LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 23.2
Peng Xingwang looked at the price list and didn’t dare to go near. He didn’t expect Jiang Wang to choose the most beautiful bike in the shop.
“I want the silver-blue one!”
“Oh, isn’t this Boss Jiang? What good taste!” The owner of the dealership recognized him and his smile became more attentive. “Are you picking a bicycle out for your child?”
“Let me tell you, the one you chose is not only a limited edition nationwide model but also has quick gears and flexible brakes. Look at this adjustable structure, it’s most suitable for children aged seven or eight to learn to ride!”
Jiang Wang listened carelessly on the surface, but his heart was secretly thrilled.
Yes, I should have ridden such a handsome bike when I was a kid!
While thinking so, he turned his head and tried to reach a consensus with the young version of himself in reality.
Peng Xingwang didn’t know when he had shrank next to an old-fashioned yellow bike with a conservative color scheme.
“Brother… I think this is better.”
Jiang Wang looked at the shiny new bike reluctantly, “Don’t worry about the money.”
“But this yellow bike is marked with ‘safety certification’.“ Peng Xingwang’s mind was full of the tragic situations that the teacher had described the dangers of the road that even shovels cannot clear.[1]A very severe or tragic situation that cannot be easily resolved or fixed, even with great effort. “There are small mirrors on both sides, so you can see if there is a car behind!”
In the end, the one who attempted to salvage the dignity of his childhood succumbed to the child’s strong request.
And he also bought him a full set of equipment such as a helmet, wrist guards, knee pads, reflective strips, etc.
The little yellow bike was very suitable for riding in the new neighborhood. The child rode happily on his four-wheeled bike. When he came back after circling the roads, he found that Teacher Ji and his elder brother were waiting at the door of the house.
One person was holding a wrench in his hand.
Peng Xingwang looked up in a daze, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” Teacher Ji said with a smile: “I’ll be helping you remove the two small wheels.”
The yellow bike that could be ridden easily just now suddenly became unsteady. Peng Xingwang panicked when he sat back on it, “I’m going to fall!”
Ji Linqiu walked to the end of the road far away, Jiang Wang held onto the back of his seat with both hands, as if teaching a little duck how to fly, and said, “Just pedal, brother will help you.”
“No,” Peng Xingwang immediately saw through his trick, “You’ll definitely let go suddenly.”
“I won’t,” Jiang Wang promised sincerely: “Letting go is for puppies.”[2]Probably implying how a puppy easily lets go of things it’s holding in its mouth, but Jiang Wang is assuring Xingxing that he’s not a puppy so he’s not letting go easily.
The child who was supported in the back seat staggered forward, gradually finding a sense of balance.
Jiang Wang let go as soon as he saw the opportunity.
“Bang!” [3]It’s the sound of Xingxing falling. TL/N: Jiang Wang you liar, how dare you!!! XD
Peng Xingwang even bent his knee pads when he fell, and got up in a pitiful manner, “I knew it.”
“It’s okay, try again.”
“Bang!”
“Again.”
“Bang!”
The child burst into tears, “You’re a puppy!”
Ji Linqiu laughed loudly as he watched from a distance, then stretched out his hands into a horn shape.
“Peng– Xing– Wang!”
“Quickly– come – here!”
Peng Xingwang didn’t care about crying anymore. He wiped his nose and put his helmet on, for fear that Teacher Ji would leave, “I’ll be right over!”
After speaking, he kept pedaling forward, regardless if Jiang Wang was holding on or not.
He pedaled all the way to Ji Linqiu, just in time to be hugged in his arms.
“Congratulations,” Ji Linqiu said, very happy. “You learned so quickly, you’re so smart.”
“En! I learned it!”
Jiang Wang was left behind and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He didn’t know whether the child was doing well or not.
Peng Xingwang said that he didn’t need to learn. But after learning to ride the bicycle, he wanted to ride ten laps a day. The ringing of his bell rang loudly, enough to be heard all over the community, even the neighbors’ dogs found it annoying.
However, it was too troublesome to carry the bike to the old-fashioned apartment building, so Jiang Wang simply bought a U-shaped lock and put it downstairs.
…Although that lock was almost half the size of the child’s bike wheel, it had little effect.
Peng Xingwang’s small bike was so precious that he specially named it Little Yellow and wiped the bell with a rag every day.
Jiang Wang lets his child play and have fun like a husky in the new neighborhood. Every day, he worked with Ji Linqiu to steadily push forward the renovation progress.
Jiang Wang needed to get up early for his regular meetings at work, and could only come home at about six or seven in the evening after a busy day. If he had prior social engagements, he had to delay continuing the renovation for another day.
As for Ji Linqiu, he did not open additional tutoring classes. He mainly cooperated with the school’s preparation for the upcoming school year. After getting used to the work, it was relatively easy.
Later on, he simply took the key so he didn’t have to wait for Jiang Wang to come back, and went there daily.
On Friday, Jiang Wang was busy with his business the whole day. The three spare batteries in his bag had all run out of power. It was already eight o’clock when he got off work.
He remembered that Ji Linqiu was still in the new house, so he hurriedly bought a pancake and rushed over, only to find that the house was dark and there was no one there.
No, they made an appointment today.
Jiang Wang returned to the old building to find Ji Linqiu. He knocked on the door, and the other side quickly answered.
“Brother Jiang,” Ji Linqiu looked like he just regained focus, “I’m sorry, I was busy and forgot.”
“My computer suddenly stopped working, and there was a document that hadn’t been saved yet…” He said, a little anxious, “I have to hand it in tomorrow morning, sorry I troubled you.”
Jiang Wang quickly changed his slippers and went over to help.
Roughly clicking with the mouse a few times he then fell into confusion.
No way… the mouse was still a ball-type.
The interface had an old-fashioned blue bar, and the software being used was still Word 2003.
“…Is it too late to rewrite it?”
“It’s not possible. It took me four days to write 20,000 words.”
Jiang Wang looked at the laptop that was bulky and bloated as a black box[4]A device or system, especially in an aircraft, that records information about the performance and operation of the machine or system., and immediately called someone he knew.
“Data recovery…” The person on the other side sounded unsure. “You have to bring the computer over and show it to me. Is it convenient tomorrow?”
Ji Linqiu shook his head slightly.
Jiang Wang made a decision right away.
“You wait a while, I will bring the computer now.”
Ji Linqiu felt a little uneasy, “Why don’t I take a taxi by myself?”
Jiang Wang turned around and glanced at him, “Let’s go.”
They drove through the steaming summer night.
The location of the repair shop was a bit far away, they had to drive for at least 20 minutes.
The radio station had already switched from live traffic updates to an intimate night talk. There were not many people on either side of the road, and only the lights of food stalls flickered past.
Once again, they entered a strange and peaceful silence.
Most of the time, life was dull and trivial. Many events were not worth mentioning.
Ji Linqiu had asked someone in Baidu so he could try and repair it himself, but still couldn’t do it right after working on it all afternoon. Before Jiang Wang knocked on the door, he felt that for this kind of problem, he could only admit defeat, and he had already planned to do so.
But in a blink of an eye, he sat in the passenger of this person’s car again.
He was stunned for a while and then said, “It’s really… a very small matter.”
“You don’t have to specially drive me there.”
Jiang Wang was still listening to the quarrel between the couple on the radio. It took a few seconds before he looked at him and asked, “Are you embarrassed?”
Ji Linqiu was not used to this person’s straightforward tone and wanted to deny it for a while, but he still hummed in agreement.
“It’s weird.” Jiang Wang laughed, “I’ve asked your help so many times, and you always came through for me.”
“Why are you hesitant to tell me when you encounter a little trouble?”
Ji Linqiu didn’t expect the other person to ask such a question, and something flashed through his mind.
“I haven’t thought about this before,” He sat upright and whispered, “I’m used to being very nice to everyone.”
“I’ve been an excellent student since I was a child, and when I got older, I became a good teacher acknowledged by everyone. I basically never lose my temper at work.”
“But I dare not accept the kindness of others to me.”
“…Brother Jiang, why do you think that is?”
The car happened to be heading towards a red light, Jiang Wang looked at Ji Linqiu and smiled with raised eyebrows.
He had deep brows and bright eyes and exuded a charismatic look when looking at people.
“Who cares about your past self.”
“Live your life the way you want every second. Just try it.”
“I rarely ask why. I always think about what to do.”
“If you don’t like it, just change it.”
Ji Linqiu’s gaze shook as if he was suddenly pulled out of a cave and exposed to the unknown.
It was an unknown he had never considered.
The red light turned green, Jiang Wang stepped on the accelerator and drove forward, continuing to chat casually.
“Do you know what I thought of when I first saw you?”
“What?”
“This person is really poised.”
Teacher Ji in Jiang Wang’s memory was a blurry back figure in his forties or fifties.
The Ji Linqiu whom he had met again, at first looked like the standard template of a friend in a social circle.
Template-style gentleness, template-style excellent teacher, perfect to the point of flawlessness, living very upright.
Later, as they got along well in private, he gradually saw the other side of Ji Linqiu that was deliberately hidden and was surprised and amazed.
To the point that along with the memories of his previous life, he came to admire this person from the bottom of his heart.
Ji Linqiu was still holding the computer bag in his arms and smiled after a while.
“If it weren’t for fitting in, who would want to be poised all day long.”
Not fitting in would affect work, be criticized by family members, and will make the otherwise dull and tired life even more troublesome.
The man looked at him, his eyes lit up shining like stars.
“Try it. Let’s secretly be outcasts together.”
He blinked.
“I promise to pretend I didn’t see anything.”
The repair shop only had two fans, one blowing on people and the other on the computer. The air was so hot you could wring out a handful of sweat.
The laptop had been in repair for almost an hour, during which Jiang Wang had been fanning himself with a notebook, still soaking a large area of his back.
During this hour, they all sat by the fan, listening to the radio station with no substance, chatting about trivial matters.
From the supernatural gossip with noses and eyes[5]Gossip circulating or being talked about openly. in the school to the troublesome customers in the bookstore.
When one encounters trivialities alone, one would feel lonely no matter what they do.
When two people fell into trivialities together, they could enjoy themselves while waiting for a long time.
When the computer was almost repaired, Jiang Wang suddenly pointed behind Ji Linqiu.
“Look at this.”
Ji Linqiu turned his head at the sound and saw himself in the mirror.
His bangs were soaked in sweat and fell on his forehead and temples.
His cheeks were slightly red from the heat, and his neck was also sweaty.
The original decent T-shirt was wet in small patches and smeared with some oil, making him look a little messy.
“You see,” Jiang Wang also looked at Ji Linqiu in the mirror.
Ji Linqiu, who liked children and was very good at playing with knives, had a wild temperament but had never been able to swear.
“You’re wearing a T-shirt and flip-flops. You look good but somehow a bit dirty with your bangs so wet they’re hanging down your face.”
“It’s very real.”
“As long as you continue to be true to yourself, it’ll be okay.”
TL NOTE:
What a touching moment between friends wuwu
Thank you for reading! Ko-fi? ~旦_(^O^ )
Translator: asoc1a7 ꒰˶• ༝ •˶꒱
References
↑1A very severe or tragic situation that cannot be easily resolved or fixed, even with great effort.↑2Probably implying how a puppy easily lets go of things it’s holding in its mouth, but Jiang Wang is assuring Xingxing that he’s not a puppy so he’s not letting go easily.↑3It’s the sound of Xingxing falling. TL/N: Jiang Wang you liar, how dare you!!! XD↑4A device or system, especially in an aircraft, that records information about the performance and operation of the machine or system.↑5Gossip circulating or being talked about openly.