F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 12 The chill of autumn is perfect for public executions.
Back home, it's impossible to have the same conditions as back in Guangzhou, where I could go to the track and play with cars every day.

But Shu Xiong didn't let Shu Long sit idle. A good race car driver isn't just about having skills; he started taking his son to work out.

Every evening after dinner, in addition to regular endurance and strength training in the gym on the third floor of his villa, Shu Xiong also hires a personal trainer to provide more specialized training in coordination, reaction time, and other areas.

Grandpa Shu must have figured something out, because he always wore a mysterious smile on his face during meals.
However, it is a good thing for children to do more physical exercise during their developmental stage, so they did not press Shu Xiong, who was already covered in sweat, further, which made both Shu Long and his son breathe a sigh of relief.

Shu Hongzhu doted on his eldest grandson. Even if Shu Long had some unreasonable demands, the old man would try his best to accommodate and satisfy them. But it was precisely because he knew about this doting that Shu Long dared not act spoiled towards the old man as usual.

Go-karting is not a risk-free sport. In case of an accident, broken hands, legs, or ribs are common. On this point, Shu Long had already reached a consensus with his parents: to use his talent and achievements as the only bargaining chip to persuade his grandfather.

There are certainly no problems with learning. It's hard to say that it's because of the new terms in the system, since most of the courses in elementary school, especially before the fourth grade, can hardly be called "difficult".

Perhaps thanks to his outstanding performance, Shu Long vaguely heard his father and mother discussing something important after dinner one day. He didn't hear the specifics, but he knew for sure that it was related to him.

During this period, Shu Xiong also took Shu Long to Sanshui to participate in two monthly competitions over the weekend.

Children often learn things quickly but also forget them quickly. Originally, we just wanted Shulong to regain some driving skills and maintain a competitive state. However, Shulong, who hadn't touched a car for several weeks, surprised everyone again.

Due to a last-minute change of his flight ticket, Shu Long missed the qualifying race on Saturday again at the end of September. However, in the main race on Sunday, Shu Long, who started from the back, overtook others to take the lead with astonishing efficiency.

Of course, due to the fact that school had already started, only 8 people participated in the competition this time. Shu Long did not encounter too many unpredictable lane changes by rookies during the overtaking process.

In addition, the British player did not participate because he was preparing for the National Karting Championship in September, so although this first place was a surprise, it could only be considered a little comfort to the slightly anxious parents.

The October monthly tournament not only saw the club's main players all participate, but also, because the tournament was held during the National Day holiday, the number of participants was comparable to the tournament held before the end of the summer vacation.

Having finally experienced the entire race process, Shulong not only dominated the qualifying stage, but also took the lead on the day of the race when it started to rain. Starting from the front row, Shulong was unstoppable on the wet track and finished 21 seconds ahead of the second-place foreigner, a difference of nearly half a lap!
That's a young driver who can compete for the podium in national competitions. If we disregard his status and only look at his performance on the track, Shu Xiong has no doubt that if the race distance were 5km more, his little rascal could lap everyone on the track, including the second-place finisher!
It's hard to believe, but Coach Han, who hadn't seen him for a long time after the competition, had to admit that, judging from the data brought back by the vehicle's sensors, Shu Long's skills had not only not regressed in the past two months, but seemed to have made a further leap forward.

"There's another CKC race at the end of the year. If you're interested, your son might be able to try out for the race license if you expedite the process. Do you want to consider it?"

"Isn't the kid too young?"

"Sigh~ Tsk tsk, tsk!"

Coach Han clicked his tongue three times and his expression changed three times. Although he didn't say anything explicitly, everything was implied. Judging from the talent that Shu Long has shown so far, the club will definitely find a back door for him if he wants to. This is a living advertisement!

Shu Xiong naturally understood the reasons behind this, but after thinking it over, he waved his hand and said, "Forget it, let him settle down for a while. Even if you don't say anything, I will consider letting him participate in major national competitions next year."

Drivers who want to chase the championship really don't need to care about those rules and regulations. The rules are set to protect the weak, and the only thing the strong need to maintain is their indomitable and enterprising spirit.

However, when it comes to educating their child, Shu Xiong and Zhang Xin are more concerned about Shu Long's values ​​and character development during his growth than about temporary honors and benefits.

Now that we have a better understanding of Shulong's talent, we don't need to rush things. Arrogance and a lack of respect are dangerous signs in any field.

Besides his talent, the reason why Shu Long has been able to maintain such a good state is also inseparable from the panel in his mind.

[Bone and muscle strength: 26%]

[Endurance Tolerance: 49%]

[Neural reflexes, recruitment speed: 89%]

Due to the developmental stage of a child, Shulong's progress in developing [physical strength] is pitifully small even after a period of training. However, it is worth noting that his [endurance] and [nerve reflexes and recruitment], which are based on his already outstanding talent, have also made great progress.

Regarding skill attributes, the track-specific "Sharp Eyes" only increased by 5%, but "Photographic Memory" has reached 71% through training at school.
In addition to the numerical increase, Shulong discovered that the skills he had developed for his bound profession seemed to have a characteristic of not declining.

Shu Xiong's initial concern about Shu Long's declining driving skills was not entirely unfounded. The most obvious point was that after not practicing table tennis for a period of time, Shu Long's level, which Coach Dou had judged to be capable of participating in competitions, quickly plummeted to the point where he could even make frequent mistakes when playing against his own mother.

There are many reasons for this explanation:

For example, as the body develops, the changes in strength and body size bring about differences in feel, making the original muscle memory no longer applicable. Or perhaps Shu Long's talent in table tennis is inherently somewhat different from that in racing. Of course, the most obvious explanation might be that this sport no longer offers Shu Long the preferential treatment of a professional title.

The joy of consecutive victories didn't last long, as Shulong soon received another piece of exciting good news: the school would be holding an autumn outing at the end of October.

Goodness, including the long holidays and weekends, they didn't have a single proper class in the entire month of October.

However, during Monday's class meeting, when Lao Wu finally opened Pandora's box about the school's autumn outing, almost at the same time, wails echoed throughout the second-grade corridor.

"Why is it the World Expo again?!"

"Didn't we just go there last year?"

Old Wu on the podium smiled mysteriously. Once the roar of the "engine" from Class 3 of Grade 2 had subsided, he dropped another bombshell. It turned out that this trip coincided with a reform of the school's autumn outing plan. Previously, all six grades of the school would crowd into one place, but now the six grades would be scattered across three different locations.

It seems that the school leaders felt that the World Expo Park, a park with a science education function, was a suitable place for first-grade students to start their education. In any case, the second graders, who were acting alongside the first graders, were forced to become the victims of this change.

"We knew you didn't want to go, so after several of us homeroom teachers worked together, the school made a special exception and allowed us to go to one of the spring outing locations for other grades."

But, but be quiet! Listen carefully, there are only two choices: Daguanlou or Haigeng Park. You have ten minutes to discuss it yourselves, and then we'll vote to decide!

Upon hearing the two options mentioned by Lao Wu, the entire class erupted in joy, while Shu Long felt as if the sky had fallen.

Actually, Lao Wu has already been very considerate. As a Chinese language teacher, compared to Haigeng Park, which has almost no value other than playing, Daguanlou, with its famous line "five hundred miles of Dianchi Lake rushing into view," is clearly a better choice.

Putting aside whether the students had a good time there, the fact that they can be assigned a series of derivative assignments such as a long couplet about Daguanlou, a reflection, or a travelogue after returning already completely overshadows all other options, doesn't it?

Of course, the school isn't that cruel to the second-grade students yet. This was originally the location for the fifth and sixth graders' autumn outing, which is probably why Old Wu gave them the choice.

In terms of popularity and reputation, Daguanlou, with its newly renovated and more diverse entertainment projects and facilities, should have been the first choice. However, Haigeng only needs one road to complete a magnificent turnaround.

"But there seems to be a go-karting area over at Haigeng."

I don't know who said that, but the discussion in the class instantly took a 180-degree turn. At the beginning of the semester, Shu Long's holiday homework had once sparked an extremely heated discussion. Everyone was full of curiosity about this new thing, which most parents could not get an accurate answer from.

All eyes in the class were fixed on Shu Long, who was hiding in the back row of the classroom, but our racing god chose to cover his face and bury his head in the sand like an ostrich.

Unfortunately, his silent protest was completely ineffective. At this age, when people clearly don't understand anything but if someone talks to a girl alone for a few minutes, the news of "XX likes XX" will spread all over the world the next day. The destination for Class 3's autumn outing was decided without any room for argument.

Perhaps it's because from when Shu Long was a child until now, whenever adults have any kind of gathering, regardless of whether he wants to or not, they always urge him to go up and perform some kind of show.

Shu Long doesn't really like to show off, or at least he doesn't want people to see that he wants to show off.

Come on~ This kind of plot, where someone like Takumi seems like just an ordinary classmate on the surface, but turns out to be an amazing race car driver behind the scenes, is really cool, okay!
If it were any other racetrack, Shulong would at most appear shy but be secretly overjoyed, but that's just Haigeng.

It's no exaggeration to say that, in terms of sheer thrill, the go-karts at Haigeng are far less exciting than the pirate ship. Wouldn't that just confirm the reputation of go-karts as just an ordinary entertainment attraction?

For Shu Long, it probably felt like: "Oh, I thought you were the Akina Mountain racing god, but it turns out you're just a tofu delivery guy."

The contrast is so stark!
When Shu Long got home, he didn't know how to tell his grandfather about it. The old man was in a daze and was about to unconditionally grant his grandson's request to take the day off on Friday when Shu Xiong, who had been leaving early and returning late all this time, came in and dashed all of Shu Long's hopes.

"Don't even think about it! I'll personally take you there on Friday, hehe~"

That's such a smug laugh!

Shu Long still couldn't understand it even after being crammed into the school-contracted bus. It's one thing to use urging one's own children to do their homework as a way to entertain oneself, but is this mandatory autumn outing also part of some kind of play to make up for childhood trauma?

Unlike when he was in kindergarten or first grade, Shu Long's backpack didn't have a dazzling array of exotic snacks, nor did it contain the PSP that many people couldn't resist taking out on the bus (Zhang Xin wouldn't let him buy it). Instead, there was only a box of light lunch with strictly calculated calories, and Optimus Prime, which Shu Long had high hopes for.

This was a specially customized diet that Shuxiong had commissioned. It was rich in protein and nutrients, and it was not easy to make Shulong fat. It met all of Shulong's needs during his growth stage. The only downside was that, like this autumn outing, it was rather dull.

To become an excellent race car driver, sacrificing a little in terms of diet is acceptable, but why do we have to suffer so much when we finally get to go on an autumn outing? Isn't riding the roller coaster at Daguanlou fun enough?

Of all the second-year students, only Class 3 chose Haigeng, since in the minds of most locals, this place was just a place for old people to stroll and chat.

At least the older students had a self-service barbecue at lunchtime, but they were too young to participate; the water activities looked interesting, but they were too young to participate.

In short, no matter what interesting activities were available at Haigeng Park, Shulong and his classmates were not allowed to participate. All they did that morning was maintain their class formation and walk around the park. Then, at noon, they found an empty patch of grass to eat.
Many people have already begun to regret and complain about choosing such a terrible place. The desire for the culprit, go-karting, in the air has solidified into a Damocles' sword, hanging brightly over Shulong's head.

Optimus Prime swore he had really done his best to attract the children's attention, but when Old Wu stood up and asked how many people wanted to see the go-karts, even the few who had been hiding their heads under their clothes fiddling with the game console couldn't wait to raise their hands.

"Old tree, old tree, it's our turn! Can we borrow Optimus Prime for a bit?"

"Whatever~"

And farewell, my beloved Optimus Prime's left arm, right leg, chest armor, and head.

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(End of this chapter)