9 PM, Southern City
The neon lights flickered in the night, and the bustling streets made it impossible for the city to cool down.
Wei Zhi grabbed her bag and walked out of the Japanese restaurant. As she stood by the street waiting for a car, waves of heat hit her, making her impatiently brush away the strands of hair sticking to her forehead due to sweat.
Frowning, she finally managed to hail a taxi and headed to the location Jiang Chao had sent her.
Jiang Nanfeng’s brother was no easy character. It was unclear who he wanted to provoke, but he had brazenly sent the location of a club, one of the top three in the southern city. The place was remote, expensive, and very private.
With the time wasted in traffic, Wei Zhi spent nearly an hour in the car before arriving.
Standing in front of the club’s opulent entrance—dressed in a long-sleeved sweatshirt and shorts, with her shoulder-length curly hair tied up in a small bun—Wei Zhi looked completely out of place.
The valet at the door eyed her repeatedly, seemingly hesitant to stop her.
Recalling the name of the private room Jiang Chao had mentioned, Wei Zhi stepped into the club, walking expressionlessly inside.
These men were wealthy, indulging in a life of luxury. The private room they had booked required a high-spending VIP card to reserve, located at the end of the corridor.
When Wei Zhi arrived, a waiter was pushing a cart loaded with alcohol. They exchanged glances, and Wei Zhi stepped back to let the waiter pass.
The waiter opened the door.
Peeking inside, she saw a KTV-style private room with five or six people scattered around. Besides Jiang Chao, there were a few other rich kids from the southern city.
Wei Zhi immediately spotted Han Yiming.
Without his white coat and gold-rimmed glasses, the man wore a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, sleeves rolled up, and his black hair slightly messy.
His side profile was indeed handsome.
Mature and attractive, with a prominent Adam’s apple adding a touch of sexiness.
Wei Zhi liked looking at handsome men, so she glanced a few more times. But that was it—she had no interest in drunk men.
Han Yiming seemed quite drunk, with half-closed eyes leaning back, not participating in the games or singing, just lazily draping his long arm over the sofa.
At this moment, a pretty woman sat beside him.
The woman didn’t look improper, wearing a neat shirt and jeans, looking quite pure. She smiled, picked up a very expensive bottle of liquor from the table, poured a glass, and brought it to Han Yiming’s lips.
The man glanced at the drink, then at her.
He chuckled.
Intimately taking a sip from her hand, he drank half the glass.
Seeing him cooperate, the woman beside him smiled with delight and asked, “Han Ge, I heard you’re getting married?”
Her words stirred the hornet’s nest.
The room buzzed with laughter. After all, nothing was more entertaining to fellow playboys than a companion stepping into the grave of marriage.
“Where did you hear that? Your sources are pretty good!”
“Childhood sweethearts, you wildflowers outside should stop dreaming!”
“Jiang Chao, you’ve met his little fiancée, tell us about her—”
The topic opened up.
The person being asked, who had been part of the earlier commotion, paused, then drunkenly laughed, “She’s obedient, with a seductive figure, the type any man would like… My sister’s little friend, a little girl. If Han Ge doesn’t come back, I’ll take her myself!”
Everyone was stunned by his bluntness but didn’t think much of it, pushing and cursing Jiang Chao for being shameless.
Han Yiming didn’t react much, leaning back.
“You have no chance,” said one rich kid trying to curry favor with Han Yiming for some family medical equipment business. “You don’t know, do you? I heard tonight both families had dinner, Han Ge didn’t even go, and the girl still didn’t make a fuss. She didn’t refuse when you called her over—”
“Is she stupid?”
“Hahaha, this kind is easy to handle, right Han Ge!”
“Marry someone like that, I’d want to too!”
“Easy to handle? Han Ge hasn’t even won her over yet. Ask him if he’s touched her?”
“Hahaha, right? I heard Wei Zhi and my sister went to Zhangjiakou without telling him, and he only found out from my sister’s WeChat moments… So pathetic!”
As everyone chattered, the woman leaning against Han Yiming glanced sideways, full of charm, “Oh, you guys are deliberately praising another woman in front of me? Jiang Chao, if you like her so much, go for it. Leave Han Ge to us, no one cares about you!”
Everyone laughed.
Amid the commotion, the previously silent man suddenly raised his hand and threw the remaining half glass of liquor!
The liquor splashed on the carpet, startling the waiter bringing in new drinks.
Outside the door, Wei Zhi also took a step back.
Inside, the man leaning on the sofa didn’t move, saying indifferently, “My hand slipped.”
Except for the woman who was splashed with liquor, everyone else remained calm. The rich kids weren’t scared, instead causing a commotion, some laughing and saying, “Ah Yu, you didn’t impress Han Ge.”
Others said, “Han Ge is in a bad mood, Jiang Chao, haven’t you heard ‘don’t mess with a friend’s wife’?”
Amidst the noise, Jiang Chao shouted, “We haven’t even registered yet. Though I think with her quiet nature, she’ll probably be dragged to the civil affairs bureau by her mom.”
At this, Jiang Chao paused, then said, “Alright, alright, stop joking. Wei Zhi will be here soon—ladies, come over, come over! Stop crowding around Han Ge, you’re all covered in perfume! That little girl can’t stand these messy things!”
Mentioning Wei Zhi’s name, Han Yiming finally reacted, lifting his eyes briefly before lowering them again.
The room fell into a murmur of ambiguous whispers.
Wei Zhi stood in the corridor for three seconds, listening to the gossip about herself, not taking a single word to heart. She wasn’t furious, her mind only on the fact that Han Yiming had spilled a few hundred yuan worth of liquor on the carpet…
Just like that.
While some people on Earth could only afford to add a hundred yuan worth of gas because the price of 92-octane fuel had risen by three cents.
The private room was filled with smoke, the smell of tobacco, cigars, and alcohol mixed.
Her mind momentarily confused, she recalled a man in a sweatshirt walking around an old Beijing BJ30 with a gas hose, then poking his head out to ask her if she could stand the smell of gasoline…
Wei Zhi didn’t know why she thought of this scene.
Moments later.
She turned and left without hesitation, hiding in the restroom on the other side of the corridor. The door closed, shutting out the noise completely.
Wei Zhi dialed Jiang Chao’s number and said, “I just arrived at the club you sent me, but I don’t remember which private room you mentioned. Can you tell me again?”
Jiang Chao, not suspecting anything, slurred the room name again. Wei Zhi hung up, leisurely touched up her makeup in the restroom mirror—
Until the restroom door opened, and a couple playfully tumbled in, meeting her eyes.
Wei Zhi snapped the lid of her cushion foundation shut, sensibly turned, and left the restroom.
She even thoughtfully placed the “Cleaning in Progress, Do Not Enter” sign at the ladies’ restroom door.
……
10 PM, Zhangjiakou Chongli
Today’s snow had been falling softly all day and night, turning into real goosefeather snow by evening. By afternoon, the streets were deserted, and Shan Chong and his group were not content with just playing with props at the snowfield—they wanted to return to nature and hit the streets.
Carrying their boards, they found an empty downtown zoo, climbed over the fence, and played in the park covered in knee-deep snow…
They slid down slopes, jumped on railings, and made snow ramps under the railings to land on after sliding down.
In the empty park and streets, the group had a blast.
As the sun set, Shan Chong, with one hand on the window and a cigarette in his mouth, the other on the steering wheel, drove his beat-up car, towing four people on snowboards behind him, like walking dogs, around Chongli.
He played soothing music in the car, while outside, the goose feather snow fell, and the excited shouts and laughter of Beici, Huayan, Laoyan, and Yanyan echoed.
They skied on the streets, playing until dinner time, then rushed into a roadside noodle shop, each having a bowl of hot soup noodles, before rushing out again…
After 10 PM, most shops on the street were closed, except for the bar at the foot of the snowfield, bustling with skiers gathering to drink and chat after a day of fun.
The bar was filled with accents from all over the country—Dongbei, standard Beijing, Sichuan, Shanghai, Guangdong, Minnan…
Amidst the noise, Shan Chong felt a bit sleepy.
While Huayan and the others played games, he leaned in a corner, smoking and watching them absentmindedly, his gaze unfocused, lost in thought…
He was also absent-minded in conversation, but the people around him knew that once he took off his snowboard, he was practically mute, so they didn’t bother him.
The group had nothing much to talk about, so they ended up discussing their students.
Laoyan had many videos and photos of Jiang Nanfeng (taken while holding her head down) that he hadn’t deleted yet. He scrolled through them, watching students progress from struggling with back edge pushing to shaky but continuous edge switching, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
Reflecting on this, he asked Shan Chong, “Chong Ge, you haven’t shown us any videos of your current student. You taught Huahua a double 720 in an afternoon, but couldn’t teach someone to switch edges in ten days?”
Suddenly reminded of that person, Shan Chong choked on his cigarette.
He coughed twice, thinking of Wei Zhi, with her tear-filled eyes looking like a pitiful rabbit…
Asking him with a sob, if they would ever meet again.
Shan Chong felt a headache.
It felt like sending his daughter to kindergarten for the first day would have the same effect.
“No videos, she just didn’t learn,” he said lazily, his voice hoarse. “She’s not stupid, just lazy, easily distracted, and likes to go against people. It makes her happy to annoy others… When learning to ski, someone always ends up crying, either the student or the teacher.”
Beici: “What do you make of that?”
Huayan: “Affection.”
Laoyan: “Affection.”
Yanyan: “‘My child is very smart, just doesn’t focus on studying.'”
Shan Chong: “……”
Shan Chong took out his phone: “This afternoon’s gas fee for driving around the city, I’ll collect it in the group.”
Everyone booed.
The atmosphere was just right. Shan Chong was seriously calculating the gas used this afternoon when a familiar figure with pink hair approached—it was Hu Hu, who had been turned down for lessons by Shan Chong the day before.
This girl had good psychological resilience.
She greeted Huayan first, then naturally looked at Shan Chong, holding a glass of wine. She said to him, “Chong Ge, sorry about the other day. I did well on dry slopes, didn’t expect to be so bad on snow.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Huayan showed an awkward expression.
Hu Hu didn’t mind, raising her glass to Shan Chong, almost pushing it under his nose. He finally lifted his eyelids to glance at her, and said slowly, “It’s okay, skiing is best-learned step by step.”
He paused for a moment, noticing that Hu Hu had no intention of taking back the drink. Not wanting to drink with her, he said, “I’m driving tonight, no alcohol.”
Beici took out his phone and typed in the WeChat group—
[ck, Beici]: To be honest, I’m so embarrassed my toes are curling up.
[Sakura Banquet]: Well, my cold sweat can give your place an unbeatable sea view.
[Yanyan]: Everyone sit down, I have a feeling she has something even more shocking to say.
Sure enough.
Hu Hu downed her drink in one gulp. “I watched the video of your race with Dai Duo, the parallel giant slalom. It was really impressive—Is there anything in snowboarding you can’t do? Still six thousand, I want you to teach me how to glide.”
After she finished speaking, she stared straight at the boss.
To be honest, Hu Hu was quite pretty. Throughout the evening, no fewer than five people had asked for her WeChat, which was enough to prove her charm…
Now she was openly saying she would spend six thousand yuan per lesson to learn basic gliding—
The absurdity of it was akin to her bluntly telling a man, “I want to date you.”
Unfortunately, the boss was deaf to such advances and had excellent psychological resilience, showing no reaction. “Sorry, I don’t teach basics.”
The other four people at the table immediately lowered their heads and frantically typed on their phones.
“Not necessarily,” Hu Hu said. “I heard you even teach pushing slopes now.”
“Who told you that?”
“Everyone says so.”
“……”
It’s over, Shan Chong thought expressionlessly, my persona is ruined.
“I only taught that one person.”
He argued.
“One is still teaching.”
“That one person didn’t learn to switch edges even after ten days—before teaching her, I thought life is about daring to try, only to realize,” Shan Chong said, “some things are just not possible.”
Everyone: “……”
Shan Chong: “There are plenty of people who can teach basic gliding. Why does it have to be me? I’m expensive and not necessarily good. Go home.”
Everyone: “……”
At this moment, the clock pointed to eleven.
The bar’s ample heating, oh, you useless thing, why can’t you warm a man’s cold heart?
……
Meanwhile.
In the southern city.
While the northern bars were bustling, the nightlife in the southern city was just reaching its peak.
Wei Zhi had a giant, 1.8-meter-tall man slumped over her shoulder, dead weight. She didn’t know if the person pressing down on her was doing it on purpose. From the moment she dragged him out of the private room, she was panting, her mind blank—
Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?
Once she carried him out of the private room, leaving just the two of them, she no longer had to pretend. She adopted their usual “deep sibling bond” stance, patted the man on the shoulder, and asked, “Han Yiming.”
“……Call me brother.”
“Oh, brother, can you walk on your own?”
With one arm draped over her shoulder, the man leaned half his body against her. He didn’t respond for a long time but instead moved his free hand, which was hanging by his side, to hook her chin and turn her face.
“?”
Wei Zhi looked at him innocently, as if to say, what’s wrong?
“Are you mad?”
The man’s tone was calm, unhurried. “I didn’t mean to leave you alone with the parents tonight. I had emergency surgery at noon, and in the evening, Li Mao and the others wanted to discuss hospital equipment procurement with me…”
He explained patiently—
Word by word.
Unprecedented patience.
He had never explained anything to her before, just like his WeChat message this morning, always speaking to her in imperative sentences…
Of course, Wei Zhi didn’t care.
So she didn’t listen to a single word of his explanation, her mind full of questions, thinking, what does this have to do with me asking you to walk to the underground parking lot on your own?
However, Han Yiming showed no intention of letting her go. As he spoke, his half-drunk body was like a hot iron plate pressed against her back—Southern city was so hot, nothing like the northern snow city. She had only worn a thin shirt when she went out today…
With just a thin layer of fabric between them, his scent of disinfectant mixed with cologne, liquor, and tobacco enveloped her.
With every breath, her nose was filled with his scent, an overly aggressive masculine aura that made her uncomfortable.
And he was so close, speaking right next to her, so she had to interrupt him—
“It’s okay,” Wei Zhi said. “It’s just a meal. I can handle it alone.”
“Mm, good girl.”
Biting her lip, she was too tired to speak anymore. She managed to carry him to the underground parking lot and found his Maybach among a row of luxury cars. She let out a sigh of relief.
“Stand here, I’ll get the car and take you home.”
Wei Zhi said patiently, taking the car keys from his pocket and turning to open the car door—
But before her fingers could touch it.
The man, who had been leaning against a pillar, pulled her back.
Caught off guard, she was pressed between the pillar and his chest.
He had been drinking, and his breath was hot and unsettling, with a hint of alcohol, blowing on her chin.
“What are you avoiding?”
His fingers pressed against her chin, the girl’s delicate skin immediately turning red from his rough thumb… He seemed to find it interesting and started to play with her.
Wei Zhi was in pain and a bit flustered by the overly intimate distance. She tried to move away. “It hurts.”
Her voice was soft, and the man instinctively loosened his grip. After thinking for a moment, he didn’t let her go but instead smiled and asked, “What did you talk about with my mom and the others tonight? Tell me.”
“Nothing much.”
“You’re lying,” he easily saw through her. “That day, my mom asked me to privately ask you which hotel’s banquet you liked. She said we could go to an island, but now it’s hard to get a visa to go abroad—”
“Brother… Han Yiming.”
Wei Zhi interrupted him.
She began to regret showing up at this place tonight, where everyone had high expectations—
They talked about her as if she were an object. She wasn’t angry because she didn’t take them seriously either.
Even without a proper relationship explanation, both parents started to interact ambiguously. She wasn’t angry because she wasn’t involved at all.
The future seemed to be well-arranged, and she wasn’t angry because she once fantasized about being a salted fish until she was buried.
But when the man in front of her discussed these things so naturally, her whole body tensed up, her insides churning…
Every word he said.
Every scene he painted.
As they formed in her mind, the discomfort almost killed her.
Wei Zhi didn’t even know where this sudden strong sense of self-awareness came from. She used to think she could muddle through, and get by without a care…
But now, there was something else in her mind.
She suddenly couldn’t just muddle through anymore.
“Don’t our parents know? Don’t you know?” Her hands pressed against his chest. “The two of us—”
“That’s because I was letting you.”
He interrupted her calmly, “I always thought you were still young, so I let you be, didn’t touch you.”
“……”
“Tonight, even Jiang Chao and the others dared to laugh at me,” he said lightly, “saying I haven’t won you over after all this time.”
Wei Zhi fell silent.
Tonight’s atmosphere was different.
A drunk male became very dangerous.
His eyes were slightly red, pressing her against a load-bearing pillar in the parking lot…
He said he had been letting her.
He used the word “win over.”
Given the current atmosphere, it would be foolish to think of him as just a neighbor’s brother. Wei Zhi was a bit panicked, her mind no longer in a muddle, her knees went weak, and she tried to slip out from under his arm—
But as soon as she bent down, he scooped her up, holding her as if she weighed nothing, completely different from his earlier drunken, unsteady state.
He carried her and casually placed her on the hood of a nearby SUV, his calloused hand brushing her cheek, moving the hair stuck to her sweat.
Her eyes were filled with panic, like a deer caught in headlights on a highway at night.
His hand fixed on her waist, every part he touched was soft. Jiang Chao was right, you have to touch to know.
“Han Yiming, let’s talk—”
“No talking.”
A clean and decisive refusal.
“What were you doing before? I gave you a chance… Also, what do you call me?”
Wei Zhi closed her mouth in despair, thinking if she kicked him and ran, would her mom come after her with a knife tomorrow?
She wanted to try.
Just as she was mentally berating herself for her predicament, she felt her chin being lifted, meeting the mature man’s eyes, and heard him ask, “Did you date in high school?”
Wei Zhi remained silent.
The man thought for a moment, understood, and chuckled without emotion, “What about college?”
Wei Zhi couldn’t bring herself to say “yes.”
But he wouldn’t let her off.
“Do you know how to kiss?”
Wei Zhi slapped his hand away, trying to jump off the hood, but he caught her and held her down.
“Should I teach you?”
In the underground parking lot, only the mature man’s deep voice could be heard. Probably because he was drunk, it had a slight nasal tone, a bit hoarse.
Realizing that staying silent would lead to trouble, Wei Zhi finally found her voice, looking at Han Yiming with polite, sincere, and cold eyes: “No need, thank you.”
Do you teach me?
My male lead’s tongue has been to places you can’t even imagine!
It would scare you to death if I told you!
You’d have to pay me to teach me!
……………………………………ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah he’s getting closer why is he getting so close draw your sword—
The girl shrank back on the hood, her soft voice muffled, “Don’t come any closer…”
“……”
“Don’t come any closer!”
Her voice wasn’t very convincing.
Yet it was very convincing.
Han Yiming, a man who could easily attract a crowd of women with just a look, always had to stop himself because of this…
You couldn’t help but admire it.
This time was no different.
A vein throbbed on his forehead. He reached out, grabbed the girl’s waist, and put her back on the ground. He rubbed his forehead, and when he opened his eyes again, the redness in his eyes had subsided.
“Just kidding, did I scare you?” He smiled at Wei Zhi. “Let’s go, thank you for coming tonight. Can you take me home?”