How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 199

The heavily made-up woman stormed to the driver’s side window, her voice laced with anger. “Why was my account blocked? Did you do this?”

Yang Chen smiled coolly. “Yes, I asked the platform to block it. What about it?”

The woman sputtered, “How could you do this? Why would you ask them to block my account?”

Yang Chen leaned back in his seat. “Don’t you think your behavior warrants it? Extorting people, nitpicking, making trouble for no reason, and deliberately arguing with the driver on two separate rides. I suggest you recognize your place. You’re just taking a ride in a ride-hailing car, not acting like the Empress Dowager [a powerful and often imperious female figure]. If you were in the right, why would the platform block your account? And you’ve already switched to another account to book a car so quickly? Impressive. I’ll complain to the platform later and have this one blocked too!”

Xia Xia quickly interjected, “Hey, don’t! This account is mine, I’m innocent.”

Yang Chen raised an eyebrow. “Oh, it’s yours. I thought she’d already switched accounts. Hurry up and get in the car, I’m in a hurry to get to Yihai Apartments to handle some things.”

Xia Xia nodded and gestured for the heavily made-up woman to get in.

I’d hoped the woman would restrain herself, but she was still a pain. As soon as she got in the car, she started nagging again.

Yang Chen turned to her, his voice firm. “If you dare to say another word, anything at all, get out of the car immediately. I won’t drive you! As a passenger who’s been banned by the platform, I have every reason to refuse you service.”

Xia Xia rounded on her friend, “Xiao Qin, if you continue like this, get out of the car now. Our friendship ends here. I don’t want my friend to be a selfish and unreasonable person. Your account has been blocked; do you still think you’re right?”

The heavily made-up woman whined, “Xia Xia, whose friend are you anyway? My account has been blocked because of him, and you’re not helping me, but blaming me instead.”

Xia Xia retorted, “I help with reason, not blind loyalty. It’s your fault to begin with, but you always think it’s the driver’s fault. Your behavior is truly unreasonable, you know?”

The woman scoffed, “What are you so afraid of him for? Later, you can ask your dad to say hello to the Bilibili [a popular video-sharing website in China] platform and have them restore my account.”

Xia Xia was clearly embarrassed. “No way! If my dad knew my friend was so unreasonable, he’d definitely tell me to cut ties with you. Okay, stop talking. If you dare to harass the driver again, I will break off contact with you.”

The heavily made-up woman seemed genuinely afraid of losing Xia Xia’s friendship, so she quickly shut up.

Soon, Yang Chen and the others arrived at Yihai Apartments. There were a lot of people around, and there was even a film crew filming in the square at the entrance.

As the owner of the apartment complex, Yang Chen was naturally pleased to see it so lively. After all, the more prosperous it was, the more money he’d make.

Yang Chen parked the car and reminded the two passengers to take their belongings before getting out. The heavily made-up woman remained silent.

Xia Xia said with a smile, “Okay, thank you.” After they got out of the car, Yang Chen logged out of his Bilibili account, grabbed his phone, and headed to the management office.

The management office was large, occupying a separate six-story building. The entrance, corridors, and offices were all bustling with people queuing up to handle business.

“I want to rent a jazz dance studio for two hours.”

“I want to rent a piano room for a week.”

“I want to rent a venue for a violin training class.”

…In terms of building value alone, the Ocean Financial Building was definitely more valuable.

However, if compared from the perspective of profitability, Yihai Apartments was definitely more profitable. Yang Chen followed the signs and found the management office area of Yihai Apartments.

These people really knew how to maximize their space, occupying a whole floor and setting up a front desk reception at the staircase and elevator exits.

Front desk lady: “Hello, sir, what do you need?”

Yang Chen: “I’m Yang Chen, call your manager over.”

Front desk lady: “Do you have an appointment?”

Yang Chen: “No. Just call him and tell him my name is Yang Chen.”

The front desk lady sized up Yang Chen, deciding that he was handsome and had a good demeanor, so he probably wasn’t here to cause trouble. After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded and called the manager.

Front desk lady: “Manager Chen, there’s a Mr. Yang Chen here at the front desk, he said…”

Before she could finish, a cry of surprise came from an office next door.

“Who? Yang Chen?”

Front desk lady: “Yes…”

There was the sound of a cup breaking in the office, and then a middle-aged man rushed out in a hurry.

“Oh dear, Mr. Yang, why did you suddenly come here? You should have told me in advance so I could have gone out to greet you. My name is Huang Tianba, the manager of the Yihai Apartments management office. Quickly, come in and sit down. Make tea, the best kind.”

Yang Chen chuckled. “Huang Tianba! Your name is quite impressive! If you lived in a world of immortals, you would at least be a war god.”

Huang Tianba: “Haha… Mr. Yang, you’re laughing at me. My parents didn’t have much education, but they thought it was too common to follow the trend and name me Jianguo [meaning ‘build the nation’] or Guoqing [meaning ‘national celebration’]. They also thought boys should be more domineering, so they gave me this name. Because of this name, I’ve been ridiculed since I was a child. Alas… it has become my psychological shadow.”

Yang Chen: “Then why don’t you change it?”

“Alas… I also want to change it, but my old man refuses to agree. He’s over 70 years old now, and if I forcibly change my name, it would kill him. Come, Mr. Yang, please sit down. This is the information for you,” Huang Tianba said, pointing to the four large cardboard boxes piled up next to him.

*Damn*, how could there be so many things? Yang Chen opened a cardboard box and looked inside. There were property ownership certificates, etc., and each room had a separate certificate, which was why it filled four large boxes.

The front desk lady brought in tea. Huang Tianba personally picked up a cup and handed it to Yang Chen, then said to the front desk, “You go out, close the door, and don’t allow anyone to approach my office. Understand?”

The front desk lady nodded and left.

Huang Tianba quickly took out the account book from the safe and handed it to Yang Chen, saying, “These are the income and expenditure records of our apartment. Mr. Yang, please review them.” Yang Chen took the account book and looked at it carefully. Just as he had suspected, Yihai Apartments was indeed more profitable than Ocean Financial Building.

For example, a dance studio costs 200 yuan per hour to rent, and an additional 150 yuan for each additional hour. If it’s less than an hour, it’s calculated as one hour. The key is that it operates 24 hours a day, making full use of every day.

A dance studio of more than 60 square meters has a daily income of between 1500 and 2000 yuan, and the price is the same regardless of the floor or location.

An office building of 60 square meters has a daily rent of 800-1200 yuan, depending on the floor and location, with different prices.

Yang Chen was engrossed in reading when Bilibili sent a text message reminder that he had received another bad review. Xia Xia seemed like a nice person, but it turned out she was just pretending, just like that heavily made-up woman. What was the reason for the bad review this time?

Yang Chen opened it and couldn’t help but laugh in anger.

“This driver is so awesome, he can order the platform to ban passengers’ accounts. Passengers who book this car in the future should be careful and treat the driver like their own father, otherwise their accounts will be blocked by him.” *Sure enough, people can’t be judged by their appearance*. That Xia Xia looked like Dilraba [a popular Chinese actress], but her character was not good.

If she had directly helped that heavily made-up woman blame Yang Chen, Yang Chen wouldn’t have been so angry. The key was that she pretended to be reasonable and discerning while doing such mindless things. It was really too hypocritical.

At this time, the system issued a reminder.

“Congratulations to the host for receiving a bad review. The system rewards the host with the [Piano Master] skill, which takes effect immediately.” In an instant, many notes and images of hitting piano keys appeared in Yang Chen’s mind, and then everything returned to normal.

Yang Chen couldn’t help but complain in his heart, “Last time it was calligraphy, this time it’s piano. Why not something more practical?”

System: “If the host only has money, then he is just a *nouveau riche* [a derogatory term for someone who has recently become rich]. The system hopes that the host will become a knowledgeable, skilled, and all-powerful rich man. The host can’t just be a *nouveau riche*, he must be a perfect god of wealth.”

*Okay, the system is right.*

Yang Chen continued to read the account book. After a while, there was a noise outside. Huang Tianba frowned and went out angrily.

That heavily made-up woman was excitedly saying something to the front desk. Xia Xia was watching quietly, saying nothing.

“What’s going on? Why is it so noisy? The boss is inside looking at things, what are you arguing about?” Huang Tianba scolded.

The front desk quickly said, “Manager Huang, these two said they wanted to see you, they want to rent a piano room.”

Huang Tianba looked at Xia Xia, who was a beautiful woman who looked like Dilraba, and quickly said with a smile, “You two want to rent a piano room…”

The heavily made-up woman immediately interrupted, “…But this front desk lady insisted that you were seeing a very important guest and didn’t want to tell you. We’re here to rent a piano room, to give you money, and you still have this service attitude?”

Huang Tianba smiled and said, “She’s right, I am seeing a very important guest. Please be quiet and go downstairs and wait. Whenever I’m done here, you can come up and talk about it.”

The heavily made-up woman said, “No… we’ve already explained the problem to you clearly, can’t you just give us a solution? Why do we have to go down and wait?”

Huang Tianba said, “This matter needs to be discussed slowly, I can’t explain it to you in a word or two. Go down and wait now, or just leave.”

The heavily made-up woman said, “Hey, what kind of attitude is this? I’m really convinced, why are all the men so extreme these days! The ride-hailing driver was weird enough, and you, the manager, are even weirder. We’re here to rent a piano room, shouldn’t you treat us well? Why are you chasing us out?”

Huang Tianba: “Is there anything wrong with my attitude? I told you I have an important person to see, why do you have to find me at this time?”

The heavily made-up woman: “I’m spending money to rent a venue, shouldn’t I be in charge and you unconditionally cooperate with me?”

Huang Tianba: “Haha… we’re not worried about not being able to rent it out here, we don’t have to rent it to you. If you can’t wait, go downstairs and wait.”

The heavily made-up woman was furious and pointed at Xia Xia, saying, “Do you know who she is? She is…”

Xia Xia quickly stepped forward and stopped her, saying, “Go down and wait.”

The heavily made-up woman: “Xia Xia, we don’t have to be afraid of him! You are…”

Xia Xia: “Okay! Can you stop talking? If you don’t leave, I’m leaving.” After speaking, Xia Xia turned and left.

The heavily made-up woman glared at Huang Tianba very angrily before reluctantly following her. Huang Tianba instructed, “If anyone else comes up to make trouble, just call the security guard. Don’t disturb Mr. Yang’s work, remember?”

Front desk: “Okay, okay, I remember. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Huang Tianba returned to the office, and Yang Chen had just finished reading the account book.

“Not bad, keep up the good work, and I’ll give you all a bigger year-end bonus at the end of the year, so everyone can have a prosperous year,” Yang Chen said with a smile.

This was probably what every employee wanted to hear from their boss the most. Huang Tianba immediately replied excitedly, “Please rest assured, Mr. Yang, I will definitely take care of the company even if I neglect my family. I will definitely work hard and will not let you down, and you don’t have to worry about things here.”

Yang Chen smiled happily, patted Huang Tianba on the shoulder, and said, “Okay! Your first impression is not bad, keep all the staff, I won’t change anyone. I hope you won’t let me down, and don’t betray my trust in you.”

Huang Tianba: “Mr. Yang can rest assured, I will definitely manage the apartment well, you don’t have to worry about anything. You just wait to reconcile accounts and collect money every month.”

Yang Chen: “Well, someone will contact you later, you just need to report the work situation to her. I’m leaving, you go to work.”

Huang Tianba: “Okay. I’ll send you down. It just so happens that there were two people who wanted to rent a piano room…”

Yang Chen nodded and went downstairs with Huang Tianba. Xia Xia and the heavily made-up woman were stunned to see Huang Tianba and Yang Chen walking out while talking and laughing. The important guest Huang Tianba was talking about was this ride-hailing driver?

Huang Tianba: “It’s them who want to rent a piano room.”

Yang Chen looked up and thought, *good heavens, isn’t this a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road?*

Yang Chen smiled and whispered in Huang Tianba’s ear, “Find a reason to refuse, and blacklist them. Keep it low-key, don’t affect other customers. Don’t reveal any information about me to them, so they don’t bother me.”

Huang Tianba was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded.

Yang Chen walked straight past Xia Xia and the heavily made-up woman. Huang Tianba beckoned the two to a secluded place and said, “I’m sorry, you two, we won’t rent to you, and you have been blacklisted by us. I won’t explain the reason, I think you should be able to guess.”

Xia Xia quickly asked, “Can I ask who that person was just now?”

Huang Tianba: “I can’t tell you. You go, and don’t come here again in the future. We can still talk nicely now, but if you don’t listen, I will directly call the security guard to deal with it later.”

The heavily made-up woman: “What are you being arrogant about? Do you know who she is…”

“Xiao Qin, enough! You go back first, I’ll talk to him!” Xia Xia said, and then she chased after Yang Chen in the direction he left.

The heavily made-up woman was already a little scared. The person who could make Huang Tianba blacklist them could definitely not be just an ordinary ride-hailing driver.

Xia Xia chased to the parking lot and stood in front of Yang Chen’s car.

“What?” Yang Chen asked.

Xia Xia quickly replied, “Can I talk to you?”

Yang Chen: “Not interested.”

Xia Xia: “I have two tickets for Jay Chou’s [a famous Taiwanese singer] concert tomorrow night, I’ll invite you to the concert. How about it? First row, the seats are especially good.”

*Jay Chou’s concert?*

To be honest, Yang Chen really wanted to go and see it. He remembered that when he was in college, Yang Chen especially liked Jay Chou’s song “Blue and White Porcelain”. He sang this song while resting during military training, and it captivated all the girls in the same grade.

*However, I’m not someone who lacks a concert ticket. I can buy one myself, why would I need hers?*

Yang Chen: “If I want to go, I can buy a ticket myself.”

Xia Xia: “But you can’t buy such good seats. I’ll treat you to dinner at Tang Court [an expensive restaurant] tonight, how about that?”

Yang Chen: “Actually, if you hadn’t given me a bad review, I would have naively thought you were a very kind girl. But after you gave me a bad review, I think you are a very pretentious and two-faced person. It’s no exaggeration to say that I hate your friend, but I hate you even more. She’s bad, but she’s bad on the surface. You look like a good person on the surface, but you’re actually a bad person, and I hate people like you even more.”

Xia Xia: “Ah? I didn’t rate it, how could I give you a bad review?” She took out her phone and looked, and sure enough, she saw that her account had already given Yang Chen a bad review.

“Outrageous! Zhang Qin must have used my phone to do it. I knew there was something fishy when she borrowed my phone to play games in the bathroom just now. It turned out she was taking the opportunity to give you a bad review. I’m so angry! I’ll delete it for you, don’t be angry. You can ask for any compensation you want, and I will do my best to satisfy it. Just talk to me about renting the piano room. Please, it’s really important to me. Our team is going to participate in an art performance and needs to perform a piano piece. We can’t book the training room in the school, so we can only come to Yihai Apartments to rent a venue to rehearse. This performance is very important to our entire team. I don’t care, but others need to show their faces through this opportunity so that they can find a job more easily after graduation next year. Please, okay? I’ll delete the bad review now,” Xia Xia said very sincerely.

Soon, Xia Xia deleted the bad review and changed it to a good review.

“Brother, I’ve already deleted it, please talk to me. Okay? It wasn’t me who gave it, it was Zhang Qin, I’ll settle the score with her when I get back. If it doesn’t work, I’ll ask her to come over and apologize to you. Okay?” Xia Xia continued.

Yang Chen was silent for a moment and asked, “What is your relationship with her?”

Xia Xia: “Friend.”

Yang Chen: “I don’t like her, if you break off contact with her, I’ll consider talking to you.”

Xia Xia was stunned. After a while, she said somewhat sadly, “Actually, I know she’s not a good person and has big problems with her character. But we are friends after all, and it’s a bit unreasonable for me to break off contact with her for no reason.”

Yang Chen: “I can’t control that, that’s the condition I’m offering. If you agree, I’ll talk to you. If you don’t agree, I’m leaving now.”

Xia Xia didn’t know what to do.

At this time, a Lamborghini Hurricane stopped in front of Yang Chen’s car. A young man dressed flamboyantly got out. He said very excitedly, “Xia Xia, what are you doing here? What a coincidence!” His name was Song Siming, and you could tell from his car that he was a *rich second generation* [a term for children of wealthy people].

He had liked Xia Xia for a long time, but he had never been able to win her over. Xia Xia said perfunctorily, “Yeah. Go do your thing. I have something important to do.”

Song Siming: “Did he hit you with his car?”

Xia Xia: “No! Hurry up and go do your own thing.” Song Siming: “I’m here to rent a piano room, and I’ve already talked to Manager Huang on the phone. I’m going up to pay and sign the contract now. Haven’t you been looking for a practice room? I’ll let you use this one.”

Xia Xia shook her head and said, “No need! I can rent one myself, I don’t need yours. Hurry up and go do your thing, okay?” Seeing that Xia Xia was a little impatient and worried about making her unhappy, Song Siming quickly nodded and left.

Turning around, Song Siming yawned, and his eyes became a little dazed.

“Dry and pale skin, puffy eyes, dark circles, dull eyes, and listless spirit. It’s obvious that he’s indulging in excessive sex. Beauty, be careful, his sexual partners should be many, and they play very hard every night, otherwise he wouldn’t be like this at his age,” Yang Chen said.

But after he finished speaking, he suddenly froze.

“Damn it, why can’t I help but want to say his symptoms?” Yang Chen muttered to himself. At this time, he remembered the [Three Absolute Needle Techniques] rewarded by the system.

*To use this needle technique, the premise is that you have to be able to see what diseases the target has, and then you can use the corresponding needles, right?*

So, although the [Three Absolute Needle Techniques] is only a needle technique on the surface, it is actually a very powerful medical skill.

Xia Xia: “Thank you for reminding me, I’m not interested in him at all, I can’t accept him. Look, I’ll ask Xiao Qin to come over and apologize to you, and you can talk to me about renting the piano room again. Okay?”

Yang Chen: “Move aside, I’m leaving. I’ve already stated my conditions, and you’re still telling me your thoughts here. You don’t have any sincerity, and I don’t want to waste time with you.” At this time, the heavily made-up woman Zhang Qin came.

“Xia Xia, don’t bother talking to him, I ran into Song Siming just now, and he said he has already rented a venue and can lend it to us. I know you don’t like him, but now we have to focus on the overall situation, so let’s accept his kindness,” Zhang Qin said.

Xia Xia said coldly, “No need! Bring me the concert tickets for tomorrow night.”

Zhang Qin: “What for?”

Xia Xia: “Bring them to me!” Zhang Qin nodded and took out two Jay Chou concert tickets from her bag.

Xia Xia took the tickets, handed one to Yang Chen, and said, “Seven o’clock tomorrow night, Jing’an Sports Center.” Zhang Qin immediately became unhappy and said, “Xia Xia, what are you doing? Why are you giving my ticket to him? What about me?”

Xia Xia: “He doesn’t like you, let’s just be ordinary friends in the future. To be honest, I don’t like you very much either. Your behavior is really degrading and very rude, you know? I even suspect that there’s something wrong with your character. How could you trick me into using my phone to give him a bad review?”

Zhang Qin: “Xia Xia, did I hear you right? Are you kidding me, right?”

Xia Xia: “I’m not kidding you, let’s be ordinary friends in the future, not best friends.”

Zhang Qin: “You’re saying you want to be ordinary friends with me, your best friend of more than three years, for the sake of a ride-hailing driver? Are you okay?”

Xia Xia: “To be precise, he made me see your character and quality clearly. You know that my family will definitely not allow me to associate too closely with someone like you. Let’s be ordinary friends. Brother, let me get in the car, let’s go to Tang Court for dinner, my treat.” Seeing Zhang Qin’s shocked expression, Yang Chen felt much better.

“Okay! Come on up!” Yang Chen said, and then opened the door lock. Xia Xia quickly got into the car, and Yang Chen then drove away.

Zhang Qin stood there alone, not moving for a long time. After a while, Song Siming came and patted Zhang Qin on the shoulder, asking, “What are you standing here for? Where’s Xia Xia? Did you convince her to accept my venue?”

Zhang Qin turned around and said, “I guess you’re done for! Xia Xia actually doesn’t want to be best friends with me anymore because of that ride-hailing driver. I think Xia Xia might like him because he’s handsome. She not only gave the concert tickets for tomorrow night to that ride-hailing driver, but she’s also inviting him to Tang Court for dinner now. My God, don’t you think this is too exaggerated? Besides the possibility that she’s taken a fancy to that ride-hailing driver, is there any other possibility?”

Song Siming was shocked and said, “How could she take a fancy to a ride-hailing driver? Is being handsome so great? Can it be eaten, can it be used as money?”

Zhang Qin: “Anyway, they’ve already gone to Tang Court, you can figure it out yourself.” After speaking, Zhang Qin left.

“Hmph! Stinky driver, you want to make Xia Xia not be friends with me, I’ll let Song Siming screw you over! I’ll see how a trash ride-hailing driver like you fights with a *rich second generation* like him! Hmph!” Zhang Qin thought to herself.