Six minutes before the competition, the practice began. On the ice rink, the athletes entered in a line, wearing team uniforms from various countries. They bowed to the audience as their names were announced on the broadcast.

When Zhang Jue’s name was called, everyone’s gaze focused on him, including his competitors.

His formerly silky, straight black hair had been transformed by Francis using a 28mm curling iron into a cloud-like perm, a hairstyle often used by girls with fine hair to give the illusion of more volume. Francis, the future million-subscriber beauty blogger, decided to give Zhang Jue this hairstyle in 2011.

However, as Zhang Jue already had a lot of hair, the result of the perm was a voluminous ponytail, creating a visual effect as if Zhang Jue had three times the amount of hair as an average person.

It was said that dancers performing “Dance of the Great River” typically had curly hair, so Francis, not knowing the reason, couldn’t recreate the small curls at a hair salon and had to settle for the cloud-like perm.

In addition to the hairstyle, light and dark green eyeshadow adorned Zhang Jue’s eyelids. The eyeshadow at the outer corners was applied to resemble the shape of leaves, giving a refreshing and pleasant look rather than a flashy one.

The most beautiful feature on Zhang Jue’s entire body was his eyes—clear and dynamic, resembling obsidian polished by water in a mountain lake. It brought liveliness to his almost melancholic face, serving as the finishing touch.

Francis didn’t apply any foundation for Zhang Jue, he only shaped his eyebrows, adjusted his complexion with blush and nude-colored lipstick, applied eyeliner, and added eyeshadow. This made the child look like a lively sapling. The use of contouring also enhanced the visual height of Zhang Jue’s nose, giving him a more Westernized appearance.

This makeup, though seemingly simple, maximized the beauty of Zhang Jue’s eyes, boosting his already top-tier looks by around ten percent.

The magical part was that Francis only used a few strokes to transform Zhang Jue’s natural ethereal beauty into an elf-like and aesthetically pleasing appearance.

A British commentator, upon seeing Zhang Jue’s face, couldn’t help but exclaim: “This kid looks like a Celtic mythological elf. His eyes are truly stunning.”

During the six-minute warm-up, the camera occasionally focused on Zhang Jue’s face. The audience watching on TV enjoyed seeing Zhang Jue’s elf-like face.

Who wouldn’t love an eye-catching little elf?

Zhang Jue became the most eye-catching figure in the venue. When he stepped onto the ice, his parents, operating the TV in the main hall of their restaurant, switched to Channel 5. The head chef, Xu Yan, and the restaurant owner, Zhang Qingyan, sat in front of the TV, each holding a small crocodile-shaped fan.

A group of graduate students from H University, just done with their thesis, walked into the restaurant. They first asked the waiter for a menu, and one of the girls with black-framed glasses casually glanced at the TV, freezing in surprise.

“This is… figure skating, right? Who’s this kid? He looks so handsome?”

The proud waiter puffed up his chest: “He’s the son of our restaurant owner and landlady, only 14 years old. He won the World Junior Championships last year and is now competing in the Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka, Japan. The landlady and the boss are watching the live broadcast.”

Everyone was amazed: “Wow, he sounds impressive.”

A guy at the table tapped his finger on the table excitedly: “So good-looking and good at figure skating, he could be a perfect match in ancient times.”

Another person retorted: “Come on, Qian Zhengduo. You praise anyone good-looking and talented as a perfect match. Have you been writing too many history papers? Didn’t you hear just now? He’s in the junior category, not the senior category. Besides, the kid clearly has makeup on. He probably doesn’t look this good without it.”

Ling Beiru, the girl with black-framed glasses replied annoyed: “Even if he’s in the junior category, he’s a champion. Zheng Bo, can you stop nitpicking every good-looking person you see just because the school flower rejected you? It’s so low.”

Qian Zhengduo, touching his chin, shook his head: “No, no, I can tell by looking at this kid’s face. He must have excellent natural looks. Even without makeup, he should still look good.”

Because the camera frequently focused on Zhang Jue, everyone found it interesting and decided to change seats to the table closest to the TV. The only one scolded by Ling Beiru, Zheng Bo, sat grumpily in his original seat.

One by one, the athletes took the stage.

The last to perform in the men’s singles free skate was Carson from Canada. He had a Asian heritage, looked very handsome, and his free skate was a lively Latin cowboy dance with challenging footwork, which he executed excellently.

When Zhang Jue was waiting, Zhang Junbao praised: “This kid has a good foundation for skating. His only weakness is the poor execution of the A jump; he can even fall on a 2A. Otherwise, his scores should be stronger than Angus Joe’s. Canada must be grooming him as a seeded player for men’s singles.”

Shen Liu also nodded in agreement: “The lad’s spins are deep, much better than Zhang Jue’s. I think if this kid stabilizes his A jump, he’ll be a formidable rival in the future.”

Their crocodile’s skating heavily relied on speed to look good; in reality, there were quite a few minor flaws. Using colloquial terms, it was “all show and no substance.” Judges scrutinized Asian skaters, and as a result, Zhang Jue hadn’t earned a Level 4 in skating to date—sometimes Level 3 on good days, and pressed to Level 2 on bad days.

In fact, anyone making it to the Grand Prix Final couldn’t be weak. Despite Carlson being at the bottom in the final, just making it to the Grand Prix Final meant he was at least among the top six in the junior category for that season, and the top-ranked junior singles skater in Canada.

More importantly, Carlson and Zhang Jue were the same age, they only had different birthdates. The junior category required skaters to turn 13 by July to advance, and Carlson’s birthday was in mid-July, delaying his advancement by a year. Still, at the age of 14, he could achieve such excellent skating. In an era that emphasized jumps, it was a rare occurrence.

Zhang Jue thought, of course, Carlson would be a strong rival. This guy was the silver medalist in men’s singles at the 2018 Winter Olympics. After mastering the quadruple jump, he had snatched the World Championship from Ilya for two consecutive years.

Oh, by the way, unless something unexpected happened, he should also be the bronze medalist at the 2011-2012 Junior World Championships—a true hidden boss in the junior category.

However, this person’s jumping talent was not as good as his skating skills. Later, he competed fiercely with Ilya in quadruple jumps, almost ruining his knees. In 2018, he could still win a silver medal, but by the 2022 Winter Olympics, his jumping ability had declined to the point where he could barely maintain a triple-triple jump, leading many results-oriented figure skating fans to mockingly say: “Clings to the ice and refuses to retire.”

When Carlson withdrew due to injury, he tearfully spoke to the camera, leaving a deep impression on Zhang Jue.

“If it weren’t for the injuries, I could have been a world champion!”

Following Carlson was the artistic jellyfish, Angus Joe, well, many industry insiders considered this person’s skill level to be quite ordinary, so let’s skip over him.

After that, Juventus skated to a romantic ballad. Each time he skated through a certain area, his body movements became more expansive. Zhang Jue glanced and noticed his girlfriend holding a banner over there.

The color of the banner, in Zhang Jue’s opinion, was already dazzling, but he could understand. After all, Juventus had severe nearsightedness without glasses. Within five meters, men and women were indistinguishable, and beyond ten meters, people and animals were indistinguishable. However, on the ice, they couldn’t wear glasses. Without this banner, Juventus couldn’t find her.

Next to skate was the genius male single skater from Norway, Alan Helge.

He was one of the two skaters in the entire competition younger than Zhang Jue but started his free skate with a stunning 3A. More importantly, his spinning posture had a strong Swiss style.

Speaking of which, Switzerland’s figure skating is characterized by spins, with Belmon Nansen, Spin Queen Lucina, and Spin King Stefan being athletes from this country.

Shen Liu whispered to Zhang Junbao: “I remember Alan changed coaches this year, it’s Stefan.”

Stefan and Zhang Junbao were contemporaries. He looked around and spotted the familiar handsome face of the Spin King. He whistled.

“It’s him. No wonder Helge program style and spinning posture look so familiar. Stefan’s personal style is very distinctive. Whether it’s choreography or coaching, he’ll eventually influence others to become the second him.”

Shen Liu smiled: “Alan Helge seems to be a skater with his own ideas. I think he will become a highlight in Stefan’s coaching career.”

When Kharhasha Golovkin program ended, the on-site score ranking was different from the short program.

Skating expert Carlson successfully staged a comeback with an outstanding performance in the free skate, temporarily ranking first.

Although Alan Helge’s opening 3A was impressive, he fell due to fatigue in the latter part of the program, ranking second.

Juventus’ passionate interpretation temporarily placed him in third place. Kharhasha Golovkin, due to too many mistakes, fell to fourth, and Angus Joe ended up last.

There was no way. Despite the judges’ favoritism, they couldn’t lift someone to a higher position without the necessary skills. Moreover, with a noble American nationality, Canada, Norway, and the Czech Republic also had European and American nationalities, so they couldn’t be lower than him.

Zhang Jue glanced at the scoreboard, and Shen Liu reminded him.

“Zhang Jue, it’s your turn.”

He nodded, took off his jacket.

Zhang Jue’s free skate costume, named “Kostin,” seemed simple, consisting of a white shirt and a green vest. However, the vest adorned with diamonds depicted green leaves, a red sun, and a blue river, proving the amount of effort put into this outfit.

Even the elegant and sophisticated combination of red and green tones already showcased the designer’s skill.

Since accessories falling on the ice would lead to deductions, these diamond patterns were all meticulously sewn on by the creators, maintaining both beauty and ensuring they were lightweight and didn’t hinder the skater’s jumps.

Zhang Jue bent down, removed his blade guards, and stepped onto the ice.

With a swish, the blades created an arc on the pristine ice, and the Celtic elf briskly entered everyone’s view.

Francis stood on the sidelines, eyes full of anticipation.

He whispered: “This is the best program I’ve ever created. Whether it becomes a classic depends on you.”

Little crocodile, I came to Fukuoka with a credit card, gambling my choreographic career on you! You’ve got to be great!

 

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