It was over thirty degrees Celsius outside, and they had to change clothes before leaving the ski resort. The two parted ways in front of the locker rooms; Beijiao entered the men’s locker room and quickly took off his thermal layers, stuffing them into his backpack, removed his protective gear, and changed shoes.
Slung casually over one shoulder was a simple backpack as he exited the men’s locker room. Looking up, he saw the women’s locker room on the other side of the restroom, separated by a short distance. He strode over and stood about two meters away from the entrance of the women’s locker room, about to step closer when—
Suddenly, two laughing girls walked out. Their eyes met, and the girls were clearly startled by the sight of this brooding figure standing by the locker room door.
Their chatter stopped abruptly as they curiously examined the handsome but stern-faced teenager by the women’s locker room door, then walked away, glancing back repeatedly.
Beijiao didn’t move closer.
He glanced around seriously, making sure Yang Yitong and his cronies weren’t around, then, unsure how much longer Jiang Ran would take, leaned against the wall and squatted down.
Like a large dog sitting guard outside a door, alert and exuding an aura that warned others to keep their distance.
He waited quietly, minding his own business, sucking on a nearly melted lollipop—
The last bit he bit into, crunching the candy between his teeth, filling his ears with the sound of it breaking.
Just then, he heard someone call his name.
He instinctively perked up, but after identifying in a second that it wasn’t Jiang Ran’s voice, his face returned to its usual coldness. He turned his gaze toward the source of the sound and saw Liang He waving at him from not far away.
He instinctively clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He glanced back at the empty doorway of the women’s locker room, still devoid of any familiar figures, then raised his hand and pulled his baseball cap lower over his eyes.
Liang He ran up like a gust of wind, her heavy ski boots thudding unevenly as she approached.
Beijiao didn’t have the habit of looking up at people, so he stood up.
Now changed out of his ski gear, when he stood upright, his shadow alone was enough to cover Liang He.
She inwardly exclaimed, “Oh wow, he’s so tall,” and smiled at him. “I came out to meet a friend who just arrived for tonight’s session, and I saw you—what a coincidence!”
Only then did Beijiao notice there was a boy behind her. He was about 175 cm tall, wore glasses, and was on the thin side. If you didn’t see him at a ski resort, it would be hard to associate this scholarly-looking boy with the sport of skiing—
No prejudice intended, but he looked more like a top student preparing for postgraduate entrance exams sitting in a study hall.
Liang He excitedly pointed at the bespectacled boy and introduced him, “This is Yichuan. He also does carving turns, and he’s the best among us… I’ll add you to our group later, and next time we ski together, I can have him teach you. He’s really good! He has official teaching collaborations with Sunac and has voluntarily taught many of us!”
…He taught you guys?
Then why the hell would he teach me anything?
How many runs did I make in front of you just now? Haven’t you noticed that aside from the bindings facing the same direction, nothing else about our styles is the same?
Beijiao found it hard to imagine someone even worse than himself, clumsy enough to seem blind.
He lazily twitched the corner of his lips, about to respond in his usual cold and sarcastic manner with a “Forget it,” ending the conversation—
At that moment, his eyes accidentally swept toward the “women’s locker room,” and he thought of Jiang Ran again.
…If she were here, she’d probably press his head down and tell him to be polite.
“…”
So annoying.
The words of refusal stuck in his throat, swallowed back. Truthfully, while the girl in front of him was a bit noisy, she hadn’t said anything particularly offensive. She seemed genuinely eager to befriend him.
—Though Beijiao had absolutely no desire to make friends.
His dark pupils shifted in their sockets, finally settling on the bespectacled guy. After a pause, the boy finally nodded slightly, in a restrained and polite manner, to acknowledge them.
The guy smiled at him and said, “Earlier on the way here, Liang He was saying she picked up someone self-taught on the slopes. If you keep trying to teach yourself, it’ll be hard to improve—”
His tone was moderate, more normal than that of Song Die’s sarcastic and fake voice.
Beijiao endured listening to the guy talk, his voice going in one ear and out the other. His body weight also subtly shifted from his left foot to his right. Just as he was thinking, “Aaaah, aren’t they going skiing instead of just chatting?” suddenly, he heard familiar footsteps from the locker room.
His ears twitched, and he quickly turned his head—
The next second, he saw a woman dragging a snowboard bag appear at the women’s locker room entrance, now changed into a short skirt and spaghetti-strap top. One hand held the snowboard bag, the other a denim jacket.
Snow-white arms draped over a dark blue coat, soft, wavy long hair cascading over her shoulders.
Under the shadow of his cap brim, the boy’s eyes lit up slightly.
“What are you doing?”
When she wasn’t scolding, Jiang Ran’s voice could be described as gentle—not the crisp, soft voice of a young girl, but one naturally calm and slightly husky.
She walked over dragging the snowboard bag, her familiar scent filling his nose—
It had been half a day already; the perfume had long been overtaken by the cold, moist air from the snow, leaving only a faint trace.
But he still caught it keenly.
Even thinking it had overshadowed the lingering sweetness of candy in his mouth.
Jiang Ran’s gaze swept over her stepbrother, standing inexplicably like he was being punished by the women’s locker room door, then curiously glanced at the boy and girl standing in front of him.
After a pause, she tilted her head, smiling as she asked Beijiao, “What, made friends already?”
Without much effort, the white candy stick lifted slightly at the corner of her lips, the boy gave a noncommittal grunt—
Clearly confused by her unusually affectionate demeanor.
He glanced down at her smiling face, which was slightly pale, and inwardly cursed, “Mind your own business. Maybe you should check your complexion in a mirror.”
He bent down and reached out to take the snowboard bag from her hand.
“No, just met… ready to go?”
The mute finally spoke, his voice low.
Facing the sudden appearance of the older sister, neither Liang He nor the bespectacled guy named Yichuan reacted in time, until she smiled and waved goodbye to them.
They gradually walked further and further away.
…
In the distance, the backs of the man and woman disappeared from sight. Liang He reluctantly turned her gaze away, sighing, “I thought he was alone.”
Yichuan, however, remained calm and expressionless: “Not only is he not alone, your plan to add him to our group and have him join us in our mutual mediocrity might also fall apart.”
Liang He: “Huh?”
Yichuan: “He’s not self-taught. The woman just now—”
“That really pretty older sister?” Liang He asked, puzzled. “Isn’t she someone he skied with?”
“No, that’s Jiang Ran.” Yichuan said flatly. “One of the earliest Chinese carvers. If her board wasn’t in the bag right now, you’d see it’s practically covered in sponsor stickers… Competing with her for students? I’d be laughed out of the mountains.”
His tone nearly turned into a sigh by the end.
Liang He was stunned, her mind flashing back to the gentle, unthreatening smile from earlier, and she remained speechless in shock.
…
Jiang Ran had no idea two people were currently discussing her illustrious history—
And even if she did know, she wouldn’t care. After all, as long as she was alive, legends about her would echo in every corner.
Right now, she was climbing into the front passenger seat of the car, clutching her stomach. She waited for Beijiao to put their snowboard bags and other items into the trunk, then opened the passenger door to climb in when she suddenly slapped the steering wheel and frowned, saying, “Can’t you just go get a driver’s license?”
Half his body still halfway into the car, Beijiao was caught off guard by her sudden outburst. He looked up at her in confusion, clearly baffled by her inexplicable anger while driving—
Jiang Ran paused, momentarily taken aback by his innocent puppy-dog eyes, then felt a bit unreasonable herself.
Rubbing the hand she had slapped the steering wheel with, she quickly found an excuse to save face, taking a deep breath and exhaling, “I have a stomachache.”
Her voice was low, sounding a bit whiny.
Unlike her usual composed and commanding demeanor in front of others.
As soon as she said that, she felt his gaze shift from her face down to her abdomen, circling around a few times, then he didn’t say anything…
He simply pushed himself up and sat into the front passenger seat.
Jiang Ran thought he’d just give up and say nothing—of course, she hadn’t expected much from him, maybe just a “Drink more hot water,” which was already the pinnacle of his emotional intelligence.
She bent down to start the car, and as she reached out to scan the phone to pay while driving out of the parking lot, she heard him ask beside her, “How long does it take to get a driver’s license?”
She paused mid-tap on her phone, staring at him in confusion.
He sighed, not looking at her, just flipping through his Xiaojinku balance on Alipay, his expression indifferent as he said, “About half a month should be enough. It’s not that hard… I have a temporary job paying out next week, I’ll go sign up then.”
Jiang Ran found it somewhat surprising—
From childhood to now, the only people who had ever responded positively to her sudden outbursts were her housekeeper and her father.
Now, there was this theoretical, non-blood-related male sibling, and she couldn’t help but feel unexpectedly touched.
—Her little brother is growing up, and her kindness isn’t one-sided?
Blinking, her brain froze from nervousness, and she reflexively argued with him, “Didn’t you say you had zero savings after buying all that gear?”
Beijiao immediately pressed his phone protectively against his chest, eyeing her warily, “What do you want?”
“Oh,” Jiang Ran said, “your secret stash?”
Obviously.
He worked so hard, stretching every penny, how could he not have saved up ten thousand or twenty thousand yuan?
Facing her half-smiling, half-serious gaze, Beijiao regretted his impulse in that moment. He was about to angrily accuse her of using that strange tone to trick him again when suddenly his phone vibrated against his chest, a series of “ding-ding-ding” message alerts ringing out.
Like a sudden salvation from the tense atmosphere, he didn’t even consider whether the incoming message was from someone he wanted to deal with, and in a daze, he tapped to open the voice message—
【Beijiao, I added you to our group! Have you seen it? Are you coming to the resort tomorrow? I can introduce you to some new friends? We can improve together?】
A soft female voice filled the quiet car.
Jiang Ran had originally been smiling faintly, her hands smoothly turning the wheel as she drove out of the garage, but upon hearing the voice message, her hands abruptly froze, nearly grazing the wall ahead… She calmly yanked the wheel hard, pulling the car back just in time.
Beijiao didn’t notice this small incident.
He stared at his phone, clearly unaccustomed to hearing an unfamiliar female voice on it. As soon as he realized what it was, he instinctively turned to look at Jiang Ran—
But this damned woman showed no reaction at all. Her lips still curved slightly, exactly as they had a second ago.
“A new little friend can’t wait to find you already?”
Her voice was light, and he couldn’t even tell if she was mocking him.
A vein throbbed on his temple. “Can you stop talking like that?”
He asked.
Jiang Ran lowered the corner of her lips slightly. “Like what?”
Beijiao thought for a moment but couldn’t find the right words. Whatever it was, it sounded gross—
He didn’t dare say it out loud.
Because if he did, he’d definitely get beaten up.
Seeing that he didn’t respond, Jiang Ran extended a hand to point at his phone.
“What’s wrong? A new friend is inviting you to improve together?”
Beijiao: “…”
Yep, definitely mocking now.
Absolutely.
Beijiao took a deep breath, somehow feeling a sense of relief, then reached out to turn off the notification for the group chat he’d just been added to. Still feeling it wasn’t enough, he tilted his head, staring at the woman’s slender hand resting on the steering wheel…
After thinking for a while, he calmly asked, “If you’re not happy, should I delete her now?”
Her wrist really was so thin.
It looked like it could snap with just one squeeze.
“What do I have to be unhappy about?” Jiang Ran asked expressionlessly. “Why would you think that?”
He didn’t know either.
He just had that instinct—
It was a bit strange.
“Didn’t you say I’m your apprentice?” He paused for a moment, finally coming up with the most legitimate excuse. “They’re all into SAJ. Aren’t you worried they’ll lead me astray?”
Jiang Ran didn’t answer.
After a while, he finally heard a soft “Hmph” from the driver’s seat, and she muttered under her breath, “You’re not even my apprentice.”
The alarm was lifted.
He exhaled in relief, lifted his eyes, and returned to his usual lazy demeanor, his tone as indifferent as discussing what to eat for dinner tonight: “So, should I delete her or not?”
“She just invited you to play,” she replied. “Why would you act like a primitive savage? Can’t you be a bit more polite?”
“…”
As expected, a lecture.
“…If you don’t want to, just say no.”
“…”
“Say no.”
“…”
“Politely.”
She emphasized.
Beijiao “hmmphed,” casually replied to Liang He with a “No thanks,” then, after thinking for a moment, politely added a “Thank you.”
After sending the four-character message, he put his phone away directly and never looked at it again.
When she got home, Jiang Ran went straight into the bathroom.
Beijiao checked the fridge and found some tomatoes and beef brisket. He thawed them and stewed a pot of tomato beef brisket. As he was rinsing rice to cook, the bathroom door opened. She rushed out, bringing a warm atmosphere with her, wearing a thin sweater over her nightgown.
Perhaps the hot shower had helped, as she looked slightly more energetic, though her cheeks were unnaturally flushed.
Beijiao glanced at the blazing sun outside, then at her thick sweater, but said nothing. Instead, he told her to take over the rice washing while he went to the now-empty bathroom.
Inside the bathroom, he caught a faint bloody scent hidden beneath the shower gel fragrance. Standing in front of the toilet, he remained silent for three seconds, finished quickly, put away the evidence, washed his hands, and rushed out like a gust of wind.
Jiang Ran was still randomly asking in a family WeChat group how much water to use for two servings of rice when she was suddenly half-dragged by the arm onto the sofa.
She was practically thrown onto it.
Sinking into the soft cushions, she looked puzzled: “What’s going on? Didn’t you ask me to wash the rice?”
“No need,” Beijiao’s jaw tightened. “Besides skiing, what else can you do?”
If she couldn’t do something, she just couldn’t.
Didn’t people usually only need one talent in their entire life?
Jiang Ran had no intention of arguing with him. She lazily turned on the TV, found a horror movie, dragged out a bag of chips from under the coffee table, and curled up on the sofa trying to ignore the pain in her lower abdomen.
In the kitchen, the faucet turned on and off, the tinkling sounds mingling with the movie’s background music. The sunlight was perfect outside, and she gradually felt drowsy.
When Beijiao chopped fresh scallions and sprinkled them into the bubbling tomato beef stew, the aroma filled the living room. He turned around to call Jiang Ran for dinner but found her already asleep.
On the TV screen, a group of Thai teenagers in school uniforms screamed and jumped around as they were chased by ghosts.
Outside the TV, a woman in a white spaghetti strap nightgown, a cream sweater over it, and a blanket covering her abdomen curled up on the sofa, sleeping uneasily.
The pale complexion from noon had been replaced by an unnatural flush on her cheeks. In her sleep, she occasionally murmured incoherently, her brows slightly furrowed.
Beijiao squatted in front of her for a while, then reached out to touch her forehead. It was dry and not sweaty, but slightly warm—not serious.
He hesitated between waking her up for dinner or letting her sleep.
But soon, he found a third option—
At some point, her phone had slid onto the carpet in front of the sofa and kept buzzing with notifications.
Beijiao leaned over to check. The woman’s mind was apparently clear enough—she had set her WeChat to display message previews and details directly on the screen… It seemed that in various family and friend groups, countless people were @ing her, telling her that she had been posted online.
Naturally, it was Yang Yitong.
This guy couldn’t find his own board after chasing someone else’s, was forced to pay for his moment of heroism, and in anger, decided to post her online.
Based on the limited information, Beijiao grabbed his own phone and found Yang Yitong’s short video app account. The guy loved chasing trends and occasionally made “educational” or “tutorial” videos to fool newbies. His account had around two hundred thousand followers and was considered a relatively well-known ski instructor in the snowboarding community.
Right now, the influencer instructor had just posted a new update, downplaying the incident. Basically, he said that Jiang Ran had hit his student two days ago and paid five hundred yuan; but the next day, his student hit one of Jiang Ran’s students and ended up paying for two snowboards and bindings.
He even shared a short clip from the morning at Sunac Ski Resort. The editing only showed Beijiao switching to his back edge when his student came straight and collided with him.
That was it. There was no sound, no clear visuals, no footage of Beijiao rolling like a bowling ball for three full spins after the collision, and certainly no close-up of his shattered board.
Yang Yitong said: “Let’s not even discuss whether the collision was entirely our fault. In the same incident, the other party, leveraging their status as an experienced skier with extensive connections at the resort, made an unreasonable and excessive demand. I, Yang, absolutely cannot tolerate such behavior. I won’t allow this kind of不良风气 (bad practice) to spread!”
(Note: The term “不良风气” is retained in Chinese characters as it carries cultural nuance. If preferred, it can be translated as “toxic behavior” or “unethical conduct” for full localization.)
Alternatively, for a fully localized version:
Yang Yitong stated: “We needn’t debate whether the collision was wholly our responsibility. What’s unacceptable is that the other party—capitalizing on their seniority and resort connections—made outrageous demands. I, Yang, draw the line here. Such predatory conduct must not be normalized!”
(Choose based on context: the first preserves the original tone, while the second prioritizes natural English phrasing.)
At this point, Beijiao felt that some people really deserved a good beating. Not necessarily related to the rule of law or social norms for human behavior—but simply because he deserved it.
He should have smashed both their faces into a urinal that day to sober them up. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be spouting nonsense like this today.
This post already had some traffic. Opening the comments, it was roughly divided into two camps—
Ski community members celebrating:
“Don’t even talk about whether it was entirely our fault. If it wasn’t our fault, whose was it? Yours?”
“Saying ‘alleged extortion’ from your mouth, Yang Yitong, is just absurd, you know?”
“Yang Yitong, you’ve been chasing trends for years, and finally got your own trending moment—but the price was a bit high. Two snowboards costing over ten thousand yuan, hahahaha, how many times would you have to extort others to earn that back?”
“Wuwuwuwuwu Guangrong is Jiang Ran’s territory. So dirty. Don’t come here next time: )”
“I just checked. Those two boards have already been sold, hehe?”
“Old Yang, your mouth, really, I’m afraid to even scold you because you’ll turn around and accuse us of cyberbullying?”
“Hahahahahaha damn it, Sister Ran: thank you, Number One Fan Brother Yang, for the 11,000 yuan tip!!!”
Non-ski community justice warriors (some pretending to understand):
“Double standards are bad. Make her return the boards to you?”
“He took responsibility by offering to pay after the collision. The poster has already been very responsible. Why are some people mocking him?”
“I’m not from the community, but I think the person in front doesn’t even need to be responsible. You should give way to the straight one when turning! The one behind was going straight, right?”
“Even if it’s a rear-end collision, driving also requires turning to give way to the straight one!”
“The person in front must be from a rich family on the ski slope! With all that zigzagging, they were going to get hit sooner or later!”
“…I don’t know the rules of the ski community, I won’t say anything. I’ll just wait and watch!”
“I don’t ski. Why did you push this to me? Is my big data done collecting?”
Beijiao scrolled through the comments, experiencing a mix of emotions—
He clicked like on each comment from those who knew the truth in the ski community.
Then he forced himself not to curse at the clueless bystanders shouting “turning should give way to straight.”
Leaning back on the sofa, phone in hand, and beside him, Jiang Ran’s phone kept vibrating and buzzing. On the sofa, the main character was burning up with fever, completely out cold.
Until the phone’s ringing broke the balance.
Beijiao was startled. The caller ID read “Zhao Keshan.” He glanced at Jiang Ran. She softly “mmphed,” her closed eyelids trembled, and seemingly in pain, she buried her head under the small blanket.
Letting out a soft clucking sound, he grabbed Jiang Ran’s phone and answered the annoying call for her.
“Hey? Sister Ran? You son of a bitch Yang Yitong… damn it! I heard from others that you have the full video of Bei getting hit, and even someone recorded those two bastards admitting they gave you the boards! I’ve already had people look for it. I’ll send it to you in a bit. You edit it and post it all! Post it! Post it! Damn him! We must get back at him!”
The voice on the other end screamed wildly.
Beijiao’s ears hurt from the noise. Unable to bear it anymore, he replied, “Got it. Don’t yell.”
A deep, husky male voice startled the person on the other end into silence, like a scream chicken whose throat had been slit.
After a long pause, Zhao Keshan seemed to regain his senses and cautiously asked, “Bei Ge?”
“It’s me.”
“Jiang…” Zhao Keshan asked carefully, “Where’s Jiang Ran?”
If it weren’t too strange to say out loud, he would have even used “Miss Jiang,” a term implying “we’re not that close.”
“She’s sleeping.”
Beijiao didn’t bother to analyze why he was being so cautious. Holding the phone, he turned around, looked down, and met the drowsy, confused gaze of a pair of almond eyes that had just opened.
He paused.
His Adam’s apple moved.
“She’s awake now.”
He said this while still staring at Jiang Ran.
She clearly had no idea what was happening and asked, “Who is it?”
Her husky, sleepy voice completely misled the person on the other end, to the point where their breathing seemed to stop.
Beijiao didn’t even know if she was fully awake yet. Watching her move slowly on the sofa and then slowly take off the sweater she had over her nightgown.
Outside, it was nearly dusk.
Sunset poured in, casting a faint golden-pink glow on her pale arms.
He bent slightly and answered her, “Zhao Keshan… wants to talk to you?”
She shook her head, pulled off the small blanket covering her, and mumbled hoarsely, “I want to sleep more.”
As she spoke, she stretched out her arms toward him, making a hugging gesture.
Beijiao: “?”
Whatever Zhao Keshan said afterward and how the call ended, Beijiao couldn’t remember. He remained frozen in the awkward pose of holding the phone mid-call, staring at the woman on the sofa who had opened her arms to him.
After waiting for a while with no response, Jiang Ran impatiently kicked off the annoying blanket and sniffled, “Carry me to bed.”
She urged.
When Beijiao lifted her in his arms, she felt like a slippery snake wrapping around him, clinging to his neck. Through her soft nightgown, her soft bottom rested on his tense arm muscles—
The familiar scent of her body wash enveloped him from all directions, invading his senses. The damp, slightly bloody smell from the bathroom wasn’t particularly elegant…
But it stirred something deep in his memory, stimulating his nerves.
He had to hold his breath.
But it seemed to do no good.
Her scent seemed to transcend the five senses, invading through his pores.
Her body temperature was high, snuggling against his chest. Her perky, cool nose accidentally brushed against his neck as they moved—
That patch of skin suddenly became intensely aware of its existence, goosebumps rising. His throat tightened.
She, however, was completely unaware, letting out a muffled sound of discomfort from deep in her nose.
“Jiang Ran, that old smoke…”
He tried to talk to her to distract himself.
Feeling the fine strands of her hair dangling near his arms brushing against his exposed skin, she responded lazily by pinching his earlobe with the hand resting on his shoulder and murmured, “Hmm?”
Her slippers fell off, her bare feet hooked around his waist.
Unconsciously, she rubbed against him.
His waist temporarily lost feeling, and so did his ability to maintain a coherent conversation.
But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t even remember what he originally wanted to say.
The room was dimly lit. Holding her in his arms, it felt like carrying a fragile, flammable, explosive, and priceless contradiction. Carefully, he approached the bed, took a deep breath, and bent to lay her down—
As soon as her back touched the bed, she rolled onto it, pulled up the blanket, and reached out, patting his hand that hadn’t yet withdrawn from under her.
Her fingers flipped, skillfully grabbing onto his sleeve as he tried to pull away.
When he was pulled down obediently, bending over to bring his face close to hers, he was so nervous that he dared not breathe heavily. Looking down at her from close range.
Her eyes were half-closed, her lashes fluttering. Dazedly, she softly and cutely complained to the person by the bed, “Lin Shuang, my stomach hurts.”
……………………………………………………
Oh.
Never mind then: )
Author’s note:
Bei: If I didn’t already know Lin Shuang was a girl… I’d throw you out the window.
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