60 Lin Gaoyuan

Switzerland.

After arriving in Switzerland, Duan Nanzhou adapted quite well. The brand-new environment, complete instruction in German, and classmates from all over the world gave her the tangible sensation of stepping into an entirely new world.

Except, of course, for a certain acquaintance.

Looking at the block of Chinese text hidden among a pile of foreign-language emails, Duan Nanzhou developed a headache. Was this kid really that idle? Weren't national team training sessions supposed to be grueling and relentless?

Nonetheless, Duan Nanzhou replied with a few lines as usual, offering comfort to the fragile heart of a certain young boy.

With that out of the way, Duan Nanzhou plunged heart and soul into her academic and daily life.

The pressure of her brand-new studies was considerable. Besides, she had no intention of stopping at an undergraduate degree; genuinely fascinated by this unfamiliar major, she intended to pursue it all the way.

Furthermore, blessed with an affluent family background in this lifetime, she had an elder brother to bear the burden of the family succession. Her parents only asked that she live a happy and healthy life, and her allowance alone easily qualified her as a privileged member of the second-generation rich.

Thus, Duan Nanzhou practically devoted herself entirely to university life. Universities abroad differed from her previous domestic experiences; not only was academic excellence required, but maintaining a healthy social circle was also vital. In particular, cultivating good relationships with certain professors would prove immensely beneficial for her future master's and doctoral studies.

Gradually, Duan Nanzhou found herself busier than ever. Especially living in a geographically privileged location like Switzerland, how could one possibly resist skiing?

After joining her classmates for a skiing trip on a whim, Duan Nanzhou fell utterly in love with the sport.

Given how popular skiing was in Switzerland, aside from campus life, the lion's share of her time was dedicated to the slopes.

The classmates who had initially introduced her to the sport were thrilled to learn she was a complete novice, eagerly looking forward to coaching her—after all, watching a beginner's initial clumsiness was a universal amusement.

However, after watching Duan Nanzhou struggle to find her balance once or twice and never fall again, they fell silent. Since when had this sport become so effortless?

No, no, it must be because skiing with twin-tip skis was simpler and better suited for beginners! Her classmates told themselves this, conveniently forgetting their own miserable, stumbling starts.

Consequently, encouraged (or rather, egged on) by her peers, Duan Nanzhou tried snowboarding next, and mastered it even faster.

Duan Nanzhou’s classmates: ...

What was going on here? Was crushing them in academics not enough, did she possess absolute athletic talent as well?

After watching Duan Nanzhou glide back and forth across the ski resort with ease, mastering basic turns and preparing to tackle high-difficulty maneuvers, everyone grew numbly accustomed to it. Truly, comparing oneself to others only invited despair.

As for Duan Nanzhou herself, she was having an absolute blast. An intense, full-body workout like this delivered an incredible rush of exhilaration. Without hesitation, Duan Nanzhou decided to hire a private coach to master more advanced techniques.

Moreover, compared to skiing, Duan Nanzhou preferred the sensation of snowboarding. Being well-funded, she quickly secured a veteran instructor in the area—rumored to have coached an Olympic champion. While his teaching and experience were exceptionally rich, his fees were equally formidable.

While Duan Nanzhou was thriving in Switzerland, Lin Gaoyuan was living through trials and tribulations.

The national team was entirely unlike what he had imagined. Even though he had been there for a while and made quite a few friends, he still felt somewhat out of place. Oh, how he missed the days back at the provincial team with Nanzhou!

I wonder how Nanzhou is doing abroad right now?

During a break in training, Lin Gaoyuan mused to himself. It had been nearly a month since their last email exchange.

Over the past year, Lin Gaoyuan had figured out one undeniable truth: Duan Nanzhou was totally stringing him along! Aside from offering brief, perfunctory replies to the emails he sent, she had never once initiated contact. What a big liar! And she called herself his best friend!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Lin Gaoyuan couldn't help slamming his racket down, which immediately caught the coach's attention and earned him a thorough scolding.

Left utterly dejected after the lecture, Lin Gaoyuan was in agony, especially since the coaching staff—having somehow caught wind of his habit of borrowing computers to send emails—gave him a severe warning and restricted his access.

Heartbroken and helpless, Lin Gaoyuan had no choice; after all, he had no desire to be sent back in disgrace to the provincial team.

Back then, Lin Gaoyuan was just a stubborn teenager. When he joined the national team, his parents had bought him a mobile phone, though phones back then couldn't do much. Realizing that international calls to Duan Nanzhou were both exorbitant and difficult to connect, Lin Gaoyuan quickly abandoned the idea. After all, his phone bill was still being paid by his parents, and if the charges turned out too outrageous, he was certain a belt-and-pork-strip beating awaited him at home.

Yet since emails were out of the question via phone, Lin Gaoyuan had to resort to borrowing laptops from senior teammates or staff members, or occasionally sneaking out to an internet café. Following this reprimand from the coaching staff, he figured nobody in the team would dare lend him a computer for a very long time.

How difficult! Life was truly so difficult!

Duan Nanzhou remained completely oblivious to the emotional rollercoasters of a certain adolescent boy in the throes of puberty. Her entire world revolved around her obsession with skiing, and—Earth and Ocean Science was heartbreakingly difficult!

Driven to desperation, Duan Nanzhou had to redouble her efforts, sacrificing a significant portion of her sleep. Fortunately, she possessed boundless energy, so cutting back on sleep slightly didn't bother her much.

Thus, Duan Nanzhou shuttled endlessly between the campus and the ski slopes, her schedule packed to the brim every single day.

In the process, she completely forgot about her distant friend, remaining entirely unaware that he hadn't sent an email in months.

Lin Gaoyuan figured that if emails were sparse, perhaps he could still run into Duan Nanzhou when she returned home for the holidays; their hometowns weren't all that far apart.

Who could have predicted that after moving abroad, Duan Nanzhou practically never came back? She would return for barely a few days during the Spring Festival, rush through appeasing her relatives, catch up with her good friend Li Er, and immediately flee back to Switzerland.

Lin Gaoyuan, eternally trying to corner her but never succeeding: ...

If anyone asked Duan Nanzhou why she acted this way, it was simply because her parents and older brother had bluntly told her not to bother returning too frequently, since they wouldn't have time to entertain her anyway.

To this, Duan Nanzhou’s response was an absolute, unhesitating OK. After all, everyone in the Duan family except her was utterly consumed by their careers and making a fortune. Their family-run teahouse grew exceptionally busy during holidays, to the point where her parents wouldn't even return home, sleeping directly at the shop.

Whenever they finally found some free time, the whole family would simply fly to Switzerland to visit Duan Nanzhou and vacation for a few days, which made returning to China utterly unnecessary for her.

As for the ultimate hurdle for overseas students—food—the cafeteria offered a decent variety, and Duan Nanzhou’s own culinary skills were quite respectable.

Furthermore, when purchasing groceries, she didn't need to fret excessively over prices. Even though ingredients for Chinese cuisine were significantly more expensive abroad, she bought them without batting an eye.

Coupled with the delicious treats her family brought whenever they visited and periodic care packages sent via international courier, Duan Nanzhou’s lifestyle could only be described as supremely comfortable.

Given all this, Duan Nanzhou made a wish: may her life continue at this exact standard forever, letting her start every lifetime simply lying flat as a happy little slacker. How blissful!