Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten-Chapter 244: A Family of Four

The car cruised through the city streets under a light drizzle.

He Qing, Han Wenwen, and Jiang Xueli were all impressed by how spacious the interior of the SUV was.

It felt like they could lie down and use it as a bed.

Completely different from the compact sedans they were used to.

At first, all three girls were seated in the back, but He Qing noticed the empty front passenger seat and suddenly asked mid-drive, “Lin Zhengran, should I sit up front? I could help you keep an eye on the road.”

Still focused on driving through the city, Lin Zhengran replied, “I don’t really need help with that—pretty sure you wouldn’t understand the map anyway. But if you just want to come sit for fun, go ahead.”

Little He Qing softly explained, “Yeah, I don’t really know how to read maps... but I want to learn! I want to learn to drive too! Don’t worry, I won’t bother you. I’ll just sit in the front and study on my own.”

Lin Zhengran didn’t object. “Alright, I’ll pull over and let you switch seats.”

“Okay!”

He pulled over to the roadside temporarily, and He Qing hopped out of the backseat and into the passenger seat. She smiled sweetly, “All set!” and the car started rolling again.

Han Wenwen and Jiang Xueli exchanged a glance.

They both noticed that Little He Qing seemed a little more proactive and excited than usual today.

After settling into the front seat, He Qing buckled her seatbelt and turned to stare at Lin Zhengran while he drove.

She truly felt like she was in one of those family road trips from TV.

Lin Zhengran was the dad, she was the mom, and the two girls in the back were their kids.

A smile of pure happiness spread across her face as she sat in the front seat, lips curling into a sweet grin.

Lin Zhengran asked, “You really want to learn to drive?”

He Qing replied immediately:

“Yeah! A lot of classmates said that once you get into college, it’s time to learn to drive. I probably won’t drive much even after I get my license, but if you’re ever out drinking for work, I could come pick you up!”

Lin Zhengran gave the innocent He Qing a sidelong look.

Then what’s the driver for?

“Yeah? That could come in handy.”

She smiled. “Right?”

Han Wenwen chimed in from the back, “Then I’ll sign up with Xiao Qing when the time comes.”

He Qing turned around and nodded. “Yeah! What about you, Lili? Are you gonna learn after college too?”

Jiang Xueli blinked. “Not really into it. I’ve always felt like I don’t have a good sense for driving. I’d rather not be a menace on the road. Besides... if Zhengran’s going to work dinners and stuff, he’ll have a driver anyway, right?”

At that, He Qing and Han Wenwen froze.

And for some reason, a certain little fox’s motivation to learn how to drive dropped by more than half.

He Qing was still okay though. After a second, she perked up again:

“Oh, right! Zhengran’s a big boss now—of course he’ll have a driver!”

Then Han Wenwen added curiously:

“Oh yeah, Lin Zhengran, is it true you’re the general manager of Zhengshi Company? Last week Lili told us about the company, so the three of us looked it up online. It’s huge! And the registered capital’s over a hundred million.”

He Qing also chimed in: “Yeah! I’ve been wondering—so is it true? Are you really that rich now?”

Lin Zhengran looked puzzled. “You two didn’t know?”

Han Wenwen and He Qing shook their heads. “Never heard anything about it.”

Lin Zhengran said, “That’s weird. Lili should know. You three are always together—I thought she told you.”

Jiang Xueli giggled from the back. “I thought He Qing and Han Wenwen knew too. Guess they were totally in the dark.”

Lin Zhengran exhaled. “Well, now you know. Yeah, I’m the general manager. But honestly, I’m kinda hands-off when it comes to the company. Most of the daily stuff is handled by Jiang Jingshi—Jiang Qian’s older sister. She’s the vice president.”

As soon as he mentioned Jiang Jingshi, the three girls fell silent for a beat.

They hadn’t brought it up over the past few days...

But they all knew—if Lin Zhengran had been “handling company matters” for over a week, then most likely... he’d been alone with Jiang Jingshi the whole time.

Han Wenwen’s fox eyes narrowed slightly.

Jiang Xueli also shot Lin Zhengran a wary glance.

Even though He Qing had never really met Jiang Jingshi, just thinking about how gorgeous she was—and knowing Lin Zhengran had a flirtatious streak—made her a little uneasy too.

The car eventually reached the highway and continued for several hours.

The rain hadn’t let up—in fact, it was coming down even harder now. But they were well outside the city by this point.

At first, the girls chatted about all sorts of random things.

But after a few hours, the conversation died down, and things got quiet. Han Wenwen and Jiang Xueli pulled out blankets from their backpacks, wrapped themselves up, and fell fast asleep.

He Qing munched on snacks while scrolling through driving tutorials on her phone. She let out a yawn, thinking she might nap too.

But when she looked back at Wenwen and Lili, she realized they were both already asleep.

Originally sleepy herself, He Qing suddenly stared blankly at the two sleeping girls—and realized...

It was just her and Lin Zhengran who were still awake!

The rhythmic rain outside snapped her awake. She glanced at Lin Zhengran and whispered, “Lin Zhengran? You’ve been driving for so long—aren’t you tired? Maybe we should stop and rest a bit?”

Lin Zhengran, who was in much better shape than most, replied, “Not tired at all. If you’re sleepy, go ahead and rest. We’ve still got a few hours to go.”

He Qing saw that one of his hands was on the steering wheel, the other resting on the gearshift.

That’s when she suddenly remembered something she’d seen online.

She squeezed her legs together and subtly shifted her hips—sliding both legs to the left, closer to him.

Her face turned pink.

Of course Lin Zhengran noticed her little movement and asked with a laugh, “What are you doing?”

He Qing shyly shook her head. “It’s nothing... It’s just... I saw a video online once—Wenwen showed me actually. It said that when a girl likes the guy who’s driving, she should put her legs to the left while he’s shifting gears. That’s what being obedient looks like.”

Lin Zhengran figured that fox has probably corrupted this airhead a hundred times by now.

But it was summer and raining, and He Qing was wearing a skirt.

With her legs leaning to the left, her smooth white thighs peeked out subtly beneath the hem.

It looked really... nice.

And since she’d already made the move, it felt wrong not to respond. So Lin Zhengran instinctively placed his hand on her leg.

He Qing quickly covered her mouth.

She hadn’t expected him to actually touch her thigh!

Flushed with embarrassment, she didn’t dare make a sound for fear of waking the others in the back.

Her big, bright eyes looked up at him, shimmering with emotion.

Her body was stiff with nervous tension.

After a while of resting his hand there, Lin Zhengran noticed her reaction and chuckled. “You got any gum or something?”

He Qing nodded shyly. “Yeah, it’s in my backpack. Want one?”

She reached behind the seat and carefully pulled her bag from the floor without making a sound.

Unzipping it gently, she found a stick of gum, unwrapped it, and brought it to his mouth.

Lin Zhengran pulled his hand back, and He Qing bit her lip. He said, “The AC makes it hard to tell, but it might get chilly when we get out. Make sure to wear a jacket before stepping out. We probably won’t be able to sightsee much today. Let’s just climb halfway up and find a place to stay.”

“Mhm! Got it.”

She sat up properly again, watching as raindrops continued to fall across the windshield, wiped away over and over by the wipers.

With her hands resting on her legs, she smiled.

“When we get married someday, will we be able to do trips like this from time to time? It feels so nice.”

“Of course. Once we buy a car, I’ll take you all out for fun whenever I feel like it.”

He Qing saw that Lin Zhengran was about to spit out the gum, so she reached over and cupped her hand under his mouth. “Spit it out in my hand. I’ll throw it away.”

Lin Zhengran raised an eyebrow. “No tissues?”

“I do. But just spit it in my hand—it’s fine. I’ve been snacking nonstop anyway. I was gonna wipe my hands. Go on, spit it out. It’ll taste gross if you chew it too long.”

Lin Zhengran looked at this silly girl.

After he spat out the gum, He Qing happily withdrew her hand and tossed it into a trash bag. She wiped her palm with a wet wipe.

Then immediately tore open a new bag of chips and popped one into her mouth.

The first chip, she offered to Lin Zhengran.

And just like that, she was back to crunching snacks again—basically canceling out her earlier cleaning effort.