Throughout, Zhang Jue had been labeled by figure skating fans as having a divine appearance, being cute, good at acting cute, a performance genius, short in stature, and lacking stability.

Unexpectedly, the most unstable one performed the most steadily at the Junior World Championships. At this moment, many people realized that the rumors about Zhang Jue being unstable were baseless and spread by someone without knowing the truth.

The little crocodile was clearly a stable athlete with a big heart!

When Zhang Jue, once again, secured the first place in the short program and participated in the small medal award ceremony, the people standing on either side of him were still Ilya and Hayato Teraoka.

This time, their scores were 79.65 and 78.9, respectively, trailing Zhang Jue by 3.35 and 4.1 points.

After this battle, the two senior men also became vigilant. No matter what happened to others, as athletes, their responsibility was to eliminate external influences as much as possible and achieve better results on the ice.

Regarding this, Zhang Jue, despite being younger, performed better than them. They needed to learn from him.

It was also at this time that many people found out that Zhang Jue, this little kid, was quite mature in his dealings with others.

After the awards ceremony, the organizers arranged tables and chairs for them, turning the venue into a press conference setup to facilitate media interviews with the three young athletes.

Zhang Jue casually placed name tags for the staff, pulled out all three chairs, and then sat in his own seat. Hayato Teraoka observed, feeling that Zhang Jue exuded a kind of upbringing and politeness that one would know he had been well-educated by his parents.

Although Zhang Jue still relied on a translator during the press conference, for his age, his performance in the interviews was considered appropriate.

This was probably the merit of his manager. The manager had said that it was okay to talk nonsense in Northeastern dialects casually, but if the recent public opinion environment was not good, then one must tighten their own skin. They didn’t need to stand out, but they absolutely couldn’t say anything wrong to avoid trouble.

During the interviews, a reporter asked Zhang Jue: “Jue, first of all, congratulations on getting first place in the short program. Then, I would like to ask you, after completing the short program and watching the performances of other competitors, how do you feel they skated?”

This question was a bit tricky because Hayato Teraoka and Ilya had both made mistakes today. It couldn’t be said that they skated well.

Zhang Jue pointed his toe and replied in a humble tone: “I think they are all very powerful, making me feel a lot of pressure. So, I will work even harder in the free skate.”

The reporter smiled and said: “It seems like you are very eager for victory.”

Zhang Jue showed an innocent smile: “I am an athlete. What’s the point of being an athlete if you don’t want to win?”

The reporter asked: “So, do you think you can win?”

Zhang Jue sipped some water, listened to Shen Liu’s translation, and continued to smile innocently.

“Everyone standing on the competition stage is filled with a desire to win. In order to seize an opportunity to win against competitors like Safoshenko and Teraoka, I practiced the 3A until my feet went numb. But even so, I don’t feel that I am guaranteed to win because I know that as outstanding athletes, they must have also put in a lot of effort.”

“Although I performed well in the short program, figure skating competitions are about athletes’ overall performance in both the short program and free skate over these two days. Right now, I sincerely hope that I can perform well in the free skate.”

He babbled for a while, and his words were all positive. If reporters posed sharp questions, he silently avoided them.

Until a reporter asked: “Can you tell us about the allegations of sexual assault by figure skater Liu Mengcheng and his partner Yoon Mijung against their coach?”

Shen Liu’s face showed dissatisfaction with this question. He felt that this question shouldn’t be asked to Zhang Jue, who was still a minor.

The child was so young, what did these reporters want to hear from Zhang Jue about this issue?

Coach Shen wanted to personally stop this question, but when Zhang Jue heard Liu Mengcheng’s name, he asked him softly: “Are they asking about the Korean skaters?”

Coach Shen frowned: “Don’t answer this.”

Zhang Jue paused and insisted: “Just translate it for me.”

Shen Liu didn’t want to react too much in public, so he whispered the translation. Zhang Jue’s expression gradually became serious.

He turned to face the camera and said firmly: “Every path of seeking justice is destined to be full of hardships. After the incident, I saw some unfriendly comments online about them, but personally, I never agree with blaming the victims. I hope that skaters Liu Mengcheng and Yoon Mijung can endure. They are the ones who have been violated, and they are not at fault. I also hope that the real culprits receive the punishment they deserve.”

Since this incident erupted, Zhang Jue was the first to speak out in support of the victims in the junior category and criticized those making nasty comments, including the surprised expressions of Ilya and Hayato Teraoka sitting beside him.

Coach Songcheng in the audience covered his face: “Originally, based on his previous interviews, I thought I could relax.”

I didn’t expect this kid to be so straightforward.

Coach Songcheng didn’t know if Zhang Jue had already been sorted out by his manager. Before this, facing such scum, the short-tempered little fairy could directly curse the other person’s entire family.

When the interview was over, Zhang Jue breathed a sigh of relief, feeling more tired than jumping continuously for three hours. Shen Liu handed him a tissue.

“Here, wipe your sweat.”

Zhang Jue pinched the tissue, apologizing to the coach: “Sorry, I was too impulsive when speaking just now. I should have avoided this kind of topic, but I couldn’t control myself.”

Shen Liu rubbed his little head: “It’s okay. The coach also doesn’t like these things. What you said is correct.”

In fact, if Shen Liu had seen various news reversals in the future, he would know there’s a saying: “Let the enemy live a little longer.” Don’t easily offend others with words. Zhang Jue dared to speak because he knew that these figure skaters were indeed victims.

After that scum was sentenced to six years, they were forced to retire. Six years later, Yoon Mijung was injured by the released scum coach. In 2020, netizens discovered that Yoon Mijung and Liu Mengcheng had opened a fried chicken restaurant in Busan. Due to the impact of the pandemic on the catering industry, they almost went bankrupt. Later, someone even photographed Liu Mengcheng delivering takeout.

They were once the most promising ice dance couple in all of Asia but eventually silently left due to hardship. Occasionally thinking about it still caused deep sighs.

Zhang Jue hoped that his statement this time could make things a little easier for them, but he couldn’t help with anything else.

On the first day of the Junior World Championships, among the top ten athletes in all four figure skating events, only three achieved a clean short program. In men’s singles, only Zhang Jue did it, while the other two were a North American ice dance pair.

As this news spread, domestic figure skating fans were astonished.

On the Ice and Snow Forum, numerous fans posted their thoughts.

Ice and Snow Forum – Figure Skating – Men’s Singles

【Chat】Discussing the crocodile who got first place in the short program

1L

This time, we really need to reevaluate the crocodile. Clearly, everyone was in a state of being surprised by the sudden WADA inspections and the epic melon-eating situation. Yet, the crocodile actually cleaned the short program. It’s truly amazing. I used to think he wasn’t stable, falling from the Challenger Series to the Grand Prix Final. Now I have to apologize.

2L

The village flower’s instability is mainly due to physical reasons, right? He has never been in top form during competitions before, and he still doesn’t like to explain to the media about his physical discomfort after the competition. So many people are unaware of this, but even if he’s uncomfortable, his performance has always been on point.

3L

Little Crocodile, the first male skater in our community to rise through performances.

4L

Crocodile’s technique and mindset are both good. Regardless of stability, at least he has never had a meltdown. Considering his age and experience, he’s already quite good. In the past, it was mainly bad luck. Just by looking at his luck during the draw, I knew his luck wasn’t good.

5L

This time, Jue once again was the first to perform in the last group at the Junior Worlds. His luck is too mysterious, making me suspect whether the organizers did it intentionally.

6L

No, he should really have bad luck because during the National Championships in the country, he still had this starting position…

7L

Am I the only one who thinks this kid is a bit too scheming? Look, before the competition, so many people were worried about the poor Korean pair bue he seemed unresponsive and even scolded crazy fans after the competition. But during the post-match interview, he immediately criticized the scum coach.

8L

The one above is just talking nonsense. Jue is only 13 years old! What kind of scheming can he do?

9L

Scheming has nothing to do with age. My nephew was eight years old when he lied, saying the teacher hit him. After checking the surveillance, it turned out the teacher never laid a hand on him.

10L

Wait a minute. How did we suddenly start talking about whether Crocodile is scheming or not? Didn’t he go back after spreading rumors at the U.S. station and get scolded by the coach? He still seems straightforward, especially looking at his speech during the small medal presentation.

11L

I think Crocodile didn’t do anything wrong. In figure skating competitions, you shouldn’t use flashlights or scream. Applauding when a skater’s technical moves succeed is fine. Crocodile’s ability to remain unaffected and compete well is a sign of his sportsmanship. Speaking out afterward also shows he has a sense of justice.

12L

This kid has some tricks up his sleeve. He has always spoken straightforwardly.

13L

Changing the topic, I think Little Crocodile’s technical skills are not lower than Ilya’s and Hayato Teraoka. He can do all the jumps others can. In the six-minute practice at the Grand Prix Final, he even landed a 3A+3T combination. He just lowered the difficulty later for stability. Hope Little Crocodile continues to do well in the free skate.

14L

Yes, and Village Flower’s performance in the short program this time was very strong. If he wasn’t the first to perform, he would’ve scored higher. He should be able to break Vasiliev’s world record soon, considering the small point difference. Little Crocodile is still young, at least he needs to stay in the junior category for two more years. Breaking the record is just a matter of time.

…

When Zhang Jue returned to the hotel to rest, he frowned at the moment of opening the door, feeling that something was off.

Zhang Junbao looked at him puzzledly: “Little Jue?”

Zhang Jue raised his head and looked around, then saw a device next to the fire sprinkler in the corridor, which had appeared out of nowhere.

Shen Liu looked over, immediately called the hotel service, and informed them to check why there was an extra camera in the corridor.

After this disturbance, they all realized one thing – many morally deficient reporters had sneaked into the hotel and were using unconventional methods.

This incident ruined their appetite for dinner. Strangely, Zhang Jue was the only one in the group with a good appetite. He even felt a bit like he was dreaming of his past life.

This time, he slept in a single room. Before going to bed, Zhang Jue jumped rope in the corridor for a while. Before resting, he glanced at the corner of the corridor and waved.

“Come over.”

 

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