The ideal is plump, but reality is bony. This saying was vividly demonstrated when Tong Hua attempted to learn He Sui’s cool spinning move.
Perhaps skiing really wasn’t Tong Hua’s forte. Despite having He Sui as an expert instructor, that high-difficulty move involving aerial posture, core strength, and timing control was no different from asking a baby who had just learned to crawl to run a 100-meter hurdle race for a beginner like her, who had only just mastered the snowplow stop.
All afternoon, the practice area echoed with the dull thuds and short gasps Tong Hua made whenever she fell.
“Thump!” — That was a sideways fall.
“Ouch!” — That was a butt landing.
“Ugh!” — That was a faceplant, thankfully cushioned by the thick snow.
Once, twice, ten times… dozens of times…
Tong Hua felt like a ragdoll being mercilessly tossed around. Every time she mustered the courage to jump, she ended up crashing into the snow in various contorted positions.
The protective gear spared her body from injury, but it couldn’t protect her bruised pride as a self-proclaimed skiing prodigy.
As the sunset began to gild the snow-capped peaks of the Alps, Tong Hua lost her balance mid-air once again and landed flat on the snow. This time, she didn’t even bother getting up immediately.
She lay sprawled in a star shape on the soft snow, staring blankly at the sky gradually turning orange-red, as if her soul had floated out of the top of her head.
She was exhausted, her whole body feeling like it had fallen apart. She was numb—both from the falls and from her disheartened spirit.
He Sui skied over to her, balancing on one foot with his snowboard fixed, and looked down at this little kitten who seemed to have lost all her dreams.
“He Sui…” Tong Hua’s voice was weak, thick with a nasal tone and self-abandonment. “Maybe… you should just stop teaching me.” She turned her head to look at him with utter despair. “I feel hopeless for you. Are you even teaching me? You’re teaching a deadweight…” She still had the energy to mock herself, though her tone was utterly dejected.
Seeing her pitiful state, He Sui refrained from his usual sarcasm.
He unfastened his snowboard bindings, crouched down, and met her gaze at eye level. “Giving up already? What’s the big deal? You had no foundation before. Being able to jump at all is pretty good.”
“Wah…” Tong Hua’s lips quivered as a wave of self-pity washed over her. She felt deeply frustrated and disheartened by her lack of athletic talent, her little face scrunching up, clearly spelling “unhappy.”
Seeing the once lively and sarcastic little troublemaker now looking like a wilted cabbage, He Sui found it somewhat amusing, yet also felt a vague, indescribable emotion. He seemed to have forgotten his earlier warning: “If you fall, don’t cry. I won’t comfort you.”
So now…
He cleared his throat, attempting to speak in a tone that was unfamiliar to him—something that could barely pass as comforting. “Alright, actually, you’re quite talented.”
Tong Hua didn’t even lift her eyelids. She wasn’t buying this child-pacifying talk. Pulling her hat down, she muttered gloomily, “Liar.”
“I’m not lying to you.” He Sui kept a straight face and began to provide examples. “Do you know that when Xiao Yu was first learning the most basic braking technique, he almost lost control and crashed straight into the public restroom at the foot of the mountain? That scene, tsk tsk, was way more disastrous than what you’re going through now. At least you didn’t head for that kind of place. Besides, you’ve just started skiing, and you’ve already overcome your fear enough to try jumping—that’s better than a lot of people.”
“…Really?” Tong Hua finally lifted her head a little. Sure enough, her eyes were slightly red, brimming with unshed tears, looking both pitiful and adorable.
He Sui looked at her watery, wide eyes, trying hard to maintain a serious expression, but inwardly thinking how amusing this kid looked when she cried~
He nodded solemnly, his tone firm. “Of course. I, He Sui, never lie.”—if one ignored his silent apology to Xiao Yu in his heart at that moment.
“But… it’s been the whole afternoon…” Tong Hua sniffled, still feeling defeated. “I haven’t succeeded even once.”
“What’s the rush?” He Sui reached out and casually ruffled her cat-ear hat, which was already a bit damp from the snow. His movements were a little stiff but not rough. “Let me tell you, when I was learning this move, it took me nearly five years, on and off, to get to where I am now. You’ve only been at it for an afternoon, and you haven’t even fallen as many times as I did in a single day back then. You’re doing pretty well.”
He paused, watching her slightly eased expression, and asked, “Do you still want to keep learning?”
Tong Hua hung her head, wrestling with her thoughts.
It really hurt when she fell, and it was truly embarrassing, but… giving up just like that? She couldn’t accept it. She had already made up her mind to learn, and He Sui was teaching so earnestly. It wouldn’t be right to quit halfway and waste all the time he’d spent on her, would it? Besides, that move looked really cool…
In the end, she hung her head and nodded gloomily, muttering softly with a hint of reluctance, “I’ll keep learning…”
A barely noticeable flicker of amusement flashed in He Sui’s eyes as he extended a hand toward her. “Alright. Get up then. Teacher He here guarantees you’ll learn it.”
Tong Hua used his strength to pull herself up, enduring the pain all over her body. He Sui even helped brush off the snow clinging to her clothes. The gesture, while not exactly gentle, carried a rare patience.
…
Not far away, Xiao Yu, who had witnessed everything, felt like he was about to have a heart attack.
“Damn it! That dog He Sui is really a dog!!” He pointed in their direction, his voice trembling. “He wouldn’t teach me back then, fine! But he actually uses my embarrassing past to comfort a kid?! And ‘you’re actually quite talented’?! When has he ever praised me like that?! Does he have any humanity left?!”
Nan Chao had already collapsed laughing against Si Jin, gasping for breath. “I… I told you… you should go get a sex change… hahahaha… Look at how that little kid… gets treated differently… Just accept your fate!”
Si Jin was also wiping tears from laughing, patting Xiao Yu’s shoulder, his tone full of sympathy. “Xiao Zi, just accept it. This is fate! What you lack in life is… is this kind of cute buff! Hahahaha… oh my waist, it hurts!”
Xiao Yu gazed at the snowy field, where the small figure—lifted up by He Sui—still wore a look of grievance but clearly burned with renewed determination, and at He Sui beside them, who for once wasn’t radiating coldness and even seemed to be coaxing a child. A wave of sorrow washed over him, and he sighed deeply to the sky, “…Ah, life! How unfair it is!”
His plaintive roar blended into the twilight of the Alps, becoming the final backdrop of the day at the ski resort.
And Tong Hua’s “High-Difficulty Maneuver Conquest Plan,” after undergoing a thorough physical and mental baptism, appeared set to continue for a long, long time yet.