There's a famous story, roughly about a psychologist leading people through a completely dark room where nothing can be seen, each person easily passes through; but when attempting the same with the lights on the second time, almost no one dares to go, because they discover the room is actually a pool filled with crocodiles, and the path is very narrow, surrounded by extremely fierce crocodiles.

The environment can indeed impose enormous psychological pressure, just like Li Yan right now. He leans out from the cable car, grabs the top, reaching for the cable above. If he were doing this on the ground, it would merely be challenging, not nerve-wracking. But now, suspended in the air, a missed grab means he wouldn't land on solid ground, he would fall from a height of four to five stories!

Watching nearby, Qiao Huanxuan and Zhang Yurong are extremely tense, even more than if they were doing it themselves! His slightest move causes them to want to quickly reach out and grab him to prevent him from falling. In their eyes, Li Yan seems like someone climbing a cliff, instinctively holding their breaths, hearts pounding.

Human senses have different thresholds, different experiences mean different thresholds; when one's threshold is high, experiencing a situation where the threshold is lower, the impact won't be as great. For example, someone who has watched the funniest comedy works several times, their psychological threshold for comedy—the "laugh point"—will be higher, and regular comedies will hardly make them laugh; after watching various horror films, average horror films won't scare them; and after serving in the military for several years, school military training will be ignored.

Li Yan doesn't often encounter such situations, hasn't experienced it for years, but has been trained in even tougher environments before. Now he faces it calmly, though it's not quite the same as being on the ground, it's just being more cautious.

To Qiao Huanxuan and Zhang Yurong, it seems like a long time, but actually he quickly manages to hold onto the cable, suspending himself in the air. Then he begins rapidly alternating his hands to climb forward, assessing the nearest pillar when he came out. He considered hooking his feet up, using both hands and feet, which would save some energy but wouldn't be faster than using his hands, at this moment, it's all about pushing through.

As he climbs the cable, it begins swaying, causing the two people in the cable car to panic even more, hurriedly closing the door, then watching Li Yan through the glass. Li Yan's speed is not faster than a monkey, but in mid-air, it's already remarkable to have such speed; however, to the two women it still seems too slow, every movement, every sway of the cable shocks Zhang Yurong and Qiao Huanxuan. They wish Li Yan could instantly reach that pillar.

Both of them sweat for Li Yan, though just watching, they seem to exert immense effort too. Each minute now feels as long as a year. Finally, after slowing down his speed for a while, Li Yan reaches that pillar, which has a ladder, seeing him successfully descend to the ground along the ladder, they both let out a long breath, finally relieved.

Once on the ground, Li Yan shakes his numb arm and jumps around, assessing the snow on the ground, then shouts to them: "Throw me a snowboard!"

He only has this afternoon to practice, but going downhill, a snowboard would be very useful.

"Okay!" Zhang Yurong hurriedly throws his snowboard.

Without wasting time, Li Yan quickly grabs it, immediately running down the mountain, walking when convenient, snowboarding when suitable.

The sky has darkened, and soon those in the air can't see Li Yan anymore.

"So cold, so cold! Close the door quickly." Qiao Huanxuan cries out, and closes the door.

"Strange, when the door was opened earlier, I didn't feel cold at all." Zhang Yurong casually comments.

Qiao Huanxuan reflects, when Li Yan was climbing up, the door was open longer than when the snowboard was tossed, a lot of cold wind had swept in, already clearing away any warmth inside, yet she didn't feel anything at the time, it seems to hit her only now.

"I think... we were too focused on him earlier, forgot about the cold!" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Zhang Yurong also realizes and smiles at her.

"Who knows when he'll return, we..."

Qiao Huanxuan feels a bit awkward, with Li Yan around earlier, they could openly embrace each other, and drawing her in seemed reasonable. But now with just the two of them, embracing Zhang Yurong, not very familiar between them as two women, feels a bit awkward.

Catching on to her words, Zhang Yurong immediately understands. She's also not used to embracing a woman, especially a rival in love, but in this environment, even embracing for warmth might not be enough, holding back would make everyone more uncomfortable, even risking frostbite. That's why Li Yan chose the harder method instead of making a rope from clothes, he didn't want them to freeze, whether for herself or to not disappoint Li Yan, she thinks she should be more magnanimous.

With this thought, she proactively pulls Qiao Huanxuan, then moves closer. "Haha, now it's just the two of us relying on each other!"

Seeing her so, Qiao Huanxuan also quickly hugs her tightly. Although it still feels odd embracing another woman, right now, it truly is a matter of relying on each other.

"Do you think... how long will it take for Li Yan to reach the bottom of the mountain?" To dispel the awkwardness, Qiao Huanxuan searches for a topic. Everyone needs to give themselves confidence now, not questioning if he'd reach the bottom, but how soon he'd do it.

Zhang Yurong softly replies, "I don't know. I only know he'll use the fastest speed. He wouldn't let us suffer a moment longer, do you think he wants us to stay here any longer?"

"Yeah, he cares so much about you, surely he won't let you linger here any longer." Qiao Huanxuan says with some envy, she's been reunited with Li Yan only a few months, no deep experiences shared yet.

Yurong tightens her grip and comforts, "Don't say that... he equally cares about you."

Qiao Huanxuan is momentarily speechless. One woman telling another that her husband cares about her... such comforting words, even knowing there's no intent of sarcasm, it's still emotionally complex.

Zhang Yurong originally meant to comfort, unknowingly touched on a topic that she realizes post-speaking, should be avoided between them, awkward nonetheless. Since it's spoken of in this exceptional moment, maybe a real conversation could happen, sparing them from deliberate avoidance in their interaction.

She considers her words carefully, then slowly says, "Actually... he's told me about you."

Qiao Huanxuan isn't too surprised, as Yü Xiaodi had introduced her as Li Yan's first love back then, and surely his wife would certainly inquire.

"You know about Yü Xiaodi's situation," Yurong quietly chuckles, feeling like discussing the third party with the fourth; but she and Yü Xiaodi are nowhere near the extensive contributions and connections that Qiao Huanxuan has, knowing what Qiao Huanxuan endured before understanding his true intentions, her persistence for twelve or thirteen years, she can't feel resentment, only admiration.

"Don't misunderstand, I mean no sarcasm. He... is rather passive, very easily moved. It was through emotion that Yü Xiaodi became involved. And you, knowing your situation, he's deeply moved too. Even when he recounts to me, I'm quite moved. I genuinely admire your passion, if I were a man, I'd be moved too."

As Zhang Yurong freely speaks, Qiao Huanxuan realizes her sincerity in the conversation, lacking mockery or irony, so she doesn't avoid, dryly laughs, somewhat bitterly: "Moved, so what? Moved doesn't equal love, he probably still loves Yü Xiaodi. Marrying you, that's love..."

Yurong feels ashamed, if she didn't know Li Yan wouldn't speak of them, she'd think it sarcasm. "Actually... between us, there's no love… no, that's wrong! It's not that there's no love now, but initially, marriage wasn't out of love!"

Qiao Huanxuan is somewhat surprised, "How could it be? You're so excellent! If I were a man, I'd be attracted to you, how could it... Oh! I get it, he loved you first, you didn't love him?"

Yurong shakes her head, "Huanxuan, I know about your situation, you don't know ours, somewhat unfair to you. Anyway… now with nothing else to do, I'll tell you! Apart from our families, no one knows, and even Yü Xiaodi is not thorough... I got involved because my father and his father..."

She begins sharing a bit about her connection with Li Yan, the relations between their fathers, partially unknown to her. Only knowing her father and Li Tang had a life-saving bond, with Li Tang seemingly helping her father materially, rather than needing monetary repayment from her father, leading her father to want compensation via Li Yan, or maybe thinking it provides her with a relatively reliable family.

Such a relationship, as one involved, Yurong has experienced different perceptions and thoughts at various stages, having sorted through them herself before. But never having shared them with others, saying it now, she discovers many new thoughts and perspectives, viewing Li Yan and their interactions objectively. Suddenly, she realizes her father's arrangement was right, regardless of his excellence, ultimately it's good for her, even without love, there's a sense of responsibility. —Of course, excluding the philanderer aspect. (To be continued, for more chapters, please log on to www.qidian.com to support the author and legitimate reading!)