On October 6, 2021, as the National Day holiday was drawing to a close, Chongli experienced its first heavy snowfall of the year. The news even trended on social media.
With the snow season just around the corner, snow enthusiasts who had spent the summer lounging on air cushions, dry slopes, and various Sunac resorts collectively erupted in excitement, coming alive.
Opening any social media app, one could see people discussing this event extensively, as if the Winter Olympics atmosphere had suddenly intensified. But Chongli gets snow every year, doesn’t it? It’s surprising that it made the trending list this time.
On WeChat Moments, those who had rushed to Keketuohai for the season opening during the National Day holiday shared remarkably similar sentiments about Chongli’s first snowfall:
Huayan: I shed tears the moment I saw Chongli’s snowfall news. I promptly packed my bags to return home… The injuries I sustained here need exactly twenty days to heal. Then, the mountain-top ski resort will open!
Beici: Today, the toilets in Keketuohai are finally usable. Hooray!
Laoyan: Woke up at 8 AM, boarded the bus at 9, departed at 10. Halfway through, we received notice that heavy snow had closed the mountain. Spent the morning awkwardly chatting with fellow snow enthusiasts on the bus. After lunch and afternoon tea, we finally made it to the ski resort’s cable car. Hooray!
Horizon of Marrakech: Chongli has snow now. Can the mountain-top resort opening be far behind? But after this National Day experience, I’ll never attend another resort opening. Goodbye.
Wang Xin: Every year we rush for the opening, every year we get duped. Are those crying foul goldfish-brained? Even last year at Songhuahu, we had to stand in line at the bottom of the cable car!
Dai Duo: Beidahu not only made us stand in line, but old men on alpine skis also cut the queue!
Yanyan: Summarizing everyone’s comments: don’t rush to any ski resort opening. It leads to misfortune.
In the morning, Wei Zhi yawned and emerged drowsily from her blanket. Her first action was to check her phone, scrolling through her friends’ comments and leaving strings of “hahaha” on their complaints…
Then she checked her lawful husband’s routine itinerary report:
8:00 AM
[Chong: I’m up.]
8:30 AM
[Chong: Breakfast. Wang Xin insisted I eat that bowl of noodles. So annoying. Talk to him later about how I don’t like breakfast.]
9:00 AM
[Chong: The new 21-22 Oakley snow goggles arrived. Look good? There’s also a pink one. The official website has a discount. Should we get one? <image>]
9:30 AM
[Chong: Queuing for the cable car. Only one slope is open and it’s packed. The upper section is okay, but the lower part is all ice chunks. Falling hurts like hell. Good thing you didn’t come, or you’d be scolding me.]
10:00 AM
[Chong: I’m training.]
Five unread messages in one morning, fully demonstrating a man’s ability to talk to himself and how clingy he can be when he wants to.
Wrapped in her blanket, Wei Zhi glanced at the air conditioner display showing 24°C, still diligently working to cool the room. She sighed. This year, snow came early in the north, but autumn was late in arriving in the south. Checking the weather forecast, she saw that southern cities were still generally above 32°C.
Throwing off her blanket, she got up to wash. While brushing her teeth, she typed:
[Little Chirp: I’m up.]
[Little Chirp: I went to bed late last night watching dramas. I was supposed to sleep until noon today, but I woke up early. Guess why?]
It was about 10:30 AM.
Surprisingly, the reply came instantly.
[Chong: What?]
Wei Zhi, with her toothbrush in her mouth, raised an eyebrow.
[Little Chirp: Aren’t you training?]
[Chong: Does training mean I can’t check my phone?]
[Little Chirp: Indeed, dreams are prophetic. You’re as fierce as in my dream.]
The other side showed “typing” for at least a minute. Wei Zhi thought he was writing a small essay, but after all that waiting, all that came through was:
[Chong: ?]
This is the downside of communicating online. Perhaps he was simply expressing confusion, but to Wei Zhi, it seemed questionable.
[Little Chirp: Why are you getting impatient?]
[Little Chirp: Men really don’t know how to cherish what they have once they’ve got it. Is this why we fall into a pit of snakes, and you, being agile, escape on your own, then perch at the edge saying you’ll find someone to rescue me, only to never return?]
[Little Chirp: Have you no conscience? Even fresh dung is fragrant for three days. How long have we been married? You should at least stick around for three years. Am I dead to you that you can just replace me with a new wife?]
[Chong: ???]
[Chong: I thought you were outrageous, but I didn’t expect you to wake up grumpy from a dream and come scold me.]
[Chong: I underestimated you.]
[Little Chirp: You left me in a pit of snakes and ran away yourself qaq!]
This time, Shan Chong sent a voice message. The wind could be heard howling in Keketuohai, and the man’s voice sounded lazy with a hint of laughter: “Aren’t you not afraid of snakes?”
Wei Zhi felt annoyed hearing this.
Still brushing her teeth, she gagged a bit, leaned over the sink, and spat out some toothpaste foam:
“Was it just one snake? It was a whole pit! Hundreds of them!”
Another voice message came through, this time just a string of laughter.
His voice was naturally pleasant, one of those rare cases where the voice matched the looks. He rarely laughed, but when faced with his wife’s unreasonable behavior, he didn’t get angry, just laughed so nicely…
It was quite criminal.
Wei Zhi grumbled, staring at the phone screen for a while. She had to admit she might be missing him, so she asked, cradling her phone: “When are you coming back?”
After a few seconds, a middle-aged man’s voice replied: “November! November! In a few days, there’s a championship in Chongli, coinciding with the resort opening. Want to come?”
It was Wang Xin.
He must have confiscated Shan Chong’s phone.
Wei Zhi replayed her husband’s previous voice messages to cleanse her ears, then obediently replied with an “Oh.”
Nearly half a year had passed. Since returning to the team, Shan Chong had become the busiest person in the world—
When he wasn’t on a plane, he was in hotel quarantine. The price was seeing his wife only a few days each month. In the half year up to October, his FIS points had skyrocketed from being virtually non-existent to breaking into the top fifty.
He was still a bit short of the Winter Olympics standard.
But it was enough to silence those who questioned whether he deserved that extra Olympic spot.
He went to every competition he could, and even when conditions were unfavorable, he created opportunities to go. He didn’t slack off just because he thought he could secure a spot, working as diligently as an old donkey in a mill—
Countless younger athletes looked up to him in awe.
In this half year, “Shan Chong” had undoubtedly become one of the hottest names in the snowboard big air event.
With four months left until the 2022 Winter Olympics, he was still on the competition circuit.
…
Wei Zhi put down her phone. Jiang Nanfeng was already seated in her dining room, with several takeout boxes on the table containing Cantonese breakfast items like congee and rice noodle rolls.
Hearing someone come out of the bathroom, she kept her head down, playing with her phone, and asked without looking up: “Are you pregnant?”
Wei Zhi almost tripped over her own feet in shock.
Steadying herself against the wall, she asked in confusion: “Where did you get that idea?”
“I heard you talking about snakes outside.”
“Oh, I had a nightmare last night—”
“A pregnancy dream.”
“…”
“I also heard you retching.”
“I poked my throat with the toothbrush!!?”
“I was just asking casually. Why are you so worked up?”
Jiang Nanfeng changed her sitting position and finally looked up, lazily eyeing the person not far away. How to put it… seeing her standing there, fair-skinned and plump, even her toes in slippers looked rosy…
Her complexion was ruddy.
Full of vitality.
She certainly didn’t look pregnant.
“How many times has Shan Chong been back in the past six months?” she said, “If you were pregnant, I’d wonder whose it was—”
As she spoke, Wei Zhi had already shuffled over in her slippers. She rolled her eyes at Jiang Nanfeng, opened a takeout box, and under the latter’s watchful gaze, wolfed down several mouthfuls of congee.
Her cheeks puffed out.
Watching her eat always seemed so appetizing.
Jiang Nanfeng hadn’t had much of an appetite these past few days, which was why she had brought breakfast to Wei Zhi’s place this morning. Seeing Wei Zhi eat a couple of bites, she also started eating.
They chatted while eating. Wei Zhi asked Jiang Nanfeng if she was going to Chongli this year, and the latter replied without hesitation that if she had nothing else to do, she might as well go…
Before they knew it, this had become their second snow season.
Thanks to Laoyan’s efforts, Jiang Nanfeng now had seventy to eighty thousand followers on her short video platform, most of whom were genuinely fans of her skills. Unless she specifically mentioned it, no one would know this was only Jiang Nanfeng’s first snow season.
“Why don’t you try the park this year,” Jiang Nanfeng said. “Ask your Shan Chong to introduce someone reliable.”
“Looking for the next victim? Laoyan could teach you in the park too, you know.”
“As if… If I’m not going to climb a new tree, why bother changing disciplines?”
“Tree?”
“The tree you shouldn’t hang yourself from twice, metaphorically speaking.”
“…” Wei Zhi said, “If you really want to learn, Shan Chong might want to teach you himself — you know, he’s been curious for a long time about whether you’re a genius in the park too. If only you hadn’t kept saying ‘I’d rather break my ribs falling on the ground than on equipment’ all the time.”
“He can’t,” Jiang Nanfeng wrinkled her nose. “I don’t buy that. I need to grow under loving education.”
Wei Zhi rolled her eyes again.
And made a gagging face.
Then, as she was doing it, she suddenly covered her mouth and let out a genuine retching sound.
“…”
“…”
Jiang Nanfeng, who had been holding her spoon and smiling, now had her eyebrows raised to her hairline. She dropped her spoon and stared at Wei Zhi.
Wei Zhi also dropped her spoon: “Today’s stir-fried pig liver is a bit fishy. Is it undercooked?”
“Don’t malign the century-old brand. I queued for an hour to bring this here.” Jiang Nanfeng tossed her phone aside and stood up. “Let’s go.”
“Where to?”
“Pharmacy, hospital, wherever.”
“…I don’t think it’s possible,” Wei Zhi said. “Who are you trying to scare?”
“You’re the one scaring me.” Jiang Nanfeng took the young woman’s hand. “Be honest with me, is the child Shan Chong’s?”
Wei Zhi frowned and swatted away her hand. After a moment’s thought, her face suddenly turned pale: “My mom will kill me if she finds out.”
“You’re already twenty-two, not sixteen… You’re married, and your husband is participating in the Winter Olympics next year, not taking the college entrance exam, my friend.” Jiang Nanfeng’s face darkened. “Why would she kill you?”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi: “Oh, right.”
Jiang Nanfeng: “Do you want to tell Shan Chong—”
Wei Zhi: “Why should I tell him?”
Jiang Nanfeng: “Oh, so the child really isn’t his.”
Wei Zhi: “…”