Cutting In and Crashing – Is This Your Driving School Instructor? 6

Chapter 6 Xia Xiangsi

January 21, 2025

Chapter 6 Xia Xiangsi

The guests invited to the “Reconciling with Life” program spanned various industries and categories; everyone was essentially pre-categorized.

Gu Yin fell under the automotive category.

Cars, inherently intertwined with most people’s daily lives, possess inherent popularity—second only to celebrities and internet influencers—making this category consistently high-traffic on the program.

Besides driving instructors like Gu Yin and ride-hailing/taxi drivers, the category included car enthusiasts, automotive bloggers, and even car salespeople.

There was even a famous entrepreneur, Lei Bus (a reference to a real-life Chinese tech mogul), who successfully transitioned from the mobile phone industry to the automotive industry.

Unsurprisingly, the biggest traffic drivers in this category were the influencer bloggers. These individuals flaunted multi-million-dollar luxury cars, inherently attracting a large audience.

Normally, this category was entirely dominated by them; even the lowest-tier automotive bloggers and salespeople vastly outweighed ordinary drivers…

However, Gu Yin, a driving instructor and ride-hailing driver, experienced a sharp surge in his viewership. While still far from the top influencers, he significantly outpaced many of his peers and even surpassed several automotive bloggers with built-in audiences!

This was unexpected…

This phenomenon quickly caught the attention of the program’s relevant personnel.

“Who is this Gu Yin?”

The chief director in charge of the automotive category’s live stream was Han Chuan. He was a former professional race car driver and author who successfully transitioned to filmmaking, with his films appearing annually during the New Year’s period; he now ranks among the renowned directors.

In the program’s early stages, the core team aimed to make it a nationally watched program. Therefore, the platform spent a significant sum to hire Han Chuan to supervise the automotive category live stream, even though the automotive category wasn’t the program’s most popular. This illustrates the program’s high caliber.

“He… doesn’t have much of a background…” a staff member said while reviewing his profile, “His profile shows nothing remarkable. After graduating from university, he seems to have driven for a few years in a small racing team in a lower-tier city, but never achieved any significant results. Later, his mother’s health deteriorated, so he retired and became a driving instructor through family connections…”

The staff member paused, then added: “Oh, right, he seems to have participated in a music talent show during college, but was eliminated before even getting past the campus auditions.”

“A driving instructor suddenly gains so much attention? How?” Han Chuan scratched his head, glancing at the data. “Retention is quite high; once they join, they don’t leave… Is the live stream quality that good?”

“Seems like it,” the staff member in charge of Gu Yin replied, “He was involved in a traffic accident; he hit a car that cut him off.”

“Ah?”

Han Chuan was stunned, then chuckled:

“Oh, that’s not surprising. I’d enjoy watching that happen on the road, too.”

He obtained Gu Yin’s live stream recording from the staff member, fast-forwarded to the evening traffic accident, and watched the events unfold. Han Chuan laughed, especially when he saw Gu Yin accelerate and hit the BYD Qin that aggressively cut him off; he inexplicably felt a sense of satisfaction.

“Is this the appeal of a male-oriented ‘feel-good’ novel?” He thought, “This is more exciting than any action movie!”

Director Han’s reputation was impressive; an award-winning international top-level race car driver. However, even the most skilled race car drivers must abide by traffic rules on public roads. Professional drivers, in fact, must be even more meticulous in following rules and setting a good example, otherwise they will be “used as a negative example”…

Therefore, even he often encountered “cutting in” while driving, which made him angry because he wanted to hit them, but even though he could afford it, his public persona prevented such impulsiveness.

Gu Yin did what even he wouldn’t dare to do. His high viewership was understandable.

“We can give him some promotion tomorrow, see if we can boost him further.”

On the first day of broadcasting, other categories had several “dark horses,” but his was lackluster. At lunchtime, when several directors ate together, he felt embarrassed. This made him feel deeply uninspired.

Gu Yin unexpectedly gave him hope for a “dark horse,” making Director Han feel relieved.

It is worth mentioning that when closing Gu Yin’s live stream replay, he inadvertently glanced at Gu Yin’s IP address…

“Quanzhou?” He frowned, asking the staff member next to him: “Isn’t Xia Xiangsi also there?”

“Uhhh… it seems so. Xia Xiangsi seems to have stayed home since posting her retirement announcement, and paparazzi spotted her recently.” the staff member replied.

“Tsk tsk, such a pity…” Mentioning the name “Xia Xiangsi,” a hint of melancholy flashed in Han Chuan’s eyes: “If she had joined this program, there wouldn’t be room for those flashy women to show off.”

…

The handling of the traffic accident was uneventful. Although Wang Lu, the driver of the vehicle that cut Gu Yin off, persistently distorted the facts, claiming Gu Yin rear-ended him, the traffic police weren’t blind. It was obvious he had cut in, even across a solid white line; he was clearly at fault.

His driving license only lost 3 points, but the fine was a hefty 400 yuan.

Wang Lu was unconvinced, arguing that cutting in across a solid white line should only result in a 3-point deduction and a 200 yuan fine. Why 400 yuan?!

It was almost a day’s wages…

Regarding this, the officer glared at him and bluntly stated that this was a major urban thoroughfare during rush hour. How many left-turning vehicles were blocked because of his reckless driving?

Was a 200 yuan fine enough compensation?

400 yuan was a bargain!

Traffic regulations clearly stipulate that if an accident causes a traffic jam due to the failure to promptly clear the scene, the traffic police have the right to impose a 200 yuan fine.

In such congested urban areas, evidence should be photographed, and vehicles moved to a safe area to avoid disrupting traffic flow. However, due to Wang Lu’s “road rage,” Gu Yin “didn’t dare” to get out of the car, causing a traffic jam, which led to the increased fine.

But you think that was all?

No!

He also had to apologize to Gu Yin for the accident caused by his cutting in and pay for Gu Yin’s vehicle repairs and lost wages. If Gu Yin wished, he could even claim for emotional distress.

Of course, these matters were handled by the insurance company…

Wang Lu’s insurance representative arrived relatively quickly. He was a slightly oily middle-aged man with a fleshy face and a kind smile, repeatedly assuring both parties that their vehicles would be repaired at their designated locations and returned to them in perfect condition.

Wang Lu almost felt the guy was happy about his accident…

And in fact…

He probably should be happy!

…

(End of Chapter)

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