Single-board skiing has two major hurdles:
The first comes after learning the basics when practicing heel-side turns on slopes becomes tedious, exhausting, and monotonous.
The second appears on the day you enter the terrain park after mastering basic gliding. That’s when you truly understand the saying “The slope is wide, yet you don’t take it; Hell has no gates, yet you enter willingly.”
At lunchtime, Wei Zhi dragged her little rainbow board into the dining hall, feeling like her body was about to fall apart. Seeing a small stone on the ground, all she could think was, “Jump on it, jump on it quick, grind it, grind it, grind it!”
After casually ordering some food, she sat down at a table. For the first time this morning, she had a chance to check her phone. She discovered she’d been added to a new WeChat group with twelve members: Lao Yan, Shan Chong, Wei Zhi, and the other nine classmates.
The group chat was lively. Except for Wei Zhi, who was nursing her aching heart, everyone else was excited about completing their park initiation in about two hours this morning, including time wasted on cable cars and magic carpets. They were nearly ready to graduate from the box feature.
As she scrolled through the chat history, Wei Zhi began to suspect that her physical and mental exhaustion might just be a personal problem.
While she was questioning her life choices, Classmate A suddenly tagged her.
[Classmate A: I think @Little Girl Ji did the best and improved the fastest today. Wasn’t she the first to do a proper sideways grind? And she did it so well, looking super cool!]
Wei Zhi was shocked. Really? Was she that good?
Classmate F immediately chimed in.
[Classmate F: Well, look who taught her the basics. I’ve always heard that Chong God had a zero-basis disciple. I saw her on the short video platform the other day and thought she looked familiar when she arrived this morning—]
[Classmate A: Haha, you can’t say that! @Little Girl Ji didn’t get any special treatment as Chong God’s disciple. Look how she was used as a typical example all morning, getting scolded till her head nearly flew off! I was scared just watching from the side!]
[Classmate B: Poor thing.]
[Classmate A: Poor thing +1]
[Classmate C: Poor thing +2]
…
[Little Girl Ji: …]
No special treatment as Shan Chong’s disciple?
If I told you, you’d be shocked—I’m even his brand new, freshly acquired girlfriend. We should still be in the honeymoon phase, which probably hasn’t even lasted three days yet. Impressive, right?
Forget being a disciple, I haven’t gotten any perks from dating him either!
Could it be my lack of ability?
As Wei Zhi was utterly speechless, another yellow figure sat down in the chair directly across from her. The person didn’t speak, and she couldn’t even be bothered to lift her eyelids.
Shan Chong had just finished wrapping up, completing the final summary for this morning’s last student. Spotting Wei Zhi from afar, he tossed his board to Bei Ci and came over.
Seeing the young woman with her head down, playing with her phone, and ignoring him, he silently changed seats, sitting down next to her.
His large hand grasped her delicate wrist, pulling her phone screen under his gaze.
He happened to see a bunch of people lining up to sympathize with Wei Zhi, with Classmate A saying: But no matter how much she was scolded, she performed well and beautifully in the end, and that’s what matters. My last 180 was all wobbly, and I might not have even landed it steadily!
The man lowered his eyelids and said, “They’re praising your good skiing.”
Wei Zhi turned her head, looked at his righteous profile, and was dumbfounded.
“What’s wrong with you, only reading the half you want to see? Can’t you see them lining up to sympathize with me for being scolded by you?” she said. “Let me tell you a joke: A zero-park-experience newbie finally musters up the courage to enter the park on her first day, only to be scolded by her expert boyfriend to the point where even bystanders feel it’s excessive… Don’t you have a heart? Or do you simply not have one at all? Never mind, you just don’t have one.”
By the end, she had devolved into self-entertaining mumbling.
She wasn’t even talking to him anymore.
After she finished, she noticed the man was no longer looking at her phone, but silently staring at her. There was a cup of Americano next to his hand, and through the white mist rising from the coffee cup, he slowly narrowed his eyes.
Wei Zhi was suddenly alarmed.
“What’s wrong, can’t I say that?”
“Hm?” He made a simple nasal sound.
“… I— you— you take off your face guard first.”
As she spoke, she reached out to lift his faceguard.
The man didn’t resist, allowing her to do so. As that world-class handsome face was revealed, she finally felt the reality of having a boyfriend, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. She stuffed his face guard behind her back and finally asked what she had wanted to ask earlier: “Why do you keep staring at me?”
Shan Chong paused.
He stared at her intently for a while, then after a moment, he raised his hand to smooth the hair that had been messed up when she removed his face guard. He leaned back and said, “Say it again.”
Wei Zhi: “?”
Wei Zhi: “Say what?”
‘Help’?
Seeing her staring at him blankly, the man prompted, “Those three words.”
Wei Zhi: “?”
What’s wrong with you, “Help” is one word.
Wei Zhi was confused. The man beside her lazily crossed his legs, his cold gaze falling on her, looking prepared to wait it out with her.
She didn’t know what he was going on about this time, and finally couldn’t help but ask, “What on earth are you talking about?”
As soon as she spoke, the man sat up with a “thud” as his snow boots hit the ground. He raised his hand to pat her fluffy head, not answering her question.
He hooked a slightly rough finger around a strand of hair by her ear, seeming interested. He carefully tucked it behind her ear, revealing her pink earlobe.
That voice, with indiscernible emotion, sounded just above her earlobe: “Was I too harsh this morning?”
Wei Zhi’s ear tingled where his finger had brushed.
Her heart raced.
She couldn’t even tell if he wanted a negative answer or an honest one.
So, like a newly hatched duckling, her fluffy head pushing against his large hand, she blinked.
The next second, she saw the man reveal a half-smile, staring at her as he slowly said, “Your expert boyfriend promises to have a better attitude next time.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Shan Chong withdrew his hand and asked, “Can you say it again now?”
He added in a nasal voice, “I want to hear it.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
This man was probably born to be the death of her.
This morning’s “Don’t bully the master” had her so rattled that she didn’t dare to talk back, throw a tantrum, or show any attitude all morning despite being scolded…
And now this.
Damn it, he must have a book called “100 Ways to Conquer Beautiful Girls.”
Wei Zhi lowered her head, her toes so tense they could dig a three-bedroom apartment into the ground. In her heart, she complained that it was just a title, what’s the big deal, if he’s not her boyfriend then what is he…
Then she realized she had never actually called him that in any situation.
Except for a few close friends and relatives, including Hua Yan, no one knew they were together.
It wasn’t like they were deliberately hiding it, it just felt odd to announce it everywhere.
She was so insecure (not really), always wondering if he regretted it or if he didn’t know how to cherish her once he got her whenever he wasn’t affectionate enough…
She was like this, yet she hadn’t even considered the issue of what to call him.
Instead, he was the one who cared about it.
Seeing his need for confirmation, she felt a bit happy too.
So she cleared her throat and said, “Well, if you’re not my boyfriend, then what are you?”
As those three words came out, sure enough, she saw the corners of his lips widen into a clear smile—
Not counting his sarcastic ones, Shan Chong rarely smiled genuinely.
It was evident that he was truly in a good mood at this moment. He changed his sitting position and looked down at her, “Then shall I take you to grind rails this afternoon?”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Is this how you express satisfaction?
Is there nothing else you could offer as a reward?
Wei Zhi: “… We just learned box today, that’s not necessary.”
Shan Chong: “You’ve already graduated from the box, shouldn’t you learn something else? When do you plan to hit the jumps?”
Me?
Jumps?
When?
When did I ever express such lofty ambitions?
Wei Zhi: “There’s no rush, right? It’s not like I’m participating in the Winter Olympics—”
Shan Chong had never experienced this before. Usually, people would come to him, grab him, and book in advance, saying something like “Please come and take a look at my whatever on this day at this time.” He had never actively invited someone to “Come on, I’ll teach you a feature” only to be met with a “No thanks.”
This little girl was truly wasting a golden opportunity.
Shan Chong: “Ever heard of striking while the iron is hot? Where are you going this afternoon while I’m teaching?”
Wei Zhi: “Why do you care where I go?”
Shan Chong raised an eyebrow.
Wei Zhi: “… Oh, I guess you can care a bit. I’ll just ski by myself, maybe pass by the park and take a look at you or something.”
The man considered for a moment, thinking about the young woman’s performance this morning, and reluctantly said “Alright.”
…
When the food arrived, they sat apart a bit to make eating easier.
After a while, Bei Ci came over with a cup of hot chocolate, sat down, and said loudly to Wei Zhi, “Good afternoon, little Shimei. I heard you were scolded like a son by Shifu this morning, and now you’re sitting so far apart… A reasonable guess, did you two fight? No way, right? You two didn’t break up, did you? Not even three days, no way, right!”
He finished with a “ge ge ge” laugh.
Wei Zhi looked at him like he was an idiot.
Shan Chong, who had been arranging the afternoon’s lessons on his phone, heard this and said, “If you don’t speak, no one will think you’re mute,” then put down his phone and started eating.
Bei Ci slapped his thigh with an “Aiya.”
Just then, Shan Chong received an ad message, and his phone screen lit up—
Bei Ci caught a glimpse of it and saw that a skiing photo had been set as the lock screen.
At a glance, he saw a yellow hoodie and naturally assumed it was a photo Shan Chong had taken of himself today.
“You changed your phone background, Shifu?” Bei Ci asked casually. “It’s not the same old-fashioned landscape photo anymore? That’s more like it, with so many flashy photos to choose from every day—”
Shan Chong: “Mm.”
Bei Ci was still not over what he had heard this morning and was about to say something more to tease Wei Zhi. But as he turned his head, he caught another glimpse and felt something wasn’t quite right…
For example, Shan Chong didn’t have long, flowing hair that could spread out in mid-air when he jumped. Furthermore, even considering the angle, his legs appeared too short from this perspective. And then there was that small rainbow on the bottom of the board—
Beici: “…”
He picked up the man’s phone, turned it on, and asked Wei Zhi: “Is this you?”
Wei Zhi took a sip from her coffee cup, glancing vaguely at Shan Chong, who quickly snatched the phone back.
Beici: “…”
Beici: “Did you two lure a dog here to kill it?”
Beici: “I’m going to call the animal protection society.”
Wei Zhi: “You should call the zoo instead. Tell them a wild boar has escaped and is running amok at the ski resort.”
Shan Chong: “Zoos don’t keep wild boars.”
Wei Zhi: “They don’t?”
Shan Chong: “What’s there to see? Would you pay to watch wild boars?”
Wei Zhi: “Oh.”
Beici: “…”
Beici wasn’t about to give up so easily. He took a sip of hot chocolate and changed his tone, addressing Wei Zhi: “By the way, I heard you completed a task this morning. Has the box training finally concluded?”
Wei Zhi looked at him, instinctively sensing he had nothing good to say. Sure enough, Beici continued in a provocative tone: “Not bad. Although everyone knows you got scolded, didn’t you ask Chong-shen for a reward? Wouldn’t it be a waste of effort otherwise?”
There was indeed a reward—did inviting her to learn the next prop count?
Hiding half her face behind the cup, Wei Zhi glanced at Beici from the corner of her eye. The young woman remained silent, her instincts telling her that voicing this answer would make her senior brother laugh uncontrollably.
As expected, without needing her response, her senior brother’s mouth didn’t stop: “I’m familiar with master-disciple romances. I read a manga about one, you know. Do you want to know where the first intimate moment between the male and female leads came from? It was when the seemingly stupid disciple at the bottom of the sect—”
Wei Zhi: “You’re the stupid one.”
Beici leisurely finished his thought: “—unexpectedly activated their sea of consciousness during their first attempt at cultivation, successfully breaking through their current stage. That night, they mastered a sword technique that would take others three years to learn.”
Wei Zhi’s hand, holding the cup, froze.
Beici grinned: “Then when the master wanted to reward them, the disciple hugged the master’s waist and asked, ‘Can I kiss you?'”
Wei Zhi gulped down a mouthful of coffee, nearly choking and glared at Beici.
Seeing her shocked expression, her senior brother was thoroughly amused: “Ugh, the author is so good at this. That’s the part that got me hooked on the story.”
Before Wei Zhi could react, the man who had been silent beside her reached out his large hand and placed it on Beici’s head, forcibly turning it away from Wei Zhi’s face: “Stop telling her these nonsensical things. She’s already wayward enough. Should a young girl like her even be reading those mangas? And you two are discussing them?”
Beici: “I’m just encouraging her to ask you for benefits.”
Shan Chong: “You’re overstepping.”
Beici: “I’m mainly worried seeing you two sit so far apart while eating.”
Shan Chong: “That’s not what you said when you came over earlier.”
As the two exchanged words, Wei Zhi’s mind went blank. All she could think about was how familiar Beici’s description sounded—wasn’t that the content of her first chapter? What was with his sarcastic look? Surely he wasn’t reading her manga? And that impulsive illustration she drew in a moment of inspiration—
Never mind the illustration.
“This pit is for crowdfunding marriage startup capital” and such…
The text was even more terrifying.
………………………
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
While sitting restlessly, desperately wanting to rush back to the hotel to check what exactly she had drawn in her manga, she couldn’t help but glance at the man’s lips. His thin, pale lips carried an inherent authority when not smiling.
It’s not like she hadn’t touched them before, but at that time, she was crying so much she couldn’t taste anything. If she could do it again…
To be honest, it was much more motivating than hitting rails, flying barrels, or jumping platforms.
“What are you looking at?”
The man turned his head, expressionless, and looked at her.
“…”
Wei Zhi nearly broke the handle off her coffee cup.
……
In the afternoon, Shan Chong had only one class. He left just before 1 o’clock.
Wei Zhi, full and slightly drowsy, yawned as she carried her board out. She was considering going up the mountain three or four times in the afternoon before calling it a day, then returning to the hotel to check what nonsense she had drawn in her manga to stop it from occupying her thoughts…
However, at the entrance of the ski equipment hall, she ran into Huayan and Yanyan, who enthusiastically invited her to ski off-piste with them.
“Off-piste” refers to the non-groomed snow areas outside the regular slopes. There, the snow was pure, natural, soft, and thick, without any special treatment. The paths hadn’t been cleared of loose stones or boulders, full of unknowns.
Xinjiang’s winters brought heavy snowfall, and this area was famous for its natural snow.
Off-piste skiing in natural snow was the first step towards returning to nature. Beginners might not even be able to stand there…
That’s why there were only a handful of beginners and intermediate skiers on Xinjiang’s slopes, as most people who came here were experts aiming for the natural snow.
Wei Zhi felt a bit excited.
Huayan grabbed her, and being tall herself, she lifted Wei Zhi onto the cable car like a little chick. Once seated, she tagged Shan Chong in the group chat and sent a voice message: “Chong-shen, Yanyan, and I are taking your disciple off-piste. Just letting you know, although we’re not planning to listen to any objections.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
The man must have been checking his phone because he replied within two seconds. His cool voice came through when she played the message: “She has a new board. Why are you taking her off-piste?”
Under the white snow covering the off-piste trails, there were many invisible loose stones and even large rocks. One careless move could result in a scratched board bottom at best, or a broken board at worst…
So people generally didn’t want to take their new boards off-piste.
Huayan chuckled as she put away her phone: “I knew he wouldn’t agree. It’s fine, he probably won’t finish class for another half hour or so. He can’t catch us. We’ll just pretend there’s no signal up on the mountain.”
Pocketing her phone, they gave Wei Zhi some tips on the cable car—
For instance, when skiing in natural snow, it’s easy to get stuck because of the soft snow, so you need to keep your board flat for longer and shift your weight slightly to the back foot.
There are indeed many loose rocks in the off-piste area, and hitting them can easily cause falls. Those unfamiliar with the terrain should try to follow others’ tracks.
Most importantly, stay with the group. Don’t fall behind or wander off on your own.
After emphasizing these basics, they got off the cable car, lifted the safety net, and while the resort staff weren’t looking, they entered the off-piste area.
Xinjiang’s terrain is vast and open. Lifting the safety net and peeking out, they saw an endless snowy plain. In the distance, snow-capped mountains layered one after another, with cotton candy-like wispy white clouds floating in the blue sky.
It was a magnificent view that couldn’t be seen from the groomed slopes.
It was already afternoon, and there were quite a few tracks left by previous skiers in the off-piste area, indicating that many had already been there.
Wei Zhi put on her board and glided forward, immediately feeling her feet sink into the soft snow. She let out an “Oh!” and heard Yanyan remind her from behind: “Don’t change edges too much, and don’t lift them too high, or you’ll get stuck and won’t be able to move!”
Wei Zhi tried to straighten her board and slid for a while. It was completely different from skiing on regular slopes—
The speed was slower.
The snow beneath her feet was softer.
The board made a pleasant “swish swish” sound as it brushed against the snow surface, leaving a trail in the soft snow.
She was enjoying this quite a bit.
For the rest of the afternoon, she didn’t ski properly on the groomed slopes even once. Later, getting off the cable car, lifting the safety net, and quickly crawling in when the resort staff weren’t looking became a series of smooth, practiced movements—
Then came the moment when joy turned to sorrow.
On her third run, Wei Zhi was following someone else’s tracks down the slope when she saw Huayan make an obvious detour at a certain point. During the first run, Huayan would certainly have turned back to warn her, but this being the third run and Wei Zhi having followed so well on the previous two, she didn’t bother to say anything this time.
So Wei Zhi only managed to hear Yanyan shout “Watch your feet!” before her board hit a rock directly—
Fortunately, the snow was very thick, and she fell heavily with a “poof” onto the snow surface, which wasn’t painful.
She heard the scraping sound as her board bottom was scratched, which made her wince a bit.
Yanyan took off her board and carefully made her way over to help Wei Zhi up, gently patting the snow off her and asking if she was hurt anywhere…
Wei Zhi felt so touched that she forgot about her board, quickly saying she was fine.
She shifted her board under her feet, just about to tell Yanyan to put her board back on so they could continue, when she tried to turn and found the board wouldn’t follow her foot, almost falling again.
“Oh no, your binding is broken!” Yanyan exclaimed.
Wei Zhi looked down and saw that it was true. The front binding had snapped right in the middle, with the strap hanging pitifully, clearly unusable now.
She remembered buying the bindings casually after getting the board. When Shan Chong looked at them, he just said “They’ll do” and mounted them for her.
They were quite cheap.
…But breaking so easily was still too much.
“You two go ahead,” Wei Zhi said with a dejected face as she bent down to take off her board. “I’ll crawl back to the slope and walk down.”
The ski slopes here weren’t very long, less than 2km. Once back on the groomed trail, it wouldn’t take too long to walk down.
Yanyan hesitated for a moment, and by then Huayan had also taken off her board and come over—mainly because, unlike men, it would be quite difficult for them to carry an extra board and take Wei Zhi down the mountain…
The two watched as the young girl crawled back to the groomed slope on all fours. Huayan reminded her three times to stay to the side and walk slowly before reluctantly skiing away, looking back every few meters.
…Wei Zhi dragged her board with one hand holding the broken binding, huffing and puffing as she walked down the mountain.
After a few hundred meters, the large and heavy board had her exhausted. She cursed her bad luck, sat down by the side of the trail, took out her phone, and sent a message to her boyfriend—
“My binding broke!”
She didn’t expect Shan Chong to see it. He rarely checked his phone anyway, and by now he should have finished class. He hadn’t called her either, so she had no idea what he was doing.
Just as she was about to put her phone away after sending the message, it vibrated. She looked and saw it was a call from Shan Chong.
“…”
Ooh.
Somewhat surprised, but more delighted, she answered the phone with a sweet “Hello.” There was a moment of silence on the other end before a slightly hoarse voice asked, “Your binding broke?”
“Mm-hmm,” she replied honestly. “The quality wasn’t very good. It broke after just a small fall.”
In the background, she could hear Beici’s voice shouting, “Oh shit, Lao Yan, your fs720 was something else!”
…Ah, these guys probably moved straight to the jump after class ended.
Or maybe they were at the halfpipe.
Beici’s loud voice grew fainter, likely because the man had walked away a bit. He asked, “Are you hurt? Where are you?”
“I’m fine, the snow off-piste is soft… I’ve crawled back inside the safety net now, slowly walking down along the north side of the advanced slope.”
“You fell on a rock? I told you not to go there. You never listen.”
“I know, Dad,” Wei Zhi said with a laugh. “What’s done is done. Scolding me won’t glue the binding back together, will it? What’s the use of telling me off?”
She was quite unabashed about it. Shan Chong let out an “Mm,” not knowing what else to say to her. If he said too much, she’d just get angry at him again.
So after a pause, he asked in a subdued tone: “Do you want me to come get you?”
Wei Zhi: “Where are you?”
Shan Chong looked back at Lao Yan, Beici, and a few other disciples crouching near the terrain features not far away, then turned back: “By the halfpipe.”
As if sensing his gaze, the senior brother, standing on the edge of the pipe with his hands on his hips, called out: “Who’s Chong-shen calling? Come over and see if my fscork720 is as good as Lao Yan’s!”
Ignoring the forceful background voice, Wei Zhi thought for a moment: “The halfpipe? That’s a bit far from me, isn’t it? You don’t need to come over, right?”
She used a questioning tone.
However.
Shan Chong: “Oh.”
Shan Chong: “Then walk slowly and be careful. Call me again when you reach the equipment hall.”
Before Wei Zhi could say anything, he promptly hung up the phone.
Until the busy signal came through, Wei Zhi stared blankly at the phone that had been hung up on her, silent for a long while, momentarily at a loss for words.
…
Three minutes later.
Shan Chong did a fscork720 from the left side of the halfpipe to the right, exiting the lip, grabbing his board, then doing a bscork540 back into the pipe wall—
He had just slowly slid back to the bottom of the pipe, not yet having the chance to call Beici over to see the difference between their 720s, when he heard Lao Yan, who was crouching nearby, say: “Chong-ge, did you just fight with your little disciple?”
Shan Chong: “?”
The man raised an eyebrow, not understanding where this question came from.
Bending down to take off his board, he walked over and reached out to take Lao Yan’s phone, looking at it to find a familiar avatar that had posted a new moment three minutes ago—
Image:
An empty, desolate snow trail and a snowboard with a broken binding.
Text:
If breaking your board puts you in a bad mood, try talking to your boyfriend. Afterward, you’ll realize you were actually in a pretty good mood before 🙂
Shan Chong: “…”