'll let them do so till they're satisfied. Anyway, it has nothing to do with me. All that matters is that I'm happy.
He wondered if the sun rose from the west today seeing as all of them had suddenly remembered him.
After reading about half of the messages, he finally understood what was going on. It was all due to the news about him smashing the Li's Mercedes-Benz sports car.
A video of the incident had been uploaded to the Internet. Heck, the click rate was already really high. The fundraising campaign was also popular. Those old cla.s.smates of his saw it and wanted Su Qiubai to confirm whether or not he really was the one who smashed the car. They even asked him how he was going to pay the debt.
Some people said they had already donated five dollars and asked Su Qiubai to treat them to a meal after the issue was settled.
However, halfway through reading, Su Qiubai decided to delete all the messages without replying and called his sister.
Su Qiubai's younger sister, Su Xiaoxiao was a university student in Donghai, not far from where he lived. That was why he decided to give her a call. He was afraid that she would be worried. On the other hand, he didn't have to worry about his parents since they didn't use mobile phones. He a.s.sumed that they wouldn't believe about the incident even if other people mentioned it.
His sister quickly picked up her phone.
"Brother, is that you in the video on the Internet? I was so afraid after watching it. Are you alright? I haven't been able to reach you on the phone."
Su Xiaoxiao's voice was full of worry. She immediately began to interrogate him before Su Qiubai could even speak.
"Don't worry. I'm alright. The battery ran out so my phone shut down."
He smiled as he rea.s.sured Su Xiaoxiao. He was always relaxed around his family.
"You still dare to laugh. My cla.s.smates told me that the car you smashed is very expensive. What are you going to do about it? I'm going to transfer my scholarship money from last month to you."
Su Xiaoxiao was quite perturbed as she scolded her brother. She clearly knew his character. Just like their father, there was no way he would take a single penny from the online fundraising campaign, no matter how popular or widespread it became!
However, she also knew her own family's living situation. Her older brother was definitely not rich seeing as he was just a driver. To call owing such a large sum of money a disaster was an understatement. She was already prepared to transfer all the money from her bank account to him when she first viewed the video.
Having heard that, Su Qiubai was inexplicably moved. His sister excelled in everything she did, but she was too kind. She always put others before herself.
[TLN: Su Xiaoxiao and Xiao Xiao are the same person.]
He knew that she would keep just enough money to feed herself and transfer the rest to him.
"You don't have to worry about it. I've already paid off the repair costs. You should focus on your studies. I'll transfer some more money to you if you don't have enough."
Su Qiubai said determinedly. On the other side of the phone, Su Xiaoxiao became hesitant.
"Are you telling the truth? You've already paid for the damages?" Su Xiaoxiao still felt a little uneasy and asked again to confirm.
"Don't worry. It's really been settled. Do you really think that I would lie to you over such a small matter? Take care of yourself. Make sure you give me a call if anything happens."
Su Qiubai smiled as he rea.s.sured his sister; the two siblings chatted for a while before ending the call.
In the beginning he didn't plan to bother replying to any of the messages on his social media accounts, but just as he was about to go to sleep, he suddenly felt that he should announce that the car issue was solved. Otherwise, those kind-hearted people would still busy themselves by helping him to raise money…
Su Qiubai turned off his phone and went to sleep after simply posting a notice on his WeChat account which had less than ten followers.
He had no choice. There were too many messages to reply to.
The old driver was awakened the next day by a knock on the door.
Su Qiubai sat on the sofa and wondered. The rent should have been paid. Why is someone knocking on the door?
He walked towards the door whilst rubbing his face. If men stayed alone for a long time, they would eventually completely forget about maintaining a proper appearance.
Therefore, Su Qiubai was naturally floored after opening the door.
He never expected to see a beautiful lady on the other side. She wore simple and clean business attire; with a pair of black-edged gla.s.ses. Her legs were shapely and brilliant and her face, at a glance gave the old driver the feeling of a spring breeze.
After comparing her to every lady he has ever met in his head, only Xia Rongrong was comparable with her. However, the two women's styles were completely different.
Xia Rongrong had a very n.o.ble and mature style. After all, she was the boss of a big company despite her young age. On the other hand, this lady was more like the big sister from next door. She had the kind of temperament that couldn't help but make other people want to get closer to her.
While wondering if the ladies magnet charm he used earlier was still in effect, Su Qiubai spotted a present in the girl's hand.
Could it be that she went to the wrong house?
The old driver, who was quickly trying to tidy up his appearance, suddenly felt disappointed. Coincidentally, the girl finally spoke in a sweet tone.
"Excuse me, are you Su Qiubai?"
The old driver remained stunned for a moment before nodding quickly. His heart was drowning in ecstasy. It seems that she didn't make a mistake. She really is looking for me.
"I'm Su Qiubai. May I know who are you, young lady?" Su Qiubai asked softly as he deliberately concealed his inner feelings and pretended to be very calm.
"My name is Dong Jiawei. I'm a language teacher in Yu Cheng Middle School. I came here today to specifically thank you. Thank you for saving my father."
That lady spoke while looking straight at Su Qiubai. Her eyes were full of grat.i.tude.
However, Su Qiubai was just astonished. I saved her father? Why can't I recall doing so?
Dong Jiawei detected Su Qiubai's confusion so she explained, "My dad is Lao Dong. You may have forgotten but do you remember the old man you pushed away at the traffic light intersection and the Mercedes-Benz sports car?"
Su Qiubai finally understood. So this beauty was the old man's daughter!
One could never imagine that such a magical thing actually exists in this world. Su Qiubai felt very happy so he quickly invited Dong Jiawei into his home. If he knew that Mr. Dong had such a beautiful daughter, he would have been more than obliged to save him!
But soon enough, he became embarra.s.sed. The house was too messy. He came back late last night so he hadn't bothered to tidy the place up.
The positions of the two dogs were especially humiliating. The little white dog laid on w.a.n.g Cai while staring at Su Qiubai and Dong Jiawei.
He quickly shooed them to the side and let the lady sit down. Su Qiubai then explained the situation in embarra.s.sment.
Dong Jiawei smiled. A strand of fine hair laid between her eyebrows on her forehead. The sofa was obviously messy but even the way she sat was visually attractive to Su Qiubai's eyes; he even seemed to enjoy watching her.
"Are you staring at me?" Su Qiubai seemed to have been caught staring at Dong Jiawei for too long so she chuckled and asked.
"Ah? Er…do you want some water? I'll pour a gla.s.s for you." Su Qiubai hurried, not knowing what to say.
"No, thank you. My purpose of coming here is to thank you. After watching the video, I realized how dangerous the situation was at that time. If it weren't for you, my father might have been hit."
Looking at Su Qiubai, Dong Jiawei's eyes were clear as spring water and her voice changed from solemn to fear. It looked like she didn't even dare to imagine the consequence she had mentioned earlier.
"Oh, it's nothing. It was just a small matter. Only a little effort."
Gazing into her serious eyes, Su Qiubai suddenly felt that everything he did had been worthwhile. However, as she kept staring at him, he eventually became embarra.s.sed, so he scratched his head and laughed.
"Thank you. I'm really scared these days. I watched the video only once and I dared not watch it again. Thank you so much… Thank you!"
Dong Jiawei said and in the end even bowed down to Su Qiubai to show him her grat.i.tude.
This overwhelmed the old driver. He quickly walked forward to help Dong Jiawei up but accidentally saw her…
He blushed for a moment as his heart became inexplicably confused. Su Qiubai quickly led Dong Jiawei to sit on the sofa while insisting that his effort to save her father was not a big deal, despite the happy feeling he felt deep down.
"I know that saving my father has caused you a lot of trouble. This is all my savings since I started working. It isn't a lot but I'll find other ways to help you. I'm really sorry."
Dong Jiawei was silent for a moment before taking out a bundle of money from her purse. Su Qiubai guessed that it probably contained a few thousand dollars from the look of the newspaper wrapped bundle.
"You don't have to give me your money. I've really paid off the debt! My friends helped me out and it wasn't as expensive as that woman said."
From the way Dong Jiawei's dressed and the makeup she had on, it was obvious that her family wasn't well off. That was the main reason as to why Su Qiubai emphasized his last sentence; he was afraid that she would insist on giving the money to him.
However, Dong Jiawei still didn't believe in him. Seeing her persistence, Su Qiubai had no choice but to let Dong Jiawei have a look at his Weibo.
[TLN: Weibo is the China's version of Facebook.]
Upon opening it, he was shocked!