ctnovel Chapter 67 Week 1
Chapter 67 Week 1
Monaco and the next stop, Azerbaijan, are two weeks apart, and Tanger has a day or two of rest time, so there's no need to rush anywhere.
In addition to the normal vacation, the team, feeling guilty about the loss at the Monaco Grand Prix, granted Tancher an extra day off.
However, Tang Che's vacation wasn't entirely relaxing; he also had an activity that was almost entirely work-related—helping Zhou Guanyu review the main competition.
On Monday, Zhou Guanyu arrived at Tang Che's apartment early in the morning with a packed breakfast. After having breakfast with Tang Che and Tang Jingqing, he immediately pulled Tang Che aside to review the main match.
After having breakfast, Tang Jingqing went straight out to meet with Wofa's team for their first negotiation.
The negotiations with Wal-Affairs and McLaren are similar in nature; neither aims to produce any concrete results, but rather to use the fact that Wal-Affairs and McLaren are negotiating as leverage at the other two negotiating tables.
Around noon, Tang Che and Zhou Guanyu finished reviewing the main competition.
At this point, the two brothers faced a life-changing problem—what to eat?
The three false philosophical questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?
The three true philosophical questions: What to eat for breakfast? What to eat for lunch? What to eat for dinner?
Zhou Guanyu suddenly had a mischievous idea: "Hasn't Lando always wanted to treat you to a meal? Why don't you have him treat you to lunch now, and I'll go and mooch a meal off him."
Tang Che remained silent, only raising his middle finger.
How could Townsend possibly accept Norris's personal invitation? One unspoken reason Townsend didn't want to go to McLaren was that he didn't want to be teammates with Norris. The way Norris looked at him was really strange; Townsend didn't even want to think about what might happen if they spent every day together.
Zhou Guanyu mimicked that player's signature move: "The same as always, it's on me."
As usual, this is a Chinese restaurant that Tang Che and Zhou Guanyu frequent. It's not exactly authentic—you rarely find completely authentic Chinese restaurants abroad. But compared to dishes like General Tso's Chicken, this restaurant is quite authentic.
Tang Che: "Okay."
F1 drivers are all about being decisive and quick to act! Tang Che rode his beloved little motorcycle and took Zhou Guanyu straight to the restaurant.
It's not that sports cars are unaffordable, it's just that in Monaco during the midday rush hour, scooters offer better value for money.
This is also recorded in "Riding My Beloved Little Motorcycle"—riding my beloved little motorcycle, it will never get stuck in traffic.
You know what, in Monaco, a city full of millionaires and luxury cars, Tanger's little motorcycle actually stands out quite a bit.
However, both Tang and Zhou were wearing helmets, so passersby couldn't recognize who was sitting on the scooter.
After parking their car in front of the restaurant and taking off their helmets, Tang Che and Zhou Guanyu didn't bother to hide themselves.
The two brothers never bothered to hide themselves on the streets of Monaco—Monaco is full of celebrities, and you might bump into the 15-time champions just by walking around. The celebrity effect isn't as pronounced as in other places.
But the two brothers overlooked one thing: the Monaco Grand Prix had just ended, and there were still many foreign fans stranded in Monaco. These foreign fans were not as used to seeing celebrities as the resident fans in Monaco.
The restaurant was packed at lunchtime, with many of the customers being car enthusiasts from out of town.
The two F1 drivers caused quite a stir as soon as they entered the restaurant. The diners were overjoyed and beamed with happiness, rushing forward to ask for autographs and photos.
What can Tang Che and Zhou Guanyu do? Of course, they should give in to their demands!
Finally, the restaurant owner intervened to calm things down, allowing Tang Che and Zhou Guanyu to temporarily leave behind the enthusiasm of the car enthusiasts and go to a private room on the second floor for lunch. This restaurant always reserves private rooms for members, ensuring that members have a seat no matter when they come, and Tang Che and Zhou Guanyu are both members of this restaurant.
After lunch, Zhou Guanyu asked, "Where are you going later? Back to run the simulator again?"
Tang Che: "I'm going to Pascal's barbershop for a haircut. I have an appointment for this afternoon."
Many car enthusiasts may not be familiar with Pascal, but they will certainly be familiar with her son—Charles Leclerc!
Zhou Guanyu: "Is she open for business today?"
With the Monaco Grand Prix just over, Pascal is more likely to take a break from his career and reunite with Leclerc, who rarely returns to Monaco for more than a few days a year.
Tang Che: "I messaged Pascal last Wednesday to book a haircut for today. Since she accepted today's appointment, it's unlikely she's not open for business. And I just messaged her to ask, and she said she's open today."
Tanger is a loyal customer of Pascal's barbershop and goes there for a haircut almost every time he returns to Monaco.
"Other racers usually get a haircut before the race, but you did it after the race," Zhou Guanyu laughed. "Did you have such bad luck in yesterday's race that you had to start all over again?"
Tang Che: "I usually get my hair cut after the game, okay? That's called off-peak haircuts!"
Zhou Guanyu: "I'll go with you. Although I don't get haircuts, I'll just be sitting here doing nothing. I might as well go with you and we can chat for a bit."
Let's go! Pascal's Barber Shop!
As soon as Tang Che and Zhou Guanyu entered the store, they saw Pascal giving a haircut to a young man who looked somewhat familiar.
Take a closer look! Hey! Guess who it is?
Oscar! Piastrelli!
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
In 2020 and 2021, Zhou Guanyu and Piastri were both at the Alpine Youth Academy and actually got along quite well.
In November 2021, Zhou Guanyu secured an official F1 seat, while Piastri did not and could only remain at Alpine as a reserve driver.
He was afraid his brother would suffer, but he was also afraid his brother would drive a Land Rover. When Zhou Guanyu started driving a Land Rover, Piastrelli felt terrible.
At the time, Piastri publicly stated that he was disappointed at not getting a full F1 driver's seat, and Australian media simultaneously portrayed Piastri as more deserving of a full F1 driver's seat than Zhou Guanyu, which made the relationship between Zhou Guanyu and Piastri more complicated.
They didn't completely break off relations, but both sides deliberately kept their distance.
Tanger has never worked with Piastrie, but they did compete against each other in the 2020 F3 season.
Piastri never beat Tontard in F3, almost completely wiping out the reputation of a prodigy he earned in the 19 Formula Renault European Championship. Even in the 21 season, when Piastri dominated F2 without Tontard, he still couldn't fully restore his reputation as a prodigy.
From the end of the 21 season until now, Tontatta has consistently shone in F1, gradually making everyone inside and outside the paddock realize that it's not that Piastri isn't talented, but rather that Tontatta is exceptionally talented. Piastri's talent level is likely also quite high, after all, he was the only one of his contemporaries who could truly go toe-to-toe with Tontatta!
This is similar to Zhou Cang telling Guan Yu that he was stabbed three times by a white-robed general. Guan Yu initially thought Zhou Cang was a simpleton, but later realized that the white-robed general was Zhao Yun, and was surprised to find that Zhou Cang was not simple at all.
Piastelli's reputation as a genius has not only been fully restored, but has become even more renowned.
Currently, Piastri's agent, Mark Webber, is secretly working on Piastri's transfer to McLaren, but McLaren only considers Piastri as their second choice, while McLaren's first choice is Tontatta, who has suppressed Piastri in F3.
Piastrelli's feelings about Toncher, who had made his career so tumultuous...
Tang Che didn't care about his feelings; as long as he wasn't embarrassed, it was others who would be embarrassed.
Tanger greeted him directly: "Bonjour, Pascal; nice to meet you, Oscar."
Zhou Guanyu instantly became a broken record: "Bonjour, Pascal; it's a pleasure to meet you, Oscar."
Piastricht struggled to utter a single word, holding it in for a moment before finally managing to say, "Hello guys."
Pascal, completely unfazed by the awkward atmosphere between the young people, smiled calmly: "Bonjour, my children. Tang, you'll have to wait a bit while I finish Oscar's haircut. Zhou, remember to make an appointment next time."
Pascal spoke French; Pascal only spoke French.
Zhou Guanyu doesn't understand French, so he needs Tang Che's simultaneous interpretation.
Tang Che: "Guan Yu doesn't get a haircut; he just came with me."
"It seems the children have a deep bond," Pascal said with a smile. "Why don't you rest on the sofa over there for a while?"
Shortly after, Piastrelli finished getting his hair cut.
Tang Che thought he was going to leave immediately, but he didn't.
As Tang Che went to rinse off the water, Piastrelli approached Zhou Guanyu and struck up a conversation: "How's it going, dude?"
Zhou Guanyu seemed unsurprised: "Good, everything is good. What are the plans for later?"
They started chatting naturally, and the previous subtle awkwardness was completely gone.
Tang Che quickly finished rinsing himself off and sat down in front of the mirror with his hair still wet.
"Want a new hairstyle?" Pascal asked with a smile. "How about the Spoon style?"
Car enthusiasts always debate how to pronounce Charles Leclerc's name. Although Leclerc says it can be pronounced either "Charles" or "Charles," and he himself often refers to himself as Charles, many people still say that Leclerc is a native French speaker and should pronounce Charles as "Charles" according to French pronunciation.
But Pascal pronounced Charles not as "Charles" or "Charles," but as "shao'er."
The pronunciation of "Leclerc's mother" is absolutely correct; fundamentalist name-callers should remember to use the "spoon" pronunciation when referring to Leclerc from now on. (doge)
Tang Che: "I don't have Ciel's vibe, and his hairstyle doesn't suit me. I'll stick to my old look."
As usual, it's a standard men's short, choppy haircut.
While the hairstyle is basic, Tang Che's looks are anything but! His strikingly handsome face even gives this ordinary men's short, choppy haircut a sharp edge.
Pascal laughed, "This hairstyle really suits you, and girls love it. You have no idea how much the girls who come to my shop want your contact information."
Tanger: "I think they probably want Ciel's way of contacting them more."
“That won’t work, Spoon already has a girlfriend,” Pascal said. “A friend of Charlotte’s would really like your contact information, but Spoon said you don’t have those worldly desires and refused outright.”
The Charlotte that Pascal mentioned is Leclerc's current girlfriend, whose full name is Charlotte Sine.
Tang Che was overjoyed: "Scarlett, though we are once-in-a-century natural enemies, we are also once-in-a-millennium kindred spirits!"
These words, spoken in French, were quite elegant, and Pascal nodded in agreement: "No wonder those reporters all say you are the Shakespeare of the paddock."
This was the episode that made Editor Zhu the happiest. (crossed out)
Zhu Bian and the Foreign Languages Department are truly a pair of smiling tigers, two black sharks! (crossed out)
"Mom," Monaco's most handsome guy suddenly appeared, "I want to get my hair cut again."
Pascal laughed, "Spoon, Tang and I were just talking about you, and here you are. Tang, isn't this something that can be described with a Chinese proverb? 'When the sister-in-law arrives, the sister-in-law comes.'"
French native speakers often find it difficult to pronounce the Chinese initial consonant 'c', tending to pronounce it as 's'. Pascal, for example, pronounced 'c' as 's', which led to Cao Cao being pronounced as 'sister-in-law'.
The proverb "Speak of the devil and he shall appear" was taught to Pascal by Tontatta when he came to get a barber.
Pronouncing it as any other sound is fine, but pronouncing it as "sister-in-law" sounds strange. Tang Che has to correct his pronunciation: "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear; Cao... Cao..."
Pascal: "Sister-in-law..."
Even stranger...
Tang Che was at a loss: "Let's talk about Mengde instead. Cao Cao's friends all called Cao Cao Mengde."
If we switch to Mengde, Pascal would be easier to pronounce because there are similar sounds in French.
His pronunciation was almost perfect, and Tang Che's haircut was almost done as well.
Tang Che: "I'll dry myself off. You can rinse Ciel first."
They were all old acquaintances, so there was no need to worry about any poor service; Pascal readily complied.
"Spoon, you just got a haircut before the match, why do you need another one?" Pascal asked while rinsing Leclerc's hair. "Not happy with your previous hairstyle?"
Leclerc always asks his mother to cut his hair whenever he returns to Monaco; it's a lucky ritual unique to this mother and son.
Leclerc said sullenly, "I think my pre-match haircut might not have gotten rid of all my bad luck, so I want to go again."
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Bonus Chapter: F1 Anecdotes (17)
At 16:49, according to Sky Sports, the steering wheel malfunction that Tontatta suffered during the Monaco Grand Prix was caused by Yuki Tsunoda.
Kakuta had always harbored resentment towards Yutetsu, who had taken his place, and had always wanted to cause him trouble.
Before the Monaco Grand Prix, Kakuta hadn't figured out how to cause trouble for Tontatta. After qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, Kakuta suddenly had a flash of inspiration: he could secretly sabotage Tontatta's steering wheel!
Kakuta approached the engineer, lying that he needed to borrow Taunter's steering wheel to play Super Mario. The engineer, unsuspecting, simply removed the steering wheel and handed it to Kakuta.
After obtaining the steering wheel, Kakuta secretly disassembled it and destroyed a logic circuit unit on the steering wheel's circuit board.
Because the damage to this logic circuit unit does not affect the steering wheel's starting function, the engineers did not discover that the steering wheel had been tampered with.
During the Monaco race, a damaged circuit board caused the steering wheel software to malfunction, which ultimately led to abnormal gear shifting, causing Tanger to drop from P1 to P5.
Upon learning of this, Tang Che was furious beyond measure, his anger blazing and his hair standing on end. He thought to himself, "Damn it, how could Kakuta be so wicked! I've always been kind enough to let him play a few practice matches, and he treats me like this. I can't take this anymore, I have to teach him a lesson."
Tang Che stormed into Kakuta's home and took Kakuta hostage. They are currently in a standoff with the police.
When confronted by the police, Yuttori declared that he was determined to turn Kakuta into sushi!
The standoff between Taunter and police continues, and Sky Sports will continue to report on it.