Chapter 51
Everything in the snow was white, including the branches of the spruce trees covering the mountainside, which were also covered with snowflakes.
When they came to a fork in the road, the two lead sled dogs at the front chose different directions.
Charlie chooses to charge forward, while Zues rushes toward the fork in the road.
The two dogs made a decision without consulting each other, which caused Xiang Wan and Chen Yan, who were sitting in the back, to face the prospect of crashing into a tree.
As the sled was about to crash into a tree at the crossroads, both men instinctively closed their eyes.
At the critical moment, Zues on the right suddenly changed lanes, and the dogs behind him were also affected and veered off course, ultimately preventing the sled from hitting the tree.
But it also flipped over.
Zues broke free of its reins due to its momentum and fell somewhere unknown.
Although the sled didn't hit a tree, the two still took a huge hit from the fall. Chen Yan shielded Xiang Wan, and the two rolled several times in the snow, kicking up countless snowflakes.
It wasn't until the snow melted that Xiang Wan could see everything clearly. She first checked her limbs, then looked at Chen Yan, who was only two inches away from her.
"Xiang Shuhan, are you alright?"
"Chen Ruilin, are you alright?"
The two asked in unison, then paused for a moment before laughing.
In the pure white snow, the two lay on the ground, gazing at each other for a long time.
Xiang Wan's body completely relaxed. She rolled over and lay down in the snow, watching the snowflakes fall from the sky. She opened her eyes and let the snowflakes fall on her face.
"The snow is still falling." Her voice was so soft it sounded more like she was talking to herself.
Chen Yan responded faintly with a nasal tone, "Mm."
The two lay on the snow for a while before Charlie, thinking something was wrong, broke free of the sled ropes and came over to lick their faces. Only then did the two slowly get up.
Charlie kept barking, and Xiang Wan felt something was wrong. She counted the number of sled dogs and found that Zues was missing.
She frowned and circled the spot where the sled had overturned. She could hear Zues's cries, but couldn't find it.
After Chen Yan righted the sled, he came over. The two searched for a long time, but Charlie found it first.
It kept calling in one direction, and the two looked up and saw Zues trapped in a tree branch.
When Zues realized they had finally noticed him, he stopped barking and just looked at them with a pitiful expression.
"..." Xiang Wan took off her gloves and wanted to climb up to rescue the dog, but Chen Yan stopped her, "I'll go."
The tree branch wasn't very high, so she didn't stop him: "That's fine too."
After Chen Yan climbed up and rescued the dogs, Xiang Wan looked at the nine dogs that were looking at her ingratiatingly and said somewhat irritably, "Let's go home."
On the way back, the dogs sensed that their little owner was in a bad mood, and even their tails drooped.
When they arrived at the villa, Li Xia returned just then. Xiang Wan tossed the dogs to him and went upstairs to take a shower.
However, before she even reached her room, she saw the trio waiting for her at the top of the stairs on the second floor.
Jiang Zhuochun & Che Nanbei: "Wanwan, you actually went skiing behind our backs."
"..." Xiang Wan thought of the dramatic scene where she almost crashed into a tree just now, and pursed her lips without saying a word.
Shen Feiyang looked at her with starry eyes: "Shuhan, I saw you wearing the scarf I gave you..."
Hearing her friend's nagging, Xiang Wan's head ached even more. This was the tenth time Shen Feiyang had mentioned that scarf this year.
She looked at Shen Feiyang and sighed inwardly, then said the standard answer with a hint of helplessness: "Because you gave it to me."
Sure enough, Shen Feiyang's face lit up with a smile upon hearing this. Seeing her friend so easily pleased, Xiang Wan felt even more helpless.
She then looked at Jiang Zhuochun and Che Nanbei, who were as innocent as paramecia: "Charlie and Zues are in the dog villa next to the villa. Li Xia walks the dogs every day. Tomorrow you can ski for as long as you want."
"Yay!"
"Then I'll have to get up earlier tomorrow."
Xiang Wan: "..."
She had a real knack for winning over these three people.
*
During their second week in Northern Europe, the eight of them went to the most famous ski resort in the area.
Although the group couldn't understand the local language, since Xiang Guan was the one communicating with the locals, they didn't have many opportunities to use English.
The ski resort here is very large, and because there are few foreigners, it looks like there are only a few of them here.
The group initially stayed together when they entered the ski resort, but since none of them were beginners, they soon dispersed in twos and threes.
Zhou Xinyi and Shen Feiyang have maintained a good relationship ever since they co-starred as stepsisters in a stage play. Shen Feiyang is a talkative person, while Zhou Xinyi is a good listener; the two seem like a match made in heaven.
Add to that screenwriter Jiang Nan, and like their personalities, the three of them also have a gentle approach to skiing.
The group chatted and slid along, all looking very happy. Even Zhou Xinyi, who usually preferred to be quiet, had a cheerful expression typical of her age.
On the other side of the ski resort, the three wild ones—Che Nanbei, Jiang Zhuochun, and Zhou Chengze—gathered together to see who could ski the fastest.
Unlike typical couples, Che Nanbei and Jiang Zhuochun, despite being in a relationship, still maintain the same dynamic as before, always liking to compete with each other.
In Shen Feiyang's words, the two of them were determined to outdo each other.
Of course, this doesn't apply to academics. Since both of them are poor students, they've always been in sync on this point and never argue about who's better. But when it comes to eating, drinking, and having fun, no matter how trivial the matter, they always have to compete to see who's the better one.
Even today's skiing is an example. Jiang Zhuochun just learned a small slalom a couple of days ago, and now Che Nanbei is already challenging him to a duel.
The two were secretly competing with each other, and even Zhou Chengze, who was standing to the side, could see it.
He was already feeling a bit down because Xiang Wan and Chen Yan had gone sledding together recently.
Seeing young couples sticking together in another form of "showing affection" is even more heartbreaking.
He wanted to leave for another slope, but neither of them would let him go: "Chengze, do you think my slalom is cooler, or her downhill is cooler?"
Che Nanbei was the first to object: "Your question is flawed. Why is your small loop in front, while my descent is behind?"
Jiang Zhuochun was also unconvinced: "Ask Chengze." After saying that, the two of them looked at Zhou Chengze, the third person.
"..."
'These two aren't even from the same project, so what's the point of comparing them?' But despite having a hundred questions in his mind, Zhou Chengze still managed to be a master of balancing things out when he spoke: '...I think they're both pretty impressive.'
The two: "..."
Looking at Xiang Wan and Chen Yan, who were some distance away from them, Zhou Chengze felt even more heartbroken. He didn't want them to be alone together, so he coaxed Che Nanbei and Jiang Zhuochun, "How about we ask Xiang Wan to be the referee?"
Without much thought, the two agreed: "Let's go find Wanwan for her review; she's the most impartial."
Jiang Zhuochun made a face at her: "Then you're definitely going to lose."
Che Nanbei responded with an even uglier face: "You're the one who will lose..."
Zhou Chengze, standing behind them, looked at the two with a complicated expression in his eyes. Although he hadn't known them for long, he sometimes really wondered if these two hadn't even graduated from kindergarten.
On the other side, Shen Feiyang and the others saw the three of them gathering towards Xiang Wan, so they also slid over to them on their own.
Centered around Xiang Guan, everyone gathered together once again...
Xiang Wan stood at the highest point of the slide. The others realized she was going to show off her skills, so instead of going towards her, they slid to Chen Yan's side and looked at Wan Wan standing at the highest point.
Shen Feiyang looked at them and asked, "What new tricks has Wanwan learned this time?"
Che Nanbei seemed to be answering the question, but his eyes were looking at Jiang Zhuochun beside him, his eyes implying something: "It should be a little better than someone's little maneuver."
"..."
Shen Feiyang could guess with his toes that these two were up to something again.
She had learned to let the couple's subtle displays of affection go in one ear and out the other. She looked at Jiang Nan and Zhou Xinyi beside her and whispered, "That's just how they are, don't mind them."
Jiang Nan nodded, while Zhou Xinyi glanced at the two of them with a slight smile on her face.
She certainly didn't mind; in fact, she quite liked the atmosphere, especially when the two of them were bickering.
She was adopted by Li Taohua. She was very grateful to her adoptive mother, but the atmosphere at home was strange from a young age.
Sometimes she was excessively quiet, which made her taciturn, but she was actually afraid of the feeling of everyone being silent.
Zhou Xinyi looked at Shen Feiyang and gently shook her head: "I don't mind." Before she finished speaking, Xiang Wan began her performance. She slid down from a height and completed a double and a half somersault in the air.
Despite wearing full ski gear, her mid-air spins looked incredibly light, and even her landing motion appeared remarkably smooth.
She landed lightly on the snow like a ballerina, without even a swaying motion.
The group couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Even though they knew she couldn't see or hear them, they still couldn't resist clapping in her direction.
Che Nanbei looked smug and boasted to Jiang Zhuochun, "Wanwan is amazing, isn't she?"
Jiang Zhuochun raised an eyebrow, as if he really couldn't help but tease her: "It was Xiang Wan who did the mid-air spin, not you, so what are you so smug about?"
“Wanwan is my friend,” Che Nanbei said proudly.
"Wanwan is also my friend."
"I was friends with Wanwan first, you came later."
"Who told you that?"
...
The two childish kids were still arguing, but the others were used to it and ignored them.
They were still bickering when Shen Feiyang frowned and asked, "Why are there people skiing in the wild up there?" She pointed to the mountain range where Xiang Wan had skied, and the others looked in the direction she was pointing.
“That shouldn’t be a ski slope, right?” Jiang Zhuochun frowned. “I remember that area is close to the mountains, and the snow layer is loose, so off-piste skiing is not allowed.”
On the other side, as Xiang Wan slid down the mountain, she felt her eyelids twitching.
It instantly reminded her of the pair of dark, emerald-green vertical pupils she had seen in the dry well.
She felt a chill run down her spine; she really disliked this feeling. After a double twist, she planned to skate directly to them.
However, just as Xiang Wan was sliding down the ski slope, she looked at the slope in front of her and vaguely felt that something was moving on the slope.
Because her ski goggles were fogged up, she couldn't see very clearly until she got very close. Then she could see that it was a fox that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was running around on the ski slope.
The fox's fur was pure white, blending seamlessly with the pristine white snow track, making it virtually invisible from a distance. Xiang Wan remained calm, attempting to find a way to avoid it.
But perhaps startled, the white fox bared its teeth and then lunged in her direction.
Xiang Wan's rhythm was disrupted by this sudden change. She hurriedly changed ski slopes, but because she deviated too far, she rushed out of the originally closed ski slope and flew into the off-piste area.
Zhou Chengze was the first to notice her unusual behavior and slid towards her, saying, "I'll go check on her."
He initially thought she had lost control, but when he got closer and saw the fox, he guessed why she had made that sudden lane change.
A few people not far away watched them fly over the mountains one after the other, thinking the two were showing off their skills. Little did they know that Xiang Wan had already lost control, and Zhou Chengze couldn't catch up with her no matter how hard he tried.
Both men were wearing helmets and ski goggles, and they were too far apart for Chen Yan to see their expressions clearly. However, Chen Yan had a feeling that something was wrong.
He had this feeling when they climbed Moon Cliff Mountain that day.
He insisted on skiing across, and the trio didn't stop him. They just said from behind, "Wanwan used to ski every winter when she was little. She's the best at it among us."
The group didn't take it seriously at first, until a few seconds later, the mountain suddenly shook, followed by an avalanche.
Chen Yan was stunned when he saw the avalanche, but instead of sliding back, he ignored everything and slid towards Xiang Wan, wanting to be by her side during the avalanche.
However, the avalanche came too suddenly, and human reaction seemed so slow in the face of natural disasters.
The snow, falling like a tsunami, crashed towards them, and everyone was stunned into silence by this sudden turn of events...
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