Cliff (2)

Before coming here, they had changed into woolen clothes and warm jackets and put on special gloves that were light and fluffy. The two embraced for a few seconds, but Qin Yuan suddenly exerted a little bit more strength as if he didn’t want to let go.

Ruan Qingmu’s heart was sweet as he leaned into Qin Yuan’s ear and blew mischievously. “Just hug back if you want.”

Only then did Qin Yuan silently let go and begin to teach him everything he knew.

Ruan Qingmu was naturally intelligent and learned these sorts of things better than studying. Within an hour or two, he could easily do the little zigzag drift like he had been skiing all his life.

Qin Yuan followed behind him, seeing his dancing and fluttering body on the beginner’s double board, which was even more wide open than the single board, so he was slightly alarmed and tried to tell him to slow down now and then. But the harder Ruan Qingmu fell, the more energetic he became.

He waved his hand. “Aiya. You should demonstrate how to ski yourself. Show me an example I can look up to!”

Qin Yuan had no other choice but to step on his snowboard and stand at the top of an intermediate ski track. His figure lurched, tapping his feet with both hands on his ski pole, and he soared through the air.

The intermediate slope was more challenging and the young man’s flying form was like a bird in the air, flying through the snow, exceptionally heroic. Ruan Qingmu watched from afar and suddenly let out a sharp whistle.

The clear, high-pitched whistle was accompanied by Qin Yuan’s figure, which gradually drifted away.

The day passed quickly and they ate at a nearby hilltop restaurant at noon. When they played again in the afternoon, the several adults were slightly tired from the day’s events.

Wei Qinglian only felt a sore back and legs. “We should return. Xiao-Xin is in the room. I’m worried about leaving her alone with the nanny for too long.”

The newborn daughter, Xiao-Xin, was still young, so it was not convenient to bring her along with them. Qin Zhufeng was also slightly tired and decided to return after discussing a few things with Mu Wanli.

“Dad, we may not return to the hall to eat dinner. We will eat at another small restaurant if we play until late,” Qin Yuan said as he watched Ruan Qingmu, who was still acting lively in the snow.

Qin Zhufeng nodded his head. “Okay. But don’t play too late. The ski arena will be shut off when the sky gets darker later.”

The two little girls were still excited, but the adults didn’t feel comfortable leaving them behind.

Wei Qinglian put on a stern face. “Girls can’t be this naughty. What if you fall and break your face?”

Xiao-Siquan had just started playing and pouted defiantly. “What’s wrong with that? The boys in our class don’t even cry when they fall and scrape their knees!”

Wei Qinglian became angry. “Can boys and girls be the same?”

Xiao-Siquan pouted. “Gege said they’re the same! Daddy also told me to listen to gege.”

Uncle Yan’s daughter was much more sensible and hurriedly said, “Siquan-meimei*, I’m also hungry. Why don’t we take pictures after dinner? We can bring Xiao-Zhuang with us.”

*T/N: Little sister

Only then did Xiao-Siquan become more pleased. “Okay, okay. We’ll take pictures!”

The group went down the hill, leaving only two teenagers on the snow trail.

Qin Yuan stood high above the ground and raised his hand to signal. “Let’s learn this sharp-stop movement again. If you don’t retract at a good angle, you’ll easily lose your balance…”

When Ruan Qingmu saw no one else on all sides, he suddenly pounced up and quickly nibbled on Qin Yuan’s face.

Qin Yuan was slightly stunned and looked at him. “What’s that for?”

Ruan Qingmu’s eyes shone brightly with a smile. “What can I do? My boyfriend is too handsome when skiing. After enduring the whole day, I have to kiss him hurriedly.”

Qin Yuan looked at him, blushing slightly, but did not return the kiss and only smiled. “Let’s continue learning.”

Ruan Qingmu stared at him, only thinking that he was still being thin-skinned. He raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Oh, continue to teach me then.”

When there were a lot of people just now, all he wanted to do was ski, but now that there were no more people around, he suddenly had all kinds of itches in his heart. At one point, he was teasing and at another, he pulled Qin Yuan to ski in pairs.

However, Qin Yuan seemed slightly sullen at this time. Although he cooperated fully, he seemed to talk even less than usual.

Ruan Qingmu finally noticed something was wrong. After skiing a bit more, he suddenly stopped and gazed at him with some concern. “Hey, are you really feeling unwell? Then, should we return?”

***

Over on the other side, Qin Zhufeng and the others were done with dinner. The two girls had made plans to take pictures at the mountain lodge and purposely came over to bring Xiao-Zhuang with them.

The mountain villa they lived in was already extremely scenic and the two girls loved beauty. As they took pictures, they felt that the man-made scenery here was not fun.

“Let’s explore! On the way back, there’s a cliff and a giant cedar tree at the side. It’s so beautiful!”

Uncle Yan’s daughter, called Miao Miao, was excited too. “Okay. I wanted to have a look at it just now, but your mom stopped me.”

Xiao-Zhuang silently stood by as the two young girls pulled him along. “Let’s go. We’ll take you to play something fun.”

… The paths from the lodge to the outdoor attractions were all safe and there were lights all along the way, so the three children took photos there freely. As they went further along, they soon reached the hillside with the most beautiful scenery on their way there.

There was a large pine tree at the edge of the hill that was lush and impressive under the snow. The children were tempted to look at it, so they went over the fence and headed there.

The mountain scenery looked close, but it was actually an extremely long walk. It took the children a long time to get there, and when they looked at the big pine tree, they were surprised and delighted.

“Wah! There are red-colored trees there. We should go there to take pictures. It looks really wonderful!”

It was getting a bit dark, but they could still see a forest of dark red trees on the hillside below, incredibly dazzling in the white snow.