The group chat was in chaos.
[Lao Yan: Impressive, those likes and comments. I’m jealous.]
[Lao Yan: All my hard work on tutorials, can’t compare to a cute girl catching an edge!]
[Lao Yan: Waaah!]
[Sakura Yan: Hahahahahaha, damn, cute to the point of suffocation, hugging little shimei!]
[Horizon of Marrakech: @CK, Chong You’ve snatched all the bamboo shoots on the mountain.]
[It’s Heart-Throbbing: Hahahahaha, that edge catch, hahaha, I can’t catch an edge that cutely in my lifetime!]
Amidst the sea of laughter, Shan Chong spoke again.
[CK, Chong: Cute?]
As if not believing his own eyes, he repeated after three seconds.
[CK, Chong: Did you graduate from elementary school Chinese? Can “cute” and “edge catch” be used together?]
You’d never believe how fast someone could type with one hand.
Cruelly, no one in the group paid attention to him.
At this moment, as the group owner, shifu, and temporary one-handed typist, the man briefly lost everyone’s concern.
[Yan Yan: @Girl Ji I think Chong God has led you astray. Today I must set you straight. As a qualified beautiful girl who can ski, your graduation isn’t about whether you can edge change ride an edge, or hit jumps. Mastering selfie techniques and action camera use is the real entry to skiing.]
[He Drives the Neighbor’s Toyota: Hahahahaha @Girl Ji So you haven’t even entered yet.]
[Yan Yan: @Girl Ji Don’t tell me you’re skiing because you want to ski?!]
[Girl Ji: …]
[Sakura Yan: @Yan Yan Hahahaha stop, please, I’m going to die laughing on the toilet!]
As the girls were about to discuss how to use action cameras, Bei Ci interrupted.
[CK, Bei Ci: Wait, while you’re happily and cruelly mocking little Shimei’s edge catch and bringing joy to 100,000 people, let me share a comment—]
[CK, Bei Ci: Someone in the comments is asking if Chong God is taken, damn, they’re shipping already?]
[CK, Bei Ci: @CK, Chong Reflect on yourself, stop being single. You’re single to the point where just casually bringing out a girl makes fans ship you. Your fans are pitiful!]
[CK, Chong: “Someone”?]
[CK, Bei Ci: What? Aren’t you asexual?]
[CK, Chong: No. A fortune teller said I’d have a son or daughter to run errands and buy cigarettes for me when I’m 30.]
[CK, Bei Ci: You’ll be 28 after this New Year, a friendly reminder that human offspring stay in their mother’s belly for 10 months.]
[CK, Chong: … :)]
[CK, Bei Ci: … :)]
In Room 1103.
Bei Ci lazily rolled over, switching from WeChat to the short video platform, scrolling again, chuckling at the screen, genuinely finding little Shimei adorable.
“Your short video platform gained 3,000 followers in an hour today,” Bei Ci said to the bandaged man sitting on the bed behind him. “Although the path was a bit winding, it still contributed a bit to promoting winter sports.”
Shan Chong ignored him.
“I didn’t know you had the talent to be a comedian,” Bei Ci continued scrolling on his phone. “The Nitro people are asking me if the board that appeared for 0.1 seconds in your video is their new model. They said they don’t dare ask you directly and expressed how touched they are that you’ve changed your product placement style. If next time you could give the board a proper face shot, it’d be even better—”
Bei Ci was rolling with laughter on the bed as he said this.
Shan Chong expressionlessly picked up his phone and glanced at it. The short video he casually posted earlier had already reached 130,000 likes. The comments section had gradually shifted from initial “hahahas” to misunderstanding. After clicking on Shan Chong’s profile, uninformed passers-by discovered this was a serious, purely technical expert who hadn’t cracked a smile in years—
This cold, emotionless skiing machine of an expert had, without warning one day, posted on his short video platform a clip with a completely different style about his hand-picked dimwit disciple doing a series of silly cute things.
So some people fell for it right then and there.
Claiming they saw the first chapter of a traditional romance novel on a green website.
Shan Chong casually scanned a couple of lines, then put his phone aside again. He didn’t rush to delete these nonsensical comments, letting them run wild.
At this point, Bei Ci, possibly influenced by those who ship anything, after laughing enough, seemed to taste something different…
He rolled over to face Shan Chong, his expression serious: “So you didn’t post little Shimei’s clip out of some unmentionable emotion?”
The man lifted his eyelids, looking at him impassively. That cold-tinged eye corner, even every invisible pore on his face, seemed to exude an air of absurdity.
Being looked at so coldly by the man, Bei Ci rubbed his nose: “I thought you’d at least find her edge catch 5% cute.”
The man withdrew his gaze, still not speaking.
“Really,” Bei Ci got a bit excited, “Apart from being a bit noob at skiing, little Shimei doesn’t have any other flaws. Look how hard she works— she was terrible before, but now, maybe blessed by that run down Awen Road on the first day, she’s learned to edge change in just a few days here in Xinjiang…”
“Has your standard dropped so low that learning to edge change in a dozen days is worth 800 words of praise from you?”
Bei Ci ignored his sarcasm and continued counting: “She’s cute, talks cute, and has a cute family background—”
He paused here, looking very seriously at the man on the opposite bed: “Chong ge, if you end up with her, I don’t think anyone would laugh at you.”
After all, no one spends their whole life on a snowboard… Although they’re worlds apart on the slopes, off the board, Wei Zhi is not bad.
Bei Ci felt his analysis was spot on, while Shan Chong…
Simply ignored him.
Finding no response, he looked back at the group chat. By now, the young girl was furiously @-ing Shan Chong, spouting nonsense that her lawyer was on the way…
It had been a long time since someone dared to openly point at Shifu’s nose and scold him in the group. Everyone was laughing, and the whole chat was in high spirits.
Bei Ci chuckled, feeling that occasionally having such a lively atmosphere in a group that usually only discussed riding techniques and posted mileage was quite nice.
“If you don’t have that intention, I want to try,” he casually grabbed a pillow, hugging it, the spiky-haired young man’s dark eyes flickering, “I think little Shimei is quite good—”
As soon as he finished speaking.
With a “pa” sound, a roll of bandage flew over from the next bed, hitting him squarely in the face.
On the next bed, Shan Chong lowered his eyes to tidy up the bundled bandages, his gaze cold, as if he had just accidentally slipped.
“What’s wrong! I’m not like Lao Yan, I’m clean!” Bei Ci said indignantly to the cold and noble man on the next bed, “Isn’t entrusting your disciple to me worthy of your trust?”
“It’s not,” the latter replied without hesitation, “You’re sick.”
“How would you know,” Bei Ci straightened his back, “You’ve never tried!”
Shan Chong looked up this time, his gaze frank, looking at him with a “see, I told you you’re sick” expression: “If you want to date, go find someone outside. Don’t start internal romances within the school. It’s awkward to see each other every day after breaking up. If you’re not embarrassed, I am.”
Shifu had spoken.
Cold and heartless.
Bei Ci showed a disappointed expression, three parts genuine and seven parts fake, smacked his lips, thought about it, and realized Shan Chong’s words weren’t completely unreasonable, so he didn’t bring it up again for now…
Lazily scrolling through the comments on Shan Chong’s viral short video, he suddenly asked: “Why did you suddenly add a location to this one?”
“Hm?”
“Didn’t you always avoid adding locations before, fearing people would find you to ask for lessons or challenges?” Bei Ci asked, “Why suddenly add a location this time?”
Shan Chong was silent for a few seconds, his dark pupils flickering.
Seeming a bit slow to respond, he “ah” -ed, then said in a nonchalant tone as if half-asleep: “No choice.”
“What?”
“If I don’t add a location, I’m afraid some people won’t see it.”
…
The next day, after the “How to Use an Action Camera” video went viral, Wei Zhi learned the good habits of frequently changing hairstyles, changing snow gear, and putting on face protection before entering the snow park.
As soon as she stepped into the equipment hall, she looked left and right but didn’t see her unethical shifu. She checked her phone and saw he said he had a class at 10 AM that day and would arrive later, telling her to practice on her own.
His tone was very normal as if yesterday he had been possessed by a mischievous spirit.
Pouting, Wei Zhi went to get her stored board herself… There weren’t many people early in the morning. As the snow park staff handed her the board, they chatted with her: “Your Shifu hasn’t arrived yet.”
Wei Zhi: “?”
Hugging her board, the young girl looked up blankly at the stranger in front of her.
Snow park staff: “Isn’t your shifu Shan Chong?”
Wei Zhi: “How do you know?”
Snow park staff: “I watched that video from last night ten times.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi truly didn’t understand. She had changed her hairstyle, changed her snow gear, and even covered herself up completely with face protection. How did these staff members, who had never even seen her face-to-face at the snow park, manage to recognize her—
Back then, just because of a face guard (or mask), Shan Chong, the glasses cloth dage who was her secret crush, had openly played the role of a mole in front of her for ten days…
He had been around her so much, yet she hadn’t recognized him at all.
After getting her board, the young girl found a random place in the locker area to sit down and put on her boots—crossing between the two areas, at least five out of ten people turned to look at her along the way, one of them even greeted her.
Sitting on the chair, using all her strength to pull the drawstring of her snow boot, Wei Zhi was puzzled over whether these people had eyeballs or X-ray vision in their eye sockets. Just then, a flash of purple suddenly passed by her side.
That figure, originally striding past her with a board in hand, suddenly paused noticeably when parallel to her, then turned and silently sat down next to her.
“Morning.”
Wei Zhi turned her head, not very surprised to find it was Lu Xin. He was also looking at her. As their eyes met, she saw his lips, which hadn’t yet put on face protection, move—
“Don’t say you’ve seen that video too! Don’t laugh at me! Don’t comfort me either! Just don’t mention it at all!” Wei Zhi quickly said first, then paused, took a deep breath, “Okay, you can start talking now.”
At this moment, although she was speechless, her mood wasn’t particularly bad or troubled—
After all, under Shan Chong’s short video yesterday, among the nearly 40,000 comments, half were “hahaha,” and the other half were either shipping them or playing Sherlock Holmes, analyzing why Shan Chong’s sudden change in personality led to such a drastic change in video style…
No one called her stupid. Everyone was quite friendly, including today. Perhaps because everyone understood that, regardless of skill level, every skier would have a day when they caught an edge. So at this moment, although Wei Zhi had preemptively refused to be the “person who falls at the bottom of the jump and records their post-event interview,” she had decided that if friends asked, she wouldn’t mind mentioning it to amuse them.
Unexpectedly, under her smiling gaze, Lu Xin’s face lost its usual neighborly big brother’s warm smile. He raised his hand to adjust his face guard, furrowed his brow slightly, and fixed his gaze on a rusty spot on the locker in front of him.
“Why didn’t you mention earlier that your master is Shan Chong?” he asked abruptly.
This sudden question made Wei Zhi’s smile falter. The young girl’s almond-shaped round eyes shifted from cheerful to confused. “You never asked. Why should I have mentioned it?”
Indeed, she had said her master was a park pro who could do all kinds of tricks, even on the big jump. That he was good-looking. Many people fought for his lessons. And that he was in Xinjiang. Looking across the country, there were probably no more than two people who met all these conditions, the other being Dai Duo.
Yet he hadn’t thought of it until last night when he accidentally came across Shan Chong’s video post in the nearby people section. He was stunned, staring at the poster’s name for a long time, unable to process it.
Thinking of this, he bit his back teeth, forcing himself to forget these trivial matters. He turned his head to see the young girl looking at him curiously, her eyes full of concern—
His earlier abrupt and harsh question had startled her a bit. She now looked worried that she might have unknowingly done something wrong to hurt someone.
At this, the knot in Lu Xin’s chest loosened a bit, unexpectedly. He picked up his board and stood up, forcing a slight smile at the small figure in his shadow. “It’s nothing, I was just asking… Your master is very skilled, formerly the top park snowboarder in China, now the second principal of the CK club.”
Wei Zhi had heard these titles so often that she paid them no mind. She waved her hand, changing the subject, “Shall we go? Let’s hit the intermediate slope together?”
Sitting in his chair, watching her nonchalant face, showing no reaction to the mention of a legend in the snowboarding circle, Lu Xin said nothing more and followed her to the magic carpet area with his board.
The magic carpet area was also sparsely populated today. Wei Zhi had barely managed to link her carved turns with the edge changes that she had practiced yesterday. Today she continued to strengthen this skill, aiming to learn consecutive small carved turns with edge changes once she mastered it.
Lu Xin’s tip of raising one hand as a reference for the board’s direction was quite useful. However, she still got stuck on the big turns.
After changing edges, she kept sliding downhill in a pushing motion instead of traversing. This happened on her first two runs.
On the third trip up the magic carpet, she met Lu Xin. They greeted each other, and Wei Zhi expressed her confusion to him, speaking rapidly: “None of my turns look like a nice S-shape. After recovering, they’re all crooked. Why is Nan Feng so stable? Oh, Nan Feng is my friend who can already do consecutive edge changes on advanced slopes—”
Lu Xin listened to her chatter in his ear without immediately telling her where the problem lay. He hugged his board and thought for a moment before saying, “Have you asked your master about this?”
“Huh?” Wei Zhi instinctively stopped her chatter at the mention of “master.”
“I haven’t asked him,” her confusion was palpable even through her goggles. “He has a lesson at 9 or 10 o’clock, so he’s probably just waking up now. He doesn’t like checking his phone, so asking would be pointless.”
Lu Xin responded with an “Oh.”
Wei Zhi felt a bit strange, wondering why this guy kept mentioning Shan Chong when they didn’t even know each other… Yesterday when they met on the slope, he didn’t seem particularly in awe of him, just a bit surprised at how well he skied.
This puzzlement was fleeting; she didn’t dwell on it.
“So, why do I keep sliding downhill?” she asked.
Seeing the hand of the person standing in front of her holding the board, she reflexively wanted to pull Lu Xin’s sleeve. Her hand made a reaching motion before she suddenly realized the person standing before her wasn’t Shan Chong…
Her hand naturally changed course, resting on her own board’s bindings. “Why does it keep happening?”
“Yesterday you were looking too far ahead, today you’re not looking far enough,” Lu Xin said. “You can’t be afraid to look in the direction you’re sliding just because you’ve opened your shoulders. After you turn, look in the direction of your glove—”
“But I am looking,” Wei Zhi protested.
“You’re not. Sliding downhill inevitably means you’re looking uphill when you’re on your front edge,” Lu Xin explained. “It’s subconscious; you don’t even notice you’re doing it.”
“I start sliding downhill as soon as I change edges.”
“Whether you’re on your front or back edge, after changing, you should be doing falling leaf. The board tip should be angled. That way, you can naturally change edges. Otherwise, you have to slow down almost to a stop before twisting the board to straighten it.”
He paused, then added, “If you keep sliding downhill after changing edges, consider revisiting the front and back edge falling leaf exercise.”
His suggestion was to recall the feeling of practicing these two movements and incorporate it into edge changes.
The sequence of learning snowboarding movements is always fixed because new and old movements are in a progressive, inherited relationship, not separate.
He didn’t mean anything particular by saying this. But after he finished speaking, he sensed the person standing behind him fall silent.
He looked over and saw her hugging her board, seeming a bit lost in thought. After a while, she said, “I practiced falling leaf for over ten days in Chongli before. Do I need to go back to basics?”
This was a simple question, tinged with disbelief.
Lu Xin was taken aback and then realized he had hurt the young girl’s pride. He regretted being so blunt and hesitated before finally saying, “Maybe you should ask Shan Chong. He’s been coaching you all along, so he knows your situation better than I do… Besides, I’m not very good at teaching others.”
Just as he finished speaking, the magic carpet reached its end. He picked up his board and quickly walked off the carpet, moving so fast that even he felt like he was fleeing.
Wei Zhi was left standing on the magic carpet, completely stunned.
When she reached the end of the carpet, she hadn’t noticed. Still holding her board, she was pushed off and nearly fell face-first onto the ground—
Fortunately, a ski resort staff member at the end of the magic carpet reached out in time to catch her. She stumbled to her feet, mumbled a “thank you,” and steadied herself.
Standing up straight, Wei Zhi looked towards Lu Xin, only to find him also turning back to look at her. Their eyes met briefly before he averted his gaze, bent down to fasten his bindings, and set off.
He didn’t even wait for her to walk over.
… He hadn’t done anything wrong, but Wei Zhi felt something wasn’t quite right. She felt uneasy.
Later, Wei Zhi never encountered Lu Xin on the magic carpet again, which was strange considering that previously, she would bump into him at least six out of ten times.
She practiced on her own all morning, stubbornly improving her carved turns with edge changes. Although the transitions weren’t entirely smooth, at least she wasn’t sliding downhill after changing edges or having to stop to twist her board before continuing.
When lunchtime came, she came down the slope and immediately spotted a purple figure removing their board not far away.
Her eyes brightened. She quickly removed her board, hugged it, and rushed towards him on her short legs. Reaching his side, she stumbled slightly, bumping into him. “Are you going to eat? Let’s go together!”
Lu Xin had just removed his board when he felt something soft brush against him, bringing with it a sweet scent. It was Wei Zhi, looking up at him and asking if he wanted to eat.
He hesitated for a moment, very much wanting to nod, but after some thought, he said, “I’ve made plans with a friend. We’re eating out.”
Wei Zhi was visibly taken aback, her smile not yet fully faded when she paused and asked, “Are you coming back this afternoon?”
“I’m not sure.”
His tone now sounded somewhat evasive.
Even someone as slow on the uptake as Wei Zhi could sense the awkwardness that suddenly enveloped them as if the vague discomfort from the morning had suddenly become glaringly apparent.
The smile on her face vanished, and her voice dropped from its initial cheerfulness to a low tone. “What’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean?” Lu Xin didn’t quite understand.
“Everything was fine before. Did I do something to upset you?” Wei Zhi asked. “You’ve been acting strange since this morning.”
As soon as she said this, the air around them seemed to be sucked away. Lu Xin immediately fell silent, as if he had frozen in place.
“I recently joined the Wantong Tang club,” he said after a while. “This club… doesn’t have a good relationship with your master’s CK club. And you should remember, some time ago, someone took you into the park and caused you to fall. That person was also from our club, and he was severely criticized afterward.”
Wei Zhi said nothing, just looking at him.
Lu Xin paused, then continued, “When our club’s director saw the short video God Chong posted yesterday, he told us not to bother you if we encountered you on the slopes.”
He thought for a moment and added, “I think God Chong posting that video probably had the same intention.”
Saying this, he sighed, “It’s not your fault,” he raised his hand and patted Wei Zhi’s shoulder, “I need to think about how to handle this.”
He left this ambiguous statement and turned to leave.
Unable to get a word in edgewise, Wei Zhi was left standing there, feeling like an idiot.
…
On Shan Chong’s side, he had just finished his lesson and was sliding down to the equipment hall entrance. As he bent to remove his board and looked up, he saw his little disciple standing not far away—
She had her back to him, gazing in a certain direction, one binding of her board in her hand, the other end resting on the snow…
Somehow, she exuded an air of dejection.
The man raised an eyebrow, walked up to her, and gently tugged her little braid from behind. He was about to ask why she was standing there like a statue when sensing the familiar presence approaching, the young girl suddenly whirled around!
It startled Shan Chong!
He let go of her braid and glanced at her eyes, which were as wide as bells. Her goggles were in her hand now, so he could see the resentment in her eyes, so much that her eye sockets were slightly red—
Like a rabbit whose carrot had been stolen.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Wei Zhi was nearly torn apart with frustration.
Last time when she encountered unpleasant people on the slope and ended up in a wheelchair, Shan Chong scolded her and lost his temper with others. Now she realized that the consequences for that person might have been more severe than she had imagined… All of this was reasonable, and to put it bluntly, it was all because her master had lost his temper with others for her sake.
As a result, her image in the eyes of the Wantong Tang group was now like Shan Chong’s eyeball.
They didn’t dare to get close to her at all, even making friends normally made them nervous. Even people who were originally friends, after learning who her master was, ran away faster than dogs at the sight of ghosts.
Was this Shan Chong’s fault?
No.
Could she blame him?
That would make her an ingrate.
But Lu Xin’s behavior upset her. It wasn’t like she wanted to do anything, just be normal friends, have meals together, and discuss techniques. What was wrong with that?
What was there to be afraid of?
She opened her mouth, her mind in a jumble, flashing back to Lu Xin’s words—
[When our club’s director saw God Chong’s short video yesterday, he told us not to bother you if we encountered you on the slopes.]
…
[I think God Chong posting that video probably had the same intention.]
Wei Zhi: “…”
She fell silent.
“Let’s go inside to talk,” the man glanced at her rabbit-like eyes, “It’s cold out here.”
Seeing she didn’t move, he raised his right hand and tugged her— Wei Zhi initially wanted to resist, but seeing the bandage on his right palm, she abruptly halted her action midway, stiffly shrinking her neck as he pulled her back into the equipment hall.
It was warm inside the hall.
As soon as they entered, it was as if her whole body thawed. Blood revived from her heart, spreading to her limbs, and her cheeks, which had been stinging from the cold wind, began to defrost. She lowered her head and finally raised her hand to tug at the man’s sleeve.
He responded with a “Hmm,” and leaned down to look at her. “Speak.”
Her voice was full of grievance: “Lu Xin said you posted that video to keep the Wantong Tang people from playing with me.”
This tone indeed had a flavor of a primary school student tattling. The man unconsciously curled his lips upon hearing it, but quickly realized the situation was inappropriate and let his smile fade.
“Let’s not discuss the purpose of my posting that video for now. What’s wrong with not letting you play with them? Why do you insist on playing with the Wantong Tang people? They’re not strict in their member screening, letting all sorts of people in, with varying levels of quality,” he explained patiently, which was rare for him. “The person last time hurt you so badly, have you forgotten the pain so soon?”
One shouldn’t stumble twice in the same place.
Wei Zhi glanced at him defiantly: “I’m old enough now. Can’t I judge for myself whether someone is good or not?”
“If you want to find people to play with, what about Lao Yan, Bei Ci, Hua Yan? Can’t you play with any of them?”
Wei Zhi glanced at him and mumbled, “It’s not the same.”
“How is it not the same?” He sneered mildly, “Are they not people?”
He couldn’t understand why she was so fixated on Lu Xin, whose skiing skills were nothing special. What was so great about him? “I’m not even going into the park.”
“You’ll go eventually,” he said calmly.
“But before that, don’t I need to practice basic skiing? Can’t I make friends on the slopes?” Wei Zhi let go of his sleeve, “You can’t assume I’ll crash every time just because of one incident! Lu Xin is quite nice — except for being passive-aggressive today — he’s quite good otherwise! Don’t always worry about this and that!”
For the sake of a newly made friend, she was now angrily raising her voice at him.
The man lowered his eyes, feeling a bit like losing his temper.
Turning his head, he unexpectedly saw her serious face, also suppressing anger and defiance, combined with the image of her standing alone dejectedly in front of the equipment hall earlier…
This scene entered his mind, and the unnamed anger in his chest circled once before extinguishing itself.
He sighed.
“Alright, stop glaring at me like that, or I might have to teach you a lesson.”
His light tone was met with a loud sniffling sound from her… He immediately turned his head to look at her again. Well, she wasn’t crying, just glaring at him with a slightly red nose tip.
The man was silent for three seconds.
“Alright, I didn’t know that video would be…”
So real and effective.
“Do you want me to apologize?” he asked unexpectedly.
This question came out of nowhere.
Wei Zhi moved her lips, staring blankly at the man’s profile, a bit stunned, more bewildered by the sudden lowering of his head… At this moment, she didn’t need Bei Ci or anyone else to explain, she knew very well that Shan Chong was not a person who often apologized—
His face practically had “The word ‘sorry’ doesn’t exist in my dictionary” written all over it.
At this moment, the man’s face was slightly turned towards her, sunlight streaming in from the window, shining on one side of his face, making his handsome features seem softer than usual… He spoke very softly, only audible to the two of them as if whispering.
Wei Zhi was speechless for a moment, still not recovered from her surprise.
“But you can’t always play with others and think everything they say is right,” the person beside her continued speaking. As he spoke, he didn’t look at her, only using the shadow cast by his eyelashes to hide the emotions in his eyes.
He paused, then said seriously, “Your master might get jealous.”
“…”
Wei Zhi blinked, turning her head in shock to look at the man’s profile. In the sunlight, he lowered his eyes, his expression gentle, looking sincere, like the most beautiful art sculpture created by the gods themselves.
She was speechless, the righteous indignation on her face disappearing without a trace—
What Lu Xin, what Wantong Tang, what making friends on the slopes, none of it mattered anymore.
A man who acts cute is the luckiest.
Master is the best, thank you.