Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Learn to Swim
At the critical moment, Daddy Zhaozhao suddenly emerged from the water, with one hand lifting up Shen Zhaozhao and the other hand tugging at Sheng Chuyi, bringing both back to shore.
Seeing the two little ones looking scared out of their wits, Daddy Zhaozhao said, “Look at you two, all scared stiff. When I was your age, I could swim two laps back and forth in the reservoir near our town without even taking a breath.”
Shu Ran walked over from the beach and, hearing this, rolled her eyes at him and said, “Don’t listen to your dad’s boasting. When he was little and playing in the reservoir with his buddies, he claimed he’d race everyone to the opposite bank. But after jumping in, he didn’t come up for ages and scared all his friends witless. They ran all the way to your grandpa’s house crying, saying your dad had drowned while playing in the water. Your grandma fainted on the spot, and by the time your grandpa got there, your dad was just bathing in the reservoir. Grandpa immediately pulled him out and gave him a thrashing so loud that the whole town thought someone was slaughtering a pig.”
Shen Zhaozhao’s eyes sparkled as she inquired eagerly.
“Then,” Shu Ran glanced in Daddy Zhaozhao’s direction, “your grandpa forbade him from going near the reservoir. But your dad always sneaked off to it, and each time your grandpa would chase him with a big stick, sometimes for as far as two li. Everyone in the town knew your dad. Whenever your grandpa hollered, everyone would stand in their doorways holding bowls, watching the spectacle!”
Zhaozhao’s mother and Daddy Zhaozhao grew up in the same town, along with Mr. Sheng, the three of them practically raised together.
When it came to recalling each other’s unreliable deeds, they could go on for days and nights without end!
“Pfft, hahaha!” Shen Zhaozhao hadn’t expected her dad to be such a rascal as a kid. Imagining the scene of her dad being chased and beaten by grandpa, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth with her hand and laugh.
Even Sheng Chuyi couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Daddy Zhaozhao didn’t feel embarrassed at all; in fact, he boasted proudly, “That’s because they were too timid. Not to brag, but no one in the whole town could match me. I could hold my breath underwater for ten minutes without needing to come up for air.”
“Enough, not everyone’s like you,” Shu Ran rolled her eyes at him again, and then once more reminded the kids never to go to the deep parts of the water.
Especially not to go to the water’s edge alone.
Shen Zhaozhao, who had just been frightened, nodded like a pecking chicken at her words.
As for Sheng Chuyi, seemingly deep in thought, he looked up seriously at Daddy Zhaozhao and asked, “Uncle Shen, can you teach me how to swim?”
“Of course, I can,” Daddy Zhaozhao said confidently, hooking his arm around his shoulder. “Come on, lad, let’s go. Uncle Shen will teach you right now.”
Shen Zhaozhao hesitated for a moment, then said, “Daddy, I want to learn too!” Once she learned to swim, she wouldn’t be afraid if she fell into the water again.
“That’s my girl. Let’s go swimming!” Daddy Zhaozhao lifted Shen Zhaozhao up and carried her on his shoulders, heading toward the water.
Perhaps because she had been caught in the waves earlier, Shen Zhaozhao felt nervous entering the water again.
But Daddy Zhaozhao kept cheering her on, and with Sheng Chuyi also watching, Zhaozhao, not wanting to be ridiculed by Yiyi, had no choice but to adapt to the water.
The first step in learning to swim was practicing holding breath, and Shen Zhaozhao accidentally swallowed quite a few mouthfuls of water in the process.
“Ptui, ptui, ptui, why is the sea water bitter?” said Shen Zhaozhao, her face wrinkling into a bitter melon shape as she emerged from the water.
Sheng Chuyi said, “Dummy, sea water is both salty and bitter because it has a high concentration of salt, with the sodium causing the salty taste and magnesium causing the bitter taste.”
Shen Zhaozhao felt bewildered.
What sodium? Magnesium?
The struggling student didn’t understand a word!!!
The two spent the afternoon at the seaside, and although Shen Zhaozhao didn’t learn to swim, her belly did grow a whole size larger.