Chapter 2: A Flat Tire
1449 Words
"Third Brother, I only just realized he’s insane!" Su Beibei pouted. Indeed, she now fully believed that Xia Tian was out of his mind. If there was even a one-in-a-million chance that Qiao Xiao Qiao was his wife, the idea that she would take him as a secondary wife could only exist in the fantasy of a lunatic.
"Driver, I know you’re jealous of me," Xia Tian said lazily.
"Jealous of you? Do you think I, Su Junfeng, have any reason to be jealous of you?" The man felt both annoyed and amused.
"Exactly! Third Brother has been a genius since childhood. At twenty-two, he earned a PhD from Columbia University in the U.S. After returning home, he built a company from scratch, amassing millions in just three years. Why would anyone be jealous of a penniless country bumpkin like you?" Su Beibei huffed. "Third Brother is richer and better-looking than you. If anyone should be jealous, it should be you jealous of him!"
"Millions is nothing. By the time I’m twenty-five, it’ll be far more," Xia Tian said casually.
"Nothing?" Su Beibei fumed. "You can’t even afford a taxi, and you call ten million ‘nothing’?"
"My wife says that when she closes her eyes, ten million disappears, and when she opens them, a hundred million appears," Xia Tian said nonchalantly.
Su Beibei froze. Even Su Junfeng glanced at Xia Tian again, wondering if he really knew Qiao Xiao Qiao. They all knew she had that kind of power—she could handle tens of billions in assets, losing tens of millions or making hundreds of millions in the blink of an eye.
"Country bumpkin, even if Qiao Xiao Qiao is really your wife, that money belongs to her, not you!" Su Beibei scoffed, dripping with sarcasm. "Are you trying to live off her?"
"Well, actually, my wife is mine, so her money is mine too. But my third master told me men shouldn’t live off others, so I decided to earn my own," Xia Tian said confidently. "Once I reach Jianghai, I’ll make money in no time."
"Hmph. With your background, you probably didn’t even finish school. The most you could do is work as a laborer and make two or three thousand a month," Su Beibei said, looking at him with disdain.
"I never went to school," Xia Tian said, turning to her. "On my first day of kindergarten, when I was three, I met my celestial sister on the way. We fell in love at first sight and ran away together."
"Pfft…" The older beauty was drinking water when she heard this, and she spat it out, coughing violently.
"Cousin, are you okay?" Su Beibei quickly patted her back, concern on her face.
"I’m fine, just choked a little," the older beauty said, shaking her head. But she couldn’t help giving Xia Tian a strange look. Who runs away with someone they meet at three years old?
Just then, the car suddenly shook twice, accompanied by two muffled thuds. The driver, Su Junfeng, frowned and slowed the car, eventually pulling over to the side of the road.
"Junfeng, what happened?" the older beauty asked anxiously.
"Probably a flat tire. I’ll go check," Su Junfeng said, stepping out.
Soon, he was cursing loudly. "Unbelievable! Who the hell scattered nails on the road? The left front and right rear tires are both punctured!"
"Ah, that’s serious! So we can’t drive?" Su Beibei shouted.
With two tires ruined and no spare, the car couldn’t move. Junfeng looked around; there were no other vehicles nearby, likely because of the intense heat—hardly anyone dared to go out at this hour.
A few hundred meters ahead, a two-story building had two huge red characters painted on the wall: Tire Repair!
"There’s a tire shop ahead. Let’s check it out," Su Junfeng said, getting back into the car. As long as the tires still held some air, driving a few hundred meters wouldn’t be a problem.
"What are the odds? Nails on the road, and there’s a tire shop just ahead? I bet they did it on purpose," Su Beibei said indignantly.
Her suspicion was reasonable; similar incidents happened all over, but evidence was rare. People just had to accept their bad luck.
Soon, Su Junfeng parked at the shop and honked the horn.
A bald young man quickly ran out, smiling. "Boss, car trouble?"
"Two tires punctured. Can you fix them?" Su Junfeng asked.
"Of course!" The bald man shouted inside, "Liu! Du! Get to work!"
Two young men with crew cuts ran out, circled the car, and quickly removed the damaged tires, one carrying each inside the shop.
"Boss, miss, come inside and rest. We have air conditioning and ice water, all free," the bald man said, holding the door open for them.
Su Junfeng looked at the older beauty, seeking her opinion.
"Let’s go inside," she said, stepping out first.
Su Junfeng and Su Beibei followed, Xia Tian bringing up the rear. The shop indeed had air conditioning and a refrigerator in the corner.
"Sit for a while," the bald man said, handing each of them a chilled bottle of water. Su Junfeng silently praised the service.
"How long until the tires are fixed?" the older beauty asked.
"Half an hour at most," the bald man said. "But…"
"But what?" she asked, frowning.
"Miss, we need payment first for the repair," the bald man said cheerfully.
Su Beibei immediately objected. "Hey! You usually pay after the repair!"
"Miss, normally I’d wait too, but my guys won’t work unless they’re paid. Fixing the tires would take half an hour, but they could drag it out all day. I figured you wouldn’t want to wait, so I asked for payment upfront," the bald man explained.
"You’re threatening us!" Su Beibei said angrily.
"How much?" the older beauty asked calmly.
One finger.
"One hundred?" Su Beibei shouted. "Are you kidding? Tire repairs usually cost twenty or thirty!"
"Miss, you misunderstand. Not a hundred," the bald man shook his head.
"Ten? That’s more like it," Su Beibei said, finally satisfied.
"Miss, it’s one thousand," the bald man thought, what kind of i***t thinks ten is enough?
"What? One thousand?" Su Beibei jumped up, glaring. "Why don’t you just rob people?"
"Robbery is illegal. We don’t do illegal things," the bald man replied calmly, used to reactions like hers.
"Beibei, stop," the older beauty said, pulling out a stack of bills and handing ten to the bald man. "Here’s one thousand. Please hurry; I’m in a rush."
The bald man took the money but didn’t leave. "Miss, still one thousand short."
"Don’t push it!" Su Junfeng couldn’t tolerate it any longer.
"Boss, one tire is one thousand, two tires are naturally two thousand. I may not be educated, but I know simple math," the bald man said calmly.
"Take it!" The older beauty handed over another ten bills. "If you finish in fifteen minutes, I’ll give you another two thousand."
"Thank you, miss," the bald man said, surprised by her generosity. "We’ll make sure your tires are fixed quickly!"
The bald man left, while Su Beibei grumbled, "Cousin, they’re clearly taking advantage of us. Why pay them so much?"
"I just want to get back to Jianghai quickly. A few thousand is nothing," the older beauty said.
"I don’t know why we’re having so much trouble today. Before, trips to Jianghai were smooth," Su Beibei pouted, shifting blame to Xia Tian. "It’s all your fault! The moment you got in, the car broke down!"
"My celestial sister says I’m a lucky star. My wife says meeting me is the luckiest thing in her life," Xia Tian said, dismissing Su Beibei’s complaints.
"Crazy, delusional, hopeless!" Su Beibei pouted.
"Any illness can be cured. Mental problems are just minor issues in the nervous system—they can be treated," Xia Tian said.
"You talk like you’re a miracle doctor!" Su Beibei looked at him in contempt.
"Exactly, I am a miracle doctor," Xia Tian nodded seriously.
"Can’t you stop bragging?" Su Beibei said exasperated.
"No wonder my master told me, nowadays no one believes the truth," Xia Tian said innocently.
Su Beibei glared at him but said no more.
About ten minutes later, the bald man reappeared.
"Are the tires done?" the older beauty asked, standing.
"They’re ready, but Miss…" the bald man began, but she tossed him a stack of bills.
"Thank you, miss," he said, delighted.
The older beauty ignored him and walked outside. Xia Tian and the others followed, but soon they noticed the main gate had been closed.
"Miss, you can’t leave yet," the bald man’s voice called from behind.
- Writer
