"You guys keep practicing the steering wheel!" Mike roared at the other students and slipped into the shade of the trees by himself.
He approached Ethan with a cigarette in his mouth, squinting at this skilled kid. "Your driving's pretty solid. You touched a steering wheel before?"
Ethan had passed every exercise, and could go straight to the test after running through all the items just once.
"What kind of car is the instructor referring to?" Ethan unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and handed it over, a hint of mischief flashing in his eyes.
Mike's hand taking the water paused, and water droplets on the bottle dripped onto his pants, leaving dark marks.
He raised his head and downed more than half the bottle, his Adam's apple bobbing as he looked at the harmlessly smiling kid in front of him. "Doesn't matter what kind of car. What's the fastest speed you've ever gone?"
"I can't remember the specific number..." Ethan narrowed his eyes, as if reminiscing about some delicious memory. "I only remember one time getting so into it that I basically burned out the engine until it leaked oil."
He drew wavy lines with his fingers in the air. "The body shook like crazy, the headlights flashed happier than a disco ball, and I honked the horn so much I burned out the fuse."
The water Mike had just swallowed almost sprayed out.
"Another time I rode a Kawasaki. As soon as my right hand touched the throttle, the whole bike trembled." Ethan's fingertips unconsciously rubbed the mineral water bottle, making a faint rustling sound.
He imitated the action of twisting the throttle. "You gotta press the choke button on the fuel tank first and wait for the engine to warm up slowly..."
Jack was stunned listening next to him.
"Wait for the fuel to start flowing," Ethan suddenly raised the water bottle to the tip of his nose and sniffed. "Mmm, premium grade." He winked at Mike. "And then it's just—vroom!"
"What about you, coach?"
"You're a real fucking pro!"
Mike touched the stubble on his chin and grinned so wide you couldn't see his teeth.
He flicked his cigarette butt casually, and the ember drew an arc in the sun. "But I'm not bad either. There was this one highway run—after driving for more than twenty minutes, I got out to smoke..." The coach paused deliberately and squinted his eyes. "When I came back, I found the engine was still shaking there."
"Damn! Coach is a beast!" Ethan suddenly gave a thumbs up, and the two looked at each other and burst out laughing in perfect understanding.
Mike smiled and said, "Ethan, practice hard for a few days. When the time comes, I'll sign you up for the test. You'll be solid for this group of students."
Then he glanced at Jack next to him. "You count as half."
Mike crushed the cigarette butt under his feet, picked up the chilled mineral water, and strode toward the practice car.
As soon as he got closer, he saw a student spinning the steering wheel like a roulette wheel, and veins immediately bulged on his forehead. "Hey! You think you're in Fast & Furious?" The mineral water bottle slammed on the roof of the car. "This is a steering wheel, not a damn carnival ride!"
Jack heard all this in complete confusion, scratching his head and approaching Ethan. "Yo dude, what kind of code were you guys speaking just now?"
He counted on his fingers looking confused. "What engine shaking, and there's some highway for twenty minutes... When did you secretly learn to drive?"
Ethan held back his laughter and pretended to pat him on the shoulder profoundly. "Jack, this car isn't that car..."
Looking at the other's even more confused expression, he threw his arm around Jack's neck. "Come on, let's bring water to the honor students! You'll understand when you get your 'driver's license.'"
The noon sun roasted the road mercilessly, and the four of them ducked into a small diner across from the driving school.
The ceiling fan squeaked and rotated above their heads, and Ashley poked at the braised pork in her bowl with chopsticks and complained. "The instructor yelled so much my ears are still ringing."
Jack nodded deeply in agreement, and the back of his neck was red.
The afternoon training was even more intense.
One woman completely uprooted the warning cone when reversing, and Instructor Mike's roar shook the pigeons in the rest area into mass migration.
It wasn't until four-thirty that the instructor, who'd been tanned like charcoal, came over with the roster to group them.
In groups of four, they'd practice at different times every day from now on.
Ethan, Jack, Sarah, and Ashley naturally ended up together.
Their driving practice time was allocated to 3 to 4 PM. Of course, Ethan had privately suggested this to Mike—mainly because the World Cup matches were happening, and the 2014 World Cup games were mainly concentrated around 3 or 4 AM Beijing time.
The next day.
Several people rode electric scooters to the driving school as usual.
Ethan was the first to get in the car to practice. He passed almost everything and could chat with the instructor, the two of them praising each other and shooting the breeze about all kinds of things.
Instructor Mike leaned under the shade of a tree with his arms crossed and shouted to the other students. "See that? THAT'S called reversing! What you're doing is like throwing darts blindfolded!"
"Mike, go rest! I just need to watch here anyway, and it'll help me get more familiar."
Ethan saw Mike talking on the phone while teaching students, so he waved and slipped into the passenger seat to supervise.
Mike was happy to take it easy, so he found a shady spot to sit down, probably making lovey-dovey phone calls with his girlfriend.
Under the sun, Ethan sat in the passenger seat with his legs crossed, the whistle flying between his fingertips.
Jack almost scraped against the pole when reversing and was startled by his whistle, jerking the steering wheel hard.
Ashley poked her head out from the back seat and protested. "Coach Ethan! You're stricter than Coach Mike!"
When it was Sarah's turn to practice.
Ethan sat in the passenger seat properly. "Pay attention to pressing the clutch all the way down, and check the rearview mirror when shifting gears."
An honor student was an honor student. Although her movements were a little stiff, every step was as rigorous as solving a math problem, and it could barely be considered decent.
But when Ashley's turn came, the whole vibe changed.
When this girl drove the S-curve, the steering wheel was like she was having a seizure, and the car twisted and headed straight for the flower bed.
Ethan stepped on the dual brake with one foot, and the tires made a screeching sound on the concrete.
"Girl! We're about to make the local news!" Ethan smacked his forehead, and sunlight cast fine spots on his face through the windshield.
Ashley stuck out her tongue, and the scrunchie on her wrist swayed with the movement.
Ethan really couldn't take it anymore, so he leaned over directly, his palm covering her hand holding the steering wheel. "You've been practicing for days, and you're still treating the steering wheel like a hot potato?" The back of the girl's hand was slightly cool to the touch, and he could feel the subtle beating of blood vessels.
What was even more troublesome was her posture.
Wearing light blue denim shorts, her legs were bent like a shrimp, and her knees were almost up to the steering wheel.
"Straighten your legs," Ethan helplessly patted the outside of her knees. "The gas and brake aren't pressed with your toes."
Ashley's ears turned red, and when she hurriedly adjusted her position, the tips of her hair swept across the tip of Ethan's nose, carrying a faint scent of strawberry shampoo.
"Oh~ But you're right here next to me anyway!" Instead of being scared, Ashley blinked her big eyes and smiled at Ethan, the small dimples at the corners of her mouth particularly obvious in the sun.
A stifled laugh came from the back row.
Sarah covered her mouth and laughed. Jack quickly nudged her, but he couldn't hold back either, and the two cracked up in the back seat.
"Be serious! If you don't practice hard, when we all get our licenses and go on a road trip, you'll be stuck at the driving school eating ramen." Ethan knocked on the steering wheel with a straight face, and the metal made a crisp sound.
Ashley suddenly sat up straight, and her legs under her light blue denim shorts pressed together on the pedals.
"Yes! I don't want to be dead last!" She pursed her lips with her clear lip gloss, and her eyes suddenly became serious.
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