F1: The Making of a Racing God

Chapter 45 The Urban Car God Starts at Driving School
The larger the city, the stricter the supervision of driver's license examinations.

Especially for students like Shu Long who are taking their first driving test, no matter how urgent you are, you must complete at least 24 hours of study, and you can only accumulate a maximum of 4 hours of effective study time each day.

These kinds of things are usually not investigated, but if they are, it's a big problem. And don't assume that these driving schools will be very responsible. When something goes wrong, it's often the lower-level instructors who are pushed to take the blame.

So generally speaking, unless you secretly give the coach a favor that he can't refuse, most people, for the sake of their jobs, will obediently complete the necessary procedures no matter how urgent they are.

There isn't much time left for Shulong, but it's not that urgent. He's finally on vacation back home, so he might as well take the opportunity to rest. He'll just do what he has to do.

Not considering himself a particularly famous celebrity, Shu Long didn't bother with any disguise. He simply rode the electric scooter he had just bought to get around and began his driving school career.

Actually, you could tell from the reactions of the driving instructors who greeted us that day. Out of so many people, not a single one had any particular reaction to Shu Long's handsome face. There are so many kids of that age who come to learn to drive.

In China, only about a thousand out of every million people pay attention to F1, and of those thousand people, less than 60% follow the races closely.

Of these 60% of F1 fans, perhaps less than one-tenth would spare even a fraction of their energy to follow F2 racing.

The largest F3 series is only a continental race like the European Championship, but after F2 merged with GP2, it has become a series with both "worldwide" and "unique" attributes.

Especially since it often serves as a support race for F1, its exposure is on a completely different level compared to all previous races.

Logically speaking, Shu Long shouldn't be so unknown, but the reality is that he's much more famous abroad than in China. When he gets off the plane abroad, he's sometimes recognized and asked for autographs, but when he returns to China, he's like a nobody.

It wasn't until Shu Long won the F2 championship that more and more people in China started to recognize him. The evidence is that the account managed by Red Bull now has a little over 150,000 followers. However, when spread across the country, it's like dropping a drop of ink into a bathtub; after a few stirs, it's completely forgotten.

Even in an industry as closely related to automobiles, the probability of encountering someone who recognizes you on the street is probably no higher than winning a lottery.

The main problem is that the channels for watching the games in China are too limited. Since CCTV stopped broadcasting F1, many people have been completely cut off from even the most accessible ways to watch the games.

It's rare to find someone interested in racing who goes through the trouble of bypassing the Great Firewall to take a look! Holy crap, someone who'd rather spend hundreds of dollars a year on a QQ or ATM membership would actually come for this?
Most people can't understand the channels on Guangdong TV, and only a lot of veteran racing enthusiasts would try to find resources from five-star channels. Five-star channels don't broadcast F2, and these few channels alone will shut out countless newcomers.

In Fujian, a region on the menu of locals in Guangdong, the weather in July is incredibly hot. It's practically unbearable to live without air conditioning. Stepping outside feels like being wrapped in a thick, inescapable blanket, enveloped by a suffocating heatwave wherever you go.

The most infuriating thing is that the quilt was still wet!

Because of the humid coastal climate, I often feel that my clothes stick to my body after just a few movements, and I can't tell whether it's the humidity in the air or my own sweat.

After many years, Shu Long finally shed the thick leather that had practically grown onto his body. Wearing a simple short-sleeved black T-shirt and beach shorts, and a pair of cool, breathable sneakers, he casually smoothed his messy, unruly hair and went out with a sigh.

The aesthetic is bizarre; from head to toe, it only highlights one theme—laziness!

As any muscular guy knows, he's afraid of the heat in summer and the cold in winter. If it weren't for the fact that he absolutely had to get a driver's license, Shulong probably wouldn't even want to leave the house.

With the powerful boost from the "empty mind" skill, his aura rivals that of Sakata Gintoki, and even his handsome face seems beyond saving.

If Zhou Guanyu saw this, he would probably give him a good scolding. It felt like it was just something he grabbed from a sofa piled with dirty clothes and put together, but it actually suited Shu Long's lazy and listless look quite well.

What is fashion? Isn't fashion just about being weird, as long as it looks good?
He specifically found a spot out of the sun to park his electric scooter. Physical education students don't like studying, and he certainly didn't dream of becoming a stock market expert.

Yesterday I added Coach Tian on WeChat. He didn't say anything else, just coldly sent me a string of license plate numbers and told me to arrive early.

It doesn't matter anymore. We're just strangers who met by chance. It's a success if I don't get scolded.

Shu Long has excellent eyesight, which is not affected at all by his usual time spent playing games, watching anime, and reading novels. Whether it is related to the term "eagle eyes" or not, he only glanced around the field and spotted his vehicle for the next few days in a shady corner on the sidelines.

It's still a little while until nine o'clock, and the coach hasn't arrived yet.

However, several students were already waiting by the car, one boy and three girls.

Goodness, that brat's got some luck with women. Let me join you in.

Shu Long was honest with himself; he thought it was better to have more girls on the bus than a bunch of men crammed together in the sweltering heat, each trying to influence the other.

At the age when his hormones were at their peak, he spent every day hanging out with the engineers at Red Bull. He had no idea how long it had been since he'd seen a fresh-faced girl his own age, and he really missed his student days.

Clearly, the other man in the group thought the same thing. Seeing that the newcomer's threat level was obviously high, his smile was clearly forced.

"Hey bro, want a smoke?"

"Oh, no, no, thank you."

[Don't thank me! This is so embarrassing! Am I some kind of innocent little baby?]

Some people have a great plan in mind, thinking that they can definitely win with their abilities, but when they actually stand in front of a girl, they become so nervous that they can hardly say a word.

The three girls were all different in appearance, and when they were arranged together, they looked like cell phone signals.

A tall woman, probably over 1.7 meters, with a high ponytail and light makeup, is definitely a beauty.

Well, objectively speaking, she's considered beautiful, right?
However, she's the type of woman who wouldn't be attracted to a dragon at all; she's too flamboyant, and her appearance is a bit too aggressive.

She wore a thin synthetic fiber jacket on her upper body, with the zipper half open, revealing nothing but a sports bra underneath, openly exposing her navel. Her lower body was covered by a pair of pants that, at first glance, seemed to be naked.

These are quite common in gyms; people call them yoga pants. They seem to cover up completely and are quite conservative, but in fact, they perfectly outline the curves of the body.

To be honest, even in the gym, Shu Long always felt that this thing was completely insidious.

To say something that men might not like to hear, there are so many clothes that are convenient for exercise and absorb sweat, especially pants. Basically, any clothes that men can wear can also be worn by women. So why choose this particular style?
They all stick their big butts out as if they're afraid no one will see them, but then they get upset when they are.

Shu Long is genuinely afraid of encountering people like this at the gym, especially those who have a phone set up in front of them to take "today's gym check-in" photos or live stream. If his eyes even linger in that direction unconsciously for a moment, the next second they'll be coming to him with their phone.

Were you spying on me just now?

"No?! I took pictures with my phone!"

Is it appropriate for you to do that in public?

"You must apologize to me face-to-face on camera!"

"Otherwise, I'll post you online and let everyone judge you!" Then, regardless of whether you apologize or not, I'll just throw you online with everything cut out.

That's pretty much the process, and it's been seen quite a bit abroad in recent years. He's fine at the Red Bull training center gym, but when he's away competing, he often needs to find a local gym to complete his workout plan; it's really hard to avoid that.

Fortunately, Elena, his physical trainer, not only takes care of him in his daily life, but also pays special attention to details that could damage the brand's reputation. She often shields him with her own body, helping Shu Long avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Sometimes I really don't understand. They clearly know their clothes are eye-catching, yet they always have this "Men are all dirty creatures, you're just impure inside me!" look on their faces.
Look! That's the expression on this girl's face right now!
Moreover, most of their retorts are along the lines of, "I dress nicely to please myself, not for you to see!"

Okay, okay, then you're right!

So, is it time to introduce myself? We're just learning to drive, there's no need for everyone to get to know each other, right? Even if I were to speak up now, I'd probably just be seen as a creep with ulterior motives!

Fortunately, the other girl looked like she was dressed very normally, with a typical youthful campus style. She wore glasses and had the scholarly air of a good student.

Judging from her style, she seems to be trying hard to dress herself up, but she was a little reserved in the early stages. However, she is at least good enough to be the kind of girl many young boys admire during their adolescence.

But this "white moonlight" girl, well, when Shu Long went to the toilet later, he found her standing at the door chatting with her boyfriend on video, with a piece of unburnt cigarette butt between her slender, fair fingers.

Have students evolved to this form now?!
Shu Long felt that he had only been away for a little over two years, but when he came back, it seemed like he was completely out of touch with reality. What was going on?
As for the remaining one, little one?

He only reached about Shulong's chest in height, and looked like a middle school student with his chubby cheeks.

The ordinary gray loose-fitting sweatpants and the unremarkable white sports short-sleeved shirt are quite similar to the style of Shulong at first glance.

As for what he looks like, it's impossible to tell. Underneath the huge fisherman's hat is a sun-protective mask that only reveals a pair of eyes, which are then covered by a pair of dark aviator sunglasses.

So afraid of the light? Has a vampire been reborn? Dressed so mysteriously, you look like a middleman selling fake DVDs.

There wasn't much time for getting acquainted or exchanging pleasantries, because Coach Tian, ​​who fit all the stereotypes of middle-aged men, arrived carrying a thermos of goji berries.

Have you driven before?

"You haven't had your forehead thorax opened, have you?"

What do you mean by 'has it been driven before'?

Coach Tian was immediately amused, and the three girls sitting in the back row also burst into laughter.

As for that little patch of green amidst the flowers, the coach has already chased her to the nearby pavilion.

Since he started learning to drive here, he's been trying every possible way to chat with the girls, thinking he's witty and humorous, but he doesn't realize that they're already incredibly annoyed by him.

Coach Tian believes he is far worse than he was in his youth, mainly because his own physical condition is not good enough. Being forced to listen to cheesy pickup lines every day is simply disgusting.

To be fair, this guy has a somewhat roguish and handsome face, but he has a lot of pimples on his face. The first thing I noticed when I looked at him was that he had a bunch of pimples on top of each other, which almost gave me trypophobia.

It's obvious at a glance that they have an endocrine imbalance; they're either academic high-achievers or have been staying up late and masturbating too much.

That said, Old Tian, ​​both amused and exasperated, took a sip of the goji berries in his thermos and looked Shulong up and down. Even if he went against his conscience, he couldn't say that it wasn't as good as it was when he was young.

"I've driven before, or I haven't! Is this your first time taking a driving test?"

"Ah."

“Can you drive?”

"I guess I know how, but I've never driven a manual transmission car."

To be precise, I've never driven a manual transmission car that requires using a foot to depress the clutch.

Starting with KZ go-karts, all the racing cars that Shulong came into contact with involved shifting gears and using the clutch manually.

However, Lao Tian clearly misunderstood this statement. He only talked about the difference between the half-clutch state of a manual transmission and that of an automatic transmission, without explaining anything about finding the right points or anything else, and just asked Shu Long to reverse into a parking space for him to see.

Reversing into a parking space is not difficult. Even without reference points, with Shu Long's years of experience on the track, he can pinpoint the racing line to the centimeter level. The empty T-shaped parking space is as spacious as a square for him.

"Wow, you're quite something, young man. No wonder the boss told me you could take the exam with them right away. Where did you practice before?"

The words "Red Bull" were stuck in his throat, and he just couldn't bring himself to say them.

Shu Long was a little nervous. He was looking forward to the admiration, amazement and longing he would receive after saying it, but he was also afraid that others would think he was being too deliberate in his acting.

hateful!

The bullets are all loaded!

How come the first shot turned into a sentence: "I learned it from my dad"?

You're such a waste! How could you be so useless?!
It was a rare opportunity to rival Leclerc in terms of protagonist halo, but this completely ruined the whole plot!
"You learned from your dad? You seem to be doing pretty well. If you thought you could just get a license easily, why didn't you take the test sooner? You're only an adult now?"

"Ah."

"That's normal. Kids who come to learn to drive at this time are about your age. Let's see if you can add these three girls on WeChat later."

Learning to drive is all about young people exchanging ideas and learning from each other; that's how you improve faster, isn't it?

Sure enough, good looks bring privileges everywhere. These are kids of similar age to Coach Tian's own children. If it were someone from outside, that guy would have rolled his eyes long ago, but here Coach Tian still has the mood to tease him a bit.

Then Lao Tian simply took Shu Long through all the projects again, and there were no problems at all. As long as they completed the required study hours in the next few days, they were guaranteed to pass on the first try.

These kinds of students are so much less troublesome, and the key is that they pay more. Which coach wouldn't like that?

　The group is now set up: 837650332, welcome to join!
　　I've noticed that many book descriptions include a blue link that lets you join a group with one click. How do I set that up? I've been looking for ages today and haven't found it.

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(End of this chapter)