After knowing about Uncle Zhang's condition, Su Yu decided to send him back home first.
As for buying a new car, he could do that another day by himself.
"Uncle Zhang, let's go home for now."
"Didn't you say over the phone earlier that you want me to accompany you somewhere? Aren't we going anymore?" Uncle Zhang asked.
Su Yu said, "Oh, it's just the automobile shop. I want to buy a car so that it's easier for me to travel to town in the future."
"A car? Great idea. It will definitely be more convenient for you to move around in the village in a car. It's not that good for a young man like you to ride an auto-rickshaw, is it? Come on. Let's go have a look," Uncle Zhang said.
"Are you okay, Uncle Zhang? Your condition…" Su Yu asked.
Buying a car was not as simple as buying vegetables. From browsing to signing the agreement, to getting the license plate from the necessary department, the process required a long time.
Meanwhile, Su Yu was worried about Uncle Zhang's condition.
Uncle Zhang waved frivolously. "It's okay. I'm not that weak yet. I still can stand and walk. Let's go." He was a proud and stubborn man who would never acknowledge the fact that he was old, especially in times like this.
Su Yu buying a car was a big deal to Uncle Zhang.
Su Yu's parents had passed away when he was young, so Uncle Zhang strongly believed he had the duty to accompany the boy to get his first car.
In the end, Su Yu gave in to Uncle Zhang's stubbornness. He drove the auto-rickshaw to a nearby automobile shop.
…
A while later, Su Yu arrived in front of the automobile shop but found that it was under renovation.
Several female sales assistants were chatting at the entrance. They were having coffee when Su Yu arrived in his auto-rickshaw.
It was off-season for car sales, hence the dwindling customers and poor daily sales, which was also the reason why the sales assistants were idling around.
It was almost clock-off time, yet two customers arrived at their doorstep.
The girls talked about it for a while and decided to send the older one to welcome Su Yu and Uncle Zhang.
"I'm Chen Yun, a sales assistant for Changfeng Automobile. Is there any car that you would like to check out?"
Su Yu thought about his choice carefully.
A rural village like his hometown was unlike the city, which had asphalt roads connecting everywhere.
Lishui County was considered a town, so it was still fine, but once he returned to Xiantai Village, he could barely see a concrete path because most of the roads and paths were purely made out of mud.
The muddy road and paths would be wet and dirty whenever it rained.
Even though Su Yu had the budget to buy a good car, considering the village road, he would never buy a luxury one.
He had to consider the best way to move his goods around and the ability to cross the country.
"Do you sell pick-up trucks here?"
"A pick-up?" The salesgirl was surprised. A pick-up truck was a popular choice in the States but not in China. Its load capacity was not as good as a truck's and it was more difficult to drive compared to a normal car.
Automobile shops might not even see sales of pick-up trucks for an entire year, yet the young man wanted one.
Su Yu might have a unique taste in cars, but since he was a customer, the salesgirl was not overly bothered.
She brought Su Yu and Uncle Zhang to the pick-up truck section.
"Mr. Su, these are the pick-up trucks that we have in stock. What brand are you looking for?"
"I don't really understand pick-up trucks myself. Are there any good recommendations on brands?" Su Yu asked.
The salesgirl smiled. "Most of the pick-up trucks are from foreign countries. Even though it is a less popular choice here, there are quite a few good brands like Ford, GWM, JMC, ZX, Nissan, etc. The price range varies from brand to brand. May I know how much your budget is?"
"I've got quite the budget," Su Yu said.
After all, cars were considered consumables even though it could be driven for years or a decade.
A poor brand car might cause increased consumption of gas, poor maneuver and mobility, so going for a cheap one would be asking for trouble.
Su Yu had the budget, and if he had the choice, he would go for the better one.
The salesgirl smiled brightly and her eyes glistened.
"A good pick-up, I see? Okay, I recommend the Nissan Navara. The wheelbase is 3150 with six emission standards. It's a five-seater with 73 liters of gas volume, 2.5 liters of engine displacement, and 193 horsepower. There's even an adaptive four-wheel-drive system. It's the newest model this year, and most importantly, the starting price is only 190,000 RMB!"
The salesgirl led Su Yu to a car.
He sized up the black pick-up truck. The Nissan Navara surely looked good and matched Su Yu's taste.
It was a five-seater and had considerable load capacity as well. Unfortunately, it only had 193 horsepower which was a little disappointing.
Su Yu pouted as he preferred something stronger.
"Are there any other better choices?"
The salesgirl was once again shocked. 'Awesome! This young man must be rich! He came here with a rickshaw, so I thought he's some poor kid. I didn't expect him to be a hidden millionaire!'
The Nissan Navara was almost 200,000 RMB, yet it failed to meet Su Yu's expectations.
The salesgirl brought Su Yu and Uncle Zhang to the side and served them coffee.
"Mr. Su, how about this? The JMC Tiger EV. It's an electric pick-up truck with 66 kwh battery capacity. It can travel for 335 km continuously. Its starting price is around 330,000 RMB."
"An electric truck?" Su Yu shook his head. He did not plan to get a pure electric pick-up truck.
Then, Su Yu accidentally laid eyes on another car. He walked over for a closer look.
"Hmmm, this one looks good."
This one looked bigger in terms of size, and it had the classic pick-up truck design. It was a Ford from the States. Most importantly, Su Yu liked the design.
The salesgirl came over. "Mr. Su, do you prefer this one?"
Su Yu opened the door to check the interior. "What's wrong with this?"
"It's not a problem at all. The specs of this pick-up truck are great. With a 3708 wheelbase, it's a five-seater with a gas capacity of 136 liters, and it's considered extra large. The engine displacement is 3.5T, and it has 381 horsepower. A standard six emission car with a time-sharing four-wheel-drive system. It's also manumatic, so it's a little pricey…"
"How much is it?"
The salesgirl said with an awkward look, "This car is a little bit pricey. The starting price is around 550,000 RMB.
550,000 RMB for a pick-up truck was considered expensive, and people usually skipped this brand entirely.
Therefore, the salesgirl did not plan to introduce the Ford to Su Yu from the start because she did not expect him to buy it.
Su Yu got in and experienced the seat himself. In the end, he tapped the steering wheel and said, "Ok. I'll take this."
He liked it very much because be it the exterior or the load capacity, it ticked every box in his heart. The only thing was the price, but it had wonderful specifications given its value.
Furthermore, Su Yu had the budget as well.
Uncle Zhang was shocked when he heard that Su Yu wanted the Ford. His jaw fell to the ground. "Has Lil' Yu gone mad?"
He bought a 550,000 RMB pick-up truck?
Uncle Zhang thought that Su Yu had heard the price wrongly. Instead of 550,000, he might have misheard it as 55,000 RMB.
Uncle Zhang dragged Su Yu down from the car and whispered to him, "Lil' Yu, are you out of your mind? It's almost 600,000! Do you have the money for it?"
"Don't worry, Uncle Zhang. I have the money. Did you forget that I earned some money through my livestream?"
"Yeah, but…"
Before Uncle Zhang could continue, Su Yu stopped him. "Uncle Zhang, what do you think about this car?"
Uncle Zhang said, "The car is nice, but the price…"
"That's all that matters." Su Yu smiled. "Miss, I'll take it. Card, please."
Su Yu took his bank card out.
All Uncle Zhang said was that the car looked good and Su Yu bought it right away.