Chapter 4 I Want to Learn Chinese!
Wu Shi changed back into his own clothes. Although it wasn't very cold in Shenzhen in February, the racing suit was still uncomfortable to wear.
While the adults were talking, he sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor, looking down at the racetrack.
Some people were running laps, some were fiddling with their race cars in the pit lane, and some kids were running a lap but didn't get a good result and were scolded by their coach.
In fact, professional racing is quite brutal, especially for Chinese kids.
When you achieve one good result after another in the domestic arena, before you even have time to be proud and complacent, you go abroad and find that you are not so great after all.
However, the true test of talent comes at higher-level competitions. After all, lower-level competitions haven't reached the point where talent matters yet, and hard work is enough to make up for a significant gap.
Embarking on this path means you have to keep running non-stop from now on.
Even though he had lived through it once in his previous life, Wu Shi felt a sense of challenge and exhaustion at the thought of doing it again.
After all, not everyone is like Verstappen, that terrifying racer, who drives on the track at work and plays racing games on simulators after work!
"Hi! Wusi, I am." Louise stood next to him, wanting to communicate, but then remembered that she couldn't speak Chinese.
"Hmm?" Wu Shi feigned confusion. At his age, he didn't know any foreign languages, and he wasn't pretending not to understand because he didn't want to chat with a little kid.
"Oh!" Louise felt like she was going crazy. She ran to the adults and said to Martina, "Mom, I want to learn Chinese too!"
Seeing Louise run off like a shot, Wu Shi silently counted to three.
"Waaaaah!"
I knew that even though it wasn't a formal occasion to discuss things, your disruptive behavior would definitely earn you a lecture from Aunt Martina, and then little Louise would burst into tears.
That's how kids this age are; their emotions are constantly brewing and dissipating. They'll get better as they grow older.
Wu Shi didn't care what his father was there to discuss, nor was it something he could care about.
Once the adults had finished talking and had dinner, the gathering ended.
"Son, racing is tough," Wu Zhenlin said on the way home, the streetlights flashing across his face.
Looking out the window, Wu Shi said, "I know, everyone says I have great talent, right? Well then I'll give it a try."
"Okay, starting tomorrow, you'll have to come here to train every day."
During the early days of go-karting in China, the training intensity was not very high, and the content mainly consisted of two aspects: driving and repairing and adjusting the vehicle.
With his past life's experience, Wu Shi was even more skilled in this area than the technician who instructed him, but he did not deliberately show off. He simply acted like a smart child who could learn quickly.
So, Mr. Chen and the technician praised him wildly, repeatedly commending his talent.
At the end of March, he obtained an E-level racing license through a special channel.
This thing originally required participating in several domestic junior competitions to obtain, but now there are very few karting competitions in China, so there is simply no time for Wu Shi to participate in them.
Because on April 21st, the first leg of the 2007 CKC race—the Pengcheng Speed Circuit—will kick off.
Wu Shi arrived at the scene with his father and Boss Chen. It wasn't lively, but it was by no means deserted either.
There are very few riders in the younger age groups, but quite a few in the older age groups.
Wu Shi hadn't grown tall enough yet, and he was lost in the crowd.
"Wu Shi," the staff member called out.
"Here!" Wu Zhenlin raised his hand and led his son to the workbench for administrative inspection.
"Okay, no problem. Here's your license plate. Remember to stick it on yourself." The staff member glanced at the go-kart driver's license and health certificate and then completed the inspection.
"Old Chen, I took a look, there aren't many people in Group A, are there?" Wu Zhenlin said.
"Yes, there aren't many people this year, only twenty-one in total, which means they've directly entered the preliminary and final rounds." Boss Chen nodded.
The NCJ-A group is divided into untimed practice matches, timed practice matches, preliminary rounds, pre-finals, and finals.
Only 34 people can enter the preliminary and final rounds in each group. If there are fewer than 34 people, it means that everyone can advance to the preliminary and final rounds as long as they participate in the timed practice and preliminary rounds as usual.
It's normal that there are fewer participants in the younger age groups. In 2007, the domestic karting championship was still in its infancy, attracting only a small group of people, and even sports channels didn't report on it much.
A small number of people who pay attention to the event are not wealthy enough to participate, since the minimum registration fee for the whole year is three thousand yuan, and if they do not accept the organizer's advertising, it will cost eight thousand yuan.
Of course, you can also choose to participate in only one stop, with prices ranging from 800 to 1,500 yuan.
Keep in mind, this was in 2007! And this was just the registration fee!
Riders must provide their own bikes, including a frame, two engines, a carburetor, etc. The engines for the NCJ-A class are limited to the YAMAHA KT100SD series, and the maximum cylinder displacement must not exceed 100cc.
In short, racing is not something that ordinary people can afford; it requires at least a middle-class family.
As you can see, Hamilton was still a young man at that time, and his father had to work multiple jobs so that he could afford to drive race cars.
Fortunately, Wu Zhenlin, as a senior executive of a large company, has considerable financial resources.
"Alright, the registration procedures are all done. Shall we go for the untimed practice?" Boss Chen walked over.
"I think we shouldn't need to," Wu Shi shook his head.
When Aunt Martina returned to her country, he actually had the idea of persuading his father to send him directly to Europe, because the domestic competitions were of low quality and far inferior to the European championships.
'If this year were over, I might still run into Panzi.'
His feelings toward this terrifying racer were complex.
His death in his previous life was caused by his own recklessness and Pan Zi's deliberate obstruction, so in that sense, he could be considered an enemy.
However, as a fellow F1 driver, he could understand these practices.
"Hello, are you also in Group A?" A child walked over.
Yes, hello.
"My name is Lin Cong, and this is my second time participating in the competition."
Wu Shi remained silent, waiting for him to continue. He noticed that the other party's parents did not intervene.
"Zeng Tianyi and Ling Kang over there are both very strong. They participated last year as well, so could we perhaps collaborate?" Lin Cong said.
"Aren't we participating in an individual competition?" Wu Shi asked, puzzled.
"You, I told you, they drive quite fast. If we don't stop them during timed practice, we have no chance of winning," Lin Cong continued.
"Thank you, but I don't need it."
"You! The proud one, me."
"Lin Cong! He's leaving!" the parent behind him said, then gave an apologetic smile: "Sorry, Lin Cong just wanted to be friends with you."
"Hmm," Wu Shi hummed, then turned and left.
"They're already resorting to underhanded tactics before the competition has even officially started." Wu Zhenlin shook his head. Sure enough, it's the same everywhere. For profit, some people will do anything.
"Hey, I know Zeng Tianyi and Ling Kang. Last year, their final times were around 11 minutes and 17 seconds. Lin Cong, who came in third, was a full ten seconds slower," Boss Chen said.