BXBX NOVEL Chapter 308 - 308: Earned Enough Online Traffic
Li Yanchen and Lin Wan took around 15 minutes to reach the finish line.
Xiao Tianlin and Xia MO were next.
“Brother Li, how do you feel?” Xiao Tianlin asked.
“Pretty good,” said Li Yanchen. “The bicycle is comfortable. It can very easily carry two people.”
“After this, we can have a group riding activity. We can feel nostalgic about the old bicycles of our time, eh?”
The other guests nodded.
“Mr. Xiao, please get ready,” said the staff member.
“Ready? Begin!” The staff member blew the whistle.
Xiao Tianlin’s legs kicked lightly on the pedals, and Xia MO jumped up on the back seat.
[Teacher Xia has ridden this bicycle before. She jumped on it like how we used to.]
[True. We used to jump onto the back seat like that. Once, when I was riding the bicycle with my brother, he pedaled so fast that I fell on the ground as I jumped to get on it. I slipped from the seat. At that time, I was so angry because it hurt but now when I think about it, it was funny. Those moments were beautiful.]
[Hahaha… why did we choose to jump up on the seat instead of trying to get on it slowly? I did the same too! When my dad came home from work, I would jump in the back seat, and he would take me on a ride around the village.]
[I’ve been watching this show for a while, but this is the first time I am commenting on it. I miss my mother. If she was still alive, she would be almost 80 years old. She used to work in a fur factory in the neighboring village. She would occasionally take me along with her on her bicycle. I miss those small moments.]
[It’s the same for me. I miss my grandfather. He used to let me sit on the rod at the front of the bicycle because I kept falling off. He used to take me around the village on his bicycle when I was very young.]
[My grandfather used to do the same! How I miss those times! He is 90 years old now. Thankfully, he is still with us. I hope he lives a long life.]
The viewers were sentimental because they had their own memories of bicycle rides with their parents or grandparents.
The backstage staff, who were monitoring the comments, stared at the screen. The staff members were of different ages and backgrounds. However, they all had similar nostalgic memories.
“We Are Also Very Ordinary Bicycle Race” quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.
The comments on Twitter were different from the comments on the show. People talked about things that were popular in the 80s and 90s.
[I don’t know if anyone else remembers this but when we visited our relatives in the village, they had these wooden wheelbarrows. I and my sisters would get on it and my father would push it around. It was so much fun!]
[Do you remember the wooden cradles? My parents used to put me in there, but I was so naughty that I would always try to climb out and fall on the ground.]
[I remember that we had a black and white TV. I would find the translucent colored wrappers and paste them on the screen and pretend that it was colored! Hahaha… It used to be so fun.]
[Do you remember the oil lamps? Once, the electricity was cut off, so I had to do my homework by the oil lamp. The next day, my nose was full of black ash. I thought I was sick! Hahaha…]
[Do you remember the light switches? It couldn’t be pressed directly. A rope hung from it, and we used to tie a plastic bottle at the end to make it more accessible. The electric rope was so fragile that it would break very easily!] [There are so many people here from the 80s and the 90s.]
[I was born in the 50s. I have experienced what you guys went through.]
[True. Thankfully, I’m at a place in my life where I don’t have financial struggles anymore, but this makes me nostalgic. Why do I want to go back to the past, even when I used to be so poor then?]
The Festival Group’s bicycle race idea had brought them a lot of online traffic. That night, the internet was rife with discussions of the 80s and the 90s, and how life used to be in those days.
Zheng Kuo was the last to finish. The Festival Group announced the rewards for the mission. The winning family would be given a ticket for paid vacation at a five-star hotel for five days.
After announcing the reward, the guests were allowed to spend their time however they liked.
The guests asked the staff to leave behind the bicycle with them for a little while. They wanted their children to ride on it to experience what old bicycles were like.
The staff added a few more cameras along the road since they couldn’t stay with them.
The fathers got on the bicycle and rode with their children. The mothers waited at the starting line that was used for the race.
Li Yanchen rode the bicycle with his two sons. Li Zexuan was unwilling to participate in the beginning. He insisted that his father should first ride with his younger brother before riding with him.
However, Li Yanchen told him that it would be more fun with all of them together.
Li Zexuan was worried that the weight would be too much for Li Yanchen to handle, but he got onto the little seat at the back anyway.
Li Yanchen rode steadily.
Li Zekai was seated on the horizontal rod at the front. Although his behind hurt a little, it felt good to be in his father’s arms.
“Daddy, did you ride bicycles a lot when you were young?” asked Li Zekai.
“Yes,” said Li Yanchen. “Bicycles were really popular and convenient. Everybody rode one. The roads used to be muddy, especially when it rained a lot. So, riding bicycles was more convenient than walking.”
“Does your butt hurt, Jiejie?” asked Li Zexuan. “The rod looks so thin. I can feel the pain by just looking at it.”
“It hurts a little, but I’m okay,” said Li Zekai. “Daddy, tell me more about your childhood.”
“There weren’t as many schools back then as there are today,” said Li Yanchen. “There was just one school in town, which was very far away. I used to ride a bicycle to school by third grade. There used to be very few cars, so it was safe to ride a bicycle anywhere.”
“You used to be poor?” asked Li Zekai sympathetically. “Now we have big cars, so it’s convenient to travel anywhere.”
“Yes. It was worse when it rained, especially if there was a storm. We used to reach the school completely soaked in rain. We had to wring the water out of our clothes before heading to the class.”
“Was Auntie Lin’s life the same as yours?”
“Wanwan is younger. Her life might have been a bit better. She told me she had an electric bike.”
“Do you miss those times?” asked Li Zexuan reluctantly.
“I do. Despite how poor I was, I was happy. I’m happy now as well,” said Li Yanchen. “But no matter how nostalgic I feel for the past, I hope you kids don’t have to live a life like that. You deserve better. That kind of life was too difficult and full of struggles.”
“But Daddy, you said you had more fun when you were young!” said Li Zekai.
“That’s true,” said Li Yanchen. “We were content with what we had. We played outside. Our toys were basically made from what we found outside. Now, there are so many high-tech toys you can play with.” Li Yanchen stopped the bicycle.
“Alright. Sit tight. I am going to turn around, okay?”
Li Zexuan’s mind was filled with images of his father’s childhood. He used to think that the videos from the 90s that his agency sent him to prepare for roles were exaggerated. ‘Did people really find joy even amidst so much struggle?’
“Mr. Li, you said you had a bicycle by third grade. Was your family considered rich at that time?”
“Hm… not really. However, we were better off than most. But everybody had bicycles at the time. The gap between rich and poor wasn’t as wide as it is now.”
This was the first time the two children had heard their father talk about his childhood, so they listened very intently..