Chapter 531 - 49: Bicycle Craze (Part 3)
He remembered that the earliest bicycles almost did not use any metal parts and could be made entirely out of wood.
Of course, the early bicycles did not have as many systems as modern ones; it was merely a small cart driven by foot, unable even to steer. Changing direction meant dismounting and physically moving the bike.
Inspired by the early bicycles, Chen Zhou designed a bike with an all-wooden structure, driven by pushing with feet, with handlebars allowing direction change while moving.
...
The design blueprint for the "simplified bicycle" was immediately beloved by all the islanders as soon as it was released.
Compared to the Leader’s "high-end version," this bicycle certainly lacked many important features but had several irreplaceable advantages—
Materials for making it were easy to obtain, its structure was simple, and it required low manufacturing skills.
This meant that even those without extraordinary techniques could make a bicycle.
Upon receiving the blueprints, several of the most skilled carpenters, despite their exhaustion after work, lit lamps and toiled through the night to construct bicycles.
Within less than five days, the island’s second bicycle came into being.
This bicycle was made by the zebra; as the island’s most veteran carpenter, his proficiency and quality in crafting wooden items were unparalleled.
By continuously pushing against the ground on that morning, the zebra bounced through rugged forests and paved stone paths, becoming the most stylish figure in the shipyard.
The islanders looked at his ride with envy, regretting they didn’t have the nimble hands to craft such fine things.
During lunch break, those who shared a good relationship and had fought beside the zebra approached him, offering various rewards, the gist of which was—
Make one for me too!
The old friends were indebted to him for saving their lives, so the zebra naturally couldn’t refuse. However, choosing the first recipient from so many was a dilemma.
The veterans had been on the island for quite some time and understood social affairs.
Realizing the zebra’s difficulty, they each offered substantial bids, competing fiercely for the right to the island’s third bicycle.
This group, having arrived early on the island, had considerable savings of various resources at home, and the bids they offered were enough to shock the new islanders.
The hard currency on the island now was brown sugar cubes, widely used, stably produced, and durable, making them well-regarded by the islanders.
The old veterans bid using standardized units of brown sugar cubes and quickly raised the bicycle’s price from ten cubes to one hundred.
Above one hundred cubes, some who loved sweets lacked confidence and couldn’t continue bidding.
Nobody had foreseen that Ruth, with her bid of 187 cubes, would ultimately win the third bicycle. Her reason for fiercely competing for this bicycle was simple—
She wanted to get to school early every weekend to see her son.
...
Orders for the zebra quickly extended a month out, and islanders close to him got what they wished for, naturally feeling satisfied.
The group involved in besieging the zebra wasn’t willing to be outdone either; despite lacking skilled carpenters like the zebra, they still had plenty with adequate craftsmanship.
What the zebra could make, they could as well, and even faster and better.
With "bicycle" as their target, a tense manufacturing competition soon stirred on the island.
Even late at night, lights could be seen and the sound of sawing wood heard beneath the factory or around Execution Square.
One bicycle after another from different factions sprouted up like mushrooms around the shipyard.
These convenient, novel, and Leader-like small machines rapidly became the hottest new commodities on the island.
Riding a bicycle meant receiving admiring glances not just from new islanders still farming, but even from factory-working women, for it was not just a matter of prestige but also granted "priority in choosing a mate"—
That was a tangible benefit.