There were many events on February 10th: curling, ice hockey, alpine skiing, and biathlon all started. Coach Lu spent the entire day at the ice hockey arena watching the games.

The old man also seriously commented on the combativeness of contemporary ice hockey players.

“Their skills are great, but they don’t fight as ruthlessly as I did back in the day.”

This remark made Sun Qian, who was watching with him, break out in a cold sweat. He couldn’t imagine how fierce Coach Lu must have been in fights back then but couldn’t help thinking of Zhang Junbao, Shen Liu, and Zhang Jue, who were all tough players under Coach Lu’s guidance.

It seemed the aggressive style of the Zhang clan originated from this chubby old man.

He looked around and asked: “Where’s Zhang Jue?”

Zhang Jue was practicing music in the arena in the morning, so he should be free in the afternoon.

Shen Liu, applauding for a player who scored, replied: “He’s doing his homework.”

Sun Qian sighed: “Senior year is really tough.”

He still remembered how Zhang Jue had to take a few days off from training at high altitude to go back for his final exams. When he returned, his face was as dark as a pot’s bottom, and he occasionally rubbed his butt, apparently because his mother had spanked him after his rank dropped to 110th place.

But truthfully, getting into the top 200 at Third High School in H City meant he was on track for a spot in a prestigious university, so after Zhang Qingyan gave her son a symbolic spanking, she personally brought him back to training, politely thanked the coaches for taking care of him, and gave Zhang Jue a card before leaving, telling him not to be too hard on himself while competing and to buy what he needed or have some fun.

Maybe that’s just how parents are. With a family like that, it’s no wonder Zhang Jue is so well-behaved, likable, and academically strong.

Sun Qian thought that since Zhang Jue had arrived in Sochi, he’d either been competing or holed up in his room doing homework, so Zhang Qingyan’s card probably hadn’t been used much.

Still, Zhang Jue’s calmness was impressive. He was about to face Vasily, yet he could still focus on homework. Fortunately, they replaced Jin Zixuan, because if Jin had to face Vasily, the world’s number one, he might tremble through the entire match.

Vasily, ranked first in the world last season, was a 25-year-old Russian singles skating star, nine years older than Zhang Jue. He was a student of Boris, the father of Russian figure skating, whose previous pupils were champions holding numerous gold medals.

Zhang Jue was impressive within his circle, but compared to Boris, his achievements seemed minor. Boris had already trained six Olympic champions and won over twelve Olympic medals. If Vasily won gold this time, Boris would claim his seventh.

Eight years ago at the Turin Winter Olympics, a 17-year-old Vasily participated in his first Olympics. Back then, Russia’s top skater was in peak form, and other strong competitors like the “King of Spins” hadn’t retired. Vasily, the rookie, came in fifth, a remarkable result for such a young athlete.

By the Vancouver Olympics, Vasily had reached his technical peak and was in good health, giving him the best chance to win gold. However, the rules then emphasized overall program performance, de-emphasizing quadruple jumps, and since the competition was held in North America, the North American favorite took gold while Vasily grudgingly settled for silver.

Now, Vasily’s technical ability was only about 90% of what it had been at his peak due to injuries, but his performance had improved compared to four years ago. This allowed younger skaters like Zhang Jue to challenge his status last season.

At that time, Zhang Jue’s technique was still flawed—his spins and skating could be downgraded easily if the judges were strict, and his jumps often lacked precision, resulting in lower GOEs compared to well-executed, straight-axis jumps. Zhang Jue believed his performance ability matched anyone’s, but his technical skills weren’t up to par last year.

This year, however, Zhang Jue had made significant improvements. While some minor issues still surfaced when he skated at high speed, his spins were now strong enough to potentially receive the highest rating with some effort.

In a way, Vasily was unlucky. When he should’ve won gold, he didn’t, and now, in Sochi, with his old rivals weakened by injuries or declining in skill, it seemed like he was finally poised for victory—until Zhang Jue emerged.

Vasily had never had a guaranteed gold.

Then again, Zhang Jue was also unlucky. He didn’t even have a hometown advantage, and his competition was still fierce. His peer Hayato Teraoka had originally practiced a 4T jump, but in the team short program, he performed a 4S instead.

Though he touched the ice on the landing, he still managed to rotate fully.

Ilya, as a Russian singles skater, had the same strength in jumps typical of his countrymen, though his edge jumps were weak. It was rumored he was working on a new quadruple jump, but he hadn’t mastered it yet.

As for the younger skaters, Canada’s skating prodigy Carlson, Norway’s Alan Helge, America’s rising star Arthur Cohen, and Kazakhstan’s Kharhasha were all pushing hard to perfect quadruple jumps, and by the next Winter Olympics, they’d all be in their prime.

Thinking about how Zhang Jue would have to compete against all these rivals in the future, Sun Qian couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. No matter how strong he was, his opponents weren’t to be underestimated, and the men’s singles skating scene would surely be thrilling in the coming years.

He muttered: “Our reserves are still too weak. Junbao, how are Cha Hanbuhua and Jiang Yihong doing?”

Jin was unreliable in terms of mindset, and the others lacked strong enough skills to make it to the top tier.

Zhang Junbao responded: “Uh, Hanbuhua has mastered five types of triple jumps, but his triple axel isn’t fully rotated yet. Yihong is good at combo jumps, and his flexibility is similar to Xiaoyu’s before she hit puberty—he can do the Biellmann and donut spins, and he rotates quickly, but he lacks strength. He still needs to master the 3Lz to complete all five triple jumps.”

Among his students, only Zhang Jue had maxed out both flexibility and strength after maturing. Now, his physical attributes were practically a copy of his sister’s. His other two male students were more specialized—one had a wide frame and strength but lacked flexibility, while the other was flexible but weak.

As long as they kept training, Zhang Junbao was confident he could get them to the secondary tier. Whether they could reach the top tier would depend on themselves—some breakthroughs could only be made through personal effort.

That evening, on February 10th at 19:00 Sochi time (23:00 in China), the men’s singles free skate battle in the team competition began.

The countries that made it to the team final were Russia, Canada, the U.S., China, and Japan.

Russia and Canada were the most well-rounded, and the fight for the gold medal was between them.

The U.S. was strongest in ice dancing, but their ladies’ and men’s singles skaters were second-tier, and they had no notable pairs. China had top-tier men’s singles and pairs, a second-tier ice dance team, and no noteworthy ladies’ singles skater. Japan had strong ladies’ and men’s singles skaters but no presence in the other events.

So, the battle for the bronze was between China and the U.S. To secure the medal, China’s authorities decided to substitute Zhang Jue into the team at the last minute.

This decision was based on the evaluation that all three skaters were in good form, especially Zhang Jue, who was healthy enough to take on a bull. Sending him to face Vasily in advance might tire out the Russian and increase China’s chances in the individual event—a strategy that could kill two birds with one stone.

Zhang Jue waited backstage, watching Hayato Teraoka skate first.

As one of the rising stars, Teraoka had had a great year, making it to the Grand Prix Final and winning two consecutive Four Continents titles. He had already mastered about 80% of a second quadruple jump, and even completed a jump with his arm raised during the second jump of a combo.

The most important thing was that he, unlike Zhang Jue, hadn’t missed four years. His technique had no major flaws, his injuries had healed, and his performance and skating were at a top level.

Although his nationality wasn’t advantageous, he was still one of the strong contenders for a medal in the men’s singles at this Winter Olympics.

His free skate program was “Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain.”

Shen Liu watched the program and commented: “It’s a very Japanese-style program. The Russian audience might not be very receptive to this style compared to Zhang Jue’s ‘Flame of Paris,’ but it has a strong personal touch. The performance score won’t reach the top, but it won’t be too low either.”

As for the technical aspect, it could be said that Hayato Teraoka had made very few mistakes this year, and his personal condition had been steadily improving.

“He will be one of Zhang Jue’s main rivals in the future.”

Zhang Junbao nodded: “To be precise, if my brat hadn’t come back, this Olympic cycle would very likely have been a duel between Hayato Teraoka and Ilya.”

Now it had become a three-way competition, making things even fiercer.

Unfortunately, Hayato Teraoka played it safe in this round. With his ability, he could have incorporated more skating transitions and more complex footwork into the program. However, in order to maintain stability, he actively reduced some of the complex footwork and extended the lead-up to his jumps, which lowered the program’s entertainment value.

Coach Lu said: “Too much two-foot skating and pressured steps. This kid is too cautious. Sigh, Big Fatty is too much of a gambler. If the two of them could balance each other out, that would be perfect.”

When Zhang Jue was called out, he turned around, stuck his tongue out, and his mischievous expression almost made Coach Lu instinctively reach for his cane.

That look clearly said: “I know I take risks, but I won’t change. I’ll keep doing it in the future!”

Hayato Teraoka’s routine had two quads, a 4T and a 4T+2T, earning him a final score of 184.6, which was a personal best. However, it was obvious to the experienced viewers that there was still room for improvement. Hayato Teraoka could perform a 4T+3T, and if he improved his footwork, his base score alone could go up by at least 5 points.

It was clear that he was saving his energy for the individual competition.

Zhang Jue stepped onto the ice, twirling his blade cover like spinning a pen.

Zhang Junbao reached out his hand: “Stop playing, give it to me.”

Zhang Jue grinned and handed it over, then picked up his sports drink, took a big gulp, and when he looked down, his eyes, shadowed in deep blue to match his costume, sparkled with amusement.

At this moment, Zhao Ning held the microphone and said: “Alright, now on the ice is our young athlete, Zhang Jue. He is the captain of China’s team for this team competition and was substituted in for the men’s free skate to compete for a spot on the podium.”

Jiang Chaosheng added: “His free skate program is ‘Rain, In Your Black Eyes.’ The original piece is an 11-minute and 4-second composition, but Zhang Jue edited it himself during his injury recovery to fit the length required for figure skating. According to a pre-competition interview, Zhang Jue said that the music in this program sounds like rain to him, divided into three parts.”

The first part was light rain.

The piano music began, resembling the gentle patter of raindrops falling from a gloomy sky, leaving circular ripples on the ground—marking the start of a long rainy night, where the rain fell softly and unhurriedly.

Many were initially surprised that Zhang Jue didn’t choose a fast-paced piece, one that would efficiently stir the audience’s emotions in such a crucial Olympic season. Instead, he opted for a piano composition.

However, once his performance began, many of those doubts were dispelled.

Zhang Jue had chosen this piece because it had many pauses, providing more opportunities for him to infuse it with emotion.

The young skater opened with two consecutive forward sculling steps, spreading his arms wide, followed by a spin, where his hand reached upward, as if a person falling from a cliff was trying to grasp a rope but ultimately missed it.

After a series of counterclockwise Mohawk-three turn-Mohawk steps leading into the jump, Zhang Jue took off in a V-position, ice shavings spraying up as his blades sliced the ice. He leaped high into the air, leaned forward slightly upon landing, but ultimately stabilized.

“A quadruple Salchow (4S).”

This was the first time Zhang Jue showcased a second type of quad in competition since passing through his growth phase.

Seeing his entry step, Hayato Teraoka raised his eyebrows.

Zhang Jue’s entry into his jumps had noticeably shorter preparation time, which was a sign of more refined jumping technique and stronger basics like skating skills. He had also increased the entry steps into his jumps, clearly aiming for higher GOE (Grade of Execution) scores.

In the past, Zhang Jue had boosted his GOE with raised arms and delayed rotations, while Hayato’s strength had been gaining GOE through footwork.

“He’s improved a lot.”

Soon, Zhang Jue completed his second jump, a raised-arm 4T.

With these two jumps, which had base values of 10.3 and 10.5, Zhang Jue had already secured 23.8 points in technical elements right at the start of his program.

Francis Miller, watching live, was captivated by Zhang Jue’s performance.

This was the pinnacle of Francis choreographic career. To enhance the performance, Francis had specifically approached Zhang Jue’s coaching team before the competition, volunteering to do his makeup.

Ah, little crocodile, you’re so handsome. I’m so happy to have touched your face.

As expected, you’re the most dazzling on the ice.

“His third jump is…”

A 3F.

Zhang Jue landed steadily. After finishing three solo jumps, the young skater leaped into a camel spin, transitioning into a sit spin.

In the delicate piano notes resembling raindrops, the athlete’s body moved with grace, with every movement down to his fingertips precise and elegant, creating a scene as beautiful as a painting.

 

 

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