Chapter Seven: The Intricacies of the Insurance Company

The people at these insurance companies really know their tricks. When a traffic accident happens and you take your car to their designated repair shop, they decide how many parts are broken and how much the repair cost will be, all based on your policy. In the end, any profit still ends up in their pockets.

Besides, the next year’s car insurance premium hikes due to a claim are borne by the policyholder. They’d actually prefer if you had an accident!

Perhaps because he also worked in insurance, Wang Lu was fully aware of this, which made his expression even more unpleasant at the time.

Of course, these things were none of Gu Yin’s concern. After signing the accident liability acknowledgment and agreeing to take the car to the repair shop the next day, Gu Yin drove off casually under Wang Lu’s venomous, resentful gaze.

“Drip, drip...”

Outside the car window, rain continued to fall. Although the front of the car was dented and some paint scratched off, Gu Yin’s mood remained unaffected. After all...

The other party would compensate him for lost wages!

For those driving ride-hailing cars, it’s not so bad. Many taxi drivers share the belief: if someone cuts you off, just hit them. The other party not only has to pay for your repairs but also compensate for your lost income. You get to rest during that time—a sort of paid leave by proxy. Why wouldn’t you want that?

The dim streetlamps cast their yellow glow on the car window, and under the shimmering raindrops, colorful, dreamlike reflections danced—like those magnificent dreams that Gu Yin swiftly wiped away with a click of the windshield wiper.

“All right, bye-bye, friends.”

Waiting at a red light before getting on the overpass, Gu Yin glanced at the clock—it was past six o’clock. He casually took off the camera pinned to his chest. The show required at least eight hours of recording daily, and he had already met his livestream quota for the day. Every extra second worked was a loss for a laborer like him.

He gave a self-mocking smile as he “said goodbye” to the camera, thinking that his farewell was pointless since surely no one was watching his stream.

About twenty minutes later, around half past six in the evening, Gu Yin finally returned to his residential complex.

Lishan New Garden, a redevelopment area of an old village, located on the outskirts of a small county town far from the city center. The six-story buildings had no elevators, and local residents were relatively few. At night, only a handful of apartments showed scattered lights.

Nowadays, those with means had moved to the city to buy homes. Even those without means worked for generations to afford a new residence in the county’s center despite high shared areas. Those left behind in the old, dilapidated buildings were mostly elderly people.

See?

“Boom, boom, boom...”

At the entrance of the complex, a group of elderly folks twisted and danced energetically in a square dance. Some mimicked dragon dancers; others wielded whips, full of vigor without a hint of stress.

“Nine Sister, Nine Sister, beautiful sister...”

An old man sang off-key with a hoarse voice, without a care for disturbing others. Surprisingly, the nearby elders even praised his singing.

“When will someone just put an end to this lot...”

Gu Yin shook his head and parked his car in front of a street lined with night food stalls.

This was a pedestrian street, quite old-fashioned. The offerings weren’t anything special: fried skewers, wraps, claypot rice noodles, meat-and-egg burgers, stir-fried cakes, noodles, rice noodles, starch sausages, grilled squid... and so on.

Still, it was lively. Almost every stall had a crowd waiting for their food to be ready.

Near Gu Yin’s neighborhood was an industrial park with several universities. Because the relocation housing lacked elevators and was cheaper to rent, many office workers and students chose to live here. After work or class, they often came out to find something to eat, supporting this street’s livelihood as a food hub.

Gu Yin once read a book that said, “Big cities are illusions of this country; small towns are its reality.”

This bustling street, full of the scent of everyday life, perfectly embodied that truth.

Cutting through the crowd alone, Gu Yin stopped at a stall selling stir-fried cakes, noodles, and rice noodles. He called out:

“Uncle Liu, one order of stir-fried cake, no spice.”

The thin, lean man working the gas stove wiped sweat from his brow as the flames roared with the help of a blower. Holding a large, bent iron wok, he flipped the food repeatedly. He looked up at Gu Yin and smiled broadly:

“Little Yin, working late today?”

“Yeah, picked up a few more orders,” Gu Yin replied casually as he took out his phone to scan the payment code.

“Ah, forget it, forget it...” Uncle Liu pressed down the code, saying, “Your mom seems to have gone to the hospital again today. It’s tough on you. This one’s on me.”

“Business is business,” Gu Yin pulled his hand away and insisted on paying.

“You kid...” Uncle Liu shook his head with a wry smile. While cooking Gu Yin’s order, he secretly added an egg and some shredded meat.

The waiting for the stir-fried cake was slow. After a whole day of driving, Gu Yin’s neck wasn’t feeling great, so he didn’t scroll through his phone. His eyes wandered casually around, relaxing.

Unintentionally, his gaze landed on a girl standing by the rice noodle stall to the right, carrying a white canvas backpack.

She was tall, about the height of a cornstalk, with fair, delicate skin. Her long, wavy hair fell loosely down her back. Her features were slightly sharp, resembling a little fox, both alluring and captivating.

Seeing her, Gu Yin paused briefly. By coincidence or not, the girl, having received her noodles, turned and locked eyes with him.

“Brother Gu? What a coincidence.”

The girl smiled sweetly and naturally, puckering her lips slightly as she waved her delicate hand.

“Working late tonight?”

“No, I just ran a few ride-hailing orders,” Gu Yin replied with his hands in his pockets.

“Really hardworking. I envy you car owners,” she said sympathetically and added, “Some colleagues at our school want to learn to drive. I’ll recommend you to them.”

“Thanks,” Gu Yin nodded.

“Well, I’ll head off then. See you.”

With another sweet, natural smile, the girl walked away.

Watching her graceful figure disappear, Gu Yin smirked slightly, showing a hint of helplessness.

“Your cake’s ready.”

Just then, Uncle Liu handed Gu Yin the stir-fried cake.

Following Gu Yin’s gaze to the departing girl, Uncle Liu scratched his head and remarked,

“Hey, isn’t that the young kindergarten teacher? Didn’t you two go on a blind date around last New Year?”

“... At your age, your eyesight’s still pretty sharp, huh.”

Gu Yin rolled his eyes silently as he took the food.

The sweet-faced girl’s name was Chen Yunjin. Last year, she was an intern teacher at a nearby kindergarten. Gu Yin’s relative had a grandson studying there and, hearing she was single, thought to set them up since Gu Yin wasn’t young anymore. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out...

...