"A bicycle?" Xu Yang felt incredulous, "I could buy you a small Shuttle Machine."
"So busy, so busy, so busy." Xu Cheng had already started her focus mode, having been this way before, she could concentrate on the same thing for a long time, indifferent to the rest of the world.
Xu Yang saw that reasoning with her was futile. He had no choice but to cook dinner for himself and Xu Cheng, having to feed her by his side, otherwise, she wouldn’t eat on her own.
Snowball was crawling around, helping Xu Cheng assemble parts, speeding up the formation of the bicycle.
To tell the truth, it really did have form and style.
Xu Yang had never imagined Xu Cheng could do so well. The blueprints were ready-made; all she had to do was use the printer to make each part.
In addition, some welding work was needed, so Xu Cheng also used the 3D printer to make a simple soldering iron and a mask to prevent strong light.
With the mask raised to avoid being blinded, Xu Cheng welded the parts of the bicycle at home, melting the plastic with the sizzling hot flame and then cooling it down to solidify it.
After the frame was welded, the bicycle began to take shape.
Xu Yang helped her make the tires, connecting the bicycle’s hub and rim with spokes; a wheel required 36 spokes, which is tedious by hand, but since it was a craft project with his daughter, it felt okay.
"This should be about right now." Xu Yang fitted the wheels onto the bike.
"Quack!" Xu Cheng was in a hurry. She still wanted to make a bell and a pair of lights, so she started to teach herself electrical work, learning how to design a basic electrical system for the bicycle.
The usually lethargic Xu Cheng in class was now thirsty for all kinds of knowledge.
"Time to sleep." Xu Yang cleaned the floor.
"Quack!" In a rush, Xu Cheng shooed her father to bed and went back to her work.
At 2 am, Xu Cheng finally put together an entire bicycle using the 3D printer.
This was truly a little miracle.
Its appearance was similar to the road bicycles sold in stores, made entirely from high-quality eco-friendly plastic, with suitable strength and weight.
Xu Cheng walked around the bicycle, confirming that it could ring its bell and shine its lights.
Only then did she feel sleepy envelop her, and she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Xu Yang got up and saw her intense focus mode finally come to an end, and he finally had the opportunity to tuck her back into bed.
She slept soundly, her expression looking exceptionally satisfied.
This was the first time the child displayed such behavior... and it was the first time she had accomplished something. Xu Yang was filled with a plethora of emotions. He went to the living room where Snowball was tidying up the mess, putting things back in their places. Xu Yang looked at the simple and practical bicycle, it was obviously meant for another child.
By the time they got up the next morning, it was already past eight o’clock.
"Is the bicycle for your boyfriend?" Xu Yang asked her.
Xu Cheng tilted her head.
Bubble doesn’t have money to buy milk.
Bubble has to work and can’t keep her company.
"Quack quack." Xu Cheng wagged her finger. No, Bubble is definitely not a boyfriend.
Afterward, Xu Cheng hurriedly, clutching her own bicycle and Snowball, dashed outside, letting Snowball sit in the bike basket to lead the way, clattering along on the bike straight to the city.
Snowball followed Bubble’s scent all the way, guiding Xu Cheng to ride her bike straight to where they were at the baked sweet potato cart the day before.
Bubble was buying sweet potatoes.
When Bubble saw Xu Cheng riding over, she waved: "Yo!"
"Quack quack." Xu Cheng arrived flushed and panting, quickly dismounted, and pointed to the little bicycle beside her, "For you."
"That’s yours, I can’t take it!" Bubble was startled.
Xu Cheng approached Bubble, hands on Bubble’s shoulders, her expression pitiful and on the verge of tears.
"Quack quack..." Xu Cheng said with a quivering voice.
"Whimper..." Bubble was even more startled by Xu Cheng’s gesture.
They cried together for a while until they were hungry. Bubble went to buy two baked sweet potatoes, giving one to Xu Cheng.
"Going to work?" Xu Cheng asked while eating.
"The 40 I earned yesterday isn’t spent yet, no need to work today." Bubble said with her mouth full of sweet potato.
"Then do you have to go to school?"
"No money to go to school." Bubble finished the sweet potato, mounted the bicycle, and took Xu Cheng on a ride in the snow, heading to the underpass where Bubble lived.
Bubble lived in a tunnel under a highway bridge.
She had laid out a mattress on wooden planks, raised by bricks underneath, with a charred iron bucket nearby filled with some rubbish.
Bubble sat on the mattress; she had a patterned blanket that served as her quilt, now folded up.
Xu Cheng, who usually passed this highway bridge when going to the Flight Club with her father, never imagined Bubble lived underneath it.
"This is friend one, this is Mr. Stone two." Bubble picked up two round stones from the edge of her mattress, decorated with mud and sand, "I talk to them when I’m sad."
"I am friend three." Xu Cheng quickly said.
Having made a third friend, Bubble lay down contentedly.
Xu Cheng stretched her limbs on the mattress; underneath it was just a wooden plank, hard and unyielding.
"So hard." Xu Cheng remarked.
"The mattress was bought with earnings from work. Working is so good; you can make money. You must sleep on the mattress, it’s more comfortable than directly on the wood." Bubble told Xu Cheng.
The underpass was damp and chilly.
"Only in winter can you live here, it floods in summer." Bubble said.
"Where do you live in the summer?" Xu Cheng looked up at the moss growing under the bridge.