Chapter 327 — Making Trouble out of Nothing

Catching sight of a traffic officer on duty not far ahead, Xu Qianhang thought to himself: just you wait, you're in for trouble in a moment.

Even so, Xu Qianhang's heart still fluttered a little. His license plate really was a Songjiang official-vehicle plate, and for the occasional violation it truly worked well—ordinarily, a traffic officer would not pull him over.

But driving the wrong way down a one-way street with traffic this heavy was a first for Xu Qianhang. So long as official plates were not abused too flagrantly, officers generally let them be; yet with an open, blatant wrong-way run like this, Xu Qianhang did not know whether they would still extend the courtesy. He reckoned they probably would.

Xu Qianhang's wrong-way driving drew a chorus of complaints from the cars traveling legally. The one-way stretch was narrow to begin with—only three lanes—and by driving against traffic he claimed one for himself; they were already jammed, and now it was worse than ever.

Xu Qianhang paid them no mind. To show off, he switched on the police loudspeaker mounted on his car and began blaring it; and it worked—the oncoming cars obligingly cleared a lane for him.

"What he's doing isn't right," Lin Yanhe said with a frown. Clearly Xu Qianhang's behavior did not thrill her; it made her feel ashamed.

"Who knows what he's thinking," Yang Ce said with a shrug. Yang Shuoxuan did violate traffic rules now and then—today's driving, for instance—but he really was out on business, performing official duties, so there was something to be said for it.

But abusing privilege just to go out for a meal, the way Xu Qianhang was doing, was deeply repellent to Yang Shuoxuan. It also struck him as funny. He thought: show off like this in front of Jing Yuxian and she might actually look at you differently, but doing it in front of Lin Yanhe is nothing but begging for contempt.

Xu Qianhang did not see it that way. He assumed girls all liked boys who made a spectacle of themselves, and he was gloating—until a traffic officer walked up and stopped his car.

Xu Qianhang started, but remembering that his plate belonged to the official-vehicle range, he was not too nervous. He rolled down the window and asked the officer, "What's the matter?"

"Sir, this is a one-way street. You'll have to back out," said the officer, who was still giving Xu

Qianhang's plate some face—he did not cite him, only told him to reverse.

After all, the road was long, and Xu Qianhang had only just turned in; backing out would be easier. To keep driving on, though, would be too conspicuous.

Ordinarily Xu Qianhang would have backed out and thought nothing of it. Given the situation, going the wrong way really did smack of making trouble for trouble's sake.

But now Xu Qianhang was out to impress Lin Yanhe. If he slunk away in reverse, he would lose face so completely it would be beyond saving; Lin Yanhe would surely despise him, and all his big talk would have been for nothing.

So Xu Qianhang had no choice but to tough it out. "I have urgent business. Going around from over there is too far—"

"Oh?" The officer was taken aback, not knowing what business Xu Qianhang had. Some official vehicles, to be sure, might have urgent matters, so the officer nodded—but then said, "Sir, let me see your driving license."

People who drove such plates were generally from within the system or from various government bodies, and some were senior executives of state-owned enterprises. But some plates were obtained through connections, and that could not be entirely prevented.

Plates obtained through connections were mostly lent out; a driving license could not be issued for them, because the license is personal and the vehicle cannot be registered. Such was Xu Qianhang's case—where would he have a driving license?

Seeing him stammer and hem and haw, the officer had a pretty good idea of the truth, but he asked anyway, "Then just show me your identification."

"I forgot to bring it..." Xu Qianhang had no choice but to say.

"Sir, you can't produce a driving license, and you have no valid identification to prove who you are. We

will have to impound your car for the time being

and you can come accept the penalty tomorrow!" Xu Qianhang had not expected the officer to be so unaccommodating, and he was angry, yet he had no

way to vent it.

Little did he realize that he had things upside down. The courtesy extended to official plates was because some cars really were on official business—not because someone like him could flash a privilege plate to show off and deliberately break the traffic rules.

The officer signaled to a colleague nearby to come drive Xu Qianhang's car away, then walked over to Yang Juehuan's car.

Yang Ce had watched the exchange between Xu Qianhang and the officer in perfect clarity, and it struck him as immensely funny. The fellow really had botched his showing-off; it had blown up in his face. Seeing the officer approach him, Yang Shuoxuan was not worried.

The officer had intended to check Yang Juehuan's papers too, but when he saw the pass on Yang Ce's windshield—a Donghai Police Department pass, a credential from within the system—it struck him as more valid than any local Songjiang official plate, so he did not bother to check.

Yang Ce felt a little helpless seeing Xu Qianhang about to have his car impounded, but he could not just leave him in the lurch; he still needed Xu Qianhang to stand him a meal, after all. Yang Ce wanted Xu Qianhang to retreat in the face of difficulty, but that could wait a while—if he backed off now, it would have no deterrent effect.

So Yang Ce rolled down his window and said to the officer, "Officer, that Leopard up ahead is with us. Could you let him go first?"

The officer, having seen the pass on Yang Ce's car, had meant to leave Yang Juehuan's vehicle alone; he had not expected Yang Ce to ask him to release the Leopard ahead as well. Somewhat annoyed, he could not help asking, "Which department are you from, if I may ask?"

Yang Ce was slightly taken aback; he had not expected the officer to be so heated. But on second thought he understood—Xu Qianhang's earlier attitude must have angered him.

Yang Ce took a credential from his pocket—the military ID Xia Donghai had given him—got out of the car, and handed it to the officer.

The officer blinked. He had assumed Yang Ce was like Xu Qianhang ahead of him, a rich, spoiled scion relying on

his family's wealth and influence—but it seemed that was not the case at all.

Glancing at the credential in his hand, the officer's expression shifted slightly. Yang Cenbin's credential was not quite the same as an ordinary military ID; the department Yang Cenbin belonged to was one to which most people in administrative posts were seconded, and these were rather special departments whose credentials could not be shown at will, so a credential under another identity was arranged instead.

Though he did not know exactly what Yang Ce did, the officer could hardly stand in his way. He returned the credential to Yang Ce and was about to release the car, when Yang Ji said, "Sorry about this, officer—he was leading the way, and that's how we ended up on this wrong-way stretch. I'll have him back out."

The officer was rather surprised; he had not expected Yang Cenbin to be so reasonable. He thought: now that's class—far better than the fellow in the Leopard ahead. He stopped glowering and said to Yang Hengye, "You can see the traffic volume here for yourself. At any other time, going through would have been that..."

Yang Yuting nodded and said, "Sorry for the trouble. I'll have him back the car out."

Since Yang Ce had put it that way, the traffic cop naturally had nothing more to say. He waved his hand, signaling the officer ahead to let the car through, and Yang Ce said to Xu Qianhang, "I've squared it with them over here. Let's back the car out."