Chapter 329: Showcasing Skills and a Chance Encounter

Chapter 329 -259: Showcasing Skills and a Chance Encounter

After lunch, Wang Wan Ning returned to the Middle Level slope with Gu Heng. She accompanied him as he practiced the basic moves and beginner techniques a few more times before she felt confident enough for him to join her on the advanced slope.

At the summit of the snowy mountain, Gu Heng and Wang Wan Ning stood side by side.

Sunlight scattered across the snow, reflecting a fine, brilliant light.

Looking down from their high vantage point, the entire Changbai Mountain International Resort spread out before them.

“The air up here is so fresh.”

Gu Heng took a deep breath. The crisp, cold air rushed into his nostrils, instantly waking him from the slight drowsiness he felt after lunch.

“Wan Ning, back on the Middle Level slope, you were just focused on skiing with me. Now that we’re on the advanced slope, don’t hold back. Show me what you’ve really got, so I have a goal to aspire to.”

After his remark, Gu Heng turned to Wang Wan Ning, his eyes full of curiosity.

On the Middle Level slope just now, Wang Wan Ning had clearly been holding back. Whether Gu Heng sped up or slowed down, she had effortlessly kept pace with him, looking completely at ease.

“So you want a little demonstration?”

Hearing Gu Heng’s request, Wang Wan Ning couldn’t help but look eager to give it a try.

It’s not just boys who peacock when they’re in front of a girl they like; girls do the same with boys they’re interested in. At its core, it’s all about wanting to show your best and most outstanding side to the other person.

“Go for it.”

Gu Heng gave Wang Wan Ning an encouraging look, then took a pair of binoculars from a nearby bodyguard. After all, the advanced slopes were typically over 1,500 meters long and full of turns. Without binoculars, Wang Wan Ning would probably become a tiny black dot in his eyes in less than ten seconds.

“Alright!”

Wang Wan Ning gave a crisp reply and put her ski goggles and face mask back on.

The next moment, with a slight movement of her feet, she shot forward.

Dressed in her light pink ski suit, Wang Wan Ning cut a striking figure on the slope, which reached a maximum gradient of nearly thirty degrees. Her speed was worlds beyond what she’d shown on the Middle Level slope with Gu Heng, transforming her into a pink shadow against the world of ice and snow.

Once she picked up speed, she shifted her center of gravity directly onto the tail of her snowboard. The nose of the board lifted, its edges kicking up endless sprays of snow. It made Wang Wan Ning look like a great general from ancient times, standing at the prow of a ship returning from a victorious battle.

This was a beginner-level snowboarding technique called a tail press. Gu Heng had learned it that morning from Shi Mengting, but the tail press he’d managed to do was worlds apart, visually, from the one Wang Wan Ning was now demonstrating.

His had been clumsy and forced, while hers was fluid and graceful—a true spectacle.

After “riding the wind and breaking the waves” for a dozen or so meters down the slope, Wang Wan Ning suddenly pressed her body forward, and the raised nose of her snowboard slapped back down onto the snow.

At the same time, her speed increased another notch. She began carving quick S-turns, her movements exceptionally sharp. She continuously alternated between wide and tight S-turns, causing her already high speed to climb even higher.

Faced with the numerous corners on the advanced slope, Wang Wan Ning used the advanced snowboarding technique of carving to handle each one with ease, looking incredibly crisp and decisive.

Watching Wang Wan Ning dominate the slope through his binoculars, Gu Heng found it truly difficult to connect the person he was seeing now with the sweet, cute Wang Wan Ning who was usually by his side.

After alternating between wide and tight S-turns, Wang Wan Ning’s speed had peaked. The slope before her, after numerous turns, now opened into a long, straight stretch of several hundred meters.

It was only at this moment that Gu Heng realized the tricks Wang Wan Ning had shown so far were merely an appetizer. This was her real showtime.

It started with an ollie—a move that uses the board’s tail elasticity to pop into the air while tucking the legs. Many Huaxia snowboarders have nicknamed it the “dolphin jump” for its resemblance to a leaping dolphin, and it is a core technique in many freestyle combinations.

On this several-hundred-meter-long straightaway, Wang Wan Ning began to unleash one freestyle combination after another. It was a true showcase of her skills.

“Incredible.”

Shi Mengting, who was also holding a pair of binoculars, couldn’t help but exclaim with sincere admiration as she watched Wang Wan Ning’s various tricks, “With the skills Miss Wang is displaying, you can’t even call her an amateur anymore. That’s the technical level of a professional.”

“To get that good, she must have gone through a lot, right?”

Gu Heng asked softly upon hearing Shi Mengting’s words.

“One minute on stage, ten years of practice offstage.”

“That saying applies to all competitive sports, and of course, that includes skiing.”

Shi Mengting replied, “Even if Miss Wang has access to the best training resources, it’s impossible to master skills like these without falling hundreds, if not thousands, of times.”

Hearing this, Gu Heng said nothing more.

At that moment, Wang Wan Ning had already reached the bottom of the slope.

Through the binoculars, Gu Heng could clearly see the pink figure bouncing up and down, waving her hands toward the mountaintop where he stood.