The young coach who was training Xia Minmin at the swimming pool was fiddling with his hair in front of the mirror in the changing room. "I never imagined I'd grow so many gray hairs in just one month! Today, I'm finally going to send this swimming slacker off."
"Xiao Fu, you can finally be free today! Congratulations!" Coach Fu looked at the person who came, who was Xia Minmin's third swimming coach.
"Brother Li, you don't know, before I taught her, I had a full head of shiny black hair. After I taught her, I grew a lot of gray hair. If it weren't for the high salary of private lessons, I would never have been able to continue doing this job."
"Your luck has finally turned around, hasn't it? The swimming pool has been scheduling one-on-one private lessons for you lately, so your salary this month should be pretty good, right?" Coach Li smiled, but inwardly he was seething with resentment. A private lesson costs seventy yuan, which is much more profitable than teaching small groups.
Coach Fu was aware that the swimming pool coaches had been gossiping about his high salary lately, but what could they do when they couldn't seize the opportunity? He had made a name for himself in teaching students who were difficult to teach, and many students who struggled to learn to swim came to him by word of mouth.
Xia Minmin was warming up on the shore wearing a long-sleeved two-piece swimsuit. To be honest, she looked quite professional; anyone who didn't know her would think she was a swimming expert.
As soon as she entered the water, her doggy-paddle swimming style was immediately revealed, and Coach Fu on the shore smiled wryly.
I'm really embarrassed to say that a friend who competed with him said that his students had taken thirty private lessons and all they learned was how to doggy paddle, which is really a disgrace to his reputation.
Xia Minmin swam back and forth in the water, feeling great. The doggy paddle was a bit ugly, but it worked perfectly.
Coach Fu stood in the pool and said, "Xia Minmin, let me teach you the breaststroke again."
Coach Fu was still not giving up. There was no reason why he could do all kinds of swimming styles in land training but not in the water.
Xia Minmin smiled wryly. Ever since she learned to doggy paddle, Coach Fu had seen hope and would try again and again every day.
"Xia Minmin! Watch your toes! Watch your toes!"
Oh no, I'm sinking again! In that critical moment, Xia Minmin used her doggy paddle to stabilize her sinking body, surfaced, and took a deep breath.
Coach Fu sighed silently. If he couldn't learn it, he couldn't learn it! Dog paddling is fine too; as long as it can save his life in a pinch, that's enough. The form doesn't matter. That was the only way Coach Fu could console himself.
After class, Xia Minmin said to Coach Fu, "Coach, I think you teach very well and are very patient. If any of my friends want to learn to swim in the future, I will definitely recommend you."
Coach Fu paused for a moment, his smile a little forced, "Thank you!"
"You're welcome! I'll come back next summer to sign up for swimming lessons with you and try to learn all four swimming strokes."
Coach Fu thought to himself, "Little student, you're really overthinking it. Four swimming styles? You're already doing great if you can just memorize the doggy paddle. Don't push yourself to do anything else!"
Xia Minmin waved goodbye to Coach Fu and strode out of the swimming pool with her head held high, looking incredibly proud.
"Xiao Min!" Tang Meng greeted Xia Minmin from the shade of a tree outside the swimming pool.
"Mengmeng!" Xia Minmin ran over.
"Xiaomin, it's my treat today to celebrate your successful dog-paddle!" Tang Meng said, making herself laugh.
"Hmph, don't look down on the doggy paddle! Whether it's a black cat or a white cat, a cat that catches mice is a good cat. Even the ugliest doggy paddle is still a swimming style."
Tang Meng, holding her best friend's hand, smiled apologetically, "Yes, yes, I misspoke! To make up for it, it's my treat today, order whatever you like!"
Xia Minmin's big eyes darted around, probably brewing a bunch of mischievous ideas. "Then I want to eat Hawaiian-style pizza! KFC's New Orleans roasted chicken wings, and McDonald's fries and McFlurry."
Tang Meng choked up, "Isn't this inappropriate? If we bring other people's snacks into the pizza restaurant, won't they think we're here to cause trouble? How about we eat the pizza first and then eat something else?"
"Sigh, that's the only way." Xia Minmin really couldn't understand why there was such a big difference between fast food restaurants. Why couldn't all the good food be concentrated in one store?
At noon, there was a long queue in front of the pizza shop, half of them couples and half families of three. Luckily, it was in a shopping mall with air conditioning.
Xia Minmin rubbed her stomach. "Mengmeng, are you hungry?"
Tang Meng nodded, "How about this, you stand in line, and I'll go to the McDonald's next door and buy two McFlurries?"
Xia Minmin nodded. She was indeed hungry and didn't know how much longer it would be before she could eat pizza.
After Tang Meng left, Xia Minmin looked at the girl crying and making a fuss in front of her, "I don't want to eat ramen, I want to eat pizza! This is the reward I was promised for getting first place! You always do this, you promise and then you don't keep your word."
The man holding the child's hand, noticing the strange looks from those around him, suppressed his anger and whispered to the child, "It's just that there are too many people in line. Next time we'll come earlier when there are fewer people, and we'll make sure you get to eat, okay?"
"I don't want to, I want this time. I urged you to go out at ten o'clock, but you insisted on playing games, and now you're complaining about the crowd. If you can't do it, don't make promises lightly." The girl left angrily, and her father followed her.
Among the people in line was a grandparent with their grandson by the hand. The grandfather said loudly, "Kids these days are so spoiled. They give their parents attitude all the time. It's not a big deal if we have pizza next time. They have no manners!"
"If this were my child, I would give him a good beating and then starve him for a few meals to see if he would still be picky?"
"A little girl like her has so many demands. It's already a mercy that she doesn't starve to death. Girls should study less."
The old man's wife nodded in agreement, "We give all the good things in our house to our precious grandson." She then patted her grandson's head. The child was chubby and had big ears, clearly a pampered child who often snatched food from the house.
Xia Minmin suppressed her anger. It was clearly the father's problem, so why should the blame be placed on the girl? She hadn't said anything wrong.
Tang Meng walked over carrying two McDonald's McFlurries. "Xiao Min, your McFlurry is here."
The cool McFlurry lowered Xia Minmin's anger level.
"Grandma, I want to eat the little girl's ice cream too."
“Sweetie, we don’t eat this. This is only for poor people. Grandma will get you some ice cream later, which is better than this.”
When his demands weren't met, the chubby boy started rolling around on the ground.
His grandparents pulled him up from the ground and held him in their arms, saying, "Baby, let me tell you, we are well-mannered children. We don't eat in public places."
This angered everyone in the long queue, as they all had some food in their hands to tide them over.
"Old man, we're just having a meal, we didn't offend you, did we? Why do you have to make such a big deal out of it? You say it's ill-mannered to eat in public, then you should eat at home, right? Restaurants are public places too, isn't it also ill-mannered to eat here?"
"We didn't do anything to you, did we?"
The old man's grandson joined in the fun, saying, "Grandpa, I want to eat that little brat's ice cream, hurry up and bring it to me."
The old man, his face flushed, dragged the child away from the scene.
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