Inheritance of Two Trillion
Chapter 972: The Down-and-Out Uncle

Chapter 972: Chapter 972: The Down-and-Out Uncle

The unlicensed taxi driver who proactively sought work was not something Bai Xiaosheng and the others hadn’t seen before, but this uncle was rather interesting.

He first declared that short trips were okay, but long trips were out of the question, as he had other matters to attend to.

"Since you still have things to do, why bother picking up passengers?" Lei Ying asked curiously.

The uncle’s expression was somewhat bitter, "I need to provide for my family!"

Bai Xiaosheng and the others exchanged glances.

"Uncle, is that license plate real?" Lin Weiwei asked with a smile.

That plate with a string of lucky numbers could fetch tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands at an auction.

Support a family?

More than enough.

"It’s real!" The uncle looked back at it, asserting with certainty.

In his gaze, there was a faint hint of deep contemplation.

In fact, Bai Xiaosheng and the others believed it was real.

If it were fake, as soon as it hit the city streets, it would be stopped by the traffic police. It stood out too much. No sane person would use fake plates so brazenly and conspicuously.

"Have you not considered changing the plate? Even if you sold this one and bought a regular one, the remaining money would be more than enough to provide for your family, right?" Lin Weiwei articulated her doubts.

"Can’t sell it!"

The uncle’s tone was unequivocally firm, "Even if I’m driving an unlicensed cab, hauling goods, I can’t sell that plate!"

"That’s my keepsake!" The uncle’s voice was decisive, without a hint of hesitation.

Bai Xiaosheng looked at the uncle, listened to his words, and nodded, "Alright, we’ll take your cab!"

"Really? Then, then I thank you, young man!" Upon hearing this, the uncle was incredibly joyful, rubbing his hands together.

The gratitude that overflowed from his face was genuinely heartfelt.

That smile was that of a down-and-out person who had stumbled upon a small opportunity, a sincere expression from the heart.

Bai Xiaosheng responded with a smile, while Lin Weiwei and Lei Ying shared a look and smiled at each other.

Their hearts, to varying degrees, were touched.

All three had known hardship, fully aware of the difficulties and toughness of life.

Even though they no longer worried about money and enjoyed high status, with life bringing more schemes and calculations, that pure and original sincerity was still buried deep in their hearts.

It was the most precious thing in life!

"Let’s go," Bai Xiaosheng said.

He decided he would give the uncle a bit more money when the time came.

But when it came time to leave, the uncle hesitated, looking somewhat embarrassed and apologetically at Bai Xiaosheng.

"Young man, I have to be upfront with you, I really have something to take care of. If I get a call later, I’ll have to leave, and then, I’ll drop you off at a good spot to hail a taxi, okay? For this trip, I’ll only charge you half. Do you think that’s okay...?"

Had it been someone else, they certainly wouldn’t have agreed.

Bai Xiaosheng just smiled, "Sure."

The uncle was overjoyed, quickly running to open the passenger and rear car doors for Bai Xiaosheng and the others, before he headed to the driver’s seat.

Bai Xiaosheng and the others walked over.

Lei Ying, as usual, was going to sit in the passenger seat but was stopped by Bai Xiaosheng.

"This time, I’ll sit in the passenger seat," Bai Xiaosheng said.

Lei Ying didn’t insist and went to the back seat.

This car was shabby on the outside and the interior decorations were somewhat threadbare, but it was very clean. Normally, smokers’ cars always have some traces, but this car was absolutely clean, even without a hint of cigarette smell.

Perhaps that license plate and this clean car were this uncle’s last bit of dignity.

Bai Xiaosheng reflected.

Once in the car, Bai Xiaosheng gave their destination and the uncle started the car, taking them on their way.

"Uncle, what did you do before?" Bai Xiaosheng asked casually.

"Before, ah, I also had my own company, and it was fairly sizable!" The uncle laughed at himself, but there was a hint of bitterness in his smile.

"So what happened..." Bai Xiaosheng probed gently.

"It’s a long story," the uncle sighed deeply.

That sigh, light and airy as smoke, could only be emitted by someone who had thoroughly experienced life’s vicissitudes.

"The business world is treacherous, and people’s hearts are unfathomable!"

"The word ’friend’ in the realm of business is nothing but a pitfall, don’t trust it lightly!"

"And never trust a friend who doesn’t want anything in return yet willingly offers to help you without being related or indebted!"

"In the end, you’ll find that it’s not wealth they’re after, but your entire livelihood!"

The uncle muttered to himself, gripping the steering wheel tightly, his hands sporting popping veins.

However, he soon let out a bitter laugh.

"But what good does it do not to trust or be wary?"

"Once things reach a certain point, it’s out of your control because you’ve already fallen into the pit that the other person has dug for you!"

"To resist is to die!"

"To submit might spare you temporarily!"

"But you’ll find that the subsequent schemes are like maggots in the bones!"

"I can’t do it, neither my livelihood nor my schemes are sufficient. Even if I’m aware and on guard, I still can’t escape my ultimate fate."

The uncle seemed to have opened the floodgates of his thoughts, speaking in a delirious ramble.

After finishing, he laughed at himself in self-deprecation.

"Look at me, I couldn’t help but blurt all that out again. I’m truly sorry, you probably don’t want to hear it," the uncle murmured, glancing at Bai Xiaosheng.

He was surprised to find that the young man was actually listening very carefully, very earnestly, with no sign of impatience.

Through the rearview mirror, the uncle also noticed that the young man and woman sitting in the back were also very serious, discreetly nodding their heads without a trace of annoyance.

These three young people were all extraordinary!

Just on that account, the uncle held Bai Xiaosheng and his two companions in higher regard.

"I can tell that you’ve been through some things, some setbacks, yet you still manage to keep your last bit of dignity. I believe that people like you are unbreakable, and you will fight and rise again from the east," Bai Xiaosheng told the uncle.

The uncle looked slightly astonished, his eyes widening, as he scrutinized Bai Xiaosheng while driving.

"Young man, you understand me!" the uncle said with a smile.

"I’m not taking your money for this trip," the uncle declared spiritedly, "Consider it a meeting between us!"

"How can that be okay?"

"There’s nothing wrong with it!" the uncle insisted without allowing for argument.

Bai Xiaosheng smiled, not insisting further, but he reached one hand behind the seat through the slit.

Lin Weiwei got the hint and handed Bai Xiaosheng a thousand yuan.

Lei Ying watched the whole time, smiling faintly.

Bai Xiaosheng took the money and stealthily tucked it into the storage compartment on the door side of the car.

The uncle didn’t notice their "little maneuver" and chatted with Bai Xiaosheng for a bit more before his phone suddenly rang.

The car stopped by the roadside, and the uncle apologized to Bai Xiaosheng, "Sorry, but I have to attend to something and can only take you this far!"

"This is already plenty," Bai Xiaosheng said with a smile.

The uncle took the call and started speaking in dialect.

Perhaps the uncle assumed that Bai Xiaosheng and his companions wouldn’t understand the dialect, so he didn’t hold back. After all, the dialect was both rapid and muddled, so even locals couldn’t understand it if they were a bit far away.

With countless dialects in Huaxia, it’s not uncommon for the dialect to change every ten miles and customs to differ every hundred miles.

As the uncle spoke, his eyes showed stubbornness and a hint of resolution, as if he was making an important decision.

Bai Xiaosheng and his companions got out of the car.

Ordinarily, Bai Xiaosheng was ready to leave, but at the moment he was closing the car door.

He suddenly heard the uncle mention a name in dialect!

Bai Xiaosheng paused, his gaze immediately hardening.

Why would this uncle mention that person on a phone call!

Could it be a coincidence of name?

Bai Xiaosheng was somewhat puzzled; then he heard the uncle mention that name again, this time clearly and unmistakably—

Zhao Beiqing!

The Affairs Officer mentioned by Zhang Tianze!