According to the schedule, the order of the four figure skating events at the national championships was ice dance, women’s singles, men’s singles, and pairs. It was basically arranged according to the popularity of the events and their importance, with the more valued events appearing later.

For example, the men’s singles, before Zhang Jue performed, had always been the second event in figure skating, just better than ice dance. In recent years, its popularity has surpassed that of women’s singles and even showed signs of rivaling pairs skating.

Unfortunately, in domestic pairs skating, there were more than just Huang Ying and Guan Lin who could compete internationally. Although only the Huang-Guan pair had the strength to win medals, having multiple strong competitors made the event more exciting. In contrast, the men’s singles had only Zhang Jue standing out alone, so its level of excitement couldn’t compare to pair skating.

Zhang Jue strolled to the sidelines, pointed to the pairs skating team performing a throw triple Salchow, and asked Huang Ying: “Where are those kids from? Their technique is pretty good.”

Huang Ying was startled by the sudden voice, looked back, and sighed with relief: “Oh, it’s you. They are my and brother Lin junior students, named Feng Fei and She Sheng. They just entered the youth group this year.”

She looked at Zhang Jue and couldn’t help but say: “Why aren’t you warming up at the auxiliary rink for your free skate? Jin Zixuan went there to train early this morning, looking eager to beat you. I’m telling you, Jin Zixuan is pretty good. If you’re careless, you might actually lose.”

Zhang Jue helplessly replied: “Believe it or not, if I continue training now, my uncle would immediately submit a withdrawal request to the event organizers.”

“I’m going to play somewhere else. Good luck with your competition.” Huang Ying said, and Zhang Jue left.

Huang Ying wondered: “What was he here for?”

Guan Lin glanced at Zhang Jue’s retreating figure and understood: “He’s bored, so he’s probably just walking around to pass the time.”

After all, he was known for his boundless energy and physical strength. If he couldn’t practice on the ice and other intense activities were also prohibited, what else could he do but stroll around?

Zhang Jue then squatted down to watch his uncle style Min Shan’s hair into buns.

As a prominent student of Zhang’s, Min Shan’s short program this year was choreographed by Francis Miller, while her free skate: “Voice of the Island,” was choreographed by… Zhang Junbao.

Zhang Junbao, who had only choreographed exhibition programs for kids, had to choreograph a competition program for his disciple this year due to practical constraints.

It was well-known that choreographing was a time-consuming and costly task. Moreover, if the right choreographer wasn’t found, the athlete wouldn’t be able to perform the program well.

For example, Zhang Jue’s usual choreographer, Madam Mia, specialized in classical styles and was very selective about her collaborators. Few people were fortunate enough to catch her eye. Francis Miller frankly said his schedule was full, and he only agreed to choreograph Min Shan’s short program because of Zhang Jue.

In the end, Zhang Junbao rolled up his sleeves and did it himself.

Since Min Shan’s parents believed they didn’t understand figure skating, they left everything from training to costume design to the coach. Whatever the coach said, their daughter would follow. According to his straightforward taste, young girls should wear bright and eye-catching colors, so he arranged for Min Shan to wear a light yellow costume and styled her hair into two buns with yellow ribbons tied in bows.

Whether it was because the little girl was young and could pull off any look or because Zhang Junbao’s taste was exceptionally good this time, Min Shan looked quite good in the outfit.

The women’s singles free skate began.

“Xu Chuo, warm up properly.”

Upon hearing the coach’s reminder, Xu Chuo came to her senses but kept her eyes glued to the TV backstage.

Zhang Jue, still with his hair down and in sportswear, was leaning against the barrier holding a tissue box. The sound of cameras occasionally clicking, as he grew taller, made his striking handsomeness even more captivating.

On the screen, Min Shan extended her little hand, and Zhang Junbao and Shen Liu each held one, offering encouraging smiles and saying a few words. The little girl smiled confidently and nodded repeatedly.

So far, Min Shan’s highest difficulty combination was a 3L + 3TL. Although she nearly made a mistake in the short program, her jumping quality was actually very strong, especially her height, which was outstanding among the women’s singles.

Even though it was her first time on the national stage, Min Shan received great attention due to having a world-renowned genius senior. After the short program, she was praised by commentators as “a very talented girl.”

After watching her free skate, the commentators showered her with even more praise.

Zhao Ning said into the microphone: “Min Shan is a girl with excellent flexibility. Her spins are outstanding, and her performance is very spirited, with a playful charm that suits her age. I dare say that when Xu Chuo moves up to the senior group next year, Min Shan will take her place in the youth group and become the new rising star.”

Xu Chuo knew that Coach Zhao had previously suggested several times that athletes with a certain level of skill should join the national team for training to get more resources for growth. For example, Beijing’s Mi Yuanyuan and H Province’s Min Shan were considered. However, both athletes had strong attachments to their coaches and declined the national team’s invitation.

As she got older, Xu Chuo realized that Coach Zhao’s move to recruit her from the provincial team had a bit of an opportunistic element, but he had been dedicated in teaching her, so she couldn’t openly express dissatisfaction.

Moreover, her mother always hoped to develop a national team-level women’s singles skater and wanted her to become a second Chen Zhu. To this end, she sold the house back home to bring her here for training.

Sometimes, Xu Chuo felt like she was a tool smothered by love, deprived of a normal school life and social circle limited to coaches and teammates. Occasionally, she felt guilty for having such thoughts.

Continuing with Zhang Junbao was the right choice for Min Shan because Little Jue would eventually finish high school and, with his abilities, would surely get into a good university in Beijing. At that time, they would all join the national team, and Min Shan would naturally follow.

Her mother wrapped her sports bandages, saying: “Next year, you’ll move up to the senior group. According to Mi Yuanyuan’s level, she probably won’t make the top ten in this year’s World Championships. So, there will be only one Winter Olympic spot next year. Young Chuo, you don’t need to push yourself to the limit. It’s okay if you don’t win the championship or participate in this year’s World Junior Championships. Let’s prioritize protecting your knees.”

Xu Chuo whispered: “But I want to win.”

I want to win this national championship, and I want to win the World Junior Championships this year. I want to win every competition.

Her mother advised calmly: “Xiao Chuo, listen, the advice I give is best for you. I won’t harm you.”

But I made a promise to Qingzi; we agreed to compete again in the World Junior Championships!

She remembered the girl with the bob haircut who had shown her a bright and confident smile, saying: “You’re truly an amazing opponent. See you at the World Junior Championships. I won’t lose then.”

Her few close friends including Qingzi, and Xu Chuo really didn’t want to miss the chance to see her.

When Zhang Jue patted Min Shan’s head and was about to leave to warm up, Zhang Junbao stopped him.

“Warming up too early will consume too much energy. Let’s watch the youth group performances before leaving.”

Zhang Jue agreed, found a spot to sit, and, like Jin Zixuan yesterday, Xu Chuo went all out when she performed, landing a 3F+3lo and receiving a standing ovation.

But whether it was Zhang Jue’s illusion or not, Xu Chuo’s triple Lutz takeoff turned into a flat edge (a triple Lutz should take off from an outside edge on the left foot; otherwise, it’s not standard), which led to her being judged with a blurry edge and an unappealing GOE.

Zhang Jue squinted and looked: “I remember this girl’s Lutz technique was quite standard. Why couldn’t she maintain the outside edge?”

Zhang Junbao was puzzled: “I don’t know. Maybe she got injured?”

The triple Lutz and triple Flip were jumps that most ice fans couldn’t distinguish because both used the right foot to take off and the left foot to land. Only those familiar with figure skating and with keen eyes could differentiate between the two jumps by whether the left foot was an inside or outside edge during takeoff.

Zhang Jue had previously had issues with not maintaining the outside edge on his triple Flip, until Shen Liu came along and corrected it, creating a unique method that required an extra 0.2 turns but maintained a perfectly standard outside edge.

Of course, even on the international stage, there were many people who didn’t use the outside edge well, but since the score for the Lutz was only second to the Axel, many skaters with a national advantage developed a scoring trick called “one edge, two uses.” Regardless of whether they jumped a 3F or 3L, their edge was flat, and the judges didn’t mind.

However, Xu Chuo had no national advantage, and her poor outside edge would definitely disadvantage her on the international stage.

Nevertheless, Xu Chuo was no longer Zhang’s disciple, so Zhang Junbao’s concerns were useless, and Zhang Jue soon moved on, turning to warm up himself.

Although it wasn’t visible on the surface, Zhang Jue actually felt considerable psychological pressure. Fortunately, he was performing in the short program first, so his free skate would be the last. Before him, other senior men’s singles skaters like Fan Zhaoying, Shi Mosheng, and Jin Zixuan also competed.

Perhaps having slightly gotten used to Zhang Jue’s aura of dominance the day before, today, the other skaters didn’t show signs of poor warm-ups due to fear of Zhang Jue. At most, everyone just steered clear of him, and occasional thunderous landing noises were dismissed as indoor thunder.

Zhang Jue warmed up diligently, occasionally glancing at the TV, and noticed that this year’s men’s singles skaters were performing quite impressively.

Fan Zhaoying completed a free skate program with two triple Axels, Shi Mosheng landed his first triple Axel, and Jin Zixuan finished a program with a quadruple Toe loop.

This led to the first appearance of three men’s singles skaters scoring over 200 points at this year’s national championships. Jin Zixuan even scored 259 points, once again setting a new career-high score.

Shen Liu watched for a while and then looked at Zhang Jue: “Your opponents are working hard. Do you have any thoughts?”

Zhang Jue responded: “Their stamina seems to be poor. They can complete difficult jumps in the first half of their programs, but they end up struggling with easier triple jumps in the second half.”

Shen Liu asked: “… Aren’t you nervous?”

Zhang Jue replied: “Why should I be nervous? They should be the ones nervous about seeing me.”

Shen Liu thought: Zhang Junbao, come look at your nephew; he’s even more arrogant than you were at his age!

Zhang Junbao didn’t mind Zhang Jue’s overly confident attitude and even praised him until Zhang Jue performed a quadruple Toe loop at the start and then fell. Zhang Junbao struck the barrier in frustration and cursed: “This little rascal!”

After falling on the quadruple Toe loop, Zhang Jue immediately got up calmly and executed a triple Flip.

In fact, after realizing he was injured, Zhang Jue knew he probably wouldn’t be able to complete a double quad free skate for the rest of the season, but this wasn’t a reason for him to give up on winning the national championships.

Before the competition officially began, Zhang Jue and Zhang Junbao agreed to push higher-scoring combinations to the latter part of the program to gain more points.

At the same time, Zhang Jue knew that to win, he needed to land at least one quadruple jump.

With a base value of 10.3 for a quadruple jump, even if he fell and had 3 points deducted for GOE and 1 point for the fall, he would still have 6.3 points. So, as long as it was a full rotation, a quadruple-toe loop was still more valuable than other triple jumps.

Given that others made mistakes in the latter part of their programs, having this quadruple jump, combined with other clean jumps and the advantage of performance points, was his chance to secure victory!

At this point, many people still didn’t understand one thing: Zhang Jue’s difference from other domestic athletes was not just having a quadruple jump.

Over time and with more competition experience, Zhang Jue increasingly understood how crucial it was to skate with strategy, and a strong mindset ensured that even in adversity, he could calmly think about how to turn things around.

This was his biggest advantage over others.

 

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