Wei Zhi had just hung up the phone when the man emerged from the bathroom. Each time he finished showering, he seemed to reach a new level of sexiness. However, today his girlfriend wasn’t enthralled by his masculine allure; instead, she glared at him.
Shan Chong was acutely aware of what he’d done.
He glanced at her, not bothering to ask “What’s wrong?”, and checked the stats on his newly posted video while toweling his hair.
The numbers were decent. Over the past few years, he’d diligently posted videos of jumps, rails, and barrels, amassing a modest following of a few tens of thousands. Yet his presence on short video platforms was still less significant than Lao Yan’s.
And now?
This video had gained over two thousand new followers in the time it took him to shower – a number that would’ve taken a month to achieve before.
“Seems I’ve cracked the code for viral content,” he sighed. “A couple more days of you learning to carve, and I could become a full-fledged influencer.”
Wei Zhi: “?”
Wei Zhi: “Why are you trying to monetize everything?”
Wei Zhi: “You didn’t even help me up when I fell, just followed behind with your phone recording. What kind of boyfriend are you?”
“I’ve picked you up every time you’ve fallen,” Shan Chong replied seriously, refusing to let her muddy the issue. “Besides, how could I predict your various wipeouts? Catching edges front and back, suddenly face-planting mid-turn – ask Lao Yan if he could make sense of it… If I could predict your falls, I’d have taught you properly by now.”
On technical matters, Wei Zhi couldn’t argue with him.
She whimpered and burrowed under the covers, ignoring him.
Shan Chong was ruthless when it came to anything snowboarding-related. He left Wei Zhi to stew under the blankets for a while as he dried his hair. Only then did he climb into bed and peel her out from her cocoon.
She was nothing if not adaptable.
In one swift motion, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest.
“Do you not like me anymore?”
Shan Chong, who had been stroking her hair, paused at her words, considering whether to twist her head off.
“That’s a rather baseless accusation,” he said calmly.
“You think I’m stupid!” She knew exactly when to play coy, and now she was being extremely dramatic. “I spent all day working on folding and hip compression. Just sneezing now makes my stomach feel like it’s falling apart! And you won’t even praise me!”
“Praise you for what? I need to find something praiseworthy first.”
“See, you don’t like me anymore.” Wei Zhi sighed. “My stomach hurts.”
Hearing this, Shan Chong didn’t bother arguing. He reached down and lifted her shirt hem, his warm, slightly calloused palm – possibly from years of touching snow – pressing against her taut, sore abdomen.
As he massaged her, Wei Zhi let out a couple of contented moans, while simultaneously feeling more envious.
Why could some people learn snowboarding so quickly and well?
Wearing out a pair of gloves touching snow at just eight years old!
She couldn’t do that!
“Switching from a duck stance to a forward stance naturally brings over some duck stance habits,” he said.
Her soft belly was so thin under his hand as if finally conveying some tenderness to him. “You saw Lao Yan didn’t say anything. It’ll get better after a few days of practice.”
“A few days?”
“By New Year’s, you should be able to press down at least one edge – front or back – to touch the snow, right?”
“That long?”
“If you were smarter, three days would be enough.”
“Oh, that’s still too far off.”
As she spoke, she unconsciously tilted her head back, her breath tickling his chin like a feather.
The man’s hand on her belly paused, then slid upwards. Wei Zhi immediately sensed something was off and grabbed his hand to stop it.
He looked down at her, his dark eyes flickering with unspoken meaning. Wei Zhi instantly perked up, no longer complaining about her stomach pain. She quickly scrambled up, muttering “I’m going to shower” while trying to climb over him to escape the bed swiftly.
However, he was quick to react.
Just as she was straddling him to get off the bed, he grabbed her wrist.
The hot touch on her wrist made Wei Zhi’s heart skip a beat.
Feeling a bit nervous, she was forced to maintain her position straddling the man. Seconds later, he lifted his leg and flipped their positions, pinning the young girl back onto the bed.
She felt breathless for a moment as his scent enveloped her completely. His handsome face was inches away, hovering above her.
“W-what are you doing?” Wei Zhi nervously swallowed. “Get off my bed. We agreed to sleep separately.”
Shan Chong considered this. It would be troublesome if he broke his promise and she didn’t believe anything he said next time. So he lowered his head and kissed the corner of her mouth, then pushed himself up to give her some space to leave.
“Nothing,” he said calmly, watching her roll off the bed and fumble for her slippers. “I just remembered how cute you looked trying so hard on the slope this afternoon. Wanted to kiss you.”
Wei Zhi, holding her slippers, straightened up and stared at him with slightly widened eyes, as if she’d heard something only a devil would say.
Her cheeks rapidly flushed.
Her lips pursed in response.
Standing by the bed, she leaned in and gave him another quick kiss.
Then, tossing out a “That’s it for tonight,” she fled into the bathroom.
…
The next two days passed uneventfully. On the third day, Wei Zhi woke up early.
Today they were going to visit the Olympic venue for inspiration. The young girl got up early to wash up, then carefully opened her suitcase to take out her tall boots and short skirt.
Shan Chong was awakened by her bustling around the room. He lifted the covers and sat up, watching his girlfriend spin around the room like a top. An oversized sweatshirt, turtleneck sweater, and pleated skirt were tossed onto the bed. He stared at them for a moment, yawned, and asked, “Is it Gaper Day today?”
Gaper Day is a special event in the snow sports community.
Originating in the US, it takes place near the end of each snow season as temperatures rise and snow melts. To commemorate and wrap up the ending season, on this day, snowboarders and skiers alike gather at ski resorts dressed in outrageous costumes (traditionally nude) to drink, ski, and have fun together.
“It’s only mid-January,” Shan Chong added. “Has global warming pushed the end of snow season up by two or three months?”
At this moment, Wei Zhi emerged from the bathroom, having just blow-dried her hair. She glanced at him while applying hair oil. “Oh, you’re up?”
Shan Chong ignored her question and raised an eyebrow: “What’s the skirt for?”
“To wear.”
Shan Chong checked his phone: “It’s minus three degrees outside, and it might snow today… You’re wearing a skirt?”
He got up, reached out with his long arm to lift her thick Antarctic-worthy sweater, pushed aside the sweatshirt, picked up the skirt, and held it up, gauging the length. He tossed it aside and looked back at the bed, where nothing else remained.
“Where are the tights?” He paused, then added to show he wasn’t completely clueless, “The fleece-lined kind, the ones you can wear as pants.”
“Southerners are cold-resistant.”
“Cold-resistant enough to go without tights?”
“I have tall boots.”
The conversation ended briefly. Shan Chong went to take a shower. When he came out, fully awake, he didn’t rush to change into his base layer and snow gear. Instead, wearing just a short-sleeved t-shirt, he sat cross-legged on the bed hugging a pillow, staring intently at his girlfriend as she applied makeup.
As she was tapping a small brush against an eyeshadow palette, the man’s phone rang. He picked it up to see a reminder from the sponsor about today’s event – they were to go to the conference room of the hotel adjacent to the Olympic venue in the afternoon.
Shan Chong’s face went blank for a few seconds before he realized what was happening.
He put down his phone and asked Wei Zhi, “Attending an event?”
“Mm-hmm, it’s for work. We’re visiting the Chongli Olympic venues for inspiration, touring the facilities…” The young girl paused, glancing back at Shan Chong. “There’s a meet-and-greet at the hotel in the afternoon. I think the officials invited some big names from the ice and snow sports world for a meeting.”
Shan Chong was silent for a moment.
Then he picked up the skirt, his face expressionless. “This big name would prefer you wear pants.”
“I didn’t bring any pants, big shot,” Wei Zhi nodded towards the sweater nearby. “Besides, I have this sweater, don’t I?”
“You ate yesterday, so don’t eat today.”
Knowing he couldn’t control her, Shan Chong tossed her skirt aside and started dressing himself. He stuck to his usual layering of the base layer, sweatshirt, and snow jacket. As he was fully dressed and searching everywhere for his snow socks, he suddenly said, “I think I’ll go to Yunding Snow Resort today too.”
Yunding Snow Resort was the name of the Olympic venue.
Hearing this, Wei Zhi’s hand, which was applying eyeliner, trembled, nearly poking her eye. She frantically searched for a cotton swab to wipe off the misplaced line. After tossing the swab, she turned to ask the man, “What are you going there for?”
Shan Chong calmly put on his inner protective gear: “To watch you.”
Shan Chong rarely wore protective gear, except when practicing tricks.
Wei Zhi’s heart raced. She patted her chest, mumbling, “Be careful on the big air jumps,” while pinning her work-related name tag to her chest.
Then they left together.
The Olympic venue was also at the mountaintop, directly connected to the summit ski area. If wearing boards, one could ski directly there via connecting slopes.
Originally planning to take a short taxi ride due to the proximity, they stepped out only to have Wei Zhi’s face nearly blown sideways by the biting wind. She stamped her feet, and the man beside her turned to look at her, then ushered her back into the apartment lobby.
He handed her his board bag and went to the parking lot to bring his car around.
…
Arriving at Yunding Snow Resort by car, they saw other event participants gradually showing up. Wei Zhi jumped out of the car, waving goodbye to her boyfriend, who called out like a father: “See anyone else not wearing pants?”
Hanging on the door, Wei Zhi asked, “Can you forget about that?”
“Sure,” Shan Chong said, “Just don’t let me hear you sneeze once today.”
“You really won’t,” Wei Zhi said with a grin. “The event probably won’t finish until after dinner.”
With that, she slammed the door shut and jogged to join the main group.
As an Olympic venue, Yunding Snow Resort had more comprehensive facilities than other ski resorts. While other resorts typically had multi-brand ski equipment stores, this one had an independent mall with many big-brand stores like The North Face.
Early in the morning, Wei Zhi even ran into Hua Yan and Yan Yan, who had skied over from the summit resort to buy KFC for breakfast.
At the time, she was sitting with other website writers, who weren’t ski specialists. They were debating whether “freestyle skiing” referred to alpine skiing or also included snowboarding.
“Freestyle is just for alpine skiing, that’s what the materials say.”
“Then guess whether ‘park’ refers to snowboarding or skiing?”
“Snowboard park and ski freestyle are the same thing.”
“I suggest you research the definition of freestyle before making such claims.”
The two argued heatedly while Wei Zhi sat beside them, completely bewildered. Most people in KFC were dressed in snow gear for skiing, and they turned to look at the arguing pair.
Seeing Hua Yan and the others, Wei Zhi waved in greeting. Hua Yan came over: “What are you doing here?… Dressed like that.”
Wei Zhi pointed to her name tag: “Work.”
Hua Yan: “Where’s Chong-ge?”
Wei Zhi: “He’s here too.”
Hua Yan: “He came with you?”
Wei Zhi: “Have you seen him? No, he just used accompanying me as an excuse to hit the big air jumps.”
Hua Yan: “Dai Duo is here today too. He used escorting you as a pretext to find Dai Duo and hit the big air… Oh boy, what a scoundrel. By the way, yesterday’s video was something. How come you’re learning to carve now?”
Mentioning that video made Wei Zhi feel a bit breathless. She mumbled a few words, and Hua Yan prepared to leave. Before going, she enlightened the two arguing individuals about freestyle: freestyle is just freestyle, both snowboard freestyle and ski freestyle exist, and the snow sports community doesn’t distinguish them so clearly.
After she left, one of the guys, still captivated by the graceful beauty of the girl adjusting her pink snow goggles, turned to Wei Zhi and asked, “What’s ‘big air’?”
“It’s a snowboarding big jump, big air.”
“What about carving?”
“It’s a snowboarding technical riding style, parallel giant slalom.”
“You know how to ski?”
“How could I cover this topic if I didn’t?” Wei Zhi asked, puzzled. “Besides multimedia, you need to know a bit about everything to find the right people to interview. For the remaining topics, you need to know at least a little about the projects you’re covering—”
The questioner looked towards an otaku-type guy in the distance, estimated to be about 180cm tall and weighing around 100-110kg. He pointed and said, “That’s A-De, he writes about figure skating. His articles are very popular.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Impressive, indeed.
…
After leaving KFC, they continued touring various competition venues.
Although the Winter Olympics were approaching, many event sites were still resting. At the completed venues, athletes had already begun training. For instance, one slope was filled with gates for parallel giant slaloms.
They made their way to the snow sports terrain area.
Upon arrival, Wei Zhi instinctively started looking around for her boyfriend.
As she was scanning the area, she heard the guide, after introducing the Winter Olympic snow events and their rules, suddenly say, “Today, our interviewee for snow events is a legendary figure in bigair.”
Hearing this, Wei Zhi was stunned.
She turned her head in confusion, just in time to see a white figure leap from the big air jump, stretch out, grab the board, and spin several times in the air, performing a bscord1800, amidst gasps of awe from the crowd. Upon landing—
The landing was unsteady, clearly leaning back. Wei Zhi winced as she saw him catch his back edge and slide on his backside for several meters, kicking up a cloud of snow…
This didn’t stop the nearby laymen from applauding frantically.
Dai Duo slowly got up, removed his board, and walked back towards them. As he passed by, he initially just lifted his eyelids to glance at them indifferently, but upon seeing Wei Zhi, he seemed a bit surprised.
He paused, then backtracked to the group he had just passed.
“When did you join the circus?”
His voice was caustic and cold.
Wei Zhi turned back to look at the guide in confusion, wondering if this was the person they had invited for the tour. Surely any word he uttered would need to be edited out?
However, the guide didn’t seem to react much. Dai Duo stood there, “chatting” with Wei Zhi for a few sentences under everyone’s curious gaze, before finally saying, “He’s up there.”
Wei Zhi followed his gaze and immediately spotted her boyfriend lazily leaning against the starting gate, chatting with someone nearby, not even glancing in their direction.
Dai Duo pursed his lips, looking displeased at Shan Chong’s presence, and left.
Wei Zhi glanced at her boyfriend again, then turned to the guide and said, “Why did you invite him for the interview? Isn’t there anyone in the entire snow sports world who’s better at talking to people than him?”
The guide made a confused sound: “Who?”
Wei Zhi: “The one who just came over and asked if we were a circus.”
Guide: “Who’s he?”
Wei Zhi: “National snowboarding team… Never mind, isn’t he the interviewee for this afternoon?”
“No,” the guide pointed towards the starting gate above them, “I think it’s that one, the guy in black clothes who’s very handsome.”
Wei Zhi looked in the direction he was pointing.
At that moment, there was no one at the starting gate—
Except for her boyfriend.
Right then, dressed in all-black snow gear, he had shifted from his previously lazy, boneless stance to a stable position. He raised his hand to lower his goggles, bent down to check his bindings one more time, and gripped the starting gate.
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi: “?”
…This was more terrifying than seeing a ghost.