Chapter 11
Lin Yushu went home and changed into casual clothes. Without much thought, he randomly picked a casual shirt. When he met Song Qiming outside the door, he noticed that Song Qiming had changed out of the short sleeves he wore while walking his dog and was now wearing a casual shirt.
They were wearing the same brand and style of shirt.
However, Lin Yushu’s shirt was looser and made him appear slightly slim, while Song Qiming’s broad shoulders filled out the fabric, revealing the contours of his muscular arms.
“You have this shirt too?” Song Qiming seemed to have discovered something interesting, scrutinizing Lin Yushu up and down.
“Hmm?” Lin Yushu pretended not to notice, casually glanced at Song Qiming, and said, “Oh, what a coincidence.”
…Not a coincidence at all. He had forgotten that he bought it based on Song Qiming’s Instagram post.
“I really have to suspect that you deliberately approached me,” Song Qiming said half-jokingly.
“It was me who moved here first,” Lin Yushu held the perfect evidence to wash away any suspicions, “Why don’t you say it’s you who deliberately approached me?”
“I didn’t.”
The elevator arrived at their floor in time, and the two of them entered the cabin, one in front of the other, ceasing their conversation.
But as the elevator doors closed again, Song Qiming spoke up, “But now I do need to get closer to you.”
Lin Yushu was highly valuable in this acquisition, just as Shao Guangjie wanted to win him over. It was normal for Song Qiming to want to get close to him.
But couldn’t this person keep it to himself?
It made Lin Yushu unsure of how to respond.
They went to the basement first, where Lin Yushu parked his Civic on the second basement level, side by side with Song Qiming’s GTR.
Comparing the two modified cars, the Civic was clearly inferior.
Not to mention performance, just in terms of appearance, the GTR’s Gulf Oil livery was a classic racing design that gave a strong racing feel at first glance. Lin Yushu usually had to drive the Civic to work, so he naturally didn’t make its appearance so flashy.
“You’re using the stock engine?” They propped open the hood, and Song Qiming looked at the internal structure of the Civic, asking.
“Yes, no modifications,” Lin Yushu didn’t feel that his little steel cannon was anything to be ashamed of. They already had a distinction between amateur and professional, so there was no need for him to compare himself to Song Qiming.
Moreover, he had used this Civic to beat the GTR, which cost several times its price. He had enough confidence to showcase his beloved car.
“You’ve modified the suspension, what else?” Song Qiming asked again.
“See for yourself.” Lin Yushu bypassed Song Qiming and went to the front of the GTR, staring fixedly at the legendary RB26DETT engine.
Actually, Song Qiming’s GTR was a newer version from recent years and should not have been equipped with the “ancient” RB26 engine.
But it was evident that Song Qiming deliberately swapped the engine. Lin Yushu could also guess the reason—it was all about faith.
Yes, men are always like this.
Even though the JDM scene has declined and that tofu delivery AE86 can no longer outpace others, the flame of faith still burns fiercely in the hearts of JDM enthusiasts when they hear the phrase, “86 is going up the mountain!”
“Why does it only have 750 horsepower?” Lin Yushu asked, “For you, it should be easy to modify it to over 1000 horsepower.”
“Modifying it further would violate domestic regulations, and it would be difficult to import,” Song Qiming replied.
Lin Yushu nodded. Nowadays, people who modify cars are no longer as crazy as they used to be; safety and legality come first.
He continued to admire this legendary engine, but suddenly, a light laughter sounded beside him. Song Qiming stood calmly with his arms crossed, looking at Lin Yushu and asking, “Just taking a quick look?”
“Cough.” Lin Yushu cleared his throat and deliberately changed the subject, “Did you import it from Germany?”
“No, Japan. I went to Singapore before,” Song Qiming said, then looked at the Civic in front of them, “What about yours? I don’t think there’s a Type R available domestically.”
“It’s a parallel import, cost over 700,000,” Lin Yushu replied.
Spending over 700,000 on a manual transmission car, Lin Yushu was scolded by his brother back then. But he believed that Song Qiming would understand.
He asked again, “What modifications have you made?”
Song Qiming lifted his chin slightly, saying, “See for yourself.”
He returned Lin Yushu’s words exactly as they were.
Is this guy a parrot? Lin Yushu secretly wondered. If he wants me to see, then I’ll see for myself.
He bent down and observed for a while before asking, “Intake?”
Song Qiming nodded, “Modified.”
“Camber?”
“Changed it a bit.”
“Suspension.”
“Definitely.”
Lin Yushu walked around the GTR, making an educated guess, but honestly, judging the extent of modifications by just looking with the naked eye was difficult.
For example, suspension tuning required driving multiple laps to find the perfect balance of softness and stiffness. No one could determine a car’s characteristics just by a quick glance.
But that was where it ended, and Lin Yushu felt a bit regretful.
He had no intention of becoming friends with Song Qiming as car enthusiasts. After all, Song Qiming’s identity was there, and he didn’t want to complicate his own work.
Moreover, they were currently in the critical phase of the acquisition, and he had to be mindful of his words and actions.
Just as Lin Yushu was about to close the hood after taking one last look at the engine, he heard Song Qiming suddenly ask, “Want to take a few laps with me?”
With a loud “thud,” the hood was forcefully closed, resonating in the empty parking lot.
Lin Yushu stood still, not moving, and didn’t respond.
As the saying goes, “You can’t walk by the river without getting your shoes wet,” and “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Although Lin Yushu understood these principles, he found himself in a dilemma—should he just take a simple ride?
Forget it, be rational, work comes first.
“No need, let’s leave it at that for today,” Lin Yushu walked back to the Civic, closed the hood, and turned to walk towards the elevator. “We can talk about it another time.”
“When will that be?” Song Qiming clearly had no intention of letting Lin Yushu off the hook. He grabbed his wrist and said, “You have nothing to do now, right?”
“I don’t want to go even if I have nothing to do,” Lin Yushu withdrew his wrist and decided to speak frankly, “You’re wasting your time on me. You should find a lawyer quickly.”
Song Qiming laughed, “That’s a separate matter. Aren’t you curious why I moved back to China before the acquisition was finalized?”
…Damn it, Lin Yushu was genuinely curious.
“Get in the car.” Song Qiming didn’t waste any more words. He walked to the passenger side of the GTR, opened the door, and said, “Get in, we can talk along the way.”
The early October weather was pleasant, with sunlight streaming through the car window, providing just the right amount of warmth.
The GTR drove along the main road towards the outskirts, and perhaps due to the holiday, there were many cars on the road, causing traffic congestion after a short while.
Countless times, phones were extended from passing car windows to capture photos of this super cool GTR. Feeling self-conscious, Lin Yushu subconsciously covered his profile with his hand until Song Qiming drove the car to a sparsely populated suburban area. Only then did Lin Yushu relax and open the window to feel the breeze.
“Your chassis tuning is good,” he said. “I thought you were only good at modifying engines.”
The chassis of this car was on the firm side, leaning towards being soft, balancing between a race car and a daily driver. It neither lost the spirit of the Japanese war god nor compromised on a certain level of comfort.
“Chassis tuning is fundamental.” With one hand on the steering wheel, Song Qiming turned his head to look at Lin Yushu and asked, “You said your job involves more than just investments. What else do you do?”
“A lot of things, like writing the family genealogy for your family, and so on.”
“You’re responsible for that too?”
“I’m in charge, but I don’t have to do it personally.”
The two of them engaged in casual conversation. Up ahead, a slow-moving truck appeared. Song Qiming flashed his high beams, and the truck responded by activating its right turn signal, indicating that there were no oncoming vehicles ahead, allowing them to overtake.
Song Qiming pressed down on the accelerator, and a powerful surge of acceleration accompanied by the rapidly retreating scenery made Lin Yushu itch with excitement.
“You know this kind of road etiquette too?” he asked. “Some people say your Chinese isn’t good.”
“When do you think my Chinese isn’t good?” Song Qiming asked.
“I don’t think so,” Lin Yushu replied.
Apart from being too straightforward in his speech, he didn’t have any other impression.
Arriving at a fork in the road, Song Qiming turned the steering wheel to the left and drove up the mountain. While Jingxin Villa was located on that mountain, Song Qiming wasn’t heading there. Instead, he was heading towards another peak that had an open observation platform.
“So,” Song Qiming continued the previous topic, “your job is to serve the Shao family?”
“You can understand it that way,” Lin Yushu replied, adding, “But it doesn’t mean I will agree to every request.”
“I see.” Song Qiming paused and turned his head to look at Lin Yushu, implying something. “I am also part of the Shao family.”
“You?” Lin Yushu understood the hidden meaning behind Song Qiming’s words and raised an eyebrow. “Wait until you have a say in the Shao family before saying that.”
Song Qiming laughed, “You’re quite snobbish.”
Lin Yushu spoke bluntly, “Just that snobbish.”
The way Lin Yushu interacted with Song Qiming was quite different from how he treated Shao Guangjie. He viewed Shao Guangjie as his boss, but as for Song Qiming, he only saw him as someone who could influence his work and didn’t treat him as a boss.
In Lin Yushu’s mind, there was a distinction between different members of the Shao family. People like Shao Zhenbang and Shao Hedong were undoubtedly big bosses, while distant relatives who weren’t involved in the company wouldn’t find him willingly doing things for them.
Song Qiming clearly fell into the latter category, so Lin Yushu was casual in his conversations with him.
The car arrived at another intersection, and this time Song Qiming parked by the roadside and pulled up the handbrake.
Lin Yushu was puzzled, “Why did we stop?”
Song Qiming unfastened his seatbelt, “Your turn.”
“You,” Lin Yushu was slightly taken aback, “You want me to drive?”
Lin Yushu thought Song Qiming had just brought him out for a ride and never expected that he would let him take the driver’s seat.
“Don’t you want to drive?” Song Qiming’s hand had already reached the door handle, but upon hearing Lin Yushu’s words, he retracted it. “Forget it then.”
“Wait,” Lin Yushu quickly grabbed Song Qiming’s arm, “I didn’t say I don’t want to drive.”
Song Qiming glanced at Lin Yushu’s hand, and with a somewhat amused expression, he asked, “So, are you going to drive or not?”
Another proverb appeared in Lin Yushu’s mind—there’s no free lunch in the world.
Song Qiming was being so generous to him because he wanted to enjoy the privileges of being part of the Shao family. If he really took the driver’s seat, it wouldn’t sit well with him if he didn’t help out.
Rationality and emotion quickly clashed in Lin Yushu’s mind, and in the end, he pursed his lips and said uncomfortably, “Since we’re here…”
“Okay.” Seeing through Lin Yushu’s thoughts, Song Qiming couldn’t help but laugh. “I reluctantly let you take me for a ride, is that fine?”
“You’re the one who said it.” Lin Yushu swiftly opened the car door and stood by the driver’s seat.
Song Qiming got out of the car, but only partially, making way for Lin Yushu. However, as Lin Yushu moved forward, Song Qiming lifted his arm and lightly blocked him. His intention was to say something and make him wait, but Lin Yushu took a step forward and bumped into Song Qiming’s arm.
His waist was inexplicably held by someone, and Lin Yushu turned his head to look at Song Qiming, a bit taken aback.
“Uh, that,” Song Qiming was also caught off guard by the sudden close proximity, maintaining the posture of embracing Lin Yushu. He looked at the person in front of him and said, “I forgot to mention, don’t overspeed.”
“I know that, of course,” Lin Yushu finally snapped out of it and quickly pushed away Song Qiming’s arm.
