Pandora’s Box

Observing the days left of summer vacation was upsetting. The good days of sleeping in until I naturally woke up was coming close to an end. Lu Feng and Ke Luo were heading to dine that day, announcing that they wouldn’t come home for dinner. On the other hand, Cheng Yichen and Zhuo Wenyang came back earlier than usual.

I woke up from a long and indulgent nap and found that both were already home, waiting for me mysteriously with identical expressions on their faces.

“What’s wrong?”

Cheng Yichen smiled slightly and said, “School will start soon so I bought you a gift.”

I rubbed my eyes sleepily and casually asked, “What gift? Are you going to give me a car when school starts?”

Cheng Yichen smiled and said, “It’s really a car but it is not the car you are thinking of.”

He brought me a brand new bicycle from the room.

“…..”

This was a road bike with flat handlebars and a streamlined body. It looked quite light. The gray and black color scheme was also cool, but as far as I was concerned, this was different from the shared bicycles.

Cheng Yichen asked, “Do you like the appearance? I asked Wenyang to help choose. Young people understand young people’s preferences much better.”

I had no choice but to say, “It looks good, but I can’t ride this.”

Cheng Yichen replied in high spirits, “I know, Wenyang told me that you can’t ride a bicycle so I want to teach you now. Let’s go downstairs and head to a nearby park to try.”

“…..”

I immediately gave Zhuo Wenyang a “help me” signal. Zhuo Wenyang smiled and said, “Let’s practice. It’s very easy.”

Ah, he was on his father’s side!

The two of them took me and the bike out of the car, with one on the left and the other on the right, as if I had been kidnapped.

We met a neighbor downstairs, greeting us, “The weather is so nice. You’re planning to go for a bike ride?”

I blinked at him desperately, but he walked away indifferently. Damn it, couldn’t he see that this was an ambush?!

The park was quite empty with only a few people occupying the space. Only a few children were sliding and playing in the sandpit at the children’s play area.

I smiled at them in a friendly manner. Besides, they would be the main audience watching me make a fool of myself.

Zhuo Wenyang said, “The seat’s height has been adjusted for you. You can sit on it first. Anyways, your feet can touch the ground now so you won’t be afraid of falling.”

Cheng Yichen also chimed in, “I found this place for you. It’s slightly sloped so you don’t need to rush to ride. Put your feet on the ground together and take advantage of the slope to practice gliding first. This is to help you familiarize with the handlebars to grasp a control of your balance.”

“…..”

“You are so big so I won’t help you from the back seat to avoid adding weight and resistance. Mastering balance and starting by yourself is the first step.”

I kicked on the ground with both feet like a dog, feeling as if all my efforts of upholding a fashionable and refined image collapsed.

This looked too funny!

“Take your time, lower your center of gravity, and you’ll get a sense of the feel.”

My feeling was that I was screwed!

Taking advantage of the downhill slope, I pushed hard for a while, and I was able to slide down. It seemed that I was not swaying; it appeared that my sense of balance was still good. Wasn’t I a genius?

Cheng Yichen also expressed approval and we changed location.

I went up again and stepped on the bike pedal, taking a deep breath and calming down my nerves.

“To ride the bike, all you initially need is speed,” Cheng Yichen explained, “The initial speed doesn’t need to be very fast and it’s easy to achieve.”

“Oh.”

“So you must use force with your first foot. Once you use force, you will gain speed. Don’t rush to keep up with the other foot, and kick the ground back in coordination. This can also help provide speed. Don’t worry, you can wait until you can steadily glide for a few seconds without falling. Then, you can start putting the other foot on the pedal as well.”

When I was gliding, I felt that maintaining balance seemed to be nothing more than doing this, but when I really started to ride, I panicked when I went down. Hey, hey, what was going on? Why did I fall down? Was this really rideable? Were two wheels really stable? Could it be that I was lied to?

Fortunately, I was grown and my feet could touch the floor. If I was a child, I would be full from the numerous amount of times I’d fall and eat shit.

Cheng Yichen said, “If you feel that the bike is not stable, don’t rush to step on the floor. You can continue to pedal the bike. As long as you have speed, it will be easy to maintain balance. If you’re about to fall, you will have time to step on the ground again. Practice a few more times and you’ll be fine. And well, if you step on the ground whenever the bike lean sideways, you’ll never make progress.”

No, I couldn’t fall! I couldn’t take risks! I could not hurt my face!

I wanted to ask Zhuo Wenyang for help but I found that he was concentrated on recording me with his mobile phone.

“…..”

He watched the fire from the other side.

Could you do anything right?!

Thinking that all of this was being recorded by the ruthless robot, I could only bite the bullet and continue on with my mission.

Fine, I would get ready and take off! Hey, why was it about to fall again? I had to step on the ground quickly!

Go! Hey, it didn’t fall this time! Don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall! Hurry up! Go up with the other foot! Pedal! Ah, that’s great! Hey, hey, why is it about to fall again? Quickly brake! Land!

Looking back, oh my god, it was too fierce! I had already walked six or seven meters. It was amazing! I must had been a little genius!

I was going to pedal again!

Hey, it didn’t fall again! Get the other foot up! Hey, it still didn’t fall! That’s great! I’m still going! Not bad! Hey, the handlebars are shaking a bit! Hold on! Hold on! Better! Two more laps! I can continue! Hey, hey, it’s crooked! Crooked! Crooked! What the hell am I doing!?

Bang bang! I completely fell to the ground without any regard to my image.

Cheng Yichen immediately ran over, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

I blamed myself for being too hasty. Originally, one foot would be stubborn and would refuse to completely leave the floor completely. However, as soon as I got up on the bike, I forgot to land in time.

I rode slowly so it wouldn’t hurt when I fell. The fall was a little painful, but it felt really good.

I bounced up and happily continued with my meager pedaling.

Cheng Yichen followed me, patiently guiding me.

“When you bike in a straight line, you don’t need to use too much force with your hands. If you use too much force, the handlebars will deviate from its direction. Even if you feel that the handlebars are crooked, don’t panic. Use your forearms and wrists to correct the path, and it won’t affect your balance.”

Cheng Yichen asked me to get off the bicycle and he demonstrated it for me to see again.

“Your fingers are too tense. The more tense your hand is, the more the ride will fail. You can relax a little because you will see that if you feel that you can’t control it, just squeeze the brakes and put your foot on the ground.”

After repeated instructions, I twisted and swayed left and right, and was finally able to bike for about ten meters. However, I biked in a twisted way and could not manage to maintain a straight path, let alone turn.

Occasionally, people who were eating melons as they passed by were looking at me with amusement in their eyes.

I provided a beautiful scenery for those in the park. All the old men and women who had nothing to do came to watch the excitement. They watched me rush towards walls and bushes repeatedly.

An old man muttered, “You can’t ride a bicycle at this age?”

Why, I didn’t think you could even drive!

A few elementary students would ride their children’s bicycles around me in circles, taunting me mercilessly.

There must be barely any homework during summer vacation, right? If they didn’t finish homework at home, then what were they doing here?

Facing the crowd of the old and young, I decided to raise my head up high and face all this calmly.

In terms of having thick skin, I was a professional!

After nearly three hours of climbing and rolling about, I was able to bike for a long distance smoothly without twisting about.

I tried to control my facial expressions so I didn’t end up laughing like a fool.

But it was really cool that I could now ride a bicycle hahahaha!

I was pedaling the bike slowly on the grass in the park, and the evening breeze was blowing on my face. This feeling was very comfortable, as if I was flying.

It felt like all the previous embarrassing moments were worth it.

After cycling a large circle triumphantly, Zhuo Wenyang held up his mobile phone and said while recording, “Congratulations, you can ride a bicycle now.”

Cheng Yichen smiled, “You are a very quick learner; you’re a smart kid!”

The elementary student next to him immediately made a distasteful sound.

Cheng Yichen smiled and said, “It’s a pity that I can’t buy you a four-wheeled bicycle right now.”

He really couldn’t afford it with his own money. I didn’t even like the car that Cheng Yichen drove. If he bought me a Cherry QQ, then I might as well ride a bicycle.

“I’ll give you two wheels first, and I’ll fill in the rest later.”

I was not polite to him at all, “Then I’ll wait!”

Zhuo Wenyang put away his mobile phone and said, “To celebrate Lin Jing’s bicycle ride, let’s go out for dinner.”

OK, I gladly accepted this!

Therefore, the three of us went to eat wagyu hotpot. I happily ate a lot of American beef short ribs, A5 Japanese Miyazaki Wagyu, and peeled Boston lobsters.

What was even better was that Zhuo Wenyang paid for the meal. The food that Zhuo Wenyang bought for us would, of course, be extraordinary!

I went home merrily after eating and drinking. After a while, I spotted Zhuo Wenyang editing the selected videos of my bicycle training and sending it to the three in our group chat.

After watching it, Ke Luo quickly expressed his thoughts. “No wonder, every time I play games, accidents happen whenever Lin Jing drives us on a motorcycle. How dare you drive without a license!”

I forwarded the video to Yuan Keke. Yuan Keke laughed, “You are too good!”

“I think I’m a fast learner and I’m making great progress! I must be a genius!”

“Cough~tui!”

To be honest, I also found it funny.

Before going to sleep, I laid in bed and watched it again.

In the video, I really looked like an idiot. I truly admired Zhuo Wenyang, who could record this without laughing out loud.

While I was running around like a mindless fly, Cheng Yichen was actually in my line of sight all this time.

I knew he was doing this to give me a sense of security. When there was someone you trusted that remained within your peripheral when practicing, your mentality would be at ease.

I was too nervous to look at his face while riding. However, when I watched this video now, I could clearly see all his movements and expressions.

His guidance, attention, tension, relief, and hearty laugh was all on display.

He seemed to be filling in all the gaps within my life that was missing from a father figure little by little.

And I, unconsciously, sought the fatherly love I lacked in him.