How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 96

Pursuing Her Means Gifting (1)

Yuan Xiaozhao led Yang Chen to the private room.

Inside, a group of about a dozen men and women were already gathered, including her author friend, Li Youlan.

Li Youlan wasn’t a high school classmate of Yuan Xiaozhao, but through Yuan Xiaozhao’s introduction, she had become romantically involved with Yuan Xiaozhao’s high school classmate, Li Jiaming.

The gathering had been organized by their high school class monitor, Liu Yan. She’d invited a few classmates who used to hang out together and specifically requested that they bring their significant others.

So, Li Youlan came with Li Jiaming.

Yuan Xiaozhao spent most of her time at home writing, with hardly any social life, let alone a boyfriend.

Therefore, she’d enlisted the generous Yang Chen to pose as her boyfriend.

Yuan Xiaozhao figured that someone as generous as Yang Chen must come from a well-to-do family and be quite knowledgeable, capable of holding his own in a conversation.

Since the last author event [交流会 – jiao liu hui, meaning “exchange meeting”] where Yuan Xiaozhao was accused [嫌弃 – xian qi, meaning “disliked” or “looked down upon”] of boosting her numbers [刷数据 – shua shu ju, meaning “artificially inflating data” or “faking statistics”], Li Youlan had stopped contacting her.

Yuan Xiaozhao’s biggest worry was that Li Youlan would bring up her boosting her numbers in front of everyone, forcing her to waste her breath explaining herself again.

Li Youlan immediately rushed over to greet Yuan Xiaozhao with exaggerated “happiness,” even giving her a perfunctory hug.

This gave Yuan Xiaozhao the fleeting hope that Li Youlan might actually believe she hadn’t boosted her numbers.

“Xiaozhao, you’re finally here! And this is?” Li Youlan asked.

Yuan Xiaozhao glanced shyly at Yang Chen, feeling too embarrassed to introduce him properly.

Yang Chen stepped forward confidently. “Hello everyone, I’m Xiaozhao’s boyfriend. My name is Yang Chen, and I’m very happy to meet you all.”

Class monitor Liu Yan immediately chimed in with a smile, “Wow, Xiaozhao, your boyfriend is so handsome! And he’s got such a great build. Hello, I’m Liu Yan, Xiaozhao’s high school class monitor. Nice to meet you.”

Yang Chen nodded with a smile, his charm hitting Liu Yan right in the heart.

“Oh my god, his smile is so attractive,” Liu Yan thought to herself.

At that moment, all six women in the private room were focused on Yang Chen.

In fact, women are just as visually driven as men.

When men see beautiful women with great figures, they can’t help but steal a few extra glances.

Similarly, when women see handsome, well-built men, they can’t help but do the same.

Yang Chen was already handsome, and with the enhancement from [神奇的老司机 – Shen qi de lao si ji, a phrase implying a magical or experienced driver, here referring to an enhancement or skill boost], coupled with Misia’s custom-made outfit, he looked like a captivating man who had stepped out of a painting.

So, wasn’t it perfectly understandable that Yang Chen was attracting the attention of all six women in the private room?

Li Youlan asked with a saccharine smile, “Xiaozhao, you got a boyfriend and didn’t tell me? Are we even still sisters?”

Yuan Xiaozhao adjusted her glasses, took Yang Chen’s arm, and replied, “It hasn’t been long since we got together. I was worried that our relationship wasn’t stable, and we might break up someday, so I didn’t say anything.”

Yang Chen raised Yuan Xiaozhao’s chin and said with a look of mock affection, “Baby, I finally managed to win you over. How could I possibly break up with you?”

For a moment, Yuan Xiaozhao almost believed it was real.

“Ew…” everyone booed.

“Too cheesy!”

“That’s too much! Are you trying to make us show off our love lives too?”

“Haha…”

…

Just then, the private room door was pushed open.

A young man wearing a Burberry T-shirt and a Patek Philippe watch worth over a million yuan [approximately $140,000 USD] walked in.

Liu Yan quickly got up, ran over to him, kissed him, and then turned around to introduce him to everyone with a beaming smile. “Let me introduce you all, this is my fiancé, Wang Tianyi. We’re already engaged and planning to get married at the end of the year. Everyone must come!”

Everyone applauded to offer their congratulations, promising that they would definitely be there.

Wang Tianyi waved to everyone with a smile and said, “Sorry I’m late, everyone. Xiaoyan, let’s get started.”

Since it was Liu Yan’s birthday party and her fiancé had arrived, the banquet could finally begin.

The waiters began serving the dishes, and everyone ate and chatted.

Just as Yang Chen had anticipated, everyone began to subtly or not-so-subtly flex their achievements.

Some were company executives, some were civil servants, and some were project contractors, so none of them were exactly ordinary.

The most impressive was Liu Yan’s fiancé, Wang Tianyi, whose family was in the seafood wholesale business.

Rumor had it that his family supplied most of the seafood used by hotels in Haicheng, including the Peninsula Hotel.

“Wow, class monitor, your fiancé is so amazing!”

“How did you two meet?”

“Most of the seafood in Haicheng comes from their family! They must be earning hundreds of millions a day!”

…

Liu Yan said with a proud expression, “It’s not that exaggerated. But earning a few million a day is probably doable.”

“Wow, earning a few million a day! Oh my god, I won’t earn that much in my entire life!”

“That’s the difference between people. You just have to accept it.”

“Young Master Wang, please take care of us in the future!”

…

Wang Tianyi smiled and said, “Why don’t you all quit your jobs and start seafood restaurants or seafood wholesale businesses? I can give you first-hand sources, guaranteed to be the lowest prices in the country. You could make big money with your eyes closed!”

The group chatted happily.

Yang Chen and Yuan Xiaozhao focused on eating silently.

Their principle was to keep a low profile; it would be best if no one noticed them.

Let them brag, as long as they didn’t step on them.

After the group had been bragging for more than ten minutes, they suddenly realized that Yuan Xiaozhao and Yang Chen hadn’t said anything yet.

Li Youlan quickly asked, “Xiaozhao, you haven’t introduced what your boyfriend does yet.”

Liu Yan also asked, “That’s right, Xiaozhao’s boyfriend, what do you do? Seeing you dressed so smartly, your job must be pretty good.”

Wang Tianyi recognized the brand of Yang Chen’s clothes at a glance and said, “Brother, you’re very low-key. That outfit is Misia’s custom-made, right? More than 200,000 yuan [approximately $28,000 USD]?”

Everyone immediately stopped smiling.

Damn.

That seemingly inconspicuous outfit actually cost more than 200,000 yuan?

Yang Chen smiled and replied, “I bought it to look good [装逼 – zhuang bi, slang for “show off”]. I don’t usually dress like this. I’m just a ride-hailing driver. It’s a stable and free job, which is nice.”

Everyone immediately smiled again.

Just a ride-hailing driver? That was probably the lowest-status job in the entire private room.

“Brother, you can afford such expensive clothes. It seems like you earn a good income driving.”

“I contract projects and can earn a few million a year, but I’m not willing to buy such expensive clothes. Brother, you must earn at least ten million a year.”

“Then how did you win Xiaozhao over? Xiaozhao has high standards and generally doesn’t take a fancy to just anyone [看不上 – kan bu shang, meaning “doesn’t look favorably upon” or “disdains”]. To be honest, you’re a ride-hailing driver. I really can’t imagine how you got her.”

At this moment, the scheming Li Youlan suddenly said, “You don’t know about this, do you? Xiaozhao is a rich second generation [富二代 – fu er dai, meaning “born into wealth”]. She rewarded her own book with more than one million yuan to boost her numbers [刷数据 – shua shu ju, meaning “artificially inflate data”]. Buying her boyfriend 200,000 yuan worth of clothes isn’t a big deal for her.”

Everyone was immediately shocked.

“Xiaozhao, you’re too extravagant [豪横 – hao heng, meaning “豪气 – hao qi” which means “bold and generous”]. Rewarding your own book with more than one million yuan?”

“No, how much money can you even earn from writing? Aren’t you afraid of losing money by boosting like that [刷 – shua, meaning “to boost” or “to inflate”]?”

“Boosting more than one million? Could it be that Xiaozhao, you wrote that book ‘You and the Spring Breeze are Both Passing Travelers’? I was following that book, but I stopped a few days ago when the author was exposed for boosting her numbers.”

…

Li Youlan quickly said, “Yes, Wang Qing, you’re right. That book ‘You and the Spring Breeze are Both Passing Travelers’ was written by Xiaozhao. Before she boosted her numbers, the average subscription was 2200, and she could earn five thousand yuan a month [approximately $700 USD].”

Everyone was dumbfounded.

Earning five thousand yuan a month, and she actually took out one million to boost her numbers?

How long would it take to earn back one million yuan?

“Xiaozhao, you’re trying too hard.”

“That’s not wise! With a monthly income [稿费 – gao fei, meaning “royalties” or “payment for writing”] of five thousand, you took out more than one million to boost your numbers. You won’t earn that much back even if this book is finished.”

“Xiaozhao, did your house get demolished [demolished by the government for redevelopment, a common source of sudden wealth in China]? Otherwise, how could you suddenly have so much money to squander?”

…

Wang Tianyi also said coldly, “Ten Golden Alliances [a type of virtual gift on online literature platforms] for that book, right? You’re too ignorant. Even a Platinum God [a top-tier author] can’t get 10 Golden Alliance Masters for a book. You’re a nobody boosting so much. Any fool knows you’re boosting your numbers.”

Yuan Xiaozhao looked helpless. She couldn’t avoid it after all.

Luckily, she had brought Yang Chen. Now it depended on whether he could help her turn the tables.

Yang Chen put down his chopsticks and said with a smile, “You can’t blame Xiaozhao for this. Blame me. I like Xiaozhao, but she’s too much of a homebody [宅 – zhai, meaning “homebody” or “otaku”], and easily gets lost. She doesn’t usually go out, so I don’t have the chance to approach her. In order to win her heart, I had to use my brain a little. But I don’t have any experience in pursuing girls, and I couldn’t think of a way to pursue her. Later, I simply stopped thinking and used the dumbest method. That is, gifting, gifting, and gifting again. Alas, finally, God rewards those who work hard. After I gifted a dozen Golden Alliances in one go, Xiaozhao saw my sincerity and finally accepted me.”

Everyone showed shocked expressions, and the entire private room fell silent…