Chapter 105 : Stay Here and Practice Obediently for Me
Lin Youxi was pushing her bicycle at the intersection of the community when she ran into Mei Fang and Xia Yuan riding together. Xia Yuan waved and greeted Lin Youxi, and Mei Fang slowly stopped his bicycle in front of Lin Youxi.
Lin Youxi also smiled and gestured to the two of them. Her gaze fell on the bicycle Mei Fang was riding. “Yuan Yuan, is this your new bicycle?”
Xia Yuan nodded while continuously rubbing her bottom as she got off the bicycle. “It’s so uncomfortable to sit on the back seat! My butt is going numb.”
“That’s because your new bicycle doesn’t have a cushion. I felt very comfortable sitting on Ah Fang’s bicycle.”
“My mom used this bike to take Xiaoya to school before, so she added a cushion.”
Xia Yuan leaned in closer to Mei Fang. “Let me try sitting on your bike later and see how comfortable it really is, as Youxi said.”
Mei Fang lightly tapped Xia Yuan’s head. “Stop thinking about whether the back seat is comfortable or not. Are you two here today to learn how to ride a bike or what?”
“What’s the harm in letting me sit for a while? Stingy.”
Xia Yuan made a face at Mei Fang, and then everyone pushed their bicycles to the middle of the community park. This was the place where Mei Fang, Lin Youxi, and Xia Yuan usually gathered, and it was also full of memories.
Mei Fang went to parking place to get his bicycle and rode it over. By this time, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi were already on their bicycles, pedaling backward to get a feel for it.
“Have you ridden on your own before, Youxi?”
“Aunt Liang taught me a few times at home, but I couldn’t control the handlebars.”
“Me too! I just bought a bike, and my dad insisted on teaching me. It ended up with me hurting myself badly. He barely knows how to ride a bike himself, but he came to teach me, it’s really funny.”
“He just wants to spend more time with you.”
“I know that…” Xia Yuan smiled slightly. “But sometimes my dad can be really annoying.”
“Anyway, are you both ready?”
Mei Fang clapped his hands. “Now, Mei-sensei is going to start the brutal devil training for you!”
“Hmph, bring it on!”
Xia Yuan responded very cooperatively to Mei Fang’s words.
“The most important thing in learning to ride a bike is to master the sense of balance. You can’t learn this just from theory, you have to practice repeatedly. Don’t ride yet, try standing on one pedal and pushing the bike forward with the other foot.”
Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi pedaled and pushed the bike forward for a short distance, circled around, and came back.
“Is it like this? It’s quite simple,” Xia Yuan said.
“This is the process of training your sense of balance. When you hold the handlebars, do you notice how much you sway from side to side? It looks like you could easily be knocked over just by pushing the bike.”
Lin Youxi nodded, “That’s why I find it hard to maintain my balance.”
“It’s okay, just practice slowly,” Mei Fang reassured.
Mei Fang then explained the second step of the training, “Next, you both will sit on the bike, place one foot on the pedal, and let the other foot hang in the air. When moving forward, use the other foot to pedal and make sure to grip the handlebars. Yuan Yuan, you’re sitting too upright, lower your center of gravity, or you might fall.”
“Like this?”
Xia Yuan leaned towards the crossbar of the bicycle, “It feels like those daredevil bikers on TV…”
“That’s too much! Come, let me show you.”
Mei Fang adjusted Xia Yuan’s posture by supporting her shoulders and back, while Lin Youxi observed and tried to adjust her own posture. After adjusting Xia Yuan’s posture, Mei Fang looked at Lin Youxi, “You’ve got it, Youxi! You understood it as soon as I explained. You’re really good!”
“Ah Fang, you’re so biased. Youxi was clearly learning from the adjustments I made.” Xia Yuan pouted, expressing her dissatisfaction.
Mei Fang ignored her and continued teaching, “Maintain this posture, and you can try riding forward, but remember to pedal to move forward.”
Following Mei Fang’s instructions, the two slowly pedaled forward. Xia Yuan was relatively stable when holding the handlebars, but Lin Youxi’s hands kept trembling, causing the handlebars to sway back and forth.
As Xia Yuan easily grasped the technique and rode ahead, Mei Fang stayed with Lin Youxi, fearing she might fall. Xia Yuan, seeing the distance between them, tried riding in circles in the same spot, and the sense of imbalance was not very noticeable.
Discovering her natural talent for riding a bicycle, Xia Yuan became excited and focused on holding the handlebars steady while shouting, “Ah Fang, look at me! I can ride on my own now!”
Mei Fang, returning with Lin Youxi, nodded approvingly at Xia Yuan’s progress, “Well done. After all, you have a background in dancing, so your sense of balance is naturally better. You were also quick when learning rollerblading, which also requires a good sense of balance.”
“I learned from my dad. He just made me ride directly and then ran behind me to support me as I rode. He let go after a few steps, causing me to fall several times.”
Xia Yuan smiled and squinted her eyes. “Ah Fang teaches me in a step-by-step manner. You’re definitely much better than my dad.”
“I only taught you a few times… It’s impossible to see immediate results so quickly. Don’t exaggerate, and you should practice more.”
“Mhmm!”
After practicing pedaling, they moved on to practicing riding with both feet on the pedals. This was a step up in difficulty. Instead of having the two of them pedal a full round, Mei Fang had them pedal in small half circles, and then a full round.
As mentioned earlier, Xia Yuan quickly got the hang of it and was able to ride around the park at a slightly faster pace. However, Lin Youxi was as clumsy as when she learned to roller skate. Mei Fang had to patiently stay by her side, helping her steady the handlebars and running alongside her.
“Ah Fang, Ah Fang, look! I can ride without looking at the handlebars now!”
Excited, Xia Yuan shouted behind her, only to find Mei Fang was not near her but with Lin Youxi at the other end of the park.
She saw Mei Fang leaning close to Lin Youxi’s back, teaching her how to grip the handlebars firmly without shaking.
“Emmmmm——”
Xia Yuan pouted, making an intriguing trailing sound.
It was the same when they were learning to roller skate, and now with the bicycle.
Ah Fang always liked to take care of Youxi more.
Although I know Youxi is not very good at sports…
But we agreed to learn together, and Ah Fang hasn’t even glanced at me this whole time. It’s so frustrating!
The more Xia Yuan thought about it, the more emotional she became.
Forget it, I’ll ride by myself. I won’t wait for Ah Fang to teach me. Once I’ve learned, I’ll teach Youxi myself.
Xia Yuan rode towards Mei Fang and Lin Youxi with a sullen expression. Just as she picked up some speed, a child from the neighborhood suddenly darted out in front of her and froze in place upon seeing her approaching.
“Ah! Ah!”
Startled, Xia Yuan shouted. She swerved and avoided the child, but after doing that, her body lost balance. As she leaned to one side and was about to fall into the greenery, Mei Fang, who had noticed the situation early on, suddenly appeared and physically stopped Xia Yuan’s bicycle.
“Phew… That scared me!”
Xia Yuan, safe but shaken, got off the bicycle. Although Mei Fang wasn’t knocked over, the impact was still strong. Xia Yuan immediately went to check on Mei Fang.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Did you get hurt anywhere?”
“You just learned how to walk but already want to fly. You’re too daring!”
An angry Mei Fang tapped Xia Yuan’s head and then grimaced in slight pain, clutching his hand.
Xia Yuan, holding Mei Fang’s hand, immediately felt sorry. “There’s a big bruise on the back of your hand! We need to go back and take care of it…”
“It’s nothing, the swelling will go down quickly. I’ll apply some medicine when I get home later.”
“You run so fast, how did you do that?”
Xia Yuan’s voice had a slightly aggrieved tone, “I saw you were only focused on teaching Youxi behind me, and didn’t pay attention to me at all.”
“How could I possibly only pay attention to Youxi alone? I also paid attention to how you were riding, alright? From your angle, you couldn’t see that child. I was actually about to shout for you to be careful, but then you suddenly sped up, and I knew something was going to go wrong…”
Mei Fang muttered, and Xia Yuan tenderly held Mei Fang’s hand close to her chest, “This bruise is so big. If we don’t treat it now, it will affect your ability to write and do homework. Let me take you home to apply some medicine.”
“It’s fine, I don’t need to…”
“You need to.”
Xia Yuan lifted her head, gazing firmly at Mei Fang. At this moment, Lin Youxi also pushed her bicycle over to check the situation. Seeing Mei Fang’s bruise, she also expressed the same opinion as Xia Yuan.
“See, Ah Fang, it’s two against one now. Do you have anything else to say?”
“Alright, alright… I’ll listen to you.” Mei Fang replied, “I’ll go home and apply some medicine myself while you two can continue your practice.”
“I’ll help you!” Xia Yuan shouted.
“Let me go instead,” Lin Youxi interjected.
“I’m the one who caused Ah Fang’s injury, so of course, I should go,” Xia Yuan argued.
“You don’t know where Ah Fang’s family medicine box is. I’ll go.” Lin Youxi’s argument was also very convincing.
“Both of you, are you trying to slack off? Stay here and practice obediently for me. I’ll handle it myself and get back.”
Mei Fang said sternly, “If I come back and find that you two haven’t made progress, don’t blame me for being tough on you!”
“Uh…”
“Why is it like this!?”
Mei Fang left Lin Youxi and Xia Yuan behind and hurried home to treat his bruise.
Recently, he had already faintly detected a strong sense of trouble, prompting him to proactively intervene or address certain issues.
Moreover, Lin Youxi, who used to always obey Xia Yuan, had gradually begun to have her own thoughts.
What happened to the agreement to focus on studying? Come on! Don’t argue because of me!
Mei Fang didn’t enjoy the feeling of being fought over. He felt it was best when things were innocent and pure, just like before.
However, while his mentality had matured a long time ago, both Yuan Yuan and Youxi had to go through a long process of growth. It was unavoidable and necessary for their transformation.
Just like ordinary people learning how to ride a bicycle, it’s hard to truly learn how to ride without falling a few times and learning from those mistakes.
If I’m always overprotective of them when learning something new, like riding a bike, would it actually benefit them in any way?
But at the very least… there are some issues that definitely shouldn’t be confronted right now.
Sigh…
I wonder how much longer I can handle this.
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