Chapter 178 Is jumping rope really that difficult? Isn't it something we're born knowing how to do? ...
“Madam, this is it.” Liu Yun pointed to the building of the Little Star Cafeteria.
Mingyue slowly parked the car in the parking space marked on the side of the road. "This restaurant looks pretty good. It's even a standalone building."
Liu Yun: "Right? I told you these kids are capable."
"Oh, it's that child! Madam, it's that child!"
"where?"
"On the right, on that little path on the right, there's a kid riding a scooter, see him?"
"I saw it."
Mingyue had been looking at the restaurant entrance and that's why she didn't notice what was next to her.
"That's their restaurant's pet boarding area. He must have gone there to play with the cats. The first time I saw him, he was playing with the cats at the pet park. Tie Dun really wanted to play with them back then. Look, there really is a white cat in the basket on the back of his car."
Wen Xinglan, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and overalls, and a hat with long, droopy rabbit ears, proudly rode a long-haired white cat towards Mingyue and the others. Mingyue's heart was instantly melted by the cuteness.
"They are indeed cute, but their outfits are clearly carefully coordinated. The clothes are clean, but they are made of fabrics and colors that are difficult to wash. They don't seem like children from an orphanage; they seem more like pampered children from ordinary families," Mingyue analyzed calmly.
Just as Mingyue finished speaking, she heard an adult calling from behind the child, "Little brother, slow down, wait for your older brother."
Lou Lan was holding Wen Xingrui's hand and walking slowly behind, while Wen Xinglan was riding her bicycle in front, pedaling incredibly fast. It was driving everyone crazy.
Fortunately, Wen Xinglan listened and stopped when she saw that Lou's mother was far away from her.
Liu Yun: "Is that person in the back a staff member of the welfare home? Shall we get off the bus and ask?"
Mingyue: "What if it's not? It would be a bit presumptuous of me to do that. Let's take a look first."
Liu Yun thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "That's true to some extent."
Seeing Lou Lan approaching, Wen Xinglan lunged forward, ready to sprint again, but Lou Lan shouted, "Stop!"
Wen Xinglan already understood the meaning of this word, so she obediently withdrew her leg and looked up at Lou Lan.
The way back to the welfare home from the hotel is along the sidewalk outside the wall. There aren't many people on the sidewalk at noon on a weekday, but occasionally someone will ride by on an electric bike. Some of these riders either have their heads held high and don't look at the ground nearby, while others are multitasking, playing on their phones or making calls. It's dangerous for children to walk alone on the road. Lou Lan skillfully pulled a rope from her backpack, tied it to the scooter, and then skillfully held the rope, saying, "Let's go."
Wen Xinglan treated this as a game, and when he started pedaling again, he pedaled even faster.
Watching them slowly walk away, Liu Yun said, "Madam, let's follow them."
"Okay." Mingyue followed in her car from a distance.
A short while later, Lou Lan opened an iron gate and led the child inside.
Mingyue and Liu Yun got out of the car and walked to the entrance of the orphanage. When they saw the signboard half-hidden behind the thatched roof, Liu Yun was extremely excited. "Madam, look, this is the orphanage!"
Mingyue's heart was also filled with an indescribable feeling. She liked that child the moment she saw him. Although she kept telling herself that the child might not be an orphan, she couldn't help but imagine how wonderful it would be if she had such a lovely child!
"I never knew there was a welfare home here!" Liu Yun said excitedly. "Madam, shall we go in and ask?"
Mingyue remained relatively calm and said, "That person was probably a caregiver from the welfare home. We probably won't get any information if we just ask her like this. I already know about this welfare home. I'll have someone look up the director's phone number and then we can contact the director and visit her later."
...
An Fusheng returned and slumped onto the sofa. Wen Xingmou and An Shisi quickly rushed over to give him a massage. After waiting for a while and not seeing the other two, An Fusheng asked, "Where are Wen Xingrui and Xiao Ba?"
Wen Xingmou sat on An Fusheng's stomach and pointed towards the TV, "They're being punished by standing there because they made a mistake."
With great interest, An Fusheng straightened up halfway and saw that there was a child standing on each side of the TV. One of them was looking at him, while the other was crouching down and peeking at the TV because he could hear the sound coming from it.
An Fusheng found a comfortable position by resting his head on his arms before asking, "What mistakes have you two made this time?"
An Shisi sat on An Fusheng's lap and said, "I know, they put all the toys out and didn't put them back in the toy basket."
Wen Xingmou: "They even took everything out of the cabinet!"
An Shisi: "Yes, and all the books on the bookshelf were taken down by them and not put back."
Wen Xingmou: "Also, they pulled out all the tissues and threw them all over the room."
An Shisi: "They even poured all the milk powder on the ground and fed it to Xiaohua."
...
"The list of crimes is endless," An Fusheng said, glancing at Wen Xinglan and Wen Xingrui. "Stand still and stop looking around."
Wen Xinglan and Wen Xingrui: "..."
Lou Lan came in from outside and overheard An Fusheng urging the two boys who were being punished to stand in the corner. She said, "I just went to hang up some clothes, and when I came back, they had turned everything upside down in the house. They made a mess of the house, and it took me all afternoon to clean it up. When I left, I told them to look at the picture book, and they agreed. But as soon as I left, they started causing trouble and ignored what I said. Today, I'm going to teach them a lesson."
An Fusheng said gloatingly to the two naughty children, "Did you hear that? You'd better learn your lesson."
The two children stared at him with wide eyes.
"What is Xinglin doing?"
When Wen Yue returned from outside, she immediately saw Wen Xinglin had tied himself up with a rope, but he seemed to be struggling. Strange, he had tied himself up, yet he was struggling so hard that his face turned red. Was this some kind of survival game that was popular now? She didn't understand.
Lou's mother peeked out and exclaimed, "Oh dear, isn't Xinglin learning to jump rope? Why is he tied up?"
"Jump rope?" Wen Yue approached Wen Xinglin in shock. "Is this how you jump rope?"
Lou's mother: "Yes, he just asked me to find him a tablet to play instructional videos."
Wen Yue noticed that Wen Xinglin's neck was slowly turning red. "You didn't get yourself all tangled up while learning to jump rope, did you? Hahahaha, you're so funny."
Wen Xinglin blushed, looking like she was about to cry, and whispered, "Sister..."
"Okay, I won't laugh at you anymore, hahaha." Wen Yue helped Wen Xinglin untie the rope and comforted him for a while before saying, "Actually, jump rope is quite difficult to learn. It's normal that you can't learn it. If you really can't learn it, let's find a training class."
Lou Lan said, "I told him that he should go to the training class for an hour every day after school, and he will definitely learn it in a week."
An Fusheng didn't even notice Wen Xinglin when he came in. He thought Wen Xinglin was doing his homework with Bai Mangmang next door as usual. He didn't expect him to be quietly tying himself up here.
Wait, what did I just hear? Go to a training class to learn jump rope?
An Fusheng looked at everyone in confusion: "Is jumping rope that difficult?"
Mrs. Lou nodded and said, "It's like learning to swim. Once you know how, it's not difficult, but if you don't, it's quite difficult."
An Fusheng: Aren't swimming and rope skipping skills something we're born knowing? Do city kids learn them differently?
An Fusheng: "Can I see the video?"
Wen Xinglin carried the tablet over and gave it to An Fusheng.
There was a jump rope tutorial video on the tablet. An Fusheng clicked on the video and watched for a while. It was just a standard jump rope method.
"Is this difficult to learn?" An Fusheng asked.
Wen Xinglin was already on the verge of a breakdown from studying, and now he felt like he was being mocked, making him so aggrieved that tears were about to fall.
"Oh dear, I was just asking, I didn't mean to make fun of you," An Fusheng quickly said. "Oh dear, it's really not easy to do this with both hands and feet."
Wen Yue said, "Yes, my older brother also learned it after attending a training course."
An Fusheng asked incredulously, "Really?"
Wen Yue: "We went to the same training course, don't deny it."
An Fusheng: It seems that even top students aren't good at everything!
Lou Lan: "Didn't Fuzai win a youth jump rope competition when he was little? Can he still do it now? Why don't you teach Xinglin?"
It's not that it's impossible, it's just that this thing is too simple, how can it be taught?
An Fusheng pulled the two men who were pretending to give him a massage but were actually lying flat on top of him off. Luckily, the other two were sealed off, otherwise they would definitely be hanging on his ankles and he wouldn't be able to pull them off.
"Okay, you jump once first and I'll see."
Wen Xinglin ran to the other side of the living room, picked up the rope, and gestured for a long time before being stopped by An Fusheng. "Wait a minute, isn't the rope a little longer?"
Wen Xinglin: "How do we collect it?"
An Fusheng took the rope and demonstrated by wrapping it around his hand a few times. "Like this, can you do it?"
Wen Xinglin could understand it with his eyes, but he couldn't do it with his hands.
An Fusheng taught him several more times, and he finally learned it, but as soon as he jumped up, the rope in his hands came loose again.
An Fusheng: No wonder he tied himself up.
An Fusheng took the rope and had Wen Xinglin stretch his arms out horizontally. He measured the rope against Wen Xinglin's hands a few times, wrapped it around both ends a few times, tied a knot, and then gave it to Wen Xinglin. The length was just right.
"Okay, now let's start. When the rope goes over your head, you have to jump, understand? Don't wait until the rope is right next to your feet before you jump, that's too slow, and the rope won't get over. Okay, try it now."
Wen Xinglin tried a few times as An Fusheng suggested, but he hadn't developed the reflexive movements. He needed his head to direct all the movements of his body and the direction of the rope, and his eyes to pay attention. He simply couldn't manage it all, and it was still difficult for him to control the timing of the rope landing and his feet jumping.
“It’s okay, just practice a few more times,” An Fusheng said.
Wen Xinglin practiced many more times, but he still couldn't get over the rope.
An Fusheng thought for a long time but couldn't figure out the reason, but he didn't want to discourage the child. "Are you a little nervous?"
Wen Xinglin nodded.
An Fusheng: "What's there to be nervous about? Here, give me the rope, and I'll demonstrate for you."
Wen Xinglin handed the rope to An Fusheng, who adjusted it. Several children came over to watch. An Fusheng said, "Spread out a bit, don't get hit by the rope."
Everyone obediently moved back a distance, except for Wen Xinglan, who refused to retreat and even tried to move forward.
An Shisi grabbed Wen Xinglan's legs and pulled him back quite a distance before sitting on Wen Xinglan's back. Wen Xinglan felt like he was going to throw up from sitting on him. "Big brother, you jump. I'm holding my little brother down."
An Fusheng: "...I know your intentions are good, but I suggest you don't set off."
After releasing Wen Xinglan from under An Shisi's buttocks, An Fusheng went back to pick up the rope and demonstrated.
An Fusheng moved very slowly, first explaining all the key points of the movements, and then performing them in slow motion to prove that the points he explained were crucial.
An Fusheng demonstrated several times, and Wen Xinglin said he understood. An Fusheng then adjusted the rope and returned it to him.
Wen Xinglin jumped a few more times, and although he still failed, his hands became much steadier, and his jumping movements became more crisp and clean.
"Okay, I'll say 'jump,' and you jump right away."
"good."
Wen Xinglin draped the rope over his heels, ready to go.
An Fusheng: "Are you ready?"
Wen Xinglin: "Ready."
An Fusheng: "Relax, get ready, start, jump!"
Before Wen Xinglin could react, the rope had already passed under his feet. When he realized what was happening, he was overjoyed: "I jumped over!"
Wen Xingmou: "Yeah, brother, you're so amazing, you jumped over it in one go."
An Shisi: "Yes, brother is amazing!"
An Fusheng clapped, and the others followed suit. Wen Xinglin felt as if he had suddenly learned something.
Wen Xinglin felt good. He then jumped a few more single ropes and found that his hands and feet started to move automatically with the rope. Then, he became bolder and jumped one rope, trying hard not to stop himself. He then jumped several more ropes.
Wow, brother is so amazing!
Wow, my brother can't stop!
"You don't need to jump that high, just a little jump is enough."
"Brother, you're awesome!"
Amidst the praise, Wen Xinglin jumped more and more, each jump becoming more and more stable.
"Wow, it's so lively here!"
"Mother Wen!"
"Mom, you're back!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com