It wasn’t until the national team flew to Vancouver that Zhang Junbao and the provincial team coaches ended their training and set foot on the black soil of the Northeast again.
Out of gratitude for the help to the Qin family, Uncle Zhang didn’t even go home. Instead, he personally brought a box of pastries from Beijing to express his thanks.
After entering, he put down the gifts and looked around, asking: “Mia, Teacher, where’s little Xuejun? I bought a pair of basketball shoes for this kid.”
Madam Mia replied in a gentle tone: “Old Qin didn’t like Peijia staying in the house all day, so he had little Jue take him out to play.”
Zhang Junbao asked: “Peijia?”
Dr. Qin waved his hand, saying: “It’s Xuejun Russian nickname. We playfully call him that at home. If you have nothing to do, just put things down and go. Little Jue said he’s taking Peijia to practice ice skating. Go check on them, make sure the kid is not left unattended, or he might sprain his good foot again.”
Hearing this, Zhang Junbao became concerned. He asked where Zhang Jue had gone and quickly ran out of the community, hopping into his second-hand Jinbei.
Zhang Jue took Qin Xuejun to the commercial ice rink he used to frequent, located in the middle of a shopping mall, surrounded by various shops. The last time he skated here, it only cost a few dollars, which he could afford.
When Zhang Junbao arrived, he saw quite a crowd around the rink, not making much noise but all focused on one spot. When he looked closely, he saw Zhang Jue performing a swan-style glide in the center.
Swan-style gliding refers to a performer gliding on one foot while lifting the other leg (called the floating leg) and raising it above the hip. The basic swan-style glide involves lifting the floating leg behind, and during the glide, the performer opens both hands, resembling a bird soaring, very graceful.
In addition to this, variations include the forward-lifting swan-style glide called the supine swan, and other variations.
In any case, swan-style gliding is one of the signature moves in figure skating. Every figure skater practices this move as a foundation, and mastering this basic move with beauty was a sign of real skill.
Standing at the side of the rink, Zhang Junbao watched the young boy skate for a while. After a series of glides, Zhang Jue lifted the floating leg, keeping his upper body barely inclined forward. The floating leg remained high above the hip, demonstrating his excellent flexibility.
In this process, his upper limbs naturally extended, left arm opened, and the right hand swept upward, as if caressing the airflow during the glide. The overall posture was coherent and elegant, exuding an ethereal charm.
The young boy, with black hair and fair skin, was already pleasing to the eye, and his graceful glide added to the spectacle. When Zhang Jue glided across half of the rink in the swan style, onlookers couldn’t help but exclaim: “Wow!”
It was a scene so beautiful that it was unforgettable.
When Zhang Jue stopped, Zhang Junbao noticed that the target of his glide this time was Qin Xuejun. Little Qin, wearing obviously rented skates, was currently in the stage of skating with support. However, he looked calm and didn’t appear awkward.
“Excellent skating ability. The speed is fast. While others might glide one meter with a push, he can glide six to seven meters with one step.”
Hearing the familiar voice, Zhang Junbao turned around and saw a young man with stubble, none other than the provincial team skating coach, Ming Jia.
Zhang Junbao shrugged, saying: “This is my nephew. He’ll be training with me from now on.”
Ming Jia sighed and laughed: “Don’t worry, no one’s competing with you for your nephew. I just casually praised him. Nowadays, young people like to specialize in jumps. I haven’t seen such smooth gliding in a long time.”
Although Zhang Jue’s glide was not perfect yet, both the use of small joints during child blade changes and the ability to maintain posture were visibly good.
Zhang Junbao looked proud, saying: “Gliding is the foundation of all technical movements in figure skating. Athletes who are good at gliding can jump farther. That’s why I’ve been strict with Xiao Jue gliding, especially now that the kid is showing talent.”
“Such a promising talent.”
Ming Jia sighed again: “Your nephew was born in June, right? That’s a good date. He’ll turn 13 just before July, making him eligible for the youth category in the next season.”
At these words, the lightness in Zhang Junbao’s expression faded, and he casually shrugged.
“Yes, indeed. If he were a year older, the General Administration wouldn’t have to worry about the lack of competitors in the World Youth Games.”
Ming Jia picked up on something and furrowed his brow: “Fan Zhaoying’s injury is severe?”
“Ligament is severely torn. His family can afford ice skating but his parents are heartbroken. They don’t want their child to continue practicing. I checked with the coach from the neighboring provincial team. Fan Zhaoying is already in the process of quitting the team.”
In other words, this promising talent was already lost.
Ming Jia fell silent for a moment and comforted Zhang Junbao: “He’ll recover. I can see your nephew’s potential. As long as he doesn’t give up, reaching the top six in the world in the future is not a problem. Besides, Shen Liu has successfully returned to the competition, and I heard his form is improving rapidly. He might even break into the top ten in this Vancouver Games.”
Zhang Junbao wasn’t as optimistic about his junior’s condition. The athlete’s form is closely tied to competition, and Shen Liu hadn’t competed for half a season, with his ankle being a hidden problem. Who knows when it might act up again.
Still, Zhang Junbao expressed hope: “If Shen Liu can break into the top ten, I’ll personally cook him braised goose when he returns.”
Ironically, although both were seasoned figure skaters, neither harbored hopes of winning a medal in the Olympics for their respective men’s singles.
Japan won the gold medal in women’s singles in the 2006 Olympics, and China’s pair figure skating had a chance at gold in this Winter Olympics. However, Asian men’s singles had always been suppressed by the North American and Russian contingents and had never risen to prominence.
At that moment, there was another exclamation from the sidelines. Zhang Junbao turned around and, as he continued watching, his eyes widened.
Zhang Jue first performed a set of basic swan spins. From Zhang Junbao’s perspective as a former national team member, there were many flaws in these spins.
For instance, the unstable footing during the spin, and as he glided, the axis tilted. The blade deviated so much it almost drew a heart on the ice… Well, it did end up drawing a heart.
All of this indicated a weakness in the athlete’s core strength. The spins lacked stability, and the rotational speed was not high.
However, what happened next was astonishing. Zhang Jue raised his hand and grabbed the blade of his floating foot, turning his entire body into a circle during the spin. This was the donut position. After a few turns, Zhang Jue transitioned into the swan spin, holding the blade.
These were moves that female skaters typically used in competitions, requiring extremely high flexibility!
Wait a minute, when did Zhang Jue start practicing these new spins?
Since he had recently recovered, Zhang Jue didn’t dare to practice jumps in a crowded place without a coach watching. However, playing with spins posed no problem.
He skated over to Qin Xuejun excitedly, asking: “was it 15 seconds already?”
The two had a bet: if Zhang Jue could sustain the spin for over 15 seconds, Qin Xuejun would treat him to candied hawthorns.
Out of kindness, Qin Xuejun, aware that the kid was reluctant to eat good snacks due to his tendency to gain weight, deliberately gave Zhang Jue a chance to enjoy the candy.
Looking at the phone screen showing 18.28 seconds, he closed the phone.
With excellent head-turning skills, Zhang Jue’s endurance in spins noticeably improved after incorporating this move.
Qin Xuejun smiled slightly: “Congratulations, it’s 15 seconds. Your waist is quite flexible; you turned yourself into a circle and kept spinning.”
Proudly, Zhang Jue said: “Of course. I practiced ballet for several years. The teacher used to bend my waist and legs every day, so I got used to it early.”
Even though a 200-degree spread was Zhang Jue’s peak level, and flexibility would start declining after the age of 18, he was still quite proud. This was the flexibility of a professional dancer.
“Brother Qin, let me tell you, I can touch the back of my head with my foot!”
True to his words, he immediately demonstrated a yoga trick. While he did succeed, if it weren’t for Qin Xuejun supporting him, he would have almost fallen face-first.
Once he stabilized, a familiar voice sounded in his ears.
“What are you doing? Do you want to see the doctor again?”
Zhang Jue turned around and took a frightened step backward.
“Uncle?!”
Oh no, it seemed he might not get to eat those candied hawthorns.
The little fairy boy who had just dazzled the crowd on the ice rink now had to lower his head in front of his uncle. He first received a scolding, as usual, and then was dragged by the ear to undergo a physical test.
Zhang Junbao needed to make sure Zhang Jue hadn’t returned all the jumps he had painstakingly regained during his absence.
Two weeks of jumps, no problem. Two weeks of jumps plus two more weeks (2+2) of consecutive jumps were also well-preserved. Single jumps of 3T and 3S were slightly unstable.
To Zhang Junbao’s surprise, Zhang Jue hadn’t even lost the 2A+3T consecutive jump that he had just learned before getting injured. Apart from needing some adjustment in form, he seemed almost as if he had never been injured!
As some experienced people say, flexibility and explosiveness are mutually exclusive. Zhang Jue seemed to have placed all his talent in flexibility.
The uncle snapped his fingers: “Come on, get into the swan spin position and then stay still.”
Zhang Jue was puzzled but leaned against the barrier, lifted his right leg, and held it with one hand.
“Raise the floating leg higher, try to straighten the leg as much as possible” Zhang Junbao instructed.
Zhang Jue complied.
“Keep going.”
Struggling, Zhang Jue said with a grimace: “Uncle, this is the limit. It hurts if I raise it further.”
His waist was soft, the spread was large, but when the leg was lifted beyond a certain point, the inguinal region started to ache—this was determined by male physiology.
Zhang Junbao didn’t force him and just watched with joy as his nephew showcased perfect flexibility.
As the seniors say, you can’t have both flexibility and explosive power. Zhang Junbao remarked that Zhang Jue seemed to have allocated all his talent to flexibility.
Qin Xuejun also showed a hint of astonishment in his eyes. Although he hadn’t spent much time on the ice before, he still had some knowledge due to his grandfather being a retired team doctor for H Province figure skating.
This was a Beillmann position.
A variation of the Beillmann spin, where the floating leg is lifted from behind, the blade height surpasses the head, and the entire body forms a droplet shape. It was a signature move by Swiss women’s singles skater Denise Biellmann in the 1970s.
Zhang Jue not only raised his leg above his head, but also extended it beyond his head by a significant margin, achieving a 200-degree spread and even managing to straighten his leg completely!
However, as Zhang Jue mentioned, fully extending it would cause him considerable pain. Fortunately, the droplet-shaped Beillmann position was relatively easy for him.
Qin Xuejun turned to Ming Jia: “How does this move look to you?”
Ming Jia stroked his chin: “This spin has very high demands on flexibility. Currently, no male has used Beillmann in competition worldwide. However…judges are more impressed by athletes with signature moves, and they tend to be more generous when scoring the performance.”
A male skater capable of performing the Beillmann was undoubtedly memorable.
Zhang Jue found Beillmann painful, but when it came to figure skating, his uncle’s words made sense. Zhang Junbao provided Zhang Jue with a perfectly legitimate reason.
“You need flexibility for ballet as well. Isn’t that training more painful than Beillmann? Besides, your rotational ability is weak; unstable axis and low rotation speed. Once on the competition stage, your spins might only be rated at level 2 if the judges are generous. With Beillmann, it’s different. After consecutively spinning eight times and transitioning into the Beillmann spin, you can get extra points. Then, achieving a level 3 rating won’t be a dream!”
In figure skating competitions, both spins and glides are divided into four levels. They didn’t dare to think about the highest level 4, but aspiring for a level 3 rating wasn’t too ambitious.
Therefore, before the Winter Olympics began, Zhang Jue not only endured ear-twisting for jump training but also started devilish flexibility training during dance sessions and continued leg-twisting during ice skating.
Shen Liu, calling during the time difference, first heard a series of wails when Zhang Jue answered the phone.
“No, I can’t stand! I’m going to fall!”
By the way, Zhang Jue still didn’t get to eat those candied hawthorns.

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