"I wasn't speeding! I needed his help with something and was just trying to get his attention. For some reason, every time I caught up to him, he'd speed off before I could say two words, so I had to accelerate too..."
"Stop with the excuses. Speeding is speeding. You two were going fast enough to fly," the traffic police officer interrupted Jing Mingqiu. "Quickly, hand over your driver's license and vehicle registration."
Jing Mingqiu was bewildered. "I haven't gotten my driver's license yet..."
"No license means unlicensed driving, an even more serious offense," the officer glared at Jing Mingqiu, full of disappointment. "You might be heading to the station to cool off for a couple of days."
With that, the officer pulled out his ticket book, ready to issue a citation. Jing Mingqiu quickly stopped him. "Wait a minute, Officer, if I recall correctly, you don't need a driver's license to ride an electric scooter, do you?"
"Electric scooters indeed don't require a license," the officer put down his pen and roared at Jing Mingqiu, "But don't tell me the one that was doing 160 kilometers per hour just now was an electric scooter."
Jing Mingqiu looked utterly wronged. "But it really is an electric scooter! If you don't believe me, come over and check it yourself..."
"I'm warning you, don't try to fool me. If this isn't an electric scooter, I'll add disturbing public duty to your charges!"
After issuing a warning, the officer walked over and meticulously inspected Jing Mingqiu's electric scooter, from top to bottom, inside and out. Upon discovering it was indeed an electric scooter, he was completely stunned.
"How, how is this possible! Why can an electric scooter go that fast? And you two chased each other for half the city; when did electric scooters get such long battery life?"
It wasn't just the officer; Wang Ankang was dumbfounded to learn that his equally matched opponent wasn't a motorcycle, but an electric scooter.
Seizing this opportunity, Jing Mingqiu explained the entire situation in detail, finally clearing up the misunderstanding.
Since there was no intentional speeding, the penalties were much simpler. Wang Ankang was solely penalized for speeding without causing serious consequences. According to Dragon Country traffic laws, he received a six-point deduction and a fine of three hundred.
Although Jing Mingqiu also exceeded the speed limit, his electric scooter lacked a speedometer, and electric scooters typically wouldn't speed. He subjectively didn't know he was speeding. Therefore, the officer issued a warning and educational talk instead of a fine or points deduction.
"If you want to test something next time, go to a professional testing ground. Don't just race around on public streets."
"I understand. I'll be more careful next time. Sorry for causing trouble, Officer."
Coming to his senses, Jing Mingqiu felt a lingering sense of dread. He had never driven a vehicle that fast before. If something had gone wrong, he wouldn't have been able to react, and he would have been finished.
This incident gave Jing Mingqiu a deeper understanding of the system's terrifying modification capabilities.
After receiving the traffic officer's lecture, Jing Mingqiu walked over to Wang Ankang and scratched his head, a sheepish expression on his face.
"Sorry, brother, for causing you trouble. If your car is damaged, you can come find me at Dashan Repair Shop, and I'll fix it for you for free once."
When Wang Ankang learned that the electric scooter, which had matched his motorcycle's performance, was modified by Jing Mingqiu himself, he became very excited.
"Master Jing, you don't have to do it for free! I have money. Can you help me modify my motorcycle?"
Jing Mingqiu sent a scan over and, seeing the red text indicating it was beyond his modification level, he looked troubled.
"I'm sorry, I can't modify motorcycles yet; I can only modify electric scooters."
Wang Ankang recalled the previous race and gritted his teeth.
"Electric scooters are fine too. Dashan Repair Shop, right? I've got it. Once I find a good electric scooter, I'll come find you."
After watching Wang Ankang leave, Jing Mingqiu rode his electric scooter to the market to buy two catties of eggplant, five or six potatoes, three or four green peppers, and two catties of pork, planning to make Di San Xian at home.
He washed the pot, rinsed the rice, added water, and put it on the stove.
While the rice was cooking, Jing Mingqiu took out a small hammer and a wrench and removed a part from a nearby discarded motorcycle, installing it onto the small Shuangfeng electric scooter.
After the previous misunderstanding, Jing Mingqiu didn't dare to test it outside again. He took out his phone and searched for nearby testing grounds.
Through the official website, Jing Mingqiu learned that professional testing grounds required a driver's license.
Considering that he would eventually be able to modify motorcycles and cars, Jing Mingqiu decided to take advantage of his current free time and get his motorcycle and car licenses at a driving school.
He washed the vegetables, chopped them, washed the pot, and heated the oil.
With the precision of an eighth-level fitter, Jing Mingqiu prepared a large plate of Di San Xian that was both visually appealing and fragrant.
"Gulp, gulp!"
After eating more than half the plate in one go, Jing Mingqiu was satisfied. Holding his distended belly, he returned to his bedroom, collapsed onto the bed, and immediately fell asleep.
In his dream, he encountered the Zerg. This time, he wasn't piloting a mecha; instead, he held a large plate of Di San Xian, using the potatoes as bullets and the green peppers as missiles, defeating them with a single dish.
Now that he had been out of school for a while, Jing Mingqiu's biological clock had completely reset.
It wasn't until late morning that he slowly got out of bed, washed his face haphazardly, found some leftovers from yesterday in the refrigerator, and wolfed them down. He then rode his newly modified small Shuangfeng electric scooter at full speed to the Dajian Driving School.
Registration, enrollment, payment, signing...
After a series of smooth procedures, Jing Mingqiu became a proud student of the Dajian Driving School.
The person at the driving school registration desk led Jing Mingqiu into the school and pointed to a dark-skinned middle-aged man.
"Jing Mingqiu, this is Coach Wu. You'll be following him from now on."
Coach Wu took the student card and casually sized up Jing Mingqiu. "Just finished the college entrance exam? That makes things easier for me. Subject One has a total of 1,500 questions, all multiple-choice. Go home and download a driving test app, then go through the question bank."
"Next Saturday, I'll lead a group to the Subject One testing center. If you're confident, I can help you register now. If everything goes smoothly, you can get your license in as little as a month."
Jing Mingqiu quickly calculated. Today was Thursday, and it was nine days until next Saturday. With only multiple-choice questions, 1,500 would be a breeze.
"No problem, Coach Wu."
After registering Jing Mingqiu, Coach Wu took him to a training car, briefly explained the basic operations, and personally directed him to reverse into a parking spot twice, both times landing perfectly in the center.
"You have good comprehension. However, during the competition, I won't be there to guide you; you'll have to manage on your own."
Saying this, Coach Wu pointed to a small pavilion nearby. "Go wait there in line. Ten minutes per person, taking turns to practice. Once you master reverse parking, the rest will be simple."
Jing Mingqiu got out of the car. Before he could even walk into the pavilion, he heard someone call out his name.
"Brother Ming, over here, over here!"