Chapter 136: A Leisurely Day
Around 7 a.m. on June 30, Wu Shi woke up on time, yawning as he walked into the living room.
Martina was humming softly as she prepared breakfast. The main thing she focused on was freshly ground coffee; croissants and butter to fill the stomach didn't require much preparation at this hour.
"You're awake so early~" Martina said without turning around, as if she already knew who it was.
"Yeah. I'm used to it. I can't fall asleep no matter how hard I try."
Wu Shi went to the bathroom, washed up, and looked at himself in the mirror.
He rarely looked at mirrors; his impression of his appearance came almost entirely from media photos.
In those pictures, his hair was always soaked with sweat, his fair skin flushed red from the heat, giving him a distinctly youthful look.
Now, with his hair combed neatly, he looked no different from an ordinary high school student in China. If there was any difference at all, it was that his hair was cut short—out of step with the current non-mainstream trends back home.
When he returned to the living room, breakfast was already laid out.
"Xiao Shi, go wake Louise for breakfast," Martina said as she untied her apron. At home, she usually spoke Chinese with Wu Shi.
"Didn't she set an alarm?" Wu Shi replied. He had no desire to drag a lazybones out of bed.
"Alarm clocks don't work on her," Martina laughed, picking up her coffee, blowing on it gently, and taking a sip.
"All right."
Seeing Martina already enjoying her coffee, Wu Shi turned around and knocked on Louise's door. "Louise, get up and eat. You have school at eight o'clock!"
"Gurgle… gurgle…"
Unintelligible sounds of resistance came from inside the room.
Wu Shi knocked twice more. When there was still no response, he pushed the door open and went in.
As usual, the curtains in Louise's room were drawn tight. Even in the early morning, the room was dim. No wonder she never wanted to get out of bed.
Wu Shi remembered reading in an extracurricular book that sunlight was the switch that activated the human body. Without seeing the sun, people naturally failed to realize that a new day had begun.
He walked straight to the window and, with a whoosh, pulled the curtains open.
"Louise! Get up."
Sunlight poured into the room, illuminating the bed—but Louise had already burrowed deep under the covers.
Wu Shi walked to the bedside and gently lifted half the quilt. Louise was curled into a ball, hugging her orca plushie. As soon as the sunlight touched her face, she desperately tried to bury her head under the pillow.
"If you don't get up now, you'll be late. And then no one will walk to school with you."
"Waaah… I'll just take a little nap," Louise mumbled.
Wu Shi didn't indulge her. He reached out, caught a lock of her messy off-white hair near her ear, twisted it lightly, and gave a gentle tug.
"Ouch! That hurts!"
Louise immediately covered her ear and finally let go of the doll.
Wu Shi released her. She rubbed her eyes, still half-asleep.
"It's really not easy to wake you up."
Sunlight shone on Louise's pale face, making her look as though she were standing under a spotlight. A few strands of her long hair swayed gently as light and shadow shifted.
"Isn't it rare for someone to wake me up like this?"
Louise muttered under her breath, pushed the orca plushie aside, and reached out a hand toward Wu Shi.
"How?"
"Pull me up." She looked at him and blinked twice.
"You're too heavy. I can't lift you."
"Ugh~~~" Louise grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"All right, all right. Lazy cat, stop complaining."
Wu Shi grabbed her hand and pulled her up in one swift motion.
Louise casually hooked onto his arm as she rolled out of bed, leaning against him cheerfully. "Hey~ I'm up now~"
After that, she slipped on her slippers and skipped out of the room.
"At least change your clothes," Wu Shi muttered to himself. He glanced at his arm, then followed her into the living room.
Back at the table, he picked up a croissant, dipped it into butter, and ate it without bothering with a knife or fork.
"Would you like some coffee?" Martina asked.
Wu Shi shook his head. "If it's just to wake me up, I think Red Bull works better."
"It's a shame you didn't try to join the Red Bull team," Martina laughed. "Your dad says the same thing—he thinks drinking plain soybean milk for breakfast is unbearable."
Wu Shi nodded repeatedly, insisting that soy milk and fried dough sticks were the proper way to eat breakfast. As for coffee, he still felt tea was better.
Even after so many years in Europe, his habits hadn't changed much.
"Mom! I want a cup of coffee too!"
Now fully awake, Louise raised her hand enthusiastically after sitting down.
"Okay~ I prepared one for you as well."
Breakfast in Italy wasn't lavish. In Wu Shi's memory, the only truly extravagant breakfasts were found in Guangdong and Guangxi. Morning tea probably didn't even count as breakfast in the strict sense.
After breakfast, Martina took Louise to school, leaving Wu Shi alone at home.
"I'm really not used to having this much free time," he muttered.
Just as the words left his mouth, his phone rang. It was Verstappen.
"What's wrong? Aren't you supposed to be practicing?"
"Get online! Let's run a game!" Verstappen shouted.
"No way. My place isn't like yours—we don't have that many simulators. Asking me to run one with a controller is just cruel." Wu Shi refused decisively. He planned to relax for the entire day.
"Oh! What a waste," Verstappen complained.
Wu Shi couldn't relate to car enthusiasts who drove real cars on race days and simulated cars on rest days.
Still, with nothing better to do—and having not watched anime in a long time—he logged into AC Station. At this point, the site hadn't changed much, and the ACG atmosphere was still strong.
After scrolling for a while, a recommended video caught his eye:
"[Explosive Mashup / Wu Shi] 'Only victory can define my life' — I sweep across Europe, invincible!"
The title sent a chill down his spine.
Invincible already? Sweeping across Europe?
He complained inwardly, yet his hand clicked the video anyway.
The music began softly as several go-kart tracks flashed across the screen.
The comments were filled with lines like:
"The Chinese driver closest to F1!"
"I'm a German student—I saw him live. He's insanely good!"
"What kind of ridiculous title is this? Winning a few F3 races and he thinks he's conquered Europe?"
Wu Shi turned off the bullet comments and focused. He quickly realized that all the tracks shown were from the 2007 CKC season.
This uploader really did their homework.
The music stopped abruptly. The image froze on a photo of him wearing his helmet, visor open, eyes fixed forward with an unwavering gaze.
Then the tempo surged. Clips from his races flashed by in sync with the drumbeats, gradually igniting excitement.
Just as the music peaked, the screen went black.
Then it exploded back to life.
Amid roaring cheers, he crossed the finish line again and again. Footage of several major crashes was interwoven throughout.
White text flashed repeatedly:
"2007 CKC Grand Champion!"
"2008 Italian ACI Karting Championship Winner!"
"2013 KZ Championship — the highest level of European karting!"
"Six consecutive F3 victories in 2014!"
As the music faded, the screen turned black once more.
White letters appeared:
"The legend continues."
The final shot showed him walking away from the Pengcheng Speed Racetrack alongside Ling Kang and Zeng Tianyi. In the glow of the sunset, the three boys walked with arms around each other, helmets in hand, chatting happily.
Wu Shi finished the video and immediately opened the comments again.
The pinned comment read:
"Many people say the title is exaggerated, but Wu Shi's achievements in karting and F3 are truly unprecedented. If he enters F1 next year, I believe he'll be a genius driver like Vettel."
Scrolling down, there was plenty of praise. Most viewers didn't truly understand the competitions themselves, but they were clearly impressed.
"UP is amazing! I'm so pumped I'm going to the park to ride bumper cars for ten minutes!"
"Isn't go-karting for kids? Is winning a championship really something to brag about?"
"What is F3? I've never even heard of it. I only know F1."
"UP, I'm also a huge Wu Shi fan! Where did you find all this footage? I've never seen these videos before!"