Beijiao’s lack of skiing experience was absolute, to the point where he didn’t even understand what others were complimenting him about.
He thought they were just being polite, so he nodded and politely said, “Thank you.”
Those people didn’t really know what he looked like, only that he was tall, and his pair of black eyes appeared especially bright against the white snow of the indoor ski resort.
He was wearing tourist gear provided by Sunac’s large refrigerator, from helmet to clothes to ski boots. His face had gotten slightly stiff from waiting at the lift, so he went to a store and spent two yuan on a mask to use as a face guard—
That was all his equipment, and calling it rusty scrap wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
They looked him up and down, finding it amusing… wondering how someone dressed so simply could afford to hire Jiang Ran for lessons, which seemed odd.
Those who could afford Jiang Ran were usually people like Song Die, who clearly had no shortage of money.
Beijiao was already used to being scrutinized and let them stare as they wished. He pushed off, no longer posing in place, and sat back down on the chair obediently waiting for Jiang Ran to tell him how to actually ski.
The first thing beginners must learn is the rear edge push slope, which is the basic entry-level technique.
“Just maintain the posture he had when he was standing on the board earlier, the one where he felt his legs were bound. Face the right side of the board, keep your shoulders and hips perpendicular to the snowboard, then slightly bend the knee of your back leg and use your ankle to lift the edge of the snowboard.”
Jiang Ran explained a lot, but Beijiao didn’t find it difficult.
He stood up and looked at those below who were seriously practicing the rear edge push: “They’re all facing downhill, why am I facing the board’s nose?”
“You can face downhill if you want,” Jiang Ran said, “but then you’ll end up like Song Die, struggling to relearn how to face the board’s nose instead of downhill.”
Beijiao turned to Song Die: “If I were you, I’d switch instructors. Don’t learn from her; she’s too harsh.”
By then, Song Die had also clipped into his board and arrived at the edge of the slope. Hearing Beijiao’s words, he looked up calmly and said, “Then she’ll have no students left and will only be able to teach you… you calculated so poorly even the people on the neighboring slope could hear.”
Beijiao showed no embarrassment at being exposed.
He turned his head away from Song Die and began his first real skiing experience in life—
Awkwardly following Jiang Ran’s instructions while on the snowboard, bending his ankle slightly to lift the board’s edge, letting the rear edge dig into the snow.
He had decent athletic ability, his legs exerting force relatively evenly, and he steadily pushed downhill.
Jiang Ran dropped her snowboard, just as she had done when teaching Song Die, and followed beside him on her legs… Song Die also joined beside, waiting to see Beijiao fall.
Three people: one followed closely, occasionally reminding him to open his shoulders and hips; one diligently pushed; and another waited for the show. Just when everything was going smoothly, an unexpected visitor arrived—
The influential person who had praised Beijiao earlier was also there to teach students that day, bringing another beginner, though this one was a girl who couldn’t make it more than a meter or two before her legs gave out and she fell…
Helplessly, the influential person had to hold her hand and guide her along.
With someone guiding, the push became faster, and as they slid, they passed by Beijiao and the others.
“When you need to brake, just like you did on flat ground, pull your hips back and press down… What are you looking at?”
Jiang Ran noticed Beijiao had stopped pushing.
His gaze was fixed on the pair passing by hand in hand, laughing joyfully. When Jiang Ran asked, the young man finally turned his attention back.
He pointed at the influential person who had praised him earlier: “Why does someone help others push when they’re pushing?”
“Because if no one helps, she would fall. Why would I help you if you don’t fall?” Jiang Ran explained briefly but suddenly became impatient, making a “tsk” sound, “…Are you here for a lesson or to play ‘Where’s Waldo’ on the slopes?”
“Then find differences,” Song Die added.
Beijiao turned to Song Die.
His eyes flickered slightly.
Jiang Ran immediately knew what he was thinking and almost wished she could snatch the poles from the nearby skier to hit him: “I didn’t hold his hand either.”
If she hadn’t held his hand, then why was she being so aggressive?
Why was she getting mad?
Seeing that this woman was on the verge of a tantrum, Beijiao had no choice but to stop observing what others on the slopes were doing and focus on his practice—
He pushed out another five meters or so, feeling the half-squatting posture with his legs bound was a bit tiring. He lost focus for a moment, and his snowboard wobbled slightly, accidentally sliding forward a bit and falling!
During the push practice phase, there was no real speed, so his fall wasn’t too bad; he simply landed on the snow, creating a puff of snow dust.
Jiang Ran, following closely beside him, was unexpectedly hit in the face with snow, coughed twice, and then looked at the person who had been pushing well just moments ago now sitting on the ground.
Drenched in snow.
He raised his hand to brush off the snow from his helmet, then lifted the edge of his mask to shake off the snow, seemingly unharmed.
Song Die, who had been waiting for this moment, stood there laughing at how disheveled Beijiao looked.
However, just then, before he could laugh enough or come up with a teasing remark, Beijiao raised both arms and said toward Jiang Ran: “I fell. Now you can hold my hand and push with me.”
His smile vanished instantly from Song Die’s face.
Back then, to save face, even after falling and creating a cloud of snow, he never let Jiang Ran hold his hand to push down even a single slope for a minute…
He believed that male beginners should all stubbornly try to save face like that.
Never did he expect someone to be so openly shameless.
…
Jiang Ran knew Beijiao was very persistent about things he had decided on.
For example, even though he stopped looking around at others after being scolded, he was still thinking about it inside and wouldn’t easily let it go.
Now, this nearly six-foot-tall man was sitting on the snow, wearing carving skis, yet he stretched out his arms and stubbornly claimed he couldn’t get up, looking perfectly justified.
Jiang Ran thought, well, there’s no reasoning with him.
She gave up and was about to reach out to pull him up when someone blocked her way. She looked closely and saw it was Song Die.
Blocking Jiang Ran firmly behind him, Song Die looked down at Beijiao and said, “What do you mean you can’t get up? Didn’t you have a strong waist when playing ball? Grab the front edge with one hand, support yourself with the other on the snow, inch forward, tighten your core, lift your butt up, and you can stand up—”
He was teaching Beijiao the usual way beginners get back up after falling.
Beijiao placed one hand on the front edge of the snowboard.
But didn’t move.
He just thought for a moment before asking Song Die to move aside.
Song Die thought he was blocking his progress and, seeing that his hand was already on the front edge, as if he was preparing to get up himself, he very patiently moved aside.
But he had barely shifted when Beijiao took his hand off the front edge and resumed his previous posture, arms outstretched toward Jiang Ran. Even though he was wearing a mask, from his calm voice and unflinching black eyes, one could guess he was quite composed at that moment…
And he firmly said to the woman not far away: “Pull.”
…
Jiang Ran stepped on his skis, stretched out one hand, waited for him to grab it firmly, and then with one motion effortlessly pulled him up from the slope.
As soon as Beijiao stood up, he extended his other hand, signaling her: give me your hand.
Sunac Snow World only provided clothes, helmets, and shoes, not gloves. He was wearing Huang’s gloves, which were a bit small. At this moment, the gloves were stretched tight, and he waited patiently with his palm up.
Jiang Ran, in a resigned manner, rolled her eyes and placed her other hand into his.
As soon as she touched the fabric of his gloves, he immediately curled his fingers, firmly holding her hand in his palm… She instinctively looked up at him, but he showed no other reaction, not even looking at her.
But at this moment, he exuded an atmosphere of satisfaction and willingness to temporarily settle down.
“I’ll guide you. Give a bit more force with your ankle,” Jiang Ran tapped his palm with her finger, afraid he couldn’t feel it, so she poked him again, “Try to edge the board. Did you hear me?”
She tickled him a bit.
He let go of her hand and lightly patted the back of her hand to signal her to stop… but before she could react, his hand grabbed hers again.
“What are you doing?” she asked him.
“It itches,” he lazily replied, “just talk. Why are you being so physical?”
“…I don’t even want to touch you.”
“Oh.”
He responded while agreeing with her words, but showed no intention of letting go.
Jiang Ran skied with him, and since the two of them were pushing uphill on the beginner’s slope while holding hands, it was actually safe to the point of being comically so. She pushed with him for a few meters and still had the presence of mind to chat casually: “Sunac is considerate too, giving us background music. It’s like dancing the waltz. Do you think it’s fun?”
Each Sunac location has its own looped background music, the same song, which is incredibly catchy.
In the past, when Jiang Ran listened to this music, she felt like she was bouncing all over the snow-covered path. Now, when she listens to it again, she thinks of herself holding hands with someone and pushing uphill on the beginner’s slope—
Her.
Jiang Ran.
Holding hands and pushing uphill.
So embarrassing it’s beyond belief.
The culprit didn’t even acknowledge her frustration.
Beijiao wasn’t paying attention to the background music, only hearing Song Die grinding his teeth behind them—
If there was anything interesting, that was probably the most interesting thing so far.
So, after pushing uphill hand in hand for one round, he felt he had achieved his goal and thought this matter could be considered resolved… When they reached the flat area below, he bent down to take off his skis and called out to Jiang Ran. He was just about to say that he didn’t need her to hold his hand on the next round because it wasn’t fun anymore.
The words had just reached the tip of his tongue when someone came chasing from behind and gave Jiang Ran a shove—
Then, as she staggered forward, that person wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace.
The newcomer wore a bright yellow hoodie and denim-colored sweatpants, with a white windproof hat over his helmet, looking very stylish. He wasn’t wearing a face mask, and his young, exuberant face was filled with glee at that moment.
He playfully shook her neck: “Ran Jie, from far away I saw you holding hands with someone on the beginner slope, hahahaha, I’m dying laughing! Did you suddenly have an epiphany and realize it’s time to use your excellent skiing skills to flirt with men!”
Zhao Keyan’s loud voice attracted attention from everyone around, whether they knew him or not.
Jiang Ran thought to herself, “I really appreciate it,” but suddenly found herself confirmed as a female sex maniac.
Still being shaken by Lao Yan, she had just spoken the first three words of “Stop shaking and let go of me”—
At that moment, a hand came from their front, firmly grasping her elbow, easily pulling her out from Lao Yan’s arms.
Then he casually placed her behind himself.
Lao Yan was stunned.
Jiang Ran was stunned too.
A few seconds of suspended silence, Lao Yan looked up and down at the tall teenager in front of him wearing the Sunac newbie outfit and a mask, and laughed: “Oh, big brother, you’re pretty possessive. It wasn’t pointless for you two to hold hands while pushing uphill. Come on, don’t wear the mask, let me see if your face can match up with our Ran Jie—”
There was a certain amount of provocation in his words.
After all, he was used to teasing Jiang Ran and treated her purely like his own sister… Suddenly someone showed up to interfere with their teasing, so he wasn’t very happy.
Who did he think he was anyway!
As soon as the words were spoken, a somewhat dull and lazy “Ah” came from the person standing there.
The sound entered Lao Yan’s ears, and he felt something was off—it sounded somewhat familiar.
Watching the “possessive big brother” slowly raise his hand and casually hook a finger at the edge of his mask, revealing his face and leaning forward to let him take a good look.
Three seconds later.
As Lao Yan’s nostrils gradually widened, revealing an expression of shock and disbelief…
He had already let go of the mask, allowing it to snap back into place over his face. At the same time, he stood straight up again with a blank expression, returning to his original spot.
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