Hayato Teraoka, Japan’s top male singles player, officially turned 20 this season, entering what is theoretically the golden years for a male singles player.

After missing many opportunities to win medals or even titles due to injuries, he reflected deeply on his situation. During the off-season, he sought out the most expensive physiotherapist in Kanagawa to adjust his body, and gritted his teeth to spend half of his off-season income hiring a doctor to accompany him to competitions.

After all, not all athletes have the same resources as those in the system, like the athletes from the China who have team doctors with them. For someone like Hayato Teraoka, having a team doctor follow him requires him to pay for it himself.

Before the season began, Keiko called him to ask if he planned to participate in a B-class competition as a warm-up at the start of the season.

Teraoka’s answer was, of course: “I’m definitely going! This year, I’m prepared to create a program that could be the highlight of my career. I have to practice it more times and show up in the best condition to face that guy.”

They all knew who “that guy” Teraoka referred to was.

As an ambitious male singles player, Teraoka considered the world champion to be his biggest rival.

They eventually decided to participate in the Kiri Cup, and Zhang Jue had also participated in the Kiri Cup last year. Who knew if he would continue this year?

If they could compete against each other early, that would be the best. Teraoka wanted to face Zhang Jue in as many matches as possible.

In Beijing, Zhang Junbao asked Yang Zhiyuan with a serious expression: “How is it?”

Yang Zhiyuan shook his head: “It needs at least half a month to recover.”

Shen Liu knocked on Zhang Jue’s head: “I told you, you should’ve been more careful after switching ice skates. Why did you still fall?”

Zhang Jue sat limply, with an ice pack on his right ankle. He explained earnestly: “Even if I hadn’t switched ice skates, I would still have fallen. It’s not something we can control.”

The more one skates on ice, the more likely they are to fall.

Due to the program being finalized late, the coaching team originally planned to let Zhang Jue start competing earlier to improve his program practice. However, this year, 18-year-old Zhang Little Jue’s feet had grown to size 43, and they had to get him new skates.

Then, Zhang Jue, not surprisingly, fell hard again while changing skates, spraining his right ankle. It swelled up like a bun, and he was forbidden from walking for two weeks. It was estimated that he would need at least 20 days to recover before he could train again.

Fortunately, he injured himself at the end of August, so the worst-case scenario would be missing the B-class competitions at the start of the season, which wouldn’t affect the subsequent Grand Prix.

Yang Zhiyuan treated his injury, and when Qin Xuejun heard the news, he wanted to drive over and pick him up. When Zhang Jue received his message, he smiled and typed.

[Crocodile Lord: No need to pick me up. My dad knows, and he’ll drive over to take me home.]

He was now living in the same city as his parents, so if anything happened, they would take care of him. As a busy person, Qin Xuejun should take care of himself first.

[Jue: Take care of your health. I’m heading south to attend a conference with my teacher in a few days.]

He originally wanted to refuse his mentor’s kind offer to stay and take care of Zhang Little Jue, but since he had his parents to look after him, Qin Xuejun left with peace of mind.

[Crocodile Lord: Before you go, send over the sash! Muah!]

Zhang Jue had always been a bit spoiled by his family. As Ilya and Teraoka said, he was the “first spoiled male singles player.” A “muah” to him was no big deal, but Xue’er took two minutes to send a “muah” back.

With Zhang Jue’s approval, Bai Xiaozhen had already prepared his competition schedule, times, and ticket links, ready to share on social media when the season started so that fans could follow Zhang Jue’s matches.

Now, after Zhang Jue’s injury, he had to withdraw from the B-class competition he had already applied for, leaving the Kiri Cup organizers sighing.

If Zhang Jue had attended, they would have sold out all the tickets. Without him, even achieving a 70% attendance would be considered good.

To their surprise, around 10% of the fans at the Kiri Cup were from China.

Even though Zhang Jue was injured and had withdrawn, his junior, Cha Hanbuhua, and junior sister, Min Shan, had both moved up to a higher level this year. While the senior brother rested, Coaches Zhang and Shen would continue taking their juniors to competitions.

When Teraoka saw Cha Hanbuhua, he looked behind them.

“Did Tama-chan really not come?” With his understanding of Zhang Jue, as long as the injury wasn’t too serious, he would try to compete.

How serious could the injury be?

Cha Hanbuhua replied kindly: “Senior said he’ll meet you at the Grand Prix.”

Keiko popped her head out from behind Teraoka, puffing her cheeks.

“But the organizers won’t arrange for Tama-chan and Teraoka to compete together, so they’ll probably only meet in Nagano.”

Nagano was the location for this year’s Grand Final.

Teraoka, feeling down, said: “That’s true. By the way, Tama-chan’s injury isn’t too serious, right? He won’t withdraw from the Grand Prix too, will he?”

Cha Hanbuhua thought, how should he answer this?

It had been two weeks without him being able to walk, so the injury was definitely not light. However, since the ligaments and bones weren’t damaged, there wouldn’t be any long-term effects after recovery. The kind-hearted Cha Hanbuhua didn’t know how serious his senior’s injury was.

At this moment, Zhang Junbao entered and saw the two young people looking down, which reminded him of the crocodile at home, who would hop on one foot to the kitchen to eat cucumbers even after spraining its ankle.

He clapped his hands. “Alright, instead of worrying about Little Jue, why don’t you two focus on your own programs? Teraoka, I remember your theme for this year’s music is quite big. Have you found the right one? Keiko, the women’s short program is about to start, aren’t you going to do your makeup?”

During the off-season, the Chinese and Japanese Ice Federations had held an exchange event. The Japanese athletes and coaches arrived in Beijing, where they trained for half a month at the national team’s training facility, sharing their skating and A-jump techniques. Zhang Junbao, as the Chinese coach representative, graciously taught them Zhang’s unique ice landing techniques and assisted the young athletes in finding emotional expressions for their performances.

When Teraoka learned this technique, he was thrilled and deeply respected Zhang Junbao.

He and Keiko immediately stood up straight, bowed to Zhang Junbao respectfully, exchanged pleasantries, and then left obediently.

After they left, Min Shan excitedly shook Zhang Junbao’s arm. “Coach, did they come because of Senior? I thought Senior was only popular among the fans, but it turns out his opponents like him too?”

Shen Liu patted his two disciples’ heads. “Your senior is the strongest. In competitive sports, everyone watches the strongest. He is the focus of this event.”

This is the level of fame and attention that top athletes can achieve.

Many athletes, like Zhang Jue, did not participate in the B-class competition for reasons such as injuries, skate changes, or not being in optimal condition. Therefore, the men’s singles in the Kiri Cup didn’t have many top competitors besides Teraoka.

Cha Hanbuhua knew that as long as he maintained two 3As, it wouldn’t be hard to get on the podium. But the victory he wanted wasn’t just that.

He was an athlete too. He hoped, like his senior, to challenge the top predecessors with world-class skills and outstanding performance, ultimately earning their recognition and respect with his strength.

The young boy really liked his senior, but he didn’t want to be “Zhang Jue’s junior” forever. He hoped that when people mentioned Zhang’s group, they would say: “All the athletes of Zhang’s group are tough,” so mastering the quadruple jumps was essential.

After winning the Youth Group Grand Slam and entering the offseason, he both followed his senior to participate in commercial performances to earn money and started practicing the 4T under the guidance of Coach Zhang, Coach Shen, Coach Lu, and the senior.

He had a strong build, broad bones, and was muscular. He had always been a power-based athlete, but his speed in mid-air rotations was not high. It was much harder for him to land the quadruple jumps than for other athletes his age. After months of training, his success rate for the 4T barely reached 40%. If the training intensity was insufficient or his condition was poor, that number would drop.

He wished he could have one more year; then, he would definitely stabilize this jump.

Cha Hanbuhua bit his lower lip. Time, he really needed time. His strong physique made him less prone to injury but also became the biggest barrier for him to attempt higher difficulty jumps.

He looked out at the rink. Coach Zhang gave him a fist pump for encouragement, and Min Shan wore a pair of cowhorns, jumping around to cheer him on.

He wanted the gold medal, and even if his opponent was world-ranked number three, Hayato Teraoka, it didn’t matter. His own talent wasn’t high, but that didn’t matter to Cha Hanbuhua. He wanted to win, so no matter the technique, he would give it his all!

Zhang Jue squatted in front of the computer and muttered.

“Xiao Niu is really pushing himself. He’s been in such great form at the start of the season, is he on some energy boost?”

Cha Hanbuhua had a solid dance foundation, excellent emotional control, and great expressiveness. His performance in his program “Rite of Spring” was very powerful, but his “I’m giving it my all” aura outshone even his dancing performance.

Zhang Jue had high expectations for his second junior, not only because the kid was steady in temperament and naturally thick-skinned but also because he had great ambition.

Unlike Jin Zixuan, who had been overshadowed by Zhang Jue since the youth group and had lost his competitive spirit, Cha Hanbuhua was different. He clearly knew the gap between him and his senior but had never given up on the idea of beating him.

The desire to win and the courage to fight were the characteristics of great athletes. Without this drive, even the greatest talent couldn’t reach the world champion’s throne. Cha Hanbuhua was such a kid, and Zhang Jue admired this character.

Unfortunately, Cha Hanbuhua didn’t land his 4T at the Wudi Cup, but Min Shan surprised everyone.

The young girl performed a 3A in her free skate, but whether it would succeed was uncertain because her 3A success rate was only 30%. The chances of landing it in competition were even lower. The coaching staff had advised her to give up the 3A if she didn’t feel right and switch to a 2A, which was still fine.

Min Shan felt good and went for the 3A, and she landed it successfully.

She became the second woman after the Bai Yezhong sisters to master the 3A, which was the highest-scoring single jump in the women’s event. With this jump, her value would be very different from before, and even though the U.S. figure skating queen, Oliver, had the advantage of nationality, she seemed weak like a child in comparison.

Min Shan had already passed Delavelopment phase in the youth group. With her current condition, as long as she stayed injury-free, she could shine at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Compared to her two seniors, who had chosen serious music this year, Min Shan had a lively and playful style.

With Zhang Junbao’s recommendation, she chose Katy Perry’s signature song: “Teenage Dream,” as her free skate music, and the atmosphere in the venue was completely lifted by her performance.

The new stars from Zhang’s group displayed amazing performance talents as soon as they moved up in rank. Their presence proved that Zhang Jue’s expressiveness wasn’t just due to talent; the coaching staff had also provided great help, and his peers were also excellent. For a top-quality coaching team, excellent athletes could be produced in large numbers.

The most amazing thing was that they could mass-produce excellent athletes and even create superstars like Zhang Jue. Moreover, these kids had different performance styles, fully demonstrating how thoughtfully the coaching team had nurtured their talents.

When Xu Chuo left Zhang’s group, some ice fans online had criticized Zhang Junbao’s coaching methods due to certain reasons. But now, the winds had shifted, and opinions turned to the opposite extreme.

A voice began circulating among ice fans in China, and it was spreading.

That voice said—Zhang Junbao was the country’s top expert at discovering and nurturing outstanding figure skaters, a master in teaching technique and performance, and even foreign athletes who had trained with him deeply respected him.

Coach Zhang, forever a legend.

Zhang Jue had already achieved legendary status as an athlete in the previous season by breaking world records with “Tree of Life,” but Zhang Junbao reached legendary status as a coach this season, as his other disciples besides Zhang Jue gradually moved up in rank.

When they saw these comments, both Zhang Junbao and Zhang Jue showed a nonchalant “Oh, I see” expression.

Both were experienced and knew well that the people who were praising Zhang’s group now were not necessarily different from the ones who had criticized it before.

As athletes and coaches, they didn’t need to pay too much attention to external opinions. Their duty was to do their best and achieve better results.

During the time when Cha Hanbuhua and Min Shan were traveling with Coaches Zhang and Shen for competitions, Zhang Jue and Coach Lu took over the training of Zhang’s junior disciple, Jiang Yihong.

The young boy, 14 years old, had entered the youth group this season due to his November birthday but already had a stable 3A and could even connect a 3T after it. He had mastered advanced jump combinations with 4 elements and was starting to conquer the quadruple jumps.

Zhang Jue, leaning on a cane and standing on one leg by the rink, squinted.

“Yihong’s jumping talent is much higher than Bukhua’s.”

But this kid didn’t have the strong aggressiveness that his seniors had, which led to one result.

Jiang Yihong’s stability wasn’t as high as his seniors’ because he lacked self-confidence.

However, being able to land a 3A and practice the quadruple jumps meant that this athlete definitely had a desire to improve, otherwise, there was no way to explain how he managed to complete so much grueling training.

Coach Lu asked Zhang Jue: “Yihong’s personality is better suited for a slower, more emotional style. Are you having him skate this current piece to better explore his performance?”

Zhang Jue shrugged. “I just wanted to test it out.”

Jiang Yihong’s free skate music for the new season was “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” a piece recommended by Zhang Jue. When Zhang Jue asked him which character he wanted to portray in the program, Jiang Yihong surprisingly didn’t choose the deeply emotional Quasimodo. Instead, he chose the villainous character, Judge Frollo.

When performing this darker, more obsessive character, Jiang Yihong’s performance clearly became more layered.

Zhang Jue stroked his chin. “His performance style… it’s quite interesting.”

 

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