The parking lot was packed with luxury cars—Mercedes, BMWs, and top-tier models everywhere. Most were obviously personal vehicles with flashy decorations, clearly bought by the group's employees themselves. This gave Lin Yi a pretty good idea of just how well Pengzhan Group's staff were paid.
When he thought about it that way, his 30,000 yuan monthly salary didn't seem so impressive after all.
Uncle Fu led Lin Yi over to a deep blue Bentley. The car was immaculate—either brand new or meticulously maintained, looking like it just rolled off the lot.
"Mr. Lin, please get in," Uncle Fu said, opening the passenger door with a bow.
"I'm riding shotgun? Then where does the young miss...?"
"The young miss always sits in the back," Uncle Fu explained. "She has her school bag, so the front seat would be inconvenient."
Lin Yi nodded and got in. Uncle Fu slowly pulled out of the underground garage.
As they passed the exit security booth, several guards immediately straightened up and watched the car with solemn expressions.
Uncle Fu's driving was extremely skilled but rigidly by-the-book—nothing like what Lin Yi had learned. Lin Yi's training leaned more toward racing techniques. Couldn't help it—his old man's motto was "Losing is fine, but losing and not being able to run is your own damn fault."
So Lin Yi had picked up plenty of escape tactics. Though to be fair, he'd only ever used them against his old man. With everyone else, they usually ran before he had to.
"Mr. Lin, can you drive?" Uncle Fu asked during a red light, glancing at Lin Yi sitting quietly beside him.
Uncle Fu was a veteran driver with a good eye for people. Usually he could tell if someone could drive just from their subtle reactions in the car, but Lin Yi hadn't shown any particular tells, so he figured he'd just ask.
"A little," Lin Yi said, thinking it was better to stay humble as the new guy.
"Do you have a license?" Uncle Fu didn't ask what "a little" meant. He also knew the boss trusted this guy.
"Not yet." Lin Yi shook his head. He could drive fine and had even raced overseas, but no license. "I just turned eighteen, haven't had a chance to get one yet."
"Then give me your ID. I'll help you get the license sorted. That way when Mr. Chu and I are both tied up with urgent matters, you can handle picking up and dropping off the young miss."
The car stopped near a very luxurious-looking school but didn't go any further. Probably because the car was too flashy—wouldn't look good if other students saw it.
According to the files, Songshan First High was a private school, but not the kind of elite academy you might imagine.
The school was a provincial key high school that recruited students from across the province through exams. Sure, some powerful and wealthy families got their kids in through connections, but most students earned their spots through ability.
With backing from the three major groups, Songshan First High had a leg up on other schools in terms of facilities, resources, and faculty—which explained their 100% college admission rate over the past few years.
Though Lin Yi figured that 100% had to be padded. Some of those rich brats never studied a day in their lives but still made it to college thanks to their families' influence.
The familiar sound of the dismissal bell rang out, and Lin Yi spaced out for a moment. How long had it been since he'd heard that sound?
But after that brief moment of nostalgia, Lin Yi quickly returned to his usual composure, watching the school grounds with calm eyes.
Soon, students began streaming out of the classroom buildings.
Some wore uniforms, others casual clothes. Seemed like unless there was a big event, the school didn't have strict dress requirements.
"There's the young miss," Uncle Fu suddenly pointed toward a group of male and female students in the distance, indicating one particular girl.
Lin Yi looked where Uncle Fu was pointing. There was a tall, beautiful girl surrounded by other female students, but Lin Yi could tell at a glance that this had to be the young miss.
Like his old man had said before, Chu Mengyao was the school's campus queen!
Campus queen obviously meant the most beautiful girl, assuming Lin Yi's aesthetic judgment wasn't completely off.
Another girl standing next to her was also quite attractive, but she was petite—clearly didn't match the height data in the files.
Still, she definitely had the potential to be a campus queen candidate herself, the type who'd grow up to be a real knockout.
Chu Mengyao and the other girl walked briskly toward the car, but several princely-looking male students followed after them.
"Mengyao, wait..." One of the princely students stepped in front of her. "Mengyao, I'm serious about you. Can't you just give me one chance?"
Chu Mengyao frowned and looked at the student in front of her with obvious irritation. "Zhong Pinliang, you're so annoying! I've told you countless times, I don't like you. Stop bothering me!"
"But..."
Zhong Pinliang tried to say something else, but Chu Mengyao pushed past him and kept walking.
She hurried to the car and got in. The girl with her followed suit, which surprised Lin Yi a bit.
"That Zhong Pinliang is so annoying! He pesters me every single day. Doesn't he ever get tired?" Chu Mengyao was still complaining after getting in the car, but then she looked up and noticed Lin Yi in the passenger seat. Startled, she asked, "Who are you?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lin Yi," Lin Yi said, trying to make himself seem as friendly as possible. This young miss didn't seem to have the best personality.
"Lin Yi? Uncle Fu, who is this guy?" Chu Mengyao stared at Lin Yi curiously.
"Miss Chu, this is the study partner Mr. Chu hired for you..." Uncle Fu explained.
"Study partner? Who said I needed one of those? I said I wanted someone to be my shield. This guy... what could he possibly protect me from?"
Hearing this, Chu Mengyao immediately got angry and looked Lin Yi up and down. What was this guy even wearing?
A oversized tank top and raggedy pants—he looked like a migrant worker fresh from the countryside. Hell, even migrant workers didn't dress this badly. Did he just get back from Africa?
Uncle Fu broke out in a cold sweat, wiping his forehead while glancing nervously at Lin Yi. Seeing that Lin Yi wasn't showing much reaction, he finally relaxed a bit.
Uncle Fu was Chu Pengzhan's most trusted person and understood the situation to some degree. He knew how much effort it had taken to hire Lin Yi, even involving the family elders.