Chapter 56

This summer, Li Qian had a very pleasant time.

Although he still spent one to two hours every day studying Russian and reviewing his lessons, after all, for the majority of the day, he was free.

During this free summer, he did three major things.

The first thing was that he learned ten Russian songs.

Well, singing wasn't really difficult for him. If it were in Chinese or even English, he wouldn't have found it much of a challenge, but Russian songs were a bit more difficult for him.

So, with the aim of both improving his Russian and getting to know some foreign music, he diligently flipped through the Russian dictionary, translating the songs on the Russian cassette tape that the previous Li Qian had left behind, one by one. Then, he learned to sing them while memorizing the lyrics. In the end, it took him about half a month to successfully learn all the songs on the tape.

Surprisingly, when he tried to rearrange the music for two of the songs on his guitar and performed them at the restaurant, the effect was quite good. That day, the tips were dozens of yuan more than usual! And there were even repeat customers who came back just to hear him sing Russian songs.

Unfortunately, when the previous Li Qian bought the tape, he was more interested in the female singer's face and figure, so most of the songs on the tape were just easy-listening songs. After much selection, Li Qian only found two that barely met his taste. So, he had to keep singing these two songs, which made his repeat customers unhappy. One of them even took out a hundred-yuan note to urge him to change the song, which made Li Qian quite embarrassed.

Well, the second thing was getting a driver's license.

When Li Qian took his driver's license in his previous life, the process in China had already been standardized, and it was no longer possible to get a license just by paying some money. So, he had to study diligently, and the process was so arduous that it could be described as a living hell.

So, when he learned that in this timeline, one could apply for a driver's license at the age of sixteen, Li Qian immediately signed up, but he was mentally prepared for a few months of hardship. However, to his surprise, the process of applying for a driver's license in this timeline was incredibly easy—no driving school was even needed!

He registered with the relevant department, paid the fee, and left his phone number. The next day, they called him, and after setting the exam time, Li Qian went to the test site, got into the car, started the engine, and drove around the large field. After getting out, the examiner in the passenger seat told him he had passed and to go to class!

The so-called class consisted of eight sessions, which for a working person might take one or two weekends, but for Li Qian, it took less than two days. Then, they gave him a test paper with 100 multiple-choice questions, and after he completed it, OK, he got his driver's license!

Li Qian felt this was the easiest certificate he had ever obtained in his two lives!

Well, the third thing was that the Li family bought a car.

Actually, as early as when Liao Liao's album began to be widely sung on the streets, the money that Li Qian had been forced to keep in his father's hands had already been released. Even Li Dad and Li Mom, who didn't understand popular music, realized that the songs their son had written were already quite popular. And as Liao Liao's album sold better and became more famous, and her songs and news began to appear frequently on TV, Li Dad and Li Mom had no more objections.

So, following Li Qian's earlier suggestion, Li Dad and Li Mom began to seriously consider buying a car for their son.

If he were buying a car for himself, considering his habit of modifying cars as soon as he got them, Li Qian would definitely choose some niche but easy-to-modify models, or at least a small hot hatch. But since he was buying it for his dad, the standards were different. Stability, durability, and safety became the most important considerations. As for power, Li Qian thought that with his dad's steady personality, as long as it was sufficient, it would be fine.

He originally planned to choose a more prestigious compact car from the German brands BBA. After all, he had earned some money and wanted to show off a bit by buying a car that would make his parents proud. Not to mention, German cars subconsciously gave a sense of stability and safety, and from his experience in modifying cars in his previous life, German cars had the best chassis.

Of course, the most important factor was that the exchange rate in this timeline was very different from the one in the timeline where Li Qian had lived before. Here, one US dollar was equivalent to 2.01 Chinese yuan. So, even though he only earned 400,000 yuan from selling five songs, in his previous timeline, this would have been enough to buy a mid-range BBA car. If he were to buy a compact Mercedes A, B, BMW 1 series, or 2 series, he would have some money left over, but not much. However, in the current timeline, an imported Mercedes B series started at around 80,000 yuan, with the top model costing less than 150,000 yuan. So, 400,000 yuan was not a lot, but buying a compact BBA car for his dad was completely stress-free.

However, as soon as he mentioned this plan, it was immediately rejected by Li Dad and Li Mom.

On Saturday, the three of them visited about seven or eight 4S stores, including European, American, domestic, and joint venture brands. They spent the whole day looking, and Li Mom liked every car they saw, but she would frown when she heard the price. Finally, they went to a Mercedes store, and Li Mom particularly liked a B180, saying it was perfect in every way. She even touched the hood and felt that the paint was the smoothest.

After a night of intense discussion, Li Dad and Li Mom finally decided to buy a 10,000-yuan Great Wall D0.

Li Qian was speechless.

So, they continued looking at cars the next day.

By 3 PM, they finally decided on a car: a Guangzhou Volkswagen Jetta.

The top model, with a 1.5L engine, cost 34,000 yuan.

Although Li Qian, who had already had his driver's license for over a month, was eager to try it out, he lost interest in the car as soon as they bought it. But since the car was for his parents, as long as they were happy, that was fine.

Of course, even in this timeline, China had already undergone reform and opening up, and the economy had been developing rapidly. However, in 1995, a 34,000-yuan joint venture car was still enough to make many people envious. But to protect their son, the elderly couple smiled when asked but only said they had saved for years to buy it, without mentioning their son.

So... well, the Li family finally became a car-owning family.

However, after the car was registered, Li Qian didn't have much interest in admiring his father's love for the car, which he spent hours looking at every day, because although school was about to start, Wang Jinglu had returned from the capital.

***

PS1: The first major climax is coming to an end, and the second act is about to begin. To be honest, writing five to six thousand words a day has made me dizzy, and some of the plot threads in the later parts haven't been fully sorted out, so I'm a bit constrained in writing.

PS2: I know this chapter is short and doesn't cover much, and you're probably not satisfied. But my father is not feeling well, and I have to go to the hospital to stay with him tonight, so I really don't have time to write more. I can only apologize for today.