Cub's Dad Chapter 31

 Chapter 31

Gu Yanzhi sat quietly in the car for a while, then picked up his light brain and quickly dialed Fang Ziyu's number.

It took a while for the other side to answer, and the voice that came through was weak and heavy with sleepiness, "Young Master, Young Master Gu, do you know what time it is in Zone Three right now?"

Zone Three was ten hours behind the main star; it was 5:30 here, so it must be 3:30 AM there.

Gu Yanzhi felt a bit guilty for waking his friend, but the situation on his end was indeed urgent.

Gu Yanzhi got straight to the point: "Is your car modification shop still open?"

When Fang Ziyu was in college, he was obsessed with car modifications for a while. To get more sponsorship money from his father, he started a car modification shop under the guise of "entrepreneurship."

Gu Yanzhi remembered that the car modification shop was near the university town, not far from here.

"It's still open. Do you want to modify a car?"

Gu Yanzhi didn't have time to explain: "I need to use it for a bit."

Fang Ziyu, still not fully awake, thought Gu Yanzhi just wanted to modify a car: "Sure, just go there directly. I'll send you the address."

"Thanks."

Gu Yanzhi hung up the phone and received the address a few seconds later.

It was on Taixing Road, about a half-hour drive from here, and a bit farther from Yunshan Kindergarten.

Gu Yanzhi directly forwarded the address to Xie Yishu, opened the navigation, and drove there.

He had good luck along the way, encountering few red lights and driving quickly, arriving ten minutes earlier than the navigation had estimated.

Fang Ziyu had been very dedicated to car modifications at the time, putting a lot of effort into the car modification shop. He personally handled the site selection and decoration, making the entire shop look quite flashy.

Gu Yanzhi parked the car.

The shop manager was waiting on the side and respectfully greeted him as he got out of the car, "Mr. Gu."

It was evident that although Fang Ziyu was very sleepy, he hadn't forgotten to call the shop and give some instructions in advance.

Gu Yanzhi nodded and said to the shop manager in a calm voice, "Call me Xiao Gu."

The shop manager almost bit his tongue, "Gu, Gu, Xiao, Xiao Mr. Gu."

"Drop the 'Mr.'." Without giving the manager time to react, Gu Yanzhi pointed to the employees nearby, "The uniform they are wearing, give me a set."

The poor manager looked at the employees behind him and then at the boss, who had instructed him to treat Mr. Gu well, "Ah, ah?"

Gu Yanzhi frowned and urged, "Please hurry."

"Ah, ah, please wait a moment." The manager jogged to the back warehouse and soon came out holding several sets of uniforms, "There are several pairs of pants in different sizes, but only one shirt. They are all new. Gu, Xiao Gu, is this okay? Do you want me to contact the factory to send a few more sets?"

"No need." Gu Yanzhi took the uniform and asked the manager, "Is there a place where I can change?"

The manager led Gu Yanzhi to the employee locker room, cautiously saying, "Will this do?"

Gu Yanzhi nodded, walked into the locker room, and closed the door.

The manager looked at the tightly closed locker room door for a moment, exhaled a breath, and turned around to see his employees peeking from a distance.

The manager shooed them back to work, "What are you looking at? Get back to work."

"Manager, who was that just now? Why did he ask for our uniform to wear?"

"Why are you concerned about Mr. Gu? Just take care of your own tasks." The manager shooed them away like little chicks, "Have you finished the paint job on Han Mo's car? Installed the small wings on Pat's car? Changed the tires on Doug's car? Go, go, go, get to work."

After driving the employees away, the manager returned to wait outside the locker room.

He didn't know why the esteemed guest inside wanted to wear their uniform.

Maybe he wanted to personally modify a car for fun.

The manager thought with uncertainty.

Gu Yanzhi finished changing and walked out of the locker room.

The manager stepped forward and asked, "Mr. Gu, Xiao Gu, what kind of modifications would you like to do on the car today?"

"No modifications."

Gu Yanzhi walked out of the modification room, and several mechanics at the shop were standing with their backs to him, gathered around his car.

"Wow, it's a limited edition."

"Is this car going to be modified? Do we even have parts that match up to it?"

"The big boss probably brought his own parts, just like our boss. They wouldn't be interested in the stuff we have here."

"Do you think I can touch it? I'll go wash my hands and make sure not to leave any marks. I've never touched a Paseg in my life..."

Hearing the employees' whispers, the manager's smile became strained.

"You've seen something amusing." The manager said with an apologetic smile, walking over to the employees gathered in front of Gu Yanzhi's car, "What are you all crowding around here for? Get back to work quickly."

One of the employees turned around, "We've already..."

He saw the big boss, the owner of the car, standing behind the manager and stopped himself, swallowing the rest of his words "finished the work" back down.

The group scattered like birds and beasts.

"Wait a moment." Gu Yanzhi called out to one of them, "You, come here."

The one who was called pointed to himself in surprise, "Me?"

Gu Yanzhi nodded.

The one who was called quickly glanced at the manager, who signaled with his eyes, "Go over quickly." The employee hurriedly walked up to Gu Yanzhi, "Boss, what can I do for you?"

Gu Yanzhi looked at the "Outstanding Employee" badge on his uniform and said calmly, "Could you lend me your badge for a moment?"

"...Ah?" The senior mechanic snapped out of his daze and quickly removed the badge from his uniform, "Boss, here you go."

Gu Yanzhi politely said, "Thank you."

He pinned the "Outstanding Employee" badge onto his own chest and, seeing the senior mechanic standing awkwardly, added, "I won't borrow it for free."

"...Ah?"

The manager couldn't stand by any longer and stepped forward to pat his employee on the head, "I'll give you a raise later, now thank Mr. Gu."

The senior mechanic showed a surprised and pleased expression, quickly bowing to Gu Yanzhi, "Thank you, Mr. Gu."

Gu Yanzhi corrected him, "Call me 'Buddy Gu'."

The senior mechanic stumbled over his words, "...Gu, Buddy Gu?"

"Right." Gu Yanzhi gestured to several people squatting under a tree nearby, calling them over.

Once everyone had gathered, Gu Yanzhi spoke up, "From now on, we're colleagues."

Everyone was stunned.

Without giving them time to react, Gu Yanzhi continued, "I've been working here for five years as a 'senior mechanic'."

He pointed to a few younger faces, "You can call me 'Brother Gu'."

Then he pointed to a few who looked to be in their thirties or forties, "You can call me 'Buddy Gu' or 'Xiao Gu'. Manager, you should also call me 'Xiao Gu'."

He concluded, "I will make sure your boss gives you all a raise."

Is this a wealthy person from the upper circles wanting to experience their lower-class life?

And he even gave himself a background of having been a mechanic for five years?

Everyone snapped out of their daze and quickly said, "Yes, big boss, thank you, big boss."

Gu Yanzhi glanced at them.

Everyone paused for a moment, then quickly corrected themselves, "Thank you, Brother Gu."

"Thank you, Xiao Gu." "Thank you, Buddy Gu."

Gu Yanzhi nodded, satisfied, "Alright, disperse."

He checked the time on his terminal; Xiao Shu and Bo Zai would probably arrive in about fifteen minutes. He then kept the senior mechanic who had lent him the badge and brought him to his car.

The senior mechanic thought the big boss was finally going to tell him which parts needed modification, but to his surprise, the other party humbly asked, "Master, please teach me how to disassemble and reassemble the tires."

After getting out of the car, Xie Yishu immediately saw Gu Yanzhi at the shop entrance, installing tires on a car.

Gu Yanzhi had his back to him, wearing the standard uniform, labor gloves, and using a power wrench to tighten the screws. After one round with the power wrench, he switched to a regular wrench to further secure them.

Xie Yishu, holding Bo Zai's hand, planned to wait for Gu Yanzhi at the milk tea shop across the street until he finished work.

A middle-aged man walked towards them, "Bo Zai!"

Xie Yishu stopped in his tracks.

The middle-aged man smiled kindly at them, "Don't you remember? I'm the shop manager uncle who gave you candy last time."

The chubby little boy suddenly understood and cheerfully responded, "Shop manager uncle!"

Xie Yishu realized that the middle-aged man in front of him was Gu Yanzhi's boss and quickly said, "Hello, shop manager."

In a place where Xie Yishu couldn't see, the shop manager nervously rubbed his fingers together.

The esteemed guest in the shop had just disassembled and reassembled the front tire about ten times. Fearing that the guest might get bored with just tire work, he had suggested that the shop's master teach him something else, but was refused. Only then did he realize that the guest wasn't here alone to experience life.

The guest's spouse and child were also coming to experience life in a while.

He really didn't understand the world of the wealthy.

But after becoming privy to the situation, he was assigned a task.

The shop manager cleared his throat, "Are you Xiao Gu's partner?"

Xie Yishu had always referred to himself as "boyfriend," so hearing "partner" suddenly felt a bit unfamiliar.

But thinking about it, since he and Gu Yanzhi had a child together, even though they weren't married yet, calling himself the other's partner wasn't an issue: "Yes."

"Here to pick up Xiao Gu from work?"

"Yes." Xie Yishu smiled a bit shyly, "I'll take the child to wait across the street so as not to disturb his work."

"Come wait inside the shop; we have chairs."

Xie Yishu naturally wanted to watch Gu Yanzhi work up close, but considering the potential disruption, he declined, "No, thank you. I'll take the child to wait across the street. Waiting inside the shop might not be a good idea."

He didn't want to cause any trouble for Gu Yanzhi.

"We don't have so many rules in my shop," the shop manager said enthusiastically. "Xiao Gu is one of our senior mechanics, skilled and hardworking. I'm always worried that he'll be poached by another shop, so I have to give him some privileges. Come on, come inside and take a seat. I have some candy too. Bo Zai, do you want some candy?"

Mr. Gu had told him that the little chubby boy would play along.

Sure enough, the chubby little boy's eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly, his chubby face bobbing like a pecking chick, performing naturally, "I want some, I want some!"

At home, Gu Yanzhi strictly controlled his candy intake, so he could only indulge a little when they were out.

Xie Yishu couldn't refuse the enthusiastic invitation, so he took the chubby boy's hand and followed the shop manager into the shop.

As they passed by Gu Yanzhi, he turned his head, his dark eyes looking at them. Xie Yishu quickly mouthed, "Focus on your work."

The shop manager brought them chairs, and sitting down, they had a perfect view of Gu Yanzhi assembling the tires outside.

From this close distance, they could see the man's focused profile and the beautiful curve of his arm muscles as he switched to using a regular wrench. Just as Bo Zai had said, he looked very serious and very handsome.

After installing all four tires, Gu Yanzhi took off his oil-stained work gloves, tidied up his tools, and came over, speaking unhurriedly, "Shop manager, the maintenance on that car outside is done."

"Everything else is fine, but the brake discs on the front tires are quite worn. You might suggest to the customer to replace them when they come to pick up the car tomorrow."

Having said that, he turned his gaze to Xie Yishu.

Xie Yishu didn't notice Gu Yanzhi looking at him; his eyes were fixed on Gu Yanzhi's body.

The shirt provided by the shop seemed a bit tight on Gu Yanzhi, who had undone the top button, revealing his sexy collarbone. The thin fabric, damp with sweat, clung tightly to his well-defined muscles, exuding a burst of hormones and a very masculine charm.

It was the first time Xie Yishu had seen Gu Yanzhi like this, and his ears turned red involuntarily.

He became even more determined to "earn good money to support Gu Yanzhi and the little chubby boy."

If he could pay off the loan and have some extra money, he would open his own auto repair shop, tucked away in a corner of the city, where Gu Yanzhi could fix cars just for him to watch.

On the bus ride back, Xie Yishu was still thinking about the scene he had just witnessed.

He whispered to Gu Yanzhi, "You look really good in the shop's uniform."

The corners of Gu Yanzhi's mouth lifted slightly, and he leaned down to whisper in Xie Yishu's ear, "Then I'll wear it for you again when we get home."

The warm breath on Xie Yishu's ear made his face turn red, and he nodded in response.

Bo Zai, sitting on Gu Yanzhi's lap, noticed that his parents were whispering without including him and felt left out.

The little chubby boy huffily turned his head to look out the window, but soon felt a vibration and quickly forgot his annoyance, reporting to his father, "Dad, you've got a message."

Gu Yanzhi took out his light brain to check, and it was a message from Aunt Qiu.

【Aunt Qiu: Sir, since you haven't come back for a while, I went back to do some more work.】

【Aunt Qiu: When the time comes, just remember my three sentences.】

【Aunt Qiu: For the old things, say they can still be used; for the new things, say they can be sold later; I didn't touch the young master's things, and if Madam asks, you say we can't let the child suffer no matter how hard it gets.】

【Aunt Qiu: [Be strong, be strong]】

Gu Yanzhi put away his light brain and looked at the curious expressions on Xie Yishu and Bo Zai's faces, saying, "It's a house sale advertisement."

At this point, he still didn't understand Aunt Qiu's meaning.

It wasn't until they entered their small home for the next period of time, and Gu Yanzhi opened the shoe cabinet to get his slippers, that he finally realized what Aunt Qiu was teaching him.

He looked at the torn and tattered slippers in Xie Yishu's hand, which resembled a dog's chew toy, and met the incredulous gaze of his wife and child. With a stiff upper lip, he uttered the first phrase Aunt Qiu had taught him: "It's still wearable."

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