Yu An and Yu Ning were already old enough, and their plane's soundproofing was far superior to that of commercial aircraft. However, even so, after boarding, Lin Yan and Su Mojin still put noise-canceling headphones on the babies.
Winter in Valen City was not as cold as in Kyoto; it even carried a hint of spring. Under a sky of azure blue covered by white clouds, a private jet slowly landed on the open ground of Valen City Airport. As the cabin door opened, Lin Yan's family disembarked.
"Honey, it's so warm here!"
Standing in the middle of the stairs as they disembarked, Su Mojin took a deep breath of the air, saying with a little excitement.
Lin Yan, holding Lin Yu An, followed Su Mojin down. The temperature in Valen was indeed like this. Before landing, Lin Yan had checked Valen's local weather forecast. The midday temperature reached twenty degrees Celsius, not below zero, but twenty degrees above. There was no biting winter chill like in Kyoto; it was very mild.
He glanced at the sky in the distance. Valen City was no different from when he and Su Mojin had visited in autumn. It was just covered with a light blue filter, as if telling him that it was already winter.
"Baby, we've landed. What delicious food do you want to eat? Dad will buy it for you."
Lin Yan smiled and pinched his son's face, asking a rather absurd question. Naturally, there was no response. The porcelain-doll-like Lin Yu An, nestled in his swaddling clothes, turned his little head, looking around confusedly. His small black eyes seemed a little difficult to open, making him appear slightly cute.
After tucking his son in, Lin Yan led Su Mojin into the RV and set off for the racetrack.
"I wish my parents could have come with us. They could have helped take care of the babies."
Sitting in the car, Su Mojin and Lin Yan were in a bit of a scramble. With two children and no servants, it was quite troublesome for just the two of them, especially with Lin Yan, the clumsy and rough fellow.
"My parents will be here tomorrow, and your mother will come then too. Just hang in there a little longer."
Lin Yan glanced at his little wife and said with a smile.
"Ah, my parents are coming too? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Su Mojin gave Lin Yan a resentful look, as if to say, "How could you not tell me such important news sooner?"
"You can't blame me for this, can you? I only found out on the plane."
After changing his son's diaper, Lin Yan said somewhat innocently. Su Mojin had mentioned this to her parents a few days ago, and at the time, they had said they were too busy with their newly opened shop to come. Unexpectedly, they had changed their minds this time and said they would go.
The elder couple, Su Hongyun and Zhang Yingrong, who couldn't stay idle, had opened a small flower shop in the East District. The shop wasn't large and was funded by Su Chen. It was still a flower shop, meant to give the elderly couple something to do.
"Okay, mission accomplished."
After changing the diapers of the two little darlings and settling them on the RV's bed, Su Mojin also let out a sigh and lay down on the bed. Lin Yan stayed with his wife and children in the RV for a while. It wasn't until Zhang Mingzhi and the others had tidied up the pit lane equipment that he came out of the RV, of course, being chased out again.
Standing at the entrance of the RV, Lin Yan stretched. His wife was right; he had indeed become much more lax after having children. He didn't even feel like training the day before the race. This wouldn't do.
Stepping down the ladder in front of the RV, Lin Yan prepared to head to the pit lane for training.
However, not long after getting out of the car, before he had walked a few steps, Lin Yan encountered an acquaintance.
Riesner.
Riesner was currently wearing a short-sleeved top with the Honda logo on it, which was Honda's team uniform.
The Honda team had arrived early as usual. Riesner seemed to have just returned to the RV to retrieve something. He was walking towards the pit lane, leaning on a crutch. Seeing that no one was around, Lin Yan casually went up to offer some support.
"Thanks."
With a hand on his arm, Riesner turned around and saw it was Lin Yan. He was a little surprised and said thank you.
Riesner was over 1.7 meters tall, not as tall as Lin Yan. Leaning on a crutch, he looked a bit stooped. Lin Yan glanced at him from behind. Six months ago, Riesner hadn't been in this state. It seemed he had quite an impact on this fellow.
"Is your leg injury healing?"
Walking beside him, Lin Yan glanced at Riesner's leg and asked with a hint of concern, his tone still friendly.
Although Riesner had used Daniel to block him at the East Asian station a long time ago, their relationship hadn't changed much because of it. They were rivals on the track but friends off it.
As Lin Yan had said before, the track of top-tier competitions was cruel. The temptation of a world championship might have led him to do the same when he was a two-time champion in his previous life. It wasn't exactly a conspiracy; strictly speaking, it was a tactic, just like Vinares had asked Luns to block Riesner. If this was considered insidious, then perhaps neither of them would come out unscathed.
Riesner's injury occurred during the qualifying session of the previous race. At the last moment of qualifying, in an attempt to secure pole position, he had been too hasty, resulting in a crash and a fracture in his right lower leg.
Putting aside their rivalry, Riesner was indeed a tough guy. The next day, starting from second place in the main race, he had completed the entire race with his fractured right leg, crossing the finish line in fourth place.
"It's healing well. I should be able to discard the crutches in a few days. That's it, you can stop here."
A few meters away from the Honda pit lane, Riesner patted Lin Yan's hand, and they bid farewell.
"Congratulations in advance. I guess I'll be the runner-up for the next few years, but not for much longer."
Riesner's expression was very calm, with even a faint smile on his lips. He wasn't someone who easily harbored animosity towards others, and he greatly admired Lin Yan.
If outsiders were present, they would absolutely not be able to tell that these two would be the contenders for the championship in the main race the next day, as there was no hostility in their eyes.