Chapter 55: Chapter 52: The Sister Wearing Many Hats
Chen Xiangbei arrived at the racing base located in Chongming, and it was already 1 a.m.
Huasi Sports, in order to establish its own formula system, chose Chongming Island, where land prices are relatively cheap in the East Sea, and built a track about 3.7 kilometers long, specifically for the training and competition of formula trainees.
Among them, the China Karting Championship led by Huasi has cultivated a group of excellent drivers such as Zhang Zhiqiang, Cao Hongwei, Zhang Zhendong, who have successively become the annual champions of the China Touring Car Championship (CTCC).
It could be said that Zhang Zhicong’s formula system didn’t get off the ground, yet unexpectedly supported half of the China touring car system.
Especially this driver Zhang Zhendong, who later even became a teammate of Han Han and won the CTCC annual championship four times.
In the movie "Pegasus," the character Lin Zhendong played by Huang Jingyu is actually based on Zhang Zhendong.
However, now with the decline of Huasi Sports, the CKC (China Karting Championship) event has been suspended, and the trainees who once received training here have left one after another, leaving only foreign technical staff waiting for the end of the year when their contracts expire.
This is why, previously thinking there was no hope of creating a miracle, Zhang Zhicong was eager to urge Chen Xiangbei to come to the East Sea.
The last month or so of 2008 is the "life" endpoint that Huasi Sports can maintain.
Soon after, Zhang Zhicong’s Audi A6 also arrived at the gate of the racing base, and compared to Chen Xiangbei and Liang Chi, Zhang Zhicong’s face clearly showed fatigue.
After all, he drove alone continuously for over ten hours without the excitement of a race along the way, so it’s normal for his spirit to be a bit sluggish.
After getting out of the car, Liang Chi looked at the sign above the gate with somewhat faded lettering, and said with a deeply emotional tone: "Old Zhang, I never expected to come back here one day, and even less expected that Huasi only has this last month or so left."
In response to Liang Chi’s sigh, Zhang Zhicong just sighed and replied silently: "I’ve tried my best."
Indeed, trying to build a formula system in China in the early 2000s was not something that a single person or company could accomplish.
Even if time were to progress another twenty years, there still wouldn’t be a complete Chinese formula system.
Zhang Zhicong paid the price for his unrealistic fantasies, yet he contributed significantly to the Chinese motorsports industry.
In the past, when he had just left his job, Liang Chi might have had some arguments hearing this sentence, but now that they have reached the end of Huasi, debating who is right or wrong has become meaningless.
"Let’s not talk about this anymore, let’s go inside."
Liang Chi stopped at the right time, carrying his luggage as he stepped through the gates of the racing base.
The main structure of Huasi Sports’ racing base consists of an office building, a garage, and a dormitory building.
Now the office building is deserted, and there’s no need to go to the garage at night, so naturally, Chen Xiangbei and others walked into the dormitory building. This was once the resting place for the Huasi formula technician team, and now most of the racing technicians have been laid off and left, freeing up many rooms.
On the second floor, Zhang Zhicong stopped in front of a single room, and with the help of the corridor light, Chen Xiangbei saw Liang Chi’s name on the doorplate.
"Old Liang, I’ve kept your old room just the way it was, nothing inside has been moved, you can still use it now that you’re back."
Hearing what Zhang Zhicong said, looking at the familiar room in front of him, Liang Chi felt a burst of mixed emotions in his heart.
"Xiangbei, you can stay in the room next door, whatever you’re missing you can sort it out tomorrow."
"Alright, thank you Uncle Zhang."
Chen Xiangbei nodded, then carried his luggage into the dormitory.
After turning on the light, he saw that the furnishings inside were very simple: just a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk.
In his past life, during training abroad, Chen Xiangbei had lived in similar single dorms, so he didn’t feel any discomfort with this kind of environment.
After tidying up the room briefly, Chen Xiangbei took a shower and then fell asleep. He was still at a growth stage, and it was already close to 2 a.m., and he couldn’t resist the drowsiness.
He didn’t know how long he slept, but he vaguely heard a clear and pleasant female voice by his ear.
"Chen Xiangbei, being late on the first day of practice is not a very good sign, you know."
To this voice, Chen Xiangbei thought he was dreaming, completely ignored it, turned over, and intended to continue sleeping.
But soon after, he felt someone blowing into his ear, and this warm and ticklish feeling was definitely not something that could be felt in a dream.
Realizing this, Chen Xiangbei opened his eyes and found a woman’s face in front of him.
Her features were well-defined and bright, with fair skin, bright red lip gloss on her lips, and big wavy curls, much like a Hong Kong movie star on TV.
The two of them just stared at each other for a second or two before Chen Xiangbei reacted, abruptly sitting up and asking: "Who are you?"
Chen Xiangbei remembered locking the door before going to sleep last night, so where on earth did this woman come from?
Seeing Chen Xiangbei’s "shocked" expression, the unfamiliar woman instead covered her mouth and laughed, then spoke: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Lu Xiaoman, but you can also call me Sister Xiaoman."
"For the time being, I’ll be your physician, trainer, and nutritionist."
"Handling so many roles?"
Chen Xiangbei instinctively said, having previously joined a professional racing team in his past life, even if the scale was much smaller compared to F1, it was still rare to see someone handling multiple roles like this.
For an event team, a professional task should be given to a professional person, doing more is not always better.
"Do you think Huasi can afford so many people now?"
Lu Xiaoman replied helplessly, admitting that if it weren’t for her family’s personal connection with Zhang Zhicong, she would’ve likely left as well.
"By the way, Chen Xiangbei, Liang Gong said you haven’t had any contact with professional racing, but I noticed it looks like you’ve had some training."
As Lu Xiaoman spoke, she reached out her slender fingers, pointing to an area near Chen Xiangbei’s neck.
Even if people exercise, they usually prioritize training arms or chest and back, and apart from racers and professional fighters, almost no one starts with neck and shoulder muscles.
When Lu Xiaoman was teasing Chen Xiangbei earlier, she noticed that his neck was noticeably more robust than an average high school student, with obvious signs of muscle training, unlike what Liang Chi described about a racing newbie.
"Um, I’ve been training on my own for a while, sort of getting ready early to enter the profession."
Hearing Chen Xiangbei say this, Lu Xiaoman nodded and replied: "Very good, I do appreciate a well-prepared young man."
"But you aren’t prepared enough today, the Honda technical team members are already in the garage waiting for you, they’re going to conduct an initial assessment and training."
This early?
Chen Xiangbei was a bit surprised, as Liang Chi didn’t mention a set time to him last night.
"Uh... Sister Xiaoman, could you step out for a moment?"
"What’s up?"
Lu Xiaoman asked puzzledly.
"I need to get dressed."
Hearing this, Lu Xiaoman chuckled softly: "Getting shy, huh."
However, teasing aside, she turned on her heel and left the room.
Accompanied by the "click-clack" sound of high heels, only then did Chen Xiangbei clearly see Lu Xiaoman’s outfit.
She wore a light-colored shirt paired with a plaid skirt and thick black leggings. Plus the camel-colored trench coat and high heels, providing a professional urban woman image, very different from the sporty style of the female crew members Chen Xiangbei had encountered.
And with Lu Xiaoman handling multiple positions, he couldn’t help but doubt her professionalism.
But then he reconsidered, thinking he hadn’t even touched a go-kart yet, so having any support at all was already good enough!
PS: Brothers, keep up the effort, the cycle unexpectedly entered the top ten of the new book chart yesterday, feels like a salted fish turning over.