By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 129 Zero Degree Artist [7.6 thousand words!]

(P.S.: This chapter is quite long!)
The smooth areas along the edge of the ski slope, with snow freshly pressed by the snow groomer, resemble a spread-out white velvet carpet.

This place is far from the Magic Carpet and the crowds on the Beginner's Path.

"First...first get used to...standing."

This was also Peng Tao's first time teaching someone to ski, and he was quite excited.

Li Younan didn't let the young coach teach him; he only asked him to guide Chen Rui through the basics.

Peng Tao gestured for her to kneel down and put on the bindings, just like she did in the ski equipment hall.

"Okay...okay." Peng Tao steadied his lower body, trying to feel some support. "Knees, slightly bent, relax, don't straighten them."

His own knees bent unconsciously, mimicking the correct posture, "The center of gravity... is between the two feet, don't, don't sit back." His words were still clumsy, and he could only try to use body gestures to indicate.

Release your hand and let Chen Rui try to maintain her balance on her own.

She immediately swayed like a reed in the wind, her hands flailing wildly in the air.

Seeing this, Li Younan burst into laughter.

Upon hearing that laugh, Chen Rui simply fell down again.

Chen Rui glared at Li Younan and said irritably, "You're so annoying..."

"Are you alright?" Peng Tao asked quickly, wanting to reach out and pull her, but then hesitated.

He did glance at Li Younan a couple more times.

Well, he had similar thoughts to Chen Rui, because Li Younan didn't use a top-of-the-line skateboard, and from their conversation just now, it was clear that even if Li Younan knew how to ski, he was probably just a beginner who had only recently started, and perhaps hadn't even mastered the art of edge switching yet.

"It's alright, it's alright!" Chen Rui smiled and got up, brushing the snow off her body.

“That’s normal… Everyone starts like this.” Peng Tao relaxed a little and also tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Now we learn… we’ll push off the ground on flat ground.”

He demonstrated the movement: his front foot was fixed on the board, and his back foot pushed off forcefully backward on the snow behind and to the side of the board. "Like...like riding a scooter, push once, slide a little, stop, stand firm, and push again."

As Peng Tao spoke, he slowly demonstrated the steps: push off, glide half a meter, and come to a stop.

When it was Chen Rui's turn to try, she was very cautious. She lightly rubbed the board with her back foot, but it barely moved.

Li Younan, however, simply held his skis and looked around with great interest.

The light at the ski resort is extremely bright. Anyone who has studied physics knows that diffuse reflection is strong in such places, so if you plan to stay for an extended period, you must wear sunglasses or professional safety goggles.

Strictly speaking, they haven't even been on a real ski slope yet.

Since it's not winter break yet, there aren't actually that many people skiing here, so it's not considered dangerous.

Compared to single-board snowboarding, double-board snowboarding is actually simpler and easier to learn.

However, Chen Rui also did not choose skis, but chose snowboarding like Li Younan. Her reason was that snowboarding looked cooler.

Not far away, several instructors were teaching skiing beginners.

Contrary to what people who have never been to a ski resort might imagine, this snow is not soft. Falling on it is not much different from falling on concrete. If you don't wear proper protective gear, it can still hurt quite a bit.

Li Younan continued to look around and saw a little girl, about five or six years old, dressed in an adorable panda costume, slowly sliding down a slope on a miniature board with short arms and legs.

When the momentum was exhausted on the smooth snow, the cute little thing suddenly fell straight down with a thud.

Li Younan's gaze was completely drawn to it.

Chen Rui chuckled twice and said, "You really don't want to practice?"

Li Younan said in a serious tone, "Didn't I tell you? No need, the world of skiing has its own code of honor... My nickname is Zero Degree Artist."

Not only Chen Rui, but even the coach next to her couldn't help but laugh. Then, realizing that this was inappropriate, he continued to teach Chen Rui.

"The force you use to push off should be moderate," the coach continued his instruction.

After hesitating for a moment, he looked at Li Younan and said, "You can also try it out first. Beidahu Ski Resort is considered quite difficult in China."

Li Younan was staring blankly at the cute little thing when he lost focus for a moment. He just nodded casually in response.

On the empty snowfield, only clumsy figures and rhythmic "plop" sounds could be heard.

Chen Rui started to fall less often, but she slid slowly, like a cautious little snail inching along on the snow.

Peng Tao moved around Chen Rui in small steps, like a somewhat inflexible road sign, his eyes fixed on her movements.

"Yes, knees, bend them a little more!" Seeing Chen Rui glide a little more steadily for the first time, Peng Tao couldn't help but raise his voice slightly, with a hint of eagerness and joy that he himself didn't realize, "Just like that!"

Chen Rui is very quick to learn. She is an extremely intelligent girl. When she is learning, she not only experiences things physically, but also keeps her mind busy analyzing and summarizing her experiences. Therefore, she makes great progress with every fall.

Of course, natural coordination is very important for learning such a difficult sport, and it's clear that Chen Rui has considerable talent.

"Practice a few more times, and then we'll try... pushing the hill."

……

Most of the time, Li Younan just stood by with his skis, watching the instructor and Chen Rui teach.

Li Younan did not immediately start teaching Chen Rui for another reason. Just like the parkour skills he had mastered before, these skills that directly improve physical fitness and technique are different from those skills that fill the brain with knowledge.

It directly brings muscle memory and skill, but teaching this directly acquired muscle ability to others is not an easy task.

Ultimately, he's not very good at teaching.

Just like how it's really difficult to teach someone who can't walk how to walk, it's very difficult to teach someone who can't walk how to walk.

Instructors who have received systematic ski training can use their knowledge to help beginners gradually master skiing skills.

After spending two or three hours, Chen Rui was able to glide briefly on the magic carpet and mastered the most basic blade-changing movements.

Before long, she was laughing heartily.

Next, we headed further up to the actual ski slopes.

Since the plan was to stay here for a few days, Li Younan wasn't in a hurry to climb to the top of a ski slope and ski down immediately.

However, the prospect of actually experiencing skiing soon is still quite exciting.

It's worth mentioning that the task of checking in was already assigned as soon as you entered the ski resort.

The objective here is to accumulate more than 20 kilometers of skiing distance.

20 kilometers may sound like a lot, but it's actually not that long.

These top-tier ski resorts in China often have ski runs that stretch for several kilometers. You can complete your ski run by just experiencing a few full runs.

Next, the coach took them to the first beginner slope.

Chen Rui is indeed very talented.

In theory, once you're proficient at edge switching, you can enjoy the entire ski resort, even the more challenging advanced slopes, and you'll gradually be able to fall down them eventually.

Upon learning this, Chen Rui was naturally eager to try it out.

But things are not that simple.

It wasn't until she reached the beginner slopes that Chen Rui truly began to showcase her talent.

The true talent for skiing is...

It's not afraid of falling.

……

The coaches here charge by the hour.

After skiing down the beginner slope for a couple hundred meters to verify Chen Rui's edge-changing skills, the ski instructor named Peng Tao successfully completed his task.

In any case, it can be considered that he taught Chen Rui how to ski.

Even though she had already paid, Chen Rui still sincerely thanked him.

After Peng Tao left, only Li Younan and Chen Rui remained at the scene.

Just now, when Li Younan was slowly sliding down the beginner slope, he used the same blade-changing technique to control his speed and slide down quite slowly.

Chen Rui could tell that Li Younan wasn't exaggerating; he really could ski.

At this point, there was still nearly a kilometer of the beginner ski slope to go down.

It was almost lunchtime, and Chen Rui pointed down and said, "Let me treat you to something to eat. I'm a little hungry. Let's slide down and rest for a while, and then come back in the afternoon."

Li Younan nodded.

Strictly speaking, he didn't ski much this morning. Now that he's starting to go downhill, because Chen Rui has already mastered the basics, Li Younan can give Chen Rui some really practical tips.

However, along the way, although Li Younan would occasionally remind Chen Rui how to ski, Chen Rui would always make the same mistakes in the next place. So Li Younan stopped interfering, since Chen Rui was unlikely to become a real professional skier anyway.

Although it's a beginner slope, Beidahu Ski Resort has quite a few steep sections, even among beginner slopes.

Under the coach's supervision, we didn't encounter any particularly steep sections for the first hundred or two meters. But things were different as we continued downhill.

Not long after she started skating, a rather steep slope suddenly made Chen Rui panic.

She rushed diagonally down the slope, but lost her balance and fell to her knees at high speed, the snow kicking up a cloud of snow from her skis.

Li Younan's eyelids twitched slightly, and she quickly slid to Chen Rui's side.

That fall must have been quite severe; most girls would probably need a long time to recover.

Li Younan frowned slightly, looking at Chen Rui with concern.

Chen Rui's goggles were slightly bent from the fall, and she used both hands to get herself up from the ground.

The next moment, he fell backward again, landing hard on his buttocks.

Seeing this, Li Younan was speechless and said, "Go over there and catch your breath."

Even a normal person, even a boy, would need to rest after falling twice like that.

But to Li Younan's surprise, Chen Rui simply patted the snow off her bottom and gloves, acting as if nothing had happened, put her goggles back on, got up, and continued sliding down.

Li Younan stood there in silence for a moment.

This girl...

Chen Rui stumbled and fell all the way down.

In some places, the slopes were indeed quite steep, and her skills weren't yet sufficient to conquer them. Her body would instinctively feel some fear, so her body would uncontrollably adjust its posture, causing her to fall.

In some places, she felt her technique was good enough in the latter half, so she began to boldly try some small techniques that she had not yet mastered, such as edge walking... These falls were not unjustified.

Li Younan didn't deliberately show off his skiing skills; he simply took a leisurely stroll down the slope, controlling his speed.

Many people have a misconception about skiing, thinking that the faster you go, the better you ski. But in reality, going fast only proves that you are brave.

A true master is one who can maintain control, keeping the speed within a constant range no matter how steep the slope, as if strolling leisurely.

However, only experts can understand this level of skill.

Li Younan didn't use any complicated techniques, just simple blade switching, or even basic introductory techniques like Falling Leaf.

On such a beginner slope, with so many people, there's really no need to slide too fast.

Even so, it still surprised Chen Rui, who had been stumbling all the way.

The two slid directly to the hotel entrance. Chen Rui took off her goggles and said, "You're pretty amazing. I didn't see you fall even once while coming down from there."

Li Younan chuckled, "Didn't I tell you? What's my nickname again...?"

Chen Rui frowned: "Zero-degree artist."

Li Younan laughed heartily: "Ah, right, right, that's it. You remember it quite well."

Chen Rui couldn't help but roll her eyes. She jumped off the board, intending to return it temporarily, and said, "Let's split up. I'll go return the board, and you go to the hotel to change your clothes. I'll come find you after I return the board and change, and then we'll go have lunch."

……

Back in her hotel room, Chen Rui took off her clothes.

The hotel was very warm and cozy.

She stripped herself naked and walked to the bathroom mirror.

Her skin was snow-white in the mirror, but that wasn't what she was focused on.

Her gaze fell on the bruises on her arms and elbows.

Then she gently tossed her long hair forward, turned around to look at her back, and saw two purplish-red bruises on her round, plump buttocks. She touched them with her hand and gently bit her lip. She turned on the shower in the bathroom, and after a while, the water temperature rose, and hot steam billowed out.

She threw herself under the water jet, feeling the heat flowing over her body, and smiled slightly.

Today's experience was really great. She had never skied before, but it was much easier than she had imagined.

Although I fell quite a few times today, it was still worth it. At least I can slide down the slope if I'm careful.

Her skills are still relatively immature, and she needs to expend a lot of physical strength to control the skateboard.

She felt a little envious of those people who could control their bodies so effortlessly at the ski resort; that kind of state was probably what truly allowed one to experience the joy of skiing.

No problem, Chen Rui was confident that she would master the skiing skills in the next few days.

Then she thought of Li Younan, and twitched her little nose. He could indeed ski, but it was probably because he skied rather timidly, and it was easy for him to fall at such a slow speed.

She knew that Li Younan was a very smart person, and smart people are very good at judging the environment and managing risks.

Actually, being able to ski as comfortably as him is quite enjoyable.

But you still need a certain speed to experience more of the fun.

Then she laughed again, but everyone's pursuits are probably different. Li Younan doesn't seem like someone with an adventurous spirit...hehe.

I fell down today, but I got up right away.

Although Li Younan's expression was unclear through the goggles, his body language suggested that he was somewhat surprised.

Haha, she probably hasn't seen a girl as brave as herself before.

Although Chen Rui didn't think it was a big deal, it was still somewhat satisfying to surprise Li Younan.

Also, Zero Artist... is pretty passionate.

……

Over the next few days, Chen Rui gradually progressed from the most basic ski slopes to slightly more advanced beginner slopes, and her improvement was remarkable.

When skiing on the slopes, she is virtually immune to falling if she doesn't consider other tourists.

Of course, she hasn't mastered more complex techniques like edge skiing or snow slalom yet, but that doesn't prevent her from reaching a certain speed and skiing freely and enjoyably.

However, there were some dangerous situations along the way.

Although the dangers of beginner ski slopes are generally manageable, there are still many accidents on ski resorts every year.

The main danger is not your own skill, but the reckless beginners on the slopes.

A complete beginner is fine, since they don't know how to skate very well and are timid. What I'm afraid of is someone who has just learned a little bit but hasn't mastered it, and who is also quite daring and likes to show off.

When you rush down from a great height, you reach a certain acceleration and completely lose control of your skateboard.

Li Younan and his friend had encountered one before, and it was a very fat man who weighed more than 200 pounds.

The person initially took selfies with a selfie stick up there, but after a while, when Li Younan and the others were almost at the foot of the mountain, they quickly slid down from there.

Instead of zigzagging, he slid straight down, clearly a clueless newbie who couldn't ski at all.

At that time, Chen Rui was proudly demonstrating to Li Younan a technique that she had just successfully mastered two or three times.

Although the posture wasn't the proper squatting down to touch the snow, but rather bending over with your butt sticking out, which would be ridiculed by those in the know, Li Younan still gave it high praise.

Then we saw that reckless young man lunge down, knocking over a young woman skiing in the process, and falling himself as well.

Even after falling, it continued to slide downhill, and its speed increased.

Li Younan reacted extremely quickly, and in just a moment he had already predicted that Chen Rui, who was gliding in a zigzag pattern, had a high probability of being hit.

This level of collision is not as simple as a fall.

Li Younan was below, and Chen Rui was above. Even with her skiing skills, it was impossible for her to defy the laws of physics and slide up there.

In an instant, Li Younan untied the skateboard and leaped upwards with all his might.

Chen Rui was completely bewildered and hadn't even reacted when Li Younan grabbed her by the edge of the plank and pulled her aside.

Of course, this also caused her to fall hard.

Chen Rui lay sprawled out, but her first reaction wasn't to blame Li Younan; instead, she felt that something must have happened.

The next moment, a big, fat, dark-skinned man rolled down right next to her, yelling loudly.

Afterwards, Chen Rui watched the video taken by a passerby and learned what had happened.

Li Younan pulled her away from the big, fat man's impact with a desperate effort, but Li Younan himself was almost hit. He stretched out one arm at an exaggerated angle to support his body and twisted to the side to avoid it.

That's really cool.

Chen Rui watched the video repeatedly and silently saved it on her phone.

After that accident, Chen Rui became much more cautious and treated Li Younan with increasing respect.

Later, during a meal, Chen Rui accidentally let slip, "I originally thought you were someone who liked risk control."

Li Younan paused for a moment, slowly appreciating Chen Rui's words, and said somewhat irritably, "Are you saying I'm a coward?"

Chen Rui playfully stuck out her tongue and said, "You've always skied slowly, and you've always skied with me on the beginner slopes."

Li Younan shrugged and said, "I can't help it, I have to take care of you, little sister."

Chen Rui snorted: "You're only a few years older than me. In the martial arts world, once you're over 18, everyone addresses each other by their first and last names."

"In the martial arts world, Xiao Feng will always be Brother Xiao."

Li Younan couldn't help but think of his cousin and her best friend, who called him "brother" so affectionately.

Chen Rui is really no good.

Chen Rui added, "But don't push yourself too hard. Skiing on the beginner track is still pretty good."

Li Younan remained silent, and of course, he didn't pay any attention to Chen Rui's words.

He was just thinking that he had been here for a few days and had experienced most of the beginner trails around him. He still had a few kilometers left to complete his challenge, so he decided to go and film a video tomorrow and ski a couple more sections of their advanced trails.

Because the park has only been open for a short time, many of the best slides are not yet open, so Li Younan doesn't have many options. There's only one advanced slide.

Li Younan planned to go skiing tomorrow, so he said to Chen Rui, "I'm planning to film a video tomorrow, could you film it for me?"

Chen Rui suddenly became excited. She thought of those third-person perspective videos that she filmed for others. These videos were filmed with skiers on camera, but the person holding the camera enjoyed the same honor.

Seeing Chen Rui's expression, Li Younan found it somewhat amusing, then bluntly poured cold water on her enthusiasm: "Can you fly a drone?"

Chen Rui blinked: "Huh, a drone?"

……

This is the starting point of the high-level underworld.

There aren't many people left down from here. People who come here to ski are usually quite confident in their skills, and there are very few people at that level.

Chen Rui opened the drone's bag, looking somewhat sullen.

She didn't dare to slide down this path, let alone help Li Younan film videos. She could only use a drone to provide Li Younan with editing material from another perspective for the videos.

However, when she took the drone out, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you really sure you can do this? Don't push yourself."

When Chen Rui first learned that Li Younan planned to slide down from here, she was quite shocked.

Li Younan, who had been skiing with her the whole time, hadn't really shown any advanced techniques, so Chen Rui thought that filming a video would just be a one-shot take of her skiing down a longer beginner slope. Plus, Li Younan skied very slowly, so she was confident that she could keep up and film that kind of video.

As it turned out, Li Younan immediately went straight to the highest difficulty level upon arrival.
Li Younan put on her goggles and smiled slightly: "I already said I'm a zero-degree artist, so don't lose me later."

He then looked at a senior coach next to him and said, "I'll be troubling you later!"

This coach was someone Li Younan specifically hired to film videos for him. He put on goggles and gave an OK sign, and naturally, Li Younan handed over his action camera to the coach.

Standing at the starting line, Li Younan took a deep breath and smiled slightly: "Then, let's begin!"

Seeing this, Chen Rui also became nervous.

……

In early January at Beidahu, the morning air on the mountaintop felt like ice shards brushing against my face mask.

Without hesitation, Li Younan pressed down on the board.

Gravity instantly pulled the body to the bottom of the slope. The ice surface was as stubborn as a piece of quenched steel plate, and the blade made a sharp "hissing" sound when it cut into it.

Chen Rui's drone had already taken off, but Li Younan was still in sight. When Chen Rui saw Li Younan's actions, her eyes widened.

How could he... be so good at this?

Li Younan's knees were bent deeply, his body almost pressed against his calves, his core taut like a fully drawn bowstring, resisting every tiny side slide—

Every blade change requires a burst of muscle power and precise control; a slight misalignment can lead to complete loss of control.

The senior coach who was filming also slid down, looking at Li Younan with some surprise.

He certainly wouldn't deliberately take a difficult route, after all, it was a video for Li Younan.

We rushed down the top of the ice slope and entered the snow-covered area.

The snowflakes swept in by the wind had already frozen into countless hard lumps like cement blocks. Li Younan's gaze swept into the distance, and his body reacted in advance.

The moment I plunged into the swirling snow, my skis began to bounce violently and sway sideways, the impact shooting straight up my spine.

His knees and ankles moved flexibly like high-performance shock absorbers, absorbing the impact layer by layer, while his core kept his upper body firmly stable. His skis bounced and turned between the hard snow blocks, creating a series of finely adjusted sawtooth patterns.

Ahead, a huge snowdrift sculpted by the wind abruptly blocks the middle of the path—if you avoid it, there's an even denser pile of rocks on your right.

The speed is too fast; there is no way to turn back.

The senior coach who was filming and Chen Rui, who was already watching the whole scene with a drone, were both sweating bullets.

What happened next completely stunned them both.

Li Younan's instincts kicked in instantly. Just before touching the snow mound, he jerked his body backward and simultaneously used his feet to lift his skis upward.

The tip of the board precisely hits the highest point of the snow mound, and the body uses the momentum to take off.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment, and the view suddenly opened up, revealing jagged rocks and an even steeper slope below.

There were no fancy spins in the air, only the purest instincts: twisting the waist, tucking in the legs, shifting the center of gravity forward, ensuring that the tip of the ski was steadily pointing towards the only safe hard snow slope behind the snowplow.

"Bang!" A heavy thud echoed as the object landed.

The impact forced his knees to the ground instantly, causing the snowboard to vibrate violently on the hard snow, while the edges gripped the snow surface tightly.

Without any pause, using the momentum of the descent and the slope, the body surges forward, once again entering a high-speed descent.

The coach couldn't help but shout, "Holy crap, awesome!"

Chen Rui let out a soft sigh.

Near the end, the ski run narrowed and disappeared into the woods.

Ice was hidden beneath the powdery snow in the shade, and the shadows of the trees were so bright they made one dizzy, but the speed did not decrease at all—the narrow path made the requirements for precision even more demanding.

A hidden snowdrift suddenly appeared at the bend. The moment Li Younan lowered the board, he suddenly felt his front foot slip into thin air, and his body sank sharply.

At the last second, I pushed off with my back foot, twisting my shoulders and hips to pull my weight back, but this time, the feeling of imbalance ignited my muscle memory.

Muscle memory provided by system cheats.

Using the force of the twist and the curve of the snow eaves, he burst upwards at an almost impossible angle!

An extremely fast, extremely low side somersault—not for performance, but purely an instinctive reaction to forcibly regain control by utilizing the terrain and momentum on the verge of losing control.

My vision spun, my skis briefly left the snow, my body twisted in the air, and the ski tips pointed back down the narrow slope.

With a "boom!" carrying its full weight and the momentum of rotation, the snowboard slammed heavily into the untouched deep pink snow below the snow rail, stirring up a huge cloud of snow.

The impact was tremendous, but the landing point was precise, and the deep pink snow cushioned most of the force.

Without the slightest hesitation, after briefly controlling the speed using the resistance of the powder snow, I leaned forward again, the tip of the board breaking through the snow waves, smoothly rushing out of the forest and merging into the open intermediate trail below the mountain.

The wind was still howling, and people on the cable car were pointing in this direction in astonishment. Many of them were already filming with videos, and now they all pointed their cameras at Li Younan.

Li Younan didn't turn around, but simply adjusted his breathing and used his skis to cut through the newly pressed snow.

The slope gradually became gentler, and at a suitable spot, Li Younan completed his check-in task. He gently applied the brakes, the snow mist rose, and the senior coach who was with him got off and gave him a thumbs up.

(End of this chapter)