Chapter 509: Chapter 263: Kites and Willow Flutes (Part 2)_1
"That’s right, it’s a steamed bun," Lian Manman said with a smile, nodding her head.
"Ah," Shen Qian lifted his plump hand and touched his own nose, "it really is a steamed bun."
"Of course, it’s obvious at first glance, isn’t it?" Lian Manman said.
It was indeed obvious at first glance, it was just unexpected, Shen Qian thought to himself.
"Why paint a steamed bun?"
"Because I like it," Lian Manman replied, "That’s what we sell at my family’s shop."
"Oh..." Shen Qian looked at the steamed bun on the kite with a touch of longing.
"There are four of us, and we have two kites, hmm, let’s have a competition," Lian Manman suggested after they arrived at the spot.
"A competition, how do we compete?" Shen Qian immediately asked.
"Just seeing whose kite flies higher," Lian Manman said. One shouldn’t underestimate the homemade kites of tenant farmers’ children; they might not match the store-bought ones in terms of finesse, but in performance they were by no means inferior. Lian Manman was quite confident in her own kite.
Of course, in a competition to see whose kite could fly higher, the skills of the person flying the kite were also very important.
"Good." Shen Qian’s narrow eyes immediately brightened, and he readily agreed.
Wu Lang and Xiao Qi naturally wouldn’t say anything, and Xiao Qi even seemed quite eager to try.
"Four people, two kites, how shall we compete?" Shen Qian gestured with his hands as he asked again.
"Naturally, two people form a team, Fatty Shen, you are our guest, so you get to choose, which one of us would you like to team up with?" Lian Manman asked Shen Qian. The two servants and two attendants that Shen Qian had brought were all ordered by him to stand a distance away, so Lian Manman, feeling less constrained, naturally blurted out the nickname she had thought up for Shen Qian.
"I am not Fatty Shen!" Shen Qian pouted and glared at Lian Manman, but then he quickly rushed to say, "Manman, let’s be a team, and let Xiao Qi team up with your brother."
"Why didn’t you choose my brother?" Lian Manman looked at Shen Qian with some regret. Among them, Wu Lang was the oldest and tallest. Teaming up with Wu Lang to fly a kite would have a better chance of winning.
"The two of us as a team, with me here, we’re sure to win." Shen Qian grinned, revealing a row of white, neat sesame seed teeth, "Manman, I’m happy to play with you."
Isn’t it said that children from wealthy families grow up savvy and precocious among shrewd people? Why was Fatty Shen so cheerful and extroverted, not hiding his emotions at all! Was this his natural disposition, the same wherever he went, or was it only in front of them that he was like this?
"Alright then." Lian Manman nodded, agreeing. Honestly, after a few encounters, Fatty Shen wasn’t an annoying child.
When flying kites, one person has one way, and two people have another way.
If it was one person, they would have to run against the wind while gradually releasing the kite string, LETting the kite take off. If it were two people, one could stand still and release the string while the other held the kite and ran against the wind. When they felt that the kite had enough lift, they would release the kite and let it soar.
For a two-person team competition, Lian Manman planned to use the second method.
Xiao Qi and Wu Lang were a team, using their homemade kite. Xiao Qi was responsible for releasing the string, and Wu Lang held the kite and ran. Wu Lang was taller than Xiao Qi and ran faster, so the kite went up easily.
As for Lian Manman and Shen Qian...
Lian Manman sized up the delighted Fatty beside her, who still seemed not as tall as her. Well, although he didn’t look very tall due to his roundness, to be fair, Fatty Shen had apparently grown a bit and was almost as tall as she was now. Lian Manman thought, if she let Shen Qian release the string and she took care of flying the kite, they would have a better chance of winning. That’s because Fatty was not as tall as she was, and definitely not as fast.
However...
"Fatty Shen, I’ll release the string, and you fly the kite..." Lian Manman carefully explained the flying techniques to Shen Qian, making sure he understood before stopping, "When you release the kite finally, it’s best to jump higher, so the kite can fly higher."
"Are you guys ready?" Xiao Qi called from the side, he and Wu Lang already positioned themselves, just waiting for Shen Qian and Lian Manman to start flying their kite.
"Ready," Shen Qian blurted out.
The two teams, Lian Manman and Xiao Qi stood a few steps apart on the same line, with Shen Qian and Wu Lang holding their kites also on the same line ahead of them.
The person flying the kite obviously had a much tougher job than the person standing there releasing the string.
Shen Qian turned back to look at Lian Manman, then at Xiao Qi, and then at Wu Lang beside him, who was nearly one and a half heads taller, his mouth curving up in glee, his narrow eyes crinkling.
