“Alright, we’ll wait until the middle of the night before going out. That old woman won’t be guarding the back door at that hour, so we can leave then.” It was He Yuping’s first time doing something like this, but for her daughter’s sake, she forced down the unease in her heart.
Not wanting her short legs to suffer, He Caiwei directly pulled her mother to the room with the vehicles. He Yuping was stunned by the sight of a room full of cars, unable to recover for a long time.
What kind of heavenly treasure had her daughter obtained? How could it even contain such precious things? And these were far prettier than the two big, black, ugly metal machines in the Qu residence.
When He Yuping saw the mini car, her eyes lit up instantly. It was a pink, four-seater electric mini car with two adorable bunny ears stuck on top. Those ears completely melted her heart.
“My dear girl, is there a way to learn how to use this? I want to learn.” After circling the car several times, He Yuping finally remembered that she didn’t know how to drive and quickly pulled her daughter aside to ask in a low voice.
“I know how, but I don’t know how to teach you. We can check if there are videos on the TV,” He Caiwei said. With her short arms and legs, she couldn’t reach the pedals or properly teach, so the only option was to look for tutorials.
Hearing this, He Yuping instantly became excited and even forgot about leaving later. Her main goal now was to learn how to drive that cute little car.
Back in the living room, He Caiwei found her an instructional video for automatic cars. Driving an electric car only required an automatic license—something her instructor had told her when she learned to drive.
Seeing her mother watching the video with great interest, she returned to the warehouse and moved the mini car her mother liked to an open area outside.
It looked like a place used for drying rice—wide and spacious, at least over 200 meters in length and width. Plenty of room to practice.
After setting up a practice area for her mother, she went back to the kitchen to prepare some pastries. Back in college, she had worked part-time at pastry shops and cake stores. Her favorites were traditional Chinese pastries and chiffon cakes.
Of course, she had picked up skills along the way. The master chefs, seeing her diligence, would occasionally teach her. She believed she had a good eye for learning and had mastered everything she was taught.
After being here for more than ten days, she had tried the local desserts but found them overly sweet and greasy. Thinking of cake naturally made her think of milk tea.
Back in college, her dormmates practically lived on milk tea every day. But for her, with her limited finances, a cup costing over ten yuan was only affordable occasionally—not daily.
So she spent a summer working at a milk tea shop and learned how to make all kinds of drinks.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t cook in her dorm, so even after learning, she couldn’t make it herself. Still, during those two months, she got to drink milk tea for free every day—which was one of the perks she loved most.
Thinking about milk tea made her crave it. She ran to the warming cabinet but found none, then checked the refrigerator. When she first arrived, both had already been stocked, but she hadn’t taken a close look until now.
Opening the top compartment of the fridge, she found it filled with drinks—yogurt, fresh milk, probiotic drinks, even sports beverages.
Then she noticed the top shelf of the cabinet was stocked with milk tea—every kind imaginable: pearl milk tea, grass jelly milk tea, double-skin milk, and various fruit juices.
She grabbed a cup of milk tea and took a big gulp, letting out a satisfied sigh. It felt like she had finally come back to life.
After finishing her pastries and milk tea, she stepped out of the kitchen, only to find her mother no longer in the living room. Just as she was wondering where she had gone, she heard a car horn outside. Startled, she rushed out—only to see her mother sitting in the car with a look of pure satisfaction. She let out a sigh of relief.
She couldn’t help but think her mother might be a bit too excited. She had only watched the video once—how did she already dare to try driving? That was some serious courage. Although the practice area was wide and free of obstacles, not many would dare try after just one viewing.
What shocked her even more came next. After only figuring out the buttons and gears, He Yuping boldly started the car and drove off. Aside from a bit of awkwardness at the beginning, she quickly got the hang of it.
In just one hour, her driving skills were almost on par with an experienced driver.
Her mother was truly unbeatable when it came to learning new skills.
After eventually getting herself a bit dizzy from driving in circles, He Yuping got out and returned to her daughter.
“My dear, you’re out! Driving is so easy—it’s not even as hard as embroidery. By the way, do we have cars like the ones at the Qu residence? I want to learn those too. And trucks and cargo vehicles. Oh, and are there books or videos on car repairs? I want to study that as well.”
Still riding the excitement of learning to drive, He Yuping knew that this cute little car couldn’t be taken outside. But ever since she saw cars at the Qu residence, she had wanted to learn. Back then, that old man would never have allowed it, so she never mentioned it.
Now, with no one around, she could finally learn at her own pace. As for learning repairs, it was because drivers nowadays usually knew how to fix minor issues themselves, which saved a lot of trouble on the road.
“I don’t know if there are repair books or videos, but I’ll check for you later. As for cars, yes—we have one exactly like those at the Qu residence. There are also trucks and cargo vehicles just like the ones outside.”
He Caiwei knew she couldn’t dampen her mother’s enthusiasm anytime soon, so she let it be.
After all, her mother was even a year younger than she had been when she entered college—of course she’d be curious about everything. She had been the same back then.
“Mom, are you hungry? Let’s eat first. After that, I’ll check the time outside. We need to leave soon—it’s not safe to stay here too long.”
“I know,” He Yuping said, calming down slightly. “I’ll eat first, then change into something worn and shabby so no one recognizes us.”
As she ate, she was already planning ahead—if they could take that little car outside, they’d move much faster. And since it made almost no noise, they wouldn’t have to worry about attracting attention.