Volume 1, Chapter 57: You Must Eat the Free Meal

Never mind whether Uncle Kun’s legs and feet were convenient right now. Even if the man hadn’t been bitten by a snake, Guo Dong wouldn’t have let him run all the way to the county town to pick someone up. Otherwise, wouldn't this brand-new car he just bought have gone completely unused even once?

After exchanging a few words with Uncle Kun and calling over Meng Xiaohan, he started up the newly purchased pickup truck and hit the road!

"Are you even going to be able to handle this?"

Sitting in the passenger seat, Meng Xiaohan was practically vibrating with excitement. She opened the vanity mirror provided by the 4S dealership, checking herself out repeatedly, and inspected every single gadget inside the vehicle with intense curiosity.

How could any man ever admit that he couldn't handle something?

Guo Dong chuckled, "My driver's license was earned fair and square, how could I not be able to handle it?"

Despite saying that, he was still quite nervous once he actually started driving. Especially when passing through the town; with all the traffic, he felt completely overwhelmed, terrified of scratching someone else's car!

Seeing how tense Guo Dong was, Meng Xiaohan didn't dare say a word to him the entire way. She just clutched the user manual, reading it over and over again!

It wasn't until he finally drove the car right up to the high-speed rail station entrance that he let out a massive sigh of relief.

"How does it feel?"

Noticing Guo Dong’s condition, Meng Xiaohan pulled out a tissue and handed it over to him.

"Not bad. After driving a few more times, I'll practically be a veteran driver!"

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Guo Dong realized that his six senses had become exceptionally sharp. For instance, when passing by those blocking stone pillars in a certain village on the way here, he had simply relied on his intuition and steered smoothly right past them!

"Next time you drive, if you encounter something you're not sure about, you can just turn on the panoramic camera!"

"What?" Guo Dong didn't understand what she meant. When he bought the car, Li Tianhu had handled the entire process, and he didn't understand a single thing about it.

"Take a look at this!" Meng Xiaohan giggled softly, handing the manual right in front of him.

Glancing at the manual, Guo Dong finally had a flash of realization and managed to locate the button on the dashboard.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"I was afraid of distracting you while you were driving." Meng Xiaohan puffed out her cheeks, pretending to be angry.

"It's fine, I'll remember for next time. With my driving skills, this feature makes no difference anyway!"

Acting all cocky, Guo Dong pulled out his phone and dialed the number Uncle Kun had given him.

Soon, a familiar voice came through the receiver.

"Hello, who is this?"

"What do you mean who is this? It's Guodong. Where are you?"

"Guodong? How do you have my number? I'm waiting for a ride!"

"Stop waiting! I'm already in the county town. Just tell me your address and I'll come find you!"

Guo Dong said this with absolute confidence, but the address the other person gave him turned out to be somewhere he had never even heard of. He kept typing the destination into the vehicle’s central control touchscreen.

Watching Guo Dong struggle, Meng Xiaohan covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Use location sharing! Tell him to send you his location!"

Guo Dong was dumbfounded once again! He realized he was falling behind the times and becoming completely disconnected from the modern world. Under Meng Xiaohan's guidance, he finally learned that mobile phones could be used this way.

Following the shared location and listening to the navigation prompts, they finally arrived at the place Meng Yingcai had mentioned.

In front of a bus stop sign, a familiar figure was standing there, looking around anxiously. He had a backpack on, was dragging a suitcase, and had a young girl right beside him!

*Beep, beep, beep...*

Guo Dong rolled down the window and waved at him!

"Yingcai, over here!"

One could say Meng Yingcai’s life wasn't much better than Guo Dong’s. His mother had left him at a very young age, and Uncle Kun, burdened with supporting his family, only had a little spare cash on hand. Through a matchmaker, Uncle Kun found him a bride from another region, pouring every single penny of his savings into the bride price for her.

Ordinarily, his life should have turned out decently—at the very least, getting enough to eat and staying warm wouldn't have been a problem. But a month later, that out-of-town bride vanished. He searched everywhere he possibly could, but she was nowhere to be found.

Meng Yingcai used to stand at the entrance of the village every single day, acting almost out of his mind during that period. It was only later that he realized he had fallen victim to a marriage scam!

Ever since then, he had left home to work odd jobs, staying away for two or three years without ever stepping foot back in the village. This sudden return was something even Guo Dong hadn't anticipated.

As soon as the shout rang out, Meng Yingcai grabbed the young girl by the hand and ran toward Guo Dong's vehicle. Standing in front of the pickup truck, he stared at it up and down, unable to react for a long time.

"Xiaohan!"

Clearly, he hadn't expected Meng Xiaohan to be sitting in the car as well.

"Brother Yingcai, I didn't think you'd still recognize me!"

Opening the door, Meng Xiaohan smiled and began helping him load his luggage into the car.

"I’ve only been away for a few years, how could I not recognize you? Let me introduce you guys. This is Tian芳, my wife!"

Guo Dong looked the young girl over, temporarily unsure of how to address her. Meng Yingcai was four or five years older than him, so by seniority, he should have addressed him as an older brother just like Meng Xiaohan did. Yet the girl standing before him was clearly younger than himself, looking only about eighteen or nineteen years old.

Was he really supposed to call her sister-in-law?

"Fangfang, this is Meng Xiaohan, Uncle Tianming's daughter, and the only college student in our entire village!"

"Hello, Sister Xiaohan!" Tian Fang said shyly, her face flushing red as she spoke.

"And this is my buddy, you can just call him Guodong!"

This time, Tian Fang stayed silent, nodding shyly toward Guo Dong. After all, it was a nickname; how could she possibly address someone by their nickname upon a first meeting?

Guo Dong smiled. "Alright, get in the car first, I'll take you guys to get some food!"

"What food?" While loading the luggage into the car, Meng Yingcai replied, "We already ate right when we got off the bus."

"What you ate doesn't count, I'm treating today! Come on, I'll take you guys out for a big meal, completely free!"

Meng Yingcai was momentarily dazed, failing to react for a second. Meng Xiaohan, who was just about to get into the car, suddenly paused her movements. She looked toward Guo Dong and asked with some uncertainty, "We're going to Xianghe again?"

She still hadn't forgotten the incident from last time—it was just too embarrassing!

"Yep, Xianghe it is! If I don't go eat a free meal there once, it just doesn't sit right with me!"

With those words, he climbed back into the driver's seat. With a press of the accelerator, the vehicle sped toward Xianghe Hotel.

Sitting in the car, Meng Yingcai felt a wave of emotion. Guo Dong, whom everyone had looked down upon in the past, had now actually bought a car. Judging by the looks of this vehicle, it had to cost at least two or three hundred thousand yuan! The interior configuration was definitely top-tier. Besides, he had heard through the phone call that Guo Dong was doing amazingly well now, making hundreds of thousands of yuan just by growing honey peaches. Not only had he paid off all his debts, but he had also organized everyone in the village.

The atmosphere inside the car became slightly awkward for a moment, and no one spoke.

Meng Yingcai had brought a young girl back with him, a matter that probably even Uncle Kun knew nothing about. Yet he kept insisting she was his wife. When had they even held a wedding? How could they have gotten married without their parents even knowing? Furthermore, the girl was clearly a bit too young, and the whole situation was undeniably complicated!

They simply didn't know what to say!

It wasn't until the car drove up to Xianghe Hotel that things escalated. When the security guard came over to guide them in reversing the car, an even more awkward situation arose—one that made Guo Dong wish he could find any excuse to drive the car straight back home!