Chapter 50
Xiang Wan didn't speak, suppressing the pounding in her heart, and nodded casually: "Okay."
She didn't know when it started, but Chen Yan rarely called her "sister" anymore.
It seems that it started when they fell into the dry well together, or even earlier, that he began calling her Xiang Shuhan.
Not many people know her courtesy name, and even fewer can call her that. Among those people, Chen Yan is one of them.
Xiang Wan never considered herself a looks-obsessed person, but now that she thinks back, she probably is to some extent.
In particular, Chen Ruilin was exactly her type; when she saw him smile at her just now, she was so amazed that she was almost in a daze.
It's incredible that such a barren land as Lijia Village could produce such stunningly beautiful people.
Xiang Wan sat on a high stool, quietly watching him make coffee. His slender, pale fingers held the coffee cup and saucer, gently placing them in front of her.
Because his bangs were obstructing his vision, Chen Yan brushed them back. His bangs were lifted, revealing his handsome forehead: "Should I put a sugar cube in it again?"
"Huh?" Xiang Wan was taken aback for a moment, then responded, "Yes."
After stirring the coffee, Xiang Wan took it to the French windows, looked at the snow scene outside, and looked somewhat nostalgic.
She remembers that she first came to Northern Europe when she was eight years old, and she spent every winter vacation there until she was 12.
It could be said that the snow here holds a part of her childhood memories. Returning here after many years, she felt an unusual sense of peace.
As the snow outside gradually stopped, Xiang Wan looked at the snow-covered forest outside and suddenly had a whim to go there with Chen Yan.
That was her secret hideout, all to herself.
She put down her coffee and said gently to Chen Yan behind her, "I'm taking you somewhere; it's a bit cold, so you'll need to wear a down jacket."
He didn't ask where I was going, he just said, "I'll go back to my room."
"Um."
After he came out, Xiang Wan casually picked up a torch-shaped wall lamp from above the fireplace, and the two of them walked one after the other into the depths of the snow.
The forest may look a little eerie at night, but after the entire forest is covered with snow, it looks like a habitat for elves, as beautiful as a fairyland.
Not knowing where they were going, Chen Yan followed behind her the whole time. He looked at the footprints Xiang Wan left in the snow ahead, his eyes filled with indescribable tenderness.
They hadn't walked far when Xiang Wan stopped moving, and he stopped too.
Looking at the wooden house in the snow, Chen Yan glanced at Xiang Wan beside him and guessed that this must be the place she was bringing him to.
“Chen Ruilin, this is my secret base,” Xiang Wan explained to him.
Although it's a wooden cabin in the snow, it's not small; it's about the size of a bedroom and can accommodate four or five people.
"I invite you to visit my secret base from when I was 12 years old." After saying that, Xiang Wan looked at the plaque hanging on the wooden house, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
She took off her gloves, ran her fingers over the old piece of wood, her eyes gentle.
This is a plaque she made herself when she was 12 years old. It reads "Shu Han's Secret Base" and was written by her own hand. The characters are childish but each stroke is carefully written, a style that only a 12-year-old like Xiang Wan could produce.
This place was originally her secret hideout, but now she wants to share her childhood with him.
"Come in."
"Um."
Xiang Wan turned on the switch for the wooden house, and the entire house was instantly illuminated. The furnishings inside were exactly as they were when she left, with the addition of a few small items.
These must have been little trinkets that Li Xia bought for her while she was away. Although Li Xia is a man, he is very thoughtful; many of Xiang Wan's toys from when she was little were bought by Li Xia.
Seeing Chen Yan pick up the photo on the cabinet, Xiang Wan also walked over. Looking at the little girl in the photo wearing a princess dress and smiling brightly, she explained, "This should be a photo of me skiing when I was 10 years old, right after I had heart surgery."
Chen Yan looked at the photo, then at Xiang Wan, and said earnestly, "Very cute."
Xiang Wan chuckled and beckoned him over to the hot pot: "When I was a child, I often cooked hot pot here when I was unhappy."
As she spoke, she went outside to look at the freezer outside the cabin and was surprised to find that there were ingredients inside, and the dates on them were from the last few days.
Chen Yan followed behind her, and when he noticed her expression, he paused for a moment: "What's wrong?"
Xiang Wan picked up the ingredients and glanced at them. It was Li Xia's handwriting, so he must have personally purchased and put them in. She looked at Chen Yan and asked, "Are you hungry?"
"It's alright." Even so, after a long day of travel and not having eaten due to jet lag, I was naturally hungry.
"Let's cook instant noodles with the snow."
No matter what Xiang Wan said, Chen Yan always agreed: "Okay."
He went outside to wash the ingredients with fresh snow, while Xiang Wan went into the woods and collected the top snow from the highest trees.
The two had a clear division of labor, and the noodles were cooked quickly. They didn't even need to add any seasoning, yet the taste was already very delicious. After taking their first bite, they both paused for a moment. It was just instant noodles, but the taste was surprisingly good.
The snow was still falling outside the cabin, but the sky was gradually brightening. While the snow raged outside, the two were eating instant noodles around the fireplace.
Halfway through their meal, the two suddenly heard the barking of dogs outside the cabin.
Chen Yan was somewhat wary and wanted to go out to check what was going on. Xiang Wan was being protected behind him, but upon hearing the sound, she seemed to remember something and followed him out of the wooden house.
Outside the wooden house, the snow was even thicker than when they first arrived. Xiang Wan's gaze followed the chaotic footprints in the snow and slowly focused on the man and nine dogs outside the wooden house.
Li Xia, leading nine sled dogs, was watching the two of them with a gossipy expression.
"..."
"..."
Xiang Wan's eyes flickered, and she looked unusually unnatural: "We cooked instant noodles, do you want some?"
Li Xia smiled and said, "Miss, I have already eaten."
While the two were talking, two lead sled dogs kept barking and kept trying to pounce on Xiang Wan.
“Charlie—Zeus—” Li Xia held onto the sled rope, preventing them from rushing towards Xiang Wan.
These two sled dogs have been the lead dogs for almost ten years, and they rarely jump on people. Even after he had tied the sled ropes, they were still so excited.
“These two are Charlie and Zeus, which we found in the woods back then…” As if realizing something, Li Xia paused for a moment, then smiled and released the sled ropes.
Soon, the two Alaskan Malamutes, no longer restrained, pounced on Xiang Wan, one after the other.
Xiang Wan recognized the two dogs and squatted down to pet their heads one by one. The two dogs were so excited that their tails never drooped and they kept rubbing against her.
She actually found the two sled dogs in the woods when she was 10 years old. She saw that the two dogs looked like they had been abandoned by their mother, so she excitedly brought them home.
She remembered that she found them in this very forest, and they spent two winters together. Even their names were given to them by Xiao Xiangwan.
I never imagined that after nearly ten years, the two dogs that were once sickly and weak would have become sled dogs.
Charlie saw Zeus jump up and rub against her little owner, so he jumped up and rubbed against her too.
Both were giant dogs, and when they stood up, they were even more imposing than an adult man. Xiang Wan, who was already a bit clumsy in his down jacket, was pounced on by them and fell into the snow.
Seeing that the two dogs were behaving recklessly, Li Xia tried to pull on the sled rope, but was stopped by Xiang Wan, who was laughing as she got up from the snow: "No need."
She turned her head to look at Li Xia and asked, "Where are you going by sled?"
"Today is the opening day of the market at the foot of the mountain in Northern Europe."
"Then why didn't you drive there?"
Hearing this, Li Xia looked somewhat helpless: "These nine sled dogs need to be walked every day, but the maids in the villa are all a little afraid of them."
Xiang Wan understood: "You go to the market, I'll take them for a stroll."
Li Xia looked at the nine large sled dogs and hesitated. Xiang Wan saw through his hesitation and asked Charlie and Zeus at the front in English, "Will you listen to me later?"
As the two lead dogs barked, all nine dogs joined in, each barking louder than the last.
These dogs are all very intelligent, especially the two sled dogs. Thinking of this, Li Xia was clearly relieved: "Then, Miss, I'll drive to the market."
"Um."
After he left, Xiang Wan looked at the sled seat with some curiosity. When she returned from Northern Europe, the villas here didn't have sleds.
Chen Yan also found it very novel. Although they had experienced sledding before, this was the first time they had ever seen a sled pulled by nine sled dogs.
In the snow-covered forests of Northern Europe, the two boarded a sled, but before they could even settle in, Zeus excitedly dashed off ahead.
Seeing the lead dog give the order, the remaining eight sled dogs naturally put all their effort into charging forward.
The two held tightly to the sled ropes, but were still pulled forward by inertia. Xiang Wan was almost thrown off, but Chen Yan held her tightly, and the two managed to regain their balance and sit still.
The sled dogs were very fast; they sped through the snow-covered forest, reaching the next tree before the snowflakes even began to fall from their heads.
As they passed a tree, the sled dog made an excessive turn, causing the sled to crash into the tree trunk, and a large clump of snow fell from the treetop onto the two of them.
Xiang Wan subconsciously closed her eyes, brushed the snow off her face, and looked at Chen Yan, who was also only showing his eyes, and couldn't help but chuckle.
Chen Yan's face was covered in more snow than hers, and even his long eyelashes were covered in snowflakes.
However, before they could brush off the remaining snow, they saw the snow about to break off and gripped the sled ropes tightly.
The nine sled dogs leaped one by one, landing nimbly on the lower snow, and the sleds drew a perfect parabola in the air with each leap.
The two people on the seats felt the pounding of their hearts as they leaped, exchanged a glance, and then quickly looked away.
Xiang Wan looked at Charlie at the front and tried to stop it in English, but they heard nothing except that she was forced to eat a snowflake.
Li Xia only takes them for a walk around the mountain every day, so today is a rare day when they can run freely. The nine dogs are all running faster than the last one.
They were clearly there to walk their dogs, but it was unclear who was walking whom. The two people on the sled walked them around the hill twice...
*
As we passed by the villa halfway up the mountain, the group of eight had also woken up and were standing in the yard, some taking pictures and others playing in the snow.
When Che Nanbei saw the two people and nine dogs flash by in front of the yard, he thought he was still half asleep.
She was startled by the gust of wind as the sled flew by, then turned to look at the others who were also bundled up in their down jackets, and blinked: "Were those Wanwan and Chen Yan who just flew by?"
The group of eight seemed to realize what was happening, and one by one they ran out of the yard to look at the speeding sled.
Screenwriter Jiang Nan wasn't wearing his glasses and only caught a rough idea: "Were they riding a sled just now?"
Che Nanbei, realizing what was happening, exclaimed excitedly, "I want to go sledding later too!"
Shen Feiyang's focus, however, was on Xiang Wan's red scarf: "Wan Wan is wearing the birthday gift I gave her last year."
Jiang Zhuochun turned to the side and said incredulously to Zhou Chengze, whose expression was somewhat gloomy, "Those two actually went to play on the sleds without us!!!"
Zhou Chengze & Zhou Xinyi: "..."
The group of eight seemed very enthusiastic about sledding, but in the woods on the other side, Xiang Wan and Chen Yan, watching the sled about to crash into a tree, both closed their eyes...
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