In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

After finishing driving practice, Wei Shuyun handed Zhang Yong a package of oiled paper.

"Thank you for teaching me how to drive. Try this, it's mung bean cake my mom makes."

Before Zhang Yong could even say thank you, she had already turned and run away, her ponytail swinging in the sunset.

He carefully folded the oil paper package and stuffed it into his pocket.

The ride-sharing service was provided by a Jiefang truck used by the cotton mill to haul goods; the ride in the cab was so bumpy my backside hurt.

Zhang Yong leaned back in the passenger seat, watching the street scenes outside the car window recede in segments. An old man selling popsicles pushed a white foam box, and a bicycle repair stall on the roadside had half of its tarpaulin awning set up.

He closed his eyes, and the panel appeared automatically.

[Driving Lv.4: Proficiency 98%]

[Writing Lv.1: Progress 31%]

My driving skill is almost at Lv.5. Writing, on the other hand, took almost a whole day of offline time to learn, which is significantly slower than driving, demonstrating that writing skills indeed require more accumulation.

Zhang Yong calculated that once his writing skill reached level 3, he could probably write a decent short story to submit. At 30x speed, that would take about four or five more days.

But Wei Shuyun's words gave him a wake-up call—Brother Zhao is petty, what if he retaliates?

Zhang Yong pondered for a few seconds.

I thought it probably wouldn't come to that. Everyone here was sent by their company to learn to drive. If someone got hurt or the car was destroyed, Uncle Chen would report it to his superiors, and they would be in deep trouble.

Just to be on the safe side, I'll put the driver back on tonight and give it a shot.

Anyway, pausing the writing for one night won't affect the overall situation.

He operated the control panel in his mind, unloading writing from the idle position and replacing it with driving.

[Writing skill has been removed from the AFK (away from keyboard) slot; current level is fixed at Lv.1]

[Driving skills moved to the idle slot, training in progress...]

Okay, we'll switch back once the driver has gone up.

.......

It was already dark when I got home.

Zhang Yong pushed open the door, and a strong smell of plaster mixed with the aroma of food wafted out.

Zhang Defa was lying on the sofa, his white vest pulled up to his shoulder blades, with a large patch of dark ointment on his waist.

Li Guilan was using a palm-leaf fan to cool another plaster before applying it.

"Dad, what's wrong? Does your back hurt?"

"It's nothing! It's an old problem," Zhang Defa said in a muffled voice, his face down, forcing out two dry laughs. "I drove a long-distance trip today, the road was terrible, and my ass hurts like crazy."

Li Guilan rolled her eyes at him: "I told you to avoid long-distance driving, but you wouldn't listen."

"Where would the subsidies come from if we didn't drive long distances? What can our meager salary possibly cover?"

The couple bickered, but their hands never stopped moving.

Li Guilan applied the plaster and then covered it with cotton cloth. She also took a piece of white gauze and wrapped it around Zhang Defa's waist several times to prevent him from getting hurt.

Zhang Yong reached into his pocket, pulled out an oil paper package, opened it, and found two pieces of mung bean cake inside.

"Dad, Mom, try this."

"Where did this come from?" Li Guilan took it.

"I ran into a classmate at driving school, and I taught her a few tips for practicing driving; she gave them to me."

Zhang Defa tilted his head off the sofa and chuckled, "Oh! You've become a teacher? Teaching others? You've only been learning for a few days?"

"He's got great talent."

"Alright, he's definitely my son."

Li Guilan smiled, took a bite of the mung bean cake, chewed it a couple of times, and her eyes lit up.

"This cake is finely made, using peeled mung beans and lard. It's very well-made." She took another bite, then suddenly looked up at Zhang Yong, "Your classmate is a girl, right?"

Zhang Yong remained silent.

"It must be a girl. Who would bring mung bean cakes to a boy?" Li Guilan handed another piece to Zhang Defa. "Old Zhang, you should try it. Her skills are excellent."

Zhang Defa took a bite and stuffed it all into his mouth, mumbling, "Alright, alright, stop the interrogation."

Li Guilan slapped Zhang Yong's butt: "Next time, Mom will fry you some honey-glazed fried dough sticks, take them with you! Don't eat other people's food for free!"

"Give me only unleavened bread, but give that girl honey-glazed bread?" Zhang Yong muttered.

Li Guilan kicked out, but didn't kick hard; the kick grazed her calf.

"Stop talking nonsense! Wash your hands and eat! I exchanged my food coupons for a pound of eggs today, fried in lard. You two should eat a few to nourish yourselves."

The fried eggs had crispy edges, and Zhang Yong ate three in one go.

The cicadas chirped outside the window all night, while Zhang Yong lay in bed fast asleep, the progress bar for his driving skills on the control panel constantly moving.

……

The next afternoon, at the driving practice area.

The sun was scorching, the ground shimmered with a white light, and the asphalt road in the distance seemed to be steaming.

When Zhang Yong arrived, Brother Zhao and Brother Liu also arrived. Upon seeing Zhang Yong, Brother Zhao's eyes flickered, but he didn't say anything.

Wei Shuyun was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and her hair was tied up high.

Chen Yongjian had a few people warm up by running two laps around the track, and then started arranging for them to get on the bus.

When it was Zhang Yong's turn, someone called out from the office.

"Old Chen! Phone call! They're looking for you upstairs!"

Chen Yongjian frowned and tossed the keys to Zhang Yong: "You practice first, I'm going to take this call, I'll be back in ten minutes."

He jogged towards the office building.

Zhang Yong turned the key, and the engine roared to life.

He glanced at the panel.

[Driving Lv.5: Proficiency 14%]

I left the game running all night last night; eight hours multiplied by 30 equals 240 hours of training. I broke through from Lv.4 and jumped to Lv.5.

What does Lv.5 mean?

Experienced drivers who have won awards in provincial competitions, long-distance drivers who have been driving on mountain roads for more than ten years, or special service drivers in the military who drive for leaders.

Zhang Yong could feel that the relationship between his body and the car had changed.

He wasn't controlling the car; the car had become an extension of his body. The steering wheel's angle, the tire's centimeter shift, the relationship between engine RPM and vehicle speed—all became instinctive.

He doesn't even need to look.

Zhang Yong slowly closed his eyes.

"What's he doing? Can't he open his eyes?" Brother Liu stood on the sidelines, looking completely bewildered.

Brother Zhao sneered, "What are you pretending for? This is a big truck. Do you think he can drive it with his eyes closed? If he can drive it, I'll write my name Zhao backwards."

The 212 Jeep started smoothly, shifted into first gear, and the vehicle did not shake at all.

The first stake.

Turn the steering wheel to the right with a very small turn, and the front of the car slides past the right side of the post, with a gap of about half a fist.

The second one.

Return to center, strike to the left. The movement was swift and decisive, without any hesitation.

The third, the fourth, the fifth.

Zhang Yong did not open his eyes throughout the entire process.

Five stakes, none of them were touched.

Everyone on the sidelines stared wide-eyed.

Brother Zhao fell silent, while Brother Liu poked him with a mischievous grin.

"Are you still writing the character 'Zhao' backwards?"

Zhao Ge couldn't save face anymore, so he took a few steps to the spare 212 car next to the field, opened the door and got in.

With a loud bang.

The backup vehicle started.

"Old Zhao, what are you doing? I was just saying!" Brother Liu shouted anxiously.

Zhao ignored Liu, shifted gears, stepped on the gas, and the car sped into the field.

Brother Zhao was seething with resentment. He was exposed yesterday, and today he saw Zhang Yong doing the obstacle course with his eyes closed. He felt that Zhang Yong was just showing off.

Taking advantage of his first move, Brother Zhao suddenly cut diagonally across a narrow bend in the middle of the field, blocking Zhang Yong's path with his car.

"Kid, let's see how you dodge with your eyes closed."

"Zhang Yong! There's a car ahead!!" Wei Shuyun shouted.

The two cars were about to collide, with less than three meters between their front ends.

At that distance, it's too late to brake.