Meng Yanxi’s first time skiing as a child was in Avoriaz, a ski town at the foot of the French Alps—a mecca for snowboarding. Motor vehicles are banned throughout the area; in winter, people get around by horse-drawn sleighs and snowmobiles. It felt like something out of an Andersen fairy tale, where you could ski straight out of your front door and back in again.

At the time he was only three or four years old, still at an age when he barely understood how to walk. Small and slight, he was already able to weave through the snow on a board with effortless ease.

By the time he was thirteen or fourteen, he was utterly fearless. Deep down, Meng Yanxi loved extreme sports. He dared to try all kinds of death-defying stunts; at thirteen, he won the FWT Junior World Freeride Tour, a competition whose difficulty could be called top-tier. One could say that apart from those few years before he grew up, every slope Meng Yanxi skied afterward was never an easy one. There were even plenty of unmodified natural snow slopes, riddled with hidden rocks and ice crevasses—each of them a challenge to adaptability, control, and sheer disregard for one’s life.

Besides skiing, he also skateboarded in his daily life. To him, standing on a board felt no different from standing without one—natural as breathing. And even more exhilarating, since with a board under his feet, you could even jump off a cliff without necessarily dying.

It was only in recent years, as Meng Huai and Meng Shixu grew older and many matters of the Meng family fell onto his shoulders, that he gradually reined in that reckless, life-risking edge of his.

For someone like Meng Yanxi, ordinary runs held little appeal.

At least, they were far less appealing than his girlfriend.

Si Tian and Luo Heng disappeared as soon as they arrived, no one knew where they went. Meng Yanxi held Jin Zhao’s hand and patiently taught her bit by bit.

Back in college, she had gone with classmates to an indoor ski resort. The lift ticket came with an instructor; she couldn’t remember how he taught them, only that she fell quite a lot. Thankfully, by the end she had managed to slide while standing on the board. Now that she was here again with Meng Yanxi, she secretly felt a bit relieved—at least she had already fallen before and wouldn’t have to embarrass herself in front of her boyfriend.

So at the beginning, when Meng Yanxi wanted to hold her and take it slow, Jin Zhao, rather concerned about her pride, pushed his hand away. “You don’t need to hold me.”

Meng Yanxi nodded, withdrew his hand, and prepared to watch his girlfriend perform.

His girlfriend stepped onto the board, couldn’t steady herself, her body tilting—and she quickly went “pa,” grabbing his hand.

Meng Yanxi’s arm was strong, holding her steady. He laughed softly, the meaning in it unmistakable.

Jin Zhao solemnly tried to cover it up: “I’m holding you.”

The man gave a light snort of laughter. “Better let me hold you.”

Only then did Jin Zhao finally behave and let her boyfriend teach her.

Just as he was actually very good at explaining problems, Meng Yanxi was also very good at teaching people how to ski. Last time, after only a short while, Jin Zhao had fallen many times; this time, she didn’t fall even once. Before long, she was able to freely control the board, carving and descending with ease.

The wind whooshed past her ears, lifting her hair. The conifer forests on both sides swept backward, and in the distance were undulating snowfields. She felt an indescribable sense of freedom and vitality. She bent her knees slightly, effortlessly controlling her direction and speed, and turned back to call out to Meng Yanxi—only to find him holding up his phone, one hand reaching toward her.

Meng Yanxi: “Give me your hand.”

Jin Zhao: “……”

He was actually doing follow filming.

There were no drones or DSLRs for sale at the ski resort, but follow filming was common. Meng Yanxi had tried a couple of shots, but for some reason—perhaps just bad luck—the photographers he found weren’t very good. He thought their work looked like it came off an assembly line: the same background, the same filters, even the poses were identical.

With his confidence overflowing, Meng Yanxi felt that he could shoot better himself and decided to personally do the follow filming.

Jin Zhao learned quickly. Later, Meng Yanxi also taught her the Frontside 360, an inward 360-degree rotation.

Jin Zhao really liked this move. On the descent, she used the inertia of the snowboard to let her body rotate inward a full 360 degrees, adjusting her center of gravity at the instant she landed. The entire sequence flowed smoothly, like a dance on snow—light and beautiful. She firmly remembered the key points Meng Yanxi had told her, practicing again and again. In the final run, the board’s edge scraped across the snow, and as she rotated, a thin veil of snow mist lifted into the air.

Like shattered jade rising skyward—behind the hazy white mist, the girl wore a helmet and snow goggles, her hair flying.

Ahead of her, Meng Yanxi crouched low, holding up his phone and snapping away, showering her with praise as he filmed, brimming with emotional encouragement. “So good!”

Almost the entire time, it was Jin Zhao skiing, while Meng Yanxi handled the teaching and filming.

Later, after Si Tian and Luo Heng had their fill of fun and came back to find them, Meng Yanxi tossed his phone to Luo Heng and had him film himself and Jin Zhao skiing together.

Although Jin Zhao learned quickly and had even picked up some showy little techniques, she was still a beginner after all, and Meng Yanxi always kept his speed in check to look after her.

Filming from behind, Luo Heng wasn’t satisfied and shouted loudly in protest, “Meng Yanxi, since when did you get so low-key? Normally, even if there’s no chance, you’ll create one just to show off. Today’s your home turf—why aren’t you starting your performance already?”

Meng Yanxi skied back with effortless ease, snatched the phone from him, and said, “Admission fee is five million. Once it hits the account, the show starts.”

Si Tian burst out laughing, egging Luo Heng on from the side. “Hurry, transfer it! I want to see!”

Luo Heng clicked his tongue in boredom. “As expected, the richer you are, the stingier you get.”

Then he suddenly turned his head and asked Jin Zhao, “Do you want to see?”

Jin Zhao lifted her gaze to look at Meng Yanxi.

Most public ski resorts didn’t have jumps. This place, taking advantage of the mountainous terrain and positioning itself to meet the needs of both casual visitors and advanced players, had set up several jumps. But because it was open to the public and safety was a concern, the highest was only five meters.

At the end of the slope, the jump was rough—an arc built from mountain rock wrapped in thick snow, dark gray gravel peeking through beneath the snowpack.

Meng Yanxi stood on his board, his body naturally bent. He looked casual and relaxed, yet the speed of his snowboard was astonishingly fast. Like an arrow, he shot forward; borrowing force from the arc, he was instantly launched into the air.

Fine snow was falling from the sky, white flakes filling the air. The wind whipped the snow—and also whipped against the man’s ink-black snow suit.

At the instant he left the ground, Meng Yanxi’s body tensed. The backflip initiated cleanly and decisively, snow spray scattering in midair.

Immediately after, his shoulders and back twisted sharply, several inward rotations linking smoothly and decisively. At five meters above the ground, he spun at high speed, the movements so fast that only afterimages remained.

At first, Jin Zhao had only wanted to watch Meng Yanxi free-ski, without deliberately slowing down for her. Who would have thought his “freedom” was this kind of freedom? Ordinary sport turned into an extreme challenge in his hands. As he soared into the air, her heart leapt straight into her throat. When she saw the aerial backflip followed by continuous inward rotations, she couldn’t even breathe.

Tension, exhilaration, and an indescribable fear. Her palms clenched tight.

Beside her, Si Tian was so excited she was shouting at the top of her lungs, eyes locked onto Meng Yanxi’s movements, counting rapidly, “One, two—”

But it was too fast. She only managed to glimpse the blurred trajectory of two and a half rotations. Even her mouth seemed to turn clumsy—before she could sort it out, just as she was about to count the third rotation, the body beneath the ink-black snow suit had already tensed and locked into position, diving straight down toward the snow.

When he landed, the snowboard crushed through the soft snow, kicking up a brilliant cloud of snow mist.

“Ahhh! 1080! Backflip plus 1080! Zhao Zhao, your boyfriend is amazing!”

Si Tian shouted excitedly.

Anyone who knew would know she was watching Meng Yanxi ski. Anyone who didn’t might think she herself had just completed a high-altitude backflip plus a 1080 inward rotation. She rushed over and hugged Jin Zhao tightly.

The corners of her eyes were warm. Only then did Jin Zhao, a beat late, finally feel the excitement surge up.

Later, when she met up with Meng Yanxi, someone who was usually restrained with her emotions, she said nothing at all—she simply rushed over and hugged him.

Even Meng Yanxi himself was stunned. He had shown off so many times before, yet his girlfriend had never given him a proper look. He truly hadn’t expected the effect this time to be so good.

Eager to try again, he asked, “Want to see it one more time?”

Jin Zhao gently shook her head in his arms.

Her heart was beating very fast.

It was indeed thrilling—just watching made her body heat up.

But it was too dangerous.

Meng Yanxi asked again, unable to hold back, “Then I’ll take you with me?”

Jin Zhao said softly, “I can’t do something that difficult.”

The next second, she was lifted into the air.

Meng Yanxi supported her waist with one hand, scooped up the bend of her knees with the other, and held her in his arms in a princess carry.

Jin Zhao let out a small cry. Meng Yanxi laughed in a low, pleased voice, holding her, not caring whether she agreed or not, and slid forward with high spirits beneath his feet.

Reckless like a boy.

He even remembered to turn his head and call out to Luo Heng, “Lawyer Luo, keep up.”

With Meng Yanxi performing on the jump, Lawyer Luo was more than willing to film. He had originally wanted to get a drone from other tourists for follow filming, but after asking around, he learned the area was a no-fly zone. In the end, it was still him risking his life to follow and shoot.

Although his skiing skills couldn’t compare to Meng Yanxi’s, his financial resources were solid, his mind was sharp, and his level far surpassed that of ordinary players—he might not even lose to professional athletes.

The final footage definitely didn’t disappoint Meng Yanxi’s backflip plus 1080.

But showing off affection and still calling him to follow film—would he really thank him for that?

Luo Heng unceremoniously named a sky-high price: “Five thousand per shot!”

Meng Yanxi: “I’ll give you ten thousand. Shoot it better!”

Lawyer Luo instantly broke into a grin, holding up the camera, stepping on his board and whooshing off.

“Got it! Coming right up!”

As a result, someone showed off a bit too hard and got mistaken for a ski instructor.

At the ski resort, there were young, tall male instructors who offered carry-skiing services. Meng Yanxi was just too excited, wanting to hug his girlfriend, kiss her, and lift her up high. But his girlfriend was thin-skinned. She had been in his arms for less than a minute—he hadn’t even had time to show off his skills—when she patted his shoulder, asking to get down.

As soon as Jin Zhao landed, two female tourists nearby immediately came over.

“Hi, could you carry us while skiing for a bit?”

“That high-altitude backflip plus 1080 just now was you, right? So handsome! Can I add you on WeChat? I’d like to book you as a private instructor later.”

Meng Yanxi: “?”

Jin Zhao secretly covered her mouth and laughed to the side.

Meng Yanxi glanced at her, then said calmly, “Forget it. My girlfriend gets jealous.”

Jin Zhao sensed his displeasure, stopped laughing, and immediately lowered herself to coax him, blinking as she echoed, “Yes, I really love getting jealous.”

♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

By the time they headed down the mountain and returned to the hotel, it was already nearly dark.

Everyone had played hard and was a little tired. After eating at the hotel restaurant, they each went back to their rooms.

Jin Zhao got all the photos and videos from Luo Heng. After showering, she lay on the bed and watched them over and over again.

At the same time, Meng Yanxi was also selecting photos.

Most of what was on Luo Heng’s phone were shots of him; on his own phone, it was all Jin Zhao.

A nine-grid wasn’t nearly enough. Late at night, President Meng lay on the bed, going through them once, then again. In the end, because he kept staring at his girlfriend, he didn’t manage to pick any photos—some other restless thoughts surfaced first.

With calculated intent, he exited Moments and decided to ask his girlfriend on WeChat whether he could go to her room to pick photos together.

Just as he exited, a little red dot popped up on Moments.

Meng Yanxi’s heart stirred. He tapped in.

Jin Zhao had posted on Moments five minutes ago.

There was no nine-grid—only a single photo.

It was him in midair, completing a backflip plus 1080, then immediately grabbing the board with one hand, body tensed and locked.

The background was an endless stretch of snow-capped mountains. Wind and snow filled the sky; he wore an ink-black snow suit, like an eagle striking through the heavens—clean, powerful.

The caption was just five simple characters—

Snow and wind like you.

At first, Meng Yanxi froze.

Then, the corners of his lips curved upward, and he let out a low laugh.

Snow and wind like you.

I like you too.

A Moments post with no grouping or blocking—once it was posted, it quickly racked up many likes.

Several comments followed close behind. The first to arrive were students.

—Who do snow and wind like? The handsome guy in the picture?

—Hahaha could it be that Teacher Zhao Zhao likes him?

—Wow! Is Teacher Zhao Zhao confessing?

—Question: What literary device is used here? What thoughts and feelings of the author does it express?

……

When Meng Yanxi’s profile picture appeared in the likes, Jin Zhao was lying on the bed, staring at her phone screen, her cheeks burning hot, her eyes bright.

At the same time, Luo Heng’s phone also chimed once.

Meng Yanxi: 【Go give my girlfriend a like.】