"Hmm?" Chen Cheng looked up, casting a look of 'suspicion' at Xu Qin.

In reality, he was already inwardly delighted; the fish had finally taken the bait on its own.

Xu Qin: "I'm off tomorrow. How about we go skiing at Buck Hill?"

Chen Cheng didn't agree immediately, pondering for a moment.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Xu Qin added, "It's right in Minneapolis, not far at all. It only takes a little over an hour to drive there."

Chen Cheng calculated the time. It was already the 17th, and he had to return to his country on the 21st.

The 24th was New Year's Eve, and he had already planned to return to Yixing. The time here was later than back home; flying on the 21st meant arriving in the country on the 22nd.

It would be just in time to catch the company's annual meeting on the evening of the 22nd.

It was his first year back, and he certainly had to be there to share the rewards with his employees.

It seemed he would have to wrong Dada; he had originally planned to fly to Angel City.

Next time, then. He would be flying back over in two months anyway.

Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while, Xu Qin felt so awkward she was curling her toes in her shoes.

Was she going to be rejected on her first proactive invitation?

Chen Cheng had made his decision. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "A small ski resort?"

A light instantly appeared in Xu Qin's eyes as she nodded. "Yeah, the better ski resorts are further north."

"I only have one... oh no, two days off... there isn't enough time."

Xu Qin was already humbly preparing to use a sick day.

Over here, most workplaces used paid time off, combining annual leave, sick leave, and personal leave into one general leave account. You could take leave at any time, but exceeding the limit would result in a deduction from your salary.

A smile curled the corners of Chen Cheng's mouth as he looked at Xu Qin, who blushed under his gaze.

Scum Cheng raised an eyebrow. "Then how about we go to Lutsen?"

"Okay!"

Xu Qin agreed without a second thought.

Seeing her eagerness, Chen Cheng couldn't hold back his smile anymore and laughed out loud.

"Hahahaha~"

"Don't laugh!" Xu Qin glared at him with wide, angry eyes.

Chen Cheng continued to laugh for a while.

"Don't laugh!"

When Xu Qin said these three words again, she was practically gritting her teeth.

Looking at the smug look on the person across from her, Xu Qin wanted to bite him to punish him severely.

Chen Cheng finally stopped his laughter, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Xu Qin. "It's your turn to wash the dishes!"

"You!"

Xu Qin suddenly felt choked for words.

After sitting there sulking for a while, Xu Qin still got up to clear the dishes.

Chen Cheng chuckled continuously. After laughing for a while, he pulled up a chair and sat by the floor-to-ceiling window to watch the snow.

Hmm, it started snowing again tonight.

However, it wasn't as heavy as yesterday.

Looking at the endless darkness beyond the scattered lights outside the window, Chen Cheng felt a sense of loneliness from head to toe.

He remembered seeing some data before, stating that as the "happiest" country in the world—the Land of a Thousand Lakes—its suicide rate ranked 38th globally.

The ranking didn't look high, but the suicide rate was twice the European average.

He hadn't felt much about it at the time.

Now, he was experiencing that feeling firsthand.

This long-term sense of loneliness while facing the long, dark nights would erode a person's will bit by bit.

In places that were sparsely populated and had cold climates, the physical environment hindered social interaction between people.

Short days and long nights, along with insufficient sunlight, also affected the balance of neurotransmitters like serotonin and melatonin in the body, making people prone to seasonal affective disorder, which in turn increased the risk of suicide.

After washing the dishes, Xu Qin poured two glasses of red wine, walked over, and handed one to Chen Cheng.

She asked with a smile, "What are you thinking about?"

Chen Cheng turned his head, reached out to take the wine glass, and said, "Thanks."

He smiled. "I was thinking that living here for a long time must be lonely."

Xu Qin was stunned for a moment. After pondering for a while, she nodded. "Yeah," she said, turning to pull up a chair and sitting on Chen Cheng's left side.

"Before, I would also occasionally sit by the window, staring blankly at the endless darkness outside."

"In the summer, there are insects, small animals, wildflowers, and leaves blowing in the wind outdoors; or if the weather has starlight and moonlight, it's okay."

"But in the winter, when there's no starlight or moonlight, and there's nothing, looking at the darkness outside makes me feel cold from head to toe."

"The darkness is like an endless abyss waiting to swallow me."

Xu Qin turned her head and smiled at Chen Cheng. "After that, I never dared to watch the snow when the weather was bad again."

"However, I'm indeed busy, so this kind of emotion gets crowded out by other things."

"Having an auntie, having someone to talk to, makes it much better."

Xu Qin empathized further, "If you live alone in a sparsely populated, bitterly cold region, I feel like the days would indeed be very hard to endure."

Chen Cheng pondered for a moment and smiled faintly. "You're only lonely if you have nothing to look forward to."

After saying this, he raised the wine glass in his hand.

Xu Qin was stunned and muttered Chen Cheng's words, "Something to look forward to..."

Immediately, her beautiful eyes lit up, and she looked at Chen Cheng with amorous feelings, raising her glass to clink it against his.

A smile played on the corners of her mouth. "Mr. Chen, you look very melancholy."

Chen Cheng took a sip of wine, the corners of his mouth slightly lifted. "If that's what you think, that's fine too."

An excellent hunter is one who can elegantly switch between being the prey and the hunter.

Scum Cheng's sentence about "nothing to look forward to" was equivalent to firing a shot straight into Xu Qin's heart.

At the same time, it also brought out his "melancholy and loneliness."

He "exposed" his "soft side" to Xu Qin, stirring up the instinctive maternal love of the female creature.

Xu Qin looked at his "stubborn" expression, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, wearing an expression of being completely in control.

The two chatted casually, clinking their glasses together every now and then.

They quickly finished the bottle of red wine Xu Qin had opened yesterday.

Xu Qin was already slightly tipsy. She opened a new bottle of red wine, poured herself a glass, tilted her head, and looked at Chen Cheng with flushed cheeks.

"You should have guessed the reason why Auntie asked you to come see me, right?"

Chen Cheng nodded. "I didn't think that much at first."

"But after seeing how beautiful you are, I understood."

Being complimented on her beauty, the corners of Xu Qin's mouth were harder to suppress than an AK; she pursed her full lips, a very seductive gesture.

Unfortunately, Chen Cheng's gaze was fixed outside the window; he didn't turn his head at all.

"Then, what do you think of me?"

Scum Cheng's mouth instantly curled up. By asking this question, Xu Qin had lost in this game between man and woman.

Chen Cheng didn't answer her. Instead, he turned his head to meet her eyes, his own full of tenderness.

He raised his left hand and hooked the tip of her fair chin.

Xu Qin didn't dodge at all, but the blush on her face deepened, looking a bit shy and a bit nervous.

She even hopefully lifted her chin and slowly closed her eyes.

A smile always hung on Chen Cheng's lips. He leaned forward and kissed her full, red lips.

...