Beijiao watched as Jiang Ran listed the two snowboards on Xianyu, including the bindings, with the title [Collateral for Accident Compensation]—
The first set, Yang Yitong’s, was more heavily used, priced at 4,500.
The second set, belonging to the middle-aged man, was practically 95% new, priced at 6,500.
Together, they totaled exactly 11,000.
Including bindings, the price was genuinely cheap.
Not long after listing them, Jiang Ran’s Xianyu app was flooded with price inquiries.
Hearing the constant “ding ding dong” notifications, Beijiao felt somewhat dazed and unintentionally recalled that saying—
When your comprehension is still stuck on the surface, you don’t realize others have already surpassed the atmosphere.
“Isn’t this a bit wrong?”
“Why?” Jiang Ran asked curiously, “Didn’t they insist on compensating us with the boards? And they shouted so loud half the people on the slope are practically our witnesses.”
“…”
He still felt uneasy, “They only needed to pay two thousand—”
“They insisted on paying 11,000.” Jiang Ran finished for him, “They were just too polite. Remind me to thank them in the group chat after we sell the boards.”
“…”
She made so much sense that Beijiao found himself unable to argue.
Beijiao stopped bothering her and obediently sat at the other end of the sofa, chin in hand, watching the old man fix his board.
He started sitting upright on the sofa, but by noon, he had slumped like a tired dog, clinging to the armrest, nearly dozing off. He was vaguely awakened by hunger when he faintly heard the WeChat notification tone from the phone in the woman’s hand beside him.
The annoying voice of Song Die came through—
[Sister, I can now touch the snow with my front edge.]
Beijiao instantly became alert.
Before Jiang Ran could open the video from Song Die, he felt a warm, sleepy presence leaning over, still drowsy, one hand grabbing her wrist, his head stretching to look at her phone.
Her hand was shaking too much to open the video.
Jiang Ran impatiently exclaimed, “Ah!”
Beijiao got anxious and directly reached over to tap ‘play’ for her.
In the video, the person wore the same snowsuit as Song Die did today. He came down from the advanced slope, smoothly switching edges twice with a basic stance. Then, as his speed picked up—
He folded his body.
His back leg slightly bent, the front leg braced against the binding’s backplate, ankle hooked.
His back hand naturally rested on the front leg’s binding backplate…
This movement created a high edge angle, instantly bringing his whole body close to the snow surface. His front hand naturally brushed across the snow.
…Although the movement still had many flaws, it barely qualified as a standard carving front edge within the proper form.
Beijiao: “…”
It was hard to describe the thoughts in his heart at that moment.
Watching Jiang Ran type with one hand, “Okay, this front edge has the right idea,” and before she could send it, he could already imagine how smug Song Die must be on the other end.
Pointing at the phone screen, Beijiao asked, “Why aren’t you scolding him for bending over?”
Jiang Ran gave him a puzzled look, “Because he didn’t bend over.”
Beijiao paused, wearing an expression that wanted to argue but couldn’t find solid ground… After hesitating repeatedly, he finally swallowed his frustration. His face darkened, and his body “whooshed” backward as he curled back into the corner of the sofa.
Clearly written on his face was “Not Happy.”
“What’s that expression for? He practiced hard all morning today,” Jiang Ran said, “It’s normal to see improvement.”
She said nothing further, but after she spoke, Beijiao grew even more resentful. If he hadn’t been bumped into, he could have practiced all morning too.
All morning wasted…
Unable to work or practice, just wasting time.
“And he started learning way before you did,” she continued, watching his expression carefully, “Think back to the day you first learned to strap on the board and push down the slope—he could already edge. Although you two slid down the slope almost at the same time—”
But his fundamentals were stronger.
She swallowed the last sentence, suspecting that if she said another word praising Song Die, he might literally bury himself into the sofa cushions in front of her and suffocate himself.
Beijiao listlessly showed no intention of responding.
Jiang Ran assumed he needed time to process, so she redirected her attention to WeChat, watching the video to give Song Die some remote feedback and instruction—
Just as she typed the first two lines.
“He doesn’t bend over, I always do; he can edge on the advanced slope, while I can barely switch edges steadily even on the beginner slope…”
A voice drifted over.
Jiang Ran paused her hovering fingers over the phone screen.
Looking up, she saw the little pup raise his head, sighing at the ceiling, “Maybe I’m just not suited for carving.”
The sincerity in his tone made Jiang Ran want to grab the snowboard being hammered by the old man beside her and smash it directly onto his head.
Her fierce expression affected him. Mid-sigh, he caught a whiff of danger in the air and immediately shut up, quickly glancing at her, his lazy expression instantly gone—
He hesitated, lips tense for a few seconds, then cautiously spoke, “I was just kidding.”
Jiang Ran didn’t respond, but the old man fixing the snowboard chuckled.
The man and woman at either end of the sofa simultaneously turned to look at him. Without raising his head, he adjusted his glasses and remarked with a knowing smile, “Feeling jealous, young man?”
Beijiao: “?”
Jealous?
Was this complicated feeling jealousy?
Jealous of Song Die?
Beijiao was still trying to process that information-packed sentence, his expression frozen in a dazed and confused state.
The old snowboard repairman: “You should be grateful. I haven’t seen Jiang Ran bring an apprentice to me in a long time… People these days say she’s fierce and heartless, unable to mentor apprentices—”
This time, Jiang Ran was also shocked: “What? Who’s fierce and heartless? Me? Is that really how I’m perceived out there?”
She looked genuinely surprised, completely unaware of her reputation.
Beijiao had just regained his senses from a brief daze when he immediately chimed in, “It’s true she’s fierce and heartless. Everyone at the ski resort is terrified of her. I even overheard at least three groups discussing how fierce she is while I was peeing in the restroom.”
They usually followed up with something like, “Heartless and alone, that’s why she’s so good at skiing, *sniffle sniffle*,” but he conveniently left that part out.
He was habitually stirring the pot.
The snowboard repairman: “Today I finally see, she not only takes apprentices but also provides psychological support. She knows how to comfort people when it matters… Truly a master of balancing things.”
This time, before Jiang Ran could ask, Beijiao tilted his head and helpfully translated for the old man, “He says you’re a master of balancing things.”
Jiang Ran: “?”
Jiang Ran ignored him, simply looking expressionlessly at the old man and saying, “You might be mistaken. They’re not my apprentices.”
Beijiao straightened his back: “Right, regardless of whether Song Die is, I’m definitely not her apprentice!”
It was one thing for him to say it himself, and another for him not to acknowledge it.
Jiang Ran looked at Beijiao.
Beijiao stood his ground: “In the future, I’ll find someone skilled in the park to apprentice under. I want to learn park!”
Jiang Ran turned to the snowboard repairman: “Don’t fix the board anymore. Split it and use it for firewood.”
The entire day, since Beijiao said the wrong thing halfway through picking up the boards, Jiang Ran had been listless, holding in her frustration all morning, and now finally regaining some energy…
Only to be infuriated by Beijiao again.
Yet the culprit remained oblivious, standing up and moving out of her kicking range, watching her warily while his mouth remained busy: “The guy on TV yesterday, even though he’s temporarily injured now, probably won’t retire. I could apprentice under him.”
Jiang Ran bent down, slowly taking off her slippers and weighing them in her hand.
Then, in a flash, she hurled one at him—
“That guy charges six thousand per hour! With your skill level, you’d have to sell a kidney to learn a single rail trick from him!”
…
The process of repairing Beijiao’s board was complicated, and by lunchtime, he couldn’t sit still anymore… After the first time he went out to get takeout, he started muttering “boring” every five minutes, getting up repeatedly to check if his board was fixed yet.
With that restless look on his face, Jiang Ran coldly guessed it was all because he had seen Song Die’s video.
Ordinary people might refrain from exposing his male pride, but Jiang Ran was no ordinary person—she had no conscience.
“You wanted to learn park, right?”
When Beijiao moved off the sofa for the fourth time, Jiang Ran took a bite of her sandwich, the lunch they were having, “Park doesn’t require sliding on snow. Why are you in such a hurry watching others touch the snow?”
“It’s got nothing to do with Song Die.” Beijiao said seriously.
Jiang Ran snorted, clearly unconvinced.
By the time she slowly ate half her sandwich, leaving most of it uneaten, she waved the energetic pup over to finish the leftovers.
He didn’t mind eating what she had left, grabbed the sandwich, devoured it in three bites, then gulped down a whole bottle of mineral water. After eating, he started tugging her: “Let’s go. We can pick up the board tomorrow. I’ll borrow Ah Huang’s board for now.”
He tugged once, couldn’t move her, and stubbornly tugged a few more times.
Jiang Ran looked resigned as she was pulled up from the sofa by him, her sleeve tugged toward the door.
Outside the door, he changed his shoes and “whooshed” out, rushing to the elevator and desperately pressing the button.
Jiang Ran slowly changed her shoes by the door, then was called back by the snowboard repairman.
She turned around, and the old man was smiling at her: “Does Dan Chong’s injury make you feel bad again?”
She didn’t respond, just hesitated slightly while pulling up her shoe.
“Snowboarding is an extreme sport. As long as you keep doing it, injuries are inevitable. Even if you don’t get hurt, people around you will. You can’t stop living because of fear of choking,” the old man said, “You can’t let one bad experience stop you.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran paused slightly, her gaze flickering, softly murmuring “Hmm,” clearly somewhat dispirited.
“It’s time to take on new apprentices, Jiang Ran. Lin Shuang was the first, but shouldn’t be the last… You can’t always be alone.”
After saying this, the old man withdrew his head.
Soon after, the rhythmic tapping of tools resumed inside, as if that conversation had never happened.
Jiang Ran blinked, and then someone called her name from outside.
“The elevator’s here,” the boy urged from a distance, “What are you dawdling for?”
Lazily responding with “What’s the rush,” she lifted her foot and stepped across the threshold.
…
Beijiao went to bother Ah Huang to borrow a board, then left Jiang Ran, who still needed to change shoes and clothes, and dashed into his snow boots, rushing into the ski resort.
At one o’clock in the afternoon, Beijiao and Song Die met again at the entrance gate of the ski lift.
They hadn’t planned to meet; it was just coincidentally unfortunate timing.
This guy was so hardworking, not even eating lunch and still skiing.
How had he not starved to death?
Beijiao mused, while Song Die, naturally unaware, smiled at him upon seeing Beijiao for the first time and said, “I can now touch the snow with my front edge.”
“…”
Beijiao moved his lips, originally intending to sarcastically say something like “No wonder you’re improving so fast when you don’t even eat,” but at the last moment, he found the line too sour to utter…
Eventually, he found himself speechless, a breath caught in his chest, almost suffocating himself.
He pulled his face mask down to hide his expression, vaguely “Hmm”ing, realizing he should say “Congratulations.”
But asking him to say that was worse than killing him.
So his eyes began to drift absentmindedly, slowly drifting toward the entrance.
At that moment, the automatic doors of the ski resort opened, and a woman with long curly hair, wearing an orange overalls and a black hoodie underneath, holding her helmet in her hand and walking with a breeze, entered slowly without any hurry.
People passing by greeted her, and she was too lazy to respond, just nodding with an “Ah” to casually acknowledge them.
She was clearly the Empress Wu Zetian of the ski resort.
Seeing her like this, Beijiao got an idea that could annoy Song Die. As Jiang Ran approached, he turned to Song Die and said, “You know what? Today at the snowboard repair shop, the old man said we’re Jiang Ran’s apprentices, but she denied it.”
As soon as these words came out, he indeed saw Song Die freeze.
The boy’s black eyes instantly sparkled with mischief.
Jiang Ran witnessed this entire scene. As she approached the two tall teenagers, she raised her hand and gave the disobedient little pup a slap: “What nonsense are you spreading now?”
“Nothing,” Beijiao said, “I just repeated to him what you said at the snowboard repair shop, like how we’re all just cold, money-driven relationships.”
Jiang Ran laughed at his childishness, looking him up and down: “What money relationship do we have?”
“There is,” he nodded, “I owe you a huge debt.”
Jiang Ran raised her hand again and slapped him once more.
As they playfully bickered, Beijiao heard Song Die suddenly give a light, emotionless laugh. He hesitated, turned his head to look at him, and saw that Song Die had completely shaken off his earlier sadness, smiling as casually and warmly as ever.
He reached out and took Jiang Ran’s snowboard, smiling as he looked into her eyes and said, “It’s okay, I probably just haven’t skied well enough yet. I’m not worthy of being your apprentice. But I will work hard. Skills are all about time on the slopes. So it’s only a matter of time.”
Jiang Ran looked pleased, patting Song Die’s shoulder.
Then she looked expressionlessly at Beijiao: Look at his attitude!
Beijiao: “…”
He scrutinized Song Die from head to toe, his gaze circling three times around the snowboard in Song Die’s arms, as if trying to see clearly what a living sycophant looked like. Just as Song Die and Jiang Ran both thought he might say something sarcastic, they saw his eyes suddenly narrow slightly.
His expression changed.
“Song Die.”
He looked at Song Die with a grievance, calling his name, then spoke slowly and hesitantly—
“I thought we were friends? How could you use me as a stepping stone to please Jiang Ran?”
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