Lin Yuewei had also mentioned that he’d lost weight. Perhaps it was because so much had happened lately that he hadn't been sleeping well. Qi Bailu didn't know how to respond; fortunately, the elevator was about to arrive. He pulled his scarf tight and nodded. He was bundled up so thickly that his hoodie covered most of his head, leaving only his eyes exposed. As if afraid Ruan Qiuji wouldn't notice his gesture, he exaggerated the nod, making Ruan Qiuji think of a penguin in a world of ice and snow.
They took the elevator down. It was empty, but once they reached the first basement level, there were still some staff members and customers milling about. Ruan Qiuji led the way with practiced ease. A uniformed staff member stood in the wide corridor handing out flyers; Ruan Qiuji waved them off, but Qi Bailu reached out and took one. After studying it for a moment, he read aloud, "Ice Sculpture Exhibition..."
Then he looked up and said, "Why don't we see this instead?"
Ruan Qiuji glanced at the flyer in his hand. "You want to see that? It seems to be right next to the skating rink."
"..."
Qi Bailu knew he meant they could go after skating. He paused and said, "But—I don't know how to skate. I've never tried."
Ruan Qiuji replied casually, "There's a first time for everything."
Actually, when Zheng Kunyu had taken him to Hokkaido for a vacation last year, they had gone skiing once. However, he truly had no interest in such sports. After falling several times, he had resolutely refused the instructor and sat on a snowmobile, refusing to budge. Zheng Kunyu had no choice, and in the end, their daily activity consisted of nothing but soaking in the hot springs.
"I can stand on the side and watch you skate."
"Are you that afraid?"
"No."
Ruan Qiuji clearly didn't believe him, so Qi Bailu had to change his tune. "A little bit."
As they spoke, they reached the entrance of the skating rink, where a staff member greeted them. Since they were already there, it was only right to go in and take a look. Qi Bailu was still a bit hesitant. Ruan Qiuji stood by his side and said, "If you're really afraid, then we won't go."
The staff member waiting for them heard this and turned an enthusiastic gaze toward Qi Bailu, looking as if she were eager to persuade him. She looked very young, likely a recent graduate. Qi Bailu thought to himself that he wouldn't fall for such reverse psychology, but just being looked at like that made his heart soften...
"Let's go."
Qi Bailu dropped those words and walked inside. Ruan Qiuji smiled and signaled the staff to lead them to the protective gear.
The indoor rink was much larger than Qi Bailu had imagined, and the vast, smooth ice was completely empty. Because it was real ice, it possessed a sense of desolation unique to winter. The strains of a skating waltz echoed through the enormous space. No wonder Ruan Qiuji said there wouldn't be anyone; he had likely booked the entire venue in advance.
Since it was Qi Bailu’s first time, he was fully armed. Ruan Qiuji watched from the side as he put on his helmet. Qi Bailu adjusted the strap in front of the mirror, but he couldn't seem to get the tension right. Ruan Qiuji said, "Let me."
Qi Bailu naturally chose to trust the professional. Ruan Qiuji placed his fingers against Qi Bailu’s jaw, first testing the gap of the helmet, then tightening the strap beneath his chin. Qi Bailu adjusted the helmet with his hand and asked, "Is that okay?" Ruan Qiuji saw that he had pushed it askew, so he placed both hands on the sides of the helmet to straighten it. "I believe you now—it really is your first time."
"Why would I lie to you?"
"Aren't you actors the best at lying?"
Put that way... it seemed he wasn't wrong...
Qi Bailu knew he couldn't win an argument against him, so he simply gave up. He had already changed into his skates, but he only dared to move forward cautiously while gripping the railing. He could feel the chill rushing toward him as he moved across the ice. To call it walking was an overstatement; for Qi Bailu, it was more of a shuffle. He saw Ruan Qiuji gliding across the ice as naturally as if he were on solid ground, while his own feet kept slipping. He couldn't help but say, "I'm not very good at this..."
Ruan Qiuji came closer to teach him slowly, showing him how to lean forward, bend his knees, and keep his center of gravity in front. But the moment Qi Bailu let go of the railing, he nearly toppled over. Ruan Qiuji was quick, firmly catching his hand. Once he was sure Qi Bailu had regained his balance, he pulled him along to try skating forward, and he didn't let go. The blades sliced across the ice, leaving behind a series of crisp, rustling sounds. Ruan Qiuji told him not to look at his feet, but to just keep his focus forward and follow the feeling.
The music at the rink had changed to several upbeat songs. Although Qi Bailu was still a bit nervous, he could feel the warmth and strength radiating from Ruan Qiuji’s palm through his gloves. Gradually, he began to skate better and better. They circled the rink slowly a few times. Ruan Qiuji asked, "Do you know how to ride a bicycle?"
"What?" Qi Bailu was concentrating so hard on skating that he didn't hear clearly, his voice muffled by his scarf.
Ruan Qiuji repeated himself.
"Of course."
"This is as simple as riding a bike."
Qi Bailu didn't like winter; he didn't like the cold wind and rain of the north. He had always preferred the season when spring flowers bloomed. But on this tiny world of ice and snow, he slowly found a bit of joy. Just as Ruan Qiuji said, it was as simple as a bicycle. In middle school, he had studied Zhang Dai’s *Lakeside Pavilion to Watch the Snow*: "The shadows upon the lake consisted only of a single streak of the long embankment, a dot of the Lake-Heart Pavilion, my boat like a mustard seed, and two or three grains of people within." Right now, they were like two tiny mustard seeds on the ice, as if they could be picked up by God at any moment.
Halfway through, Qi Bailu stopped to rest for a while, white mist puffing from his mouth as he watched Ruan Qiuji skate alone. Ruan Qiuji skated very well; though Qi Bailu didn't understand the sport, he felt it was as fluid as moving water. Finally, Ruan Qiuji circled back and reached out his hand, asking if he wanted to go again. Qi Bailu wanted to refuse, but he was pulled up in one swift motion. This time, they picked up speed, moving away from the railing toward the very center of the ice.
The blades hissed beneath their feet. Suddenly, the drumbeat of a rock song started, light and passionate. Qi Bailu recognized the intro as "Dreams" by The Cranberries; a cover of this song had been the theme for a Wong Kar-wai film. The facilities of the venue on all sides blurred past his eyes, turning into indistinct, flowing blocks of color. Seen this way, it really did feel like filming a movie. Qi Bailu got a taste of the sweetness of speed and wanted to go even faster, as if he had forgotten all about danger. Ruan Qiuji followed silently behind him, and when he saw Qi Bailu’s center of gravity waver, he grabbed his arm and told him to be careful.
Hearing the voice, Qi Bailu instinctively turned his head, and his skates followed the direction. But because he didn't quite know how to turn yet, he actually wiped out, dragging Ruan Qiuji down with him onto the ice. Since he was falling forward, Ruan Qiuji pulled him into his arms the moment he fell backward.
The world seemed to turn upside down for a moment. Qi Bailu was a bit dazed from the fall, his forehead hitting Ruan Qiuji’s chest. Since Ruan Qiuji wasn't wearing a helmet, Qi Bailu quickly sat up to check on him, patting his head while asking, "Are you okay?" Ruan Qiuji lay there, looking at him with a slight frown and a faint smile on his face. "It seems we weren't careful enough."
If he was in the mood to joke, then he was fine. Qi Bailu withdrew his hand from the top of the man's head and asked somewhat sheepishly, "Does it hurt a lot?"
"There have been many times I've fallen worse than this. Once, I almost broke a rib," Ruan Qiuji said nonchalantly. He moved his arm and sat up, rubbing his shoulder to loosen his joints.
"In Switzerland?"
Ruan Qiuji’s movements paused for a brief moment. He looked up and stared into Qi Bailu’s eyes. "How did you know?"
Qi Bailu regretted his slip of the tongue and feigned composure. "It was on Baidu Baike. It said you studied in Switzerland." Switzerland was a skiing paradise; Ruan Qiuji had spent four years there, so the school likely had skiing or skating courses.
Ruan Qiuji was momentarily stunned, then laughed. "They really don't give a person any privacy. However—" Ruan Qiuji touched his knee to confirm his leg wasn't injured, then said as if casually, "Are you still searching for me online?"
Qi Bailu sat there looking at him, his hand still resting on Ruan Qiuji’s calf. He suddenly realized this and pulled his hand back. Ruan Qiuji tilted his head up from an angle that brought them extremely close. His expression seemed to become inscrutable for a moment. Qi Bailu lowered his eyes, then raised them again a moment later. "Only on the day of the charity gala."
Ruan Qiuji didn't respond. Qi Bailu added, "No one said anything bad about you."
"Then it seems there were indeed some bad things," Ruan Qiuji said with a soft laugh.
If he considered those tabloid rumors to be "bad things," Qi Bailu thought, then there were indeed quite a few.
Ruan Qiuji lay back down leisurely, and the thing that had made Qi Bailu nervous vanished along with it. He rested his head on one arm and said, "If there's anything you want to know, you can ask me."
What else could he want to know... A few seconds later, Qi Bailu began to think seriously. When he was deep in thought, he would instinctively lower his eyes, his thick, dense lashes covering them like the sensitive antennae of a butterfly, trembling slightly. Having calmed down, he felt a faint sense that today's intimacy was becoming dangerous.
Ruan Qiuji watched his face. After a long while, Qi Bailu finally said, "Is the ground cold?" Ruan Qiuji was also wearing a thick down jacket and had been skating for so long, so naturally, he wasn't cold. He shook his head.
Qi Bailu then lay down beside him, looking up at the ceiling of the skating rink. Ruan Qiuji turned his head slightly to look over, seeing the short tassels on Qi Bailu’s scarf swaying on his shoulder. His cheeks were flushed from the exercise, and his eyes, looking straight up, were as clear as a lake. Qi Bailu said, "I've wanted to do this for a long time."
Ruan Qiuji didn't ask why, but instead said, "Are you from the north?"
Qi Bailu smiled. "When I was little, we used to sneak out onto the frozen lakes to play. The adults wouldn't allow it, which only made us want to go more. We always competed to see who could walk the furthest out onto the lake."
Often, the more dangerous a thing was, the more it seemed to hold a secret joy; a frozen lake was a taboo. Ruan Qiuji also looked up at the ceiling and told a story about when he first learned to skate. He said there was a large pond near his school where students swam in the summer, but in the winter, it was mostly couples who went there to skate. Occasionally, they would take a train to go mountain climbing or sledding. Once, a heavy snow stopped the train, and he spent the time chatting with a Czech girl in completely different languages. That girl had dyed blue hair.
Qi Bailu felt there was something very gentle in his tone, at least very different from the expression he usually wore. But he didn't dare look at Ruan Qiuji’s face; he just listened quietly. After a while, Qi Bailu said, "That sounds like a script Charlie Kaufman would write."
In the background of the music, Ruan Qiuji seemed to let out a laugh.
After leaving the skating rink, they went to eat local cuisine. The restaurant was by the river. Since it wasn't far, they walked there, with the driver following at a distance with the headlights on. The entire street was planted with London plane trees. Because the leaves had all fallen, the streetlights cast shadows of dry, crisscrossing branches onto the ground. Occasionally, a car would roar past, but the winter streets still held an inescapable sense of loneliness.
Ruan Qiuji was ordering food on Qi Bailu’s phone, letting Qi Bailu see what else he wanted to choose. Qi Bailu leaned his face in to look at the screen. Ruan Qiuji scrolled up and down the page; whenever Qi Bailu saw something he liked, he would nod. But after they finished, Qi Bailu said, "Did we order too much?"
He poked a finger out from his sleeve and scrolled up to confirm if he had actually ordered the crystal shrimp. Ruan Qiuji turned his head slightly, intending to speak, but he hadn't expected Qi Bailu to be so close. As he turned, his lips brushed against the fluffy hair on the top of Qi Bailu's head, feeling very much like a kiss.
Qi Bailu seemed completely unaware, still focused on scrolling up. Ruan Qiuji slowly moved back a bit and handed the phone to Qi Bailu. Qi Bailu murmured, "It looks like they gave us a coupon."
Because he was participating in the New Year's Eve gala, Qi Bailu had gotten a new hairstyle after finishing his filming. His short hair had been permed into "wool curls." It was currently very trendy for male celebrities to have their hair permed in a Korean style, which inevitably looked a bit cookie-cutter, but Ruan Qiuji felt his look was different. Qi Bailu wasn't wearing makeup today, and his face was very clean. The tips of his ears were red from the cold. He looked quite different from the impression he’d made at their first meeting. That day, Qi Bailu had been as beautiful and vivid as an oil painting—though using "vivid" to describe him felt a bit strange.
If Qi Bailu were to look up and see his gaze, he would feel a slight sense of trepidation. Ruan Qiuji looked very calm, even calm to the point of being a bit cold. He seemed to be searching for something on Qi Bailu’s face. Whether he found it or not was unclear, but the moment Qi Bailu looked up, he lowered his lashes.
***
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Countless Blossoms: The Actor's Gamble | Chapter 20 | Dreams on the Ice | Novela.app | Novela.app
