Chapter 25: Have You Lost Your Mind?

The pickup time at Starlight Kindergarten was five o’clock. Although he could still make it, Lin Chuan didn’t want to arrive right at the last minute. He hailed a taxi on the roadside and headed straight for the kindergarten.

Not having seen his son all day, Lin Chuan would be lying if he said he didn’t miss him. He was even more worried about how Lin Yiyang had fared on his first day at kindergarten.

In his previous life, almost all of his friends and colleagues had children, and they often chatted with Lin Chuan about things their kids did at kindergarten. Especially the very first day—hardly any child made it through without a fuss. Some cried and screamed for hours, their voices growing hoarse by the end of the day.

With these thoughts, Lin Chuan grew more anxious, wishing he could sprout wings and fly straight to Lin Yiyang’s side.

But just then, the taxi driver recognized him in the rearview mirror, and his chatterbox opened wide.

“Hey, buddy, you look familiar. Aren’t you that singer—Lin…?”

“My name’s Lin Chuan.”

“That’s right! Wow, I’ve been driving a taxi for nearly twenty years, and it’s my first time giving a ride to a celebrity! Looks like my lucky day!” The taxi driver laughed heartily.

Lin Chuan was anxious but managed to keep a calm face. “You flatter me. I’m hardly a celebrity.”

“What? You’ve been on TV, and you say you’re not? Don’t think you can fool an old fellow like me just because I’m over forty. I keep up with the trends, you know—chasing stars and all…”

The driver was a talkative one, rambling on without end. From celebrities, he moved on to his daughter, then his wife, and eventually recounted his own youthful tales of courting girls. He was just short of tracing back to how he’d come into this world.

“Buddy, I tell you, young people’s thinking is getting more complicated these days. Just the other day, my daughter gave me a brain teaser. Just one sentence, and I still can’t figure out the answer!” the driver said, frowning.

“What’s the question?” Lin Chuan asked, curiosity piqued.

“Listen, here it is: ‘If I were a monkey standing in front of you…’” The driver paused, thinking.

“That’s it?” Lin Chuan frowned.

“That’s it. I’ve been puzzling over it for days, but nothing sounds right. If a monkey stood in front of you, you’d just get a fright, wouldn’t you? What else is there to do?” The driver half complained to Lin Chuan, half muttered to himself.

In fact, the original question was, “If I were a monkey, what would you say to me?” But Lin Chuan could only give a wry smile. He racked his brains but couldn’t come up with an answer. Since it was a brain teaser, the answer was probably something absurd. Since he couldn’t figure it out, Lin Chuan decided not to waste any more energy and turned to gaze out the window.

To get to the kindergarten faster, the driver chose to take a series of shortcuts and winding side streets. Yet, strangely enough, no matter which way they went, there was always a BMW trailing behind at a steady, unhurried pace, clinging to them like a shadow.

If that were all, Lin Chuan might have brushed it off—perhaps the other driver was headed in the same direction and taking the same shortcuts. But what was really annoying was that the BMW driver would occasionally honk the horn or flash the headlights for no apparent reason.

That was unmistakably a provocation.

“Think you’re all that just because you drive a BMW?” the driver muttered, unconvinced, then slammed on the accelerator. The taxi surged forward, quickly widening the gap from the BMW behind.

But before the driver could celebrate, the BMW suddenly accelerated as well, catching up in no time.

“Are you testing my patience? Just because I drive a taxi doesn’t mean I can’t outpace you!” the driver said, a spirited challenge in his voice, and pushed the speed even higher.

Fortunately, it wasn’t rush hour, and there weren’t too many cars or pedestrians on the road. Otherwise, Lin Chuan might have demanded to get out immediately. To race like this in broad daylight was utterly nerve-wracking.

Lin Chuan sat perfectly still in the back seat, composed as he stared ahead. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to move, but rather, he didn’t dare. What if the driver took a sharp turn and sent him flying?

The two cars sped down the highway, one after the other. Suddenly, the BMW seemed to tire of this cat-and-mouse game, its speed surging dramatically. In the next instant, it swept past the taxi in a hair’s breadth, overtaking it without suspense.

“Trying to show me up? I’ll show you what I can do!” the driver called out.

“Um—driver, could you… slow down a bit? No need to get worked up over him. If we get a speeding ticket, it’s not worth it. Just take it easy…” Lin Chuan tried to sound calm, but his pale face betrayed his nerves.

The driver caught his look in the rearview mirror, grinned, and said, “Don’t worry, buddy. It’s just a BMW. I’ll show him!”

But before he could finish, a screech of brakes rang out. Lin Chuan was thrown forward, his body slamming into the back of the front seat.

“What the hell?” Lin Chuan gasped, clutching his chest as he struggled upright.

The driver was clearly shaken as well, sitting frozen, eyes wide and tongue-tied.

Suppressing his anger, Lin Chuan looked ahead and saw that the BMW had somehow pulled sideways, blocking the road. The two cars were mere inches from colliding.

Was this guy out of his mind? Playing with people’s lives?

Fuming, Lin Chuan flung open the door and strode toward the BMW.

If it had been just a case of two drivers egging each other on, Lin Chuan would have said a few words and let it go as long as no harm was done. But the BMW driver’s stunt was outright reckless—if they hadn’t braked in time, the consequences would have been dire.

A small crowd began to gather, murmuring as they watched the spectacle.

At that moment, the BMW’s door opened and a dashing young man stepped out. Just by standing there, he drew excited screams from several girls nearby.

“What’s wrong? So stunned by my looks you can’t even walk?” the man said with a playful sigh as he took off his sunglasses. “Lately it’s been a real headache—my handsome face even makes men swoon. I’ll have to start carrying some ‘anti-wolf’ gear when I go out.”

The girls grew even more frenzied, shrieking as if they might leap on him at any moment.

“Cut the nonsense. Do you even know how to drive? What if something happened?” Lin Chuan snapped, finding his voice.

The man burst out laughing. “This was my welcome gift to you—how do you like it?”

“To hell with your gift!” Lin Chuan scowled and punched the man’s shoulder.

The onlookers, expecting a brawl, were stunned when the handsome man simply laughed, bumped shoulders with Lin Chuan, and acted as if nothing had happened.

Everyone was left gaping. The anticipated fight had turned into a friendly exchange, much to the disappointment of the troublemakers and the heartbreak of the girls, who now glared at Lin Chuan as if he were a rival for their affections.

“What brings you here? Couldn’t you have called ahead?” Lin Chuan said with an easy smile.

“If I warned you, how could I set up this surprise? Scared you, didn’t I?” the man laughed, utterly carefree.

“I’m fine, but you gave that driver quite a fright,” Lin Chuan said, jerking his chin toward the taxi.

The man turned and saw the driver still frozen at the wheel, mouth agape and terror in his eyes.

The man scratched his head, looking apologetic.

“Are you alright?” Lin Chuan asked, walking to the taxi.

After a moment, the driver snapped out of it, pointing a trembling finger at the BMW. “We… we didn’t crash, right?”

“No, don’t worry,” Lin Chuan replied. “Here’s the fare. I’m really sorry about all this.”

“Hey, you gave me too much. After what just happened, I can’t take your money…” the driver began, but Lin Chuan had already turned away.

It was only after the BMW roared off that the driver muttered, still rattled, “So they were together all along?”

In the car, Lin Chuan asked with a half-smile, “Alright, what brings you to Beining? You didn’t come all this way just to see me, did you?”

The man grinned. “You know me too well. Got time to grab a drink?”

Lin Chuan chuckled. “You came all this way. Even if I didn’t have time, I’d make time!”

“That’s what I like about you. Having a friend like you makes life worthwhile!”

Lin Chuan said nothing, pulling out his phone and dialing Wang Yue’s number.

He couldn’t very well take his son out drinking; it would be a disaster if he got tipsy and lost track of the child.

The call went through, and Wang Yue answered, “Hello?”

“Teacher Wang, something came up. I might not be able to pick up Yangyang. Could you take him home with you for now? I’ll come get him this evening,” Lin Chuan said, a little sheepish as he asked for help for the first time.

After a brief silence, she replied, “Alright, that’s fine.”

“Thank you so much!” Lin Chuan said gratefully.

“No need to thank me. Just remember to come pick him up,” she replied before the call ended with a series of beeps.