If there was any regret in this “chance encounter at the ski resort, romantic reunion” scene, it was probably that even after a night of spring breeze (?), Wei Zhi still couldn’t get familiar with her “coach” brother.
The coach walked in front carrying two snowboards.
Following behind him, Wei Zhi reached out countless times to grab the snowboard, only to silently retract her hand. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish blowing bubbles, but she could only remain as quiet as a chicken.
…Good morning Teacher Nian, have you eaten Teacher Nian? What did you eat Teacher Nian? Are you in a good mood today Teacher Nian? Can you nag a little less today Teacher Nian? Can you praise me Teacher Nian? I heard other teachers use loving education, but I’m a bit envious of Teacher Nian.
“…”
Facing that black silhouette, Wei Zhi silently sighed.
The magic carpet area was very crowded that day.
Walking in front, Shan Chong glanced at the small slope packed like dumplings, immediately lost his appetite, and turned to the girl who had braked abruptly behind him, nearly crashing into his chest: “We’re not doing the magic carpet area today. Let’s go up the mountain.”
Yesterday, Wei Zhi had heard Jiang Nanfeng say that there were not very steep slopes on the mountain, with fewer people and better snow conditions. The scenery was excellent, and she had struck a thousand poses with her snowboard, taking ten thousand check-in photos.
It made Wei Zhi very surprised—
Skiing involved more than just falling; you could also take photos.
Wei Zhi nodded and asked, “Is the scenery on the mountain really good?”
“It’s alright,” Shan Chong replied. “It snowed last night, so there should be rime ice in the small forest.”
Wei Zhi innocently asked, “Can I take photos on the mountain then?”
Shan Chong glanced at her: “You can take photos after you ski well. What’s the point of taking photos when you ski like crap?”
“…” Wei Zhi nodded, “You’re right.”
See.
This was what Wei Zhi liked about her coach brother—
Honesty.
Using sincere language to inspire people to continuously improve.
The cable car was a small enclosed gondola, similar to those in amusement park Ferris wheels. The two sat inside facing each other. Wei Zhi’s hands couldn’t stay still, fidgeting with the zipper on her pants pocket.
Shan Chong’s gaze swept over her reddened fingertips.
“I thought you weren’t coming anymore.”
He suddenly initiated the conversation, his tone calm.
But this didn’t prevent the person sitting across from him from immediately perking up. She pinched the zipper on her pants pocket, blinked, and answered quickly: “I didn’t say I wasn’t coming. Mainly, I had nothing else to do if I didn’t come. My friend enjoyed skiing yesterday, so she simply bought a return flight ticket for ten days later.”
Shan Chong: “Oh.”
Wei Zhi hadn’t had time to breathe a sigh of relief.
Shan Chong: “So you mean you didn’t enjoy skiing yesterday.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi silently turned her head to look outside the gondola. It was quite high up. Jumping out now by prying open the door would probably result in broken legs.
Ah.
Mom.
Help.
Wei Zhi withdrew her gaze and said sincerely: “No, I enjoyed it too.”
The person sitting across from her leaned back, adopting a relaxed posture, and raised his chin at her.
“If you planned to find me to continue lessons, why didn’t you ask for my WeChat after class yesterday to book in advance?”
“Can we do that? Are you allowed to give your WeChat to customers privately?”
“Why not? I come to teach, I’m not selling myself to the ski resort as a gigolo.”
“…”
Ah.
Why hasn’t this cable car reached the top yet?
How much longer?
Has anyone considered that people trapped inside might suffocate at this slow speed?
Wei Zhi forced her gaze to land on the tip of the man’s nose opposite her—the bridge of his nose was high and straight under the black face mask, with an upturned tip.
In the cable car, he wasn’t wearing ski goggles. Up close, his eyes were also very beautiful, with long, fine eyelashes like a beautiful boy from a shoujo manga.
…
As long as he didn’t take off his face mask, he was Tomohisa Yamashita, Takeshi Kaneshiro, or Louis Koo from the era of “The Return of the Condor Heroes”.
No girl could lack patience with such a man, even if his mouth was mean.
“I thought if I came early, I could catch you,” Wei Zhi said. “The ski resort had just opened.”
“Not necessarily. I’m very busy.”
“But I did catch you.”
“What’s with that tone? Are you proud?”
“It’s okay, just a little bit.”
“The fact is, if you had come one minute later, I would have left.”
“Then that’s even more worth being proud of. After all, how does that saying go,” Wei Zhi clapped her hands together with a “pa” sound, devout and happy, “Better lucky than early, blessed by the grace of heaven.”
“…It’s not heaven that’s showing you grace.”
“Huh?”
“It’s me.”
This conversation ended as the cable car arrived at the station.
Fortunately, it arrived in time.
Otherwise, the staff standing outside the cable car would have seen two people pulling each other’s hair and wrestling in a tangle the moment the gondola door opened.
…
Yesterday, Wei Zhi had learned to slide on her back edge, able to push herself 5-6 meters downhill without anyone holding her and without the coach nagging.
Today it was time to learn the falling leaf technique on the back edge.
The falling leaf on the back edge, as the name suggests, is like a leaf falling gently from a tree branch. You glide lightly left or right on your snowboard, rather than simply pushing the board straight downhill in one direction.
“When you’re sliding on your back edge, both feet are lifted to create the back edge. What happens if you lift them with a larger arc?”
Shan Chong stood on his snowboard, hands behind his back like a stern teacher, accompanying Wei Zhi as she slowly pushed herself downhill.
“It will brake.”
“Mm,” Shan Chong nodded approvingly, “Then what happens when your feet aren’t lifted as much, and the angle between the snowboard and the snow surface becomes smaller?”
“The speed of sliding downhill will increase.”
“What if you lift one foot and press down with the other?”
“…”
Wei Zhi braked, stopping her downhill motion, and turned her head slightly to look at Shan Chong in confusion.
He hadn’t expected her to answer immediately. He changed his snowboard from horizontal to vertical, caught up from behind, and slid in front of Wei Zhi, helped her slide to the side of the slope, let her stand steady on her board, and then neatly knelt in front of her.
He used his knee to support the slightly raised bottom of Wei Zhi’s snowboard, one hand bracing the left front edge of her board to prevent it from sliding down, and the other hand pressing down on Wei Zhi’s right foot—
“When you lift one foot and press down with the other, your board will twist into an uneven S-shape, like a twisted noodle. This movement is called ‘board twisting,'” Shan Chong said. “When you perform this ‘board twisting’ motion, the foot you lift is braking, while the foot you press down is accelerating. What do you think will happen?”
He finished speaking and looked up at Wei Zhi.
Wei Zhi looked down at her snowboard pressed against his knee.
He was kneeling like this halfway up the mountain, his knee sinking into the snow.
“Teacher Nian, is your knee cold?”
“My knee isn’t cold, my heart is,” ignoring her strange enunciation, Shan Chong said, “I ask you what one plus one equals, and you ask me if Chongli is located in Guangxi, China?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re not wrong. What’s wrong is me, persisting in asking questions and stubbornly wanting answers—if you don’t answer my question, I’ll kneel here until the cafeteria opens for lunch.”
“………………………Don’t!”
“Then answer me.”
“Em, if one foot is lifted and one foot is pressed down, the snowboard should tilt… The side that’s pressed down will move forward, so the left and right ends will become one front and one back, right?”
Shan Chong said expressionlessly, “Thank you for participating in the Q&A,” then released his hand pressing on Wei Zhi and his knee supporting her board—
In the instant, he moved away.
Wei Zhi, still maintaining the “left foot up, right foot down” position, found her snowboard suddenly without resistance. The right end immediately tilted downhill to the right.
She let out a small scream and slid a very short distance to the right front.
The new direction and speed of sliding made her heart leap into her throat.
Before the speed increased further, her right foot instinctively lifted as well. The right side of the snowboard finally encountered resistance, slowly leveling out to a back edge sliding position, and stopped.
“This is the back edge falling leaf technique.”
The coach’s voice emerged from behind.
“Well done.”
Along with a dry word of encouragement.
“Next time, at least give me a warning before you let go,” Wei Zhi said. “The speed just now was so fast, it scared me to death.”
The coach slowly got up from the snow, stood on his snowboard, and bent over to brush the snow off his knees. Without looking up, he said: “A perfectly normal old lady crossing a zebra crossing, and you think you’re The Flash.”
Wei Zhi rolled her eyes.
“I saw you roll your eyes,” Shan Chong straightened up and looked at her.
Wei Zhi was shocked: “Impossible! You didn’t even look up just now!”
“I didn’t. I just sensed the atmosphere, so I tricked you,” Shan Chong said. “And you fell for it.”
“…”
As he spoke, he glided smoothly to Wei Zhi’s side and jerked his chin towards the endless slope ahead: “Let’s continue. This intermediate run is 4km long. One trip down should be enough for you to get a taste of the back edge falling leaf technique.”
“How long?” Wei Zhi asked.
“4km,” Shan Chong answered.
“By the time I wobble my way back to the equipment hall like this, it’ll be dark.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself. Your coaching session is for four hours,” Shan Chong said. “In four hours, I guarantee you’ll be able to go up and down this slope three times.”
“Three…? That’s not necessary. We can finish early.”
“No, we agreed on four hours. I don’t earn dishonest money.”
“…Teacher Nian, are you holding a grudge because I rolled my eyes?”
“Yes,” Shan Chong frankly advised her to be virtuous. “Next time, remember to respect your coach. As for this time—”
Wei Zhi sweetly finished his sentence: “This time, let’s forget about it.”
“What do you mean forget about it? This time you’ll be a bit more tired. You need to remember the lesson.”
“…”
This devil.
…
At lunchtime.
Reaching the entrance of the equipment hall, Wei Zhi bent down to take off her board, her legs so weak she almost knelt on the ground.
The coach stood behind her, like a statue.
When Wei Zhi straightened up, she heard a voice floating from behind—
“Are you coming back this afternoon?”
Wei Zhi turned her head and met his eyes. He had taken off his helmet and goggles. His hair was a bit messy now, with a tuft sticking up on top.
…
The black face mask and cold gaze reminded Wei Zhi of Kakashi from the beginning of “Naruto”, treating Naruto like a dog with the bell test.
Wei Zhi said honestly: “I can’t move anymore. My legs are weak. I just want to lie down now.”
“Oh,” he didn’t have much reaction, clearly not having much sympathy either. “What about tomorrow?”
Wei Zhi: “I’ll come.”
Shan Chong: “Oh.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Shan Chong: “…”
Under the suffocating pressure of the other’s gaze, Wei Zhi finally obediently took out her phone.
Wei Zhi: “Teacher Nian, add my WeChat.”
Shan Chong looked at her, not having time to move before the person in front of him chickened out quickly.
Wei Zhi: “…Is that okay?”
The sunlight today was nice.
Shan Chong said: “Okay.”