Chapter 340 - 178: Preparing for the Tour de France, Strengthening ITT Training

But even with such terrible scores, she was definitely going to spend a few years in a vocational college.

But with countless vocational colleges across the country, choosing where to study became the problem.

Currently, the only person in the Huang Family attending university was Huang Xiaocong at Xiamen University.

So, the task of choosing a school for his younger sister naturally fell on his shoulders.

But to be honest, as a top student, he was completely overwhelmed and clueless about picking a college and filling out applications for his underachieving sister.

He looked at the large family, all eyes focused on him, waiting for a suggestion. After thinking for a long time, he could only say:

"To be honest, I don’t know much about vocational colleges, and I’m not in the province.

If we’re thinking about Lingshan’s job prospects after graduation, she should definitely choose a big city, like Hangcheng.

But if Lingshan is afraid of being too far from home, she’ll have to go to a college in the city.

After all, the city is very close to our county town, only a 40-minute bus ride.

Of course, there’s another option. I’m in Xiamen now, and I’m very familiar with the area.

If Lingshan is worried about being far from home all by herself with no one to rely on, she could also choose a school in Xiamen.

If she needs anything, she can come find me at Xiamen University, and I can help out!

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with attending a vocational college. Once Lingshan gets there, if she’s willing to settle down and study hard, she’ll have the chance to upgrade to a bachelor’s degree. There are programs for that—"

But before Huang Xiaocong could finish his sentence, Huang Lingshan’s mother cut him off, spitting out her words with frustration:

"Let’s not even hope for that, Xiaocong. A bachelor’s degree?

With your sister’s pig brain, do you really think she’s cut out for studying?

Her six subjects combined didn’t even break 300 points! That’s an average of less than 50 per subject. She’s completely disgraced the Huang Family.

I have no other expectations for her now. Just let her sit through vocational college. When she graduates, she can work in a factory or get a manual labor job. Either way, I’ve done my duty as a mother.

If she dares to just laze around at home waiting to die after graduation, see if I don’t kick her out!"

Huang Lingshan’s mother was a fiery woman. Still fuming after her tirade, she continued to unleash her full fury on her daughter:

"Look at you! How did I give birth to such a good-for-nothing?

Your eldest brother is successful, we don’t even need to talk about him.

Then look at Xiaocong! He got into a top-tier university. When he graduates, big bosses will be begging him to work at their large companies!"

Huang Lingshan, getting a vicious tongue-lashing from her mom, didn’t dare to breathe a word.

But in truth, her mother had misunderstood her.

She wasn’t a blockhead; on the contrary, she was too sharp, too clever. She just didn’t like to study.

Huang Chong’s mother, Liang Xiaomei, was the matriarch of the Huang Family. She doted on Huang Lingshan as if she were her own daughter. Seeing her sister-in-law scolding the girl relentlessly, she quickly stepped in to mediate:

"Alright, that’s enough scolding. Berating her more won’t change Lingshan’s scores. Let’s hurry up and help her fill out her application.

Lingshan, you heard what Xiaocong just said. What are you thinking?

Do you want to go to Hangcheng or Xiamen?

Let’s forget about the local vocational colleges. You’re grown up now. You need to go to a big city and see the world. It’s not right to be cooped up in a small place like ours all the time."

Liang Xiaomei still commanded authority.

The moment she spoke, Huang Lingshan’s mother immediately reined in her temper.

After all, their branch of the Huang Family had always received a great deal of care and support from Liang Xiaomei and her husband, Huang Yuda.

Besides, Huang Lingshan had no sense of boundaries and was always running over to their house to freeload meals or grab snacks from their supermarket.

Hearing this, Huang Lingshan first stole a glance at her mother. Seeing her fuming but not daring to speak out, she thought for a moment and said:

"I’ll go to college in Xiamen. With my second brother there, I’ll feel more at ease—"

"Alright. Then, Xiaocong, you help her pick a major with good prospects based on her scores."

Liang Xiaomei made the decision for them, then added in a heartfelt, earnest tone:

"Lingshan, you can’t blame your mother for scolding you. It wasn’t easy for them to raise you, and there aren’t any parents in the world who don’t love their own children.

Why do they work day and night? Isn’t it all for you?

You’re grown up now. When you get to college, it’s time to get serious. Don’t be so playful anymore.

Your second brother is such a good student. It’s not impossible for him to tutor you for the bachelor’s degree transfer program.

The higher your own education level, the easier your work will be in the future. Your mom was right about that.

You can’t just graduate from college and come back to this tiny little county to work in a factory like us, right?"

Hearing these words from the aunt who doted on her most, Huang Lingshan, being a girl after all, felt tears welling up in her eyes. She could only nod and say:

"I understand, Auntie!"

However, what no one knew was that after submitting her college application, Huang Lingshan quickly reverted to her old self. She was back to her cheerful, giggly ways, her attention now fully focused on the upcoming Tour de France.

After all, for the past few months leading up to the college entrance exams, she had been cooped up at school for cram sessions, her phone confiscated. She hadn’t been able to surf the internet for a long time.

Now that she was finally free, wasn’t it time to let her true nature loose?

Huang Xiaocong felt rather helpless when it came to his sister.

Her playful personality was innate; it couldn’t be changed with just a few words.

There was little he could do now. ’I’ll just have to wait until she comes to Xiamen in the second half of the year and look after her more then,’ he thought.

However, when he heard his aunt and his mother discussing Huang Lingshan’s future career, a completely different thought crossed his mind. ’True, given Lingshan’s grades and personality, it’s hopeless to expect her to get a bachelor’s degree on her own and then find a good job. But seeing how much Auntie dotes on and spoils her, and with Eldest Brother’s career doing so well, will she really be short of good opportunities in the future?’

...

「June 9th–16th.」

Before the Tour de France began, another week-long race was held as scheduled: the Tour of Switzerland.

But the race couldn’t compare to the Tour de Dauphine in terms of highlights.

There were plenty of star riders, of course. UAE Team sent Adam Yates—who was just returning to form after a crash at the UAE Tour—along with Almeida and Del Toro. Ineos Grenadiers Team sent Bernal and Pidcock, Team DSM sent Onley, and Movistar Team sent Mas, among others. Bora Team, however, only sent riders like Adrià and Zwiehoff to compete.

It was clear that Bora Team’s focus was already entirely on the Tour de France at the end of the month.

During this period, Huang Chong’s training also specifically focused on strengthening his ITT performance.

If he wanted to achieve a good result in the Tour de France, his time trial ability couldn’t be too weak. That was without question.

After all, the Tour de France would have two ITT stages, and time trials were often the stages that decided the final outcome.

If he got dropped by the top riders in the time trials, it would be extremely difficult to make up that time in the climbing stages.

Red Bull Bora Team was also aware of Huang Chong’s importance to the team. The addition of a new shareholder had not only brought in funding but also more advanced training facilities and staff.

Therefore, they placed special emphasis on his ITT training, even bringing in one of the world’s top coaches for one-on-one tutoring.

He had to train not only on outdoor roads, simulating the Tour de France’s ITT stages, but also practice rigorously on an indoor velodrome.

At the same time, his riding posture was constantly being tested and fine-tuned by the new coach, tweaking every little detail to improve his performance by even the smallest margin.

In short, Huang Chong’s performance in the Dauphine had indeed earned him a better training environment and greater attention from the team.

If he could take it a step further in the Tour de France—for example, by achieving results that exceeded the team’s expectations—then his future would be a truly smooth road.

And as the Tour of Switzerland concluded, all the World Tour Teams became fully immersed in their final preparations for the Tour de France.

Arguably, the most important period of the year for the world of professional road cycling was about to arrive!

...