Chapter 538: Lu Fan Takes Jiang Sifan to Buy a Car! First Car!

Three days after visiting the new office, Lu Fan was still in Jinling.

Staying at the manor, he spent his mornings strolling through the courtyard, admiring the flowers Old Luo had planted, and feeding the fish in the pond. Afterward, he would retreat to his study to handle matters for the corporation.

Over at the university, Jiang Sifan was busy packing up his studio in preparation for the move, so Lu Fan decided not to disturb him.

Around noon, Lu Fan gave Jiang Sifan a call.

The line connected after just two rings.

“Dad?” Jiang Sifan’s voice came through the receiver. He was panting slightly, sounding as though he had just rushed back from outside.

“Busy?” Lu Fan asked casually, leaning back in his chair.

“Yeah, I’m packing. We’re moving next week, so I need to get everything sorted out here,” Jiang Sifan replied.

Lu Fan gave a soft hum of acknowledgment. After a brief two-second pause, he said, “Sifan, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“What is it?”

“The company is a bit far from your campus. You have your driver’s license now, but you don’t have a car. Taking a taxi to the branch office every time will cost you seventy or eighty yuan round trip. That adds up to over two thousand a month. It would be much more cost-effective to just buy a car,” Lu Fan suggested lightly.

The other end of the line went dead silent.

It took several seconds before Jiang Sifan finally spoke up, his voice tight. “Dad… what did you say?”

“I’m going to buy you a car,” Lu Fan repeated, his tone as relaxed as before. “You already have your license, so you can start driving it right away.”

“No, no, I can’t.” Jiang Sifan hurriedly refused, his voice turning anxious. “That’s way too expensive. I’m still a student—why would I drive a car? What would my classmates think if they saw?”

“Why do you care what other people think?” Lu Fan chuckled. “As long as it makes your life easier, that’s all that matters. Besides, your studio partner, Wen Wan, frequently travels to the branch office with you. Squeezing onto the subway together all the time is hardly convenient.”

Jiang Sifan remained unconvinced, his tone conflicted. “Dad, I really don’t need one. Taking the subway is perfectly fine. It’s a direct line—I just have to walk a few extra steps, that’s all.”

“It takes fifteen minutes to walk from your campus to the station, the subway ride itself is fifteen minutes, and then you have to walk another ten minutes from the station to the branch office. That’s forty minutes in total,” Lu Fan pointed out calmly. “Driving would only take twenty minutes, and you wouldn’t have to walk at all.”

Jiang Sifan was rendered speechless, but still unwilling to yield, he stammered, “But… it’s just way too expensive.”

Lu Fan chuckled again. “You don’t have to pay for it. I’ll foot the bill.”

“That still doesn’t make it okay.” Jiang Sifan shook his head, his voice muffled. “Dad, you’ve already helped us out far too much. I haven’t even properly thanked you for the office space yet, and now you want to buy me a car. I…”

“Say no more,” Lu Fan interrupted with a smile. “Just think it over for now. There’s no rush.”

After hanging up, Jiang Sifan sat in his studio, staring blankly at his phone.

Wen Wan walked in from outside and noticed his strange expression. “Class President, what’s wrong?” she asked softly.

“My dad said he wants to buy me a car,” Jiang Sifan sighed.

Wen Wan paused in surprise before breaking into a smile. “Uncle Lu is so good to you.”

“He is, but this is a bit much.” Jiang Sifan tossed his phone onto the desk and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. “I’m only a freshman. Why should I be driving? It’ll give people the wrong impression.”

“What wrong impression?” Wen Wan sat down across from him, her expression serious. “It’s not like you’re completely relying on your family. You built this studio from the ground up yourself. Uncle Lu is just helping you solve a transportation problem; he’s not just handing you an allowance to blow. Besides, you’ve already earned your driver’s license. Wouldn’t it be a waste not to use it?”

Jiang Sifan remained silent.

Wen Wan studied him for a moment before asking softly, “Are you feeling guilty about it?”

Jiang Sifan fell silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded. “Yeah. Growing up, I’ve always had to shoulder everything on my own. Suddenly having someone step in and arrange everything for me… I’m just not used to it.”

Wen Wan didn’t say anything more. Instead, she reached across the table and gently squeezed his hand.

That night, after returning to his dormitory, Jiang Sifan lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

Gao Lao was already snoring heavily, and Qiu Zai was mumbling in his sleep. Brother Ming was watching a video with his headphones on, the screen’s flickering light reflecting off his face in the dark room.

Jiang Sifan grabbed his phone and opened his chat with Jiang Yixia. He typed a few words, then deleted them.

He typed out another line and deleted that, too. After hesitating for quite a while, he finally sent a message.

**Jiang Sifan:** [Mom, Dad said he wants to buy me a car. I turned him down.]

After hitting send, he placed the phone next to his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.

He picked it up to check. Jiang Yixia had replied: [I understand. I’ll ask your dad about it.]

Seeing her reply put Jiang Sifan’s mind at ease. He set the phone back down and finally closed his eyes.

Meanwhile, after reading the message, Jiang Yixia frowned. She grabbed her own phone and dialed Lu Fan’s number.

The line rang twice before he picked up.

“Yixia? What’s going on?” Lu Fan’s voice came through, carrying a warm smile.

“Sifan said you wanted to buy him a car?” Jiang Yixia got straight to the point, sounding slightly bewildered. “He’s only a freshman…”

Lu Fan leaned back in his chair and chuckled. “His studio is relocating to the branch office. It’s quite a distance from the university to the company, so taking a taxi all the time is a hassle. He already has his license, so he can drive the moment we buy it. It’s perfect timing.”

“Even so, there’s no need to buy him a car, is there?” Jiang Yixia frowned. “Can’t he just take the subway?”

“It’s a fifteen-minute walk from his campus to the subway station, and another ten minutes from the station to the office,” Lu Fan explained. “A round trip involves thirty minutes of just walking. Rather than wasting that time, he’d be better off getting some extra sleep or studying a few more pages of his textbooks.”

Jiang Yixia fell silent.

“Plus, he’s not making the trip alone,” Lu Fan continued. “Wen Wan goes with him. Taking a taxi back and forth costs them thirty or forty yuan each time. That’s over two thousand a month and more than twenty thousand a year. If we buy a car and he drives it for four or five years, it actually ends up being cheaper than constantly taking cabs.”