Zhang Heng was a little embarrassed to be sent back to his dormitory by a girl every time. He had the GPS on his phone, and he could have found his way back himself, but Ameko insisted on sending him back to school.
To thank her, Zhang Heng could only treat her to dinner at the cafeteria. Ever since he started working at the western restaurant, Zhang Heng's pressing financial problems had been solved. Now, he had an income of about 70,000 yen a month.
This amount of money would allow him to continue living in this city, but that was as far as he could go. It was too unrealistic to rely on this method to buy a car. Zhang Heng had not found a solution for now, but he did have some ideas on how to improve his driving skills.
On the way back, Zhang Heng asked for Ameko's father's name. Turning on his phone, he typed in Takaya Kurahara's name, and all the results were related to Kurahara Seafood.
Everything looked normal.
He then used a photo-retouching tool to crop out the man in the photo, enlarged his face, and uploaded it to facesaerch. It was a facial search engine built on Google's API, and it could capture similar photos online.
But the results were average, and the deviation was sometimes quite large. Forget Bai Baihe's photo, even Takeshi Kaneshiro could get Zhao Benshan.
Looking at the sea of photos that popped up, Zhang Heng knew he had something to do tonight.
…
The next morning, Zhang Heng slept in, which he rarely did. Since there was no class and he did not have to work in the morning, he only got out of bed at 10 am, but he did not forget to make up for his morning jog.
After breakfast (or lunch), Zhang Heng received two text messages from Ameko. One was, "Thank you so much for yesterday," and the other was, "Momo drank too much toilet water and seems to have diarrhea. I'm taking her to the vet."
Zhang Heng used the Japanese he had just learned to reply, "Be careful on the road," and set Kurahara Seafood as his destination.
This was the first time he went on a long trip without Ameko. Luckily, he had the map and his memory, and he managed to reach the place he left yesterday after an hour and a half.
This time, the stubbled man did not continue sleeping in, but he looked like he had just woken up. He was wearing slippers and a pair of shorts, and a sleeping robe, standing outside the door, inspecting a batch of shrimp and shellfish.
When he turned his head and saw Zhang Heng, he was startled. Zhang Heng was shouting something he didn't understand, and he retreated to search for a weapon around him. Seeing that Zhang Heng had no intention of stopping, he took out his phone and pretended to call 110.
"I heard from Ameko that you can understand English?" Zhang Heng said in English.
"So what if I am?" The stubbled man grabbed a mop and gripped it tightly like a drowning man clutching at a life-saving straw. "Hey, kid, I'm warning you! Even if you're Ameko's boyfriend, you have no right to meddle in our family's business! If you don't leave now, I'll call the police!"
"I'm not here for what happened yesterday." Zhang Heng shook his head. "Shall we talk inside?"
"Don't, don't move! Don't try to use this trick to get close to me, the same move won't work on a saint seiya! " The stubbled man raised his voice and bluffed. It seemed that the fall yesterday had caused quite a bit of psychological trauma to him.
Since he was speaking in English, he did not have to worry about the people around him overhearing him. Hence, he did not insist on entering the house. "Then I'll get straight to the point. I want you to teach me how to run an underground race."
"…"
The man was taken aback. "You want a seafood shop owner to teach you how to race? Is your English not good enough, or is there a problem with my hearing? What is this, a new cold joke from Easter? "
He paused, then continued, "Didn't Ameko tell you? I don't know how to drive at all. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many orders after the delivery man quit. "The stubble man pointed at the pile of seafood that was about to be boxed up with a helpless expression.
"Your English is a little too good for a self-taught person. Takeda Tetsuya, or should I call you Yosuke Tsuchiya?
"A talented racer who became famous at a young age. He went to Europe after graduating from high school. He attracted the attention of sponsors with his excellent driving skills and successfully joined the FIA.
GT Grand Prix, his best result was second place in New York, but he had to return to China because he offended the team's management.
You were the champion of the Grand Prix in Tokyo, and you started challenging for the DK title in the same year. Twenty-two of Tokyo's 23 districts' underground racers lost to you, but they gave up at the last minute and disappeared without a trace, "Zhang Heng said slowly.
"I don't know who you're talking about." The stubbled man said with a straight face, "Kid, if you want to race, go ahead. Don't stand in front of my seafood shop and disturb my business."
Even though he tried his best to look calm, Zhang Heng kept staring at his face. He noticed that his pupils shrank when he heard the name Yosuke Tsuchiya. Zhang Heng was ninety percent sure that he had found Yosuke Tsuchiya.
"Why quit? Why did you change your name to Takeda Tetsuya? Don't you want to be found?"
The stubbled man's expression finally changed. "Kid, are you threatening me?"
"Are you finally admitting it, Achiya-san?"
"I didn't admit to anything," the stubbled man said warily.
Zhang Heng did not force the man any further. He just wanted to confirm the stubbled man's identity. Even though the man exuded an aura of a scumbag who would not lie down until he was insulted, he was lucky this time because of Ameko. Zhang Heng did not intend to threaten him with exposure, but he did not deny it either.
"Don't you need a delivery man? What do you think of me? I'll help you deliver the goods. I don't need a salary. In exchange, you can teach me how to race. "
The words' no salary 'made the stubbled man's eyes light up. He quickly weighed the pros and cons in his mind, mainly the consequences of rejecting Zhang Heng. After a while, his eyes turned. Zhang Heng knew that the man was tempted, but the unscrupulous nature of a businessman made Takeda Tetsuya ask, "I'll teach you how to race, and you help me deliver the goods and pay for my tuition?"
"…"
"I'm asking for a mile after giving you an inch. Fine, forget about the tuition." The stubbled man saw the change in Zhang Heng's expression and quickly changed his mind. "But let's get this out of the way first. We need to set three rules. First of all, don't mention the name Yosuke Tsuchiya ever again. There's no such person here. Second, you're not master and apprentice. I'm your boss, and you're my delivery man. I'm just worried that you'll be too slow and hold up business, so I'm just giving you a few pointers. How much you learn is up to you. Third, keep this a secret from Ameko. "
"And one more rule. Don't ask Ameko for money again," Zhang Heng added.
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