Chapter 27: Mountain Summit

There were generally fewer people skiing in the morning than in the afternoon. After breakfast, the group headed off in different directions. Li Qingji took Jiang Nai to the beginner’s area where she had practiced her backside turns the previous day, helping her reinforce her falling leaf technique that she had learned from the instructor. Jiang Nai still couldn’t approach him with a relaxed mindset, getting distracted frequently at first and stumbling several times.

Fortunately, Li Qingji was calm and maintained the demeanor of a proper instructor while teaching her to ski.

“Look in the direction you’re moving, lean your front shoulder down, and don’t shift your weight backward.”

Jiang Nai forced herself to focus, and after a few tries, she could finally ski down more smoothly.

“You’re quite smart,” Li Qingji remarked, picking up her board. “Try edge-switching.”

Being praised eased Jiang Nai’s nerves, and she eagerly followed him. “Compared to Lin Hui, am I learning fast?”

“You’re doing alright.”

“And compared to you?”

Li Qingji stepped onto the conveyor belt and looked back at her. “Compared to me?”

Jiang Nai shrugged. “Well, I’m sure I’m not as fast as you.”

“Close enough.”

Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

Li Qingji replied, “When I first learned, I fell plenty of times—probably more than you.”

This piqued her interest. “When did you first learn?”

“Third grade.”

“…”

Seeing her face fall, he chuckled. “Kids usually pick up skiing more easily because they have a lower center of gravity and better balance. If you’d started in third grade, you’d probably learn faster than me.”

She liked the sound of that.

“So, if I practice long enough, can I also tackle pros like you?”

As he stepped off the conveyor belt, he gave her a pull. “Don’t push your luck.”

“Why not?”

“Because you might wipe out.” He tapped her helmet. “Come on, let’s put on your board.”

“Oh.” She sat down to fasten her board, muttering, “I didn’t see you wipe out.”

Catching a bit of her complaint, Li Qingji pulled her up. “Master edge-switching first.”

“Hey, I can get up on my own.”

…

Once she grasped both front and back edging, switching edges wasn’t too challenging, though her form wasn’t yet graceful. While she was practicing, so was Lin Hui, and twice Lu Feng even guided her down from the summit. The second time down, Lin Hui squealed happily, clinging to Lu Feng and kissing him, and Jiang Nai couldn’t help but laugh at their exaggerated antics.

“Want to go up there?” Li Qingji asked, noticing her gaze.

“Can I?”

“Your edge-switching is decent; we can go up for practice.”

“Yes!”

She hadn’t yet seen what the mountain trails looked like, and as they rode the lift up, she felt a surge of excitement. As the chairlift rose, the long trail came into view—snow stretching endlessly, merging with the mountains in a breathtaking scene.

“Where are we going to ski down from? The trail you took yesterday?”

“No, a gentler one. You wouldn’t manage that one yet.”

“Oh… alright!”

Jiang Nai felt that skiing was genuinely enjoyable. She hadn’t been this happy in a long time. If only she’d known earlier, she probably would have started learning sooner.

But… if she had, her instructor wouldn’t have been Li Qingji.

She glanced at him sitting next to her, realizing she was perhaps a little happier learning with him than she would have been with any other instructor.

—

When they reached the top, Jiang Nai was brimming with excitement and anticipation as she began her descent. However, due to her lack of skill, the run was a bumpy ride. By the time she reached the bottom, she was completely exhausted.

“Qingji, Joseph and the others just went up. Should we go again?” Lu Feng asked as he and Lin Hui arrived.

“Yes, let’s go again! All four of us!” Lin Hui replied enthusiastically, especially since she had hitched a ride on Lu Feng’s “express train” for most of the way down last time and wasn’t tired at all.

“Come on, Jiang Nai!” Lin Hui urged.

Jiang Nai was feeling a bit worn out, but seeing everyone’s enthusiasm, she didn’t want to refuse. “Alright, sure.”

Lin Hui declared, “This time, I’m going to ski all the way down on my own!”

“Good luck—you’ll be exhausted!” Jiang Nai teased.

“I can do it!”

The four of them took the lift up again, and this time they ran into Joseph and his group.

“Miss Jiang, how’s your skiing going?” Joseph asked her with a smile.

“Just okay. Barely managing to get down,” she replied.

Joseph laughed. “That’s pretty good—better than my wife was when she was learning.”

Seeing the sparkle in his eyes when he mentioned his wife, Jiang Nai felt a twinge of envy. “You two have such a wonderful relationship.”

Joseph smiled and said, “You two aren’t bad either,” nodding towards her and Li Qingji.

Jiang Nai felt a bit embarrassed and glanced at Li Qingji, who was holding her snowboard with a faint smile in his eyes. A few minutes later, they prepared to head down again.

“You two go ahead,” Lu Feng said. “We’ll stay behind and watch from here. Joseph, would you and your group like to go first? We’ll probably go slower.”

“No rush. We’re tired too, so we’ll just take our time and enjoy the view,” Joseph replied with a laugh.

“Alright, sounds good.”

“Who says we’re going to be slow?” Lin Hui huffed. “Come on, Jiang Nai, let’s speed up and show them what we’ve got!”

Jiang Nai chuckled. “I’m not sure I’ll be all that fast.”

“No problem, just do your best!”

Despite Lin Hui’s talk of going fast, when they started skiing, she was just as cautious as Jiang Nai, both of them being beginners. The slope was gradually getting more crowded, with people zooming past them one after another. Although Jiang Nai knew Li Qingji was following close behind, she couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.

Then, as she approached a curve, she crouched down too much, lost her balance, and ended up face-first in the snow.

“Jiang Nai!” Lin Hui, who was a little behind, saw her fall and quickly stopped.

But getting over to her was tricky due to her skill level, so she looked back for help.

Li Qingji, who was behind, noticed immediately, stopping beside her and bending down to help her up. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Jiang Nai brushed the snow off her clothes. “No… I’m fine.”

“Can you keep skiing?”

Jiang Nai, after the fall, felt even weaker. “Can I sit and rest a bit? You all go on ahead.”

Li Qingji frowned. “This isn’t a good spot. Too many people; it’s not safe.”

Jiang Nai replied, “Alright…”

She reluctantly stood up.

“Hold on,” Li Qingji said.

“Hmm?”

He bent down and removed her skis. “Lu Feng!”

Lu Feng stopped over. “What’s up?”

“Take these down,” Li Qingji said, handing Jiang Nai’s skis to him.

Jiang Nai froze, “Wait, then how am I supposed to get down?”

Li Qingji glanced at her, then, without a word, bent down and lifted her up in his arms. “Like this.”

Lu Feng looked on, wide-eyed.

What the heck was this scene? Li Qingji, carrying a woman down the slopes? Didn’t he once say carrying his girlfriend downhill was… oh, right, “pointless.”

Others nearby smiled. Joseph commented, “You young people really know how to have fun.”

Snapping out of it, Lu Feng quickly replied, “Nah, he just knows how to spoil his wife.”

Joseph chuckled, “True. I need to learn from him.”

Amid the teasing, Jiang Nai didn’t hear much, too flustered to focus as she clung to Li Qingji’s neck to keep her balance. “What are you doing?”

“Next time, if you’re tired, just say so. No need to push yourself for others.”

“Huh?”

But Li Qingji didn’t answer. He adjusted his own skis and, with her in his arms, started skiing downhill.

“Ah—!”

The sudden acceleration made Jiang Nai gasp, her breath catching in her throat. Only now did she realize that the speed she and Lin Hui had been going was not just slow—it was incredibly slow!

“Scared?”

The wind whooshed in her ears, and his voice reached her from behind his mask. Their faces were mostly covered, but she could sense a hint of a smile, as if he were slightly teasing her.

Refusing to admit she was scared, Jiang Nai said, “I’m not…”

“Hold tighter; if you fall, I’m not responsible.” With that, he took a big turn.

Feeling herself lose balance, Jiang Nai took a deep breath and clung to him tighter.

“Slow down, slow down—!”

“What?”

“I said slow down!!! Ahhhhh!”

Rather than slowing down, he sped up, and Jiang Nai watched the snow-covered pine trees zooming by!

Help!!!

“Li Qingji!!”

“Hmm?”

“Slow down!”

…

It wasn’t until halfway down that Li Qingji finally slowed to a leisurely pace, gliding down with her in his arms. Jiang Nai, stunned from the speed, still felt her heart racing erratically, completely out of sync.

“What do you want to eat later?” she heard Li Qingji ask.

Still catching her breath, Jiang Nai replied weakly, “Anything…”

Li Qingji chuckled, “What’s this? Scared out of your wits? Weren’t you just saying you wanted to try pro level skiing?”

“I did not! And don’t you dare take me over those!”

“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t take you there. Think I’m that skilled?”

Inwardly, Jiang Nai believed he probably was, but she huffed, “You were just trying to scare me a moment ago…”

They continued down the slope, and now that the initial shock had worn off, Jiang Nai realized she could take in the surroundings without having to focus on skiing herself.

It was vast, serene, pure white…

“So beautiful,” she couldn’t help but say.

Li Qingji responded softly, “It’s even more stunning at sunset. The light on the snow turns a very unique color.”

“Really?”

“Yes, if you want to see, I’ll bring you up tomorrow evening.”

Jiang Nai asked eagerly, “Can’t we do it today?”

“Got plans with Joseph this afternoon.”

Jiang Nai remembered—they weren’t here just for skiing; they had a client to meet.

“Alright, tomorrow then.”

“Sure.”

—

After lunch, Jiang Nai returned to the hotel room to rest. Exhausted, she collapsed onto the tatami mat, barely moving. Li Qingji had left around two in the afternoon. He’d spent most of the morning teaching her, so he hadn’t really gotten to ski himself. This afternoon, he went out skiing with Joseph and their group.

In the evening, he was likely to have dinner with Joseph to discuss their collaboration more formally. After he left, Jiang Nai crawled onto the bed for a nap. When she woke up, Lin Hui called to ask if she wanted to go out for a bit. With nothing else to do, she met up with Lin Hui and wandered around the resort’s mall. Lin Hui bought a ton of things, including souvenirs and snow boots.

Eventually, they sat down at a café to rest.

Lin Hui mentioned she was planning to gift a snow outfit to a friend, which reminded Jiang Nai that her friend Xue Lin’s birthday was coming up next month. She sent her a quick message on WeChat: “Do you know how to ski?”

Xue Lin: [Learned a bit last winter, still not great. Was planning to go to Xinjiang over the New Year but got too busy, so now I just ski indoors.]

Jiang Nai: [As long as you can ski.]

She wanted to pick out a nice set of ski clothes for Xue Lin.

Xue Lin: [Why the sudden question?]

Jiang Nai: [I’m on a business trip in the U.S., currently staying at a ski resort here. They have a full selection of ski wear brands, and I’ve heard many styles aren’t available in China. Since your birthday’s coming up, I figured I’d get you a set.]

Xue Lin: [Ahh, seriously? Love you! I’ve been wanting to buy one!]

Xue Lin: [But, how did your business trip end up at a resort?]

Jiang Nai: [The client is skiing here, so I came with my boss to meet them.]

Although Jiang Nai and Xue Lin didn’t see each other often due to their respective jobs, they frequently chatted, so Xue Lin was aware that Jiang Nai was in Siningte, and that the company happened to be her husband’s.

Xue Lin: [Are you saying you’re meeting the client together with your husband?]

Jiang Nai: [His assistant is unavailable, so I’m filling in for him.]

Xue Lin sent a knowing emoji: [If you wanted him to keep you company, you could just say so. Using the assistant excuse, this guy really knows how to make excuses.]

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