Adding the one swindled from Shan Chong, there were five Bing Duan Duan snow dolls in total—one for A Jiao, one for A Tuan, and one each for Er Che, A Ju, and Nian Nian, perfectly making five.
Jiang Ran counted off on her fingers, thinking this was fate’s doing—sending these girls to deliver vegetables to her so she wouldn’t have to give one to someone only to get a call the next day from another girl. She even felt like thanking these stubborn young girls, even though they almost looked like they were about to cry when they pulled the keychains from their pockets.
She didn’t feel like she was bullying them; Bei Jiao wasn’t even a year or two older than them, yet still always scheming with mischief.
She happily accepted the spoils of war, picked up her snowboard, and looked toward the mountaintop. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, sweeping up snow like a natural curtain that blurred her vision.
Jiang Ran was riding the track closer to the spectator stand, and the wind was blowing sideways from this direction. Snow rolled across the track, and one of the coaches remarked, “The wind has really been strong these past couple of days. Good thing the parallel giant slalom finished a few days ago; otherwise, it might’ve had to be postponed.”
The parallel giant slalom has specific requirements for crosswinds, in addition to slope length and gradient, so the venue selection must be carefully considered.
Jiang Ran peeked outside at the snow track. At this point, it was a mess from skiing and wind-formed natural snow mounds.
Her track, being the first contact surface for the wind, had thinner snow cover—now that the competition had ended, the organizers wouldn’t waste money on artificial snowmaking to maintain the track. On slightly higher ground, one could faintly see icy crusts formed from repeated melting and freezing.
Under the sunlight, these icy crusts looked like white crystal, sparkling.
Jiang Ran pulled her head back and warned Wang Jiaming and Nie Xin behind her, “This round might end up being a loss.”
Nie Xin waved his hand, “You’re already declaring defeat before the race even starts? Come on, don’t be like that. Don’t tell me you feel soft-hearted because you accepted their gifts?”
“Let her,” Wang Jiaming, sharp-eyed, had already noticed the foreign girl’s eyes red as rabbits, “It’s not good to see someone cry on their own turf. As hosts, shouldn’t we show some courtesy?”
It sounded polite on the surface.
But the tone vaguely carried a twisted atmosphere, as if the hidden meaning was more like: My home’s door is always open, welcome to come, but no matter how close or far you are, you’ll end up crying when you leave.
Jiang Ran twitched her lips, seeing neither coach took her seriously. She hugged her board and turned to head back up the mountain.
Once unfamiliar, twice familiar, by the third time standing at the starting point on the mountaintop, the initial nervousness had long vanished. She glanced sideways at Ainovela on the adjacent track, who looked quite nervous.
Jiang Ran turned her gaze back and focused ahead.
Her track, affected by the wind direction early on, already had icy crusts.
Therefore, in the first two races, to ensure stability, she had to fold her body as much as possible, keeping the edge of her board high… After so long of sliding, how could she not know that in racing, having a large fold wasn’t particularly desirable?
High edges meant slower board turns, longer turns, and wider routes.
But Jiang Ran had no choice but to stay stable at the beginning. Only when she reached the lower part of the mountain where the wind was weaker and the snow was thick enough to provide support did she rise and reduce the edge angle—
That’s why she always started overtaking Ainovela in the middle to later stages of the previous two runs.
But by the second run, Ainovela had likely already grasped her technique. It must be said, the girl truly had talent and was sharp. After making slight adjustments to her approach, she no longer lost as badly.
Therefore, in this third race, Jiang Ran needed to reduce pressure and folding even earlier.
Otherwise, she would definitely lose.
She crouched lower, gripping the starting handle, and took a deep breath. Her gaze lightly swept over the icy crust ahead—
With a “beep” from the timer, the veins on the back of her hand slightly bulged. She pushed off and shot forward.
…
In the first two gates, she accelerated, gradually crouching into a folded position.
At the third gate, according to the previous two runs, Jiang Ran would already have picked up speed, crouching and folding her body to the maximum, her board edging almost to a negative angle—using her body weight to stabilize on the uneven snow.
But just as everyone thought she would replicate the same technique from the previous two rounds, she didn’t. Her body remained stretched and open, just like during the first two gates.
“She’s still accelerating!”
This time, by the fourth gate, Jiang Ran had already overtaken Ainovela!
There were still five gates until the midpoint timer!
From the corner of her eye, Ainovela could only see a blurry figure that had been riding side by side with her, then suddenly from a certain gate, brushing past her, she was overtaken.
Ainovela’s heart sank. She never expected Jiang Ran to start pushing hard so early in the race. But she had no time to dwell on it, biting her lower lip and desperately trying to catch up!
Ainovela couldn’t see the details, but the spectators on the stand could.
They clearly saw Jiang Ran had changed her previously conservative technique. Starting from the fourth gate, due to her high speed, her board turning method also changed. At the steepest part of the track, she still executed an edge switch—
Her racing snowboard was heavy and long, yet during the edge change, it had a brief moment of complete suspension in the air!
On the spectator stand, Wang Jiaming leaned forward, resting his hands on the railing, even he couldn’t help but sigh, “What guts.”
“Jiang Ran has been doing recreational technical snowboarding for years. Those who have truly mastered it eventually don’t just stick to basics. They have to perform high-speed tricks on steep slopes to maintain their status.”
Nie Xin said, “On such a slope, if she were on an ordinary carving board, she’d dare to jump half a meter high and spin a 720°.”
Not an empty boast.
Nie Xin still remembered when Jiang Ran first joined the team, her performance wasn’t good. She trained like crazy, obsessively practicing, and progressed quickly because she wasn’t satisfied with herself.
In the latter half, he had to ask Chun to keep an eye on her, fearing something might happen.
Later, after the National Day holiday, no one knew what good thing happened during the holiday, but she seemed to have a breakthrough. She started eating well, sleeping well, and picked up her carving board for fun again.
Nie Xin had seen Jiang Ran messing around during that time—
Watching her perform nollie 720s on the steepest slopes at Harbin Sunac.
That bold and fearless approach had won over many male snowboarders at Harbin Sunac, earning her their admiration.
(Note: “融创” is translated as “Sunac” as it refers to the Sunac Snow World in Harbin, a well-known ski resort. The translation maintains the original meaning while adapting the proper noun appropriately for an English-speaking audience.)
No one knew how many men trembled with awe while developing a sense of admiration, eventually bowing at her snow-pants-clad feet.
And back then, the look on their faces saying “Oh no,” was exactly the same as the line of coaches leaning over the railing now.
Nie Xin stood with his hands on his hips, suddenly regretting how honestly he had handed her over to the national team—
The 2022 Winter Olympics hadn’t even finished yet, and the 2026 Winter Olympics snow sports qualifying stages hadn’t even started!
Originally, he could have kept her for another year or so!
As he felt this way, Wang Jiaming suddenly said, “Has anyone ever told her she doesn’t have to be a reckless workhorse all the time? Even in minor competitions, friendship should come first, competition second.”
Nie Xin was momentarily stunned, not yet understanding what his buddy was saying, when suddenly from the corner of his eye, he saw two figures speeding toward them—
Jiang Ran had already overtaken Ainovela by a gate now!
What did this mean? Actually, among top athletes, the performance gap wasn’t that big anymore. Strength wasn’t the only factor anymore; it was more about luck, snow surface conditions, and mental state at the time…
In the battle for the top five, overtaking by a gate was almost unheard of!
She was just too fast!
Nie Xin opened his mouth but couldn’t speak, his heart full of shock silently joining the coaches’ sighs. Wang Jiaming beside him had unknowingly put on his glasses and now pushed them up, “She’s still accelerating.”
In the calm statement from the national team coach, Nie Xin’s heart suddenly jolted, watching Jiang Ran charge like a wild bull, her speed seemingly risking her life—
How fast she was, like risking her life, how daring she was.
“I wish I had a time machine, to send her back three days ago to the parallel giant slalom competition.”
One coach sighed.
“That way, there wouldn’t even be a need for Wang Xin’s big air event. We’d have already won the gold medal, damn it.”
As the coach sighed, Jiang Ran had already reached their line of sight—
Then, as if giving those old guys a slap in the face, when she reached the middle gate, her snowboard, due to high-speed loss of control, directly skidded!
With a “crack” sound completely different from the sound of the board’s edge cutting through snow, her whole body slid sideways and flew out!
“Oh my god!”
“Damn it!”
“Wang Jiaming! Wang Jiaming! You really are a crow!”
Amidst a chorus of curses, they saw the white-clad figure rolling and flying several meters down the slope, spinning like a little top—completely chaotic.
Snow flew, obscuring everything, only seeing Jiang Ran’s black board bottom spinning like a propeller. She slid sideways for a long stretch, the noise deafening, before rolling all the way to the foot of the spectator stand!
Then “crack”—she hit the soft cushion beside the track, stopping.
Nie Xin was stunned, his heart pounding, his mind filled with thoughts like “Is she still alive?” “Did someone die?” “Did her neck break?” He leaned over the railing, desperately trying to look down!
As everything settled, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button.
The cold wind blew, apart from the sound of wind sweeping snow, the spectator stand was silent for a moment, everyone too shocked to speak.
Except for Wang Jiaming, who was the first to take off his glasses and walk toward the exit, everyone else remained frozen in place like wooden chickens.
After a long while, when Wang Jiaming’s figure already appeared on the snow track, the snow finally settled.
Nie Xin looked down, seeing the person sprawled on the snow, her hair scattered from the high-speed tumble. She moved slightly, her fingers on the snow moving first, then slowly pushing herself up from the snow, looking dazed and confused.
“…Oh, she’s alive.”
Nie Xin exhaled in great relief, his legs trembling as he staggered backward and sat down on a chair.
…
Below, Ainovela completed the race and reached the finish line. She knew she was likely behind and, in a huff, immediately looked sideways, wanting to see if that woman had already arrived, maybe even taken off her board and was now waiting around showing off—
But when she turned her head, she saw no one.
A big question mark appeared in her mind. She thought, could she really be so fast that she’s already at the finish line and even gone?
Mysteriously, she faintly heard commotion and turned back, only then noticing the chaos on the mountainside. There was a woman sitting on the track, covered in snow, looking a bit dazed.
Her long curly black hair was down over her shoulders, and she had taken off her helmet, speaking to someone beside her who looked like a coach.
Sunlight poured from the side, illuminating her perky nose, casting little light spots.
Her feet were still strapped into the snowboard. From so far away, she couldn’t see the woman’s expression—she only saw her probably pouting, using her hand to hit the ground, and kicking the snowboard with her feet.
The snowboard kicked up snow, and Ainovela only then realized the woman must have lost control midway and flown off the track.
In other words, in this third race, despite starting at a huge disadvantage, she had actually won—
She won.
She pursed her lips, not knowing whether she should feel happy.
Anyway, her heart felt heavy, and that rebellious spirit surged upward. She bent down to remove her snowboard and took the elevator alone up to the intermediate spectator stand.
Ainovela’s teammates were already waiting for her on the spectator stand, all smiling and congratulating her on winning the race.
Ainovela, however, couldn’t feel happy. She placed her snowboard down and took the stairs down from the spectator stand.
After going downstairs, she hadn’t walked ten meters when she heard two people talking—
Maybe even arguing.
“Did your neck break?”
“Could I be talking to you if it did?”
“Does it hurt?”
“No.”
“No worries, you’ll know tomorrow morning.”
“…”
“Do you know how many rolls you did on the track? I knew from the fifth gate you weren’t complaining that you were definitely going to crash. Are you crazy or blind? Didn’t you see the thick icy crust on the ground? That doesn’t make sense either, you were so cautious in the first two runs, meaning you still valued your life… You almost got caught in the second run, so you decided to throw your life away?”
“Coach, even though I haven’t officially joined the team yet, in the future we should still have a friendly, supportive relationship.”
“Just keep smiling secretly. The only reason you haven’t joined yet is so I don’t have you write a written self-criticism tonight and read it under the national flag at Monday’s morning assembly.”
“I thought you were at least a quiet, considerate person, but I guess I was wrong. Now I realize how you could hang out with Nie Xin—”
“You talk too much. Seems like you really don’t feel any pain.”
“…”
“You scared Nie Xin into a stupor.”
“I was the one who fell, and you’re concerned about him?! Are you out of your mind?!”
Elanovela didn’t understand Chinese. She saw two people nearby—one standing and one sitting.
As their voices grew louder and the tone more intense, she felt relieved. If this woman still had the energy to yell, she must be fine.
While she was pondering, the woman whose mood kept shifting slowly tried to push herself up from the snow, only to fall back down with a cry of pain after barely lifting herself.
Removing her gloves, she lightly hit the coach standing beside her with one glove. Finally, the coach bent down, expressionless, and grabbed her elbow, pulling her up from the snow rather unkindly.
…
Saying it doesn’t hurt is just stubbornly pretending to be tough.
In fact, at this moment, Jiang Ran felt like she had been run over by a truck. Every slight movement made her bones crack, as if they were about to fall apart at any moment.
She kept hissing from the pain, realizing she couldn’t possibly stand properly and ski down to the medical station. She gave up and bent down to remove her snowboard.
As soon as her feet were freed, the pain became even more intense. Dizzy from the pain, she recalled how she had rolled down the slope like a giant oil barrel, clumsy and awkward for several rotations.
With so many coaches and leaders watching, how embarrassing!
She could only hope they remembered her graceful performance at the beginning and forgot the rest—just cut it off!
As her right foot touched the ground, a burning pain shot through her knee, making her furrow her brows sharply. Like a shrimp, she hopped up, balancing on her left leg with two jumps, then supported herself against the nearby protective wall with her hands.
Her whole body leaned sideways against the wall like Lin Daiyu, her waist soft and weak.
“What’s wrong with your right foot?” Wang Jiaming asked sharply.
Jiang Ran glanced at his expression, which was calm enough not to scold her or make her write a report. She awkwardly smiled at him with an embarrassed face: “Nothing. I just didn’t wear any protective gear when I went out today. The burning sensation is probably from a scrape.”
Her voice gradually became muffled.
She had thought she was only going to do one performance run, so wearing protective gear was too troublesome.
Who knew Elanovela would persuade her to do so many more runs, and finally she got overly excited and competitive!
It was killing her!
Wang Jiaming raised his eyebrows slightly, and Jiang Ran immediately thought of something and quickly said: “Don’t tell Nie Xin.”
She paused, “He’ll report to my boyfriend.”
Nie Xin gradually came to know that even though Jiang Ran was wild and fearless, there was still someone who could manage her effectively, keeping her in line.
At that time, he quickly added Beijiao’s WeChat.
So obviously, this incident today would fall within his reporting scope. Performing dangerous moves for the competition was already bad enough. If that dog found out she wasn’t even wearing protective gear, there would be a real commotion. Last time he caught her without protective gear, he looked like he wanted to say something, but fortunately, he was too distracted by other things at that time not to confront her…
This time, with him not even present, there was no way she would escape his scolding.
Jiang Ran was already fed up with listening to his dog barking.
Wang Jiaming sneered slightly without expressing an opinion. He reached out and grabbed her elbow, half dragging and half supporting her back to the mid-mountain viewing stand.
Nie Xin stretched his head to look down, shouting as he watched: “Ancestor! Why are you limping? Did you sprain it?”
Jiang Ran shouted back with her head up: “Nothing! Not sprained at all! I’m fine! I just scraped it when I rolled out!”
Nie Xin: “You didn’t wear protective gear? Does Beijiao know you often train without wearing it secretly?”
That’s exactly why I emphasized I’m “fine”!
How can this person not understand the hint!
“…You won’t tell him, right?” Jiang Ran replied irritably.
While shouting, suddenly someone blocked her path ahead. Looking up, it was Elanovela, her face flushed as she gazed at her, biting her lower lip, looking both wronged and shy, with a hint of resentment.
Jiang Ran was still holding back her anger, not understanding what Elanovela had to be resentful about, but she didn’t show it on her face and generously smiled at her, [You win!]
The Nordic countries have a fairly high English proficiency rate, but some individuals simply refuse to learn it. Nevertheless, even the least educated Icelander should comprehend such basic English, and Elanovela was no exception.
She pursed her lips slightly, showing no joy on her face. She pulled over an English-speaking teammate and mumbled something to her. The teammate then asked Jiang Ran, [She says this was an unfair competition. Why didn’t you mention earlier that there was ice on your track?]
Elanovela had discovered this matter when she passed by the track with blue flags on her way to find Jiang Ran.
Jiang Ran waved her hand: [The ice had been there for a long time.]
With this casual sentence, the girl’s face turned pale—
What she meant was that the first half of the third run was already her top speed. If she hadn’t played it safe and dug deep in the first two runs, the situation of “only a slight difference” might not have even occurred.
As the foreign girl wore an indescribable expression, Jiang Ran hopped past her on one leg.
…
In the end, Nie Xin got her a wheelchair. When she sat down, Jiang Ran felt like she had never been so embarrassed in her life.
She just regretted not wearing a windproof face mask when she left home this morning and took out her mask to put it on… Although it was covered up tightly, and she tried to keep her head low all the way, she was still recognized by people on the road.
As if to avenge yesterday’s deception, Shan Chong somehow appeared out of nowhere, looking curiously up and down at the woman sitting in the wheelchair being escorted back like a celebrity: “What happened to her?”
All the snowboard coaches knew Shan Chong—he was the only one, the prized asset. Wang Jiaming scoffed: “Oh, you know her? This older sister didn’t even wear protective gear, participated in a friendly competition with others, was reckless and wild, and almost got herself killed.”
According to his status and seniority in the snowboarding circle, although Shan Chong was older, he was considered Jiang Ran’s peer. Now witnessing her pitiful state and having his secrets exposed by a peer, a wave of shame surged over Jiang Ran. Her eyes flickered, and she raised her hand to press down her mask, making a sound of “Oh well.”
In the midst of her avoidance, Wang Jiaming said, “A bad example. Don’t follow her.”
Shan Chong had also fallen before, and his fall was even worse than Jiang Ran’s. Seeing her sitting there with only a flushed face and no other apparent issues, he knew she wasn’t seriously hurt and scoffed, “I value my life.”
Nie Xin said, “See how sensible he is! You have to stay alive to keep performing, haven’t you heard!”
If it weren’t for the Bing Dwen Dwen from yesterday, Jiang Ran would have jumped up and argued with Shan Chong right then. But the latter continued to pour oil on the fire: “I heard from Lao Yan that your boyfriend keeps a tight watch on you. Doesn’t he scold you for not wearing protective gear during training?”
He dragged out the last word, clearly enjoying the situation.
Jiang Ran: “…”
Shan Chong: “I saw him in Chongli. He looked pretty fierce. He once immediately showed his anger because a student was a complete beginner but refused to wear protective gear… And you dare to pretend to comply while secretly disobeying. You’ve got guts.”
There was no dog in sight, yet the legend of the ferocious hound still haunted the rivers and lakes.
After Shan Chong left, Jiang Ran was left speechless and unable to raise her head from his sarcastic remarks. She turned her head to look at the group of coaches behind her, but no one spoke up in opposition, as if everyone thought what he said made sense.
“Don’t look at them. They all want to offer you up now, stuff you into Doraemon’s time machine drawer, either back to the competition three days ago or to Milan four years later,” Nie Xin half-jokingly said, “Right now, your body and mind belong to the country, dear sister. As a spark of hope, the people are waiting for you to ignite the prairie. Please take good care of yourself.”
This joke slightly eased Jiang Ran’s depression. She lightly laughed, but before she could say anything, she heard Wang Jiaming behind her say, “It’s good not to accept defeat easily, but being overly impulsive is just stubbornness.”
Jiang Ran stopped smiling and lowered her head, looking dejected.
Wang Jiaming walked to her side and said in his flat, emotionless voice, “Winning and losing are common in the art of war. You can’t keep winning forever.”
Jiang Ran naturally understood this principle. She hadn’t just won first place in Finland.
She didn’t know what was wrong with herself. It seemed that she was easily getting carried away, and once her mind heated up, she would lose her sense as soon as she stepped onto the snowboard.
She still wasn’t in a good mood when she returned to the hotel.
After taking off her snowsuit and checking her knees, her left leg was fine, but her right knee was a terrible sight—
When she was thrown out, her right foot landed first, sliding along the ground. She had often fallen during years of training and had learned from experience. Instinctively, she bent her knees to reduce the impact, rolling outward like a ball…
Her legs were fine, but her right knee had scraped badly against the ground.
Now the skin was broken, with bruising and internal bleeding beneath. The broken area was oozing tiny droplets of blood, staining her quick-dry shirt red.
Jiang Ran inhaled sharply as she pulled off her tight-fitting quick-dry shirt, throwing the blood-stained clothes into the laundry basket.
Her right foot couldn’t bear weight, and it hurt when she stepped down. She hopped around the room on one leg, grabbed her snowsuit, and pulled out five keychains from inside—
She wouldn’t have thought about it if she hadn’t remembered, she had worked so hard for these keychains.
She was even injured because of them.
Jiang Ran pursed her lips. Once there were no unfamiliar people around, her sentimental side kicked in. Losing the competition, flying out in front of so many people, and finally being pushed back in a wheelchair.
There must have been a note in today’s almanac saying “not suitable for going out,” otherwise how could she be so unlucky.
Back in bed, she took a photo of her knee. The wound was still oozing fresh blood droplets. In this bloody mess, she sent the photo to Beijiao.
After sending the photo, she felt a bit regretful.
Just as she was thinking that this dog might question her with a series of question marks, which would make her even angrier, suddenly her WeChat video call rang, scaring her.
She answered the video call. On the other end, Beijiao seemed to be in a car, the surroundings dim, and she couldn’t see clearly.
As soon as the call connected, Beijiao didn’t waste words with her. His dark eyes stared at the screen, asking slowly, “What happened to your knee?”
The calmer his tone, the more serious the problem.
As soon as his voice sounded, Jiang Ran felt a nerve at the back of her head throb. She thought maybe she had gone crazy, why would she recklessly invite trouble—
Although essentially, she just wanted to act cute because her wound hurt and she had lost the competition.
…She should have contacted Qiu Nian instead.
She muttered in her heart.
On the other side, after hearing her remain silent for a long time, his expression changed repeatedly, alternating between “regret” and “hesitation,” but he didn’t expose her.
He just sat there watching the screen, his face showing no excessive emotion, patiently waiting for her to speak.
After waiting for a while, he finally heard her hum: “I went out for a walk this morning, slipped on the ground without noticing, fell down, and ended up like this. It really hurts.”
Her voice was slow and soft.
When had she ever used this tone with Beijiao—
Either she was feeling guilty.
Or she was being treated roughly by him in bed and wanted him to stop.
Usually, her intentions were clear.
“You fell on flat ground while walking,” Beijiao said.
Jiang Ran nodded: “Yes, yes.”
Beijiao was silent for a moment. Just as Jiang Ran thought she had managed to get away with it, she heard him slowly remind her, “Next time you lie, take off your quick-dry shirt first.”
Jiang Ran raised her head. Directly opposite her bed was a dressing table with a mirror on it. She saw her reflection in the mirror, wearing a white quick-dry shirt neatly, looking completely confused as she stared at herself in the mirror.
“Jiang Ran, you always get angry with me about wearing protective gear, but when it’s your turn, you can just ignore it?” Her boyfriend’s voice came slowly through the phone, “Double standards, right?”
Today seemed like the entire world was reminding Jiang Ran that her boyfriend was very fierce.
Now it turned out he really was.
Jiang Ran picked up her phone and calmly ended the video call.
Then she typed a message to him—
[Who’s My Darling: Bad signal, let’s talk later! Miss you! =3=]
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