As Shan Chong parked the car, Wei Zhi and her companions had already browsed through the snow gear store. They were now quietly discussing a light purple and pink snow bib overall.
The young girl stood on her tiptoes, touching and examining various parts of the outfit. She pulled out the price tag, glanced at it, then slightly tilted her head to say something to Jiang Nanfeng. She seemed quite satisfied.
“This bib overall has a low-waist, loose design. This means when you roll around on the snow slopes, all the snow will enter your pants through the waist gap. In the best-case scenario, you’ll catch a cold. Worst case, you’ll develop chronic leg pain,” a calm male voice sounded from behind her.
Wei Zhi turned around to face the man standing behind her. He was looking down at her, and as their eyes met, he unhurriedly concluded, “It’s not suitable for you.”
“Nonsense,” she protested softly, still clutching the leg of the bib overall. “If that’s the case, who are these snow-leaking bib overalls designed for?”
Shan Chong glanced at her coldly and replied, “People who don’t fall.”
“…”
Making a face behind her mask, Wei Zhi angrily released the bib overall she had almost decided to purchase.
Ignoring her anger, Shan Chong looked towards the interior of the store. The owner approached, greeting them.
As soon as he saw Shan Chong, the owner’s face lit up.
“Well, well, which god has our store been praying to lately? These big shots keep coming one after another. We just saw off Dai Duo, who came to buy snow goggles because his previous pair was snatched by a dog on the mountain…”
The store owner, still muttering “Hey, where did that dog come from on the mountain,” didn’t notice Shan Chong’s expression. He raised his voice, “Now look at this, even our Lord Chong has been blown in by the wind… You finally decided to come down from the mountain, huh? Gas prices have gone up again, you know.”
“Not for nothing,” Shan Chong replied tersely, lifting his eyelids slightly. He chose to ignore Dai Duo’s chatter. “Gloves, face protection, quick-dry clothes… Do you have them?”
He had come to restock.
Like a debt collector.
Fortunately, the store owner was used to this—
Shan Chong, after all, was the number one influencer in the snow sports circle.
He was the golden goose for brand sponsors. Whatever he wore or used mysteriously became the season’s hottest item. Perhaps the most extreme case was the year he returned to snow sports. Due to his recovering waist injury, he couldn’t jump much, so he decided to try carving. Single-handedly, he caused the price of a Gray Mach carving board to double at the beginning of the snow season.
People understood that using the same board as a pro doesn’t mean you’ll ski as well as them. A pro could fly even with a piece of wood under their feet…
But Shan Chong, aside from his skills, had the height and physique that made anything he wore or used look stylish.
Unlike street skaters, skiing is quite a flashy sport. Men who love this sport tend to have some aesthetic sense, and once men decide to dress up, their purchasing power… even women can’t compete (this might also be why men’s ski wear often looks a thousand times better than women’s).
As such, an influencer like Shan Chong had sponsors fighting to dress him from head to toe, probably even down to his underwear…
If all his sponsorships were listed like those short video media skaters, they probably couldn’t fit on a single page.
From major brands to the large comprehensive snow gear store they were in now, all were his financial backers.
Now that he had spoken, the store owner started pondering what newly arrived gloves or face protection needed promotion… He was about to say he’d go look when Shan Chong waved his hand, saying there was no rush.
As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed the hood of the white, snowball-like down jacket of the small girl beside him, pulling her to his side—
“Get her a pair of boots first… What’s your shoe size?” he asked lazily, not forgetting the main purpose of this trip down the mountain.
“36,” the person whose hood he was holding answered obediently.
The snow gear store owner looked at the small girl beside the man, who barely reached past his shoulder, and was momentarily stunned.
“Who’s this, your sister?” the store owner asked.
“Why are you insulting me?” Shan Chong casually replied, releasing Wei Zhi. “She’s my disciple.”
“Disciple?” The store owner was even more confused. “Which disciple of yours needs you to personally bring them to choose shoes? Hua Yan bought three boards, three pairs of boots, and four bindings from me this year without mentioning you once. I had to offer your discount myself—”
Meanwhile, Lao Yan was examining the new safety helmets.
He was studying a shark-shaped helmet and chimed in without looking up: “Three boards and three pairs of boots? Is Sister Hua jumping parks or performing exorcisms? Buying ritual tools or what?”
Shan Chong: “She’s working hard.”
After a moment, he looked down at Wei Zhi and added, “Completely unlike you.”
Wei Zhi responded with an “Oh,” showing no sense of competition and completely ignoring him.
Lao Yan chuckled and continued chatting with the store owner: “Did you hear that? Even laziness is legal now. He doesn’t even lift a finger, just say a few words, as benevolent as Buddha… Right now, Brother Chong is all about this little lady. A beginner who’s just learning edge changes, how can it be the same as teaching hands-on from putting on the board—”
Lao Yan put on the helmet and looked in the mirror from different angles. “Very precious.”
Shan Chong gave him a lazy glance and commented, “You look like a Southerner.”
Yan silently took off the helmet with a dark face and put it back on the shelf.
The store owner was still absorbed in the fact that “Shan Chong had taken on a cute new disciple, personally brought her to buy shoes, and hadn’t refuted a single word or punctuation mark when Lao Yan said she was a precious disciple”…
Meanwhile, Shan Chong was urging Wei Zhi to stop looking at clothes and get on with what they came for.
Snow boots are generally products from five traditional ski brands: Burton, Deeluxe, Thirtytwo, DC, and Nitro. Adidas, Nike, and Vans have also produced some, but few people buy them, and most snow gear stores don’t stock them.
Different brands of snow boots have different features and ways of wearing them. Among them, Burton sells the most. As an old, professional ski brand, it has always been the flag-bearer among various equipment.
Unfortunately, there are too few styles of ski boots, either black or dark blue, at most with some white accents… And other brands’ snow boots are mostly dark brown, liver red, etc. Once worn on the snow, they all look the same.
“Not pretty,” Wei Zhi said.
“Better looking than the ones at the ski resort,” Shan Chong replied.
Wei Zhi was convinced again.
She casually took a pair off the shelf and was examining them in her hands when the boots were taken away. She watched as the man casually pressed the tongue part and then reached in to feel the heel area before handing the boots back to her.