Chapter 76
The street skateboarding competition started at 7:30 pm. Judging from Cheng Yanjin's previous invitation for her to watch his competition, he should be eager to go, wishing she could finish what she was doing and wait with him at the venue as soon as possible.
But today, he acted as if nothing was wrong, without urging her at all. The two of them leisurely finished their meal at home, and he even took the initiative to help her sort her travel clothes into plastic bags and then neatly put them in her suitcase.
During this time, his phone kept ringing with calls and messages. Apart from communications related to the spontaneous trip to the snow-capped mountains, he ignored everything else and devoted himself to arranging the accommodation, meals, and ski resort tickets in Hemu Jikepulin. He also asked her from time to time if she had any other ideas.
"That sounds really good." Lin Langyi was also caught up in the atmosphere and sat on the edge of the bed, handing him a down jacket that was about to be vacuum-packed. "But... why don't you take a call about tonight's game first?"
"It's nothing, it was my friends who called me," Cheng Yanjin said, willingly doing the hard work, screwing on the vent of a small vacuum pump to create a vacuum. As he worked, he said, "I've finished packing everything. If you still need time, it's okay if you don't go to the competition tonight. I'll bring you first place."
"Huh? Really?" Lin Langyi watched him pull out another piece of clothing without even looking up. "I mean, you really don't need to be my cheerleader?"
“Really,” he said. “Rather than having you do the things I like with me, I now think it’s more important to do the things that make you happy.”
Lin Langyi didn't say anything. She propped herself up on the bed with her hands behind her and crossed her legs as she watched the man busily helping her pack her suitcase.
She thought for a moment and said, "If you can get first place, I'll go. If not, then forget it."
Cheng Yanjin glanced at her, raised his eyebrows slightly, and finally revealed some of his usual carefree and unrestrained demeanor. He didn't boast about how great he was, but said, "I won't let you down."
Lin Langyi eventually went to watch the game.
To this end, Cheng Yanjin tried on several training outfits in front of the full-length mirror, dressing himself up as if he were a contestant about to walk the runway for a beauty pageant, asking three times a second, "Lin Langyi, which outfit do you like?"
Lin Langyi was like a heartless machine forced to accompany him shopping. She would sit down and play on her phone as soon as she entered the store, and as soon as the curtain was drawn in the fitting room, she would look up and say "looks good." In the end, she randomly picked an outfit, and Cheng Yanjin changed into it immediately without saying a word. They happily set off.
He displayed absolute talent and skill in tonight's competition. Obstacles such as stairs, handrails, and curbs were like flat ground under his board. Whether it was a reverse dolphin jump turn, a backflip, a hard flip, or a 360-degree spin, he performed them with confidence and ease. He took the better of his two line scores and crushed the competition every time.
Lin Langyi saw Guo Yan, who had previously clashed with Cheng Yanjin. It was only because Cheng Yanjin noticed him first that she thought he would retaliate for his previous defeat with words. However, Cheng Yanjin only glanced at Guo Yan and then looked away, as if he were looking at an insignificant ant.
He had more important things to do than argue with people like a quarrelsome cricket.
The atmosphere of the street competition was excellent. Everyone was a like-minded person, and they would naturally give the most enthusiastic applause to the handsome and smooth performance. When Cheng Yanjin was surrounded by people, he raised his hand and looked up at Lin Langyi.
His smile was radiant, and his eyes sparkled. As everyone applauded him, he threw his skateboard to the ground, and in the blink of an eye, he sped up, accelerating against the flow of the stairs from under the handrail.
With the angle tilted, he veered off course halfway through his charge, and in the few seconds he was airborne, he caught Lin Langyi, who was standing in the crowd of spectators by the stairs, and brought her down.
A gasp of amazement erupted from the crowd, and Lin Langyi's screams grew even louder, as if she wanted to deafen him.
Cheng Yanjin used the steps to turn around and land back on the ground. He moved one foot back and left it hanging in the air to make room for her to stand on the board and slow down.
"I really am!" For a brief moment, she experienced the thrill of skydiving, her heart pounding with excitement from the extreme sport. Half-joking and half-cursing, she said, "If I fall, you won't have a single bone left."
As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Yanjin suddenly bent down and grabbed her thigh, holding her tightly before standing up straight and lifting her high into the air.
While the two were still on the moving skateboard, Lin Langyi's perspective suddenly shifted, and she felt as if she were about to soar into the sky and take flight.
She instinctively called out, gripped his shoulders tightly, and looked down into his bright eyes as he raised his head.
They stared at each other for less than a second before he closed his eyes, pulled her into his arms, and lifted his chin to kiss her lips without hesitation.
At this moment, there may be whistles and laughter around, but Lin Langyi doesn't really remember. Everything around her is unimportant. The real opening ceremony of life is not at 18, not at 30, not at 50, but at the moment when she truly focuses on herself and no longer cares about the opinions of the bustling crowd around her.
She vividly remembers the moment she felt weightless as she jumped from the air onto the skateboard, and the second she lost control.
It felt like her soul was being pulled away when she was speeding on a motorcycle. She now realized that extreme sports could indeed make people let go of all their worries. The dopamine released during exercise was addictive, no wonder Cheng Yanjin had always liked it so much.
She was so engrossed in her work that she hadn't allowed herself to indulge in play for a very long time. Even the common human tendency to slack off or be lazy would immediately trigger a sense of guilt and remorse for wasting her time once she realized it.
But relaxing and de-stressing outside of work, and indulging in self-control, is so enjoyable—it was true last night, and it is true now.
She likes them all.
It may be brief, like a dazzling firework, or a fleeting moment, but that's okay. Living in the present is what matters. Laugh out loud when you're happy, cry your heart out when you're happy, and get angry when you're angry. Why let the uncertainty of the future affect your mood in the present?
She adorned her life with the richness and vibrancy of flowers, like arranging branches, and it didn't matter which garden the flowers came from.
She herself is the most important.
Cheng Yanjin was radiant during the competition and sports. He held her tightly with both arms, looked up at her, and whispered, "See, I told you I wouldn't let you down. Lin Langyi, you're number one. I didn't lie to you."
A thin layer of sweat beaded on his forehead, gathered, and a drop slowly trickled down his brow bone, about to fall into his clear eyes.
Lin Langyi gently brushed it away with her finger.
Her fingertips were damp, and she rubbed them together with her fingertips, which quickly evaporated and disappeared into the air.
The skateboard finally came to a stop. Cheng Yanjin put her on the board, maintained his balance, and asked her if she was happy.
Lin Langyi nodded, her tone relaxed: "Yeah, not bad. It makes me even more excited for the upcoming ski trip."
*
As he said, all it takes to get to Hemujikpurin is a good night's sleep.
Lin Langyi invited Hang Qian and Yuan Fei. She and Hang Qian had practiced skiing together before, but Yuan Fei was a complete novice who had never skied before. After thinking it over, she decided to invite her brother Yuan Yinghe as well so that they could look after each other.
Five people, three girls in front, walked and looked up travel guides as they went. Because they had come in a hurry, they needed to add many ideas to the itinerary one by one. The journey from the airport to the ski resort was filled with laughter.
Hang Qian is the kind of best friend who only wants to hang out with her girlfriends and doesn't want to bring any men. She's extremely picky about any man who appears around Lin Langyi. When she heard that Lin Langyi wanted to invite her to go skiing at Powder Snow Paradise, her first reaction was:
"Are you here to torture single people?"
Having heard of Cheng Yanjin's reputation as a spoiled rich kid, she kept him in a vacuum, avoiding contact and only observing and evaluating him throughout the journey. She thought she would hear his grand pronouncements and fatherly arrangements, but in the end, the loudest voice came from her own sister, Lin Langyi.
Lin Langyi was like a bird that had been held back for a long time and was finally released. She wanted to play this and eat that. Hang Qian was infected by her and got carried away. She insisted on betting with her whether she could finish a four-pound bowl of mutton stew with radish. Neither of them believed that the other could do it and they both thought they could. They couldn't wait to sit in the restaurant and start their eating contest right now.
While arguing with Lin Langyi, Hang Qian unconsciously kept reaching for the shoulder strap of her bag, which had slipped from her shoulder to her elbow. She was carrying a lot of luggage and had no free hands.
The suitcase and the large travel bags piled on top of it got stuck. Hang Qian pushed it but couldn't move it. She thought it was stuck on the roller skates, but when she looked down, she saw a hand pressing down on the suitcase.
She turned her head, and Cheng Yanjin took her luggage, raising his chin slightly to indicate that she didn't need to worry about it and could just chat with Lin Langyi.
Hang Qian stopped in her tracks. Lin Lang, seeing that she wasn't leaving, turned around and saw Cheng Yanjin, who looked like he was doing weight training.
He was pushing suitcases with both hands, those belonging to him and Lin Langyi, and now there was also a large suitcase belonging to Hang Qian. On his back was a huge travel bag, and a bulging Oxford waist bag was tied around his waist, making him look like Sha Wujing, the pilgrim on his journey to the West, fully armed.
Yuan Yinghe helped his sister carry things, and seeing this, he felt a little embarrassed and spread his hands: "I'll help you divide some."
“No need, it’s a piece of cake.” Cheng Yanjin’s shoulders were as straight as ever, and he stood up straight. “It’s just this little bit.”
After refusing Yuan Yinghe, he noticed that Lin Langyi and Hang Qian had both stopped and were looking at him. He raised his eyelids slightly and called out, "Come on, what are you doing?"
Hang Qian tugged at Lin Langyi, and the two continued walking forward. Hang Qian whispered, "He's quite considerate. I thought he was the kind of person who would leave his things lying around and make others clean them up."
Lin Langyi thought about their daily life living together and revealed the truth: "Actually, at home, he does leave things lying around. Like a dog marking its territory, he has to leave his things everywhere before he's happy."
Yuan Fei recalled Cheng Yanjin's constant morning and evening pick-up and drop-off during this period, and added, "Yes, he also makes a round of Xiao Yi's office every day before leaving, once in the morning and once in the evening."
Hang Qian glanced at her and burst out laughing: "Oh, you're really here to torture us single people."
"I didn't mean that. I sincerely invited you two to come and play in the snow," Lin Langyi said seriously.
That's true. As Cheng Yanjin said at the beginning, he didn't show an excessive presence during the trip. Or rather, he was too low-key and quiet, just obediently following behind them and playing a minor role that was only remembered when needed.
The girls chattered excitedly as they went to the stable café to drink coffee and ride horses. They rode snowmobiles, tried the hand-grabbed rice restaurant, and even opened a bottle of foreign liquor in the snow. Each girl had a paper cup, poured the liquor into it, and then held it in the snow to taste the "room temperature" liquor. Lin Langyi, who was known far and wide for her unusually poor alcohol tolerance, took a sip with tears in her eyes and pretended to drink it all, which made her the target of everyone's ridicule.
They also took many photos with the sled dogs from a nearby guesthouse. The dogs were having a great time playing in the snow, and when they shook themselves, they kicked up a lot of snow, which elicited joyful screams from the girls.
Cheng Yanjin was the one who took the photo.
Yuan Fei discovered this; she noticed that Cheng Yanjin wasn't playing around much himself, but was following behind them with his camera constantly in hand, the lens never leaving them for a moment.
Curious, she asked a question. Cheng Yanjin looked embarrassed, but still forced himself to show everyone the footage in his camera.
All sorts of ugly things, shockingly ugly things, all of them are 1.2-meter-tall dwarfs.
"You have to film it like this!" Lin Langyi grabbed his hand and pressed it down. "Squat down, from bottom to top, yes, like this, see?"
"Step back, I'll try." He remained in a half-kneeling position.
Lin Langyi retreated about ten meters.
His face was pressed against the camera, and his other eye slowly closed as he gazed at her through the lens, at the seemingly insurmountable distance between them.
He watched as she backed away from him, step by step.
Cheng Yanjin's breathing gradually slowed down, and he subconsciously held his breath. He didn't know why, but when he saw the bright and cheerful smile on her face, he smiled along with her, but a strange soreness rose in his nose.
She's almost out of his sight.
"That's enough, stop backing out." He stopped her.
Wanting to take beautiful photos and capture his sweetest smile, he lay prone, almost touching the fluffy, thick snow, and took fifteen or sixteen photos in one go with a light touch of his fingers.
Lin Langyi had already finished posing in the distance, but seeing that he still hadn't gotten up, she cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Are you done? Are you done?"
He straightened up as if waking from a dream, a layer of white snow clinging to his dark purple ski suit, like a small tuft of snow covering the silver needles of a pine tree.
"Alright." As soon as he moved, the snowflakes fell to the ground.
Lin Langyi jogged over and squeezed her head in front of him. The other girls also came over to give their comments, and she finally received unanimous praise from everyone.
Cheng Yanjin thus became a selfie stick.
He filmed everything along the way, and if he felt that Lin Langyi appeared in his lens like a small sailboat with its sails fully raised and ready to set sail, he wanted to capture it.
Before officially starting their skiing trip, the girls went to buy the latest warm clothing and equipment. Lin Langyi already had some and didn't plan to buy any.
She was enthusiastically helping Hang Qian and Yuan Fei choose something when, halfway through, a fluffy hat suddenly appeared on her head, with three little finger-thick whiskers on each side.
There was no mirror in front of her, so she turned her head blankly and saw Cheng Yanjin, who hadn't had time to pull his hand back.
He placed his hand above her head, adjusted her hat, and then smiled broadly.
“I’ve already paid for it, it looks great, I’ll wear it.”
Lin Langyi covered her head with both hands, touched it, and tried to take it off, but he pressed her down.
Cheng Yanjin wouldn't let her take it off, and instead pushed her shoulders to the mirror, praising, "How beautiful it is! I fell in love with this hat at first sight."
It has a bright red koi hat, golden tail fins and whiskers, and white round eyes that look like two big light bulbs.
Lin Langyi was accompanied by a foreign couple. When they saw the hat on her head, they smiled, said something in fluent English, and left.
Lin Langyi's face stiffened as she looked at Cheng Yanjin, who was completely oblivious and immersed in his own aesthetic world, and reminded him, "Did you hear the international friend's comments just now?"
Cheng Yanjin thought the koi red color complemented her fair skin perfectly, giving her a festive look and making her stand out even in the snow. He was extremely satisfied with it, and didn't care what others said; he only praised her.
“Beautiful, Lin Langyi, it’s a lucky bead.”
"But they said I was wearing a turkey on my head!" Lin Langyi exclaimed in despair.
Even so, having already paid the money, and most importantly, having received Yuan Fei's "cuteness certification," Lin Langyi still wandered around in the snow wearing the koi fish hat, with Cheng Yanjin following behind, his camera shutter never stopping.
He initially posted the photos straight from the camera without saying a word, flooding his WeChat Moments with pictures of Lin Langyi eight out of ten. He only posted the last two as a token gesture to his fellow travelers, but they strongly requested that he edit the photos, so he gave up the idea of posting the photos as they were taken.
Formal skiing.
Lin Langyi had previously hired an instructor and learned to ski for more than half a year. She could do all sorts of things, such as straight-flying and grabbing the front and back edges, rotating 180 degrees to change edges, mid-stance mid-slalom, and single-edge return. She also really liked snow puffing and big waves.
As she glided, she kicked up large snowflakes, and when she stopped sideways, emerging from the rising snow mist gave her a romantic and liberating feeling of rebirth.
Cheng Yanjin's board control skills were outrageously strong. No matter what fancy moves Lin Langyi made in front of him, no matter how unexpected her gliding route was, he could always steadily follow behind her, holding a camera to record the scene.
Lin Langyi and Hang Qian raced each other several times, playfully rubbing large swaths of snow onto each other so that they were covered in a layer of snow from head to toe, and then burst into laughter.
After playing for an unknown amount of time, everyone initially stayed together, but soon they went up and down the slopes. Yuan Fei, being a beginner, practiced slowly with Yuan Yinghe, Hang Qian played on the original slope, while Lin Langyi, still feeling it wasn't enough, went to the N3 slope next door.
She skated two laps by herself before remembering Cheng Yanjin, who had been quietly following her like a shadow.
He clearly loves this sport the most.
She stopped the car and looked back, only to be surprised to find that he had been in her line of sight the whole time.
When Cheng Yanjin saw her stop, he also braked. His movements were exceptionally relaxed and natural, stopping or moving was effortless, and even when he braked suddenly in front of her, not a single snowflake was splashed up.
"What's wrong?" He didn't put his goggles on properly so he could take better photos.
Lin Langyi looked at him, who hadn't broken a sweat, and suddenly said, "Cheng Yanjin, do you not know how to play? I haven't seen you do any difficult moves. So you've just been slacking off."
He adjusted the camera settings and tilted his head up: "There's no sport in this world that I can't do."
"boast."
He slowly slid to her side and stood beside her: "Want to see me?"
Lin Langyi pointed towards the slide, signaling him to begin his performance.
Cheng Yanjin looked at her defiant expression, her slightly raised chin pointing arrogantly at him, making her look both fierce and wild.
He stared at her for a while, then acted without even starting or adjusting his posture. He leaned back in that falling position, and the skateboard immediately shot down.
Lin Langyi quickly followed.
From the very beginning, she was secretly competing with herself and accelerating hard. The intermediate and advanced tracks were steep, with few people and thick snow. When skiing, her skis were almost buried in the snow and could not be seen. It was like surfing on the waves, with her constantly having to use her hands to control her balance.
She loves going downhill.
Don't be a dead tree, be the wind that passes through the fence.
Cheng Yanjin probably knew this, so he deliberately led her to the big air skiing platform, and even while skiing the curves, he held his camera in his hand, touching the ground with his inner hand while trying to take pictures of her.
With ease and skill.
Lin Langyi knew he was powerful, so she shouted, "I don't need you to give way. Show me what you've got!"
Before he finished speaking, he cleanly and decisively sprinted off the big air platform.
I did a 360-degree off-axis spin, grabbed the board 720 degrees with my back hand, then did another 720-degree spin, and I was airborne, tumbling and rolling in front of her before finally landing steadily.
Lin Langyi also rushed down, but she did the off-axis turn and grab the board a little too hastily, and finally fell when she landed.
Cheng Yanjin rushed over to check on her. Lin Langyi had already scrambled to her feet, covered in snow.
She clapped her hands, pushed herself up with her hands, and said, "I'm wearing protective gear, I'm fine. Shall we go again?"
"Aren't you afraid of falling?"
"Don't worry, the first time I went down the N3, I cried as I went, but it was so much fun!"
Cheng Yanjin smiled, revealing a hint of youthful arrogance.
“But that’s how you’re supposed to play, you know?” she retorted, pointing at him. “What kind of lifeless look is this? Go play and stop looking so gloomy.”
He looked at the sliver of her fair, pointed chin peeking out from under her goggles, and as she spoke, her lips were still covered in the snow from her fall, like dandelion feathers.
He knew she was taking care of his feelings.
How could this happen? When he was at his lowest point, most doubting himself, and most doubting her, she showed a hint of love that seemed ambiguous, or perhaps he didn't even know if it counted as love. People always say that when you're trying to figure out if someone loves you, the answer is always no.
But he fell hopelessly in love, for this tiny, elusive love.
He thought, "She's really amazing."
He could never outsmart her.
"Cheer up." She gave a thumbs up. "That move was really cool and awesome, awesome."
Cheng Yanjin suddenly raised his hand and took off his goggles, then leaned over and pushed her goggles up with his thumb.
The heavy protective gear fell to the ground with a thud.
A red mark appeared on the tip of her nose. Before he could react, he lowered his head and kissed her forcefully.
Their lips were cold, but their mouths were warm. He used a lot of force, as if he wanted to break her in two, to pull her completely into his arms.
He sucked away all the snowflakes from her lips; the ice flowers melted into water, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. He pried open her teeth and forced his way in.
The ski resort was windy, and in the open field where the temperature was below minus thirty degrees Celsius, everything was a vast expanse of white. People in it felt as insignificant as mayflies, yet they dared to try to control the vast Milky Way.
"Lin Langyi, do you want to take the cable car to the top of the mountain and then slide down?" He released her, his finger almost pointing to the sky, arrogant and spoiled, "A nearly ninety-degree cliff, we'll do it together."
Lin Langyi's eyes shone brightly in the light reflected off the snow.
His pupils burned like fireballs, his expression resolute: "I promise you'll like it."
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