In the Magong Stadium, which could accommodate tens of thousands of people, coaches, athletes, staff, and reporters from about 18 different countries were bustling through the backstage corridors.

This was the 2012-2013 Grand Prix China event, and it was November 2, 2012.

Fan Zhaoying was stretching in a corner while Shi Mosheng sat next to him. They exchanged a glance and noticed they both had a banana.

Shi Mosheng smiled and said: “The coach gave it to me.”

Fan Zhaoying sighed: “Yes, now a lot of figure skaters in the country have to eat a banana before the competition. Some even jump rope. The coach says bananas can replenish energy and improve my stamina.”

Shi Mosheng looked helpless: “They all crave Zhang Jue’s stamina, which allows him to perform most of his jumps in the second half of his routine with a 1.1x base score multiplier. But it’s not just a matter of a couple of bananas.”

When H Province TV was making a documentary about Zhang Jue, they mentioned that Zhang Jue’s mother, who was in her thirties and not usually an exerciser, could still run 3,000 meters nonstop to catch a thief. So, Zhang Jue’s stamina is likely a great gift from his parents.

But that being said, not just them, even North American genius Arthur Cohen eats a banana before competitions. Additionally, in the past two years, many skaters have started raising their arms during jumps, it’s become a trend in the industry.

After all, no matter how much the North American skating community hypes Arthur Cohen as a prodigy, in terms of actual performance, Zhang Jue is the most competitive among the young skaters who emerged during the Sochi cycle.

In his first year in the junior group, he won the Junior World Championships against Hayato Teraoka and Ilya Safchenko. In his second year, he broke records and then, as soon as he entered the senior group, he defeated Maquen at a station competition, also bringing fame to choreographers Francis Miller and Mia Rosiyabayeva, who were not well-known before.

Oh, and he not only makes choreographers famous, but his coach also regained popularity after retirement. The uncle-nephew duo went abroad for commercial performances, signing autographs non-stop, making them the top earners among domestic figure skaters.
Don’t you see, as soon as his competition posters go on presale, they sell out within an hour? Fans buy up his handheld fans, keychains, pencil cases, endorsed skates, sportswear, milk… It’s all money!

If Zhang Jue weren’t Zhang Junbao’s biological nephew, and everyone knew that poaching him was impossible, other coaches would have tried to snatch him a long time ago.

Shi Mosheng continued: “Jin Zixuan is allergic to bananas. It’s a pity he’s not here this time. Otherwise, we could watch him envy us eating bananas.”
Their spots at the China event were determined by the test competition results. Zhang Jue was undoubtedly the first, but he didn’t apply for the China event. So, the second place Dong Xiaolong, third place Fan Zhaoying, and fourth place Shi Mosheng came instead.

Jin Zixuan missed out on another major event opportunity because he made a mistake on a 3A during the competition.

Talking about Jin Zixuan, Fan Zhaoying and Shi Mosheng had mixed feelings. Before Zhang Jue’s rise, Jin Zixuan was definitely the most outstanding in their generation, but he always faltered at critical moments.

Since the burden of being the top skater was taken up by the shorter Zhang Jue, even veteran Dong Xiaolong felt relieved and performed exceptionally in the test competition. Yet, little Jin still seemed under immense pressure.

Comparing him to H Province’s Zhang Jue, who dared to face world champion Maquen head-on, Jin Zixuan seemed like a typical fragile heart.

Fan Zhaoying shrugged: “He’s always been like this. He’s much better in the past two years, at least he can finish his program completely on the ice. When he was younger, he even cried halfway through his routine.”

Besides these wildcard skaters, Juventus, David Bisoli, Hayato Teraoka, and Maquen also participated in the China event. Unless there’s a surprise, Martin is expected to win.

The competition at the China event was not strong. There were no strong opponents Martin usually faced in world-class competitions. Even though the event hadn’t started yet, Martin’s gold medal seemed secure unless Hayato Teraoka could explode in performance like Zhang Jue against Maquen or Ilya challenging Vasily.
However, David Bisoli, the bronze medalist from the American event, could potentially earn a good ranking this time and compete for a spot in the finals.
Shamefully, without Zhang Jue, the other domestic skaters didn’t even have the confidence to win a medal at their home event.

“I heard the staff at the China event originally wanted to invite Zhang Jue for a performance skate, but Zhang Jue said he had to attend mid-term exams, so he didn’t come. I wonder what he’s doing now.”

“He’s probably studying. I remember he’s at a very famous top high school in H Province, so his academic workload should be heavy.”

They speculated about their top skater’s daily routine, not knowing that Zhang Jue had no exam pressure at all. After finishing his homework and studying, he reported to the ice rink on time every day.

Since the American event ended, Zhang Jue resumed his daily grind with the quadruple toe loop, the 4T.

When he first started practicing quadruple jumps, he considered starting with the 4T since he had Shen Liu, a 4T textbook, by his side. However, after realizing that his toe jump talent was only a third of his edge jump talent, he decisively gave up.

But currently, his 4S entirely depends on rotational speed. If his rotational speed decreased one day, this jump could be lost. With this faint premonition, Zhang Jue never gave up on the 4T.

Then, at the start of this season, Zhang Jue felt he was finally seeing a glimmer of hope in mastering the 4T.

His uncle’s muscle training finally paid off. Now, Zhang Jue could jump 60 centimeters high on the ice and barely land it, with Shen Liu providing significant help.

On the ice, after some gliding, Zhang Jue planted his left toe, his slender body leaped and rotated in the air, landing with his blade hitting the ice heavily, scattering ice chips.

Zhang Jue spread his arms, using all his strength to stabilize his body. Shen Liu, standing in his skates nearby, looked like he had witnessed an avalanche.

“Your landing was a disaster.”

Zhang Junbao estimated: “The rotation should be around 1400 degrees, but the landing was poor.”

Shen Liu extended his hand: “Come on, Zhang Jue, take my hand.”

Zhang Jue obediently placed his hand in Shen Liu’s, and Shen Liu swung his arm, spinning the kid in place, allowing Zhang Jue to jump a 1T on the spot.

“Did you feel it? When rotating, you not only need to tighten your upper body but also exert force.”

Zhang Jue frowned: “I did exert force, really.”

Song Cheng added: “I think it’s still a core strength issue. Zhang Jue’s body stability isn’t enough for toe jumps, so being able to stand is due to his exceptional body coordination and nerve response.”

This kid couldn’t land the 4T steadily, relying on his quick body reactions to force his body into a stable position as soon as his blade touched the ice.

Zhang Junbao took notes: “He’s now relying on talent to land the 4T, but he still needs to practice. Most skaters find 4T easier, struggling with 4S, but ours can manage 4S and find 4T extremely difficult. It’s peculiar.”

Shen Liu nodded: “Yes, we must continue to strengthen his power training. If he keeps forcing his landings like this, his knees will eventually have problems.”

At that moment, Zhang Jue coughed a few times while covering his throat. Zhang Junbao waved him over and held his chin.

“Lift your head, open your mouth.”

Zhang Jue obediently said: “Ah——”

“Your throat is a bit red. I remember you didn’t eat anything too spicy, so why is it like this? Your voice also sounds strange, like a female contralto who sings rock.”
Zhang Junbao muttered as he pulled out a mint throat lozenge and popped it into the child’s mouth.

Shen Liu patted Zhang Jue’s head: “After all, the kid is starting to grow. Look, Zhang Jue hardly grew for half a year, and now he’s almost 159 cm. Round that up to 160 cm.”

As they chatted, the three coaches sent Zhang Jue to practice compulsory figures, then began to place bets on how tall Zhang Jue would grow. Zhang Junbao insisted his kid would reach 170 cm, while Shen Liu thought 168 cm at most.

The two argued for a bit before deciding that the loser would give the winner fifty bucks and wear a sailor suit while calling the other “brother.”

Song Cheng laughed: “Actually if Zhang Jue grows to 180 cm, he’d look perfect. He’s too pretty, without the height, he looks like a celestial beauty.”

Zhang Junbao retorted: “You must be joking. We don’t have genes for over 180 cm in our family. If Zhang Jue reaches 170 cm, I’ll thank the heavens.”

Besides, if he grew that tall, his aerial rotation speed would be shot, and the 4S would be useless.

Shen Liu laughed: “If he grows that tall, I’ll give you a hundred.”

Zhang Junbao replied: “If he grows that tall, I’ll give two hundred.”

Zhang Jue drew geometric patterns on the ice with his skates, followed by his junior disciples.

Apart from the senior disciple Cha Hanbuhua, there was Min Shan, a 12-year-old female singles skater, and Jiang Yihong, an 11-year-old male singles skater. Zhang Junbao had discovered these talents during the figure skating exams this year, and their parents promptly sent them to the provincial team upon learning that Zhang Junbao wanted to take them as disciples.

Min Shan, a fair and delicate girl, complained to Zhang Jue: “Senior brother, practicing compulsory figures is so boring.”
Jiang Yihong adjusted his glasses and nodded in agreement.

Zhang Jue gently coaxed: “Even if it’s boring, you still need to practice. Practicing compulsory figures can improve your skating skills, which is important in competitions. I was impatient with this when I was young and, coupled with a four-year break, my skating foundation deteriorated a lot, and now my step sequences can’t get to level 4.”

Cha Hanbuhua tilted his head: “But I think your skating is great, senior brother. It’s very moving.”

“That’s performance ability, not the same as skating. My footwork is actually poor. The level 3 ratings I get are all thanks to the choreographer’s excellent step sequences that make up for my technical shortcomings.”

Zhang Jue never hesitated to admit his flaws. He patiently trained his junior disciples on the ice, setting a good example as the senior disciple.

After training, Min Shan offered him some milk candy.

But then, her stash of White Rabbit milk candies was confiscated by Zhang Junbao.

The coach held the bag high and scolded loudly: “What’s the matter with you? I told you no snacking! How do you expect to figure skate and eat milk candies?”

Min Shan, a girl who loved sweets, looked at her candies drifting further away and immediately became anxious.

She stood on tiptoe to reach them: “Coach, you’re so mean. Give them back, or I won’t like you anymore.”

Zhang Junbao replied: “I don’t care if you don’t like me. No candies means no candies!”

Min Shan said: “I really won’t like you anymore and will throw away your new swimsuit poster!”

There was a moment of silence. Zhang Jue, sipping milk and watching the commotion, turned to stare at her in shock.

Wasn’t that poster just released yesterday and only displayed in the store? Where did she get it?

Min Shan realized she had said something she shouldn’t have and bolted. Zhang Junbao, with a reaction that made one feel both pity and amusement, instinctively grabbed her by the collar, a blush of embarrassment on his face.

“Min Shan! What are you up to?”

Good grief, he thought dealing with one mischievous kid, Zhang Jue, was enough, but now even his new female disciple was proving to be a handful!

The girl, feeling the tight grip on her neck and seeing Zhang Junbao’s robust arm, quickly caved.

Stammering, she explained: “It-it wasn’t me who took the poster. Li Xiaoya and Wang Qianqian from the judo team brought it back to admire. I just borrowed it for a day, or I’d tell on them.”

Everyone else thought: This girl is lucky she’s not a spy, her colleagues would all be exposed within a day.

It wasn’t a big deal, so Zhang Junbao didn’t take it too seriously. But he was curious. After retrieving the poster, he looked at himself in swim trunks, goggles on his forehead, standing coolly in the pool with water and sunlight on his body, and puzzledly asked Zhang Jue and Shen Liu.

“Hey, isn’t it strange? I have a good figure, but my face is just average, and I’m not tall. What’s so special about this poster?”

Zhang Jue glanced subtly at the water droplets on his uncle’s collarbone, the muscular chest, the pink… and the six-pack abs, as well as the long limbs contrasting the short torso.

Also, his uncle had this magic where, despite being short, he had great proportions, with long limbs making him appear 5 cm taller.

Shen Liu stared at the face that could be called the Eastern Tom Cruise’s handsome baby face.

Zhang Junbao, if you’re honest, how can you say you look average anywhere besides your height?

Seeing neither of them respond, Zhang Junbao sighed, turned the car key, and the old Jinbei van let out a strange noise like an old man wheezing.

“Forget it. Let’s get little Jue home to sleep. It’s already nine. Shen Liu, after dropping him off, let’s get some skewers. My treat.”

Zhang Jue, holding a crocodile plush toy, pouted.

When he retires, he’s going to eat skewers until he’s full at a night market!

The kid warned them: “No drinking! Brother Shen please watch my uncle.”

Zhang Junbao reluctantly agreed: “Fine, I won’t drink.”

His uncle, kept off alcohol by Zhang Jue, could only eat meat to vent his frustration but never really drank behind Zhang Jue’s back. He was very obedient.

Of course, his obedience came with conditions, such as Zhang Jue going to bed promptly after getting home, not staying up late writing songs for Xu Dela.

Though the kid had studied vocal music from a young age, learned guitar somehow, and even showed his ability to rearrange and prepare competition music this season, Zhang Junbao still believed that with his rudimentary skills, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t produce a hit song. It would be better to sleep and train well during the day.

Besides, Xu Dela only studied drumming with a college rock band’s drummer and wasn’t an official member, so there was no need for Zhang Jue to write songs for him.

At the 703 Hospital in the capital, Lan Kun entered a ward to find a man who looked exactly like him hiding a can of beer in the bedside table.

He sneered coldly: “What are you hiding? If you have the guts, keep drinking until you end up in the ground like our dad.”

Lan Jin handed the beer can to his younger brother, annoyed: “This is my only hobby.”

Lan Kun got angry seeing him like this and scolded him without hesitation: “Don’t you ever think about how much trouble this drinking has caused you? If you hadn’t been drinking and beating your wife back then, would Sister Yan have taken little Jue and divorced you? Would I have ended up in the hospital thanks to Zhang Junbao hitting me with a brick?”

“Lan Jin, I’m warning you, the doctor already said that we have a family history of sudden death. Drinking only increases the risk. You need to quit smoking, drinking, and staying up late! And stop going out drinking with Bai Suqing. If it weren’t for his son finding you in time, you’d be dead by now!”

He lectured for a long time without hearing a response. When he looked over, he saw that Lan Jin had already fallen asleep.

Lan Kun, fuming, reluctantly tucked him in, muttering angrily: “I must owe you something.”

Ever since Sister Yan left, his brother’s reckless behavior had only gotten worse, and no one had been able to control him.

This time, after Zhang Jue won the U.S. competition, Lan Jin watched the match and then dragged his friend out for dinner and drinks. Halfway through, they got into an argument, and Lan Jin grabbed a broom and started fighting. Although he won the fight, the alcohol, intense exercise, and unhealthy lifestyle took their toll, causing Lan Jin to collapse, clutching his chest.

Lan Kun sat for a long time, contemplating whether to ask Bai Suqing for Zhang Jue’s contact information to call the kid over, but he felt too ashamed to disturb him.
He sighed internally: “Little Jue and Junbao get along well, and he’s in the middle of the season now. I can’t disrupt his life and affect his mental state.”
After some thought, he made a phone call.

“Lan Run, your uncle is in the hospital, at 703. If you’re not too busy, come visit him every day… It’s a heart problem, runs in the family… Don’t worry, you’re young. As long as you don’t stay up all night or get too exhausted, it shouldn’t be an issue.

Lan Run chuckled bitterly: “Dad, I’m a bassist in a rock band. Night performances are normal. My boss is starting a business, and I have to play more gigs to help him make money. Now that you mention it, I’m afraid to even go to work.”

Lan Kun walked out of the hospital room, frowning: “Take care of yourself. How’s work going? If I had known you’d be this exhausted, I wouldn’t have let you learn rock from your uncle. For him, it was just a hobby, but you’ve turned it into a career. Rock music in this country… sigh.”

Lan Run leaned against the wall: “I’m doing fine. Don’t worry, I’ll visit Uncle often.”

After hanging up, he crouched down, his temples throbbing with pain.

The boss of Fengming Company was a kind, wealthy second-generation individual, and the band members worked hard, but as the core member who formed the band and helped establish the company’s management, Lan Run knew they were in a tough spot.

Their band lacked original songs. How far could they go by only covering others’ songs? The boss tried to get songs for them, but those with real talent didn’t take them seriously. The few songs they managed to get were snatched by the rival company’s “god” Yuan Qin.

Lan Run murmured: “Hey, isn’t it tough for any startup? You just have to grit your teeth and get through it.”

He couldn’t stand Yuan Qin, who thought hitting a high note made him the new king of Chinese rock, acting like Chinese rock was dead and everyone should bow to him.

Lan Run would not bow, he would not accept the chaotic personal life of Yuan Qin, nor would he accept any shady deals, no matter how difficult these choices made his life. Lan Run would take it all!

But for the sake of his health, Lan Run decided that while working hard, he would also reduce his late nights and soak some goji berries in water.

 

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