The next day, perhaps due to tossing and turning in bed the night before, alternating between feeling hot and cold, Weizhiawoke with a stuffy nose. By the time she finished breakfast, she was sneezing uncontrollably.
“It might be a dust mite allergy,” Shan Chong suggested.
“Your voice sounds nasal. It’s not just dust mites,” he countered.
Shan Chong bent down to adjust the scarf around her neck and secured the hat on her head. “Be careful not to develop a fever. The moment you get home and the temperature scanner alerts, a dozen people in protective suits will swarm you, pin your face to the ground, and drag you off. You’ll get the full 14+7 isolation package, spending New Year’s Eve alone in a hotel room watching the Spring Festival Gala. Your New Year’s Eve dinner might include an extra egg in your boxed meal if you’re lucky.”
“…Why are you suddenly trying to scare me?”
“You look cute. I couldn’t resist.”
He said this with such a serious expression, not even flinching an eyebrow. His vivid description made him sound almost like a psychopath, but he didn’t seem to realize it.
Weizhi thought he might have potential as a creative writer.
She swatted his hand away, about to scold him when a young man with a sour expression approached them from a distance—
Although his face was covered by a mask, making it hard to tell if he was scowling, this person had a naturally grumpy face, so it wasn’t unfair to assume.
The naturally grumpy-faced man was carrying two snowboards, one in each hand. He stopped next to them and tossed one of the boards to Shan Chong, who caught it deftly and turned it over to examine the base.
It was an old custom model with a cold, gleaming base. The edges had been meticulously trimmed and polished, indicating it was well-maintained.
“What are you looking at?” Dai Duo’s tone was distinctly unfriendly. “I just waxed it. You’re welcome.”
As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at Weizhi standing nearby. After a moment’s hesitation, he looked down at her shoes.
She was wearing snow boots today.
“She has a cold. She’s not skiing today,” Shan Chong explained.
Weizhi hesitated, then gave him a reproachful look, implying that they were in the ski equipment hall and she could easily rent skis and boots if she wanted to ski. However, the man’s chauvinistic spirit suddenly awakened. He met her dark eyes meaningfully and said, “Do you want your face pinned to the ground?”
Weizhi: “…”
Dai Duo: “?”
Shan Chong: “Still want to ski?”
Weizhi took a deep breath and smiled, saying, “Oh, I won’t ski.”
Dai Duo, unaware of the context, looked at Shan Chong in confusion, thinking it strange that his girlfriend was so obedient, giving up skiing just because he said so…
He also seemed visibly relieved—
This wasn’t a big, crowded ski resort where you’d run into acquaintances everywhere. Here, you hardly saw anyone, let alone women. Where would they find a suitable women’s board on such short notice?
People who owned their snowboards were usually reluctant to use rental equipment, even if they had to hold their noses while doing so.
Perhaps due to the camaraderie formed from squatting shoulder-to-shoulder outside the hotel entrance, he was quite polite to Weizhi, saying, “I have some cold medicine if you need it?”
Weizhi sniffled, her voice thick with congestion: “I should have some too.”
Dai Duo responded with an “Oh.”
Seeing the two of them getting along so well, with that youthful camaraderie that older people couldn’t quite penetrate, the man standing nearby frowned and childishly taunted, “You’re offering her cold medicine now, but where was this concern when you sprayed her with snow when you first met? Chongli isn’t much warmer than Changbai Mountain.”
Shan Chong was dredging up old grievances.
Weizhi vaguely recalled that her first meeting with Dai Duo was indeed in Chongli. This guy had traveled from Changbai Mountain just to scold Shan Chong a couple of times…
First, he sprayed Shan Chong with snow, then offered his new ski goggles.
Ah, that’s love.
Dai Duo turned to stare at Shan Chong for a few seconds, then said, “You go rent the resort’s board. I wouldn’t even let a pig use it, let alone you,” as he reached out to snatch back his board…
Shan Chong grabbed the custom board by its bindings and moved it behind his back, causing Dai Duo to grasp at empty air.
At that moment, Wang Xin approached from a distance, his voice full of early morning energy as he called out, “If you two have so much energy this early, use it on the jump!”
It was so early that there were hardly any people in the equipment hall, but the three of them were creating quite a commotion.
Weizhi sat down on a long bench by the window, looking up at them. She wondered what Shan Chong used to be like in Changbai Mountain—
Probably just like this.
They had come full circle, with some things remaining the same as before, while others had changed.
Fortunately, both the changes and the constants were good.
She took out her phone and scanned the QR code in the lower left corner of the table to order herself a hot chocolate. The young girl looked up with a smile at the three men squabbling over a snowboard in the distance and said kindly, “Go ahead, I’ll have a hot drink here. I might feel better by the afternoon.”
Hearing her voice, Shan Chong abandoned Dai Duo, pushing him aside before turning back to look at her intently. “I’ll come find you for lunch. Don’t wander off,” he said in a deep voice.
He stubbornly waited for her to nod before picking up the board and pushing open the door of the equipment hall.
…
The sun was truly beautiful that day. Weizhi, cradling her hot chocolate, lazily played on her phone all morning, curled up in the warm sunlight of the café.
As lunchtime approached, she came across a newly updated ski video from the skiing content creator who seemed on the verge of becoming a romance blogger—
Snow-capped mountains stretched as far as the eye could see, a vast expanse of pristine white reflecting the azure sky above.
A man in a black ski suit, riding a Burton Custom snowboard, launched off a big jump. In mid-air, only his silhouette was visible, like an eagle spreading its wings, his movements as fluid as flowing water…
It was as if flying was second nature to the eagle, and the sky was its rightful home.
The short video garnered thousands of likes in just ten minutes.
The comment section was filled with questions and excitement—
“The ski blogger finally posted about skiing!”
“Presenting the big jump by Shan Youmu!”
“…Chong God, amazing!”
“Back at Changbai Mountain? Am I seeing this right? Is it Changbai Mountain?”
“Changbai Mountain?”
“Changbai Mountain!”
“You finally returned to Changbai Mountain.”
“Folks, the New Year is here.”
“Good news, looking forward to even better things happening this year.”
In an instant, ski enthusiast groups across the country were abuzz with excitement. The news that “Shan Chong has returned to Changbai Mountain” spread like wildfire throughout the land…
It was truly impressive.
Weizhi put down her phone and sniffled, her nose increasingly congested. Resting her chin on one hand, she turned her head and saw a familiar black figure in the distance, approaching rapidly from the ski slope—
From this distance, she couldn’t make out the details, but she could see him gliding close to the ground, occasionally popping up to perform a Nollie 720 or an owen. His hand touched the snow, and his board cut through the surface, kicking up two dramatic plumes of snow.
His series of tricks left the novices at the edge of the slope stunned. Those who were about to push off stopped, those changing edges paused, and those who had fallen simply lay still on the ground. Everyone turned their heads to watch the master’s peacock display.
He glided to the entrance of the equipment hall.
As he pushed open the door, carrying his snowboard, his shoulders were still dusted with unmelted snow. He entered, looked around, and met eyes with the young girl at the table. After a brief pause, he walked over.
Taking off his helmet, his dark eyes fixed on her as he looked down and asked concisely, “Hungry?”
Once again, she felt like she was dating a superstar.
“That owen you just did… Ah, I suddenly want to learn owen.”
“Is your cold better?”
“No, but I want to learn.”
“We’ll rent a board this afternoon. I’ll teach you.”
“Hehe.”
Chapter 2, Section 1 of “How to Conquer a Beautiful Master”:
Always maintain admiration and reverence for your man; it’s the best choice for extending the shelf life of your romance.
…
Changbai Mountain was truly a magical place.
Here, Shan Chong wasn’t just the lofty “Chong God” people talked about; he was also a little princess.
Weizhi seamlessly slipped into the role of the boyfriend with almost no sense of dissonance.
She said nice things to make him happy, agreeing to everything with “Mm-hmm, okay, alright.” She watched his lips closely, worried if they turned down or pressed tightly together. Like a little eunuch serving the emperor, she was afraid that one night he might be overcome by emotion in some corner of Changbai Mountain, hiding under the covers, secretly shedding tears whether from sadness or overwhelming joy.
They stayed in Changbai Mountain for a few days like this.
Before they knew it, New Year’s Eve was approaching. As Weizhi sneezed for the eight hundredth time, her family called to ask when she was coming home. They needed to prepare for the big clean-up, put up window decorations, and buy New Year’s goods…
The matter of returning home suddenly became quite urgent.
After hanging up the phone, she discussed with her “Princess Highness” about when they should go home. Shan Chong thought for a moment, then squeezed her hand and said, “What should we do? I’m a bit reluctant to part with you.”
…This man knew how to say the right things.
In a moment of impulse, Weizhi bought her return flight ticket to his city instead of directly to Nancheng, deciding to accompany him on the drive back from Changbai Mountain, which was only a six or seven-hour journey.
Before getting in the car, Weizhi took some cold medicine and curled up in the man’s arms, sleeping through two-thirds of the trip. Despite this, everyone was satisfied. When they arrived in the afternoon, she was groggily woken up to find herself in what looked like a street.
“Where are we?” She sat up, wiping the window with her hand. “Have you kidnapped me?”
As she said this, her hand was still resting on the kidnapper’s thigh. The kidnapper had his hand on her waist to prevent her from falling while crawling around in the back seat.
The man lifted his eyelids slightly and said, “My home.”
Weizhi suddenly thought her ears were playing tricks on her. She turned to look at him, and he stared back at her expressionlessly.
She turned back to look out the car window — it appeared to be quite an old neighborhood. Even two old ladies were chatting with their vegetable baskets at the entrance of one of the apartment buildings…
The sun was nice today, and quilts were hanging on the exercise bars in the community, with some dried radishes spread out underneath.
It had a very lived-in feel.
She withdrew her gaze, feeling the man’s eyes still glued to her face. She sniffled her red nose and said, “Don’t look at me. I’m not going upstairs with you.”
The man quirked his lips: “I’m not asking you to come up. It’s just that compared to the airport, my place is closer after getting off the highway…”
He paused, then changed the subject.
“You could come up to get a red envelope, then split it with me.”
This highlighted the difference between North and South. In Weizhi’s hometown, New Year’s red envelopes contained ten or twenty yuan. After visiting all their relatives during the New Year, she’d end up with about two hundred yuan—
Hearing that this man wanted to split even a twenty-yuan envelope with her, she felt like clinging desperately to the car door and tying herself up with the seatbelt.
“When you dropped me off at home before, you ran away as soon as you saw my mom.” “Given the situation then, should I have stayed for a casual meal?”
Seeing her so reluctant, Shan Chong chuckled softly. He didn’t force her to get out of the car but opened the door and got out himself.
He didn’t rush to close the door and turned back, finding that the little girl curled up in the car was saying “I won’t get out” with her mouth, but her bright eyes were glued to him. In the dim car interior, those eyes were particularly luminous.
The man’s heart stirred.
He kept one hand on the car door and bent down slightly.
The person in the car shifted, stretching out both hands from inside the car to hook around his neck. Her soft cheek nuzzled against his face: “I’ll have to keep my boyfriend in my phone again.”
He chuckled softly.
Tilting his head, his lips brushed against her soft cheek, then moved down along the bridge of her nose to her lips. Just as he was about to kiss her, she turned her face away.
“I’ll infect you.”
Her voice was stuffy, “Who knows what might happen after the New Year? Aren’t athletes supposed to be careful about what they eat and do? What if you catch a cold too and have to tough it out—”
“Don’t care.”
Shan Chong directly bit her chattering lips. Due to her cold, she was breathing through her mouth, her breath hot and slightly moist… She made a muffled sound and tried to retreat further.
He pressed his nose against hers, the veins on the back of his hand standing out as he pressed against the open car door. Following her retreating movement, he leaned further into the car, deepening the kiss.
In the front seat, Coach Wang Xin, who doubled as a half-father figure, expressionlessly played with his phone, resolutely not looking back, waiting for the couple behind to finish their affectionate moment.
When they finally separated, the young girl’s face was as red as a freshly boiled shrimp.
He still had to comfort her: “It’s fine, we’re not quite at TV drama level yet. I’ve seen TV drama leads kiss without blushing.”
Weizhi: “…”
…
On the other side, Shan Chong closed the car door with a “bang” and watched the car slowly drive away until it was out of sight.
Only then did he turn back to the stairs. As he reached the stairwell, he felt a cool breeze on his head. Looking up, he realized that the window of his family’s apartment had been opened at some point, despite the freezing weather. Three heads were peering out.
All four family members briefly made eye contact before his father was the first to withdraw his head.
By the time he got upstairs, the door was already open.
Shan Shan said, “Ew.”
His father cleared his throat and lit a cigarette.
His mother brought him slippers and, though initially intending to remain silent, couldn’t help but say, “I didn’t expect you to do something proper in Chongli.”
Shan Chong bent down to put on the slippers and raised an eyebrow at her words: “When have I ever done anything improper?”
As soon as he finished speaking, his back received a light pat: “You didn’t invite her up.”
“She’s shy and very polite. This time we just stopped by on the way to drop her off at the airport,” the man chuckled, “Next time, perhaps.”
Shan Chong’s mother had never heard her son speak about anyone or anything in such a gentle tone. After a moment of surprise, she smiled and said, “Go help your father put up the window decorations.”
Shan Chong agreed and went to do so.
Nothing else was mentioned.
That year, the neighbors noticed that the Shan family put up their window decorations and Spring Festival couplets particularly early as if some joyous event had occurred. Things were indeed different from previous years.