By the hotel window, Wei Zhi paced back and forth, clutching her phone. She resembled a mouse tiptoeing on boiling honey – torn between the sweetness and the risk of drowning.
“Stop pacing,” Jiang Nanfeng said, exasperated. “He might just be wealthy. Lao Yan mentioned that they’re different from resort instructors. Resort instructors charge 900 yuan per day and the resort takes a cut. These guys charge by the hour, starting at several hundred yuan, and keep it all.”
Wei Zhi halted abruptly and turned around.
Jiang Nanfeng continued, “According to Lao Yan, your shifu has a group of disciples. Someone capable of taking on so many students probably charges even more.”
“Uh,” Wei Zhi responded.
Suddenly remembering something, Jiang Nanfeng asked, “So how much did that big shot charge you?”
Wei Zhi fell silent.
It started at 400 yuan per day, then became free. In the end, she even received a pair of snow goggles worth 1,000 yuan just for the lenses.
Doing business like that wouldn’t lead to wealth; it might cost him his underwear.
Incredulous, Wei Zhi moved to the mirror, examining herself closely. Apart from a new pimple on her nose tip caused by the dry northern heating, her face was the same as she remembered – round face, round eyes, fair skin with barely visible pores where there were no pimples.
Not unattractive, but certainly not stunning enough to captivate a tycoon at first sight.
Wei Zhi had enough self-awareness to know this.
“Stop looking,” Jiang Nanfeng’s voice drifted from behind the mirror. “Some people win 5 million in the lottery; you can’t argue with that. Maybe it’s good karma from a past life.”
Wei Zhi didn’t believe she had such luck.
Anxiously moving away from the mirror, she picked up her phone and opened WeChat, finding the Crayon Shin-chan avatar. After hesitating, she typed:
[Little Girl Jiji: I looked up the lenses and found that snow goggles are quite expensive… Should I pay you back?]
After sending this, her hand hovered over the transfer button, wondering how much would be appropriate.
The goggles showed signs of use, so she couldn’t pay the full price for a new pair. He wouldn’t accept that anyway.
But how much should she discount for second-hand?
It was this year’s model, so maybe 98% of the original price?
As she hesitated, about to search for comparison prices on Xianyu, the phone screen lit up with a new message.
[Chong: No need.]
[Little Girl Jiji: Then I’ll return the goggles. They’re too expensive—]
[Chong: Return what? I don’t want to hear you crying for half an hour on the ski slope over a pair of goggles. What I’ve given you is yours. The price doesn’t matter.]
Shan Chong had no ulterior motive in saying this. The subtext was simply:
“The price doesn’t matter because I didn’t buy them anyway.”
But in Wei Zhi’s eyes…
She put down her phone and exclaimed, “Damn! He said the price doesn’t matter! What kind of domineering CEO line is that? He might be rich! A big shot! Remind me to be more respectful when talking to him tomorrow!”
Amidst the jumping and shouting, Jiang Nanfeng glanced at the girl and said sarcastically, “You’re only now thinking about respecting your teacher? What a polite child you are.”
Wei Zhi ignored her and sent Shan Chong three kowtowing emojis.
Previously, she had relied on imagining his good looks to keep from hating him. Now, just thinking about that handsome face wearing the face guard made him seem kind and amiable – even the wrinkles of his black face guard seemed to exude a pleasant, sweet scent.
That “shifu” was truly well-deserved.
[Little Girl Jiji: Shifu!]
[Little Girl Jiji: Shifu fu!]
[Chong: ?]
[Little Girl Jiji: So, Shifu, as a true disciple, when are you going to add me to the group?]
[Chong: Getting ahead of yourself?]
[Little Girl Jiji: I can fetch water and do chores in the group too.]
[Chong: Not now.]
[Chong: At least learn to change edges first.]
[Chong: Make sure you’re serious about learning to ski before we discuss this further.]
[Little Girl Jiji: Of course I’m serious! I’m going down the mountain tomorrow to buy new ski boots! The resort’s boots aren’t comfortable!]
[Little Girl Jiji: Also, where does the “must know how to change edges to join the group” standard come from?]
[Chong: Everyone in the group has at least two years of skiing experience. I don’t want them laughing at you for only knowing how to snowplow.]
Before Wei Zhi could appreciate her Shifu’s warmth and kindness, another message popped up:
[Chong: I’m also worried you’ll be a bad influence. Your rhythm of skiing for ten minutes and resting for ten is unheard of.]
Wei Zhi: “…”
[Little Girl Jiji: I’ll take the afternoon off tomorrow.]
[Chong: Getting excited now?]
[Little Girl Jiji: What excitement? I’m going down the mountain to buy boots.]
[Chong: They sell them at the resort.]
[Little Girl Jiji: I don’t like the styles. The ski shops down the mountain have a better selection.]
[Chong: Oh.]
[Chong: So high-maintenance.]
[Chong: Want me to come along?]
[Little Girl Jiji: Can you?]
[Chong: You know how to choose boots yourself?]
[Little Girl Jiji: I’ll pick the pretty ones.]
[Chong: …]
[Chong: I’ve got nothing else to do. I’ll drive you guys down.]
Wei Zhi put down her phone and announced, “News flash: We’re going down the mountain tomorrow afternoon to buy boots. The big shot is driving us.”
“Oh,” Jiang Nanfeng rolled over lazily and said, “Our first chance to ride in a Rolls-Royce has arrived.”
…
The next morning, classes proceeded as usual.
The ski equipment hall was bustling with people in the early morning.
The man stood there in all-black ski gear, with matching brand ski boots. Tall and dark, he exuded a powerful aura of a big shot…
If one could ignore the three fluffy green turtle butt pads hanging from his elbow along with his safety helmet.
Passersby couldn’t help but glance at him repeatedly—
Of course, the women looked more.
They couldn’t help but imagine a skiing expert bringing his girlfriend to learn. Usually, the expert would wear a face guard, aloof and indifferent, carving down steep slopes with fluid grace, and performing 180 and 360-degree turns on gentle slopes…
But off the slopes, the expert had to carry his girlfriend’s little turtle pads.
Damn, that was enviable.
Just after 9 o’clock, the owner of the green turtle pads that all the passing women envied arrived.
Although she wasn’t his girlfriend.
Today, Wei Zhi wore a face of unprecedented enthusiasm, her already likable features glowing with gratitude. From afar, she spotted the man standing like a statue at the resort entrance and waved her hand, rising on tiptoes.
In response to her fiery enthusiasm, Shan Chong’s only reaction was to glance in her direction imperceptibly.
Then he looked away as if he didn’t know her.
But Wei Zhi didn’t mind; she was used to it.
Three seconds later, the girl rushed over like a whirlwind. With the green turtle still hanging from the man’s elbow, she grabbed its tail with one hand, examined its bottom for a while, and exclaimed happily, “It’s fixed!”
Shan Chong moved his arm, allowing Wei Zhi to smoothly take the turtle butt pad.
The girl held the pad against herself, then skillfully bent down to put it on. It was as if her soul had returned to its rightful place. She patted the turtle’s head contentedly and asked Shan Chong, “How did you fix it… (pause) Don’t tell me you did it yourself! You can do this too?”
She ignored Lao Yan standing expressionlessly beside them.
Shan Chong, however, didn’t forget any of his beloved disciples.
Shan Chong said, “I didn’t. Lao Yan fixed it.”
Lao Yan: “…”
Jiang Nanfeng looked at the puppy-like coach in surprise: “You can do this too?”
Lao Yan had little reaction. He had been staring at the snow goggles hanging from Wei Zhi’s hand since she appeared. Now, suddenly addressed, he remained expressionless: “Sewing a turtle is nothing. I can also perform lion dances and jump through fire hoops.”
In response to his disciple’s rare insolence and sarcasm, Shan Chong remained as unresponsive as a cold corpse, not easily offended. He put on his safety helmet, turned around to pick up his snowboard leaning against the pillar, and said, “Let’s go.”
Wei Zhi, for once, followed behind him without a single complaint or even a sigh, obediently turning to follow.
This unusual obedience continued to the chairlift. While queuing, Shan Chong couldn’t help but turn back to look at her.
The girl with the turtle butt pad blinked: “What’s wrong?”
“…” Shan Chong looked away. “Nothing.”
Shan Chong felt somewhat gratified.
Although this kid was incredibly lazy, at least she wasn’t completely hopeless…
For instance, in the past, she might have used buying boots as an excuse to take the whole day off.
Now she only took half a day off.
It seemed his lecture yesterday had some effect after all.
This realization kept the man’s expression almost kind from the equipment hall entrance to the chairlift… until they got off the lift, and he casually said in a relaxed tone, “Today we should practice C-turns in preparation for learning edge changes, on the intermediate slope—”
Before he could finish, the girl had already proactively taken her board from the rack outside the lift and was taking small steps toward the advanced C-slope.
Shan Chong raised an eyebrow.
After placing her board in front of the advanced C-slope, she even obediently sat down to put on her board. By the time Shan Chong walked over, she had already secured one foot.
She had a look of high determination, ready to tackle the advanced C-slope head-on.
At this point, Lao Yan and Jiang Nanfeng also approached with their boards, the three of them chatting and laughing together, making Shan Chong feel like he had forgotten something important.
…
Today, Wei Zhi skied most of the slope without calling for a break.
The man followed behind with his hands behind his back, doing a few short turns, getting bored, then leaning into his edges to carve the snow for a couple of turns, standing up, doing a nollie 360 (a basic flatland trick, a switch-footed ollie), then a drive spin 540 (another basic flatland trick, spinning in place), and looking up to see the person in front still steadily snowplowing.
Not complaining about being tired, not grumbling about bad snow conditions or chattering…
It was as if she was possessed.
Just as he was puzzling over what kind of wind had blown in—
At a familiar spot in the middle of the slope, the girl who had been swaying in the middle of the run suddenly braked hard, leveled her board, and stopped!
Her gaze shifted right.
Left foot up, right foot down.
The snowboard cut across the slope towards the far right, fast and steady!
Even Shan Chong, who had been fooling around behind her, looked up and was stunned—
This was the fastest, most stable falling leaf he had seen Wei Zhi perform since she started skiing.
The girl rode her board towards the safety net, quickly sat down with a butt-check when she reached it, and without hesitation, sat on the newly repaired green turtle.
She released the bindings and took off her board.
Flipping the snowboard over and setting it aside, she lifted the net and crawled through with lightning speed.
The series of actions was seamless.
Shan Chong: “…”
While Shan Chong was dazed, Lao Yan and Jiang Nanfeng also arrived. The two “whooshed” past the man standing stunned in the middle of the slope, removed their boards at the same spot, and crawled forward.
Yesterday repeated itself: the green turtle in the middle, the three digging in the snow to unearth the cola they had buried with such effort yesterday.
Wei Zhi: “Let’s record this sacred moment!”
She held the cola high, and to the applause of the other two, she pulled her snowboard over and forcefully hit the edge with the bottom of the cola bottle—
Then, visibly, the originally liquid brown carbonated drink rapidly spread upwards from the bottom, freezing into a slushy consistency.
“Wow!”
“It works!”
“We did it!”
The atmosphere was as heated as if the World Cup final had started early, with China scoring a historic goal.
…Five meters away, Shan Chong stood on his board in his original pose, human joys and sorrows neither communicated to nor concerned him.
Shan Chong: “…”
Three minutes later, Wei Zhi felt someone tug on her ski jacket hood from behind. She turned around, startled, to find the man standing behind her, his shadow completely blocking the sunlight above.
He looked down, silent.
His aura of authority spread in all directions.
Lao Yan quietly handed his cola to Jiang Nanfeng, as if not holding the contraband meant he hadn’t participated in the crime or cheered for it.
Shan Chong: “Give me back the turtle.”
Wei Zhi touched the turtle on her bottom: “What?”
Shan Chong: “You don’t deserve it.”
Wei Zhi, confused: “Don’t deserve what?”
Lao Yan: “How touching, in the dim candlelight, father’s cloudy eyes wrinkled, trembling hands holding the needle, painstakingly sewing?”
Shan Chong looked up and glanced at him. The puppy yelped and hid behind the girls with his tail between his legs.
Wei Zhi: “…”
“Although I don’t know what you’re talking about, but…” The girl raised the cola in her hand, half of her soft face hidden behind the bottle, her round eyes sparkling, “Want a sip of cola?”
She held the cola up to the man’s nose.
Three seconds of silence.
“Kid, are you planning to learn edge changes by being cute?”
“So, are you drinking or not?”
“…”
Shan Chong snatched the cola and stuffed it into his pants pocket.