After Xie Hanzheng finished speaking, he pulled down his ski goggles and said, "Let me demonstrate for you."
Song Shi'an nodded expectantly. He had just heard someone next to him say that this coach was very good. He thought it was very exciting and cool when he watched others skate online. He wondered what it would be like to see him skate in person.
Seeing the expectant look on his face, Xie Hanzheng, whose leg injury hadn't fully healed, originally planned to just give a basic demonstration and be done with it.
Now, for some reason, he wanted to see a stunning look in his eyes. He slid to the preparation area, took a deep breath, and rushed down.
The acceleration was extremely fast, the sound of the skis cutting through the snow was crisp and clean, and the first high-speed skier glided into the turn, with his body almost parallel to the snow surface, and the skis leaving a curtain of snow behind him.
Immediately following a front flip and a spin to grab the board, he firmly gripped the edge of the board in mid-air, and landed without hesitation, gliding close to the ground.
With his knee less than a fist's distance from the snow, he made a final, high-speed stop, the side edge of his ski slicing across the snow and kicking up a cloud of snow.
Song Shi'an stood there dumbfounded. Are ski instructors this amazing now? So cool!!!
Xie Hanzheng slowed down towards the end of the skate, but his legs were still a bit strained, and his ligaments were aching slightly.
But he didn't slow down his movements at all, and persevered to complete the final blade change.
Many people were stunned. Several skiers practicing push-ups on the beginner slope looked at each other in bewilderment. Had the pro come to the beginner slope to stunt the skiers?
When Song Shi'an and Xie Hanzheng arrived by cable car, their excited voices could be heard from afar. "Coach, this is amazing! How long must that have taken to train? I want to be like that too!"
Xie Hanzheng pushed his ski goggles up to his forehead, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips, "Not long, seventeen or eighteen years, I guess."
Song Shi'an's smile froze on his face. "Coach, how can you say such cold words when your body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius? Seventeen or eighteen years, he hasn't even had seventeen or eighteen days."
The company should probably find a stand-in; he can return a portion of the money he's already received.
He desperately stepped onto his skis and tentatively began to slide down.
The first attempt was surprisingly good; I managed to maintain my balance, but as the speed increased, I couldn't stop myself.
As the bend ahead drew closer, he took a deep breath, plopped down, and successfully braked with his rear end.
The turtle's rear end traced a green arc on the snow. A close call, he stood up, brushed the snow off the turtle, and gave Xie Hanzheng a thumbs-up.
The accompanying photographer took a series of shots, managing to turn the comical scene into something resembling an extreme sports blockbuster.
I successfully transitioned from the beginner track to the intermediate track for two consecutive days, falling off my backside with every single turn.
Xie Hanzheng rarely showed a hint of appreciation in his eyes. Since Song Shi'an mastered the method, he has made rapid progress and can now skate the entire course and stop safely on his own.
After falling more than ten times, Song Shi'an finally got the hang of it and was so excited that he said he was talented and that 1.8 million was beckoning to him.
Xie Hanzheng stood aside watching his smug expression and decisively poured cold water on his enthusiasm. "Your progress is fast, but it's impossible to master these difficult moves in five days. You should prepare a stunt double."
Song Shi'an chuckled and patted the turtle, "I think so too, so I discussed it with the company last night. I'll do the easy stuff, and we'll hire a stunt double for the difficult stuff."
Xie Hanzheng didn't expect him to be so self-aware. After practicing for another two or three hours, Song Shi'an was able to move steadily back and forth on the intermediate track. His blade-changing movements became more and more fluid, and the frequency of his falls decreased significantly.
During the break, Xie Hanzheng glanced down at his phone, his brows furrowing. He swiped the screen a few times, his expression growing increasingly serious.
"What's wrong?" Song Shi'an leaned closer.
"Someone has wandered into an uninhabited area in the wilderness, causing a small avalanche. The person is trapped inside. Helicopters have been dispatched to go deeper, but rescuers can't get in. Someone needs to slide in and bring the person out."
Song Shi'an's smile vanished instantly; someone was in trouble!
Xie Hanzheng shoved his phone into his pocket, bent down, and fastened his ski bindings. "You practice on your own first, I'll go rescue you."
Song Shi'an opened his mouth. It was so dangerous, and he went alone? No matter how awesome he is, he's still human. There had just been an avalanche in the wilderness, and the snow layer was unstable. There was a good chance of a secondary avalanche.
Before he could say anything, Xie Hanzheng had already skied off, his movements across the slope even faster than when he had demonstrated, disappearing into the snow-covered forest in the direction of the wilderness in the blink of an eye.
Lin Fan slowly jogged over from the rest area, carrying two cups of hot cocoa. He saw a helicopter fly overhead in the distance, the roar of its engine making the snow tremble. "I just saw a helicopter fly by, what's going on, bro?"
Song Shi'an looked in the direction Xie Hanzheng had disappeared. "Someone went skiing in an undeveloped area, causing a small avalanche. The instructor went to help."
Lin Fan was also taken aback for a moment, then handed him the hot cocoa. "It's okay, bro. I heard this coach is some kind of champion, he's really amazing."
Song Shi'an took the drink and felt a little relieved.
I practiced for a while longer on my own, and when I checked the time after finishing, it had been almost two hours.
He looked up at the sky; the roar of the helicopter was still circling in the distance, with no sign of it landing.
The news is also circulating online: an avalanche has occurred in the Altay wilderness area, burying people, and two hours have passed with no sign of life.
The comment section was buzzing with activity.
"What's going on lately? It's either avalanches or tsunamis. Nature's been acting up lately."
"The person upstairs doesn't seem to understand the situation. An avalanche was caused by someone sneaking into an undeveloped area; nature shouldn't be blamed for that."
"It's been two hours, why haven't they rescued him yet? Didn't they say they sent someone?"
"It's already dark over there, making the rescue even more difficult. We've seen people filming helicopters circling around for ages, but there's nowhere for them to land."
"The wilderness area is full of dense forests and steep slopes. Helicopters can't get down there; people have to slide in. I heard that the person who went there was a former world champion, whose leg injury hasn't fully healed yet."
"Going with a leg injury? Who will be responsible if something happens?"
Song Shi'an was scrolling through his phone when he saw the sentence "His leg injury hasn't fully healed yet." He stopped scrolling, shoved the hot cocoa into Lin Fan's hand, and bent down to fasten the brace.
Lin Fan nearly dropped his cup. "Brother, where are you going?"
"Let's go take a look." Song Shi'an pulled down his ski goggles. "Just look from the side, we won't go in." With that, he slid down the slope.
Lin Fan was nearly scared to death when he heard this, and it took him a while to catch up with his brother after struggling in the snow for a long time.
Hey bro, you have to consider the situation before you go to watch the show! That's an avalanche zone, not a night market food street!
When Song Shi'an arrived at the outer edge of the field, he saw a crowd of onlookers gathered around the fence. Some were filming with their phones, while others were craning their necks to peer inside.
A ring of security personnel stood firmly in front of the area, preventing anyone from entering without permission.
He tiptoed and peered inside, but could see nothing but the vast darkness and the scattered flickering searchlights.
I can't get in touch with the coach either, I hope something's happened...