In the bustling Xinglong Town, there was a middle – aged man named Li Er. Everyone affectionately called him “Second – Boss”. He made a living by running a small business with a tricycle, going around the streets to sell various daily necessities. This tricycle had accompanied him for many years, through rain and wind. Although it was a bit shabby, it had always been dutiful.
Recently, the shock absorption of Li Er’s tricycle had a big problem. Every time it passed through a slightly uneven road surface, the whole vehicle bounced as if it was about to fall apart. Li Er decided to go to the repair shop in the town to replace a new set of leaf springs for the tricycle. The repair shop owner dug out a set of seemingly special leaf springs from the corner and said to Li Er, “Second – Boss, this is a good thing. I specially found it for you. With this installed, your vehicle will run as steadily as Mount Tai!” Li Er looked at this set of leaf springs and was skeptical, but thinking about the boss’s recommendation, he still decided to give it a try.
As soon as the new leaf springs were installed, Li Er couldn’t wait to drive to the market to restock. But not long after leaving the repair shop, he felt something was wrong. The elasticity of this new leaf spring seemed to be too “crazy”. Usually, when passing through a small pothole, the vehicle just trembled slightly. Now, as long as the road surface had the slightest undulation, the vehicle jumped up suddenly like a giant spring. Li Er was tossed around in the driver’s seat, holding the handlebars tightly with both hands and shouting, “What’s going on! Am I driving a tricycle or riding a crazy roller – coaster?”
Finally, Li Er managed to get used to this strange bumpy rhythm and continued to drive forward carefully. When passing by the central square of the town, a group of uncles and aunts were dancing square dance. They saw Li Er’s tricycle bouncing around like crazy, stopped dancing, and gathered around to watch the excitement. An aunt shouted with a smile, “Second – Boss, what kind of treasure did you install on your tricycle? Why does it look like it’s dancing?” Li Er didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He wanted to speed up and leave this embarrassing scene, but the vehicle bounced faster and faster, and he couldn’t control the speed at all.
When he reached the only way to the market, a dilapidated dirt road full of large potholes. Li Er secretly groaned in his heart. He tried to drive through it slowly, but as soon as the vehicle hit those large potholes, it flew up like an out – of – control rocket. Once, the vehicle bounced so high that it almost hit the utility pole on the side of the road. Li Er was so scared that his face turned pale, thinking, “This is the end. I’m afraid I’m going to lose my life on this vehicle today!” The pedestrians passing by saw this thrilling scene and stopped one after another. Someone shouted, “Second – Boss, are you performing stunts? It’s too dangerous!”
Finally, after getting through this dirt road, Li Er was exhausted. His hat had been knocked off at some point, and his hair was as messy as a chicken coop. He parked the vehicle on the side of the road, looked at this set of leaf springs, which were the “culprits”, and sighed helplessly, “I thought I had found a treasure, but it turned out to be a ‘troublemaker’!”
Li Er had no choice but to drive the vehicle back to the repair shop. The repair shop owner saw Li Er’s embarrassed appearance and couldn’t help laughing, “Haha, Second – Boss, it seems that this set of leaf springs is not very suitable for your vehicle. Let me change it to an ordinary one for you.” Li Er nodded repeatedly, “Hurry up. I don’t want to ride this ‘crazy jumping vehicle’ anymore!”
After replacing it with an ordinary leaf spring, Li Er set off again. The vehicle ran as smoothly as if it was gliding on the ground. A relieved smile finally appeared on his face. This experience also became a topic of conversation among the residents of Xinglong Town during their spare time. Every time people saw Li Er, they would tease him about that “crazy tricycle journey”.