When Zhang Junbao woke up, he saw Zhang Jue’s darkened face.

The little guy placed a bowl of mung bean soup heavily in front of him, looking fierce: “Hurry up and drink!”

“Hey, is this the way to talk to your old uncle?”

Zhang Junbao knew he had drunk too much last night, and his nephew was probably not happy. At this moment, he felt a bit guilty, but he didn’t want to show weakness in front of the younger generation. He drank the mung bean soup and placed the bowl on the bedside table without much effort. He could sense that Zhang Jue was really angry now.

After finishing the soup, Zhang Junbao didn’t dare to get out of bed. He sat cross-legged lazily, and Zhang Jue silently stared at him with those clear eyes for quite a while. Just when Zhang Junbao was thinking of calling Shen Liu to salvage the situation, Zhang Jue sighed.

“Stop drinking in the future, or I’m afraid I won’t be able to celebrate your seventieth birthday.”

In the past life, he hadn’t even managed to attend his uncle’s fiftieth birthday, as Zhang Junbao passed away when he was around forty. Despite having a youthful face in his thirties, he was tormented by cancer for several years, turning into a skinny old man, completely unattractive.

The child looked at his uncle with red eyes: “I still want to crash your eightieth birthday when you’re in your sixties. You must give me a chance to take care of you until then, okay?”

Seeing the watery eyes of the child, Zhang Junbao, who initially wanted to brush off the matter, suddenly felt uneasy. Zhang Jue was a tough cookie everyone knew; he could keep smiling even after a fall during training. Zhang Junbao had never seen him genuinely scared or shed tears, not even when he lost a tooth due to a nasty domestic helper in his youth.

Now, the child’s eyes turned red, and Zhang Junbao immediately pledged, swearing not to touch a drop of alcohol for the rest of his life.

Zhang Jue immediately wiped away his tears, patting his thigh: “Alright, you said it, and I’ll remember.”

Zhang Junbao had a feeling that he had been tricked.

He coughed: “Okay, let’s stop here. Don’t talk about taking care of me in my old age. I have a pension, and if all else fails, I’ll have kids in the future. Don’t be fooled by my single status until now, if I want to find a partner, I can.”

Zhang Jue thought, you said the same thing in the past life, and you ended up being single until death, a lifelong virgin who even felt shy in the bathhouse. He was slim and delicate, when he draped a towel, it made his buttocks more prominent. Looking around, there wasn’t a single person with a better physique.

But without his big nephew being a third wheel, not drinking alcohol, having a successful career as a coach, and possibly meeting someone who adored daddy types in the last two years, Zhang Junbao might really get out of his single status.

After all, every time they went abroad for commercial performances together in the past two years, as soon as Zhang Junbao appeared, whistles were heard everywhere. Whether anyone wanted to date Zhang Junbao, Zhang Jue didn’t know, but there must be quite a few who wanted to sleep with him!

Zhang Junbao didn’t know what was going on in his eldest nephew’s mind. He changed the subject.

“Did you have fun with Maquen?”

Zhang Jue: “Yes, he said that when the off-season comes, he hopes to bring his ‘Romance on the Ice’ to China for a performance. He should be quite popular in the Chinese market.”

Zhang Junbao nodded: “He is that kind of person. He’s sincere when making friends, but he also tries to gain some benefits through friendship. Don’t worry, his character is still good. Apart from being a playboy who dates around the skating world after reaching adulthood and loves partying in nightclubs, he doesn’t have any major flaws. Just don’t learn those bad habits from him.”

Shen Liu’s evaluation of Maquen was that he hung out with playboys, but his personality was pleasant. He had good manners and emotional intelligence. Being friends, business partners, or even lovers with him wouldn’t be unpleasant. So, making friends with him wasn’t a bad thing.

Although Zhang Jue was a bear, he was a reliable kid in Zhang Junbao’s heart. Zhang Junbao gave a few instructions and felt reassured.

With his mind at ease, Zhang Junbao lay down on the bed, rolled a couple of times, and lay down, burying his head, muttering: “Oh, I drank too much last night. My head hurts. Who changed my clothes?”

He was wearing a crocodile-pattern coral fleece pajama, matching Zhang Jue’s set, which was a parent-child style. It was particularly comfortable, but Zhang Jue probably didn’t have the strength to change the clothes for his 68-kilogram uncle.

Zhang Jue: “Brother Shen changed your clothes for you. I prepared hot water for you to wash. Otherwise, you’d smell too strong. If your head hurts, should I give you a massage?”

Holding the bowl of mung bean soup, Zhang Jue entered without an extra hand to close the door. At this moment, Shen Liu pushed the door, and he saw Zhang Jue massaging Zhang Junbao’s head. Zhang Junbao kept asking for more pressure, showing a visibly satisfied expression.

Shen Liu smiled and said: “Senior brother, little Jue, I brought breakfast for you.”

Zhang Junbao lazily responded: “Hmm.”

Zhang Jue noticed that, whether in this life or the previous one, his old uncle still couldn’t speak standard Mandarin for at least 24 hours after drinking too much.

In the afternoon, the competition officially began. Zhang Jue, as the last skater in the first group, was brought to the ice rink early. Zhang Junbao sat on a chair, leaning against the backrest, watching Zhang Jue warm up with little enthusiasm.

Not far away, Maquen performed a triple Axel on land, landing smoothly on the ice. However, Shen Liu had informed them that Maquen was notorious for his mistakes in the triple Axel. Over the years, his competitions could be summarized as “win when the triple Axel is successful, get a silver medal when it fails.”

This was related to Maquen severe back injury during training when he was young. Jumping the triple Axel caused him back pain. Last year, when he won against Vasili in the World Championships, he performed with a sealed back.

By age, he was not young in the senior division. The reason he remained active was also that there were no successors. Once he retired, there would be no Italian male skater in the top competitions.

Being a lone seedling wasn’t easy, and this applied to anyone.

The adult group competitions were naturally more lively than the junior group. Even in the warm-up room, applause could still be heard from the arena.

Due to the presence of Maquen and Helena, the attendance rate at the American station reached an impressive seventy-five percent, which was considered good in the figure skating arena.

Shen Liu said: “If little Jue participates in the Chinese stop, the attendance rate on the competition stage will definitely be even higher than here.”

If the competition were in the northeast, it was estimated that the number of people coming to watch the spokesperson for China skating would fill the venue.

Zhang Junbao replied: “Talking about this now is useless. Applying for the Chinese stop is something for next year.”

After a while, Zhang Jue heard the name of Choi Jung-soo and immediately ran out, standing in the waiting area with a good view, watching the 1.63-meter-tall South Korean skater take the stage.

His coach still had that bulky and seemingly stern appearance. Before the athlete took the stage, not a word was spoken, and the athlete’s water bottle was casually placed on the ground.

Fortunately, Choi Jung-soo didn’t seem to mind. Although he was short, his proportions were good, his face was cute, and his costume was exquisite.

Shen Liu pressed his shoulder and said: “He’s skating ‘Turandot’ this year. The music choice is good, but he collides with Maquen in terms of music. Hopefully, he can perform well, otherwise, it will be awkward later.”

Colliding with music wasn’t terrifying, it would only be embarrassing for whoever looked less appealing.

Thinking about it, Zhang Jue always choosing his own music was actually good. This guy had impeccable taste in music. Even if his technical performance went awry, his artistic performance never faltered. He rarely collided with others in terms of music, and even if he did, he wasn’t afraid of embarrassment.

Shen Liu was right, Choi Jung-soo didn’t have significant technical advantages. His highest difficulty jumps were 3A+2T and a solo 3A, yet his expressive abilities remained as plain as still water. In this situation, the audience wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about his performance, only applauding when his jumps were successful.

Nevertheless, Choi Jung-soo was consistently steady. Despite the low jump difficulty, he rarely made mistakes. After his performance, he successfully secured the second position in the current total points ranking.

There weren’t many strong contenders in this leg of the competition, and with the final group yet to perform, it was expected that Choi Jung-soo would comfortably enter the top ten.

Interestingly, Zhang Jue spotted Saren sitting in the front row of the audience. It seemed like these two had already established a connection.

During his exit, Choi Jung-soo’s coach picked up the drink from the ground and handed it to him. Choi Jung-soo, without complaint, opened the bottle and took a sip.

Next up was the Belgian skater, David.

Before the Sochi Olympics, figure skating lost two notable athletes: Shiratsuka Masako and David Bisoli.

Shiratsuka Masako disappeared due to illness but David’s case couldn’t be blamed on anyone but himself. Being an extreme sports enthusiast, as Zhang Jue overheard during dinner conversations yesterday, David went rock climbing before the competition and almost fell. If it weren’t for his teammates grabbing his wrist, he wouldn’t have participated in this competition, let alone still be alive.

David Bisoli, with a quiet and delicate appearance but a wild and unrestrained heart, was him.

He was also a cave diving enthusiast. Later, he tragically drowned while volunteering to rescue a group of children trapped in a cave during a summer camp. Despite all this, he was remembered as a good person.

After another skater took the stage, the ice was repaired by the staff.

This continued for a while until it was Zhang Jue’s turn.

The young skater took off his jacket, revealing the purple and black Kostorna he wore underneath. His left side was made of velvety purple material, transitioning to deep purple at the abdomen and turning into white as it reached the shoulders.

On the right side, it was deep black, but as it reached the right shoulder and arm, it turned into a semi-transparent black veil. There was a shallow V-neck at the back, making it look even more elegant.

Corresponding to this Kostorna was a pair of sheer gloves, purple on the left and a black veil on the right. Both the gloves and the Kostorna were adorned with numerous water crystals, resembling a galaxy spread across.

According to Huang Ying’s words, Zhang Jue had a magpie aesthetic, particularly fond of shiny and glittery things.

He lightly jumped and twirled on the ice with the assistance of his coach. Turning around, Zhang Junbao approached and gave him a gentle push forward.

At this moment, Jiang Chaosheng spoke into the microphone: “Now on the stage is the reigning champion of last year’s Youth Grand Prix Finals, the champion of the World Junior Championships, and the holder of three junior world records in men’s singles from our country, 15-year-old rising star, Zhang Jue.”

“Earlier, he made his adult debut at the Autumn Cup in Canada, winning a silver medal. The champion was Martin, a French skater. Now, this is Zhang Jue’s second adult competition, and he will be performing his short program, ‘Adios Nonino,’ a tango composed by Piazzolla.”

Zhao Ning added: “Yes, Zhang Jue is one of the best dancers among the male singers in China. He has achieved almost a professional level in ballet and dabbles in other dance forms. His musical sense is exceptional, and every year, he challenges different styles, making his performances highly anticipated.”

 

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