Chapter 28 F1 Shanghai Grand Prix
Martina had already woken up and, despite being separated by the door, had heard the entire conversation.
"Ugh, Mom, what time is it?" Louise asked, snoring softly beside her.
"It's only 6:30, little sleepyhead, you can still sleep for an hour." Martina patted her daughter's head.
"Ha~" Louise yawned, her slightly hairy ears twitched, and she heard Wu Shi's voice. She mumbled, "Mommy, Wu Shi can speak English perfectly now. I didn't even know that."
"Oh? How did you know?"
Martina's eyes lit up. When did her silly daughter find out? Anyway, she must have found out when they were talking last night.
"Well, he's going to Europe in a few months, so I just wanted to ask him how his English is."
What did he say?
He said he had been studying, so I asked him if he understood, and he said he did. Oh dear!
Louise, who was still drowsy, suddenly buried her face in the pillow, her whole body trembling slightly, her toes almost twisting together.
"Haha, you don't think he doesn't speak English and said something outrageous, do you?" Martina asked.
"Where is it?!" Louise's muffled voice came from behind.
Perhaps because she was woken up by embarrassment early in the morning, her mind became sharp, and upon hearing her mother's "outrageous words," she quickly connected them to her first meeting with Wu Shi.
Although she used English to provoke him, Wu Shi seemed to understand her and showed considerable anger.
"Mommy! Did you already know Wu Shi could speak English?!" Louise sat up, her suspenders slipping off her shoulders.
"Hmm~" Martina nodded.
"Oh my god!! Why didn't you tell me sooner! When did Mom find out?!" Louise covered her face, which was so red that it seemed to be steaming.
"Hmm, it must have been our first meeting. He seemed really angry after you finished speaking, so I think he understood." Martina couldn't help but tease her daughter, looking at her expression.
"The outrageous thing you said in English, it wasn't something like 'I want to do this or that with Wu Shi,' was it?"
No one knows a son better than his father, and no one knows a daughter better than her mother. Martina seemed to see through her daughter's little thoughts.
"Waaah, stop talking! Stop talking!" Louise collapsed onto the pillow with a "thud," her feet pounding against the bed.
"Oh, it's alright, Wu Shi is probably just talking to you like a little kid~" Martina laughed.
"How could this happen? He's just a child too. Luckily, I used Italian for the rest!" Louise sobbed.
"Italian? If your English is good, you should be able to understand some of it," Martina said deliberately.
"ah!!!!"
The sudden scream made Wu Shi, who was in the living room, instinctively cover his ears.
"I think I heard Louise's voice? What happened to her?" Wu Zhenlin's voice came from the phone.
"I don't know, but she's in the same room as Aunt Martina, so she should be fine, right?" Wu Shi glanced at her, thought it wasn't a problem, and said:
"Dad, I want to go to the F1 Grand Prix in October!"
"Sure, where? But I might not have time to go to countries that are too far away, and I'm not comfortable with you going by yourself."
"Right here in Shanghai! The China Grand Prix!" Wu Shi exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh, okay! No problem! I'll take you to see it then."
"Thank you, Dad!!"
School days are boring and repetitive, but when Louise gets home, she's always chattering away, having nothing to do all day.
Wu Shi had gotten used to the little girl living at home, and October arrived as he looked forward to it day after day.
Unfortunately, my father won't be back until Saturday night, and Aunt Martina has gone to Beijing for work.
Therefore, Wu Shi felt it was a bit of a pity that he couldn't watch the practice and qualifying sessions of the F1 China Grand Prix.
He didn't take advantage of his knowledge to buy a ticket to Shanghai, after all, this was 2007!
The security situation is far worse than it would be twenty years later. It's not impossible that if the two little ones went out and encountered an accident, they would be killed instantly.
On Saturday night, Wu Zhenlin rushed home and saw the two little ones watching TV together. Even though he looked tired, he couldn't help but smile: "Son! Louise, I'm sorry I'm late."
Wu Shi shook his head and said, "Dad, come sit down and rest for a bit."
"No need, we're catching a flight. Is everything packed? Let's leave now." Wu Zhenlin shook his head as well.
"Yes, everything is ready."
He was only going out for a day, so he didn't need to bring anything, but Louise did bring a backpack.
"Then let's go!"
As the neon lights shone brightly at night, the car sped along the road. Just as it arrived at Bao'an Airport, a plane took off, its roar piercing the sky and soaring into the dark heavens.
By the time the group arrived in Shanghai, it was nearly midnight.
"It looks like it's going to rain." Wu Shi reached out his hand as he stepped off the plane.
"Hmm, will the competition continue tomorrow?" Wu Zhenlin wasn't too concerned about these things.
"Yes, it will." Wu Shi nodded. The current F1 is still quite wild, and it will probably run even in heavy rain.
The next day, urged by Wu Shi, the group arrived at the stands early.
"It's so cold!" Louise shivered as she arrived at the arena, the wind blowing against her skin.
"Put on your coat."
Wu Shi took out his clothes from his backpack. Anyone who has watched the game knows that the stadium is open and windy, and with the rain and low temperature, it's not pleasant to be blown by the wind.
Spectators entered the stadium one after another, and soon after, the broadcast announced the progress of the event.
"The car is out!!" Louise pointed to the track.
One F1 car after another drove out of the pit area to conduct reconnaissance.
Wow!
Even with just a touch of oil, the 2.4L naturally aspirated V8 engine roars like a beast across the track.
"Wow!" Louise exclaimed happily.
"It is like hearing celestial music, which temporarily clears the ears."
Wu Shi was also very excited. After the V8 engine's demise in 2013, a 1.6L turbocharged V6 was introduced. I remember that many people said that the F1 engine had become a whiny monster.
From a visual perspective, this analogy makes some sense.
After all, the engine displacement has decreased from naturally aspirated to turbocharged, so the engine noise is naturally not as loud as before.
F1 cars from different teams drove out one after another, and the cheers of the spectators brought the first wave of excitement to the track.
After the reconnaissance circle, the F1 cars stopped in the starting grid, and the team staff rushed over to lift the cars, put on tire warmers, and some teams even replaced the tires with the ones they had brought out, deliberately covering the tire sides.
Wu Shi was speechless. Doing this in the rain? Who wouldn't guess what kind of tires you're using? If you're so capable, why don't you just drive without rain tires!
A light rain was falling, and the red, green, and yellow disposable raincoats on the field stretched out in a continuous line.
At the starting grid, some staff members held umbrellas for the riders, while others wiped the rearview mirrors or did other preparations as requested by the riders.
Before the 22 F1 cars was a Mercedes safety car.
A full twenty-eight or twenty-nine minutes passed, and the countdown signal for the tire warm-up circle lit up with one minute remaining. Everyone began to leave the departure area.
With the tire warmer pads pulled down, it becomes immediately clear what kind of tires each vehicle uses.
Yes, without a doubt, they are all rain-resistant tires.
Waaaaaah!
As the tire warming process began, the rain intensified.