Chapter 175: Let's Get a Car First

"Wishing you prosperity and wealth! Hand over the red envelope!"

Kong Shan stretched out her chubby little hand, demanding a red envelope from Su Chen.

"What on earth are you doing?"

Tang Jiayi slapped Kong Shan's hand away and said indignantly.

"Is that any way to ask?"

Kong Shan retorted with a cheeky smile.

"Don't people always give red envelopes during New Year greetings?"

With that, she turned her head to look at Su Chen with an innocent expression.

"Right, Brother Su Chen?"

Hearing this, Tang Jiayi became even more irritated.

"You are not allowed to call him Brother Su Chen!"

Kong Shan let out an exaggerated gasp.

"Tang Jiayi, you are being so unfair. I even gave up my spot for the Beijing training camp to you, and is this how you treat me? Wuwuwu!"

Tang Jiayi gave her a disgusted, sideways glance.

"Have you no shame? You couldn't pass the application yourself, and now you're acting like you handed it over to me as a favor! Do I need to thank you or something?"

Kong Shan grinned mischievously.

"No need to thank me, just hand over a red envelope!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Tang Jiayi and Kong Shan started bickering and chasing each other around again.

Su Chen glanced at Ke Jiayi, who was sitting quietly to the side, nodded with a smile, and then helplessly stopped the two girls.

"Alright, alright, you two. Running back and forth in the hallway like this, what does it look like? Tang Jiayi, your guests have arrived, and you haven't even invited them inside yet. Do you have any manners as a host?"

Hearing this, the two finally stopped, and Tang Jiayi muttered under her breath, "They're not outsiders, I don't need to be formal with them."

Even so, she ushered the two into the apartment, and Su Chen followed them inside.

"Xiaoshan, Jiajia, you're here. Come on, sit down! Xiaocheng, I'll dish out some porridge for you guys, and Xiaoshan and Jiajia can have some too!"

Since it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, relatives rarely visited, and most people spent time gathering and having fun with classmates and friends. Therefore, the family hadn't prepared an extravagant banquet, just a simple meal.

Even so, with these young girls around, the atmosphere instantly became lively and cheerful.

Kong Shan's earlier antics had genuinely caught Su Chen off guard. Growing up, his family had few relatives visiting, and when his parents were still alive, they were the ones who gave him red envelopes. As for giving red envelopes to others, he had never done it before.

Consequently, he hadn't even thought about it, let alone prepared any cash.

However, since the young girl had brought it up, and it was customary during the New Year to wish for good fortune, it wouldn't look good if he didn't show some token of appreciation.

Because Tang Jiayi wouldn't let Su Chen add Kong Shan and Ke Jiayi on WeChat, he had to take advantage of the time when the girls were making a fuss to slip downstairs to a nearby ATM, withdraw some cash, and pack a few red envelopes.

He handed three of them to Tang Jiayi and her friends, keeping the rest as spares.

Kong Shan was overjoyed upon receiving her red envelope and came very close to kissing Su Chen on the cheek, which Tang Jiayi managed to stop just in time.

After breakfast and a brief chat on the sofa, Su Chen stood up.

"Come on, let's go out for a stroll."

His suggestion was immediately met with enthusiastic responses from the girls.

The streets were relatively quiet. On this holiday, people were either staying home to reunite with their families or flocking to major temple fairs.

"Where are we going to play, Brother Xiaocheng?"

Tang Jiayi asked as Su Chen stopped in front of a building downstairs, while Kong Shan and Ke Jiayi blinked expectantly at him.

"Where would you like to go?"

"The temple fair!" Kong Shan volunteered first.

Su Chen glanced at Tang Jiayi, who nodded in agreement, and Ke Jiayi timidly raised her hand as well.

"Alright! To the temple fair it is!" Su Chen said, frowning slightly in thought. "Before we go, shouldn't we get a car first?"

When Su Chen mentioned getting a car, the girls were slightly bewildered for a moment. But once they understood what he meant, they immediately started chattering excitedly.

Although young girls might not know much about cars, they shared a natural enthusiasm for shopping.

Tang Weidong and Wu Xiuhua had treated Su Chen exceptionally well and taken care of him for many years. Now that it was the New Year, he felt it was only right and proper to show his filial piety.

Small gifts didn't matter much; when it came to major purchases, a car was practically the only viable option.

This was also why he had revealed a portion of his financial situation the day before—to make it easier for them to accept.

Before heading out, Su Chen had deliberately checked nearby 4S dealerships. Quite a few were still operating normally, so he pinpointed a location and hailed a cab to take the girls directly there.

Su Chen had a very clear goal in mind for the car: family-friendly, affordable, and convenient for daily travel.

Tang Weidong's old car had been driven for many years. Because of the financial pressure of Tang Jiayi's education, he had never been able to bring himself to replace it.

Because of this, every New Year, the Tang family would inevitably become the subject of unfavorable comparisons by others.

Although Su Chen hadn't been home in previous years, whenever he returned and occasionally heard fragments of these conversations, his heart felt heavy.

Su Chen had wanted to take care of this matter for some time, but he had feared that the older couple would ask too many questions that would be difficult to explain.

Since he had already laid out his situation last night, he might as well get this done right away!

Beilin Road, Honda 4S Dealership.

Though nominally open for business, it was still the New Year holiday, and most of the sales staff were on leave.

In the vast showroom, only two people were left on duty.

"Damn it, on a holiday like this, who's going to come buy a car? They had to make people stay here on duty. I swear the boss's brain is fried!"

"Heh, capitalists for you! Never missing a single chance to make money. How could they bear to close the store for a few days?"

"Not necessarily, it depends on the boss's character. Look at some of the other shops, they're completely closed, giving all employees a holiday. My friend over on Zhongshan Road..."

"Sigh, let's just blame our bad luck!"

A salesperson lounged lazily on a sofa in the reception area, while a security guard sat in a chair by the front desk, chatting idly.

Su Chen walking in with the girls caught them off guard. Customers were actually coming in?

The salesperson quickly sat up, but after taking a good look at them, he slumped back down.

A young man accompanied by a few teenage girls—judging by their youthful appearances, they were clearly still students.

People like this were just here to mess around.

The security guard also glanced at them and remained silent.

"They aren't paying any attention to us!" Kong Shan whispered.

Su Chen shook his head with a smile and said, "It's fine, we'll just look around ourselves."

He didn't care much. After all, all kinds of people existed in the world, and if he let such people upset him, he would probably be angry every single day.

Their purpose was to buy a car, not to pick a fight with anyone. Buy and leave, whatever happened after that didn't matter!

Inside the showroom, various models were on display at affordable, civilian-friendly prices, with the most expensive ones costing around 300,000 yuan.

Perhaps due to the indifference of the sales staff, the three girls didn't dare to speak loudly and could only whisper among themselves.

Su Chen took a quick look around. The cars were all fairly similar; he wasn't looking for a luxury vehicle, so any of them would do!

He selected a model priced just over 200,000 yuan, turned his head, and asked the salesperson in the reception area, "Can this car be test-driven? If we pay today, can all the paperwork be completed today?"

The salesperson turned sideways to glance in their direction and replied indifferently, "No test drives."

As for Su Chen's second question, he simply ignored it.

By now, he had figured it out. This young man had just brought a few young girls here to play around with test drives, and he had no time to waste entertaining them.

Even though he had sales quotas to meet, he didn't believe for a second that these kids were actually going to buy a car.

With that kind of time, he might as well lie down and play on his phone!

Su Chen was slightly taken aback at first, but then he realized what was happening—they were being looked down upon!

However, he just shook his head with a faint smile, not particularly angered, and simply said to the girls beside him, "Let's go! We'll go across the street and buy a better car."

He had noticed earlier on their way here that an Audi dealership was situated right across the street.

"Okay!"

The girls had long felt stifled by the chilly atmosphere in the showroom.

Hearing Su Chen suggest going across the street, they immediately followed him outside.