Chapter 446: Roller Skating Rinks
Su Li witnessed the entire scene, but she could not tell if something was wrong. One moment the man at the front row was boisterous and distracting, and the next, the man had suddenly quietened down and become as quiet as a corpse. How did that happen?
Xiao Luo seemed to have just casually touched the back of his seat, and she could not figure out what was so special about his action, but it worked!
Su Xiaobei snickered and chuckled a lot during the movie’s funny segments, but she remained pretty quiet most of the time. So, in essence, she had kept her promise and behaved very considerately.
When the movie ended, it was already 10:30 pm.
The little girl was still very excited and full of energy, so Su Li decided to check out the site map for places of interest in Huijin Tower. “Oh, let’s go skating; we’ll book the entire rink!” she said.
She spoke directly to Xiao Luo and meant for him to book the entire rink.
Xiao Luo had no objection since money was not a concern at all. On top of that, Xiaobei seemed to be excited about skating too. He wouldn’t break a sweat booking the entire mall for her, let alone just a skating rink if that was her wish.
The skating rink was located on the fifth level, and it was an indoor rink. It was very s.p.a.cious with a wave-like runway in the middle, where many skilled skaters showed off various eye-catching stunts.
There were many skaters in the rink. Some of them were skating backward, some skated in a line holding hands, while some were just trying to learn to skate… The entire rink was bustling and lively with upbeat music in the background, and it was quite a sight to behold.
The rink owner had received a substantial sum of money from Xiao Luo and was instantly servile in his manner toward Xiao Luo. After receiving the money, he hurried to turn the music off and shouted urgently into the mic, “There’s a fire in the mall! Everyone, clear the premise, hurry, run before it’s too late! The emergency exit has been opened, run for your lives!”
His urgent announcement was full of emotion and anxiety, which made it sound like a genuine emergency.
Xiao Luo raised his brows and exclaimed, “Impressive!”
He gave the owner a thumbs-up as he would not have thought of such a ploy himself and dubiously rated him somewhat a genius.
As a result of the rink owner’s announcement, the crowd dispersed like uncaged animals, and every single of them had disappeared within a minute. Thankfully a stampede did not occur, but there were many pairs of roller skates left on the rink, and it was a rather sad scene.
“Please excuse me for a moment, sir. I’ll grab some new roller skates for you.” The rink owner said to Xiao Luo complaisantly.
“Okay, do not allow anyone to come in within this hour, including you and your staff.” Xiao Luo responded.
The rink owner nodded non-stop and said, “Sure thing, sure thing…”
Whoever paid the most money got the final say as far as he was concerned, so he would just comply with whatever was asked of him.
CLANK!
After handing over four pairs of new roller skates, the rink owner rolled down the rink shutters and stood guard at the entrance with a few staff members. They turned down anybody who wanted to skate for various reasons and told them to come again later.
The empty skating rink was now exclusively reserved for Xiao Luo and his three companions. With the shutters down, the outside noise was insulated from the rink area, and it became so quiet there that one could hear echoes of his own voice.
“You’re not skating?”
Su Li frowned as Xiao Luo did not attempt to put on the roller skates.
“You guys can start first, I need to use the washroom,” Xiao Luo replied. He got up, looked around the rink, and walked towards the washroom.
When he had returned to the rink again, Su Li, Su Xiaobei, and Luo Pingxiang were already skating happily on the rink. It was understandable that both Su Li and Luo Pingxiang could skate well, but Su Xiaobei was surprisingly skating very well too. She had put on the protective gear and was das.h.i.+ng about on the rink like a little fairy. She was even skating with Su Li hand-in-hand and was occasionally spinning around her.
That was a breathtaking moment!
Su Li resembled a graceful dancer from the celestial realm, and she was incredibly stunning. She would surge forward and skate backward randomly, sometimes putting her hands behind like a G.o.ddess taking a stroll in the garden. Her interaction with Su Xiaobei was even more mesmerizing.
Xiao Luo could not help smiling as he watched them, as he was suddenly impressed by this woman’s beauty for the first time.
“Daddy, come, let’s play together!”
Su Xiaobei saw him and started to dash at him as she called out to him.
However, she was still young and suddenly lost her balance as she impatiently raced toward him and fell down with a loud b.u.mp.
“Xiaobei!”
Xiao Luo rushed to her and helped her up.
The little girl did not cry but smiled at him when she got up.
“Was it painful?” Xiao Luo asked.
“Don’t worry, Daddy, it was not painful!” the little girl said.
“Be careful, don’t skate too fast,” Xiao Luo reminded her.
“Okay.”
Su Xiaobei nodded obediently, pulled Xiao Luo’s hand, and said, “Come, Daddy, let’s race with Mummy and sister Pingxiang.”
Xiao Luo rubbed her tiny nose and said, “Okay.”
He put on a pair of skates and started skating. He thought it was simple, but he fell unexpectedly after walking for a few steps, landing hard on his b.u.m.
“Daddy, are you okay?” Su Xiaobei ran over and looked at him.
“I am fine.”
Xiao Luo replied with an awkward smile. It was really embarra.s.sing and made worse as he had screwed up in front of the ladies. He felt terrible about himself.
“Mr. Xiao Luo, have you skated before? Luo Pingxiang came over and asked in concern.
Xiao Luo stood up with her help and shook his head, “It’s my first time.”
“Oh, then falling can’t be avoided. If you fall again, don’t land with your hands sticking out, you will hurt your wrists easily,” Luo Pingxiang said, sharing her experience.
“Okay.”
Xiao Luo smiled and nodded.
SWOOSH~
Su Li approached gracefully to take a short break, stopping right before him. Her curves were divine, like a G.o.ddess, and she laughed, “Your landing was a cool move!”
That was obviously sarcasm.
Xiao Luo was left speechless and did not respond to her.
“Keep practicing, even Su Xiaobei is better than you. How can you lose to her as her father? That’s so embarra.s.sing. By the way, this is only Xiaobei’s second time skating.”
Su Li smiled as the opportunity to smack down on this arrogant guy had given her unparalleled joy. As she finished speaking, she pulled Su Xiaobei away and started gliding out on the gigantic rink, leaving beautiful trails on the rink.
“Good luck!”
Luo Pingxiang also cheered for Xiao Luo and then followed Su Li.
Phew… to think that she was looking down on me!
Xiao Luo let out a long sigh and felt awkward.
However, he would not waste points on exchanging the skating skills with the system as it was completely unnecessary. He planned to learn it gradually.
He observed Su Li’s moves closely and processed it mentally, dissecting them into minute parts. When her left leg moved forward, her right leg was propelled her forward and vice versa. When she stopped with one leg, her calf acted as support, and she would then use it to push herself forward.
To prevent herself from losing balance, she would bend forward slightly to lower her center of gravity to obtain a more stable posture.
As he mimicked her moves closely, he suddenly worked out the method to skate well rather quickly. He could catch up to Su Li after skating around the rink three times, and it only got easier as he progressed. And, just like that, he was suddenly in his element and could skate however he liked.