After sending the text message, Shan Chong carelessly tossed his phone into the helmet beside him. He glanced around and spotted an abandoned flyer for a restaurant near the ski resort on a bench. He grabbed the flyer, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at a row of lockers.
“Come out,” he called.
The paper ball hit the ground with a soft thud. The locker shook slightly, and a fuzzy head slowly emerged from behind it. Following the crown of hair came a smooth forehead, then a pair of bright, mischievous black eyes belonging to a young girl.
She peeked out, showing only half her face. Cautiously, she stretched out a hand from behind the locker to pick up the fallen paper ball, then quickly retracted it. “Littering shows poor manners,” she chided.
“And eavesdropping shows good manners?” the man retorted, averting his gaze as he slowly put on his gloves. “Come here.”
The person hiding behind the locker emerged, wearing ski gear and carrying her snowboard. She awkwardly shuffled over to him in her ski boots.
Today, Wei Zhi hadn’t applied makeup and had tied all her hair into a bun on top of her head. The fluffy hair bun made her face, partially hidden by her ski jacket’s collar, look tiny.
She had certainly grown.
Her face was small, and she looked petite, but he knew better than anyone that she had curves in all the right places… Realizing his thoughts were straying, the man quickly reined them in.
Clearing his throat, he coolly scanned the dark circles under her eyes. “Why were you sneaking around behind the lockers?”
She didn’t answer his question.
“What were you going to tell Lao Yan at the end there?” Wei Zhi sat down next to him, nudging him with her elbow. “Were you going to lecture him about only appreciating what you have after you’ve lost it?”
“…”
That’s exactly why I didn’t say it out loud for you to hear, he thought calmly. His thin lips curled into a smirk. “Quite an imagination you have.”
Wei Zhi wasn’t deterred by his remark. Instead, she excitedly grabbed his shoulders and shook them, her eyes sparkling like stars. “So, was Lao Yan angry? He must have been furious! It’s a shame I couldn’t see his expression since he had his back to me. You have no idea – I witnessed the dramatic scene in the ski equipment hall when he and that vixen ran into Nan Feng and the white-clad boss!”
“That person is called Dai Duo,” Shan Chong interjected.
“What? Oh, that’s a nice name,” Wei Zhi replied absently. Her focus, however, remained elsewhere. She continued shaking his shoulders, her face beaming with excitement. “You don’t know – well, maybe you do – how sharp-tongued Dai Duo is. Right in front of Lao Yan, he told Nan Feng, ‘It took you ten days to learn a C-turn? I suggest you report this fraud to the police station!'”
Shan Chong raised an eyebrow. “?”
Wei Zhi smacked her lips, still oblivious to the implications. She was too caught up in the drama she had witnessed. “Oh, you should have seen Lao Yan’s expression! He looked like he could devour someone!”
Shan Chong remained silent for a moment before asking, “You seem quite pleased about this?”
Hearing the chilly tone in his voice, Wei Zhi paused her excited arm-shaking. She glanced at him curiously, unsure why he seemed displeased. Was he angry on Lao Yan’s behalf? She hadn’t known his protective feelings for his disciple extended to sharing his grudges…
As she pondered this, Shan Chong spoke again, his voice calm and unhurried. “I know better than you which way the police station doors open in Altay. Would you like directions?”
Wei Zhi was confused. “?”
Shan Chong continued, “Others learn C-turns in ten days, but you haven’t even mastered it in that time. Don’t you think you and Jiang Nan Feng should report to the police together? They might even set up a special task force for you.”
Wei Zhi was stunned into silence. She realized that Dai Duo’s comment had insulted Shan Chong’s entire lineage of disciples, including the master himself.
For a moment, the young girl’s expression became quite interesting. It was the look of someone who had been happily spectating drama only to find themselves suddenly at the center of it, sitting amidst the ruins of their collapsed house, still trying to maintain their excitement.
Here we go again, she thought. Why does the atmosphere always change like this when Dai Duo is involved?
Wei Zhi attempted to salvage her dignity. “I’m different,” she protested.
Shan Chong retorted, “How are you different? Are you missing an arm or a leg?”
Wei Zhi replied seriously, “You didn’t charge me.”
“Oh,” Shan Chong acknowledged.
“Mm-hmm,” Wei Zhi nodded.
Shan Chong countered, “Things easily obtained are often not cherished, like free handouts.”
Wei Zhi was left speechless.
The man put on his helmet and stood up, picking up both snowboards. He looked down at the young girl still sitting on the chair, staring up at him blankly. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke in an unprecedentedly serious tone, “Today, you’ll learn to link front and back edge C-turns. Connecting two turns is called edge changing… You must master edge changing before sunset.”
Wei Zhi suddenly felt like she had brought this upon herself. Looking up at the displeased man, she couldn’t resist the urge to push her luck further. “Is there a reward if I learn it?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
Her eyes lit up.
“I’ll overlook all the stupid things you did and the nonsense you spouted when you were drunk last night.”
You still remember that? she thought.
“…What if I can’t learn it?” she ventured.
Shan Chong’s face went blank for a few seconds. Then, he curled his lip mockingly and said, “Then neither of us will live to see another day.”
…
Wei Zhi trudged reluctantly behind the man, slowly moving towards the cable car. Today, the cable car area was unusually busy, with a rare queue forming.
Standing at the back of the line, Wei Zhi sighed listlessly. Just as she was about to lament her misfortune, she looked up and spotted Dai Duo and Jiang Nan Feng not far ahead in the queue.
Her eyes brightened, and she was about to call out when her gaze swept further ahead, and she froze in shock.
Two or three groups ahead of Jiang Nan Feng and Dai Duo were Lao Yan and the “vixen.”
Now, the three pairs – six people in total – were naturally and perfectly scattered at points A, D, and G in the queue.
Lao Yan and the “vixen” were at the front.
Jiang Nan Feng and Dai Duo were in the middle.
Wei Zhi and Shan Chong were at the back.
From her position at the end of the queue, Wei Zhi grabbed Shan Chong’s arm and shook it frantically. The man lowered his head, puzzled, and met her unprecedentedly excited eyes.
He had never seen such a lively expression from her at the base of a cable car before. After all, if there were a competition for “sighing involuntarily while standing at the base of a cable car,” Wei Zhi would undoubtedly claim first place.
“What is it?” he asked.
Wei Zhi didn’t speak, but her lips curved upward uncontrollably as she nodded toward the front of the queue.
Shan Chong looked up in the direction she indicated.
At that moment, Lao Yan and the “vixen” were chatting. More accurately, the “vixen” was doing most of the talking, with Lao Yan occasionally responding. However, anyone with eyes could see that his attention was elsewhere.
Though he was smiling, it was clear he wasn’t present in the conversation. Every three sentences or so, he would unconsciously turn slightly, his peripheral vision scanning the area behind him. He probably thought he was being subtle, but his acting skills were poor. Even from a great distance, Wei Zhi could sense his distraction.
In the direction of Lao Yan’s furtive glances, Jiang Nan Feng stood with one foot strapped to her board, leaning on the railing, lost in thought.
Shan Chong withdrew his gaze. He was about to tell the young girl to calm down when Dai Duo, standing two or three groups ahead of them behind Jiang Nan Feng, spoke up: “You do know how to get on and off the cable car with one foot strapped in, right?”
His words successfully silenced Shan Chong and caused Lao Yan, who had been responding to the “vixen’s” conversation, to completely lose his train of thought and turn around.
Jiang Nan Feng’s gaze was still fixed on the distant snow-capped mountains. With one hand supporting her chin, she replied lazily, “No, I don’t.”
Dai Duo was silent for a moment before asking in a mocking tone, “Let me ask again, what exactly did you learn in those ten days?”
Still slouching against the railing as if boneless, Jiang Nan Feng didn’t move an inch. “The Chongli Mountain top ski resort has gondolas, you know. You’ve been there before.”
His gaze falling on the tip of her upturned nose, taking in her nonchalant expression, Dai Duo calmly said, “The gondolas at this resort are often closed, like today… Why didn’t you mention you couldn’t do this when I told you to strap in one foot for the cable car earlier?”
“Oh,” Jiang Nan Feng turned to face him with a bright smile, “I was planning to ask you about it on the cable car.”
Her tone was matter-of-fact as if she saw nothing wrong with this approach.
“Getting on the cable car just involves sliding on one foot to the marked area and waiting,” Dai Duo began his impromptu lesson, clearly not caring whether she wanted to hear it or not. “When getting off, pay attention as the car approaches the station. I’ll push up the safety bar. At that point, you should slightly turn your body towards your dominant leg – that’s your right leg. When the car leaves the suspended position and reaches the flat snow at the station, keep your left foot against the left binding. Maintain the same posture as if both feet were strapped in. Don’t rush to move; the car will still be moving. Hold onto the car and let it push you along while you adjust to the basic standing position. As you reach the small slope at the end of the station, release the car, straighten your board, and gradually apply pressure to the front edge with your boot tongue. This will allow you to complete a front-edge C-turn on one foot, ending your straight glide and successfully exiting the cable car… Is that clear enough?”
His teaching was patient, without unnecessary words, and he analyzed each stage.
Jiang Nan Feng absorbed the information and nodded, about to say “I’ll try it later,” when a lively female voice rang out from several groups ahead:
“Lao Yan, didn’t you teach even basic cable car techniques in your previous lessons? Pfft, have you not taught beginners in a long time?”
Jiang Nan Feng was startled by the voice and the name it mentioned. She turned towards the source of the sound as if just realizing there were familiar faces in the queue ahead.
In the next moment, her eyes met the emotionless black gaze of the tall young man.
Lao Yan looked at Jiang Nan Feng from afar, his eyes devoid of any emotion – no schadenfreude, no guilt, no contempt, no mockery. He simply returned her gaze quietly.
Jiang Nan Feng blinked.
The next second, a finger hooked under her chin from the side. Caught off guard, she easily allowed her head to be turned in the opposite direction.
Before her, the young man’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze flickering with languid interest. He spoke in the same tone he had used while teaching, “Why are you looking at him? Look at me… I asked you a question. Was I clear enough?”
She felt the hand cupping her chin slightly, indicating he was waiting for her answer.
“You explained it so thoroughly that only an idiot wouldn’t understand,” Jiang Nan Feng replied. “I’ll give it a try in a moment and see.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the hand on her chin moved away. The young man let out a satisfied “Mm” and leaned against the railing beside her, giving her a sideways glance.
“Don’t fall,” he warned lazily.
“Mm, I won’t,” she assured him.
The atmosphere between them was neither cold nor warm, but comfortably harmonious.
It was harmonious enough for Lao Yan to forget he was supposed to board the cable car. It wasn’t until the car was almost there and the “vixen” urged him that he snapped back to reality, awkwardly dragging his board over to hastily catch the approaching car.
He hadn’t said a word throughout, and it was only after they boarded that he spoke in a voice only he and the “vixen” could hear, his tone icy: “How I teach basics is none of your business. Learn if you want to, or get off if you don’t.”