“Next up is Zhang Jue from the H Province team.”

When Zhang Jue’s name was announced over the broadcast, he slapped his arms and patted his thighs. A girl in the audience couldn’t help but scream. He turned around, smiled casually, and placed his index finger over his lips. The young girl immediately covered her mouth with both hands. Her fan fell to the ground with a soft thud, and she didn’t want to bend down to pick it up, her eyes fixed on the handsome young man on the ice.

The camera zoomed in, and Chen Sijia, watching on TV, gaped in disbelief.

“Zhang… Zhang Jue?”

Wait, was this Zhang Jue? Just over a month ago, he was the most adorable figure skater that Liu Mengcheng had held up in front of the camera! Now, who was this aloof and cool-looking fairy prince on the ice?

Father Chen adjusted his glasses, equally stunned: “Is this Zhang Jue?”

The sensations everyone experienced during the national team training camp were replayed by many ice fans during the six-minute warm-up. Of course, some sharp-eyed fans had already noticed Zhang Jue’s huge transformation during Min Shan’s performance, but seeing him skate onto the ice in his costume still made them rub their eyes in disbelief.

How could someone change so much with only a 5-centimeter height difference?

Qin Xuejun heard someone behind him say in a trembling voice: “The number one beauty in Chinese figure skating is gone.”

Another person firmly disagreed: “No, a handsome guy is still a handsome guy. Our country beauty is still here!”

Qin Xuejun found this oddly comprehensible. He looked at Zhang Jue’s figure on the ice, pursed his lips, and couldn’t find a rebuttal.

He quietly took out a crocodile sticker from his pocket and stuck it on his forehead, with the words “Victory” on his face. It was clear he was a dedicated fan of Zhang Jue.

But soon, when “Goodbye Nonnino” started playing, no one could take their eyes off Zhang Jue.

As expected, Zhang Jue didn’t perform the surrounding jumps in the short program, but the now more mature youth brought a new charm to the tango.
He seemed to recite a poem through this dance.

Even if someone took my legs,

Took away my dance,

Took away my language and memories,

I would not forget that I loved you.

This “Goodbye Nonnino” felt like a sorrowful farewell.

What was most surprising was that Zhang Jue not only delivered a stunning performance but also made no technical mistakes.

Even though he didn’t use the hand-raising technique, this performance was already sufficient for his coaches to be satisfied.

Sun Qian looked at him and said: “Recovering to this level in just three days is truly remarkable.”

Among all the competitors, Zhang Jue was still the most reliable and stable choice for the national team.

When Zhang Jue left the ice, whether it was Jin Zixuan’s illusion or not, he seemed quite desolate, but he quickly perked up, put on his blade covers, donned his jacket, and walked to the kiss & cry area with a coach’s shoulder, even finding time to make a heart gesture to the camera.

Fan Zhaoying suddenly sighed: “If he hadn’t been held back by his growth and injuries, even if you did surrounding jumps clean, you wouldn’t win against him.”

Jin Zixuan clenched his fists and retorted: “I admit he’s amazing, but there’s no need to deify him. I won’t give up on fighting for the championship just because he’s strong.”

After saying that, the young man quickened his pace toward the ice.

Shi Mosheng nudged Fan Zhaoying with his arm and teased: “Hey, are you deliberately provoking him?”

Fan Zhaoying smiled slightly: “I just can’t stand seeing him, with such good health and top talent, still looking so timid on the ice. If only we had another outstanding male skater in our generation, would that injured guy still need to hold on so desperately?”

He pointed his thumb at Zhang Jue and leaned closer to Shi Mosheng’s ear: “When Coach Ma was the assistant coach at the training camp, he attended the meeting with Coach Sun. The higher-ups said that this year’s figure skating men’s singles must bring back at least two spots from the World Championships. If Jin Zixuan doesn’t perform well, Zhang Jue might need to take another round of injections.”

Getting two injections within six months was considered a reckless approach to one’s athletic career. The higher-ups had set this goal, and failing to meet it would affect the budget for figure skating next year. Coach Sun must also be under significant pressure.

However, having two spots meant that at least one person needed to finish in the top ten at the World Championships. Apart from Zhang Jue, who else in the country could confidently guarantee a top-ten finish? Unless Jin Zixuan, known for his inconsistency, could stabilize his 4T, achieving clean short programs and free skates at the World Championships was still a challenge.

At this moment, the audience erupted in cheers.

They looked up at the big screen and saw that Zhang Jue had scored 87.5, the highest score of the entire event, with his 3A, 3lz+3T, and 3F combinations.

Zhang Jue’s technical score was 44.6, and his program component score was 42.9. Interestingly, no one, including Zhang Jue’s competitors, thought that such a high program score was unfair. After all, it was well known that the top skater often faced lower scores for presentation, so a fair score at home was understandable.

The maximum program component score for a men’s short program was 50, and Zhang Jue’s performance was worth 42.9, leaving 7.1 points to the full score. The judges didn’t think they had given him any preferential treatment.

Ice fans were thrilled with the high score. In the front row, a group of young girls wearing pig hats stood up in unison, waving a huge crocodile banner and shouting Zhang Jue’s name. Zhang Jue stood up and waved back at them, and the excited girls quieted down, playfully hushing each other in a cute manner.

In terms of popularity, Zhang Jue was also number one, with almost all the female ice fans at the venue coming just for him. After seeing Zhang Jue’s new image, many of them showed maternal or sisterly affection.

Shi Mosheng looked at Jin Zixuan’s back as he pounded his thigh and said helplessly: “To be honest, if I were a leader, after seeing Zhang Jue’s performance, I wouldn’t want to place my bets on anyone else.”

Zhang Jue’s performance could be praised as art. Their performance, before Coach Zhang’s refinement, was like a radio gymnastics routine, and after refinement, it became a graceful radio gymnastics routine. It wasn’t that they hadn’t improved; it was just that a month’s training time was too short, and Coach Zhang, being the jumping coach at the training camp, didn’t have time to give them performance lessons.

Fan Zhaoying had only made progress in performance by knocking on Coach Zhang’s door after training and shamelessly requesting tips.

He thought to himself that after this season ends, he should find an opportunity to further study with Coach Zhang during the off-season.

Not to mention, his landing technique was still not perfected.

After checking his score, Zhang Jue stood at the side of the rink and watched Jin Zixuan’s short program.

The only candidate who could compete with him from China chose “The Last Emperor” as his short program music this season. Although nicknamed “The Wind Machine,” Jin Zixuan performed with great energy today, landing 4T, 3A, and 3F+3T, earning his first full applause in his career.

However, due to the weaker program component score, he ended up with 84.71, placing behind Zhang Jue. Nonetheless, this was Jin Zixuan’s career-highest score.
The young man jumped up excitedly in the kiss & cry area, hugged Coach Qiao, and then turned to look for Zhang Jue. He happened to see Zhang Jue turning to leave the venue as if Jin Zixuan’s best performance was insignificant in his eyes.

At this moment, a strong sense of unwillingness surged within Jin Zixuan.

Meanwhile, Zhang Jue left the crowded performance venue and found a chair in the backstage area. Yang Zhiyuan squatted in front of him, applying an ice pack to his knee.

“Is it your knee that’s hurting?”

Zhang Jue winced and smiled bitterly: “Yes, fortunately, it’s not the bursitis kind of pain, just growing pains.”

Yang Zhiyuan patted his knee: “Growing 5 centimeters in a month and training intensely in the past three days, if you’re not in pain, who else would be? Be thankful for the heavens favor, it’s a miracle you didn’t get any growth marks with such rapid growth.”

Zhang Junbao proudly gave a thumbs-up: “That’s because I reminded Zhang Jue to use body lotion.”

At this moment, the old uncle completely forgot that the person who reminded him was actually the unlucky younger brother who had caused Zhang Jue’s rapid growth.

The guilty party was panting heavily: “Damn, Zhang Junbao finally left. I didn’t dare take off my mask while he was around.”

Lan Run said helplessly: “So, why are you afraid of Coach Zhang? It was my dad who got his face smashed into a square by bricks.”

Lan Jin responded seriously: “You don’t understand. Although Zhang Junbao never hit me with bricks, his sister threw a folding stool, a dining table, a knife, and a TV at me. When we divorced, I signed a guarantee that I would never disturb little Jue again. If he found out I broke the promise and called his sister in a fit of anger, I would be finished.”

Lan Run: “…”

After being beaten so badly, you never even thought of quitting drinking. If I were Aunt Qingyan, I wouldn’t want you to get close to little Jue either.

However, little Jue left right after watching Jin Zixuan’s performance and didn’t stay to watch the other performances. Though they had never interacted much, Lan Run had watched all of little Jue past competitions and knew that this cousin, who was only two years younger, was very respectful of his opponents. He would always, as a matter of etiquette, watch the competitions in the athletes’ rest area unless there were special circumstances.

Recalling the rumors about Little Jue injuries, Lan Run felt a bit worried.

Unlike his uncle, who retired due to excessive fighting, Lan Run’s father retired from injuries in a legitimate manner. Even now, he still complains of knee and ankle pain on rainy days, and Lan Run wondered how Little Jue was doing.

Qin Xuejun, sitting behind them, felt that something was off.

After Zhang Jue finished his ice pack treatment, Yang Zhiyuan asked: “Can you still manage the free skate?”

Zhang Jue winced as he held his shoulder: “No problem, but I need two more patches. I might have fallen too hard yesterday, and now my shoulder almost won’t lift. It even made me hesitant to raise my hand during the competition.”

For Zhang Jue, raising his hand was a technique that helped stabilize his jump axis. Not being able to use it, he always felt like the axis was about to go out of control during his jumps.

The first day of the national championships ended. Min Shan, in the junior category, ranked second in the women’s short program.

Zhang Jue remained as dominant as ever, even without attempting a quadruple jump, and topped the men’s singles with a significant advantage in performance points.

 

Support translation: