After the test match, Zhang Jun was packing up his shoes to go back to the hotel and rest when he heard someone calling him.

“Zhang Jun, we’re going for dinner. Are you coming?”

Zhang Jun looked up and saw Huang Ying waving at him at the door, with Guan Lin, Jin Zixuan, Shi Mosheng, Fan Zhaoying, Mi Yuanyuan, and Lu Xiaorong standing behind him.

Shi Mosheng was the organizer of this gathering, and he explained: “Mi Yuanyuan and Lu Xiaorong both moved up to the senior level last year. The coach said, at least during the Sochi cycle, figure skating relies on us. We won’t meet less on the competition stage in the future, so let’s have a meal together.”

Zhang Jun nodded and greeted Shen Liu before shouldering his bag and joining them.

As they walked, he noticed that Fan Zhaoying and Lu Xiaorong were still naturally holding hands. Zhang Jun raised an eyebrow, approached Huang Ying, and slyly lifted his pinkie.

“Huang Ying, what about them?”

Huang Ying squinted and teased: “They’re both over 18, not considered early romance.”

Zhang Jun asked: “I didn’t say they were early romance, but when did they get together? I remember they’re from different provinces.”

Fan Zhaoying was from Province J, and Lu Xiaorong was from Province L. What’s the story here?

Guan Lin smiled and leaned in to share some gossip with Zhang Jun.

“It happened during the All-China Championship. Fan Zhaoying had already resumed training for a while at that time. He went to watch the competition, and after dinner, we gathered. During the gathering, Fan Zhaoying made an inappropriate gender-related joke. Lu Xiaorong’s expression changed immediately, expressing her displeasure.”

Zhang Jun was puzzled: “I’m asking how they got together, not about their past quarrels.”

Guan Lin waved his hand: “No quarrels, none at all. Fan Zhaoying realized he was wrong as soon as he heard it and immediately apologized. We were all surprised by his straightforward attitude. He explained that many boys in his school made such jokes, and he didn’t realize it was inappropriate until Lu Xiaorong got upset. He said acknowledging a mistake and apologizing immediately is not embarrassing. Then, they clinked glasses.”

Huang Ying added: “Not with alcohol, though. They drank juice. After finishing that glass of juice, during the second half of the gathering, they kept chatting and exchanged phone numbers.”

As they chatted, the two of them, well, everyone understood.

Huang Ying said: “Sister Xiaorong said that Brother Fan could apologize immediately without feeling embarrassed, showing that he’s not macho and has no fatherly vibes. After getting to know him better, she felt that Brother Fan is polite, well-mannered, and handsome. It’s worth further development.”

Zhang Jun nodded: “I see.”

During his time as an idol trainee, his manager had told him that well-mannered guys are very likable to girls, especially in an era where all kinds of strange opinions circulate on the internet. Normal comments appear particularly precious and pleasing.

[Manager: So, Zhang Jun, when you feel a sense of justice, don’t just directly scold those brain-dead comments. Respond elegantly, understand?]

Anyway, the generation of trainees in which Zhang Jun participated had a campaign praising individuals with good manners, high emotional intelligence, and 100% politeness. They gained 600,000 followers in two days.

Unfortunately, it was later revealed that he had made derogatory comments about women being “prey,” with the recording as evidence. The 600,000 followers immediately dropped again. When the woman who had been criticized finally released the recording, there were also comments on the internet mocking her for being “malicious” for recording it while she ate.

Of course, for children like Zhang Jun, who followed a manager with a set of righteous values, those who demand perfection from victims and attack the victim’s flaws usually have a problem with their mentality. Otherwise, it cannot explain why they empathize with the perpetrator rather than the victim.

But Fan Zhaoying was an example of true good manners in real life. He seemed to get along well with Lu Xiaorong… probably better than Zhang Jun did before he died.

They went to a restaurant in Beijing, bought seafood, and then went to a street vendor to cook.

The restaurant owner steamed the garlic scallops exceptionally well, especially when sprinkled with their homemade chopped pepper. Taking a bite, the delicious and spicy flavor burst on the taste buds, absolutely delightful.

Unfortunately, as athletes, they couldn’t eat too much spicy food. Zhang Jun restrained himself and only ate two, then turned to eat a low-calorie snack.

Everyone being athlete in the same sport, their conversations naturally revolved around figure skating.

Shi Mosheng brought up the topic of selecting competition stations.

“Only the top twelve in the previous season’s World Championships can guarantee a spot in two competition stations. The top three in the previous season’s World Junior Championships and Youth Grand Prix Finals can guarantee at least one competition station. For those of us in the junior category who didn’t shine much, we can only participate in several B-level competitions to accumulate points and improve our world rankings, increasing the chances of successfully applying for competition stations.”

“Zhang Jun, are you participating in B-level competitions?”

Zhang Jun nodded: “I will participate in the Autumn Cup in Canada.”

Huang Ying grinned: “Brother Lin and I are going too. The coach said we should experience the feeling of senior-level competition in B-level competitions.”

Jin Zixuan said: “There are three wildcards for the China station. As long as we can apply for one station on our own and use a wildcard to participate in the China station, we can participate in two competition stations.”

Only by participating in two competition stations is there hope of accumulating enough points to qualify for the Grand Prix Final.

Sipping his juice, Zhang Jun said crisply: “I have already applied for the U.S. station and the Russian station. No need for a wildcard.”

In other words, with three wildcards, Jin Zixuan, Shi Mosheng, Fan Zhaoying, and others could compete for one, and Zhang Jun would not participate.

Shi Mosheng grinned at him: “Thanks a lot.”

Zhang Jun gave a thumbs up: “You’re welcome.”

Shen Liu used to do the same. As long as it felt okay, he would apply for two competition stations, avoiding the competition for wildcards and leaving a spot for his own people. This time, it was also he who reminded Zhang Jun to do the same.

That’s what a leader does.

After dinner, Fan Zhaoying said he wanted to take them to sing karaoke. As the singing king, Zhang Jun was pushed to the microphone as soon as he entered the room. He didn’t hold back and selected a few rock songs to start singing. Fan Zhaoying and Lu Xiaorong then sang a love song together, deliberately giving everyone a show, creating a lively atmosphere.

Because the coaches didn’t allow the kids to stay out too late, they only played until nine o’clock. Fan Zhaoying kept answering calls from various coaches, promising to safely escort the underage ones back. Zhang Jun leaned on the side, sipping sour plum soup.

It was summer, and ice cubes were added to the sour plum soup, making it refreshing. Zhang Jun coughed a few times, and Huang Ying took the cup away.

“Zhang Jun, don’t drink. In case your throat gets inflamed, it’ll be inconvenient for you to take medicine.”

Zhang Jun covered his throat and nodded.

Actually, he didn’t feel any discomfort in his throat. But the next day, when Zhang Jun woke up, he noticed that his voice was indeed a bit hoarse.

At first, he didn’t realize it. It was only after finishing his morning run and buying a banana on the way back, Zhang Jun opened his mouth and said: “Auntie, give me a banana,” that he realized something was wrong.

He coughed a few times, tried to clear his throat, but the sound was still hoarse.

At that moment, someone nearby reminded him: “Hey kid, stop coughing. You’re experiencing a voice change. Drink more water and have some throat lozenges.”

Zhang Jun turned his head and saw an elderly man holding a bag. He had narrow shoulders and a slim waist, with gray hair at the temples. One of his eyes was remarkably clear and expressive. Zhang Jun couldn’t shake the feeling that the old man’s face looked oddly familiar.

However, the old man was not wrong. When reminded by him, Zhang Jun also recalled that he had indeed reached this age.

The child whispered a thank you and left with the banana.

The old man stood in place, watching Zhang Jun’s figure, and exclaimed: “He has a great physique, sings well, and has a good vocal foundation. It will be incredible after the voice change.”

The fruit stall owner placed a few pears on the scale and said: “Uncle Xu, do you know that kid?”

Uncle Xu replied: “He’s from my family. His dad calls me Second Uncle. But the last time I saw the kid, he was still in his mother’s arms, breastfeeding.”

The stall owner joked: “I think this kid looks good. If taught well, he might become a star.”

Uncle Xu said: “He’s already a star, just not in our field.”

Zhang Jun naturally had no idea about the occasional encounter with the old man and the connection between them. Puberty was not causing him knee pain, indicating that the growth spurt hadn’t arrived yet. So, he focused on diligently practicing the quadruple jump.

The difficulty of any athletic discipline constantly evolves, and Zhang Jun understood this. He knew that to further improve his competitive level, he couldn’t rely on just one type of quadruple jump.

A single quadruple jump could only be performed twice in a routine. If he could master a new quadruple jump, he could include it as the third one in his free skate.

His current 4S+3T was already well-established, and he could even perform a 4S+1lo+3S combination. The coaching staff believed his 4S technique was mature and supported him in adding the 4T to his practice routine.

However, at this moment, everyone discovered a problem. Zhang Jun, skilled in edge jumps, couldn’t maintain the rotation speed when attempting point jumps. While challenging the 4T as a point jump, he lacked the strength to execute it to the required extent.

So, if Zhang Jun forcefully jumped higher, tried to rotate more, and executed a 4T with a full rotation, he would definitely fail to land on the ice. If he wanted to land on the ice, the height wouldn’t be sufficient, and he would have to land before completing the full four rotations, resulting in a chaotic fall.

To address these shortcomings, Zhang Jun needed to embark on weight training again. However, the season had already begun, and if he increased his weight now, the question of whether Zhang Jun could maintain his rotation speed became a problem. Without gaining weight, he couldn’t execute the 4T.

Zhang Junbao bit his finger, saying: “It’s a dead end.”

Shen Liu pulled his hand aside, saying: “Stop biting. Your nails will bleed. The issue with little Jue is not something that can be solved in a short time. You see, there are not more than three male skaters in the world with two types of quadruple jumps. Little Jue is still young, we don’t need to worry for now.”

Zhang Junbao lowered his voice, urgently retorting: “How can I not worry? Don’t you know that when we went for training in Beijing this time, Leader Sun told us that if the authorities want men’s singles to rise, little Jue must perform well and strive to bring back at least three spots in the World Championships! Also, to become one of our medal prospects in Sochi, Coach Song also knows about this. Otherwise, why would they support little Jue in practicing the 4T? Did you think I didn’t know about his strength issue before?”

In this year’s World Championships, if Zhang Jun could secure the top two places, China’s men’s singles would have three spots in the next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi. If he could enter the top ten, only two spots would be secured.

If Zhang Jun could achieve the top four and his compatriots also entered the top eight, the sum of their rankings would be less than 13, still providing the country with three spots.

The leaders didn’t expect Zhang Jun to compete in the World Championships in his first year after promotion, but they hoped he could cooperate with his teammates to achieve the second option.

However, the problem was that, apart from Zhang Jun, no domestic men’s singles skater was capable of entering the top eight in the world. Even the ones newly promoted were considered decent domestically, but internationally, they not only lacked the technical advantages Shen Liu had in his time but also had ordinary performance scores. It was uncertain if they could assist Zhang Jun.

However, international judges tended to underscore Asian athletes from time to time. If Zhang Jun couldn’t establish a technical advantage, winning a medal in the adult group of the World Championships would be an impossible task.

Zhang Jun showed no expression upon hearing the set goals by the leaders. He simply nodded obediently. However, Zhang Junbao, who overheard the conversation, felt immense pressure.

The country’s strength in winter sports was limited, but the authorities always set goals. For instance, how many gold and silver medals to bring back. Sometimes, it wasn’t that the leaders wanted to pressure the athletes, but they had greater leadership demanding results from them, and only then could budgets be approved.

Since the first half of this year, after Jin Meng and Yao Lan retired, Zhang Jun has become the athlete prominently promoted by the Sports Bureau in winter sports. Fans of figure skating could clearly sense that he was consistently placed in the most prominent position in ice shows, and he received top-notch resources in the winter sports field.

But when these resources were given out, it was for Zhang Jun to achieve results!

“Coach Song and Leader Sun are under a lot of pressure. Little Jue says he’s fine, but I can see that he’s now trapped in the dilemma of insufficient strength. How can I not be anxious? What if this kid is just not saying it out loud, but he’s holding onto these concerns in his heart, affecting his competition state?!”

Zhang Junbao thought about the whole situation. Normally, when the leaders only gave goals, he wouldn’t be so anxious. After all, there were goals every year, and not every one of them had to be achieved. The higher-ups also couldn’t do much for them.

But this time, the resources were given first. The promotion efforts for figure skating were even increased, warming up for the Winter Olympics, and then the demands were raised. Even Leader Sun felt the pressure.

Bang! Zhang Jun fell again.

Shen Liu looked at Zhang Jun calmly getting up, patted Zhang Junbao’s shoulder.

“Senior brother, I know you care about Zhang Jun, but he’s not that fragile. You have to believe in him.”

Zhang Junbao shook his head. “Now I understand how much pressure you had in this position back then.”

Being the only seedling in the country was not easy. While everyone cherished it, it also meant that this lone seedling had to bear all the pressure alone.

 

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