The person who caused the collision was a middle-aged man, looking around forty years old, clearly someone who didn’t lack money—his feet were clad in Burton snowboards with quick-release bindings, and he wore all-black AK457 gear. Even excluding the helmet and goggles, the outfit probably cost around ten to twenty thousand yuan.
He himself was also stunned from the collision. After struggling to get up, he sat on the snow, removed his goggles and helmet, took off his snowboard, and placed it aside. Then he approached Beijiao and asked if he was okay.
Beijiao completely ignored him.
He reached out and removed his snowboard. His entire body was covered in snow, aside from Jiang Ran brushing it off briefly at the beginning—he hadn’t even bothered to pat it himself. Sitting there, wearing his face mask that obscured his expression, one could still sense the coldness and rejection radiating from him.
The middle-aged man tried talking to him, but Beijiao acted as if he were deaf, not responding at all. He merely slightly turned his head toward Jiang Ran, who looked worried, and pointed at his snowboard, asking hoarsely, “Does it look serious like this?”
He remained calm and composed.
As a result, the scene instantly transformed into this: Beijiao was upset about his snowboard, while Jiang Ran was concerned about Beijiao.
She moved her lips, feeling that there was no need to explain further—he should be able to tell on his own. Even without understanding the technicalities of snowboards, one could guess that the previous time when Jiang Ran had accidentally chipped a small dent on the metal edge and scratched off some paint, those were minor issues…
But now, his board core had lifted, exposing the internal structure of the snowboard.
The damaged half-edge resembled twisted rope.
It was like comparing a minor scratch to a car accident causing deformation in the A or B pillar—completely different levels of severity.
A minor scrape versus a history of collisions.
Seeing Beijiao ignore him, the middle-aged man felt somewhat embarrassed. He leaned forward and glanced at the board in Beijiao’s hand: “Ah, your board got damaged… Well, I didn’t do it on purpose. Who told you to suddenly switch edges and turn into the middle of the slope? I wasn’t that skilled to begin with and couldn’t brake in time! How about this—you check how much a new board costs, deduct depreciation, and I’ll cover the repair costs—”
“Compensate?”
A single word cold as icy winter wind rang out.
It was the person sitting on the ground finally reacting.
He lifted his head slowly and stood up. Jiang Ran originally wanted to reach out and help him up, but he lightly brushed off her hand resting on his arm.
Looking at her now-empty hand, she felt a string of familiar thoughts flash through her mind: Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!!!
Under her wary gaze, the teenager bent down and picked up his snowboard—
Half an hour ago, he had almost wanted to carry the board on his head while skiing, but now he exuded an air of nonchalance. With incredible strength, he stuck the snowboard into the snow-covered slope!
Snow splashed around as he lifted his eyelids and cast a glance at the middle-aged man. Beyond his face mask, his eyes glimmered with a hint of sarcasm: “How much do you plan to compensate? This is a brand new board. What depreciation?”
Before the middle-aged man could respond, his instructor showed up—
This person was none other than Yang Yitong, the one Jiang Ran had seen on the slope earlier, immediately showing disgust toward—Yang Pengci (Yang the “crash artist”).
Fate had brought them together on this narrow path.
This time, Yang wasn’t intentionally directing his novice student to hit Beijiao; he was willing, and the middle-aged man was willing too… However, harboring some ill intentions, when instructing the man to go straight down the slope, Yang had already spotted Jiang Ran and Beijiao but deliberately chose not to warn him.
And thus, as he had hoped, the collision happened.
At this moment, Yang Yitong slowly glided up with his hands behind his back, just in time to hear Beijiao’s question.
He might not remember Beijiao’s face, but he recognized his figure and voice. The grudge from the bathroom robbery hadn’t been settled yet, and now he finally had his chance!
“See what you’re going to do. Don’t tell me this little scratch means you want my student to buy you a new board? How much does your board cost? BC’s RX? One collision and it’s worth ten thousand yuan?”
No one could tell whether he was here to defend his student or to stir up trouble.
Upon hearing Yang Yitong’s voice, Beijiao’s eyes shifted in their sockets, turning toward him.
The atmosphere of an imminent showdown filled the air!
However, before Beijiao could react to Yang Yitong’s provocation, the dangerous aura radiating from him had already prompted Jiang Ran to act swiftly—
She tossed her snowboard into Song Die’s hands and quickly stepped forward, positioning herself between Beijiao and Yang Yitong, facing Beijiao and half-hugging his waist protectively!
As if fearing he would “roar” and immediately pounce forward to bite this idiot’s neck off!
Her sudden movement caused her familiar scent to instantly reach his nose.
“…”
His eyelids twitched slightly, and his icy gaze softened a bit.
He looked down at the woman blocking his path and said, “I wasn’t going to hit him.”
Jiang Ran didn’t believe him for a second.
She stood still, while the middle-aged man, having heard this, felt his dignity challenged and became somewhat upset. He excitedly interrupted: “What’s going on? You want to hit someone? Did I say anything wrong? Just a minor scratch and you want me to buy you a new board? Besides, you’re not even hurt! I was skiing perfectly fine along my original path with no one around, and you suddenly darted out from the middle of the slope!”
“Don’t make him buy a new board! Oh my god!” Jiang Ran’s scalp prickled as she shouted back while half-turning toward the older man behind her—
Before she could finish speaking, a large hand suddenly covered her mouth.
She made a muffled “Mmm!” sound, her unfinished words stuck in her throat. Helplessly, she slowly widened her eyes, but her strength was no match for Beijiao’s.
He wore gloves, and his hand was so large it could almost cover both her eyes and mouth. With one hand covering her face and the other gripping her shoulder, he effortlessly pulled her into his chest—
Her forehead “thumped” against his chest.
She seemed to hear a sigh of resignation from beside her ear.
Just as she steadied herself, he easily lifted her like a rabbit and placed her behind him.
She lifted her head, only able to see his tall back blocking her view.
“What are you doing? Did I finish speaking?”
Frustrated, she kicked his shin, but he didn’t budge at all, standing there like a statue without reacting… Helplessly, she grabbed his arm and peeked halfway from behind him, glaring at the two men nearby—
“Excuse me, Uncle… Now you’re the one who hit someone and you think you’re right? You weren’t arguing before, but now you’re getting all worked up? If you really thought you were right, why did you offer compensation earlier? Who suddenly darted out from the middle of the slope? We’ve been on the slope the whole time, already smoothly switching edges three times?”
“You say you were already on the slope?”
“Yes,” Jiang Ran replied expressionlessly, “I was giving him a lesson and recorded a video.”
The middle-aged man immediately retorted: “Don’t you know that turning should yield to going straight?”
“Are you driving a car? ‘Turning should yield to going straight’? Should I call a traffic police officer for you right now? Who in the world skis straight down the slope?” Jiang Ran was almost amused by how ridiculous the man sounded, “Earlier you were even willing to talk about depreciation and repair fees, but now that it’s time to actually pay up, you’re getting worked up? My little brother’s board is brand new, bought from BC’s store yesterday. If your instructor knows the store staff, he can go ask them—”
“I don’t even want to ask,” Yang Yitong sneered unpleasantly, “Last time you hit my other student Mach, that board was also ten thousand yuan, but you only gave five hundred…”
Jiang Ran was just about to say that a small chip and a bent edge with the board core exposed couldn’t possibly be compared—
But she hadn’t even had the chance to speak.
The person standing in front of her, who had previously ignored the two jumping around him, suddenly turned his head and fixed his gaze solely on her, staring so intensely she felt uneasy all over.
Under his face mask, Jiang Ran could see his thin lips move. After a long pause, he asked her in a tone that foreshadowed an impending storm: “Did you later give him another five hundred?”
This was truly the one thing she feared the most.
She had hoped this secret could stay buried with her in her coffin!
Jiang Ran lowered her eyes slightly and explained: “Well, five hundred should be given anyway, since we did hit him—”
Beijiao obviously didn’t want to hear her explanation.
Before she could finish, he turned his head back again, pointed at his board, and spoke even more softly: “How much are the depreciation fee and general repair fee?”
Jiang Ran took a look, sent a photo to a snowboard repair technician she knew, who quoted a price: one thousand yuan could fix it pretty well, and five hundred for depreciation wasn’t excessive.
“One thousand five hundred,” Jiang Ran said.
“Fine,” Beijiao looked at the middle-aged man and Yang Yitong, his expressionless eyes, “Two thousand.”
Everyone: “…”
He was clearly trying to forcefully reclaim the five hundred yuan Jiang Ran had previously given.
Middle-aged man: “Aren’t you trying to rip me off?”
Beijiao slightly lifted his eyebrow, as if surprised the man was still wasting breath: “Did I ask you to hit my board?”
Middle-aged man: “Young man, I want to negotiate with you reasonably, but you’re not showing a reasonable attitude either—repair and depreciation fees are usually just a few hundred yuan. You’re asking for two thousand for this collision? Even if your board were brand new, it’s only worth ten thousand. Do you think that’s reasonable?”
Under his face mask, Beijiao probably smiled—only his long eyes were seen curving slightly, displaying an unusual friendliness: “Reasonable?”
He paused.
The smile vanished.
“Whether it’s reasonable or not, you still have to pay.”
He had no intention of reasoning with these people.
It was like a robber who still recited a line of dialogue—”This mountain was created by me”—to entertain you before taking your money. Fundamentally, he would still take it after speaking…
Beijiao was that bandit. He hadn’t come here to reason with anyone. He only knew that he was extremely annoyed right now, and even the Heavenly Emperor couldn’t help.
Faced with his attitude, the middle-aged man was also unwilling.
Generally speaking, those who are older, somewhat wealthy, and hold a certain social status are used to being in charge and having others fawning over them. Now, in the ski resort, being threatened by a twenty-year-old half-grown kid with a smile on his face—it was something no one could swallow easily.
So, under Yang Yitong’s provocative remarks—”Last time you hit me you only gave five hundred, why are you treating people differently now?”—the middle-aged man finally lost his temper.
“Trying to get rich from the ski resort?!” He raised his voice, “Want money?! Not a penny! I don’t want my board anymore either. Since you love money so much, take it as compensation!”
Saying this, under the shocked gazes of everyone present, he threw his snowboard onto the roadside!
And before Yang Yitong could even finish hiding his mocking smile, his own board was suddenly snatched away and thrown together with the middle-aged man’s—
“One board for you! Isn’t that enough? More than enough, right!”
The middle-aged man shouted loudly, his originally pale face now flushed red with anger!
This sudden commotion drew the attention of those who hadn’t noticed before.
The man seemed to feel humiliated and didn’t bother to waste words with them. Before Yang Yitong could react and say anything, he grabbed him and dragged him down the mountain together—
The collision had occurred at the junction between the advanced and intermediate slopes, with about a few hundred meters of slope still ahead, and they just walked away like that.
Yang Yitong kept turning his head back.
“Why did my board also get taken?!”
“What kind of board is that! I’ll buy you a new one! Let them keep that one!”
“But still, there was no need to give the boards to them, right?”
“They love money, right! Let them get scammed! Let them get scammed enough!”
Their voices gradually faded into the distance, leaving Beijiao and the others behind, hearing their distant curses and muttering…
There was also a group of shocked onlookers, watching their retreating figures in astonishment.
…
The two disappeared without a trace, leaving with the grandeur of some great heroes.
Beijiao obviously hadn’t expected such an unexpected reaction. He thought for a moment: He hit me. From start to finish, did he ever apologize?
…Seemed like he hadn’t, just said, “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
So impolite.
And Jiang Ran wouldn’t let him hit anyone.
It made him even angrier.
Beijiao looked down at his cracked board and then at the two snowboards the two men had thrown by the roadside—
He definitely wouldn’t take them.
But just leaving like this also seemed inappropriate.
After this commotion, he had calmed down from his initial shock and anger, beginning to reflect on the middle-aged man’s behavior over this trivial matter, yelling with his face red and neck swollen, looking quite unattractive.
He sincerely hoped he wouldn’t become such a man when he grew older.
As for Yang Yitong, he was at least a cooperating coach at the ski resort, and Jiang Ran had his WeChat. She could contact him later to handle the board repairs and compensation.
Considering this, he was slightly less angry, though still a bit upset with Jiang Ran for always holding him back and affecting his performance.
Seeing that the two had already walked out of sight, he decided to leave as well, quickly getting his board repaired—
After all, the ski resort was humid, and the wooden board core getting wet from melted snow could cause even more damage.
So he lifted his hand and tugged at the sleeve of the person standing beside him.
Jiang Ran turned to face him. Seeing that he remained silent, she thought he was still immersed in sorrow and wanted to comfort him: “It’s alright. Once it’s fixed, it can still be used. Or later, I can talk to Yang Yitong again—we might be able to sell this board to them at a discount and then get you a new one—”
“No need.”
“Huh?”
“Even if I get another one, it won’t be this exact board anymore.”
Jiang Ran was completely confused, not understanding the child’s basic logic. She couldn’t help asking again: “Is there really a difference between boards? At most, I can get you an identical one—”
“Different,” he interrupted her, “We’ve developed a bond. No replacement can be exactly the same.”
Jiang Ran was shocked: “You’ve only been with this board for a few hours… Do you have feelings for me?”
He gave her a look that was somewhere between regarding her as an idiot and genuinely having some feelings, finally choosing to refuse to answer this question.
“Repair the board,” he said concisely, “Let’s go.”
Saying this, he pulled his board out of the snow where he had stuck it—by now the board had frozen somewhat solidly into the snow, requiring some effort to pull out. He grabbed his board and turned to urge Jiang Ran with his eyes.
She, however, was unhurried, first instructing Song Die to keep holding her board, then walking over to the two boards the other two had thrown on the ground and picking them up.
The onlookers couldn’t stand it anymore, sighing—
“Wow, Sister Ran, are you really going to return the boards to them?”
“Exactly! They were the ones who hit someone first! What an attitude! And Yang Yitong still acts like you’re being biased!”
“Don’t pick them up for them! Let them come back and pick them up themselves!”
Amid the chorus of condemnation, Jiang Ran simply turned around, smiled kindly at them, and firmly held onto the two boards without letting go.
Beijiao frowned, genuinely exasperated by this saint-complex—
Earlier, when he found out she had refunded Yang Yitong five hundred yuan, he had already been very unhappy…
That was erasing his efforts!
If it weren’t for the vow he had secretly made today to absolutely not defy her even slightly!
Endure.
“Don’t help them pick up the boards.”
He also tried to persuade her, explaining how this act of helping others retrieve their boards was extremely cowardly. When he spoke, his voice sounded very suppressed, clearly on the verge of an outburst.
“They threw them themselves. Let them climb back up the mountain to pick them up.”
Jiang Ran picked up the two boards without even acknowledging him…
She had at least smiled at the onlookers just a second ago!
…
Repairing the snowboards was done in an apartment building near the ski resort.
The repairman was an old man with white hair, clearly of mixed East Asian and Caucasian descent…
His workshop was fully equipped with both familiar and unfamiliar tools, and at least thirty-some snowboards were hanging on the walls. Some were waiting for repairs, others already fixed.
This made Beijiao feel as if he had entered Beijing Union Medical College Hospital, feeling reassured.
Beijiao carefully placed his snowboard on the workbench, then lovingly patted it and turned to ask the old man: “Can it be fixed well?”
“Once the structure of anything is damaged, it’s impossible to fully restore it to its original factory condition. That’s also why I supported your depreciation fee request through WeChat earlier,” the old man smiled. “Does it hurt? If my brand new board got hit like this, I’d be devastated too.”
Beijiao had originally thought he was almost feeling better.
But after hearing this, he successfully became upset again.
He sat down beside the bench with a gloomy aura, turned his head slightly, and saw Jiang Ran still playing with her phone—this culprit who had insisted on hugging his waist, causing him to lose focus and perform poorly, still had the mood to play with her phone!
“Is your phone that fun to play with?” he asked gloomily.
If Song Die were here, he might already be frantically looking for weapons to defend himself, but Jiang Ran didn’t even lift her head, merely “mhm”ing and casually extending one hand to absentmindedly pat his head, messing up his hair.
He turned his head away from her hand, reached out to grab her phone, and she frowned, saying, “Don’t mess around, I’m checking Burton’s official website! I don’t know every model of snowboard!”
“What are you checking that for?”
“The boards those two used were both Burton,” Jiang Ran grabbed her phone back, “I want to check the official price of a new one.”
“And then?”
She opened an app with a yellow background and an ugly little fish logo.
“And then what do you mean ‘and then’? Then I’ll post them on Xianyu (a Chinese second-hand trading platform), and after selling them, one thousand yuan will go toward repairing the board, and the rest will buy you a GRAY MACH model,” she said with great expectations, “That way you’ll have your own park board too, saving ten thousand yuan.”
“…”
After she finished speaking, she recalled the moment when those two men threw their boards away, thinking they looked cool and generous, and sincerely sighed: “Those two big idiots.”
“…”
So, in front of everyone’s eyes, she picked up those two boards not for world peace or to return to the owners.
But truly intending to sell them.
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