Chapter 107 - 092 National Male God, Heartthrob
Two people hailed a taxi.
The driver was in his forties, with a potbelly and a bald head, and possessed the shrewdness characteristic of Capital City residents.
Seeing that the two passengers had come from the airport, he thought they were out-of-towners, ideal targets for overcharging.
"Are you returning from a trip, or are you here in Capital City for business?" the driver asked tentatively, his hands on the steering wheel as the car slowly merged into the lane.
The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. The very young woman was wearing a baseball cap that covered the upper half of her face, but the visible part of her mouth and the contour of her chin were exquisitely beautiful, creating a mysterious allure that made the heart skip a beat.
He couldn’t help but take a few more glimpses, wondering how beautiful the girl would be if she took off her hat.
Suddenly, the young man looked over with a pair of deep black eyes that quietly fixed on him. The already cramped interior of the taxi seemed to close in even tighter, making breathing difficult.
The driver’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned his head away.
"Tonghe Shengshi." came the man’s deep voice.
Tonghe Shengshi? That was a high-end residential area where many celebrities and entrepreneurs lived. Unsure of the couple’s status, the driver couldn’t pin down his prey.
Yun Ya answered a phone call on the way; it was from Professor Bird. Having heard she had returned to Country Hua’s Jingdu City, he wanted to introduce her to someone. After all, she had been living abroad for ten years and was unfamiliar with everything upon her return. As the old saying goes, having connections makes things easier, and Professor Bird hoped to help her avoid unnecessary detours.
Professor Bird sent over the contact details, leaving the choice of meeting location up to her.
After hanging up the phone, Yun Ya held onto her mobile phone, feeling a warmth in her heart.
She remembered the first time she met Professor Bird; he didn’t mince words and kicked her out. She had waited outside his house all night; the German November evening was unexpectedly cold, and she had almost passed out from the freeze but refused to give up.
Early the next morning, Professor Bird, out for his morning exercise, found Yun Ya huddled at his doorstep, her lips blue from the cold. He didn’t know whether to be angry or to feel pity but in the end, took her into his home.
She told him about her and Miaomiao’s story without hiding her motives. After all, her pursuit of medicine wasn’t to be an Angel in White, healing and saving lives; it was for Miaomiao, and she had always been clear about that goal.
Professor Bird had looked at her deeply and asked her a question.
"What if your brother can never be cured? What would you do?"
Without hesitation, she replied, "Even so, I would accept it. At least I will have tried my best. But even when I’m eighty, I will not give up."
Perhaps it was the determination in her voice that eventually moved Professor Bird. He made an exception and took her on as a student, the youngest one he had ever had.
Professor Bird and his wife had shared honor and disgrace over the decades, and their only son had died in a car accident five years earlier. With no children of their own, Yun Ya, clever and endearing, quickly won the affection of Professor Bird’s wife, who came to dote on her as if she were her own granddaughter.
Remembering the two elderly people, Yun Ya’s lips curled into a slight smile.
This time, she hadn’t brought Miaomiao with her but left her in the care of Professor Bird. Both Professor Bird and his wife were fond of Miaomiao, who had previously visited the professor’s home and showed no aversion toward the couple.
Once she settled down in the country, she would then consider bringing Miaomiao back.
The car stopped at the entrance of the community. The driver glanced at the glowing red numbers on the meter and turned to smile, "That will be one hundred and thirty-seven yuan."
Qin Du frowned slightly but didn’t care to argue with the driver. He took out his wallet to pay, when Yun Ya suddenly raised her hand to stop him.
"From the airport to the community, the total time is twenty-three minutes, including waiting at five red lights for three minutes. Traveling at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, the total distance is 20 kilometers. The base fare is 16 yuan, and each kilometer beyond the initial fifteen is charged at 4 yuan. Therefore, 16 + (20 - 15) × 4 = 96 yuan. Uncle driver, are you trying to rip us off because you think we can’t do math?"
The girl spoke very fast, with a nearly cruel calmness. The driver, taken aback, looked up and suddenly found himself caught in the gaze of the girl’s eyes; for a moment, he felt his heart might stop beating.
"I... the meter clearly indicates the amount. Are you trying to skip out on the bill?" the driver retorted.
Yun Ya smiled, took out her phone, and prepared to make a call, "Nowadays, there’s a widespread crackdown on illegal taxis in the country. I’m sure the police would be interested in this one that slipped through the net."
The driver immediately panicked, realizing he had met his match, "It’s my bad luck, then. Let’s just call it 96 yuan."