Grateful for the joint sponsorship from snowboard brands BC and Gray, Jiang Ran did her utmost to maintain impartiality. In the end, Bei Jiao and Song Die each got what they desired—
Bei Jiao received Gray’s top carving board, the Type-R, featuring a bright red tree background on its base, hence nicknamed “Red Tree.”
Song Die obtained BC’s RX model, also a flagship snowboard from BC. However, the flagship status wasn’t the main point; what mattered was that Jiang Ran and Bei Jiao both had this board, so he needed one too.
They prepared to return to Guangzhou the next day. That evening, while Bei Jiao dutifully packed for her, Jiang Ran sat on the edge of the bed admiring her newly acquired spoils—
Snowboards.
And stickers with little wings.
“On the slopes, people use all kinds of snowboards, and using a ten-thousand-yuan board won’t kill you or draw much attention. But there’s a consensus: no one would dare use the Red Tree unless they’re genuinely skilled… This board is fast and heavy. Even intermediate riders who can edge smoothly or are just starting to carve might find themselves forced to take off their boards halfway down the slope and walk.”
Jiang Ran’s tone sounded like she was about to place the golden headband on Zunzhu Bao’s head…
Or like she was helping her apprentice sit firmly on the Iron Throne.
“From today on, with the Red Tree, you are no longer a newbie.”
Bei Jiao turned around and saw the woman sitting on the bed edge, hugging his new board, holding the limited-edition BC sticker with wings, applying one to the Red Tree as well.
He wasn’t affected at all by the solemn atmosphere.
“You’re sticking a BC sticker on a Gray board. Are you out of your mind?” he asked.
“You wouldn’t understand. Usually, a rider can have multiple jacket sponsorships but only one snowboard brand sponsorship… but when you reach a godlike status, snowboard sponsorships are no longer exclusive.”
Bei Jiao was packing cosmetics scattered across the table, now playing with one of Jiang Ran’s lipsticks, sniffing it curiously like a nosy dog, applying some on his wrist and examining it under the light, the familiar shade…
Ah, right. He’d tasted it before.
The boy raised his eyebrows, smirking.
“Are you even listening to me?”
An annoyed female voice came from behind.
Bei Jiao turned his gaze back from his wrist, closed the lipstick, tossed it back into the makeup bag, and raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening… what do you mean? Did you get another brand sponsorship?”
The onlookers might have been a bit clueless, but most stubbornly believed that a prodigy had descended into the carving circle, an overwhelmingly strong newbie.
However, most people suspected someone was pulling strings while pretending to be an underdog—
Most guessed it was Jiang Ran.
When asked what Li Xingnan thought, Li said, “Go ask her yourselves.”
The snowboard brands weren’t stupid either. After she crushed the competition in the final round and took first place, as soon as Jiang Ran took off her snowboards and started walking back, her WeChat immediately received two congratulatory messages—
BC: “Sis, you really made us proud! Muah muah muah muah muah muah muah! Smooch smooch smooch!”
Gray: “My Red Tree smells great too. Mahesh’s price has skyrocketed from 9,800 to 18,000, and the boards are in short supply… Would you consider adding me after BC in your personal bio on the short video app?”
“That’s probably why NP stories are so captivating,” Jiang Ran sighed. “Who wouldn’t want to be the center of everyone’s attention, the little princess adored by all?”
Jiang Ran had only said it casually.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she heard her makeup bag thud into the suitcase. Startled, she suddenly remembered the fragile powder compact inside that could easily shatter, and she called out, “Hey,” quickly lifting her head—
Only to find the person squatting beside the suitcase looking even fiercer than she did.
Jiang Ran hesitated, her anger replaced by confusion, instinctively asking, “What’s wrong?”
Nothing much, just her casual self-reference reminded Bei Jiao of his afternoon musings—
A princess.
And a princess’s castle.
And two dragons kept by the princess, who had nothing better to do than fight each other all day.
The mind of a love-struck teenager was so hard to fathom; he could get angry over his own imagination and, in a huff, bring up old grievances. Jiang Ran giving Song Die that RX board became solid evidence.
“That’s why you’re so nice to Song Die too?”
In the darkness, the boy squatting beside the suitcase slightly turned his face, his handsome features half-hidden in shadow. In the dim light, she could see his lips curling upward silently, carrying a dangerous mockery.
The casual atmosphere changed, and Jiang Ran didn’t even know why.
With one hand, Bei Jiao angrily slammed the heavy suitcase lid shut, the loud noise startling her leg, which had just cautiously descended from the bed’s edge, causing it to recoil back.
It didn’t matter that she didn’t come over.
Because he would go to her.
As the boy advanced step by step toward her, Jiang Ran realized she wasn’t always the one in control. Her scalp prickled with anxiety. She climbed off the bed. “We’re going back tomorrow. I suddenly feel like I should talk to Qiu Nian—”
Talk about what?
For over a year, she had blocked his WeChat, ignored his emails, and disregarded his texts. What could possibly be worth discussing at this point?
In fact, she probably didn’t even know what she was saying. As soon as both feet touched the floor, two powerful arms grabbed her waist and placed her back on the bed.
A wave of panic and a different kind of despair surged through Jiang Ran’s heart, like knowing she was having a nightmare, chased by a ghost behind her while the door in front wouldn’t close—
She knew she wouldn’t die, nor would she suffer any harm.
But she was still scared, her heart beating on the verge of overload.
…And frustratingly unable to break free or wake up.
She struggled to pry the strong hands off her waist, but she couldn’t match his strength. Those hands gripped her waist tightly…
The snowboard resting on the bed’s edge slid off, making a “thud” sound.
At the same time, one of Bei Jiao’s hands released her waist and moved to her shoulder, gently pushing her back onto the pile of quilts behind her.
Then he stepped onto the bed with one leg, kneeling on the edge, and seized her shoulders, giving her an unexpected, fierce, and intense kiss.
—If his previous kisses had been like pitiful little dogs shivering in a storm begging for affection, or whiny little animals demanding attention, more exploratory than anything else, this time was different.
Jiang Ran was so shocked she even forgot to struggle. The boy’s fingers caressed through her hair, full of suggestive intent.
The breath mingling between their lips was familiar yet not entirely so. He seemed to be rushing to devour all her rationality, or perhaps to prove something—
This was a real kiss.
From a boy to a woman.
His hot breath brushed against her cheeks. His aggressive, forceful intrusion made her entire body go weak, and he showed no sign of letting go…
On the wall, the clock’s ticking seemed to make a sound with each second passing. As time went on, he only slightly tempered his initial intensity—
When Jiang Ran let out a stifled moan, his tongue, like a serpent’s, briefly withdrew from her lips, bringing with it the saliva from her mouth…
He bit her lower lip, released it, then gently licked his own mark.
Jiang Ran remained in the position he had pushed her onto the bed, too stiff to move.
When he slightly loosened his grip, his hand propped up beside her head, gazing down at her bewildered, tear-filled eyes, he couldn’t resist the instinctive urge to wipe away her tears—
His slightly calloused thumb brushed across the soft, delicate corner of her eye. He tilted his head, his expression cold and indifferent: “Hmm?”
Jiang Ran thought, what was he “hmm”-ing about?
Was it a hint that she could speak now?
And then what?
She dared not think.
Right now, the atmosphere before her was very intense, as if this was her last chance to speak. If she said one wrong word, she probably wouldn’t survive… so she pressed her lips tightly together, keeping silent for as long as possible, procrastinating.
At this moment, her pale lips were kissed and bitten into a luscious redness, glistening with moisture, and she didn’t realize that doing so only made him want to do even worse things to her…
“Nothing to say then?” His voice was hoarse, tinged with a hint of impatience.
“…”
Jiang Ran raised her hand, soothingly and appeasingly patting his muscular arm, paused for a moment, then sincerely said, “I don’t even know what’s wrong with you? We were talking fine, and then you suddenly—”
Again, that condescending, babying tone.
This time, it didn’t work.
Bei Jiao silently brushed aside her hand that had been rubbing against his shoulder, his dark eyes unyielding, staring at her relentlessly: “In your eyes, am I the same as Song Die, just a little brat who likes to follow you around and cling to you?”
His voice sounded a bit sharp.
His anger and resentment came out of nowhere. When she asked what was wrong, she ultimately didn’t get to ask. She just shook her head: “How could you be the same?”
If he were the same as Song Die, then what had he been doing a second ago? What about all the affectionate rubbing and taking every opportunity to get close?
They had been in Xinjiang for seven days, and Song Die hadn’t even entered her room…
And he had been here almost all the time, except for sleeping.
Same? Where had he gotten that idea?
But where exactly were they different?
Jiang Ran herself couldn’t answer that, so she dared not say much more.
The atmosphere had already become tense and volatile, like a steel wool soaked in alcohol repeatedly rubbing against a wound. Her hand slid from his arm to his back—
He was only wearing a T-shirt indoors, so she could easily feel the scabbed areas on his back, uneven to the touch. Some scabs were almost gone, their edges curling up. Presumably, he hadn’t been able to sleep normally for days.
While she was silently thinking, her hand unconsciously continued to caress his back. The boy’s muscles tensed silently as her fingertips passed over.
His kiss landed again.
This time not as hasty as the last, but still restless, not content with just her lips. His soft kisses landed like feathers on her eyelashes, the corners of her eyes, the side of her ear—
Then he paused briefly, his soft lips pressing against her artery.
One of his hands had been around her waist, and as she let out a muffled whimper, he hesitated for only a moment before his long, well-defined fingers slipped under the hem of her cotton T-shirt.
When his warm, dry palm pressed against her waistline.
Without any fabric between them.
This completely unfamiliar sensation made her heart and body tremble simultaneously. Almost instinctively, she pressed down on the back of his hand.
The boy obediently stopped his actions, hovering over her, looking down at her panicked face, silently watching her like he held all the power of life and death.
He hadn’t said a word.
But it was as if he was silently telling her: he had stopped, okay, but only temporarily.
In the dimly lit room, Jiang Ran raised her hand, her slightly trembling fingers reaching out to touch the boy’s brow.
He sighed softly, lowered his neck, and gently rubbed his nose against her soft fingertips, following the direction of her fingers.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Ran heard her own voice, so soft it almost got lost in the howling wind outside the window. “Bei Jiao, do you like me?”
The wound was torn open again.
Indeed, it was bloody and painful, yet exhilarating.
The question she had failed to ask on the slopes that day, left vague until today, was now clear and inescapable. Neither could pretend.
But this time, her heart was completely different.
Back then, she had teased him as he panicked and faltered. This time, it was her who was throwing caution to the wind.
Her fingers even hesitated and paused because of her own words. Jiang Ran moved her hand away from his brow…
So the warmth disappeared. When Bei Jiao lifted his eyes, he could only see her gently holding his wrist, lying beneath him, nervously looking up at him.
He smiled at her.
“Mm.” His voice was calm and sincere. “I like you.”
A “thud” sounded as something hit the window, creating a soft rustling noise. Sudden, yet not too jarring.
It must have started snowing outside again. The snow in Xinjiang just wouldn’t stop falling, endless and unrelenting. She wondered if their flight tomorrow would be delayed? Had the weather in Guangzhou gotten colder? Autumn had already arrived.
She let her mind wander.
Inside the room, an unprecedented silence fell, only the wind outside whispering through the window.
Not getting a response was expected. The boy smirked self-deprecatingly.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking. Maybe you don’t even want to hear me say this directly, so you can keep pretending ignorance until one day you never have to see me again… I used to be too obedient, always going along with you, giving you this illusion. I should apologize for that.”
He paused, not giving her a chance to speak, continuing on his own: “At the restaurant door, I gave you a chance, telling you not to come near me again, but you insisted on showing up repeatedly, taking me skiing, teaching me how to earn money… Were you having a saint complex?”
She caught the last sentence, and a swear word flashed through her mind.
But she didn’t get to say it.
“Think of it as doing good deeds without reward. I’m not a stray dog you picked up off the street, grateful just for a bite to eat and wagging my tail at you.”
His gaze was deep, and in the room lit only by a single hanging lamp, his dark pupils seemed bottomless. His voice was calm, as if all his emotions had been swallowed by the darkness, allowing him to speak in such a composed tone.
“Being taken away from my old life, no longer thinking about working and earning money every day, developing interests more important than earning money, suddenly having more people around me besides classmates, being able to ignore my mother’s nonsense messages… I can’t go back to my old life. Don’t you have a responsibility?”
She blinked, stunned by his robber logic.
“I like you, Jiang Ran.”
He moved back, standing steadily at the edge of the bed, simultaneously pulling her wrist to rescue the soft, crumpled figure from the quilts.
She was like a puppet, numbly controlled by him, yet her heart was in chaos.
The next moment, she fell into a solid, warm embrace. The boy, carrying a dying despair, lowered his head and buried his face in her neck.
“I like you, Jiang Ran. I want you to belong to me, and only me.”
He kissed her earlobe.
“If I hadn’t said it, how much longer would you have kept playing house with me? I’m not that patient, really. I’m just temporarily… helpless against you.”
She inhaled sharply, avoiding his kiss.
In the struggle, their eyes met, and she found his gaze moist, still bright even in the darkness, fixed on her.
Under her silent, dazed gaze, the corner of his mouth helplessly lifted, a wry smile.
“So, can you please stop taking advantage of my liking you to keep bullying me?”
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