Chapter 3: Punch and Kick

Zhou Cheng felt that he was socially dead and he needed ten days or half a month to digest the situation before he could come to his senses.

"Zhou Cheng, the director just said that a customer paid our bill. You are awesome."

Awesome? Face transplant.

"You're so brave, just going to toast? Aren't you afraid of getting beaten up?"

Am I stupid? I've already asked the waiter for the good news.

"Next time we have a dinner, I'll let you toast. From now on, you'll be the director's right-hand man."

You only have one face, it's used up, it's disposable.

Zhou Cheng was just making perfunctory noises when his cell phone rang and saved his life.

"Hello?" Zhou Cheng cleared his throat and answered the phone.

"Have you been drinking?" Zhou Cheng's mother noticed it keenly.

"We had a departmental dinner and drank a little."

"Xiao Han said you guys are on vacation, so I called you now. Usually, no matter what time I call you're always busy."

"This is the way it is at work. I can't help it. Isn't Xiao Han usually busy? You can tell who I am by looking at him."

"Xiao Han is busy, but he hasn't neglected his important work. He's getting married soon. Look at you..."

"Xiao Han is getting married?" Zhou Cheng glanced at his phone in shock, and once again confirmed whether the other party was his mother. This seemed a bit far-fetched.

"He didn't tell you?"

"Mom, is Xiao Han getting married? The Xiao Han from my college classmate?"

"Have you drunk too much? Besides him, who else is called Xiao Han? All the kids your age are married. Which of your aunts isn't taking care of their grandchildren now? I usually don't nag you because you're busy with work, but you don't have anything to do today, so I have to—"

"Mom, my director called me. I'll call you back later." Zhou Cheng had long been immune to these naggings. If it weren't for Xiao Han's explosive news, he would definitely listen silently as usual.

After hanging up the phone with his mother, he stood there and thought for a while, then finally called Xiao Han.

"Um?"

The phone rang for a long time before it was connected. When Zhou Cheng heard Xiao Han's sticky voice, he knew that the timing of his call was wrong.

"It's okay, go ahead and do your thing." He said quickly and hung up the phone.

Zhou Cheng woke up early the next morning, still feeling a little dizzy. The feeling of a hangover was really uncomfortable.

Among the unread messages on WeChat was Xiao Han’s question about what happened yesterday.

-Are you getting married?

Zhou Cheng asked directly.

-Auntie told you?

Xiao Han came back quickly.

-real?

-I was planning to meet you next week to talk to you.

-I didn’t even know you were in a relationship, how come you got married suddenly?

-You are so busy, how do you have time to care about me?

-Okay, I'm redundant.

-I can’t explain it in a few words. I have to go to work. I’ll talk to you when I have time.

Xiao Han sent him another "I love you" emoticon.

Zhou Cheng was speechless again when he saw this expression, and then went to prepare his skiing equipment.

The day before the holiday, the director told them that they would come to this hot spring town. Zhou Cheng originally wanted to find an excuse not to join, as he had no interest in hot springs. But when he found out that there was a competition-level ski resort next to the town, he became interested and decided to go to the ski resort to have some fun today.

When Zhou Cheng was little, his family enrolled him in numerous hobby classes, from calligraphy, painting, and piano to swimming, basketball, and boxing. As he grew older and his academic workload grew, he narrowed his focus to piano and boxing. One winter camp, he stumbled upon skiing and, like a new world, became obsessed. Now, despite his busy work schedule, he still goes skiing several times a year.

Zhou Cheng loved the smell of winter air; a close sniff revealed a faint scent of cedar. After donning his goggles, helmet, and gloves outside the ski resort, Zhou Cheng boarded the gondola with his beloved skis. The advanced slopes kept playing "Beginners Beware," yet plenty of unsuspecting novices still ventured onto the slopes to seek out the pain. Watching them fall in various positions, Zhou Cheng curled his lips and began his own performance.

"There's a handsome guy showing off his skills on the advanced road, go check it out."

Several girls ran past Su Qingyan chattering.

"Mr. Su, that's the advanced path. Shall we go over there and take a look?"

"Okay." Su Qingyan said calmly.

Although he was an avid fan of extreme sports, he had only skied a few times. Even though he was fully armed, Su Qingyan still felt a bit cold. After getting on the cable car, he muttered to himself, "Why should I suffer in this freezing cold place when I should be sunbathing on the beach right now?"

"Would you like to try it?" The person in charge of the ski resort handed over the skis and ski poles.

"Let's give it a try." Su Qingyan didn't think it was that difficult. After getting dressed, he rushed down directly.

After a few rounds of skiing, Zhou Cheng found it quite enjoyable, and gradually a crowd of onlookers gathered around him. Just as he was about to continue, he heard a commotion from the crowd behind him. Before he could figure out what was going on, he was knocked to the ground. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet, his ski pole would have been stuck in his head.

"Hey! Why don't you look at the road!" After being hit hard for no apparent reason, Zhou Cheng crawled up with stars in his eyes.

"You're blocking me, okay? Why are you shouting?" Su Qingyan also fell hard, landing on his face with blood on his chin.

"Can't you turn when you're blocked? And you blame me? What kind of person is that?" Zhou Cheng was immediately furious after hearing what he said.

Su Qingyan had never been told this before, and regardless of the pain in his body, he took off his skis, rushed over, and grabbed the other person's collar.

"How can you talk like that? Who has no manners?"

Zhou Cheng also got angry when he was pulled like that.

"Shut up." After saying that, he threw Su Qingyan to the snow with his backhand. All these years of learning Sanda were not in vain.

Su Qingyan was stunned for a few seconds after being thrown down like this. After cursing, he threw his goggles aside, jumped up and rushed forward again.

Zhou Cheng was feeling smug at first, but when he saw Su Qingyan's face clearly, he froze. Su Qingyan's brows were furrowed, his eyes wide open, his face slightly red with anger, and blood dripping from his chin. Taking advantage of Zhou Cheng's moment of distraction, Su Qingyan delivered a solid punch to his face.

"Mr. Su! Mr. Su! Young Mr. Su!" The person in charge of the ski resort finally arrived with several security personnel.

The two strong men immediately captured Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng was not a pushover either. He broke free in a few moves and knocked one of them down.

During the fight, the snow goggles fell to the ground.

"?" Isn't this the handsome guy from yesterday? Su Qingyan was also surprised.

"Wait, stop." Su Qingyan said to them.

"Mr. Su, your face is injured." When the person in charge saw that Su Qingyan's face was red, his heart rate soared to 150.

Su Qingyan ignored him, staring at Zhou Cheng and asking, "What do you do? You have such a bad temper."

"They're from an underground boxing ring." Zhou Cheng knew it was best not to mess with these people. Seeing that they didn't continue to pester him, he stretched his wrists and left.

Zhou Cheng was furious. Why had he been so unlucky lately? He wanted to go home immediately; staying even a second longer was torture.

I returned to the hotel, quickly packed my backpack, looked at the deep crack on my limited edition skis, sighed heavily, and sat on the floor in a daze.

It's not too bad, at least she's a pretty kid.

This is the only way I can comfort myself.