The loud sound of a fall on the ice echoed, resembling a basket of potatoes crashing onto the ice, causing the coaches to frown.

“How much does he weigh now?”

“50 kilograms.”

The young man on the ice jumped high and landed, sending a spray of ice shavings everywhere.

Shen Liu furrowed his brows: “His landings sound like an ice-scraping machine, it’s too loud.”

Zhang Junbao made a few notes: “Considering his body has grown, he can’t jump as lightly as before. Relearning all the triple jumps in just two weeks and resuming quadruple jump training in the third week, he’s already done well.”

Zhang Jue had been injured for a long time. He hadn’t properly adapted to his height of 168 cm before ending up in a wheelchair. During his recovery, his height and weight changed again, making it difficult for him to even stand when he first returned to the ice. So in the first week of retraining, Zhang Junbao didn’t let him practice jumps, instead focusing on regaining balance during glides and spins.

So far, Zhang Jue had been retraining for twenty days. It was February 28, and he now stood 173 cm tall, weighing 50 kilograms. He had been training for quadruple jumps for a week.

Min Shan, leaning against the barrier, said worriedly: “Senior hasn’t regained his triple loop technique yet.”

Additionally, Zhang Jue’s quadruple jumps had suffered. His 4S was completely gone, with a negligible success rate, and his 4T hovered around a 40% success rate.

Min Shan used to love watching Senior’s 4S with a raised arm, but now she couldn’t see it anymore.

Shen Liu gently comforted her: “In figure skating, this is common. Changes in body shape, injuries, or new skates can cause athletes to lose their techniques to varying degrees.”

For example, Russia’s current top skater, Daria, was once considered the most talented in Russian ladies’ singles history. At 14, she could land a 4S in training. But after changing her skates, she lost the 4S immediately.

Zhang Jue not only grew taller recently, but his weight also increased from 43 to 50 kilograms. A 7-kilogram change in weight is disastrous for a figure skater.

Due to Zhang Jue’s body changes, the authorities seemed to have given up on letting him compete in the World Championships, preparing Jin Zixuan instead. If Jin could maintain his form from the Four Continents, he might have a chance at a top-ten finish at Worlds.

With a loud thud, Zhang Jue fell after attempting a 4T, rolling on the ice and hitting the barrier with a heart-wrenching sound. But he quickly got up and prepared for the next jump.

While an athlete’s determination is commendable, Zhang Jue’s uncle still felt heartache watching him.

He sighed: “There’s no need to rush so much.”

Taking advantage of the winter break, Zhang Jue spent six hours a day on the ice, did weight training off the ice, and swam for cardio. To control his weight, he didn’t touch a single rice ball during the Lantern Festival, subsisting on chicken breast, vegetables, and quinoa.

Now that school had started, he still trained on the ice for at least four hours a day. It’s clear the kid was working hard, but some things needed to be said.

“Zhang Jue, I need to discuss something with you.”

Zhang Jue skated over and looked at his uncle: “What’s up?”

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Junbao said: “I know you want to regain your jumps, but I hope you’ll stop landing with bent knees. I know it helps you land more consistently even when your jump axis is off, but it puts tremendous pressure on your spine and knees.”

“I understand giving up this landing technique will weaken you for the rest of the season and make it harder to regain your skills, but we need to think about long-term development.”

After training, Zhang Jue fell asleep in his uncle’s car. If he hadn’t grown taller, his uncle would have carried him home. Now, he had to wake him up to walk inside.

Watching the boy wobble up the stairs, his uncle called out: “Keep your eyes open when you go up, don’t fall.”

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Jue gripped the railing and floated up the stairs like a character from a horror movie.

When he entered, Xu Yan greeted him with a bowl of vegetable soup: “Our little Jue is home! Want a midnight snack?”

Zhang Jue slowly shook his head: “Thanks, Dad. I’m going to sleep.”

He waved to Zhang Qingyan and Xu Dela, who were watching TV on the sofa: “Goodnight, Mom, Dad, Xu Dela.”

Then he floated into his room.

Zhang Qingyan reminded: “Brush your teeth before bed!”

Zhang Jue’s voice floated back from his room.

“Okay!”

Xu Yan pushed the bowl toward Xu Dela: “Here, you said you weren’t full at dinner. This is for you.”

Xu Dela rubbed his bloated stomach, wanting to complain about the diet food he had to eat, but he was really hungry. As he prepared to eat, a loud growling sound filled the room.

Everyone looked at each other, and Xu Dela quickly raised his hand: “Not me!”

He wasn’t that hungry!

Xu Yan and Zhang Qingyan weren’t dieting. Zhang Qingyan, with her good stamina, easily lost weight by running 10 kilometers daily with Xu Dela and eating the same diet food. Xu Yan had always been naturally slim and couldn’t gain weight.

So the only one who could be that hungry was the one already collapsed in the bedroom.

Zhang Qingyan couldn’t help but say to Xu Dela: “If you had half your brother’s determination, you’d have a great physique by now.”

Although not yet muscular, Xu Dela had slimmed down to a normal body shape and furrowed his delicate face

“But I’m not an athlete. For rock music, you just need to not be ugly. We care most about skills.

“Your mom cares more about your grades.”

Zhang Qingyan pinched his cheek: “After eating, walk on the treadmill for three kilometers, then you can sleep. You have morning study tomorrow.”

At 6:45 AM, Zhang Jue arrived at the school gate in his mom’s Land Rover, having finished a sandwich with eggs, tomatoes, and chicken. He wiped his mouth, slung on his backpack, and rushed into the school, making it to class by 6:50. The classroom was already filled with the sound of students reciting their lessons.

Zhang Jue no longer sat in the front row, but his height of 173 cm wasn’t the tallest in the class, so the teacher placed him in the fourth row.

As he walked down the aisle, a few girls glanced at him. In a top school where studying was the focus, anyone who could distract the top students during morning study must be truly handsome.

Chen Sijia heard her deskmate whisper: “He got a haircut. It used to be waist-length, now it’s shoulder-length.”

She covered her response with cough: “Yeah.”

If Zhang Jue’s long hair and bangs had given him a bit of a fairy-like aura before his current haircut made him look more like an imposing celestial prince.

Many girls who had been fans of his started to develop real feelings for him, and he even received love letters in his desk drawer.

Chen Sijia stole a glance at Zhang Jue, who was oblivious to the attention, reading his English book.

Soon, teacher Ying Dongmei entered with a stack of test papers, looking displeased.

She tapped the desk: “Students, your average score in this English test dropped to 132, the lowest in the grade. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you’ll be seniors next term. Falling behind now means you’ll need to spend time catching up, which will shorten your prep time for the college entrance exams. Think about it.”

The students bowed their heads. Usually, their average score for a 150-point paper was over 140.

Only Zhang Jue remained unperturbed. He had always dragged down the class average in English but boosted it in other subjects like math, biology, and chemistry.

“Zhang Jue!”

He stood up with a flourish: “Yes!”

Ms. Ying handed him his test paper: “141 points, highest in the class. No mistakes in listening, good job.”

The class was abuzz, and Zhang Jue grinned, walking to the podium amidst cheers of “Awesome, Brother Zhang!” and high-fiving classmates along the way.

When receiving his test paper, he laughed and said to the teacher: “Thank you, teacher. I couldn’t have achieved this without your careful guidance.”

Ms. Ying Dongmei couldn’t help but laugh and patted him lightly, saying: “You need to keep this score steady. Don’t revert to your old ways in the next exam. I heard from your class teacher that you were the most consistent in this opening exam. Push hard in this final year, and Shuimu and Jingda Universities are waiting for you.”

Of course, she said this, but she didn’t really expect Zhang Jue to spend much more time on his studies, considering he was still a world-class athlete. Maintaining his competitive status required a lot of effort. Seeing him with a bandaged forehead and smelling of medicinal plasters, she knew it was already tough for him to balance studying and training to maintain his current grades.

Ms. Ying Dongmei was the type of teacher with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Having taught Zhang Jue for nearly two years, she saw him fighting hard in competitions and striving for glory despite his injuries. How could she not feel for him?

She was one of the most steadfast supporters of the “Little Crocodile” fan club in their school.

However, Zhang Jue himself had other thoughts.

His focus on figure skating had almost entirely slipped. The 4S was a bust, and he couldn’t participate in the most significant event of the season—the World Championships. His uncle wouldn’t let him continue using his self-devised method to improve landing success. So, he thought he might as well put more effort into his studies.

In his past life, he wasted two years and only started working hard in his second year of high school. He ended up getting into on of 985 university. In this life, if he dedicated himself fully to his studies, he might even get acceptance letters from the top two universities.

But then, at the end of the school day, Zhang Jue received a call from Song Cheng.

“Zhang Jue, are you done with school?”

Zhang Jue packed his bag: “I’m just about to finish. What’s up?”

Song Cheng urgently said: “Go and ask your class teacher for at least three days off. I need to take you to Beijing. Hurry!”

 

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