“Kid, what’s up, all alone?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh wow, you even do freestyle one-run carving? Impressive!”
“You bet! I can even do hard boots and competition boards, you know! I’m going to the Olympics someday!”
“Haha, impressive, impressive! No wonder your family lets you ski up here alone—though they’re being a bit too careless. You’re still so small, where’s your guardian?”
“My guardian’s on the next gondola. They ditched me.”
Tuantuan folded his arms, looking prematurely aged.
“They chased me away. They’re off to date!”
Unbeknownst to the “guardians,” their unintentionally discreet yet somehow unnoticed love affair was cruelly exposed to five strangers on the gondola.
The little brat talked a lot, managing to fill the entire gondola with laughter and chatter within five short minutes.
When the gondola reached the transfer station, Tuantuan, as usual, remained seated. A veteran like him, of course, headed to the advanced slopes at the summit—
As he thought this, he straightened his back proudly.
The gondola doors opened, revealing a tall figure behind the opening.
The young woman in the gondola who had just been giggling uncontrollably at Tuantuan’s childish jokes stopped abruptly. She looked, somewhat bewildered yet bright-eyed, at the handsome black-haired young man holding two Gray snowboards outside the gondola.
But he didn’t step inside.
“You ski down by yourself,” he said succinctly. “If you can’t, go find your Uncle Erche.”
Li Xingnan might never understand why he ended up being called “Uncle” just because Jiang Ran is his older sister… but that’s not important.
Upon hearing Beijiao’s words, Tuantuan immediately jumped up. “What do you mean! Did they really ditch me! Then what are you doing here!”
As he was shouting, he saw Jiang Ran peek in beside Beijiao. She looked at Tuantuan, whose face was full of indignation, and hesitated slightly with her visible eyes outside her face mask.
“Yeah, maybe it’s not a good idea to leave Tuantuan alone on the mountain—”
As she spoke, she bent down and reached out to take one of the boards from Beijiao’s hands.
But he seemed to have eyes even above his chin. As her fingertips touched the bindings, he shifted his hand slightly, dodging her. His pitch-black eyes stared at Tuantuan.
“Don’t ruin my plan.”
Jiang Ran’s hand paused mid-air.
And in the gondola, the chubby kid who had just been cursing him as “heartless” and “irresponsible” suddenly fell silent. His eyes darted frantically between Jiang Ran and Beijiao. As the gondola passed the midpoint and the doors began to slowly close, he suddenly spoke meekly.
“Oh.”
The gondola doors shut.
Tuantuan turned around, leaning against the seat backrest, watching through the window as his master finally handed one of the snowboards back to the “sky-rocket sister.”
Then he slung an arm around her shoulders, heading toward the downward slope from the transfer station.
She reluctantly swatted his hand away. He leaned closer, listened to something she said, then glanced toward the direction of the gondola Tuantuan was on.
Three minutes later, Tuantuan’s little genius watch rang. He answered the call with a “Hello, good day!”
On the other end was Uncle Erche, who told him that at the A4 entrance at the summit, he would be Tuantuan’s guardian and instructor for the afternoon.
…
The beginner and intermediate slopes at Songbei Ski Resort were a magical place. Jiang Ran had the fortune of spending over forty minutes here due to someone’s procrastination learning basic push turns. Today, she had the fortune again due to the same person skiing with the intensity of a professional race through slalom gates.
The most incredible part was, she thought she was already fast, but Beijiao was even faster.
By the time they reached the gondola entrance, Jiang Ran was slightly out of breath. She bent down to unbuckle her board. The moment she did, a certain dog-like someone immediately took the board from her.
He couldn’t resist complaining, “You’re so slow.”
Jiang Ran glanced at the time. From when they got off the gondola, put on their boards, and now reached the bottom, it had only taken four minutes.
…………………… The reason the gondola transfer station at Songbei Ski Resort is called a transfer station is because it’s literally halfway up the mountain. A normal person would need at least ten minutes to ski down from there.
She twitched her lips but said nothing. He tilted his head, leaned closer, and asked lightly, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Jiang Ran pushed his dog-like face away with her hand.
—Well, yes, she did do it on purpose. He was fast, so she couldn’t be faster than him. It had little to do with his pride, but more with her not wanting to seem overly eager. That would be too unbecoming.
But no matter how much she dragged her feet, she couldn’t resist being dragged back to the apartment door by him, half-carried, half-dragged.
The door opened. She looked at it slowly opening before her, familiar scents mingling with the warm air from the underfloor heating rushing toward her. Once, on the sofa, dining table, and in the bedroom behind this door…
Her memories surged back. One hand leaning against the doorframe, her face expressionless: “Maybe we should call it off. It feels too rushed, like we’re rushing through things. Let’s do this another day—”
Before she could finish, she was pulled into the room, pressed against the wall. The descending kiss silenced her unfinished words.
…At least in this aspect, Beijiao still understood her.
Jiang Ran was a hopeless mess when it came to his kisses, easily swept away into ecstasy.
Not necessarily because his kissing skills were so exceptional, but because she loved this semi-innocent yet not overly innocent way of connecting. It made her feel that when their lips and tongues touched, they were so close, as if they were one person—
She trembled slightly, her spine tingling, her legs weak, only able to cling to his neck with both hands to avoid sliding down.
He raised his hand, unzipping the side of her ski overalls, his fingers slipping inside to feel around—
“Hmm?”
He briefly withdrew his tongue, looking down at the woman in his arms, her eyes red and her breathing uneven from his kisses. “No protective gear?”
“…”
This was quite absurd to explain. Two years ago, it was Jiang Ran who would yawn tiredly while leaning against the doorframe, watching Beijiao put on his inner protective gear before letting him go out…
Two years later, it was him asking her with that fatherly tone why she wasn’t wearing protective gear.
“I didn’t plan to practice tricks today.”
Or even ski at all.
“I came up the mountain this morning looking for you…”
Either to fight or, like now, just go back down. Why wear protective gear for that!
She held onto his neck, her fingertips gently rubbing his nape, desperately wanting to move past this moment, not letting him remember this as a bad example.
In their conversation, accompanied by subtle movements, the straps of her overalls slid off her shoulders. He lowered his head, nibbling at her nose tip as he continued his exploration.
Jiang Ran took a deep breath. At a certain point, she sharply inhaled, her abdomen tightening abruptly, like she’d been punched—not painful, but intensely hot.
She couldn’t help but raise her chin slightly. His kiss, initially aimed at the tip of her nose, slid down naturally to her lips—not a full kiss, but an intimate, electrifying brush that sent shivers down her spine…
The process seemed to last an entire century until he let out another confused “Hmm.”
A minute later, Jiang Ran’s ears burned red as she stared at his fingertips. In the dimly lit room, it was almost impossible to make out the faint trace of moisture on that small patch of rough fingertip.
He lowered his head, and in the dim, uncertain light, those pitch-black dog eyes gleamed with excitement, as if one could see his tail held high, wagging triumphantly back and forth—
He quickly pecked her lips.
“Wet.”
……
Bei Jiao was considered quite clean among average adult males. Even in winter, he would shower daily and change his underwear, washing his socks every day. He was often teased by Zhao Keyan for being “fussy despite being poor.”
But he just wouldn’t fold the quilt.
He’s had this bad habit since living in the villa two years ago—just leaving the quilt piled up in a heap on the bed. After all, he’ll need to use it again at night, so why bother folding it?
For this, Jiang Ran had scolded him countless times. But back when she was yelling at him over the mic, she never imagined that one day she would benefit from this messy pile of blankets—she barely felt any pain when she fell onto it.
She struggled to get up from the soft quilt, but was quickly pressed back down by his hands on her shoulders as his thin lips came up to kiss her.
His fingers pressed against her jawline, clearly feeling the goosebumps that instinctively rose across her skin from exposure to the cold air—
“Wait a moment?”
She dodged his kiss.
He took the opportunity to bite her earlobe.
“Wait! How does this start? There’s nothing there!”
He kissed her again, a deep kiss that almost took her soul away, and the kiss trailed downward—
Not much more.
It reached just to her collarbone.
But Jiang Ran knew this was definitely not the end.
So she took a sharp breath, biting down on the head that was tormenting her collarbone. As she left a faint tooth mark, he frowned and lifted his head with a questioning “Hmm?”
Jiang Ran gently touched his furrowed brow, which was tense from restraint, with her fingertips: “Safety measures.”
“I’m not sick,” he muttered, “perfectly safe.”
Jiang Ran raised her eyebrows.
He immediately tucked his tail and said, “Just kidding,” then reached his long arm past her, opened the cabinet behind her, and took out a box that looked unfamiliar to Jiang Ran but whose packaging seemed oddly familiar—
The above are all in English.
It seems there was an X before size L, but she didn’t have time to see it clearly.
I reached out to grab it, but he raised his hand and said, “Wait a moment?”
Jiang Ran was a bit dazed. She lifted her leg, and with a flexibility that far exceeded Bei Jiao’s expectations, her toes curled and flicked the buckle of his snow pants—*snap*—the clasp popped open.
Bei Jiao: “…”
Jiang Ran: “Waiting for what?”
He tucked her into the quilt, which enveloped her completely. In the darkness, she could only hear faint rustling sounds from outside before he too crawled under the covers.
She kicked her feet wildly and realized that this time, she wasn’t hitting the slippery fabric of waterproof material, but him—his firm, taut leg muscles, warm and without any barrier in between.
His warm breath brushed over the goosebumps on her skin.
In the darkness, the senses are amplified.
The box of unused items fell with a “thud” from the bed to the foot of it. She pressed down hard on the covers, trying to reach out and pick it up—
But he dragged me back by the leg: “Stop squirming… or I’ll bite you.”
Then he really bit down.
Jiang Ran let out a scream and kicked against his shoulder.
The handsome yet wicked face of the dark-haired young man emerged from the covers. Hovering above her, he wiped the moisture from the tip of his nose with his hand and brought it to her lips. “Want a taste?”
His tone was somewhat provocative. Jiang Ran clutched the blanket and stared at his face for a moment—perhaps tempted by his good looks, or perhaps simply out of sheer recklessness—before blurting out, “Should I try something else?”
“？”
……
Ten minutes later, Jiang Ran was leaning over the bedside, retching.
Her vision blurred with the physiological tears welling up in her sore, swollen eyes. Clutching the bedsheet tightly in distress, she felt a large, warm hand reach out from behind, gently stroking her back with friendly patience before giving her a comforting pat.
“I already said no need,” Bei Jiao’s innocent voice came from behind her. “I can do without it.”
Yes.
He really doesn’t have to.
After all, from the very first second, Jiang Ran felt like her lips were about to crack, her mind completely occupied by the thought, “What on earth is this?”
After her nausea subsided, she got up from the bedside and slapped his hand away with a “smack,” saying, “Stop pretending. You didn’t exactly act like you ‘didn’t want it’ earlier.”
Bei Jiao thought carefully for a moment, then lowered his gaze to the crystal-clear tear still clinging to her lashes. Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled her close, kissed away that teardrop, and then pressed his lips to hers: “In that kind of situation, if a man could control himself, he either isn’t a real man at all… or he doesn’t like you one bit.”
He’s quite good at talking nonsense.
……
It’s really an understatement to call it a Japanese brand.
As everything began to unfold, Jiang Ran hazily thought—the sharp pain made her feel like a watermelon, with someone raising a cleaver and splitting her cleanly in half with a single decisive chop.
As the bright red watermelon juice splattered in a gruesome scene, the earth-shattering pain instantly made her think, “I’ve never suffered such humiliation in my entire life!”
Her face was deathly pale. Her folded legs instinctively kicked at him frantically, her feet pressing against his shoulders as she tried to push the man off her: “Stop! It hurts!”
She desperately tried to back away, and the muscles in her elbow and arm, which were propped up beside her head, bulged from tension.
His soft black hair was damp with sweat, the tips almost needle-like as they brushed against her long lashes: “Calling for a stop now?”
He was clearly struggling to hold it in, his voice even taking on a nasal tone.
“Stop!” she said decisively. “We’ll talk about it next time.”
He paused for a moment and said, “Alright, then don’t be so tense. Let me out.”
At this moment, even if she wasn’t completely infatuated, the chaos in Jiang Ran’s mind had already exploded like fireworks. She had long forgotten the golden advice from either Lin Shuang or Qiu Nian: never believe a single word a man says in bed.
Thirty seconds later.
The overwhelming pain nearly killed her. She stared blankly at the ceiling, her nostrils suddenly inhaling scorching breaths—
Heavy breathing was right by her ear.
He gently kissed her sweaty forehead, his fingertips soothingly stroking her soft hair as he murmured, “It’s alright.”
Jiang Ran responded by gifting him three bloody claw marks on his chin as her answer.
Outside the window, the sky was dark and heavy, with clouds gathering and thickening unnoticed. It seemed another relentless snowfall was about to descend.
The weather forecast indicates that a severe cold wave will hit the three northeastern provinces tonight, with temperatures expected to drop by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. In Jilin, nighttime temperatures may plummet to around minus 25 degrees Celsius.
Citizens are advised to minimize outdoor activities during snowy nights to prevent accidents.
……
Outside the window, snow had begun to fall unnoticed. In the distance, the flickering lights of an apartment building caught her eye. Jiang Ran suddenly realized with a dazed expression—oh, Christmas was approaching, and the villa’s Christmas tree hadn’t even been brought out for decoration yet.
She immediately wanted to discuss this matter with Qiu Nian via WeChat.
Who knew that moving her hand slightly seemed to activate every cell in her body, as waves of soreness and exhaustion assaulted her from all directions, causing her gaze to blur for a few seconds.
At that moment, behind her, a firm chin with a hint of stubble brushed against her back, grazing her shoulder. The culprit coiled around her like an affectionate python: “What do you want? Your phone?”
His voice was filled with the obsequiousness of one who had indulged in greed to the fullest.
Like a lion crouching on a rock in the grassland, licking its blood-stained paws, its amber eyes gleaming with laziness and satiation.
Jiang Ran’s shoulder ached from the prick of his stubble. She opened her mouth, intending to tell him to go shave, but what came out was a hoarse, almost frightening “Get lost”—
No deterrent effect at all.
He tugged at her shoulder, pulling her snugly into his embrace while playfully nibbling at her earlobe: “Still hurting? Want me to carry you for a wash?”
Jiang Ran impatiently pushed his face away: “Phone.”
Bei Jiao let out an “Oh,” finally lifting his mouth from her body. He stretched out his arm and casually picked up her phone from the bedside table—its screen had been lit for a while due to incoming notifications. With practiced ease, he entered his own birthday as the passcode.
Then successfully unlocked.
The already relaxed corners of his lips curled up silently, forming a curve so pronounced it could have held up an elephant without slipping.
The soul has reached a new height of fulfillment once again.
Jiang Ran nestled in his scorching, firm embrace with her eyes closed, too lazy to even lift her eyelids. “Who? What did you say?”
She allowed him to peek at her WeChat, and without hesitation, he tapped into her green social media app.
After waiting for a long time, Jiang Ran still didn’t receive his message.
As she opened her eyes, she noticed the relaxed expression on his face had vanished. The glow from the phone illuminated his cheeks as his fingers swiped across the screen, looking somewhat surprised at what he saw on her phone.
“Hmm?” Jiang Ran asked, “What’s wrong?”
What kind of expression is this?
Was it just now that she didn’t check her phone for a while, and suddenly a hundred hunks came to confess their love to her?
He bent down and kissed her cheek: “Nie Xin wants to introduce you to the national team’s head coach. He said you should go to Chongli after New Year’s Day and let him know, so he can apply for a pass for you.”
“…Oh.”
“I’m going too.”
He said in the clingiest tone in the world, “I can’t live without you now.”
“Oh, great,” she said expressionlessly. “Not allowed to go.”
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