Skiing Crisis

Chen Wei'er slowly opened her eyes, only to realize that she was still being held in an intimate embrace. "Ah!" She instinctively let out a startled cry and quickly wriggled out of my arms.

"I was just scared, that's why I hid in his arms," Chen Wei'er comforted herself in her mind.

Zhao Yan-yan and the others soon arrived at the mountain top in their cable car. The little girl jumped off the car with a grin and came over to me, looking at me and the blushing Chen Wei'er with a mischievous smile. "Wei'er-jie, did this big bad guy bully you?"

"No... no!" Chen Wei'er was on edge every time Zhao Yan-yan spoke, her heart racing. The winter camp hadn't even started yet, and she'd already been startled twice—this was the third time. Zhao Yan-yan seemed to know exactly what was going through her mind. If Zhao Yan-yan actually stood up and accused her of trying to seduce my boyfriend, it might somehow be easier for her to bear. What terrified her most was the way Zhao Yan-yan knew exactly what was going on but still pushed Liu Lei toward her, seemingly approving of her feelings for him.

"Yan-yan, stop joking. Do you have any gum? Wei'er has a fear of heights, and she's still recovering," I said, glancing at Chen Wei'er, who still looked pale.

Zhao Yan-yan took out a pack of green Arrow gum from her bag, tore it open, and handed a piece to both me and Chen Wei'er, before popping one in her own mouth. In 1995, gum was very popular, and young people saw it as a trend, while bubble gum, which had once been all the rage, had faded into history.

The cold air made the minty gum feel refreshing in the mouth, and it seemed to help Chen Wei'er as her furrowed brow relaxed, her face still pale but slightly more flushed.

The wind from the snow-capped mountain tousled Wei'er's hair, scattering it around her, creating a wild, ethereal look, like a snow fairy. For a moment, I was lost in the sight.

Wei'er stood in the vast, snow-covered landscape, like a snow spirit amidst the endless white. I couldn't help but stare, captivated.

"Wei'er, you're so beautiful," I whispered, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, gazing tenderly at her face.

"Liu Lei..." Chen Wei'er stared at me, lost in thought, murmuring softly.

"Ahem—Ahem!" Zhao Yan-yan coughed twice.

Chen Wei'er immediately pushed me away, standing aside, unsure of what to do, her face full of mixed emotions.

"There are other people around, you two should watch the influence," Zhao Yan-yan teased, pointing to the cable car behind us that was catching up. "If you're going to be all lovey-dovey, find a private place!"

"Hehe," I nervously scratched my head, leaning closer to Zhao Yan-yan and whispering, "Are you jealous?"

"Hmph! You're just taking advantage and pretending to be innocent," Zhao Yan-yan playfully pinched my waist with her crab-like grip and shot me a glare. "If I were jealous, I wouldn't have pushed both of you into a car together!"

"Ow!" I winced in pain, letting out a small yelp.

"Hmph, Wei'er-jie, let's ignore this pervert! Come on, let's go skiing!" Zhao Yan-yan said, not sparing me a glance as she grabbed Chen Wei'er's hand and headed toward the ski resort entrance.

I shook my head and followed behind them. Women's hearts are like the sea, hard to fathom. I couldn't understand Wei'er's feelings, and now I was even more confused by what Zhao Yan-yan was playing at.

I was carrying the luggage for three people, and the snowboard was really heavy, probably weighing around 40-50 kilograms. Along with all the other miscellaneous gear, I felt like an armored vehicle, slowly moving forward with bags and bundles hanging off me.

Suddenly, a figure rushed past me from behind, almost knocking me off balance. I looked up to see Li Shaojie, that idiot, grinning at me smugly. He waved at me and said, "Slow as a snail, huh? That's the consequence of showing off!" With that, he quickly jogged ahead.

How dare he mock me?! A snail? Today, I'll show him what a supersonic snail looks like. I took a deep breath, focusing my energy. The world around me began to slow down, everything appearing in slow motion. Li Shaojie moved slower than a snail, one of his legs still hanging in the air.

I casually walked past him, surpassing him by over ten meters before I sighed with relief and returned to normal speed. Turning around, I gave Li Shaojie a quick middle finger and continued walking ahead without looking back.

"Ah!" Li Shaojie stood frozen in shock. He had noticed something was off—he saw a shadow suddenly zip past him faster than lightning. When he realized it was me, he was utterly stunned, repeatedly rubbing his eyes.

"You're slower than a snail," I said, throwing the words over my shoulder as I quickly made my way toward Zhao Yan-yan and the others. When I used my ability, everything around me appeared incredibly slow, which made me seem lightning-fast to others. To Li Shaojie, I must have looked like a blur.

After changing into my ski suit and securing my knee pads and wrist guards, I noticed Zhao Yan-yan had done the same. She looked perfectly at ease in her gear, indicating that she must have skied before. This made sense—Zhao Junsheng, her father, had once been a big businessman, and skiing in 1995 was definitely a sport associated with the wealthy.

As for Chen Wei'er, she struggled for a long time, unable to put her gear on. She didn't know how to ask for help, so she looked at Zhao Yan-yan, pleading silently. However, Zhao Yan-yan acted as if she didn't notice and even turned her head away.

Sigh! I muttered under my breath. The little girl was clearly trying to give me an opportunity.

I walked over, carefully took the gear from Chen Wei'er's hands, and helped her put it on. She stood still, allowing me to handle everything. Her face, already flushed with embarrassment, turned even redder due to the cold weather.

Once I was done helping her, I realized that after everyone had gathered, Han Bingfeng began explaining how to wear all the ski equipment. Li Shaojie, seeing that we had all suited up, didn't want to fall behind, but to my surprise, he had worn his wrist guards and knee pads inside his ski suit, looking clumsy and awkward like a giant panda. After hearing Han Bingfeng's explanation, he realized he had made a huge mistake.

I strapped on my snowboard, stretched my body, and gently glided across the snow. It felt good. Although I wasn't able to perform as well as I did back in my university days, it was still decent. After not skiing for almost a decade, not falling was already a victory.

Zhao Yan-yan had also fixed her snowboard and was talking to Chen Wei'er.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Wei'er doesn't want to ski! Come help!" Zhao Yan-yan called out to me.

She doesn't want to ski?! Haha, looks like it's my lucky day. I immediately imagined a romantic scene in my mind—two people in the snow, holding hands... Heh, my free coaching session has arrived!

"Wei'er, want me to teach you?" I extended my hand to Wei'er, who was sitting on a snowbank.

"Go! If you're going to teach, it's not your turn!" I didn't even need to turn around to know that annoying voice—it was definitely that pest Li Shaojie.

This guy was running toward us, and yes, he was actually running, wearing his snowboard, waddling like a big duck. If I didn't already know he was an idiot, I might have thought he invented a new style of skiing.

"You idiot, stay away from Chen Wei'er from now on, or I'll beat you up!" Li Shaojie panted as he arrived in front of us. Seeing that no one else was around, he immediately reverted to his arrogant self and pointed at my nose, cursing.

"Li Shaojie," I said calmly, "I've been tolerating you because you're in the same class as Chen Wei'er, but don't push your luck."

I used to avoid fighting this trash. People like him were too weak for me, I could take care of him in a few moves.

"Hmph, with that pathetic look of yours, I don't know what kind of luck you have to be with Zhao Yan-yan. But I'll warn you—stay away from Chen Wei'er. Take your girlfriend and get lost, Chen Wei'er is not someone like you can ever get close to!" Li Shaojie said, intentionally adjusting the $500 ski goggles he had bought.

He could insult me, but insulting Zhao Yan-yan too? Was he implying that Zhao Yan-yan had poor taste for being with me? He was really asking for trouble.

"Li Shaojie," I said quietly, "you'll pay for what you just said."

"Fuck! You dare threaten me?" Li Shaojie shouted, "I'm not scared of anyone! Listen up, you'd better apologize now, or I swear I'll make you regret it!"

"Haha—" I couldn't help but laugh, though I wasn't angry. This was the funniest joke I'd ever heard. Did he think he was part of some gang? Just because I'm poor, a nouveau riche like him had to show off how much money he had at every turn.

"What are you laughing at? I'll make you cry in a minute!" Li Shaojie looked around to make sure no one was close—his classmates were all far off, and Han Bingfeng was busy guiding others on the slopes. No one was paying attention to us. Now that he was sure no one would interfere, Li Shaojie felt confident. He wasn't going to let this clueless kid get away today. He was a skilled fighter, and looking at the weak, scrawny guy in front of him, he thought it'd be like child's play to take me down.

"You brought this on yourself. Don't blame me for not holding back!" Li Shaojie cracked his knuckles and started to remove his snowboard, preparing for the fight. He wasn't stupid, he knew that fighting in snowboards would be too clumsy.

"Wait—" I stopped him just as he was about to start. Before a fight, there were a few things I needed to clear up first.

"What? Are you scared? If you're scared, just get lost! Leave now, and I won't do anything to you!" Li Shaojie saw me calling a halt and thought I was afraid, standing there smugly.

"Heh, I was saying, Li Shaojie, before we have our little 'duel,' I think it's best we make a few things clear," I said, clearing my throat.

"What do you want to say? Your last words?" Li Shaojie laughed dismissively, not taking me seriously at all.

"If we're going to fight, I'll go along with it. But the loser has to stay away from Chen Wei'er from now on. And, no revenge afterward," I said firmly. I wanted to make it clear—no repeat of what happened with Liu Kesheng. While I wasn't afraid of him trying to get back at me, I preferred to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

"Fine! It's a deal!" Li Shaojie laughed, but he also seemed to be mocking me. "But I bet those words are more for yourself than me!"

"Ready?" I asked, even though I wasn't sure why I said it.

"Ready..." Li Shaojie replied reflexively, but as the words left his mouth, he realized something wasn't right. He felt like an idiot being played. Sure enough, both Chen Wei'er and Zhao Yan-yan were struggling to hold back their laughter.

"Dammit! You brought this on yourself! Today, I'll beat you so bad that your mother won't recognize you!" Li Shaojie, enraged and embarrassed, swung his fist and charged at me.

At this speed, even without my powers, I could easily see his weaknesses. His skill was barely on the level of a third-rate amateur fighter.

Li Shaojie swung his fist at my stomach, and before I could even react, he followed up with a low kick aimed straight at my groin. This guy was ruthless, trying to take me out in one go and even aiming for the family jewels. But to think that he could hurt me with this kind of move was nothing short of naive. After all, I was the champion of a youth fighting competition in my past life. Even if his master were here, I'd still be able to handle him with ease.

I calmly lifted my left leg and quickly blocked his low kick just as he was closing in. Grabbing his outstretched fist, I used a swift motion to yank him forward, sending him flying and crashing into the snow.

I barely used any strength—just enough for the necessary defense—and still, Li Shaojie ended up sprawled out in the snow, his limbs flailing. Fortunately, the snow was soft, or else a fall like that on concrete would have left him with a broken bone, at the very least.

Li Shaojie wasted no time. He scrambled to his feet, shaking off the snow that covered his body, and without thinking about his bruised pride or the pain, he immediately jumped up, ready for another attack.

"Stop!" I called out. "Li Shaojie, let's call it quits. You're no match for me, so why bother humiliating yourself further?"

"Hmph, don't get too cocky! I slipped earlier, but now I've got my footing. You won't get away so easily this time!" Li Shaojie gritted his teeth, thinking the previous loss was just a fluke, that he could take me in a real fight. He believed his skills were good enough to handle someone like me—after all, he considered himself at least a mid-level fighter.

Chen Wei'er and Zhao Yan-yan were both watching us, knowing full well how I had easily handled Li Shaojie. They stood behind me without fear. In fact, from Chen Wei'er's fiery gaze, it almost seemed like she was eager for me to beat Li Shaojie even more. Was this girl into violence? I'd have to reconsider my plans regarding her... I couldn't be getting involved with a girl who might have some strange, violent tendencies.

Li Shaojie adjusted his stance, but this time he didn't rush in blindly. Instead, he studied me, waiting for the right moment to strike. It seemed like he wasn't completely stupid—at least he had learned some tactics. But in my eyes, all this was pointless. No matter how much he tried to strategize, our gap in skill was too large. It was as if I were the cat, and he were the mouse, and I couldn't be bothered to take him seriously enough to make a real effort.

At last, unable to hold himself back, Li Shaojie charged at me again. This time, he was smarter—he didn't try to close the distance too quickly. Instead, he leapt into the air, kicking sideways toward me from a distance of three or four meters.

Since he was the one attacking, I decided not to hold back. He had lost to me once, but here he was, still clinging to the fight. He hadn't learned his lesson. I grabbed his foot mid-air, twisted, and launched him, sending him flying a good five or six meters to the edge of the ski area.

There wasn't much snow where he landed, and I could tell that would be enough to leave Li Shaojie in pain. Sure enough, he grimaced in pain, struggling to get up but unable to. His body was covered in bruises, though it didn't look like anything broken. Still, the pain was enough to leave him writhing.

"Li Shaojie, you lost," I said indifferently, pointing toward him from a distance.

Li Shaojie seemed like he wanted to say something, but the pain hit him hard, and his expression contorted with frustration and bitterness. He glared at me with venom in his eyes, but I didn't bother to look back.

Turning to Zhao Yan-yan and Chen Wei'er, I said casually, "Let's go skiing."

Zhao Yan-yan looked at me with some concern and pointed at Li Shaojie. "Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine. He's not going to die. Can't you see he's still moving?" I said, unconcerned. I hadn't used much force, just enough to teach him a lesson. If anything happened to him, Zhao Yan-yan's grandfather wouldn't side with me, and I certainly didn't want any unnecessary trouble.

Though Chen Wei'er was visibly anxious, her face flushed a deep red. Was this girl into watching me fight? I remembered that when we were at Liu Zhenhai's place, she had been similarly excited watching me fight his bodyguards. Could it be that this girl had a thing for violence?

I led Zhao Yanyan and Wei'er to a quiet spot with a gentle slope covered in soft snow. This area was at the edge of the ski resort; while it had no marked boundaries, the terrain turned into sparsely populated cliffs farther out. We were still in a safe zone, and unlike the heavily trafficked parts of the slope, the snow here was still soft and untouched.

"Wei'er, be careful. Try moving slowly down the slope, and I'll hold onto you," I said, reaching my hand out to her. Ideally, you don't hold onto someone else while skiing, as a beginner's fall can easily pull the other person down too.

"I... I don't think I can," Wei'er said, her voice shaky. She was terrified, barely able to move an inch. Like many people with a fear of heights, her sense of balance was not the best, and she was trembling with every small shift.

"How about this, Wei'er—I'll show you first!" I said, trying to lighten the mood when I saw her looking so distressed. I turned to Zhao Yanyan and added, "Yanyan, help steady her so she doesn't fall."

"Wei'er, watch me. Keep your skis parallel and move forward one step at a time, almost like walking. Even Li Shaojie, who's terrible at skiing, managed that part," I chuckled, demonstrating for Chen Wei'er. 

Wei'er smiled a bit at the mention of Li Shaojie, likely recalling his clumsy, bear-like shuffle earlier. The tension eased as Zhao Yanyan and I held her, and Wei'er managed to move forward bit by bit. Eventually, she even found her footing enough to try on her own.

Over time, I taught her a few more basic moves. Wei'er wasn't lacking in smarts; her only real challenge was balance, and after some practice, she became quite skilled with the steps. I then demonstrated the snowplow position and turns—foundational techniques in skiing.

After about an hour, Wei'er was gliding over the flatter parts on her own without any help from Yanyan or me.

"Let's find a slightly steeper slope to practice on," suggested Zhao Yanyan. She was clearly eager for a more exciting slope; this gentle one held little challenge for an experienced skier like her.

"Maybe we should wait a bit," I said, glancing at Wei'er with concern.

"It's fine! I actually want to try it too," Wei'er replied, her initial nervousness now replaced by genuine enjoyment of the sport.

I checked our surroundings carefully. The steeper slopes here lay close to the ski resort's edge, near the cliffs. It would be safe as long as no one intentionally veered toward the edge.

Yanyan, flashing a confident smile, released her hold and started skiing downhill.

"Want to give it a try?" I asked Wei'er.

Wei'er looked down, a flicker of dizziness crossing her face. She bit her lip and softly asked, "Liu Lei, can you hold my hand?"

"Sure!" I replied, happily taking her hand—exactly the outcome I was hoping for.

With my steadying hold, Wei'er started gliding down the slope, moving gradually and at a controlled pace as I carefully guided her. Though it wouldn't be fatal, a fall here wouldn't be fun either, so I made sure to keep our speed manageable.

Suddenly, a voice filled with venom came from behind us, interrupting our peaceful descent: "Damn you both! You filthy couple! Go to hell!" It was Li Shaojie's hateful yell, and then I felt a powerful push from behind aimed right at Wei'er and me!