The next day, Wei Zhi didn’t show up at all. After all, she had been drawing until dawn the previous night with dark circles under her eyes. She finally fell asleep, exhausted, and slept until noon. When she woke up and habitually checked her phone, she saw another dead Crayon Shin-chan.
“What a scumbag,” she thought.
Even Shinnosuke Nohara from the cartoon had that scumbag vibe now. Really, at the beginning, when he brought Shiro home but didn’t want to take responsibility and tried to avoid walking him – wasn’t that just like a scumbag?
Wei Zhi sat on her bed, zoning out for three minutes. She spent two and a half minutes criticizing a three-year-old cartoon character, then turned to Jiang Nanfeng, who was crouching by her feet applying a face mask, and asked, “Hey, want to go see Tianchi Lake on Changbai Mountain?”
Jiang Nanfeng was crouching by the trash can, reading Wei Zhi’s update from yesterday. When she saw the page where the dog guard died, she promptly opened the manga comments and silently liked the one that said, “Has the otaku gone crazy?” After a pause, she slowly turned her head, looked at her friend’s haggard face from the breakup, and drawled, “No, I don’t.”
Wei Zhi pondered. She felt like a stray dog, abandoned by the whole world. For the time being, she didn’t want to see Shan Chong, and of course, she wanted to see Han Yiming even less. So she had to leave Xinjiang, but she couldn’t go home…
Where could she go?
According to her information, the current situation wouldn’t allow her to go to Northern Europe. However, there was a skiing paradise in China where she definitely wouldn’t run into Shan Chong – a place called Changbai Mountain.
“Changbai Mountain is full of talent and beautiful scenery. There must be handsome guys there,” Wei Zhi used the same tactic Jiang Nanfeng had used to convince her before. “Don’t you want to go see?”
“No, Lao Yan would cry,” Jiang Nanfeng said lazily. “I may be fickle, but I’m not heartless. I won’t look for a new ride while still on the old one – unless we break up.”
“When will you break up then?”
“Don’t know,” Jiang Nanfeng said dismissively. “But it will happen.”
“When did you two get together?”
“Around the time Dai Duo left?” Jiang Nanfeng said. “It’s not important. You didn’t notice either, which means I haven’t lost self-control. Things are still within manageable limits, so it’s not a big deal.”
Wei Zhi felt a bit confused by her words.
Disappointed by Jiang Nanfeng’s firm refusal to go to Changbai Mountain, Wei Zhi asked again, “Then how about we go surfing in Sanya? It should still be quite warm there now, right?”
“… You’re too casual about finding substitutes. Skateboarding in the park downstairs is also a board sport, and it’s cheaper – just go downstairs. Why don’t you try that?”
“You’re right! There are so many wonderful things in life! Why are you afraid of Lao Yan crying or breaking up? After breaking up, besides skiing, couldn’t we do many other things? We could even learn paragliding, then practice, get a B license, and do wingsuit flying… In summer, let’s learn diving, visit underwater museums, go to Maoer Mountain, chase whales in Tonga, see penguins in Antarctica!”
Jiang Nanfeng: “…”
Jiang Nanfeng: “After breaking up? This sounds more like after winning the lottery.”
Wei Zhi: “… You’re so unromantic!”
Jiang Nanfeng: “Someone who suddenly killed off my cute little guard in the manga has no right to call me unromantic.”
Wei Zhi pouted, got up to wash up, then sat at her computer and diligently worked on updates for a whole day-
She saw those chaotic comments below the manga, but it wasn’t a big problem. It didn’t affect her cold-hearted continuation of the main plot, where the dog guard seemed to have never existed.
The female lead erected a tombstone for him, stood in front of his grave, shed two tears, and that was all the closure given.
After finishing, she didn’t forget to cheekily say in the author’s room: “The female lead crying is already quite good. When other guards died, they didn’t even get a panel, which is even sadder.”
The fans of Otaku-sama had probably never seen such a ruthless author before. They were all stunned for a moment-
Fan 1: Did the dog guard steal your underwear or something?
Fan 2: Although what you said might be right, I still want to ask if the dog guard has a real-life prototype. Otherwise, there’s no reason for him to suddenly appear, gain popularity against all odds, and then suddenly die when everyone got attached!
Fan 3: What the person above said is right. The appearance and death of the dog guard are just like how a man goes from being treasured to being discarded by a woman.
Fan 4: So you broke up? Hahahahahahahaha, I’m suddenly not angry anymore!
Fan 5: The comment above 2333333333 It looks like someone taking revenge on society after a breakup, I’m dying of laughter!
Fan 6: You guys are too much, I love it.
Wei Zhi scrolled through the comments for a while, and couldn’t help but sigh that nowadays even readers of the small erotic manga were so smart. They were supposed to enjoy it without thinking too much, but they were analyzing the author like Sherlock Holmes.
She sighed, turned off the computer, felt hungry, looked around the room, and found nothing to eat, so she prepared to go out to the small supermarket to get some instant noodles and yogurt.
She casually put on a warm enough down jacket, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and went out.
The supermarket wasn’t far from the hotel. Although small, it had all kinds of goods. As soon as Wei Zhi entered the supermarket, her stomach started growling. She first went to the instant noodle section and chose a pack, then to the snack section, taking ham, tofu, braised eggs, pickled vegetables, Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, chicken feet, potato chips, rice crackers…
She got more and more carried away.
Until she realized this was “turning grief into appetite”, she hesitated for three seconds, then put one of the two braised eggs she had taken back.
Then she went to the refrigerator to get cola and mineral water.
When she staggered to the cashier with a pile of snacks to pay, the owner seemed a bit lazy to calculate mentally and slowly punched numbers into an old calculator.
Wei Zhi leaned against the checkout counter patiently waiting, holding a bottle of mineral water.
Just as she opened the mineral water bottle cap with a “click”, demonstrating the skill acquired from being single for over twenty years, a figure appeared outside the supermarket, pushed the door open, and walked in, coming face to face with her.
Wei Zhi’s bottle-opening motion paused.
The newcomer was wearing a purple snowsuit. Upon entering, he didn’t notice his surroundings at first and started brushing off snow. As he was brushing, he felt a chilling gaze from behind. He paused and turned around, meeting a pair of dark eyes.
— This was the first official meeting between Shan Chong and Wei Zhi after yesterday’s kiss.
The man was silent for three seconds. His gaze moved from her face downward, looking at her hand frozen on the mineral water bottle cap, poised in a “twisting” gesture…
He cleared his throat, trying to make conversation.
“Can’t open it?”
Wei Zhi didn’t speak. She just twisted her hand with enough force to rip someone’s scalp off and popped open the mineral water bottle cap.
Her dark, bottomless black eyes looked at him without speaking. After a while, she averted her gaze – as if she hadn’t seen him – raised the mineral water bottle and gulped down more than half, then let out a satisfied sigh and wiped her mouth.
At this point, Shan Chong noticed a small wound on her lip that had already scabbed over.
He was sure it wasn’t there yesterday.
Just as he was about to say something, the young woman seemed to sense it and turned to the store owner behind the counter, saying, “Boss, why does your water taste like a scumbag?”
The store owner, clearly not of Han ethnicity and already not great at Mandarin, was completely confused: “Huh?”
“Never mind, it’s not your fault,” Wei Zhi lowered her eyes, mumbling as she handed out her phone. “Have you calculated the total? Should I scan your code or you can mine?”
The young woman acted as if no one else was there.
Shan Chong stood silently at the door, even forgetting what he had come to the supermarket for
Of course, he knew she hadn’t shown up at the snow field all day. He didn’t actively look for her in the morning because he considered it was the third day of her period, and also…
After that brief kiss yesterday, calling her to class the next day as if nothing had happened seemed a bit strange.
He had been distracted during his morning class, always wondering what the first encounter with Wei Zhi would be like. Maybe she would blush and avoid him, or maybe she would scold him with a black face, but he never expected her to completely ignore him.
After class today, Shan Chong voluntarily refunded half of the money to his student, even though he had managed to teach him the correct and reverse foot up and down box plus horizontal sliding and 180 turns in one lesson…
But he had indeed been distracted.
That guy accepted the 3,000 yuan Shan Chong returned with trepidation, not even knowing why.
It seemed like a curse-
Just as now, Shan Chong didn’t know why he seemed to be ignored.
…
In the end, Shan Chong walked around the supermarket once before remembering what he wanted to buy. He returned to the checkout counter and bought a pack of cigarettes for Bei Ci.
After a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t get one for himself.
Back at the hotel, there was a lump on Bei Ci’s bed; the guy was still sleeping soundly.
Shan Chong took off his snowsuit. He had no classes in the afternoon and wasn’t in the mood to ski, so he turned to go to the bathroom to wash his hands and face guard. While applying soap to his face guard, he looked up and saw himself in the mirror: there were unusual dark circles under his eyes, his brows were furrowed, and he looked even less approachable than usual.
He suddenly understood why that guy had trembled and asked “Can I still book your lessons later?” when he refunded the money this morning.
He pressed his lips together and lowered his head to continue washing his face guard. As he was wringing out the water from the face guard, a thought suddenly, unexpectedly flashed through his mind-
He expressionlessly flung the face guard he was trying to wring dry, turned around, went back to the room, and without warning, kicked the sleeping person’s butt.
The person on the bed made an “mmm” sound, rolled over following the force of the kick, and opened his eyes groggily: “Who’s messing with your grandpa!”
Shan Chong bent down, lifted the blanket half-covering the other’s face, and asked, “Did you say anything else to Wei Zhi later yesterday?”
Bei Ci made an “uh” sound, his brain still not fully awake. He looked blankly at the handsome face hanging above him, blinked, and said, “No.”
Just as he had said at the dinner table that day—
Too low to rise, too high to fall.
Secretly practicing on the ski jump, even though he knew full well there might never be a day he’d return to competition.
The most tragic thing in life isn’t living miserably, but peeking at the book of fate, seeing the end, yet still indulging in unrealistic daydreams, vainly attempting to resist the inevitable.
He found himself pitiful.
“I don’t want to talk about this. It’s annoying,” Shan Chong said. “Wang Xin, you know my family situation.”
“I just want to suggest that you consider yourself occasionally,” Wang Xin replied.
“Born human, we have parents, brothers, and sisters,” Shan Chong said. “If one lives only for oneself, heaven and earth will destroy them.”
“That’s not being human; that’s being Buddha,” Wang Xin retorted.
Shan Chong fell silent.
At the competition, more athletes took to the jump. Yamato Hirano, currently ranked first in the Snow Federation, performed a BS Triple 1980, teaching everyone present a lesson in skill—
Even though he wasn’t a local athlete, he received enthusiastic applause from the snow enthusiasts in attendance.
“How’s Shan Shan?” Wang Xin asked calmly, watching Dai Duo’s first-round ranking drop to second place amidst the applause.
“She’s fine.”
“Good,” the middle-aged man smiled, hands in his pockets. “Dai Duo and I will visit her during the New Year and bring some gifts for your parents.”
Shan Chong thought for a moment and said, “Better not. Those two argue whenever they meet. My mom has to break it up. It’s such a hassle… She’s complained to me about it so many times.”
Wang Xin didn’t respond, just kept smiling.
He stood there, his posture awkward, watching all the athletes complete their first round.
After the last athlete jumped, Dai Duo was temporarily in third place. Satisfied with this result, he abandoned his urge to curse, turned back to look at Shan Chong, and gave his shoulder a heavy pat with his large, thick hand.
“Chong, as you said, we’re born human. In life, you don’t necessarily need to be rich and famous, you don’t have to achieve great success… Life is short, it passes in the blink of an eye,” Wang Xin said—
“You should do what you want to do.”
He paused.
“Don’t worry about the outcome.”
…
Wang Xin left.
Shan Chong sat in his seat, staring blankly at the ski jump. He was watching the competition, but his mind was in a fog, unsure of what he was thinking.
He just felt uncomfortable.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had sat down and had a proper conversation with Wang Xin…
Perhaps it hadn’t happened since the day he announced his retirement.
Wang Xin, a middle-aged man, unmarried, like a stray dog without a home, liked to bring Dai Duo to his house during holidays. This habit hadn’t changed from when Shan Chong was practicing big air jumps until his retirement.
For the first two years after Shan Chong’s retirement, Wang Xin still brought up the ski jump. But after Shan Chong’s parents tag-teamed to scold him, he didn’t dare mention it again, only bringing gifts…
He was polite to everyone except Shan Chong, to whom he showed no kindness.
Shan Chong found it annoying, so on New Year’s Eve, he simply didn’t go home, only knocking on the door early on New Year’s Day.
The man’s thoughts broke off at this point.
He raised his hand, habitually wanting to grab a cigarette, then remembered that he hadn’t bought a new pack after finishing the last one…
Suddenly, he felt irritated.
Just then, a familiar voice spoke politely beside his ear.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Shan Chong maintained his failed cigarette-grabbing posture, not moving.
He had noticed her from the moment she had sidled up. His gaze remained fixed on the competition field in front of him, his mind wandering, but in reality, his attention had completely shifted… His eyeballs moved slightly in their sockets as he discreetly glanced at her and grunted an “Mm.”
He wasn’t trying to act cool.
He was just afraid of saying something wrong and being called a scumbag again.
Wei Zhi sat beside him, a soft, white bundle. Some of her hair was braided into small plaits, the rest hanging loose, her crown looking soft and fluffy…
Her long eyelashes fluttered.
“Just… small talk?”
“Okay.”
“Yesterday afternoon and this morning, I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose… well, I was, but I was a bit angry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Oh, then, I saw Wang Xin from afar earlier… Did your coach just scold you?”
“No.”
A brief silence fell as Wei Zhi lowered her head, wracking her brains for topics. She was like a poor stand-up comedian who had been on stage for ten minutes, rambling without getting to the point, running out of words until her head was bare.
She had seen Wang Xin arrive and leave. From his arrival to his departure, the man’s back had remained rigid, facing away from her direction, and in the end, he had left looking dispirited, so…
She was a bit worried about him.
Damn.
She had a crush on someone, and while she hadn’t caught the man, she had discovered all of her potential for kindness and soft-heartedness.
Her hand, resting on her knee, grasped weakly. Taking a deep breath, she thought, since she had come all this way, she shouldn’t leave empty-handed. Should she just get to the point?
“Can I ask another question then?”
“I didn’t tell you to stop talking.”
“…There are some things I think it’s better to ask you directly, face to face.”
Wei Zhi unconsciously bit her lip, hitting the wound, and hissed in pain, shrinking her neck…
This drew a sidelong glance from the man, and she immediately released her lip.
“Yesterday, Bei Ci said that the day before, he told me that you… you did that thing to me just out of pity — was that just him making it up to trick me?”
After asking, she stared at the man nervously, only to despairingly realize that her question had rendered him silent.
But she waited for quite a while.
Her palms were starting to sweat.
At this moment, she didn’t know that Shan Chong had already realized what confirming this question would mean.
If it had been before, he might have said, “Yes, he was tricking you, but it didn’t mean much else. Let’s just say I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. I’m sorry—”
But as these evasive words reached the tip of his tongue, Wang Xin’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.
The life lessons the middle-aged man had shared with him, were summarized after passing thirty and approaching forty.
He had said—
[Chong, in life, you don’t necessarily need to be rich and famous, you don’t have to achieve great success… Life is short, it passes in the blink of an eye.]
He had said—
[You should do what you want to do, regardless of the outcome.]
Say what you want to say, do what you want to do, like who you want to like. You should go for it.
And don’t worry about the result.
At the time, he had been impatient, thinking Wang Xin didn’t understand anything. But now, suddenly recalling it, his chest unexpectedly felt very full in an instant.
He just suddenly remembered that he was only twenty-seven years old.
At this age, what should people do? Even if they work nine-to-five, crushed by life to the point where they can barely breathe, they should still be following the prescribed path, seemingly seeing the end in sight, but choosing to try some detours they want to walk—
He hadn’t been deprived of these rights by anyone.
Admittedly, he had many things he hadn’t dealt with properly.
But right now, he suddenly felt that he might be able to solve one of them: for instance, deciding to become a person without morals, of very low quality.
“…”
So he heard his own slightly hoarse voice speak up.
“Yeah, he was lying to you.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw her turn her head towards him.
In those almond-shaped eyes with pitch-black pupils, starlight seemed to twinkle even in broad daylight. She tilted her small, round chin slightly upwards, looking at him. “So?”
Her voice carried an undisguisable tension—
Three seconds passed without an answer. She raised her hand and gently poked his arm, urging him.
“So?”
The young girl’s voice carried a nasal tone, as if she was pouting, but also as if she was suffocating from extreme nervousness.
He turned his head, expressionlessly looking back at her, and in the second their gazes met, he saw the twinkling stars in her eyes turn into a vast Milky Way.
“Say something,” she stared at him intently, asking, “The person you mentioned at the dinner table the day before yesterday, was it me?”
He paused.
Finally, he slowly nodded.
She didn’t miss a single detail of his nod. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, then uttered a single syllable: “Hm?”
“It’s you.”
She raised her hand, childishly rubbing her eyes. When she lowered it, her eyes were incredibly red. She let out an “Oh,” then asked, “And then?”
“There was never anyone else. The person I like is you.”
Behind them on the competition field, an athlete launched from the ski jump, performing an FS Cork 1800, and landing perfectly. The audience erupted into thunderous applause and enthusiastic whistles, almost drowning out the man’s voice.
The jubilant cheers were like thunder, though it was unclear who they were celebrating.
She squinted slightly, her almond-shaped eyes becoming crescents. She choked out a laugh, tears blurring her vision as she pressed the back of her hand hard against her eyes…
The corners of her lips turned upward. “What a coincidence,” she said, “Me too. I like you too.”