“Had enough fun?” The stingy one remained merciless even after confiscating the cola. “You can forget about ever joining my group chat.”
Ugh. Listen to that. So much for the saying about gifts softening people’s hearts. It doesn’t apply to cold-blooded creatures. One second they accept a favor, the next they turn their back on you.
Hidden behind her mask, Wei Zhi pouted and twisted open the cola bottle she had buried overnight. As she took a sip of the icy cola slush in the freezing weather, her whole body shivered from the cold that shot through her skull.
“Cold?” asked Shan Chong.
“Yeah, it’s cold,” Wei Zhi replied casually.
“Not as cold as my heart,” Shan Chong said expressionlessly, stomping on his snowboard.
Wei Zhi: “…”
By now, they had reached the middle of the ski slope. As one of the three most popular advanced runs, the latter half of the Advanced C Run was not too steep, making it ideal for practicing new basic techniques. Having had her fill of fun, Wei Zhi sat down on a small incline. Under Shan Chong’s gaze that seemed to say “Let’s see how long you’ll drag this out,” she huffed and puffed as she strapped on her board. Looking up, she found the man standing about four or five meters away.
Scooting over on her butt to have him help her up didn’t seem very dignified.
Wei Zhi placed her hands on the ground, slightly curled the tops of her feet inside her snow boots, and pressed her heels, boots, and board firmly against the snow. With a small push, she managed to wobble to her feet on her own—
Lao Yan and Jiang Nanfeng, watching from behind, both let out an impressed “Yo!”
“Ah,” even Wei Zhi herself was stunned as she stood on the snow, “I managed to stand up!”
She hadn’t used any of the techniques Shan Chong had previously mentioned, like tightening her core, lifting her buttocks, or engaging her leg muscles. Somehow, she had inexplicably managed to catch the back edge of her board in the snow and push herself up with just a slight effort.
Wei Zhi: “Look!”
Shan Chong: “I’m not blind.”
Wei Zhi: “I stood up by myself!!!!”
“Mm,” Shan Chong adjusted his goggles, appearing very calm. “Your board control has improved. Every time you brake with the back edge, you’re unknowingly practicing how to more firmly embed the edge into the snow, controlling your speed. Once you’ve mastered this, you naturally know how to step on the back edge to support yourself without sliding forward… That’s why I didn’t rush to force you to learn how to stand up earlier. Many things come naturally when you reach a certain stage—”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Jiang Nanfeng: “…”
“Boss,” Lao Yan, unable to bear it any longer, said, “At times like this, just saying ‘well done’ or ‘you’re great’ would suffice.”
“…” Shan Chong moved his hand away from his goggles and looked at Lao Yan. “What’s so great about it?”
Lao Yan silently closed his mouth.
Wei Zhi pushed herself over to Shan Chong, flailing a bit. She reflexively grabbed the sleeve of the man standing there, then said, “Excuse me, you’re in the way.”
Once again accused of being in the way, Shan Chong swatted her hand away. “Stop pushing yourself along. Let’s practice C-turns.”
With this, Wei Zhi finally graduated from being a pushing-along novice.
“First, practice C-turns on the back edge. It’s simple. Start with a normal falling leaf, then gradually press down on your front foot. You’ll notice that as you press more, the nose of the board will gradually point downhill until it’s in a straight position…”
Shan Chong demonstrated as he explained.
Originally facing uphill with his front edge engaged, he straightened his board and did a nollie 180. After turning to face downhill, he raised his hand and, without looking back, casually beckoned to Wei Zhi with his index and middle fingers, signaling her to watch carefully—
Straight board, shoulders leaning forward, the snowboard gaining speed.
After moving forward about a meter or two, he first lifted the toes of his front foot, then the toes of his back foot. Lowering his center of gravity, the back edge of his snowboard naturally responded to the force of his movement, turning in the direction of the back edge.
The board’s edge carved a clear arc in the snow, a clean, crisp line.
Finally, he came to a stop.
Shan Chong looked back and found the young girl standing motionless on the slope.
He hopped around to face her, switching back to his front edge, and waved at her again: “Come on.”
Wei Zhi stared at the line on the ground.
Lost in thought.
“That line is from carving, which you’re not ready for yet. At your current stage, you haven’t learned about body folding and downward force application. You don’t have enough power to dig the edge that deep into the snow,” Shan Chong said. “Just sweep the snow to turn. As long as you get the foot movements right, you can turn— Watch your line of sight, mind your center of gravity— Line of sight, center of gravity— Come on.”
… Come on, my foot.
“What if I roll down?”
“You won’t,” his voice was calm, “I’ll catch you.”
Wei Zhi cleared her throat, tugged at her clothes, and carefully, tentatively began to press down her curled right foot—
Her movement was small, but the snowboard’s response was quick.
The direction of the snowboard changed rapidly. The nose, originally perpendicular to the slope, gradually turned downhill. It began to slide forward slowly, with Wei Zhi’s body following suit. Her stance was much narrower than in the falling leaf, gradually aligning at a 90-degree angle with the slope.
“Ahhh!”
The young girl flailed, shooting forward like a bomb in a straight line—
Fortunately, she wasn’t far from the man to begin with, and her straight-line speed couldn’t build up much. Though her posture wasn’t pretty, resembling a headless fly, she solidly crashed into the man’s arms within three seconds.
There was a “ping” sound as the edges of their snowboards collided.
There was a “poof” sound as Wei Zhi crashed into what felt like a wall.
She reflexively wrapped her arms around his waist. Unable to stand steadily, her face pressed against his chest and slid down a bit…
Three seconds of silence.
“I said I’d catch you, and you didn’t hold back at all.”
“…”
“When you’re in a straight line, flailing your arms wildly won’t help you keep your balance. It’ll only make your snowboard wobble more.”
The cold voice came from above her head.
Wei Zhi gripped his clothes tighter, flailing as she tried to separate her snowboard from his…
Panting from exhaustion, she still managed to retort: “Then why do birds flap their wings?”
“Because they have feathers, and you don’t. Don’t talk back.” Shan Chong said, “Keep your arms naturally vertical at your sides. If you feel insecure, you can open them slightly… Mind your shoulders, always keep them parallel to the board. Don’t sway left and right. Once you form an angle with the snowboard, it’s called opening your shoulders.”
“Is opening shoulders good?”
“It’s a terminal illness,” the man didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids, “If you dare to ride with open shoulders, don’t ever mention that I taught you… Don’t even bring up my name.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Shan Chong: “Stand steady first. How long are you planning to cling to me?”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Shan Chong: “I’m going to start charging soon.”
Wei Zhi quickly retracted her hands and steadied herself.
Shan Chong: “Oh, so you won’t hug me if there’s a fee? I’m not worth the money, is that it?”
Wei Zhi was too tired to deal with this difficult person anymore. She lowered her head and started nudging her snowboard to the left, slowly inching away from him.
As she moved away, Shan Chong bent down to brush the snow off his board. He took off his gloves and felt the spot where their board edges had collided, his hand detecting a small dent…
Tsk.
That hurt.
…
Up on the mountain.
The two who had watched the entire scene unfold from start to finish sat side by side in silence.
Lao Yan recalled the time he didn’t land steadily after a pole jump and nicked Shan Chong’s board, earning him three days of nagging. Heartbroken, it took him a while to emerge from the shadow of “Dad favors girls over boys.”
He turned to ask Jiang Nanfeng beside him: “Sister, did you learn anything?”
Jiang Nanfeng had just taken off her helmet and was tidying her hair. She calmly asked, “Which part are you referring to?”
Lao Yan: “…”
Jiang Nanfeng turned her head to look at the big guy beside her: “I know how to do the last part.”
Lao Yan: “Eek, how can you harass your instructor like that?”
Jiang Nanfeng snorted with laughter, put her helmet back on, and pushed herself up from the snow. Leaving the little puppy still rolling around on the slope, she went down first, straightening her board, traversing, doing a falling leaf, and braking.
A perfect C-turn.
Lao Yan: “…”
Lao Yan applauded.
…
Before lunch, everyone had agreed to meet at 3 PM in front of Wei Zhi’s hotel after the meal.
At 2:55 PM, Wei Zhi and Jiang Nanfeng were already dressed and ready to go downstairs. The young girl had changed out of her snow gear into a white hoodie with two frog eyes on it, topped with a white down jacket, successfully transforming into a snowball-like white sphere.
Jiang Nanfeng touched up her lipstick: “You look like you weigh 300 pounds now.”
Wei Zhi: “Get lost.”
Just below the hotel was a huge parking lot where most of the skiers parked their cars.
They had barely left the elevator when Wei Zhi’s phone buzzed.
[Chong: Come out, Zhangjiakou plate, Ji G, black.]
Excited heart, trembling hands.
Wei Zhi stuttered out a “Coming, coming” and sent it, then dragged Jiang Nanfeng’s hand as they rushed outside—
As they pushed open the hotel’s sliding doors, a gust of cold wind hit their faces. The young girl shrank her neck and tucked her masked face deeper into her scarf. She strained her eyes to look for the black car with the Ji G plate in the parking lot.
There was one right in front of her.
The “B” logo and small wings on the car’s hood were dazzling.
Wei Zhi gripped Jiang Nanfeng’s hand a little tighter, even reflexively looking down to check if she was stepping in any snow-mud mixture. Her muffled voice came from behind the scarf: “No Rolls-Royce, but a Bentley…”
The last four words “Do you want to ride?” hadn’t even left her mouth.
From the far end of the parking lot, a square black SUV slowly approached—
The car’s huge tires pressed through the muddy snow road. Despite there being no significant potholes, the entire vehicle made a creaking sound as if it could barely bear the weight.
The car should have been black originally.
But it wasn’t black anymore.
Judging from the mud on its doors, above the wheel wells, and on the hood, this car conservatively estimated hadn’t been washed since the start of the snow season.
From a distance, it looked a bit like a Mercedes G-Class, but on the muddy hood, the words “Beijing” shone brightly.
The car stopped in front of Wei Zhi and the others.
The driver’s side window lowered with a strange noise, and a man wearing a black mask leaned on the window: “Get in.”
Before Wei Zhi could react, Jiang Nanfeng had already dragged her around to the passenger side.
After finally finding the door handle amidst the muddy car door, she reached out to pull it, but it didn’t open.
At this point, the man sitting in the driver’s seat reached out his long arm and opened the door from the inside. “The passenger door has a bit of an issue,” Shan Chong said, “You need to pull harder when opening it.”
I’m afraid if I pull any harder, that mud will fly in my face.
The car was tall. Wei Zhi, with her short legs, stepped on the small built-in step beside the car, using both hands and feet to silently climb into the car. She settled into the passenger seat… The warm air from the heater helped her recover a bit. She huffed and puffed as she fastened her seatbelt. When she turned her head, she saw three strips of clear tape stuck vertically on the passenger window.
Wei Zhi: “…”
Curious, she couldn’t help but reach out to touch it.
“Don’t touch it,” a lazy voice came from beside her, “The passenger window regulator clip is broken. If the tape comes loose, the window will fall, and you’ll be drinking northwest wind all the way.”
Wei Zhi quickly retracted her hand.
She turned to look at the source of the voice—
The man had already taken off his snow gear and changed into a white hooded sweatshirt, paired with a navy blue turtleneck sweater underneath.
Navy blue sweatpants with a few white stripes on them complemented the white of the sweatshirt…
The black mask was pressed into a small peak, covering half of his high bridge nose.
Most of his nose bridge was hidden in the shadow of the mask.
He sat there with his long arms and legs, one hand on the steering wheel… looking quite comfortable.
Unlike the imposing aura he had when wearing snow gear, the man now looked much younger. When not speaking, his monolid eyes were slightly upturned at the corners, giving him a somewhat arrogant look.
An atmosphere of unapproachability washed over her.
He casually ruffled his hair, which was a bit messy from being pressed by the safety helmet earlier. Looking down at her with lowered eyes, he spoke without any noticeable emotion in his voice: “What are you looking at?”
They briefly made eye contact.
Wei Zhi averted her gaze.
Shan Chong seemed a bit puzzled: “What is it?”
Wei Zhi gave up on discussing how he looked less approachable in casual clothes.
Instead, she asked another question.
“Nothing,” she asked, “How long has it been since you washed this car?”
Shan Chong: “It’s either raining or snowing every day. Washing it would be pointless.”
Wei Zhi: “Oh.”
The two in the back seat didn’t say anything. Lao Yan was used to this and was looking at his phone. Jiang Nanfeng, finding it quite novel, was touching and looking at various things. After a while, she said: “This car looks pretty good.”
Shan Chong chuckled and said: “You have good taste.”
Wei Zhi turned around, just about to discuss with Jiang Nanfeng how she dared to say anything without any sense of propriety when Shan Chong shifted gears and started moving. Then, the red light that lit up on the dashboard caught her attention—
Although she had never driven this car, she knew that under normal circumstances, red lights don’t just randomly light up on any car’s dashboard.
That red symbol was too eye-catching. She couldn’t help but lean over to take a closer look, muttering: “Brake pad warning… Brake pads (panicking)!”
Amidst the young girl’s shock, the man’s completely contrasting calm voice sounded: “No time to fix it. I checked just before getting in the car. There’s still two millimeters left to use.”
Is that how the brake pad lifespan is measured?
Wei Zhi: “…………………………”
Wei Zhi gripped her seatbelt and turned around: “Lao Yan! Switch, switch places with me!”
At this point, the big guy in the back seat had already quickly put down his phone at the sound of Wei Zhi’s panicked cry. Hearing her request, he firmly shook his head and, very civilly, also fastened his seatbelt while sitting in the back.
In the suffocating tense atmosphere, the car started, jolting forward a couple of steps.
Behind her mask, Wei Zhi’s nostrils flared silently as she leaned back against the seat… Just then, the car smoothly moved a few more meters, and the screen displayed something new.
Wei Zhi couldn’t stop herself from glancing at the screen again. Then, with a sense of impending doom, she warned, “I don’t want to be that backseat driver, but, boss, your car key is out of battery too.”
Shan Chong, with one hand on the steering wheel, replied, “We’ll deal with it later. The wiper fluid’s out too. We’ll park it, and the radiator’s got a hole from a rat.”
He then turned to Lao Yan and said, “Look up second-hand radiators on Xianyu for me. Something around a hundred bucks… The garage down the hill quoted me three-fifty last time, trying to rob me blind. They must be crazy.”
Wei Zhi was speechless.
Finally, she couldn’t hold back: “No offense, but your car is about to fall apart!!!!!!”
“Stop talking nonsense,” the man at the wheel said, not even batting an eyelash, “Isn’t it running just fine?”
Wei Zhi quickly turned around: “Lao Yan, switch places with me!”
Lao Yan refused, “No way.”
Wei Zhi shot back, “Where’s your chivalry?”
Lao Yan retorted, “Is that what chivalry is for? You’re the master’s favorite disciple, so you should sit in the front!”
Wei Zhi exclaimed, “I don’t want to be the favorite disciple anymore!”
Amid the chaotic squabbling of the two youngsters, the man who held the power of life and death remained unfazed. “Shut up, or I’ll make you get out of the car.”
Instantly, the car returned to a silence reminiscent of a funeral.