Chapter 106: All of You Practice Driving Here Properly
Lin You Xi pushed her bike and encountered Mei Fang and Xia Yuan riding together at the entrance of the residential area. Xia Yuan waved to greet Lin You Xi, and Mei Fang slowly stopped his bike in front of her.
Lin You Xi also smiled and gestured to the two of them. Her eyes fell on the bike that Mei Fang was riding, “Yuan Yuan, is this your new bike?”
Xia Yuan nodded. She kept rubbing her bottom as she got off the bike, “It’s so uncomfortable sitting on the backseat! It felt like my PG was being squeezed.”
“That’s because you haven’t added a cushion to your new bike. I find Mei Fang’s bicycle very comfortable when I sit on it.”
“My mom used this bike to pick up Xiao Ya from school before, so she added a cushion.”
Xia Yuan leaned closer to Mei Fang, “Then let me try sitting on your bike later. I want to see how comfortable it is, okay?”
Mei Fang gently tapped Xia Yuan on the head, “Stop thinking about whether my backseat is comfortable or not. Aren’t you two here to learn how to ride a bike today?”
“It’s just a short ride, no big deal. You’re such a miser,” Xia Yuan pouted at Mei Fang.
Everyone then pushed their bikes to the small park in the middle of the residential area, which was the place where Mei Fang, Lin You Xi, and Xia Yuan often gathered and had many memories.
Mei Fang rode his bike over from the parking spot. At this point, Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi were already sitting on their bikes, pedaling backward to get a feel for it.
“Have you ridden a bike by yourself before, You Xi?”
“Mrs. Liang took me a few times, but I couldn’t hold the handlebars properly.”
“I’m the same! After I bought my bike, my dad said he would teach me, but I ended up falling and hurting myself. He probably hadn’t even ridden a two-wheeler himself, yet he tried to teach me how to ride a bike. It’s really funny.”
“He just wanted to spend more time with you.”
“I know that… but sometimes my dad can be really annoying.”
“Are you both ready?”
Mei Fang clapped his hands, “Now, Teacher Mei will start with some brutal training!”
“Hmph, bring it on!”
Xia Yuan responded enthusiastically to Mei Fang’s words.
“The most important thing in learning to ride a bike is balance. You can’t learn this just by reading books; you have to practice repeatedly. Don’t start riding yet. Try putting one foot on the pedal and pushing forward with the other foot.”
Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi pedaled forward for a short distance, circling around a bit and returning.
“Is this how it’s done? It’s pretty simple,” Xia Yuan said.
“This is part of the balancing exercise. See how much your handlebars wobble? I think You Xi would have been knocked over just by pushing the bike.”
Lin You Xi nodded, “So it’s really hard for me to maintain balance.”
“Don’t worry, keep practicing.”
Mei Fang then explained the next step, “After that, sit on the bike with one foot on the pedal and the other hanging in the air. When you move forward, use the other foot to push. Make sure to hold the handlebars steady. Yuan Yuan, you’re sitting too straight. Lower your center of gravity or you’ll fall.”
“Like this?”
Xia Yuan leaned forward toward the crossbar of the bike, “Feels like those motorcyclists on TV…”
“You’re overdoing it! Come here, let me show you.”
Mei Fang adjusted Xia Yuan’s posture by holding her shoulders and back. Lin You Xi watched Xia Yuan and tried to adjust her own posture. After adjusting Xia Yuan, Mei Fang looked at Lin You Xi, “That’s right, You Xi! You did it perfectly. I told you once, and you understood right away. You’re amazing!”
“Mei Fang, you’re so biased. You Xi was clearly just mimicking what I did.”
Xia Yuan pouted, expressing her dissatisfaction. Mei Fang ignored her and continued teaching, “Maintain this posture and you can start moving forward, but remember to still push with your feet.”
The two followed Mei Fang’s instructions and slowly started pedaling forward. Xia Yuan held the handlebars steadily, but Lin You Xi’s hands were trembling and shaking all over.
Xia Yuan, having mastered it quickly, reached the original position first. Mei Fang closely followed Lin You Xi, worried she might fall. Seeing that the two were still a distance away, Xia Yuan decided to circle around a bit in place, feeling less unbalanced.
Feeling excited about discovering her natural talent for riding a bike, Xia Yuan started shouting while trying to stabilize the handlebars.
“Mei Fang, look! Look at me! I can already ride by myself!”
Mei Fang happened to return with Lin You Xi, seeing Xia Yuan’s progress. He nodded in approval, “Good job. You’ve learned dance, so you naturally have better balance. Remember, you were also quick to learn rollerblading, which requires balance too.”
“When I learned from my dad, he just made me ride directly, and then ran behind me, holding onto the backseat. He let go after just a few steps, causing me to fall several times.”
Xia Yuan smiled, “Mei Fang teaches me step by step, which is much better than my dad.”
“Just a few lessons… it’s not going to show immediate results. Stop exaggerating. Just keep practicing.”
“Okay!”
After pedaling practice, they moved on to the formal two-pedal forward motion exercise. The difficulty level increased significantly. Mei Fang didn’t make them pedal a full round but asked them to do it in small segments.
As mentioned earlier, Xia Yuan learned quickly and soon could cycle faster around the park. However, Lin You Xi, like when she learned rollerblading, was clumsy. Mei Fang had to stay close and patiently guide her, helping her straighten the handlebars as they jogged along.
“Mei Fang, Mei Fang, look! Now I can ride without looking at the handlebars—”
Xia Yuan exclaimed excitedly, turning around to find Mei Fang not beside her but with Lin You Xi on the other side of the open space.
She saw Mei Fang pressing against Lin You Xi’s back, teaching her how to grip the handlebars without wobbling.
“Emmmmm—”
Xia Yuan puffed out her cheeks, emitting a drawn-out sound.
Learning rollerblading was the same, and so was learning to ride a bike.
Mei Fang always paid extra attention to You Xi.
Though I know You Xi isn’t good at sports…
But we agreed to learn together, yet Mei Fang hasn’t even glanced at me. This is so frustrating!
Xia Yuan felt increasingly annoyed.
Forget it, I’ll just ride by myself. I don’t need Mei Fang to teach me. Once I learn, I’ll teach You Xi.
Xia Yuan angrily rode towards Mei Fang and Lin You Xi. Just as she picked up speed, a child from the neighborhood suddenly appeared in front of her. Seeing Xia Yuan approaching, the child stood still.
“Wah!”
Startled, Xia Yuan sharply turned to avoid the child, but lost her balance. As she leaned sideways and fell towards the green belt, Mei Fang, who had noticed the situation earlier, rushed over and blocked Xia Yuan’s bike.
“Phew… That scared me!”
Relieved, Xia Yuan got off the bike. Although Mei Fang wasn’t knocked down, the impact was strong. Xia Yuan immediately went to check on Mei Fang.
“Sorry, sorry… Did you get hurt anywhere?”
“Thinking of walking on the sky right after learning to walk, you really have guts!”
Annoyed, Mei Fang tapped Xia Yuan on the head, then winced slightly.
Xia Yuan looked at Mei Fang’s hand and felt心疼, “There’s a large bruise on your hand! We need to treat it immediately…”
“It’s fine, it will heal quickly. I can put some medicine on it later.”
“How did you run so fast…”
Xia Yuan’s voice carried a hint of grievance, “I saw you were only paying attention to You Xi and ignoring me completely.”
“I can’t focus solely on You Xi. I also pay attention to your riding status. You couldn’t see that kid, and I was about to warn you, but then you suddenly sped up, so I knew something was wrong…”
Mei Fang muttered, Xia Yuan hugged Mei Fang’s hand close to her chest, “This bruise is huge. If we don’t treat it now, it will affect writing with a pen. Let’s go home and ice it.”
“No, it’s okay…”
“You need to.”
Xia Yuan looked up, determinedly staring at Mei Fang. At this moment, Lin You Xi also came over to check on the situation. Seeing Mei Fang’s bruise, she agreed with Xia Yuan.
“See, Mei Fang, now it’s two against one. What do you have to say?”
“Fine, fine… I’ll listen to you.”
Mei Fang said, “I’ll go home and treat this myself. Keep practicing.”
“I’ll go with you!” Xia Yuan shouted.
“I’ll go,” Lin You Xi interjected.
“It’s my fault for hurting Mei Fang. I should go,” Xia Yuan argued.
“You don’t know where Mei Fang keeps the first-aid kit. I’ll go,” Lin You Xi countered.
“You two, aren’t you trying to slack off? All of you stay here and practice driving. I’ll go home and take care of this.”
Mei Fang said sternly, “If I come back and find no improvement, don’t blame me for being harsh!”
“Ugh…”
“How could you!”
Mei Fang left Lin You Xi and Xia Yuan and ran home to treat the bruise.
Recently, he had sensed some ominous signs and started taking initiative to intervene in some issues.
And Lin You Xi, who used to follow Xia Yuan’s every word, had gradually begun to form her own opinions.
Isn’t the priority supposed to be studying? Don’t argue over me!
Mei Fang didn’t enjoy the constant bickering. He believed the past innocence was best.
But he was mature, and Yuan Yuan and You Xi needed a long process of growth, an unavoidable transformation.
Just like learning to ride a bike, if you don’t fall a few times, you won’t truly learn.
If we continue to protect them too much, is it really beneficial?
But at least… there are some issues that shouldn’t be addressed right now.
Sigh…
I wonder how long I can continue to intervene.
Yesterday, I watched the Argentina match until 6 PM, so today’s update is late. Sorry! Still updating at 6:30 PM.
Although the second half of the match was ugly, congratulations to Messi and Argentina for advancing to the semi-finals!
Today, I support Mei Xi (Xi).
(End of Chapter)
