Chapter One: The Driving School Instructor Moonlighting as an Online Ride-Hailing Driver

At the end of September, the autumn wind carried a hint of chill.

In the northern city of Spring City, the drop in temperature was more abrupt than a breakup. Yesterday, Gu Yin had been driving in a sleeveless shirt with the air conditioning on; today, he had to put on long sleeves and a jacket, unwilling to open the car windows, bracing himself for the torrential rain the absurd weather forecast warned of.

They say with every autumn rain comes a deeper cold.

And they also say, “Three feet of ice is not frozen in a day.”

But if Gu Yin were to describe the northern cold snap, he’d simply say:

“One autumn rain, one day, and three feet of ice!”

“Achoo~”

He sneezed, driving his classic ride-hailing BYD Qin through the rush-hour traffic on Jingshi Road, staring at the endless stream of cars ahead. Gu Yin felt a surge of irritation.

A few droplets from his sneeze landed on the camera pinned to his chest. He shook his head helplessly and pulled a tissue from the backup bag in the car to wipe it clean.

Police officers wear cameras as law enforcement recorders, but ordinary people with cameras are either online celebrities shooting vlogs or secretly filming.

Don’t misunderstand—Gu Yin had no voyeuristic tendencies. The reason he had a camera pinned to his chest was that he’d recently participated in a show.

It was a large-scale lifestyle observation reality show jointly produced by the two entertainment empires, ByteJump and Goose Factory, called “Reconciling with Life.”

The show’s marketing sounded appealing: observe the myriad lifestyles across professions and experience different lives.

In truth, it was nothing more than a pretense to observe the decadent daily routines of celebrities, idols, and influencers—a lowbrow spectacle.

Yes, the production team had indeed invited thousands of professionals—chefs, security guards, couriers, and so on—and only a dozen or so celebrities and influencers.

But the combined traffic of all these regular professionals was less than a ten-thousandth of the influencers’—you get it!

No choice...

Everyone’s life was already messy enough; when watching a show, they just wanted to relax, to ease their nerves. Perhaps celebrity lifestyles were unattainable, but at least they didn’t want their leisure time filled with more harsh reality.

If they couldn’t live like that, why not indulge in a bit of fantasy?

So, even though Gu Yin, a driving instructor who moonlighted as a ride-hailing driver at night, joined the show’s filming, his livestream barely attracted single-digit viewers.

If someone clicked in, they’d see nine people online in the top corner, but upon closer inspection, six of those were bots!

The hot, traffic-heavy streams would never belong to ordinary people like them...

“Tsk, tsk…”

Gu Yin clicked his tongue but didn’t dwell on it. The only reason he participated was for the promised two hundred yuan a day plus a car allowance. He never expected to become famous through the show.

Two hundred yuan—not much, but enough for ten pounds of pork…

Scratch that, with pork prices rising, maybe seven or eight pounds at best.

If he brought it home to his mother, she’d be happy for days.

Maybe it was rush hour—the platform pushed a bit of traffic to participating drivers, so there were a few scattered messages in his livestream:

[Ride-hailing driver? What’s so interesting about this…]

[The next wave of ride-hailing will be replaced by robot taxis. Who even takes these rides anymore?]

[Teaching at the driving school by day, driving ride-hailing at night? Bro, your life’s pretty rough!]

…

Gu Yin, driving, had no time to pay attention to the comments. For one thing, checking his phone while driving could get him points deducted; city surveillance was strict, and he couldn’t afford to lose his hard-earned money to traffic police.

For another…

Rush hour meant traffic jams. One careless moment and someone would cut in front of you!

To be fair, the traffic here was truly awful!

Jingshi Road in Spring City—twenty-four lanes, bidirectional—was said to be wide enough to serve as a runway, stretching east to west across the entire city.

People from out of town, especially those from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, envied the wide lanes. But locals knew exactly how congested this road could get!

At five or six in the evening, rush hour, it was gridlock from east to west!

Anyone leaving work who didn’t live downtown, unless they took the elevated highway, would almost certainly end up on this road.

Spring City, not a first-tier city, lagging behind Island City in economic development, was famous as a provincial capital for its electric bikes, stewed pork, spring water, and—most of all—traffic jams.

And the more jammed it was…

The more some people loved to stir things up!

For instance, as Gu Yin waited at a left-turn lane for the red light, a black Tesla Model Y approached, blinker on, trying to cut in.

Cutting in line...

It was normal.

Anyone who’d experienced morning or evening rush hour on Jingshi Road knew that “cutting in” was second nature to some experienced drivers—like eating or drinking water.

When the road was blocked, if there were fewer cars in one lane, they’d immediately switch lanes. Honking was useless; some reacted so quickly that by the time you honked, they’d already sped off, leaving you staring at their taillights.

[No manners…]

In the livestream, a few viewers who’d been pushed in couldn’t help but spit out a comment.

Anyone who’s driven knows what it’s like to be cut off. The country had never issued specific laws against it, so some people always bent the rules.

Rumor had it that legislation had been proposed, but who knew if it would pass…

It was rush hour after all; people, exhausted from a day’s work, were desperate to get home to family and warmth. The traffic jam stretched far ahead, and waiting patiently at this intersection could take fifteen or twenty minutes…

But if you cut in, you could follow the straight lane’s green light, slip to the front of the left-turn queue, and get through in just a few minutes—no waiting required.

So…

Those who thought themselves clever chose to cut in!

This Tesla owner was clearly one of them. Seeing the solid line approaching, Gu Yin happened to be in the right spot. He’d started a bit late because he’d been wiping the lens, and the Tesla owner had set his sights on him.

Though the left-turn light was green, traffic was so slow that the Tesla couldn’t just squeeze in—there was still some distance.

The viewers assumed Gu Yin would yield, but at that moment…

“Honk honk!!”

A fierce blare resounded through the livestream.

“Vroom!”

Gu Yin pressed the horn, then floored the gas, darting in from the inside lane!

He made it clear he wasn’t letting the Tesla cut in!

Fierce!

[Oh ho?]

The viewers’ eyes lit up—this young, handsome ride-hailing driver was unexpectedly spirited!

Interesting!

Entertaining!

Keep watching!

…