48 Hours a Day - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Zhang Heng realized that he underestimated the extent of Takeda Tetsuya, his new boss’ ruthlessness .

He sent the man back to the shop at 3 . 15 in the morning . Then after spending ten minutes unloading and packing the seafood, Zhang Heng left the shop at 3 . 35 . By 6 . 30, he was still driving with about half of the undelivered goods at the back of the van .

By then, the street was growing busy—all the office workers who lived far from their workplaces were already out the door, spilling into the underground subway and bus stations . The number of cars on the road were also gradually increasing . Zhang Heng went to two other places, and when he left an izakaya1, he encountered two traffic policemen who were just starting their shifts . As a result, he decided not to risk continuing the delivery .

Driving without a license in Japan would be a severe offense . Not only would the offending driver have to serve less than 3 years of jail time and pay a 500,000 yen fine, all passengers and owners of the vehicle would also be convicted and fined . It was almost at peak hours . If Zhang Heng did not leave, chances were, he would be stuck in a jam .

Zhang Heng brought the L300 back to the store to an unsurprised Takeda Tetsuya . The latter picked up the phone and contacted the former delivery man, before turning to Zhang Heng and said, “You have one more week . After that, Takahashi Koichi will be back in his hometown . If you still can’t complete the delivery by then and I suffer a loss, would you pay me back?”

“Alright . ” Zhang Heng answered .

Zhang Heng’s unwavering answer was not quite what Takeda Takashi had expected . This situation was, in all honesty, quite a tragedy for the store owner—not only was he unable to contend with the young man, but he was also in a vulnerable position that the young man could capitalize on . He could do nothing about Zhang Heng not completing the job, so he could only grumble and make a fuss . He really hadn’t expected the young man to actually agree so breezily .

Takeda Takashi said cunningly, “Hey, kid, you better don’t lie . If you can’t do it, then you can’t! The sooner you tell me, the sooner I can figure out a way to hire another driver . I worked hard to get each and every one of these customers! Don’t make empty promises . If you still cannot complete your task, the one at stake is my shop!”

“If I fail to complete the deliveries, I will pay you back whatever you lose!” Zhang Heng hopped down the van and stretched his shoulders and wrists .  His first delivery was unsuccessful, and after driving from the wee hours of the morning, his body and mind were exhausted . But he found that somehow, this pressure had drastically improved his driving . It would appear that this nonstop driving around was much more useful than if he were to practice the entire day .

Of course, he could always tell Takeda Takashi to reduce his cargo, but if he was not even willing to accept a small challenge like this, then why bother to participate in the competition? He might as well just give up then .

Zhang Heng took the bus back to campus and was only able to wash his face and quickly gobble down a few pieces of bread before he had to rush for another Japanese lesson .

Only in the evening did he get the chance to make up for being awake the whole morning . He had set the alarm for four hours . Later, he had dinner . He then visited the bookstore nearby to buy a map of Tokyo .

As mentioned previously, self-reflection and deduction were Zhang Heng’s strengths . On his way back to campus that morning, he had already started mulling over reasons he was unable to complete his task that day . Other than his unpolished driving skills and the L300’s poor performance, his unfamiliarity with the roads and lack of route planning were also crucial factors .

No matter how good a driver was, it would be challenging for him to be able to perform to be at fullest capacity if he was unfamiliar with the location of the competition .

At 1 . 20 in the morning, Zhang Heng arrived at the parking lot, gave Mr . Crab two onigiri1, who gleefully opened the gate for him . He returned to the store at 7 . 34 am . Unfortunately, his performance today was worse than the day before, delivering only about 40% of the goods .

Takeda Takashi was cleaning the sink in his pajamas when he saw the young man return . “Young people should not be too confident . It’s not too late for you to give up now . Otherwise, in six days, you will have to sell yourself to me as a slave and work for free your whole life . ”

Zhang Heng said nothing in reply . He had only himself to blame, taking too much time planning the route and unfamiliarity with the names of the places causing him to arrive at the wrong location a couple of times . He even nearly drove all the way to Okinawa to see bikinis!

Zhang Heng added another item to his to-do list—Get familiar with Tokyo’s streets .

Takashi Seafood Products’ customers could be divided into two main types: regular customers and new customers . The former received their goods at the same locations while the latter was more spontaneous, which, at the moment, Zhang Heng could do nothing about . For the regular clientele, on the other hand, Zhang Heng could mark their location on the map, then use a pen to connect the dots and find the best route for delivery .

After that, he simply had to slot in the new customers’ locations that were en route . That way, he could save a large portion of his time .

So, on the third day, Zhang Heng delivered 70% of the goods, and for the first time, when the L300 pulled up the in front of the shop, Takeda Takashi did not make fun of him .

On the fourth day, only 20% of the goods did not make it to the clients . On the fifth day, however, Zhang Heng found himself at a bottleneck .

Although he had done his best to make every minute count, he still had 15% of undelivered goods . It was only thanks to the careful planning that he was able to send them to nearby clients . The remaining ones were located further from town or in more secluded areas—completely overlooking them .

If he were to deliver them now, it would take him an exhaustingly long time to reach . While his driving skills still had room for improvement, he only had two more days before the ‘deadline’– not delivering all of the remaining goods was out of the question . Once again, Zhang Heng found himself deep in thought .

Takeda Takashi, who had his head buried in an adult magazine, looked up suddenly . “To a racer, his car is more important than his wife . So, how could a person who doesn’t even understand his own wife manage the relationship? Tsk, tsk! Young people nowadays are so foolhardy . ”

“Do you have the blueprint of the car?” Zhang Heng asked the man poring over an ocean of cigarette butts .

“A great racecar driver simply needs to listen to be able to tell the horsepower of an engine, but I can’t be so harsh to a rookie like yourself, right?” Takeda Takashi answered in a patronizing tone . It was like this guy had to accomplish something, however small, or he would die . “I have the drawing of the modification on my computer . Take a look at it yourself . Don’t compete against it . Get to know its temper, then you’ll be able to control it well . ”

Zhang Heng turned on the computer and was immediately greeted by Takeda Takashi’s ‘hidden files . ’ Among the mountain of porn, Zhang Heng found what he wanted . To his surprise, there was not only the blueprint for the L300 but also blueprints for other cars as well . They were all earlier models, though . It seemed like they had all been modified by a certain Mr . Takeda Takashi .

On top of that, there was also a copy of a manual .

Takeda Takashi called out from downstairs, “Focus on studying the L300 . Ignore everything else . You’re not at that level yet . Don’t try to run before you can even crawl!”