by Jeff Stone
“Nope,” I said proudly. “Phoenix and Hú Dié both beat me. Phoenix took first, and Hú Dié took third.”
“All right!” Ryan shouted, and he bumped fists with both of them. “Did Keng take second?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I came crawling in a measly fourth.”
“You beat me,” Ryan said, “but I don’t care. At least one of my teammates won.”
“That’s the spirit, Ryan!”
I looked over to see that it was Ling who had shouted that. He and Mr. Chang were pushing their way through the crowd toward us. Behind them were Ryan’s mom, Phoenix’s grandfather, Hok, and Grandmaster Long.
The odd-looking group reached us, and Ling stuck out his hand to Phoenix. “Oh my goodness, young man. I had no idea you could ride like that. Mr. Chang and I are just … speechless.”
“Thanks,” Phoenix said. “I could never have done it without my friends, though. I mean it.”
“We know,” Ling said, shaking each of our hands. “Congratulations to all of you! After a performance like that, how could we not offer all of you the opportunity to promote cycling throughout China? What do you say?”
Phoenix looked at his grandfather, and his grandfather smiled. “Yes!” Phoenix said. “A million times, yes!”
“Me too!” Hú Dié said. “It would be a dream come true.”
Ryan looked as his mom, and she said, “Up to you, kiddo. I’ll follow and support you wherever life takes you.”
Ryan grinned. “Count me in, too, Coach! I’m looking forward to it!”
Everyone turned to me, and I frowned. I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to do.
Ling cleared his throat. “Jake, I know we discussed you only coming here for one week, and I realize that most of your time here has been less than enjoyable, to say the least. However, we would be honored to have you stay here as long as you’d like and help us promote our cause. We’ve yet to select a location for our new state-of-the-art training facility, and a big part of the reason it’s taking so long is that we’ve decided to include a world-class BMX track and a recreational BMX trail in the master plan. As you know, finding the right location with the right kind of dirt is crucial.”
A lightbulb went off in my head, and I looked at Grandmaster Long. It appeared as though the same lightbulb had gone off in his head, too. He smiled broadly and nodded at me.
I looked back at Ling. “How would you and Mr. Chang feel about building your new facility off the beaten path?”
“How far off the beaten path?”
“Outside of Kaifeng, in the mountains. The closest town is a cool little place known as—”
“Tea Village!” Ling said. “I know exactly the area you’re talking about! Mr. Chang is a tea connoisseur, as am I. We travel there together several times each year. The air is clean and the surroundings are beautiful! It would be perfect!” He spoke excitedly to Mr. Chang in Chinese, and Mr. Chang’s face broke into a wide smile. Everybody seemed pleased with the idea.
“As you can see,” Ling said, “Mr. Chang loves the concept. There aren’t many roads out there, but we have some money set aside for civil infrastructure. After all, we plan to make this a world-renowned destination.”
“World-renowned?” Grandmaster Long asked.
Ling turned to him and eyed the old man’s orange robe.
“Of course!” Ling said suddenly. “The fabled Cangzhen Temple, where the famous Five Ancestors once lived! Is it real?”
“Very real,” Grandmaster Long replied. “And it can be yours, as long as you agree to teach kung fu as part of your training curriculum.”
“That’s a brilliant idea!” Ling said. “It will promote core strength, which is critical for elite cyclists. How much land are we talking about, and what might the cost be?”
“Hundreds of acres, and if you agree to restore our crumbling buildings to their former glory along with incorporating kung fu into the regimen, you can have it all for free.”
Ling stuck out his hand. “You have yourself a deal, Mr.…?”
“Long. Grandmaster Long.”
They shook hands, and Ling turned to me.
“Thank you for this, Jake. As you can imagine, I’m more excited than ever to have you join our team. I can even arrange it so that you’re the one who designs all of our BMX facilities. What do you say?”
I shook my head. “I’m not qualified to design anything, but I know someone who is.”
“Raffi!” Phoenix, Ryan, and Hú Dié shouted in unison.
“Yes, Raffi!” Ling said. “The boy with the amazing dreadlocks. I remember him from California. We can bring him here, certainly. Is there anything else you would like?”
I thought about it for a second. “A dumpling stand. One that serves xiao long bao.”
Ling laughed. “I told you I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like our dumplings! We can certainly arrange that. So, will you join us and race BMX?”
“I don’t know about racing,” I said, “but sure, I’ll join the team for at least a year and coach other riders and stuff like that.”
“Yes!” Ryan said.
“Whoo-hoo!” Hú Dié cried. “I know what I am going to do to express my thanks to you! Build you a custom BMX bike!”
Phoenix smiled at me. “Nice. I guess you get the honor of being the one to make Cangzhen Temple rise out of the ashes.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I said with a grin. “I just want to ride my bike, bro!”
About the Author
Jeff Stone grew up in Michigan, but he has spent the past dozen years in Indiana with his wife and two children. He holds a black belt in Shaolin-Do kung fu, which he tested for at the legendary Shaolin Temple in China. He’s ridden mountain and road bikes for years, but he bought his first BMX bike at age forty-three. His tail taps are pretty sick, but everything else is sketchy.