"Huang Chong, you're not having a single piece of braised pork? Are you really that disciplined?"
"I'm not, Brother Wang. My weight is too high right now, so I'm trying to drop some to improve my climbing efficiency—"
...
"No wonder your power output is so stable when you climb, kid. With that kind of willpower—being able to ignore braised pork like that—us mere mortals will probably be getting dropped by you on all terrains before long!"
"Brother Liu, don't flatter me to death. I'm not a monk. Once I lose the weight, I'll even eat your share for you—"
...
"Ah, forget it, forget it. Since you're not eating the braised pork, I'll force myself to eat another piece for you. We rode so much this morning, there's no way I could just eat a weight-loss meal like you. I wouldn't have the energy to ride back to the city!"
"That works, Brother Chen. You have to eat and drink your fill to ride farther. But I'm worried I'll be late for my meetup. I came here in a friend's car this morning—"
...
Throughout lunch, Liu Junjie and the others noticed that Huang Chong only ate low-fat vegetables and a sandwich he had brought himself. They were all impressed by his self-discipline.
After all, hunger doubles after intense physical exertion.
Especially when faced with the glistening, bright-red chunks of braised pork on the table, slow-cooked in caramelized sugar—who could possibly resist?
They were amateur cycling enthusiasts anyway, and they were getting older. There was no chance of them ever reaching the level of a Professional Cyclist in this lifetime, so they didn't need to be too restrictive with their diet.
Besides, long-distance cycling burns a lot of energy. They had climbed dozens of kilometers of uphill terrain, including one HC Level climb.
The calories they burned in the morning were more than enough to offset the intake from this big, hearty lunch.
But Huang Chong would never eat a high-calorie dish like braised pork. In fact, if he hadn't been worried his teammates would think he was antisocial or too aloof, he wouldn't have even come to lunch.
After all, the secret to why restaurant stir-fried vegetables taste so good is their use of a mixed oil, like vegetable oil plus lard.
What looked like a light dish of stir-fried seasonal vegetables was actually a calorie bomb.
Of course, he only ate a few vegetable leaves for show.
Compared to what he'd burned that morning, this caloric intake was almost negligible.
After lunch, everyone was free to do as they pleased and head home.
Wang Qiang and the others planned to find a shady spot in Lin'an District to rest for a while before riding back to the city center in the evening.
It was midday, and no one had the courage to cycle under the scorching midsummer sun of Hangcheng.
In the entire Yangtze River Delta Region, road cycling races like the Tour of Zhejiang, the Tour of Qiandao Lake, and the Tai Lake race are almost always held in the latter half of the year, in October or November.
The reason for this is that the average summer temperature in the Yangtze River Delta Region can approach 40°C, which is simply too high and unsuitable for holding road cycling races.
Only high-altitude road races like the Tour of Qinghai Lake could be held in the middle of the year, around July.
After parting ways with Wang Qiang and the others, Huang Chong rode back to the parking lot alone. He then stored his bicycle and other items in his system space and returned directly to Gongshu District, where Dewey lived.
The outcome was predictable. The kid had stayed up all night playing video games again and was now fast asleep in his room with the air conditioner blasting.
Huang Chong moved as quietly as possible so as not to wake him, took a quick shower, changed into clean clothes, and then headed to the bike shop for work.
He and Dewey had already agreed that his salary would be paid by the piece from now on, giving him maximum freedom. He would earn as much as he worked, without being tied to a nine-to-five schedule.
When Liu Chaoyang saw Huang Chong come in to work that afternoon, he was incredibly grateful.
On weekends during summer vacation, the shop was so busy it was insane. He was the only mechanic, and most of the time, he was stretched too thin and simply couldn't keep up.
"My man, if you hadn't come in, I would've passed out from exhaustion.
Look at the new orders from this morning. Just for bike assembly, the queue is already half a month long, and they're all high-end bikes.
This shop of Boss Du's is honestly the busiest one I've ever seen since I started in this industry.
I'm telling you, these young people nowadays are really willing to spend money. Road bikes costing tens of thousands, even over a hundred thousand, and they just buy them without a second thought.
Back when I was young, I'd have to hesitate for a long time before splurging on a Forever bike that cost a few hundred yuan."
Liu Chaoyang sighed with endless emotion as he sipped his goji berry water.
He had run his own bicycle repair shop when he was younger, but he had never seen anything like this.
He could only scrape by on his skills, just enough to feed himself, while Dewey could make two or three million a year selling high-end bicycles.
Boss Du even gave him a base annual salary of over 200,000, and that wasn't including overtime.
Huang Chong could understand his sentiment.
Liu Chaoyang was born in the 90s, only about ten years earlier than Huang Chong, who was born in the 2000s, but the material conditions they grew up in were worlds apart.
As for him, his parents had never let him feel deprived financially growing up.
He smiled and offered some words of comfort:
"Master Liu, times are different. Our country's economy has developed so fast that money isn't worth what it used to be. A few hundred yuan back in your day would have the purchasing power of several times that amount now, wouldn't it?"
"That's true, but no matter how purchasing power changes, spending a hundred thousand on a bicycle... man, a hundred thousand! I really can't even imagine it!"
Liu Chaoyang pursed his lips, dumbfounded, knowing that for the rest of his life, all he could do was be envious.
Fortunately for him, most of the luxury bikes that left the shop had to pass through his hands. Even if he never got the chance to ride them out and show off, he was the one who assembled them, which gave him a slight sense of participation.
Just as they both got busy, a young man in a luxury car pulled up to the shop's entrance. He walked in and immediately started shouting:
"Old Du, is my bike's maintenance done yet?"
Seeing the visitor, Liu Chaoyang quickly stopped what he was doing and greeted him with a smile.
"Young Master Li, we finished servicing your bike a while ago. It's hanging on the wall right behind you. Our boss isn't in the shop today, though. Why don't you take it for a test ride? If there are no problems, you can take it with you!"
Li Zifan nodded and glanced behind him, where he saw a YETI SB-150 hanging on the wall as expected.
Wasn't that the precious treasure he had carried all the way back after studying abroad in the United States?
As a mountain biker himself, he didn't need any help from the shop assistants. He took the bike down from the wall, went outside for a test ride, and threw in a few standard mountain biking moves. He found the bike was as smooth as the day it left the factory and was very satisfied.
He came back and praised Liu Chaoyang:
"Old Liu, your skills are really something.
I originally thought that mechanics here in the country would be relatively unfamiliar with the structure of niche mountain bikes like this, and that the maintenance work wouldn't be all that great.
I didn't expect your technique to be on par with those foreign mechanics at all!"
Li Zifan was a straightforward and generous person. After finding no issues with his bike, he made a point to come back into the shop and praise Liu Chaoyang to his face.
However, Liu Chaoyang just shook his head and said with a smile:
"Young Master Li, I'd love to take credit for that praise, but unfortunately, I wasn't the one who serviced your beloved bike.
See that young man over there assembling a bike? He's the one who serviced yours. His skills are way better than mine."
Hearing this, Li Zifan was taken aback for a moment. He then walked over to Huang Chong, who was assembling a Pinarello road bike. Noticing that the other guy looked even younger than him, his interest was piqued, and he asked with a smile:
"Hey, man, Old Liu said you're the one who serviced my bike? Do you ride mountain bikes too? Your skills are amazing!"
Huang Chong naturally recognized Li Zifan, who was also one of Hangcheng's young scions.
He tended to pay more attention to people like him who rode luxury bikes. He smiled, shook his head, and answered honestly:
"I don't know any mountain biking techniques, Young Master Li. Things like manuals, Dolphin Jumps, and so on look really difficult.
But I was indeed the one who serviced your bike. Have you had a chance to test ride it?
Are there any adjustments that need to be made? If so, I can take another look at it for you right now."
Young Master Li smiled, waved his hand dismissively, and said amiably:
"No, no, the bike's perfect. I just test-rode it. The brakes are responsive, and the suspension air pressure is set spot-on. It's as silky smooth as when it was brand new.
I just didn't expect that someone who doesn't even ride mountain bikes could be so knowledgeable about their mechanics.
But you should try mountain biking when you have time. There's a lot you can do with it; it's much more interesting than road cycling, at least.
As for those mountain biking moves and skills you mentioned, they're not that hard to learn.
You can start by practicing on a small-sized trials bike. Once you master the fundamentals of each technique, you can switch to a standard mountain bike."
The moment Li Zifan finished speaking, Huang Chong—who had been planning to brush him off with some polite words, having no real intention of getting into mountain biking—saw a new line of text appear before his eyes:
[Detected that someone has recommended mountain biking techniques to the Host. The Host is requested to learn the basic Car Control Technique: Lifting the Front Wheel, to improve your bike handling ability.]
...