On the day the competition started, many ice fans arrived early at the Eastern Sports Center in Magic City. It was the end of March, and the weather was a bit warmer than the coldest days, so some fans had already found the entrance for the athletes and were waiting there.

Zhang Jue got off the car with a bag on his back and a suitcase in his hand. Behind him, Zhang Junbao was asking Coach Lu: “Do you need help?”

Coach Lu confidently tossed his cane into Shen Liuhai’s arms, saying: “No need, I can get down by myself.”

Then, he quickly got out of the car, and everyone understood that since Coach Lu had successfully lost weight, not only had his appearance improved to the level of a deep-featured handsome grandpa, but his health had also improved to the point where he could walk 3 kilometers a day. He had previously used a cane regularly, but now it was purely for show.

After all, he had been a professional athlete when he was younger and had a strong foundation.

Sun Qian was walking next to them, saying: “In July this year, the vote for the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Beijing, China will jointly bid.”

Zhang Junbao calculated: “In 2022, Zhang Jue should be 24 years old, just a few months short of 25.”

However, if his condition remained good, it wasn’t impossible for him to stick around until then. But that was too far in the future to predict. Who could say how figure skating would evolve in seven years?

After all, during the Vancouver cycle, even athletes without a quadruple jump could win Olympic gold. In the Sochi cycle, top male singles skaters mostly only had one quad jump, but now the new generation was already racing to conquer the new quadruple jumps. The battle for quad jumps was imminent.

Sun Qian sighed: “In seven years, you’ll be 43. I’m really curious to see what you’ll look like by then. You can’t still be pretending to be a college student, right? Your hair should be thinner by then.”

Zhang Junbao could tell that the national team’s head coach was jealous.

He shook his head inwardly. Men’s jealousy really was ugly.

Zhang Jue followed the team slowly, and after a while, hurried footsteps approached from behind. It sounded like boots hitting the ground. The top American female skater, Oliver, quickly passed them, looking a bit upset.

Shen Liu whispered to Zhang Jue: “Before the World Championships, the U.S. Figure Skating Federation contacted us and asked if Oliver could come here during the off-season for some exchanges and learning.”

The 15-year-old girl had begun developing, and the American Federation wanted her to work through that phase. It was unfortunate that she had just started practicing the 3A jump and then immediately went through her development, which made people suspect there might be some African heritage involved.

Zhang Jue responded with a sound: “But there’s also a chance that the development phase could be passed through, right? What they’re doing seems to elevate our ability to help people through that phase.”

What if it didn’t succeed? Wouldn’t it be his uncle’s fault?

Shen Liu squinted his eyes: “So, Sun is still negotiating. If the other side wants to shift the blame to us, we can’t accept them.”

Honestly, both Zhang Jue and Xu Chuo could get out of the lake partly due to their own qualities. Because they had strong foundations, they never cheated on their rotation during jumps and could even delay their spins. Everything they did was solid, and it was easier for them to recover.

Oliver had too many technical flaws. Even when performing a triple jump, she would twist half a circle on the ice before taking off, which severely cheated the rotations. After developing, she immediately started falling when trying to land a double and a half, so Sun Qian was cautious and still negotiating with them.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jue also remembered his own talented teammate, Min Shan.

In terms of talent and attribute distribution, these two girls were quite similar. This was why Xu Chuo was much like Zhang Jue before he developed, while Min Shan, his younger teammate, was still in the youth group. However, due to mastering a 3Lz + 3Lo combination, she swept through the youth group this year.

At the Grand Prix, Min Shan only won a silver medal because her jumps weren’t stable, but once she had her jumps in place, her coaching team planned for her to aim for the World Junior Championships gold medal. Even her choreographer was former China ladies’ singles legend, Chen Zhu.

Cha Hanbuhua also planned to continue chasing gold, striving to join his senior and sweep a youth grand slam. However, with strong competitors like Brother Chiba and the Russian twins, the competition on that side was also fierce.

After they arrived at the venue, Zhang Junbao spread out a yoga mat. Zhang Jue stood by, first loosening his shoulders and neck, then stretching his legs, knees, and ankles before doing a cat-cow stretch on the mat.

Zhang Junbao threw him a resistance band: “Activate your muscles.”

Zhang Jue slipped the band over his ankle, lying on his side while lifting his leg. Huang Ying stood by, blowing up a balloon. Zhang Jue looked at her, puzzled, and asked Guan Lin.

“What is Xiao Ying doing?”

Guan Lin smiled wryly: “She fell twice when practicing the quadruple twist before. I didn’t catch her well, and she got injured badly. Sometimes she feels internal pain in her abdomen. Blowing up the balloon helps relieve it.”

He mixed painkillers and vitamin powder into a sports drink and handed it to Huang Ying, like a caring father.

The risk in pairs figure skating for the female partners was high because they could be thrown at high speeds during lifts, and after spinning in the air, they would land on the ice. If the male partner miscalculated the axis during a throw, she could get seriously injured.

Zhang Jue had heard from Iliya’s gossip that there had once been a pair in Russia whose relationship was bad. The male partner had deliberately thrown the female partner on the ground. Eventually, the female partner dumped him and found a younger, better-tempered partner, paying for his training to ensure he cooperated perfectly with her during competitions.

Indeed, because good male partners were rare, it wasn’t uncommon in the international pairs skating circle for female partners to pay for male partners’ training fees.

As for good male partners like Guan Lin and Jiang Xiuling, who not only trained their partners but also made sure they did their homework and helped them with extra lessons, they were top-tier in the entire pairs skating community.

There were rumors that Huang Ying later got into J Province University not through special admission but through her own abilities, with Guan Lin’s help. That’s why Huang Ying eventually married him. Before Zhang Jue was reborn, they were already planning for their second child.

In the figure skating circle, which was full of shippers who even sank ships, they were one of the rare couples who actually made it to the end, raising children together while others only focused on shipping Cps.

Zhang Jue scratched his head: “So, does blowing up the balloon help with abdominal injuries?”

Guan Lin: “I don’t know. You can try it.”

Then, he tossed Zhang Jue a small balloon. Ten seconds later, with a pop, everyone in the warm-up room turned to look. Zhang Jue sheepishly pressed his hands together and offered an apologetic expression.

“Sorry, I blew the balloon too hard.”

Zhang Junbao: “You know your lung capacity. Take it easy with blowing up the balloon next time, don’t pop it with one big puff.”

Despite these words, many people had been secretly watching him. After all, warm-up rooms for international competitions had cameras, and Zhang Jue’s warm-up videos were even made into compilations and posted online with a significant number of shares.

Before arriving at the competition venue, Zhang Jue had already dyed his hair.

The young man had bright red hair, but it didn’t look overly flashy at all. It instead looked incredibly natural, as if a handsome anime character had walked into real life. His eyes were accentuated with blue eyeshadow and a touch of glitter, making his already beautiful eyes even more captivating, and his lips were rosy.

When he started feeling his body heat up, Zhang Jue put on his headphones, listening to the competition music while doing a few tango dance moves.

At this time, most of the audience had already taken their seats.

Chen Sijia and a friend sat down. They were both ice fans and had become friends due to their shared love for figure skating. Before this competition, they had hurriedly bought tickets on the official website with fast fingers and used the money earned from working part-time to buy them. However, Chen Sijia hadn’t told anyone that she and Zhang Jue had been classmates before.

Thinking of Zhang Jue, Chen Sijia fell into a trance. She hadn’t seen him in a while. His current image was becoming increasingly distant from the innocent and capable little guy she remembered, especially after this year’s short program “Moulin Rouge,” where he clearly portrayed a red-haired seductive figure.

Her friend took out a piggy hat from her bag, put it on, then pulled out a hand fan and finally a hand-drawn cardboard of Zhang Jue from the “Moulin Rouge” performance to place on her lap.

” Sijia, which program is starting first?”

Chen Sijia snapped back to reality and replied: “First, they have the pairs’ short program, then the men’s singles.”

Her classmate nodded, flipping the cardboard over. On the other side was a cute, Q-version drawing of Guan Lin holding a little yellow crocodile.

This classmate was clearly a legendary figure in the ice-skating world, a die-hard fan who loved to draw images of her favorite figure skaters and, when she had the money, would follow them to their live competitions or commercial performances.

Chen Sijia also took out two yellow crocodile plush toys from her bag.

After a while, the first pairs competition began. The most outstanding performance came from a new pair from Kazakhstan—the male partner was 18, and the female partner was 15. They were both very young, and their performance of “Romeo and Juliet” was sweet and lovely. Even though the technical difficulty wasn’t high, it was well-received by many ice-skating fans.

Chen Sijia cupped her chin with her hands and smiled like an aunt: “What a cute pair! As expected, the Romeo and Juliet theme should be performed by a young couple.”

Zhang Jue glanced at the backstage TV and turned to ask Yin Meijing: “That choreography seems to be imitating yours a bit.”

Meijing replied: “They asked us for advice when they were choreographing.”

She reminded her friend: “Don’t get too attached to this pair. The female partner is a lesbian, she doesn’t like men.”

Zhang Jue suddenly understood: “Oh, fake ship, thanks for the reminder.”

Actually, Meijing didn’t need to remind him, as Zhang Jue had only ever “shipped” two pairs—one was Yin Meijing herself and her Dream Chengge, and the other was Zhang Jue’s good teammates Huang Ying and Guan Lin.

Then, with a small thud, everyone turned around and saw Huang Ying’s water bottle fall to the ground. The young girl had teary eyes and nervously asked: “Is this pair… fake?”

Guan Lin awkwardly cleared his throat: “Ying Ying started shipping them back when they were still in the youth group.”

Zhang Jue thought to himself: “Huang Ying, I’m not saying it, but you’ve shipped so many fake pairs, and they all sank. It’s clear you have a ‘fake ship’ constitution, how do you not learn your lesson yet?”

 

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