Ever since Zhang Jue entered his senior year of high school, except for his father, who had to serve as the head chef at the restaurant, Zhang Qingyan came home every day to cook for her child. In her belief, after so many years of schooling, this was the toughest year for her child, and she had to accompany him, making sure he felt the support from his family.

Although Mrs. Zhang was the owner of the most popular restaurant with the best-tasting food in the university town, she was also a cooking enthusiast. Back in the day, she met Xu Yan in a dessert-making class near the university.

So, her cooking skills were quite good, otherwise, Zhang Jue wouldn’t have been chubbier than the neighbor’s kid Pang when he was younger, even though he was younger but ended up with the nickname “Little Fatty.”

With a father who could be the head chef of a restaurant and a mother who had 80% of the father’s cooking skills, both of them were willing to give their child as much care and love as they could within their abilities. All that love naturally turned into extra weight on a child who was prone to gaining weight.

Note: One of the reasons Zhang Jue, who landed a double Axel on land at the age of six, was not allowed by Coach Lu to start on-ice double Axel training early was because the kid was overweight at the time, and all that extra weight put more strain on his joints.

Today was Friday, the only night Zhang Jue had free in the week, so Mrs. Zhang made him his favorite pan-fried mixed-grain pancakes with scallions. She also sliced duck breast, fried eggs with chives, and made shredded pork in Beijing sauce that could be wrapped in the pancakes. There were also peanut butter and chili sauce for dipping.

Zhang Jue only ate two egg-filled pancakes without dipping sauce. After wiping his mouth, he carried his bag and left.

“Mom, I’m going out to exercise,” he said.

Zhang Qingyan responded, and after the door closed, she exchanged a knowing glance with Xu Dela.

Zhang Junbao’s call came in right on time, and his first words were: “He went out again?”

Zhang Qingyan said: “Yes, he went out again.”

Zhang Junbao glanced at his youngest apprentice, Jiang Yihong, who was only 11 years old this year.

At the end of August, Yihong had gone to the mall with his parents to get glasses. While looking down at the commercial ice rink on the first floor from the second floor, he saw someone who looked like his senior brother, although he didn’t dare confirm it because his senior brother’s protective gear was too well-concealed, and he was spinning clockwise.

Afterward, Zhang Junbao received a call from his first coach, Coach Lu.

In short, hearing that Zhang Jue had resumed skating wasn’t really surprising. After all, this kid had been recovering for a long time. Young people have a strong recovery ability; while a cut on Zhang Junbao would take two or three days to heal, Zhang Jue’s would heal in a day, leaving only a faint white scar, proving that age had its advantages.

As for Zhang Jue’s reluctance to let go of figure skating, his family had already sensed it. After all, a kid who used to sneak chocolate whenever the coach wasn’t looking during competitions had been out of figure skating training for five months but still managed to maintain his weight at 63 kilograms despite being 179 cm tall and prone to gaining weight. Who would believe he wasn’t deliberately controlling it?

At 9:00 p.m., Coach Lu called to calmly report that Zhang Jue had managed to land a double Axel while spinning clockwise today. Zhang Junbao was not surprised… at all!

His uncle really didn’t expect Zhang Jue to be able to complete a double jump in the opposite direction. Although he always knew the kid had maxed out his talent, he was still shocked.

If an athlete could complete a double jump in the opposite direction of their usual practice, they should have no problem completing a triple jump in the normal direction.

This wasn’t just Zhang Junbao talking nonsense; it was something Shiratsuka Keiko said on Twitter. She’s naturally ambidextrous, so while she mainly trained counterclockwise, she could also land a clockwise double toe loop and spin in both directions, making her an authority on the matter.

Zhang Jue was a typical right-hander who wasn’t even good at holding a spoon with his left hand, so it was a miracle he could pull off such a feat. It was likely a new skill developed out of sheer boredom during his training break.

Zhang Junbao hurriedly asked: “Has he tried landing on his right foot? Has he practiced counterclockwise skating and spinning?”

Coach Lu calmly replied: “He has. He tried jumping a few days ago, but maybe because of psychological issues, his entire right leg stiffened upon landing, and his muscles couldn’t flex properly, so his chances of landing a triple jump are not good.”

Zhang Junbao sighed: “After all, his previous injury was pretty serious.”

After three months in a wheelchair, who wouldn’t have some lingering psychological issues?

Shen Liu, who was lying beside him, asked anxiously: “How is littke Jue doing?” Song Cheng also looked at Zhang Junbao with concern.

Not many people knew that Zhang Jue was doing light training at the commercial ice rink, only Zhang Jue’s parents, Zhang Junbao, Shen Liu, and Song Cheng, who was the coach of both Shen Liu and Zhang Junbao, knew. But everyone was very concerned.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Junbao replied: “I can’t say he’s recovered well. His jumping technique hasn’t come back, but his skating and spinning have reportedly improved, and he’s learned a few new compulsory figures.”

Although these are tedious skills, with a good coach overseeing him, Zhang Jue’s talent would eventually fix these minor issues. The main challenge still lies in jumping.

Shen Liu sighed: “The old saying is true: the older, the wiser. Only Coach Lu could get Zhang Jue to patiently practice these fundamentals.”

If possible, they all hoped Zhang Jue would return.

After all, it was so heartbreaking to see a kid feel like he had to leave the competitive scene. That lively child stood on the World Championship ice, tilted his head back, and covered his eyes, with tears streaming down his chin, breaking everyone’s hearts.

At the time, a fan had captured a perfect shot of the scene. The tear in the photo just happened to reflect the light from the ice, making it a favorite desktop photo for countless figure skating fans. Bai Suqing, who was in charge of selling figure skating merchandise, even asked if they should release the image as a poster. Zhang Jue casually agreed, and the poster eventually sold over 960,000 copies, setting a record for the highest sales of figure skating merchandise in China.

So, it wasn’t just fans who were sad about Zhang Jue’s retirement, even the leaders were, because no one had his commercial value before, and probably no one would after.

Moreover, with Zhang Jue’s performance skills, as long as he could regain his triple Axel and stabilize his combinations, he would be at least a second-tier skater, better than 99% of the men’s singles skaters in the country. If Zhang Jue could return, the leaders in China figure skating would all breathe a sigh of relief.

Just a day ago, Jin Zixuan finished sixth in the American Grand Prix with a total score of 256 points, including only 76 points for his free skate performance.

When Zhang Jue used to score just over 80 in performance, his uncle would lament how dismal the score was. But Jin Zixuan’s performance score was so low that it didn’t even elicit tears, not even enough to complain about unfair judging.

Zhang Jue’s low performance scores were due to being underscored, something even his competitors acknowledged. But as for Jin’s performance score, it was actually reflective of his real ability.

Even though the coaches believed Jin Zixuan’s technique was just good enough to hold the position of a backup top skater, fans, who were used to Zhang Jue bringing home a medal whenever he competed, couldn’t stand the new top skater not even making the top five in a Grand Prix event.

Fortunately, the media attention was diverted by the news of Xu Chuo’s mother forcing her daughter to retire, followed by a video of her slapping her daughter during an argument at the hospital entrance.

Otherwise, Jin’s fragile heart might have been shattered by the harsh criticism from extreme fans.

As for the other two male singles skaters with a chance of being selected for the Winter Olympics, Fan Zhaoying spent his summer vacation taking performance classes with Zhang Junbao. His movements were still stiff, but his emotional expression had improved significantly, although his technique hadn’t caught up.

As a result, the national team was considering bringing Zhang Junbao in as a performance coach for the Olympic training camp.

Gave five times the overtime pay.

Shi Mosheng had it worse. His skills were decent domestically but could barely make it to the lower ranks on the international stage.

Although all three of them were in good form this year, the problem was that even at their best, they couldn’t compete with athletes from other countries. On the Olympic stage, they lacked competitiveness.

After the competition at the U.S. event ended, there were international fans on Twitter who posted videos, wondering why Zhang Jue hadn’t even participated in any of the events this year. Clearly, to the fans from other countries, Zhang Jue was the only male figure skater from their country they recognized as a representative.

The reality was that even with three skaters who could consistently make the top ten at these events, they still couldn’t compare to Zhang Jue, who could stand on the World Championship podium.

The athletes themselves were also under a lot of pressure. If the three of them took the spots that Zhang Jue had fought for but couldn’t make it into the top ten at the Winter Olympics, the fans’ criticism alone could drown them. Furthermore, both Liu Yemeng and Dong Xiaolong could do 3A jumps, and Liu Yemeng could even attend Zhang Junbao’s performance class daily, showing rapid improvement. Shi Mosheng’s position wasn’t stable either.

After much thought, Zhang Junbao decided to visit Zhang Jue’s house at 9:30 p.m.

The kid happened to still be awake, bent over his desk, studying his materials worth a thousand yuan. When his uncle called out, he opened the door, wearing black-framed glasses and looking confused.

“What’s up?”

Zhang Junbao stared at his eyes and asked: “…When did you become nearsighted?”

Zhang Jue replied: “Huh? These aren’t for nearsightedness; they’re protective glasses I bought because I’ve been using my eyes too much lately.”

His uncle sighed with relief and said: “Never mind, let’s sit on the couch and have a chat.”

Then, the first sentence out of his uncle’s mouth stunned Zhang Jue.

“Zhang Jue, do you want to return to competition?”

Zhang Jue was taken aback, instinctively looking at his mom, who was calmly sipping hot milk.

“You decide for yourself,” she said.

Zhang Junbao added: “It’s August now. If you decide to come back, you can use last season’s program and just focus on recovery training. If you can regain your 3A by January and make the top three at the National Championships, you’ll definitely get one of the three spots, which means you can join the high-altitude training camp and participate in the Winter Olympics in February.”

Zhang Jue was silent for a long time before shaking his head with difficulty.

“I don’t want to. I need to focus on my college entrance exams this year. If I go back, I’ll have to train for at least four hours every day, which will conflict with my studies.”

Zhang Jue found many reasons, like how his skills probably wouldn’t recover and how he couldn’t afford to waste time during his final year of high school. In the end, his uncle didn’t push him and just patted his head, smiling as he changed the subject to how the older brother of Cha Hanbuhua bought chicks and ducklings to raise at home so his younger brother could eat better. He fed them vegetables and grains every day so the meat would be hormone-free and safe to eat.

“He said he wanted to thank you for helping Cha Hanbuhua edit his competition music. He’ll bring over a prepared bird soon. Do you want to keep the chicken or duck blood? It’s great for stir-frying or making soup.”

Zhang Jue responded absentmindedly, but both parents could tell his mind was elsewhere.

Finally, Zhang Junbao said: “One of these days, come with me to Room 703 to see Dr. Chai for a check-up, to see if your ligaments have fully healed. Otherwise, you probably don’t even dare to run full out when you go jogging at night, right?”

Zhang Jue, who had been climbing three-meter walls, hanging out of windows, and doing clockwise 2S jumps on the ice while digging in his ear, fell into an awkward silence.

Uh, his right leg was just a bit stiff due to post-surgery complications, but it wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t even run.

When Zhang Jue finally went back to his studies in a daze, Zhang Qingyan kicked her brother.

“My son was on track to get into one of the top universities, and you’ve tempted him into wanting to run away again!”

Zhang Junbao sheepishly climbed off the sofa and crouched down, pulling at his ears.

“Well, I only dared to tempt him because I’m confident he’ll at least get into a 985 university. Besides, there’s a college entrance exam every year, but the Olympics only happen once every four years. If he misses this chance, who knows what shape little Jue will be in four years from now? If he has a chance now, why not give it a try? Coach Lu said he has a good shot at it, considering he seems to be adapting well to the changes in technique and has a solid foundation in strength training.”

Four years might seem short, but who knew what Zhang Jue would be like in four years? It wasn’t like everyone could just pick up where they left off after a four-year break.

Most importantly, Zhang Junbao couldn’t think of anything other than the Olympics that could ignite Zhang Jue’s passion and help him overcome his psychological barriers. He was convinced that if Zhang Jue missed the Olympics and gave up skating, he might not feel it now, but he would definitely regret it in the future.

Since Zhang Jue had a strong foundation and the Olympics were in February while the college entrance exam was at least four months later, he still had time.

Zhang Qingyan lowered her voice and said sternly: “If Coach Lu hadn’t vouched for you, I wouldn’t have let you in the door today!”

But after Zhang Junbao left, Zhang Qingyan thought about it and secretly sent a message to Zhang Jue’s class teacher.

“Teacher Qian, we’re requesting a week off for Zhang Jue. He’ll be back next Saturday.”

After what Zhang Junbao said, Zhang Jue probably wouldn’t sleep well tonight, but Zhang Jue’s mom decided to strike while the iron was hot. She gave him a week to get checked out and seriously think about whether to return to training or focus on his studies.

After all, if he wanted to aim for the Olympics, there were less than four months left. Zhang Jue didn’t have much time and couldn’t afford to hesitate.

With this in mind, Zhang Jue’s mom booked the plane tickets. When Zhang Jue woke up, he hadn’t fully realized what was happening before being handed his luggage and pushed out the door.

Zhang Junbao, who was squatting by the door, greeted him weakly.

“Hi.”

Zhang Jue was dumbfounded: “I’m leaving already? What about Saori?”

Xu Dela leaned in and replied seriously: “It’s your hamster, so your brother will take care of it. Brother, you go ahead.”

This kid had been listening to too many Three Kingdoms podcasts lately.

Zhang Jue couldn’t help but laugh. By the time he got to the airport, he finally felt like eating his egg pancake.

As a former athlete who frequently traveled abroad for competitions, Zhang Jue was used to flying. He put on his headphones and set his MP3 to Madonna’s “Masterpiece,” a song recently recommended to him by Zhuang Zi. It was the theme song of the movie W.E., directed by Madonna.

The smell of savory Chinese crepes wafted from the seat behind him. Zhang Jue was tempted. After finishing his soy milk, he planned to throw away his trash, but then a hand reached out from the seat behind him and waved in front of his eyes.

He turned around in surprise and saw a pair of familiar gray eyes, as cold as the Siberian winter sky.

Qin Xuejun said: “I’m going to throw away some trash too. Give me yours, and I’ll take it with me.”

The boy’s bright phoenix eyes widened: “What are you doing here?”

Qin Xuejun replied: “I’m accompanying the professor on a surgery trip. We’re operating on a 12-year-old with osteosarcoma. The professor is teaching me how to amputate cleanly while preserving as much of the limb as possible for future prosthetics.”

Little Qin then pulled a fruit hard candy from his pocket and placed it in Zhang Jue’s hand.

“A child gave this to me after the surgery.”

Zhang Jue held the candy and suddenly remembered that they were candy-exchange friends.

 

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