Chapter 160 Birch Carriage Company

"Hey, are you Mo Shu? The great God Mo?" the owner of the Golf MK7 continued to press.

However, Mo Shu completely ignored him, pulling Wang Yu along as he strode away quickly.

To avoid attracting a larger crowd, Mo Shu and Wang Yu ducked into a nearby auto parts retail shop.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper was an elderly man with white hair, who presumably didn't recognize them.

"Look around if you need anything, and feel free to ask if you don't understand." Wearing reading glasses, the old man shot them a cold glance before returning his attention to his book.

To escape the fan, the two men had no purchasing needs, but they had to pretend to browse.

After walking around, they realized that although the shop wasn't very large, the shelves held a wide variety of items.

From performance parts to body kits, everything was available, ranging from large spoilers down to tiny screws.

Moreover, the shopkeeper had quite a refined taste in sourcing inventory; almost all the brands sold were highly individualized and cutting-edge modification brands.

This somewhat surprised Mo Shu, and a question naturally popped into his mind: Was this old gentleman really the owner? How did he acquire such trend-setting information on modified cars?

"Ahem~~~" Mo Shu cleared his throat, intending to satisfy his curiosity. Besides, he needed to hide out here for a while anyway, so casual conversation would help pass the time.

"Hm?" The old man put on an expression of rapt attention.

"Old sir, the items here are quite impressive. Do you source all these goods based on your own preferences?"

"Heh, of course not. Look at how old I am; how could I still have the energy to research and purchase auto parts?"

"Oh? Then are you in charge of management?"

"Management isn't the word for it. I just come here to watch the shop for my grandson when I have nothing better to do."

So that was it. The old man's grandson must be the actual owner of the shop, exactly as Mo Shu had guessed.

"Then your grandson... is he also into cars?"

"Of course, he's obsessively crazy about it. To open this shop, our entire family chipped in almost all our savings, and we still haven't broken even yet."

"Heh, indeed. Modified cars are a relatively niche market, so a slower return on investment is understandable."

"Niche? I don't see it that way at all. Ever since that downhill race was held at Genting Peak here in South City, every young guy in our neighborhood with a car has acted like he's been possessed. They obsess over modifying and driving cars all day and night, driving us older folks crazy." The old man began to grumble. "Take my grandson for example. Originally, he only spent a little over ten thousand yuan on modifications for his car, which his parents and I could accept. But ever since he went to Genting Peak, every single day when he comes home, all he talks about is someone named the Tree God. The energy and money he pours into modifying his car just keep growing. Just yesterday, he bought over fifty thousand yuan worth of parts and installed them on his car in one go! You have no idea how furious I was—his secondhand car isn't even worth as much as those modification parts!"

"Ha, that's normal, completely normal. Modification always requires a hefty investment," Mo Shu consoled the old man.

"You look like such a well-mannered young man. You wouldn't happen to be one of those crazy car modification kids, would you? Otherwise, why would you be browsing around in my shop?" Judging from Mo Shu's stance, the old man assumed he was siding with his grandson. He took off his glasses to look Mo Shu up and down, wearing a slightly disdainful expression.

"You've got it wrong, Grandpa. I'm just browsing. I don't even drive a car these days," Mo Shu chuckled.

"Hmph, let an old man give you some advice: don't even think about getting into car modifications. Isn't there a popular saying among you young people? Tuning cars ruins three generations; modifying cars destroys your life!"

"Haha, you're so humorous, Grandpa. The original saying is actually about photography: photography drains three generations; DSLRs destroy your life."

"Whatever the case, I don't approve of car modification. A car is fine as long as you drive it properly—why modify it? If this shop weren't such a huge investment, this old man wouldn't bother coming here to help out."

"Right, right, you're completely right, Grandpa. We young people should listen more to the advice of our elders." Noticing that the old man was getting more and more worked up, Mo Shu began to placate him.

At that moment, the bell on the shop door chimed. Assuming a fan had tracked him down, Mo Shu quickly turned sideways to pretend to examine the merchandise.

Instead, he heard a familiar voice say, "Grandpa, my 'Purple Dragon' performed amazingly today!"

Isn't Purple Dragon a cartoon character? Wasn't this old man's grandson into cars? Could he also be an anime-loving car tuner?

Finding it bizarre and deeply curious, Mo Shu turned his head to look, only to lock eyes with the newcomer. At that instant, both of them froze in shock.

As it turned out, the "Purple Dragon" referred to the purple MK7 that had won the race earlier, and the owner of this shop was none other than the MK7 driver who had just been crying out for Mo Shu.?!

"God Mo?! I knew it was you! Why did you try to sneak away just now?" The MK7 driver's face instantly lit up with joy upon seeing Mo Shu.

Talk about finding something without even looking for it.

After searching everywhere, Mo Shu had actually hidden inside his very own shop, and got caught red-handed.

"Uh~~~ Heh heh..." Mo Shu didn't know how to respond and let out an awkward, dry laugh.

He still remembered that when he was talking to the shopkeeper's grandfather moments ago, the old man had just expressed his deep dissatisfaction with him. Now that his cover was blown, he had no idea how the grandfather would react.

"You! You're that Tree God?" The old man's wrinkled eyes widened in astonishment.

"Grandpa~~ What Tree God? He's God Mo! My idol!" The MK7 driver pouted as he corrected him.

"You..." The old man pointed a rigid finger accusingly at Mo Shu, wearing an expression of innocent betrayal. With a heavy sigh of "Hmph!", he turned back to his book, ignoring them completely.

"Old sir, please don't be angry. I wasn't trying to deceive you on purpose; my identity is a bit sensitive, so I had no choice. Modifying and playing with cars isn't as unproductive as you might think," Mo Shu apologized sheepishly, trying to comfort the old man.

The MK7 driver chimed in, "God Mo, it's fine. My grandfather actually loves cars. When he was young, he was an elite mechanic at his factory. He's just old and stubborn, believing that working in this industry doesn't make any money, which is why he acts like this."

"Well, as long as the old gentleman isn't angry, we'll take our leave now." Knowing it wasn't wise to overstay his welcome, Mo Shu looked for an opening to slip away.

Despite the MK7 driver's repeated pleas for him to stay, Mo Shu merely offered polite, continuous waves of refusal.

Just as Mo Shu was about to push the door open and leave, his footsteps halted at the sight of a photograph pasted onto the door frame.

The picture was a "group photo" of the MK7 driver alongside Mo Shu and Geng Hua. Although neither Mo Shu nor Geng Hua was looking at the camera, and it was obvious the driver had rudely photobombed them, one could still clearly see the smug expression on the driver's face and his awkward posture as he tried his best to keep everyone else out of the frame.

"Geng Hua, long time no see..." A pang of heartache rippled through Mo Shu's chest.

Ever since Geng Hua's passing, Mo Shu had never mustered the courage to face Geng Hua's memory. He never expected that today, in a small car modification shop, he would "reunite" with Geng Hua.

Noticing that Mo Shu had stopped in his tracks, the MK7 driver quickly stepped forward and said, "God Mo, you and Geng Hua are my two favorite racers—this photo is proof! I hope today you can take a real, proper photo with me and make one of my dreams come true."

"Heh, the person is gone. What's the point of taking a photo?" Mo Shu sighed mournfully, still intending to leave.

Unwilling to give up, the MK7 driver pleaded from behind Mo Shu, "Please, God Mo! I'm truly a hardcore fan of you two. Do you even know what this shop is called?"

The shop name? Could it be called "God Mo Modification Club" or "Geng Hua Private Car Service Center"?

He better hope it wasn't called anything like that, or Wang Yu would send a lawyer's letter suing for copyright infringement. Besides, Mo Shu had no interest in knowing; one of his feet was already out the door.

"God Mo! Didn't you look at the sign when you walked in? The shop is called 'Hua-Shu Garage'!"