Cycling: Racing into the Headwind

"Such a silly child, you have no filter. All you do is spout nonsense."

Huang Chong’s mother, Liang Xiaomei, feigned a stern glare at her niece, who had started shouting excitedly the moment she walked in the door.

In truth, she had doted on this niece ever since she was a little girl, loving her no less than she loved Huang Chong.

After all, the Huang Family was known for only having sons.

Especially in Huang Chong’s generation, every branch of the family had boys. Huang Lingshan was the only girl, which just went to show how much she was doted on.

"I’m not spouting nonsense, Auntie! It’s all true! If you don’t believe me, look! I even have a picture of my cousin and his girlfriend!!"

Huang Lingshan had a quirky personality; she wasn’t much of a student, but she’d loved to gossip since she was a little girl. She quickly pulled out her phone to show Liang Xiaomei the photo of Huang Chong and Chen Junyi.

Liang Xiaomei’s expression, however, remained completely unfazed.

She had already seen the photo of her son on her own phone.

Not only that, she had personally called Huang Chong and gotten the whole story from beginning to end.

She reached out to smooth down Huang Lingshan’s windblown hair and began to explain:

"That’s not your cousin’s girlfriend. I called and asked. She’s his dedicated coach on the provincial team, responsible for his cycling training."

"Sigh, I wish he *would* find a partner like her. She’s so beautiful. It would bring honor to the Huang Family, and they could give us a grandchild or two."

"I’m still young enough now that I’d have the energy to help them look after the baby."

"Unfortunately, your cousin has gone and lost his mind. Now he wants to be some kind of cycling athlete."

"Your uncle and I don’t know what to do with him."

"Huh? My cousin really became an athlete? I remember him never liking sports his whole life. He was even a bit chubby."

Huang Lingshan, her face a mask of shock, quickly asked:

"What in the world happened, Auntie? How did he suddenly become a cycling athlete? And he even won a gold medal!"

"When I was on the phone with your cousin, I also spoke a bit with that female coach from the picture. She said your cousin has outstanding natural cardiovascular talent and is perfectly suited to be an endurance athlete."

"Oh, I don’t understand any of that stuff—"

"Anyway, she also said your cousin might even have a chance to represent the country and compete in the Olympics someday."

"Your uncle and I, of course, wouldn’t dare to even dream of that. The Olympics! That must be impossibly difficult."

"But since your cousin has already won a gold medal at the provincial level, we can’t really object. We can only let him give it a try."

Liang Xiaomei and her husband, Huang Yuda, had originally planned for Huang Chong to come home at the end of the year to take over their small supermarket.

They knew that after graduating from college, he had gone to work as a mechanic at a bicycle shop owned by a classmate.

In the eyes of ordinary folks like them, who didn’t even know the difference between a road bike and a mountain bike, repairing bicycles hardly seemed like a proper job. What kind of future could that possibly have?

So the couple had agreed to have their son take over their business. It wouldn’t make him rich, but it would be enough for him to find a partner and live a stable, comfortable life.

But a single phone call had completely upended their plans.

In the end, what parent doesn’t want their child to be successful?

It’s just that Huang Chong had always been unremarkable, and the two of them had long since grown accustomed to their son’s ordinary life.

Now, hearing that he had a special talent and had already achieved such great results, they were actually quite shocked.

But beyond the shock, how could they not feel gratified and happy?

Especially since the provincial sports channel was said to be broadcasting news of their son’s victory tonight. What could bring more honor to the family than that?

And just as Chen Junyi had said on the phone, that evening’s sports news not only reported on Huang Chong’s victory but even showed footage of him on the podium receiving his award.

Liang Xiaomei had finished dinner early, switched the TV to the provincial sports channel, and had been waiting anxiously. When the segment aired, her eyes welled up with tears.

She pinched her husband, her face flushed with excitement, and said:

"Old man, I’m not seeing things, am I? That’s really our son! He’s lost a lot of weight, but he looks so much stronger and healthier than before. He really won a gold medal!"

Huang Yuda was an honest, good-natured man who rarely showed his emotions. He didn’t even react to his wife’s pinch, standing there like a block of wood.

But to say he wasn’t moved seeing his own son on TV receiving an award would be a lie. His voice trembled uncontrollably as he spoke in a deep, heavy tone.

"It’s him. That’s definitely our son. His name is right there—Huang Chong!"

...

「Hangcheng, Feichi Bicycle Shop.」

After Dewey saw the photo of Huang Chong wearing his gold medal on social media, he went to the Provincial Games’ official website to find the news about the road cycling event, wanting to make Zhou Ming eat his words.

Just like before, the front page featured another picture of Huang Chong on his bike.

The guy looked insanely cool!

Even the style of the headline was all too familiar:

[NO SURPRISES: Provincial Team reserve Huang Chong once again dominated today’s road race, winning the championship with an overwhelming lead. He has successfully swept both the Men’s Group A ITT and road race events, impressively seizing two gold medals.]

Dewey’s heart pounded with excitement as he read the headline.

’That’s my best bud right there.’

’He’s been a cyclist for less than half a year and he’s already getting front-page features on the official Provincial Games site.’

’If he keeps this up, won’t he become a regular on CCTV-5, the national sports channel?’

’Looks like that 9th-gen TCR ADV 3 I have in the shop might actually double in value.’

’And when that happens, as the friend who got Huang Chong hooked on road cycling in the first place, I might even get to ride his coattails to fame and share in the glory.’

’After all, when someone gets famous, even stupid little things from their childhood, like what kind of diapers they wore, can become juicy gossip for the public.’

’In that case, wouldn’t I, the one who introduced him to road cycling, be considered the hero of the story?’

But just as Dewey sent a flurry of screenshots about Huang Chong’s second gold medal to Zhou Ming, the other man replied nonchalantly:

[Old Du, why are you sending me this stuff? Didn’t he win that second gold medal on the Lightning SL7 *I* gave him?]

[The credit for this medal is all mine, not yours. What are you so proud of?]

Dewey fell silent upon seeing the reply, momentarily at a loss for words.

’Son of a bitch... ’

Zhou Ming had, in fact, already heard that Huang Chong had won a second gold medal.

While he and Huang Chong weren’t friends on WeChat, Little Mili had added him back at Qiandao Lake to send him his prize money.

So when Huang Chong posted the photo, Little Mili saw it and immediately passed the news to Zhou Ming.

Upon hearing the news, Zhou Ming had naturally anticipated that Dewey would try to rub it in his face again.

Thus, he had already prepared his comeback:

’You want to mock me for being blind to his talent?’

’Sorry, but the bike your buddy is winning gold medals on now was a gift from me.’

Admittedly, he had mocked Huang Chong in the past, thinking the guy’s ambition to become a world-class Professional Cyclist was just a load of hot air.

But after losing to him twice, he had completely accepted the reality.

He had tested and acknowledged Huang Chong’s skill long ago.

None of the riders on his own team were a match for him.

So he had chosen to go with the flow, even using their bet as an excuse to sponsor Huang Chong with a top-of-the-line road bike. It was his way of turning hostility into friendship.

He trusted that Huang Chong, despite the roundabout way he went about it, would understand his sincere attempt at reconciliation.

And in fact, when Huang Chong received the bike from Zhou Ming, he had indeed understood the gesture.

That’s why he had asked Dewey to act as a middleman, to thank Zhou Ming on his behalf and promise that he would use the bike to win as many championships as he could!

...

「Cycling Management Center.」

Huang Chong and Chen Junyi hadn’t returned to the training base yet, but the dorm room next to Huang Chong’s, usually a hive of chatter and noise, was eerily quiet today.

Because even though he wasn’t back in person, the news of his two gold medals had already been posted on the base’s bulletin board and announced over the PA system for all to hear.

A crushing victory, sweeping both the ITT and road race gold medals—

—it was an achievement that left the official members of the Road Cyclist team in the next dorm utterly speechless.

While they had all won a gold medal here or there in provincial or municipal championships to earn their spots on the team, not a single one of them had ever swept two golds at the Provincial Games in such a dominant fashion.

Especially with Huang Chong winning the ITT by a full three minutes and the road race by an astonishing six minutes.

They were all Road Cyclists. They knew exactly what kind of raw, overwhelming power was required to win by such margins.

After hearing about the double gold, they even went out of their way to ask the higher-ups for Huang Chong’s official times and average speeds—data not released to the public but accessible to internal team members.

A 30km ITT with an average completion speed of 46 km/h.

An 80km road race with an average completion speed of 42 km/h.

And he did it all in torrential rain.

With skills like that, Huang Chong wasn’t just ’not worse’ than any of them—he could probably wipe the floor with them.

"Is this kid really that good?" one of the riders lamented, holding the sheet with Huang Chong’s stats. "With times like these, he could probably go head-to-head with the aces on the Longjiang Team."

The moment he said it, the expressions on everyone else’s faces soured even more.

They all knew that the riders on the Longjiang Team were basically members of the National Team, liable to be called up at any moment to represent the country in international or even Asian competitions.

With their current skills, they weren’t even in the same league.

They might all be "provincial teams" in name—at least, that’s the official designation—but there were vast differences in caliber between them.

Worst of all, the annual internal team trials were about to start.

Never mind how many other riders from the Provincial Games might come to compete for spots on the official team; with Huang Chong’s demonstrated strength, he was guaranteed to take one of those spots.

’So, among the six of them, who was going to be the unlucky bastard to lose his secure spot to Huang Chong?’