In the brief first half of Bei Jiao’s life, there were many unforgettable, trivial moments.
To summarize, he must have possessed a special fate. On the destiny scroll written by gods, it was stated: throughout his entire life, this person would constantly engage in the fundamental principle of exchange, busily striving between gaining and losing.
For example, one ordinary evening during senior year after self-study class.
He walked home with his backpack, inside which was the total score report of the first mock exam. In his mind echoed his teacher’s words: although your score isn’t top-tier, you still have many choices; it’s time to start thinking about your preferred career.
At that moment, he first realized that the power of choice in life had fallen into his own hands, and he wanted to share this new discovery with someone unspecified.
It didn’t necessarily have to be someone he knew—it could be a homeless person on the street or even a stray cat in the courtyard.
—This was a gain.
Walking home with his backpack, the house unusually had a light on, and someone was moving around inside.
In the center of the living room stood an open suitcase. One of the few women in this world who shared blood ties with him had appeared after being missing for a month, and she was placing various expensive-looking dresses inside. He turned on the living room light, and under the bright illumination, she held a deep blue spaghetti-strap camisole and said: “I’m leaving. This house is left to you.”
Standing at the doorstep with his backpack, the teenager, who usually had nothing to say to the woman he called mother, remained silent for a few seconds.
He unusually initiated a question: “Do you know I’m about to take the college entrance exam?”
One question triggered instant hysteria.
She said she knew, but she had no choice. Her entire life she had no real skills, only surviving by relying on her pretty face and men. This was her last chance. If she didn’t go to Vancouver with that man, where else would the money come from to pay for his college tuition? Did she really have to work as a waitress in a restaurant taking orders and carrying trays?
—Of course, there was nothing shameful about being a waitress, but she had the airs of a lady but the fate of a servant, unable to do such work.
She shouted until her face turned red and her neck swelled, her beautiful and deceivingly youthful face contorting. She asked her son whether giving birth to him was only to torment herself. She had often gone a whole month without coming home for years, and he had no complaints—so what was different this time? Was it simply that he didn’t want to see her live well?
Amid the woman’s shrill screams loud enough for the entire building to hear, Bei Jiao, who had only asked that one question at the doorstep, fell silent again. At the time, he was just a little curious—
She always complained about giving birth to him, but in reality, no one had ever asked him if he agreed.
Later, Ms. Zhang left without even taking her suitcase.
—This was a loss.
Half a year later, the university admission notice arrived in his hands. The postman smiled shyly and congratulated him, saying, “Congratulations, future college student.”
—This was another gain.
After entering university, he turned eighteen and had to squeeze every moment to work part-time jobs, worrying about tuition fees for the next semester.
He had no time for the student union, no time for clubs, no interest in expensive and costly class gatherings. In the sweltering 40°C summer heat, he only paused at the window of a bubble tea shop with air conditioning cool enough, where a temporary job posting was stuck on the glass.
—This was another loss following a gain.
Later, at a small, fly-infested congee restaurant near the university gate, a woman wearing the same deep blue spaghetti strap dress squatted beside her.
She smelled nice. Despite the scorching weather, she didn’t have a single drop of sweat. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, her elbow nearly touching his.
Foam from the washed dishes almost splashed onto her face, but she didn’t care, hugging her knees and squatting beside him, casually pulling at him, letting her scent stain his jeans, asking him innocently, “How about fifty thousand yuan?”
—In front of cheap dish soap and a greasy dishwashing sink, he grabbed the wrist of this clean woman in front of him. It was surprisingly soft.
At that moment, Bei Jiao wondered—if he wanted to gain this person before him, what would he need to lose?
The fear brought by the unknown is the most terrifying thing in the world.
But for once, he wanted to try.
—For the first time in a long time, he actively wanted to gain something.
See?
The seed of improper desire had already been planted back then, but at the time, it was truly just a cautious little seed, perhaps ready to die at any moment.
Who knows?
Later, the seed suddenly took root and sprouted, now deeply embedded in the soil, growing into a towering tree capable of blocking out the sky and sunlight.
…
Inside the ski equipment store, voices still buzzed.
But it suddenly seemed very quiet.
If Tuan were to describe the atmosphere at that time, it would probably be something inexplicably like everyone around had suddenly stopped talking.
Her arrogant, emotionless, and even rude teacher who had been harsh with elementary students just a second ago suddenly seemed to have his voice line cut, losing his ability to speak, silently standing there like a mute.
In Tuan’s arms, the “firecracker” sister was actually wearing a proud expression. She lifted her chin, her previously round jawline tightening into a clear line. Her barely noticeable throat slightly rolled, and Tuan felt like he heard the sound of swallowing saliva.
Her spine was straight.
She stared expressionlessly at the young man with black hair in front of her.
Perhaps after about ten seconds, neither moved, as if engaging in a silent contest. Jiang Ran felt somewhat uncertain how long she could hold on—
Feeling as if she were standing on the edge of a cliff, one step forward, and she would fall into an abyss.
She didn’t know what falling would feel like.
But she knew that if he dared to act recklessly and caused any irreversible situation, she would definitely drag him down with her.
Her deep brown pupils flickered, and he clearly read the fierce warning in her eyes.
At this moment, someone noticed the uncontrollable, strange atmosphere between the two and turned to look, easily recognizing Bei Jiao and Jiang Ran—two heavyweights who each dominated their own territory, previously avoiding each other like kings avoiding kings, only forced into an encounter due to the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Seeing the two standing so stiffly, with Jiang Ran still carrying a little kid, the kid at this moment was hugging her waist and turning his head back, gazing at Bei Jiao in confusion…
Assuming the two had some kind of conflict.
Hesitating slightly, someone called out, “Brother Bei, what’s going on?”
Let’s talk things through. After all, we’re all from the same club. Don’t start fighting on our own turf.
Everyone was very afraid. A staff member from the club walked out from behind the checkout counter, ready to break up a fight. It was also the same person who had just called out to Bei Jiao.
Jiang Ran glanced at them, about to say something about how could anyone argue with such a lingering atmosphere.
But before she could speak, he furrowed his brows and mumbled almost incoherently, “It’s nothing,” then lifted his foot and walked past everyone toward the ski store’s exit.
His steps were fast.
It was as if he were fleeing from an epidemic, which wouldn’t be an inaccurate description.
Jiang Ran stared at his back, her beautiful eyebrows slowly knitting together, perhaps because her expression looked too terrifying, the staff member who had previously called out to Bei Jiao bravely shouted at her, “Sister Ran, talk things through nicely, okay? Brother Bei isn’t that old, let him have his way.”
Jiang Ran said, “Let him have his way? Like hell.”
Leaving behind this sentence and the staff member who instantly fled in panic after receiving it, she shoved Tuan into the staff member’s arms, pointing at the black-and-white cowhide-colored ski boots discarded in the shoe box: “Get him to try the same model in solid black. Let him tell you the size.”
And without waiting for them to speak, she turned and chased after him.
…
The ski store door was pushed open by her shoulder. Outside, the commercial street was bustling with people. Although colorful snowsuits filled the scene, at a glance, they all looked the same.
So many people that anyone entering the crowd was like a grain of sand falling into a beach.
Jiang Ran clicked her tongue, her frown deepening. In her heart, she already wielded an eighty-meter-long saber, thinking, what’s wrong with this brat? What did he mean?
Was he not supposed to tearfully embrace her in gratitude, joyfully apologize for his coldness and throw a little tantrum?
He just turned and walked away?
What an arrogant little brat.
Jiang Ran had already passed that initial nervousness and shyness. Now, she just wanted to break his legs.
On the commercial street of Songbei Ski Resort, besides the entrance to the ski equipment hall, each shop also had those simple racks for snowboarders to temporarily place their boards.
Jiang Ran threw her snowboard onto the rack, preparing to search the area thoroughly. If she couldn’t find him, she’d go to the lost children center and have the whole ski resort announce over the loudspeaker: Bei Jiao, your mother is waiting for you at the lost children center. Please quickly find a staff member to take you home.
She made up her mind, placed her snowboard, and was about to leave—
At that moment, from the lower right rear side of the simple snowboard rack, suddenly a warm, dry big hand stretched out and caught her right pinky hanging by her side.
The sudden touch startled Jiang Ran.
She barely suppressed the urge to scream, looked down, and finally saw a young man with black hair crouched like a mushroom under the snowboard rack filled with boards.
He was crouched there, one hand covering his eyes, unwilling to look at her, only the suspiciously reddening earlobes revealing something.
His whole body was tense, his thin lips pressed into a straight line.
His nose was slightly red from the cold, snowflakes even resting on his shoulder…
He must have turned right after exiting and crouched here, already squatting for several minutes.
It was as if he had eyes on top of his head.
The other hand, besides covering his eyes, firmly hooked onto her pinky with precision and strength.
“Where are you going?”
His voice was low, the pronunciation from deep in his throat somewhat muffled.
Jiang Ran coldly stared at him. He didn’t speak again, just silently moved the hand holding her pinky, as if afraid she would run away. He used his pinky to hook hers, then the remaining four fingers slowly climbed—
First, three fingers grabbed her thumb and half her palm.
Then slightly upward, further gripping her wrist.
He lifted his head, staring into her eyes for a long time, then pulled her hand, silently urging her to speak.
A surge of anger rose in Jiang Ran, she fiercely shook his hand off and retracted her own—
To prevent him from catching it again, she folded her hand close to her chest.
She lowered her head, warily watching him.
Meanwhile, the moment she shook him off, he stood up immediately, as if some kind of monster had evolved from mushroom size to a skyscraper, casting a shadow that gradually grew taller, finally completely enveloping her.
He was extremely persistent, reaching out to take her hand folded against her chest into his.
This time, Jiang Ran did not pull away again, as if her suspended heart had heavily landed, the force almost enough to punch through the earth’s core.
Grateful for the noisy commercial street perfectly masking her heartbeat, she could put on her cold, proud mask and lift her chin at him: “Didn’t you leave?”
Good.
Her voice sounded sufficiently cold.
“It was sudden, so I didn’t know what to say, so I just came out first.” He softly added, “But I didn’t leave.”
As he said this, his pitch-black pupils quickly swept over her face, as if carefully observing her emotions.
Jiang Ran’s lips quickly curved upward then flattened.
It might look more like an annoyed twitch of her lips.
“How didn’t you know what to say? You were pretty brave back at the G索 cabin. Has it really been that long?”
(Note: “G索” appears to be a proper noun/name in this context, so it’s kept as “G索” in the translation. If it refers to a specific term that should be translated differently, please provide additional context.)
He wasn’t brave then either.
Otherwise, he might have left her on the hilltop in the park, letting her stand there in the wind watching his performance of several tricks. Besides double cork, he knew many others, and recently even learned to show off Triple cork.
But the moment he saw her in his peripheral vision, his mind actually went blank.
He could usually attempt a double cork 900°, but in the end, he only managed a 720°…
Then he hurriedly went to the cabin.
From the park jump to the G索, it was only a short distance on the snow trail, yet he looked back three times to see if she was following.
Under her icy glare, Bei Jiao pursed his lips, “Later, you kissed me. Shouldn’t I reciprocate?”
“You call that reciprocating?”
“… Slightly mixed with a bit of personal emotion in the reciprocation.”
He sounded humble and pitiful, as if he really knew he was wrong.
“What about just now?” Jiang Ran suddenly asked.
His eyelashes trembled, looking up at her.
“Girlfriend,” she said, “want one or not?”
He didn’t speak for a moment, only tightening his grip on her wrist. His scalding palm was hot enough to feel out of place in winter’s snow. With a slight force, she stumbled slightly toward him—
Her shoulder collided with his chest.
“I do.”
He said.
“How could I not want one.”
…
The staff member behind the counter had just finished his work and looked up, only to find that Bei Jiao, the club’s rising star who had stormed out earlier, had returned.
He took his red tree from beside the stairs and also took away the wealthy child, Tuan, who was using his Xiaotiancai smartwatch to scan and pay after trying on shoes.
The wealthy child was grumbling: “That shoe model clearly had a normal black color, you insisted on telling me that only that cowhide pattern was available. Are you messing with me? Or are you just unhappy yourself and want others to share your misery?”
“Shut up.” Bei Jiao grabbed another Gray 138-length Epic from the rack, equipped with a children’s version binding, “I’m very happy.”
He muttered.
The staff member was completely confused. Looking up, he saw outside the window, beside the simple snowboard rack, Jiang Ran stood with her hands on her hips, expressionless, looking in through the glass window.
Staff member: “…Brother Bei, are you skiing again this afternoon?”
Suddenly called out, Bei Jiao glanced at him, then nodded, “Hmm,” giving the waist-high little kid a slap on the back: “Teaching an apprentice.”
Staff member: “Teach properly. Don’t fight with Sister Ran up on the mountain— not that it’s impossible, just not very presentable.”
Bei Jiao was silent for a moment, then his lips curved slightly into a half-smile, saying, “Okay.”
Whether he actually listened, no one could tell.
But Tuan listened. Before being pushed out of the ski equipment store, he roughly said to the staff member: “Don’t worry, he dares not.”
Perhaps because of that sentence, when taking the cable car, Tuan was forcibly and roughly shoved into another crowded cable car cabin.
Then he personally witnessed Bei Jiao gently wrapping his arm around Jiang Ran’s waist, treating her like a fragile treasure, and entering the next empty cable car cabin.
It had snowed at noon, and by the afternoon, the snow had become soft and slushy, with few people, and no one was queuing for the cable car anymore.
Jiang Ran settled into the cable car, looking up to see Bei Jiao sitting beside her on the same side. The cable car swayed slightly due to the uneven weight.
The cable car door slowly closed. She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, took it out, hadn’t even unlocked it yet, when a hand reached over, hooking her chin.
She turned her head with the force, and her face mask was pulled down by a single finger at the edge.
Her phone screen automatically unlocked with facial recognition, lighting up at the same time Bei Jiao also pulled down his own face mask.
【UMI, Goal Two Hundred Jin Crab Boss: @WhoseRanRanDuck @BeiJiao Heard you two started fighting in the ski equipment store?】
Jiang Ran thought to herself about this rumor, she hadn’t even touched him.
Still seriously thinking about this question, the person beside her leaned over—
The two who were supposedly fighting publicly in the club owner’s mouth were now sticking together like conjoined twins, almost zero distance.
Truly zero distance.
He leaned closer, “smooch” kissing her soft, delicate cheek.
【Nian Nian: Wow, fighting again?】
【Second Car: Forget about them.】
【Nian Nian: The gentleman upstairs does have a point. They argue every day, and when they’re tired, they stop arguing.】
【Second Car: ?】
【UMI, Goal Two Hundred Jin Crab Boss: Gentlemen upstairs, are you two talking about yourselves? I still have to shelter stray children for a few more days in my office!】
【UMI, Goal Two Hundred Jin Crab Boss: I’m even thinking about finding a fortune teller to check if our club’s location is bad for romance! Otherwise, how could we argue every day for every person? Why is this happening!】
He let out a low snort from deep in his nose.
Jiang Ran was still looking at the chat group on her phone. Hearing the sound, she slightly turned her head, and the person beside her’s lips slid from her cheek to her mouth corner.
A soft, moist tongue gently licked her lip corner.
Then it began with a small tongue, starting to sneak into her lip corner.
【Huang Cancan: Boss, have you heard the saying ‘One mountain cannot hold two tigers’?】
She put down her phone, slightly shifting her shoulders.
As if encouraged, his hand climbed to her shoulder, then to the back of her head, inserting into her soft hair, his fingertips greedily rubbing the roots, making a “rustling” sound.
His flexible tongue, like a nimble snake, fully invaded, pressing her tongue root, sweeping all remaining air from her mouth.
Breathing became thick, she let out a “mm” sound.
He suspiciously maneuvered between her lips and teeth, reminding her of a similar scene from that night. Blood silently colored her earlobes red.
Under the thick snowsuit, her lower abdomen unconsciously tightened.
The phone on her knee still flickered.
【UMI, Goal Two Hundred Jin Crab Boss: @Huang Cancan Isn’t the next line after ‘One mountain cannot hold two tigers’ ‘Unless one is male and one is female’! QAQ】
【UMI, Goal Two Hundred Jin Crab Boss: Or is there a problem with either of their genders!!!】
The cable car creaked and swayed.
His tongue briefly withdrew from her mouth. He lowered his gaze, his pitch-black pupils fixated on her lips, now stained rose-colored by him.
He exhaled heavily, carefully kissing her nose, his Adam’s apple visibly rolling, “Don’t ski anymore, okay?”
Jiang Ran lifted her long lashes, her pupils appearing misty under his gaze, she confusedly uttered a simple monosyllabic sound: “Hmm?”
He leaned closer to her.
Rubbing his cheek against hers.
“It’s hard, uncomfortable.”
…
Heavenly gods above.
If the principle of exchange truly exists.
He wants her.
Even if it costs him thirty years of his remaining life.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage