In mid-September, the third part of the Junior Grand Prix was held in Moscow, Russia. Ilya Safoshenko, renowned as the prodigy of the junior men’s singles also competed in this event.
As there was no live broadcast of the Russian competition domestically, Zhang Jue had to watch the broadcast during lunch with his teammates.
Safoshenko performed exceptionally well on his home turf, widening the gap with the second-place skater by 10 points in the short program alone. By the end of the free skate, he was ahead by a whopping 30 points.
This golden-haired beauty, with a reputation not inferior to that of idol stars, executed a total of three 3A jumps in the short program and free skate.
The score for the 3A was as high as 8.5 points, only 2 points less than the 4T and 4S, the two types of quadruple jumps. Compared to other members of the triple jump family, Safoshenko stood out in terms of both difficulty and score.
The judges clearly favored Safoshenko, and the awarded Grade of Execution (GOE) soared, making Zhang Jue envious. He had never enjoyed such favorable scoring treatment in a competition, even when using rare techniques like raising hands or delaying rotations.
Liu Yeming comforted Zhang Jue: “Because you’re still in the junior division, the judges are reluctant to give too high scores. Once you move up to the senior division, the treatment will improve.”
They couldn’t expect to receive the same treatment as the prince of the Russian Figure Skating Federation. Zhang Jue was just a lone hope from a small village in men’s singles, and it was already good if he wasn’t underscored.
Zhang Jue said with a touch of sadness: “I don’t expect the judges to favor me too much. I just want fair scoring. If they show bias, it’ll be even more challenging for me to beat those European and American skaters!”
However, objectively speaking, compared to skaters like Angus Joe, who was blatantly favored but still lost, Safoshenko belonged to the type that could be lifted.
His solid dance foundation and Slavic artistic sense during performances, along with powerful jumps, made Safoshenko a well-rounded skater rarely seen in the junior division. Therefore, the audience didn’t consider Safoshenko’s scores as inflated. Instead, they believed that the scores given to athletes like Hayato Teraoka and Zhang Jue with their skin didn’t match their abilities.
To ensure that athletes going through the growth period have a good physique in the future, coaches would require them to take afternoon naps.
Zhang Jue didn’t stay in the provincial team dormitory so his uncle specially arranged a military bed for him in the office. In the summer, the temperature in Northeast China wasn’t high, and the air conditioning in the room wasn’t turned on, only a small electric fan whirring.
Thinking that the kid should be in a deep sleep, Shen Liu walked to the door and waved to Zhang Junbao.
“Senior brother, come over for a moment.”
Zhang Junbao put down the dumbbell in his hand, walked to the door, closed it, and Shen Liu handed him a document.
“Coach Song said he understands that you want to focus on bringing Zhang Jue out, so he moved you to the position of head coach. I’ll be the jump coach, and also, he hopes that we can bring one more person, also in singles.”
He said singles, not specifying the gender, and Zhang Junbao understood.
“A girl?”
“Yes, her name is Xu Chuo, from the city team. She just turned 13 a few days ago and will enter the junior division next year. She can do four types of triple jumps and three types of triple-triple jumps. She’s one of the promising female skaters favored by the higher-ups.”
“Well, she must be quite skilled. Why would she end up under my coaching?”
Zhang Junbao subconsciously reached into his pocket, found it empty, and seeing Shen Liu’s knowing smile, he moved his eyes away, staring at the shade of the tree outside the window.
Shen Liu lowered his eyes: “You’ve brought Zhang Jue up so well. Everyone knows you’re amazing. Xu Chuo expressed her wish to train with you after watching Zhang Jue’s competition.”
There were quite a few good coaches for pairs skating in the country, but good coaches for singles skating were rare. Chen Zhu was one, but her fees were too high, and with many students, there was no guarantee of getting private classes. Zhang Junbao was in the provincial team, with only one disciple, Zhang Jue, making it an ideal place to learn.
The atmosphere quieted down, and neither of them spoke anymore. Shen Liu leaned against the wall, focused on examining Zhang Junbao’s face, showing a nostalgic expression.
“A baby face is indeed good. People age more slowly. When we meet again, you still look the same as when you were active.”
Zhang Junbao chuckled: “How haven’t I changed? I’ve been doing anaerobic training for the past few years and gained 10 kilograms more than before.”
Shen Liu shook his head: “You also have a tendency to gain weight. If you don’t work hard after retirement, won’t you end up like Zhang Jue? Just a bit more eating, and you’ll inflate like a balloon?”
After a while, he asked: “Is it difficult to quit smoking?”
Zhang Junbao mumbled in defense: “I never had a smoking habit. I was just curious and secretly smoked twice before. You caught me both times.”
It’s strange that when they were together in the provincial team, they had agreed to strive together for the rise of Chinese men’s singles. However, fate took them on different paths. Zhang Junbao, after successfully joining the national team, retired due to injuries before getting the chance to fulfill his dream. The journey to pursue their dreams was beautiful, but the shattering of dreams was surprisingly simple.
They thought that was the end. Zhang Junbao became a coach in the provincial team, and Shen Liu, with a high probability, would continue studying after retirement, eventually becoming a teacher at a university. Unexpectedly, Zhang Jue, a genius, fell from the sky, bringing these two close friends and brothers together again for the same goal.
It was like a river splitting into two branches midway, only to converge into the same vast ocean eventually.
Thinking about Zhang Jue, the uncle couldn’t help but sigh. Despite taking care of Zhang Jue meticulously, from diet to training, the kid’s height was still only 153 cm.
Oh, now it’s 153.3 cm but that extra 0.3 cm might be hard to find on a ruler.
Although people with a low center of gravity have advantages in figure skating, as uncle didn’t want his big nephew to end up as a legal shota sacrificing height for extraordinary looks.
Why was it so easy for this kid to gain weight, but growing taller seemed harder than quitting smoking?
Shen Liu couldn’t help but chuckle: “It’s okay; he’s still young. When he hits puberty, he’ll shoot up in no time.”
He handed Zhang Junbao a box of cookies: “Here, take these. Just make sure little Jue doesn’t see you.”
If Zhang Jue caught his uncle secretly enjoying snacks, knowing him, he would surely come over to beg for a bite.
Zhang Junbao muttered: “Oreos again? Last time it was strawberry, now it’s vanilla.”
The Junior and Senior Grand Prix competitions were held in the same time frame and venue. Since the senior division’s regional competitions started later, this year’s Grand Prix Final would take place in early December.
Before that, the coaching staff required Zhang Jue to further refine his program and improve his 3F jump. Originally, everyone wanted Zhang Jue to attempt the 3A in competition, not necessarily including it in the program but to have an extra technical reserve, providing more confidence when entering competitions.
However, in the competition, Zhang Jue, who had always been stable, consecutively fell on the 3F. After careful consideration, the coaching staff thought that whether or not there was a 3A, there was no hurry. Zhang Jue was still young, with plenty of time for effort in the future. So, they decided to patch up the child’s technique first, making his skills more standardized.
During training, Zhang Junbao informed Zhang Jue: “The China Grand Prix starts on October 2, right during the National Day holiday. We’re going to compete in Shanghai at that time. Now, I will increase the training intensity for the 3F. Before the China Grand Prix, you need to raise the success rate of this jump to over seventy percent.”
Zhang Jue blinked, obediently saying okay, and stepped onto the ice to begin practicing.
That petite body bounced on the ice like a rolling gourd. After a day of falling, whether Zhang Jue’s 3F had improved was uncertain, but his skill in falling seemed to have gone straight up.
Originally, after falling Zhang Jue body was halfway covered in bruises, and he could only sleep on his side. Now, he had become proficient in falling during wrestling. When his body went down, he decisively let his thighs and buttocks touch the ground first, then smoothly rolled out to dissipate the impact.
When Xu Chuo entered with her mother, she happened to see her prospective senior brother rolling several meters away, hitting the barrier with a loud sound.
Zhang Junbao just clapped coldly: “Get up, continue.”
The petite teenager got up, patted his buttocks, and continued gliding, jumping, and wrestling. This process repeated many times, but the 3F jump was inconsistent. Sometimes it succeeded, and other times, during takeoff, his body axis tilted to 60 degrees, making the jump impossible to land on the ice.
This was the first genius youth in China to win a gold medal in a men’s singles event at a Grand Prix.
Xu Chuo’s mother, also a figure skating coach, couldn’t help but comment: “His 3F jump technique is a bit peculiar.”
It wasn’t that Zhang Jue’s technique was unclean, with faults like under-rotation.
To be honest, this young man, skilled in delaying rotation, had been renowned for his abundant jumps and standardized techniques since his debut. There was no problem using his videos as a textbook for jumps.
However, normal figure skaters, when performing the 3F, typically use the inner edge of their right foot to push off the ice. This way, their bodies can generate better force toward the counterclockwise direction when airborne. Zhang Jue, on the contrary, used the outer side of his right foot, and the force was especially significant. So, his 3F had an exceptionally high height, much higher than his 3Lz, reaching nearly 45 centimeters.
Shen Liu walked over and shook hands with Xu Chuo’s mother. “Have you also noticed his issue? Zhang Jue said that if he used the normal jumping method, he couldn’t control the inner edge well. So, we let him try the method he feels comfortable with… The technique he’s using now doesn’t violate any rules, but it demands higher aerial abilities from the athlete and requires a bit more rotation than usual.”
If a normal 3F required three revolutions, Zhang Jue’s current method would make him rotate an extra 0.2 revolutions, seemingly taking advantage of his strong rotational ability.
However, Zhang Jue himself claimed that jumping this way felt more comfortable. Moreover, after adopting this new technique, the success rate of his 3F finally began to stabilize, so the coaching staff tacitly accepted it.
After jumping 50 times, Zhang Jue went off to drink water, and Zhang Junbao hurried over to greet them.
“Sorry, but the higher-ups said Zhang Jue has to bring back the gold from the China Grand Prix. The pressure is quite high, so I can only keep a close eye on his training. This is Xu Chuo, right? She has good conditions.”
He quickly assessed the girl’s body data, estimating a height of around 1.4 meters. She had a slender figure, tied with two ponytails, willow leaf eyebrows, crescent-shaped eyes, a naturally smiling mouth, and an overall friendly and likable appearance.
Zhang Junbao spoke a bit quickly: “Coach Song mentioned your situation. Have you brought your ice skates?”
After receiving an affirmative answer, the older cousin pointed to the side: “Warm up, skate a lap on the ice for me to see, let’s get an initial assessment.”
On the other side, with Shen Liu’s assistance, Zhang Jue got onto the harness. After some gliding on the ice, he leaped forward, and with Shen Liu lifting the harness, the kid completed a 3A.
Xu Chuo took small steps in place, involuntarily watching other side.
Axel jump, the king’s jump then 3A, the legendary dream jump.
Since the legendary Japanese singles skater Midori Ito jumped the first 3A in women’s singles history in 1990, up to now, there have been very few female skaters worldwide who have successfully landed a 3A and each of them holds at least one championship title in an A-level competition.
Unlike the increasingly powerful men’s singles as they grow, the prime period for ladies’ singles is short. Xu Chuo decided to seek out Zhang Junbao because he was domestically the most likely coach to develop a solo skater with a 3A.
Now, it seems Zhang Jue was indeed conquering this jump.
Xu Chuo secretly rejoiced, and her warm-up movements became even more focused.
After getting on the ice, Zhang Junbao cleared a space for the young girl to perform “Looking for Spring Wind,” a routine required for figure skating grading.

Ming Jia assisted Zhang Junbao in recording the girl’s data, saying: “Xu Chuo’s glide is a bit slow, the blade changes are not lively enough, and she’s in a hurry when doing step sequences. This won’t do. The better you want the jumps, the more profound the foundation in gliding needs to be.”
Zhang Junbao remained calm: “The rotation is good, the axis is stable, the rotation speed is a bit slow, but the Beilman is a bit forced… She should be more power-oriented, edge jumps are average, indicating the need to improve coordination, but toe jumps are strong, explosive power is robust.”
She was the opposite type of Zhang Jue.
He closed the notebook: “Alright, I’ll take this disciple.”
What Uncle didn’t know was that when he was conducting the test, Zhang Jue happened to glance in their direction. His heart shook.
Wasn’t that the future domestic figure skating second sister, Xu Chuo?
Zhang Jue wasn’t a die-hard figure skating fan but he heard a lot of news from other fans. Allegedly, this second sister had extremely high talent, and during her peak, she could outshine the future first sister, Mi Yuan Yuan. Unfortunately, when puberty hit, she shot up to one meter seventy in one breath, completely losing the focus of her jumps so even with desperate training later on, she could only be considered a second-tier athlete before retiring.
The second sister came from a well-off family and should have been self-financing her training at the club. In the later stage, she went to Shanghai to become Chen Zhu’s disciple. How come she joined the provincial team and be mixed with his Uncle now?
After wondering for a while, Zhang Jue’s heart was filled with endless sympathy for Zhang Junbao.
Zhang Jue originally thought that Uncle had a tough time dealing with him, who was destined to face difficulties in crossing the 1.8-meter barrier. Unexpectedly, heaven threw not one but two trials at Zhang Junbao!
In his heart, the big nephew sang a song for Uncle: “Hallelujah.”
In early October, Zhang Jue boarded a flight to Shanghai, preparing for the upcoming China Grand Prix.
Xu Dela, who originally wanted to go to Shanghai during the National Day holiday to explore the world with his elder brother, turned into a ball due to his easy-to-gain-weight physique. At this time, he could only be stuffed into a certain martial arts gym by his mom, starting a weight-loss journey to transform from eating grass to becoming a salad.

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