Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 263 Repair Manual

"What the hell?! Are you blind?! How can you drive like that?! Are you blind?!"

The younger cousin, still shaken, was instantly enraged by the failed chase, and his anger erupted like a volcano, all directed at Xu Xiaoyan in the driver's seat.

He pointed at Xu Xiaoyan and cursed through the windshield, spewing profanities and spitting as he looked ferocious.

The middle-aged man was also furious, his face turning ashen, his chest heaving violently. He pointed at Xu Xiaoyan and roared:

"Can't you drive?! What are you doing blocking the way! Can't you see someone is chasing someone?! Get out of the way!"

He tried to go around the front of the car, but the location of the food truck and the speed that Xu Xiaoyan deliberately maintained made it difficult for him to pass quickly.

The middle-aged woman was so anxious that she jumped up and down, craning her neck and standing on tiptoe, trying to see the girl who had run out the door and disappeared into the light outside through the gaps above or to the side of the dining car.

However, it was completely hidden by the car body.

"Hey! The person got away! They ran away! Get out of the way! Your junk car is blocking the road! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Her voice was sharper and more shrill due to her anxiety, and it even sounded like she was crying.

Xu Xiaoyan sat in the driver's seat, her hat brim pulled low, obscuring most of her face.

She didn't even roll down the window or respond in any way.

He merely glanced at the three people outside the car, who were furious and cursing, through the windshield with almost indifferent eyes.

Let them scold her, she's completely unfazed; it won't hurt her.

She has achieved her goal.

Those perfectly timed few seconds of "blocking" might not have been enough to allow the girl to completely escape the clutches of this family and even Director Chen.

But at least it bought her some precious breathing room to create some distance.

Seeing that her cousin seemed furious and showed signs of rushing up to bang on the car window and even trying to open the car door, Xu Xiaoyan didn't delay any longer.

She gently pressed the accelerator, restarted the car, and at the same time slightly adjusted the steering wheel to the left. The car nimbly turned a corner and accelerated out of the half-open iron gate.

After the initial excitement of acquiring her "vehicle" and successfully escaping subsided, she did not immediately drive the food cart to the designated stall.

Going now would be too hasty.

She observed her surroundings and quickly noticed a row of marked temporary parking spaces not far ahead, several of which were currently empty.

Xu Xiaoyan backed the food cart into one of the parking spaces, and after it came to a stop, she pulled the handbrake, turned off the engine, and removed the key.

She sat in the driver's seat and did not get out of the car immediately. Instead, she cautiously observed her surroundings through the car window.

After confirming that no one was watching her closely, she turned around and picked up the manila envelope from the passenger seat.

She took the contents out one by one and spread them out on the seat next to her.

At the top is a thin booklet with only a dozen pages, the paper rough and yellowed, the cover printed with "C District Convenience Service Vehicle Use and Maintenance Manual" in Song typeface.

Below is a folded "List of Items Accompanying the Vehicle".

Below that is the "Basic Vehicle Items and Recommended Initial Procurement List," followed by the vehicle's master key and a spare key, which are tied together, and that bulky black charger.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't touch the keys or the list first, but instead picked up the "User and Maintenance Manual".

The table of contents follows the title page and is printed fairly clearly.

Her gaze swept quickly across the entries, soon locking onto several chapter titles that seemed most likely to concern core interests.

His fingers flipped through the pages, jumping directly to the corresponding page number, and his brows furrowed more and more as he read on.

"...Chapter Four: Vehicle Maintenance and Modification"

Article 12: To regulate management, ensure the safe operation of service vehicles, maintain the uniformity of the city's appearance, and avoid safety hazards.

All convenience service food trucks that have been approved and deployed by the Urban Convenience Service Management Office of District C are subject to any subsequent repairs, maintenance, and parts replacements after they are put into use.

All vehicle modifications, regardless of size or function, must be carried out through the sole official service provider designated by the Urban Convenience Service Management Office of District C.

The modifications are carried out by "Honghu Motor Vehicle Repair and Modification Company". Users are not allowed to seek out any other non-designated repair shops, private technicians or carry out modifications on their own.

Article 13: All costs related to repair and modification, including material costs, labor costs, testing fees, and on-site service fees, shall be borne by the user of the service vehicle.

"Honghu Company" should post its main services and pricing standards on the bulletin board in the management office lobby and accept user supervision.

If you have any objection to the fee, you may report it to the Supervision Section of the Management Office, but you may not refuse to pay or delay the payment of reasonable fees on this basis.

Article 14: The user shall bear full responsibility for any vehicle malfunctions, safety accidents, property damage, personal injury, and all other direct or indirect consequences caused by unauthorized vehicle testing and certification by "Honghu Company" or unauthorized modifications.

At the same time, the management office has the right to impose penalties on users, such as fines, demerit points, temporary vehicle impoundment, rectification within a specified period, or even revocation of operating license, depending on the severity of the circumstances.

Cases that are particularly serious or have caused a negative impact will be handed over to the base's security management department for handling...

"Honghu Company..." Xu Xiaoyan murmured the name, her brows furrowing even deeper.

The monopoly designation is specifically granted, and the designated "sole" partner is granted.

The implications are self-evident: repair prices, parts prices, labor costs, and even the efficiency and attitude of the repairman may be entirely at the mercy of the other party.

This is a foreseeable expense that cannot be avoided by simply comparing prices; it is a fixed and potentially high cost.

What's more troublesome is that this could very well become another powerful tool for the management office or related stakeholders to further "manipulate," "control," or "exploit" self-employed individuals like her.

Is the car broken?

The only option is to find a "swan".

Want to add something practical?

It must be done through "Honghu" (a type of bird-like bird), and they set the price.

There's a lot of room for maneuver here.

She suppressed the unease and subtle resistance rising in her heart and continued to flip through the pages to find more crucial information.

"...Chapter Five: Scope of Operation and Supervision"

Article 18: Service vehicles approved for designated operation must strictly limit their daily operations to the service locations specified in the approval documents.

Within the designated driving routes that connect the various designated points and are planned and announced by the management office, drivers may not leave the designated points and routes for any reason.

Article 19: To ensure management order, public safety, and service effectiveness, each public service vehicle is equipped with a non-removable and non-blockable GPS positioning and monitoring device and data transmission module.

The device is connected in real time to the monitoring center of the Urban Convenience Service Management Office in District C, and operates continuously around the clock.

Article 20: The monitoring center system automatically compares the real-time location of vehicles with the designated locations and electronic fences along the routes.

Once the system detects that a service vehicle has exceeded the designated electronic fence area, the monitoring platform will automatically record the violation.

And immediately send a Level 1 alarm to the area administrator and the supervision department of the management office to which the vehicle belongs.

Article 21: If the user exceeds the prescribed range for the first time, the system will automatically deduct 20 points from the user's account and send a written warning notice to the user via the registered communication code.

A second violation will result in a fine of 50-200 points and may also lead to vehicle impoundment for 7-15 days.

If there are three or more violations, or if a single violation is particularly serious, the management office has the right to directly revoke the vehicle and its operating permit.

Users will be blacklisted in the industry, and the right to pursue their corresponding responsibilities will be reserved.

All penalty points must be paid within the specified period; failure to do so will result in late fees and negatively impact your credit record…

Upon seeing this, Xu Xiaoyan's heart sank slightly. An unremovable, unblockable locator; 24-hour real-time monitoring; automatic electronic fence comparison; a tiered alarm system…

This regulatory system is so rigorous that it almost completely eliminates any possibility of "playing it close to the line," expanding the scope of activities without authorization, or occasionally being "flexible."

Every time you drive from now on, from starting the engine to turning it off, you will have to stay inside that invisible "electronic cage".

Every turn, every stop, can be recorded and analyzed.

The so-called "fixed-location operation" is literally "drawing a line in the sand and confining oneself to a fixed area".

Fines and penalties might be bearable, but what about vehicle impoundment or even revocation of the permit?

That would be a devastating blow to her, meaning that all her previous efforts, sacrifices, calculations, and risks would be in vain in an instant, and she might even be burdened with debt or a bad record.

However, this did not make her feel overly frustrated or desperate.

On the contrary, she subconsciously began to adjust her mindset and expectations almost as soon as she started reading.

She had long been accustomed to surviving under various tangible and intangible restrictions, rules, and shackles.

Her experience struggling at the bottom taught her that having clear, written rules is always better than relying entirely on someone's "mood," "connections," or underhanded dealings.

At least, she knows where the boundaries are and the clear consequences of crossing them.

What she needs to do is not complain or challenge the rules, but to familiarize herself with them and adapt to them as soon as possible.

Then, within this framework of rules, find a path that you can take, a space where you can survive and even potentially thrive.

She put down the User and Maintenance Manual, which contained many restrictions and terms, and then picked up the Vehicle Items List, unfolding it on her lap.

The list is in a very simple format, just a table, with the heading:

Electric tricycle food cart for convenient public services, model: BMFC-03 (serial number: C-03-1147)

Below are the item names and checkboxes:

One vehicle key (master) √

Vehicle key (duplicate/spare) One √

Standard charger (220V/48V) - One set √

"Career Service Vehicle User and Maintenance Manual" (one copy)

Vehicle Items List √

Vehicle Basic Items and Recommended Initial Procurement List √

Vehicle identification metal plate (number: 03) - One √

She folded the list and then took out the last document.