Chapter 268: Autumn Outing Mishap

The autumn outing and social event dragged on until evening before they reluctantly headed back.

They arrived with bags full of supplies but left empty-handed, their moods and steps much lighter.

Homeroom Teacher Shi Dinghai joined the fun for a bit in the afternoon and then left early.

Without the teacher around, the kids enjoyed themselves even more.

Beyond the planned programs and games, truth or dare kept them going for nearly two hours…

Two minibuses waited at the Forest Park entrance, and as students lined up to board, their excitement from the day gave way to fatigue.

Xu Chen headed straight to the back row, pulling out his mobile phone to jot down some notes.

Today’s autumn outing brought some unexpected gains.

He gained an idea for the advertising competition entry, and after thinking it through, Xu Chen felt confident about winning a prize in the ‘Big Ad Contest’.

He had studied past winning works, checked out this year’s judges, and even reviewed the head judge’s publications…

The inspiration he captured during the outing could be polished into a script and visuals tonight, then handed to Sun Aimi to turn into a design.

Xu Chen never expected that his creative spark would come from those two middle-aged men complaining about life today…

He figured he’d have to pull all-nighters tonight and tomorrow to get it done.

Strike while the iron’s hot—finish the ad contest and Kunlun Mountain proposals, especially since Bing Ge’s competition in Osaka is right around the corner.

The group took the ferry back to the Shi Dongkou Wharf as night fell.

The sunset painted the sky and water in fiery reds, with dense clouds streaking across.

The students sat on the wharf steps, waiting and looking tired after a full day of play.

Xu Chen found a quiet corner, phone in hand, squeezing in time to organize his proposal ideas.

Huo Dashan went to contact the bus driver, but the call didn’t go through, so he headed straight to the parking lot.

Meanwhile, the students chatted and laughed, taking the chance to drink water and use the restroom.

Class Monitor Min Siyang looked up and saw Huo Dashan returning, his face twisted in worry.

“What’s wrong?” Min Siyang sensed something was off.

Huo Dashan hesitated but spoke up:

“The bus… it’s got issues.”

Min Siyang: “What kind of issues?”

Huo Dashan: “The driver wants extra money, and he’s asking for three thousand right off the bat…”

Min Siyang: “How can he do that? We booked through a proper travel agency!”

Huo Dashan: “It is through the agency, but this happened anyway.

He claims we’re late and he’s waited too long.

Plus, it’s getting dark, so he says it’s overtime…”

Min Siyang: “He’s clearly trying to rip us off!”

Huo Dashan: “Exactly, he’s ripping us off…

I just checked around—the wharf is in a rural industrial area, and we probably can’t hail another ride here.”

Min Siyang: “…”

She glanced around: “Let’s ask the staff over there.”

Huo Dashan: “I already did. They gave me the travel agency’s contact—it’s the same one we’re dealing with.”

Min Siyang thought for a moment: “What do we do? Maybe pay the three thousand first and sort it out with the agency later.

It’s getting dark out here in the middle of nowhere—better get everyone back safely.”

Huo Dashan hung his head slightly, looking troubled:

“What’s up?” Min Siyang asked.

Huo Dashan: “I lost my temper on the phone with the driver and argued with him. He just drove off.”

Min Siyang couldn’t hide her frustration: “How could he do that?!”

But she quickly forced herself to calm down and glanced back at the twenty-plus students:

“There are still quite a few local Shanghai students. If we have to, we can have them call their parents to pick everyone up from downtown and take us all back.

Or… we contact the homeroom teacher for help.”

To be fair, this quiet but strong girl from Sichuan stayed surprisingly calm when problems hit.

She handled it better than Huo Dashan did.

Min Siyang paused, then added quietly:

“It’s just… this makes our class committee look pretty incompetent.”

A few girls from behind walked over…

They’d seen the two discussing something and noticed the bus wasn’t coming, so curiosity got the better of them.

But Huo Dashan blurted out the whole issue before anyone could stop him.

Min Siyang was speechless and couldn’t intervene.

Sure enough…

The girls panicked at the news that the driver had abandoned them at this remote wharf.

“Ah?! What do we do now? It’s already dark, and there’s no one around!”

“This is the suburbs—good luck finding help out here!”

“Wasn’t the bus arranged by the class committee? How did this happen?!”

The girls’ outburst quickly stirred up chaos.

Min Siyang tried to soothe them, but the panic spread, making everyone tense.

Xu Chen, crouched in the corner, finally caught wind of the commotion.

He stood up, walked over, listened from the edge of the group, and figured out what happened—leaving him speechless.

Back in the early 2000s, even in a city like Shanghai, scams like this targeting tourists weren’t uncommon.

The driver probably saw a group of naive students and thought he’d squeeze some extra cash out of them.

And picking this wharf was smart—it’s nearly an hour and a half from the city center, right in the middle of nowhere.

The driver figured with night falling, they’d have no choice but to pay up…

But Huo Dashan, with his quick temper, argued and scared the driver off.

Time to fix this.

Xu Chen approached Huo Dashan and Min Siyang, both looking stressed.

When Min Siyang saw Xu Chen, she felt a bit more at ease for some reason.

Xu Chen read their expressions and knew they didn’t have a plan.

Complaints echoed from behind as the girls started blaming the committee.

Xu Chen shook his head inwardly—these girls really had that typical mindset.

He thought for a second and called out clearly:

“Everyone, stay calm! The committee has a backup plan.

I’ve already arranged another vehicle—it’s on its way!

Don’t worry, everyone…”

Min Siyang and Huo Dashan exchanged confused glances.

The agitated girls heard Xu Chen and finally settled down a little.

“Really, Xu Chen? It’s dark out—hurry and get the ride here!”

“Yeah, how long will it take? This wharf is deserted—it’s not safe!”

Xu Chen smiled warmly and said:

“Don’t panic, the ride’s sorted and heading over.

I’ll make a quick call to check how long it’ll be…

And don’t fret about safety— we’re at a wharf, so it’s relatively secure.

Plus, we’ve got a big group, including eight strong guys. If trouble shows up, we’re good!”

At that, the guys who were hanging back stepped forward.

“Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll handle it.”

“Everything’s fine here.”

Their words quickly eased the tension.

Xu Chen grinned: “Chen Wenyi, Huang Hao… you guys escort the girls to that pavilion over there and wait.

The ride will be here soon—just hang tight.”

The boys agreed and guided the nervous girls to the side to rest.

Min Siyang and Huo Dashan turned to Xu Chen, still uneasy.

Huo Dashan asked: “Xu Chen, did you really find a ride?”

Xu Chen: “Not yet, I’m on it now.”

Huo Dashan: “Ah?!”

He instantly looked panicked again.

Xu Chen patted his shoulder: “We’ll get one, brother. Don’t freak out—I’ll make the call.”

With that, Xu Chen stepped away.

Min Siyang and Huo Dashan glanced at each other, still worried.

This was the middle of nowhere—how easy was it to find a ride?

And Xu Chen was from out of town; he didn’t know anyone locally, right?

A short while later, Xu Chen finished his call and returned:

“The ride’s lined up, but it’s remote, so it’ll take twenty minutes to half an hour to get here.”

Min Siyang said: “That’s fine. I’ll go calm everyone down and have them wait patiently.”

Xu Chen nodded and told Huo Dashan:

“There’s a vending machine over there—let’s grab some drinks for everyone.”

Huo Dashan nodded and followed Xu Chen.

When they came back, the students were chatting and laughing again.

Xu Chen and Huo Dashan handed out drinks and water to the group.

Huo Dashan stayed quiet, still feeling on edge.

He wanted to ask about the ride but didn’t dare.

Class Monitor Min Siyang felt the same but kept it to herself.

About twenty minutes later, Xu Chen got another call.

“Bro, we’re almost there.”

“Great, just drive in—we’re at the exit, you’ll see us!”

Soon, seven or eight taxis pulled up in a line right in front of them.

The students erupted in cheers.

Min Siyang and Huo Dashan shared a relieved look.

The drivers stepped out of their cabs.

The lead driver, a burly guy, spotted Xu Chen and called out:

“Xu Chen!”

Xu Chen walked over.

“Thanks a lot, brother—I was really stuck.”

The lead driver, who looked a lot like Zhao Feng, was actually Zhao Feng’s cousin, Zhao Kai.

Zhao Kai drove taxis in Shanghai; Zhao Feng had introduced him to Xu Chen before leaving, saying to call if anything came up…

And here Xu Chen was, needing help today.

Zhao Kai chuckled: “No problem, Xu Chen. You call, I come!”

He turned to the other young drivers:

“This is the Xu Chen I told you about.”

“Hey, Boss Xu!”

Xu Chen smiled: “Thanks so much, everyone, for today!”

Zhao Kai: “Don’t mention it, Xu Chen…

These guys are all from back home in Shandong Province!

It worked out—I was picking up a fare in Baoshan, so getting here was easy.

I rounded up these brothers nearby, and they jumped in.”

Seeing Xu Chen talking with the drivers, Min Siyang and Huo Dashan held back with the students.

“Did Xu Chen call all these cabs?”

“They’re willing to come out to this remote wharf from the city?”

“Yeah, at this time, you’d never flag one down around here…”

Min Siyang and Huo Dashan exchanged glances, still in disbelief.

Not only did Xu Chen get taxis, but he got a whole fleet of seven or eight.

Chen Wenyi stood in the crowd and heard the burly guy call Xu Chen ‘bro’—it reminded him of that first meeting with Xu Chen and his tough friends.

Once Xu Chen wrapped up, he waved to the group:

“Let’s go—load up!”

The students eagerly climbed into the cars.

The seven or eight taxis fit the less-than-thirty students perfectly and soon turned around, leaving the wharf area.

Class Monitor Min Siyang quickly got into Xu Chen’s car.

Huo Dashan thought for a second and followed suit.

Xu Chen glanced back and smiled at them: “The fleet’s heading straight to school!

Local students can arrange their own rides home from there.”

Huo Dashan: “That’s fine—the original bus was going to school anyway.”

Xu Chen nodded and fell silent.

The car merged onto the ring road, passing through Baoshan and toward Yangpu.

Zhao Kai drove steadily, chatting casually with Xu Chen.

He talked about his brother Zhao Feng and how Zhao Feng always praised Xu Chen and President Xu.

Xu Chen asked a few questions and learned that, though cousins, Zhao Kai and Zhao Feng were as close as brothers.

Zhao Kai was thrilled that Zhao Feng had turned his life around and landed a stable job at Xu’s factory, so he was genuinely grateful to Xu Chen.

Min Siyang and Huo Dashan in the back seat pieced together from the conversation why the drivers called Xu Chen ‘Boss Xu’.

Huo Dashan had heard Xu Chen’s roommates call him ‘Boss Xu’ before and thought it was just a nickname.

Turns out, he really was ‘Boss Xu’.

And from what they heard, his family background seemed just as solid as ‘Jiangsu Prince’ Qian Xin’s, if not more.

Yet Xu Chen came across as so modest and low-key, the complete opposite of Qian Xin’s flashy style.

Well, that was the mark of a true high-end heir.

Min Siyang remembered something and hesitated before texting Xu Chen upfront:

[How should we handle the fare for your friends’ cabs?]

Xu Chen saw the message and replied simply:

[Don’t worry about it—I’ll take care of it.]

[Thanks, Xu Chen… We really needed you today.]