Why is This Clingy Snow Leopard Acting So Innocent? - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Yun Shu — I Like People with a Sense of Boundaries

The pickup truck’s shadow gradually vanished into the twilight. Su Wen stared at the “Add Friend” interface on his phone for a moment, exited the app, and made a call.

A second after he hung up, footsteps echoed from inside the courtyard, followed by a creaking sound as the gate swung open.

“I thought you wouldn’t get here until at least eight or nine,” Cheng Daozhi said, glancing behind him. “Why are you alone?”

“He left.”

Cheng Daozhi stepped aside to let him through. “Come in.”

The main building of the ranger station was a two-story self-built house with white walls, looking recently renovated. The courtyard walls were adorned with intricate, patterned paintings rich in ethnic character. This style continued indoors, where the temperature was twenty degrees warmer than outside. In the center of the living room was a charcoal-heated table. Alongside the original sofa were several folding camping chairs—likely brought by the film crew for discussions—that clashed with the room’s traditional decor.

As he entered, several people stood up. After brief greetings, Su Wen sat in the nearest chair and asked the only person not glued to a laptop: “When does filming start?”

Before she could answer, Cheng Daozhi cut in. “Don’t be in such a hurry. I need to introduce you to someone first.”

“Who?”

“Your partner for this shoot.”

Su Wen froze. No one had told him there would be two guests, and the documents he received hadn’t mentioned a collaboration. After agonizing over it internally for a while, he ultimately kept his mouth shut and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long.

The sound of a vehicle pulling up came from outside. Several people went to the door to greet the newcomer. After some rustling, a strangely familiar voice rang out.

“Sis, where is he?”

The thermal curtain was lifted, and a gust of freezing wind snuck through the gap. Su Wen shivered slightly. He looked up to see a tall man standing in the doorway, draped in the cold air. Detecting Su Wen’s gaze, the man arched an eyebrow.

It was Yun Shu.

Su Wen stared for two seconds, then quickly retracted his gaze, pretending he hadn’t seen anything. Yun Shu let out a soft chuckle. After greeting the rest of the crew, he pulled up a chair and sat right next to Su Wen.

A deliberately lowered voice drifted perfectly into his ear: “Su Wen?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to transfer the fare to me later?”

Su Wen turned his head away, feigning deafness. Before Yun Shu could say more, Cheng Daozhi walked over and asked, “Well? Have you two gotten acquainted yet?”

Yun Shu gave her a radiant smile. “We’re acquainted.” He turned back to Su Wen. “Right, Su Wen-ge?”

Su Wen felt uneasy but managed a stiff, “Mm.”

“That was fast,” Cheng Daozhi remarked, sitting down across from them. “They’re getting the equipment ready. Let me go over the basics with you.”

Su Wen quickly snapped out of his awkwardness and took out a notebook.

“It’s simple, really. Just standard patrol work.”

“What kind of patrol work?”

“Exactly like a ranger. Su Wen, as the ‘Witness Officer,’ you’ll participate in the patrols. Yun Shu is a ranger and your ‘mentor.’ He’ll lead you in all your tasks moving forward.”

It didn’t sound too difficult. Su Wen pointedly ignored the gaze that kept falling on his face. “When do we start?”

“One practice run first, then we start filming on the second patrol,” Cheng Daozhi said. Her eyes flickered between the two. “Spend the next couple of days getting familiar. You need to look like partners, not strangers. Especially you, Su Wen.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, right,” Cheng Daozhi turned back just as she was leaving. “You’re staying with Yun Shu.”

Su Wen froze. She quickly explained, “The guesthouse is too far, and you weren’t willing to share a room with anyone else. Currently, only Yun Shu lives nearby. It’s more convenient to stay at his place.”

“But he—”

Just as he found an excuse to refuse, Yun Shu interrupted him. “I don’t mind.”

Su Wen looked at him. Yun Shu was smiling, his tone gentle but leaving no room for rejection. “Su Wen-ge, I don’t mind you staying at my house. No one else is there, so you don’t have to worry about it being awkward.”

Su Wen’s expression darkened slightly. Unable to find the right words to decline, he looked down and messaged Zhang Xiaoqian. The reply was: Staying at the ranger station. Arriving tomorrow morning at the earliest. Lodging uncertain.

He looked back at Cheng Daozhi. “I’ll stay at the station with my manager.”

Cheng Daozhi blinked, then looked at Yun Shu, who simply shrugged.

“The station only has one 1.2-meter-wide bed left,” she said after a pause. “Can you two grown men really squeeze onto one bed?”

“We’ll see tomorrow,” Su Wen replied. “Zhang Xiaoqian arrives in the morning. I’ll discuss it with him then.”

“Then for tonight… will you sleep in the same room as our photographer?”

“Fine.” He stood up. “Where is the smoking area?”

“Anywhere outside where there’s no people.”

…

It was 7:00 PM, and the sky was pitch black. Su Wen had declined dinner with a “no appetite” excuse and was now standing alone outside the station gate with a cigarette in his mouth, his mind a mess.

Click. Click.

The sound of combat boots hitting gravel. Su Wen turned around. In the flickering glow of his cigarette, a figure stood nearby. As the person approached, he saw it was Yun Shu.

“Su Wen-ge, long time no see.”

Long time no see? You mean five minutes ago?

Su Wen stubbed out his cigarette and turned to leave.

“Su Wen-ge,” Yun Shu’s voice carried through the night, masking the occasional distant howl of a wolf. Su Wen stopped in his tracks. “You seem to…”

“…really hate me.”

Su Wen gave a short, mirthless laugh. “Just call me Su Wen. And also…” He turned around. “I prefer people with a sense of boundaries.”

Yun Shu laughed—a bright, open sound. “Have you considered that maybe we actually do know each other?”

Su Wen didn’t want to think about it. His memory of this snow mountain was trapped in a horrific car accident five years ago. “Then please treat me like a stranger. At least then everyone will be comfortable.”

“Is that so?” Yun Shu’s voice dropped. After a long silence, he reached out his hand. “Hello. I’m Yun Shu.”

Since he’d put it that way, Su Wen shook his hand. “Su Wen.”

“Since you’re two years older than me, how about I call you Su Wen-ge?”

“As long as you don’t expect me to take care of you.”

“Hahaha!” Yun Shu didn’t hide his amusement. “Of course not. Is that why you didn’t want to stay at my house?”

Su Wen let out a small breath of a laugh. He pulled out his pack, nudged a cigarette out with his thumb, and put it in his mouth. He looked at Yun Shu. “Mind the smoke?”

“Go ahead.”

Flick. Flick.

He pressed the lighter twice. it let out a hiss of gas and immediately quit. He shook it hard, but it was useless.

Snap. A flame jumped up.

Yun Shu had stepped close, flicking his own lighter. He shielded the wind with one hand while lighting Su Wen’s cigarette. Soon, the orange-red ember glowed. Su Wen turned his head, and the smoke was quickly dispersed by the howling mountain wind.

With the cigarette in his mouth, he tilted his head toward Yun Shu and raised an eyebrow. “Want one?”

“Sure.”

He handed over the pack. Yun Shu pulled one out, tucked it between his lips just like Su Wen did, and then looked at him. “Light.”

“Don’t you have a lighter?”

“Dropped it.”

Su Wen didn’t say anything. He took the cigarette from his mouth, held it between two fingers, and leaned it forward. Yun Shu reached out, grasped Su Wen’s wrist, tilted it up slightly, and leaned in.

The fire transferred. Su Wen took his hand back and put the cigarette back in his mouth.

A second later, a violent coughing fit erupted. Su Wen turned, watching with amusement as the man beside him choked on the smoke.

“You don’t smoke?”

It took a while for Yun Shu to recover. He wiped the smoke-induced tears from the corners of his eyes and looked at the cigarette, which had barely burned a centimeter. He laughed self-deprecatingly. “The first time I tried it, someone told me it was bad for my health. I never touched it again.”

“So obedient?” Su Wen felt a flicker of mischief. He looked at the man. “I’ll teach you.”

Yun Shu put the cigarette back in his mouth.

“Lift your head. Tilt the end up.”

Yun Shu lifted his head. His gaze lingered on Su Wen’s face through the firelight.

Su Wen, oblivious, continued his “instruction.” “Take a puff. Hold it. Don’t swallow.”

Yun Shu held his breath. A few seconds later, Su Wen said, “Now blow.”

Smoke billowed between them. Yun Shu asked, “Not into the lungs?”

Su Wen looked away. “I don’t know how.”

Yun Shu let out a low laugh. “When did you learn to smoke?”

“Last year.”

“Why did you start?”

Getting annoyed by the questioning, Su Wen gave a short four-word reply: “No reason at all.”

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds. Su Wen stubbed out the cigarette, tossed it into the tin bin in the corner, and left with a simple “See ya” as he headed back inside.

…

It was late into the night. The room was filled with the sound of steady breathing.

Su Wen wasn’t used to sharing a room. He couldn’t fall asleep, lying fully clothed on the narrow 1.2-meter bed, finding it difficult even to turn over.

Suddenly—Thud! The sound was followed by a distinct set of footsteps reaching his ears. He sat up abruptly and looked around; the other two people in the room were fast asleep.

After hesitating for a long time, Su Wen threw on his coat, stepped into his shoes, and quietly crept to the window. He lifted a corner of the curtain and turned on his phone flashlight. He searched the darkness but found nothing.

Just as he was about to turn away, his eyes caught something. Two glowing green orbs, like jewels, suddenly lit up.

His heart jumped. He instinctively shone the flashlight toward them.

By the moonlight and the weak beam of his phone, Su Wen saw a fluffy, silver-gray head with black spots. His heart stopped. It was clearly a snow leopard.

Perhaps startled by the light, the leopard gave a graceful leap and vanished from sight. Immediately following was a low, guttural “Awooo.”

Su Wen’s breathing quickened. Driven by intense curiosity, he aimed his light toward the source of the sound.

The snow leopard was standing on the window ledge, less than a meter away. Its big, bulbous eyes were staring straight at him.

Su Wen gripped the curtain tightly, standing frozen. He didn’t know whether to wake the others or just drop the curtain and hide. Through the glass, the light swept over the creature’s right ear—it had a notched tip.

Su Wen’s eyes widened as he remembered. This was the same one he had seen on the mountainside after the skid today.

His heart hammered against his ribs. Before he could make his next move, someone on the bed behind him stirred. A mumble drifted out: “Ge… what’s wrong?”

Su Wen instinctively held his breath and turned his head. the voice subsided back into sleep.

When he turned back to the window, the snow leopard—as if startled by the noise—had leaped away into the darkness.