In May, even in the high-latitude regions like the northeast, there was a touch of warmth.
Before the morning self-study session, Chen Sijia noticed the homeroom teacher yawning while changing the number on the blackboard from “36 days until the college entrance exam” to 35.
Zhang Jue walked into the classroom with a shoulder bag. He wore a tight-fitting black short-sleeved shirt, which looked like training gear, with a lightweight white jacket over it. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing toned forearms, and he had a fitness tracker on his left wrist.
The boy’s forehead was still slightly sweaty, and his well-built body radiated heat, like the main character straight out of a sports anime, full of freshness and energy.
Being around the school’s athletic heartthrob only made people more aware of his overwhelming charm. Even the other guys had to admit that Zhang Jue’s attractiveness was undeniable, leaving no room for anyone to say otherwise.
According to a video from Coach Shen Liu, Zhang Jue would wake up every day at 4:30 AM for an hour of physical training. After breakfast, he’d study and then run to school. His uncle would follow on an electric bike, carrying his school bag, and leave only after dropping him at the school gate.
This was a diligent athlete who saw the city of H at 4 AM every day. He was the pride of China on the international figure skating stage, bearing the honors of a silver medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics and a gold medal in the men’s singles at the 2014 World Championships.
However, to prepare for the college entrance exam, Zhang Jue turned down all commercial performance invitations during the off-season, adding only three new endorsements. The only time he took a break was a week ago when he attended the wedding of Sochi Winter Olympics ice dance silver medalists, Yoon Mijing and Liu Mengcheng, in Kazakhstan as their groomsman.
By the way, Maiko Shirayama, who had retired, also attended the wedding as a bridesmaid. It was her first public appearance since retiring. However, because the couple didn’t want too much media attention, only one reporter, who was coincidentally on holiday, took a picture of them at the registry office.
That reporter wanted to take more photos but was caught by Zhang Jue.
In a video later uploaded by the reporter along with the picture to Instagram, Zhang Jue lowered his head and said: “Alright, that’s enough,” before covering the camera with his hand. At first, people didn’t realize that this was the wedding of Kazakhstan’s ice sports stars, instead, they were all asking who the strikingly handsome Asian guy was.
Yeah, the same guy who politely asked the reporter to delete the photo and video, but they had already been uploaded to the cloud, leaving Zhang Jue helpless.
Later, Yoon Mijing explained online that Zhang Jue was just a friend attending her wedding, and that’s when people learned about the wedding.
When Zhang Jue returned from the wedding, not only did he carry his backpack, but he also had a bag from which he took out packets of dried horse meat and handed them out to his classmates. Everyone received a piece, including the teachers. The gift wasn’t extravagant, so his classmates just laughed and thanked him.
To be honest, it was pretty tasty, though Zhang Jue didn’t eat any himself.
It took Zhang Jue less than five minutes to hand out the gifts before he sat in the sixth row, took out a thick notebook, and began quietly reciting English passages. His profile was calm and neat, with a clean look, and his pale ear was adorned with a green tsavorite earring, giving him an ethereal beauty that contrasted with the radiant shimmer of the gem.
The boy sitting behind him capped his pen and poked Zhang Jue’s back, asking: “Why are you wearing the earring again?”
Zhang Jue touched his earlobe and replied: “Oh, this? I’m wearing it to keep the piercing from closing.”
Chen Sijia noticed something: many people liked talking to Zhang Jue.
Boys, girls, even the teachers—all of them seemed drawn to him, perhaps because Zhang Jue lacked the recklessness common in teenage boys. He was respectful, polite, and always considered others’ perspectives.
Most importantly, his worldview wasn’t black and white. Even as a high school student, Zhang Jue understood that not everything was purely good or evil, some things existed in shades of gray and required a more flexible approach.
Overall, he gave off the reliable impression of someone who had been shaped by challenges and could handle anything thrown his way. He was mature for his age—playful sometimes but always well-meaning. His straightforwardness was refreshing, making him a pleasant person to be around, and with his good looks, academic success, and world champion status, he was the total package.
If Zhang Jue in his freshman year was the type everyone, regardless of age or gender, wanted to dote on, now he was an irresistibly charming young man.
Gu Lingli whispered to Chen Sijia: “Zhang Jue found another love letter in his drawer.”
The girls laughed, commenting: “Even if you put your name on the letter, Zhang Jue would never show it off. He never brags about the love letters he receives, so it’s safe to send him one.”
“Before graduation, many people want to muster the courage to confess to him at least once, so he’s been pretty busy lately.”
That being said, everyone knew Zhang Jue didn’t have time for romance with the college entrance exam approaching. He had to study, train to maintain his athletic abilities, and prepare new programs for the upcoming season.
Still, some people couldn’t help but try, hoping to be the lucky one.
Zhang Jue: “The only woman I love is my mom.”
#TrueLoveRunsDeepButAlsoDutifulFear#
Due to the academic workload, many students ate lunch in the school cafeteria. However, some parents would bring food to the school gates for their children to pick up.
Zhang Jue also had someone bring him food, but it wasn’t his parents—it was either his uncle or Coach Shen Liu. Occasionally, people would see an older man with a wild off-road jeep parked at the school gates. When Zhang Jue ran over, the man would slowly get out with a cane and hand over a lunchbox.
Yes, that same coach who stood by Zhang Jue at the Olympic Games.
Zhang Jue’s lunchbox was enormous—about three times the size of a typical one—but when opened, it contained mostly vegetables with minimal oil, along with tofu and egg whites for protein (the yolks were removed), plus a bottle of protein powder.
By observing Zhang Jue’s diet, it was clear he was cutting weight. The cafeteria staff had picked up this approach during his time training in the U.S. for the Winter Olympics. During the off-season, reducing weight and maintaining a disciplined diet could prolong an athlete’s career.
Thus, Zhang Jue endured a period of no carbs, dairy, or sugar until the final month before the college entrance exam, when he was allowed a daily piece of chocolate and some high-sugar fruits.
When Zhang Jue competed in the Sochi Winter Olympics and World Championships, he weighed 68 kilograms. Thanks to the cafeteria’s intervention and an increased focus on aerobic training in his routine, he quickly dropped to 64 kilograms.
Despite this, his body fat didn’t decrease, as excessive cardio can lead to muscle loss. Zhang Jue might have complained to the cafeteria staff, saying: “I can’t keep going without meat,” and stood on a cafeteria table, raising his hands to declare: “I want meat!”—but of course, if he had done that, he would’ve gotten in trouble.
Besides, there was no real lack of energy. The cafeteria’s menu provided Zhang Jue with enough to sustain his studies and training, but after eating a vegetarian diet for so long, he was simply craving meat.
Zhang Jue resumed attending evening self-study sessions two weeks before the college entrance exam. Prior to that, he still had to train with the provincial team each night.
By maintaining a disciplined diet and studying hard every day, Zhang Jue finally arrived at one of the most important checkpoints in his life again—the college entrance exam.
Although he had taken the exam in his past life, to be honest, Zhang Jue forgot the test questions by the second year after it ended, including the essay topic and the last two big math questions—he remembered nothing.
Even though he considered himself pretty smart, Zhang Jue wasn’t one of those legendary geniuses with photographic memory. So, when he saw the essay topic, he felt a vague sense of déjà vu, like a nightmare coming back.
“Damn! Which genius came up with the idea of giving us an essay prompt about banning the feeding of wild animals? Clearly, all the teachers had predicted we’d get something more humanities or social sciences-related! And now the examiners hit us with an environmental protection topic?”
Zhang Jue bit the pen cap and wrote the essay with a troubled expression.
As a science student, having used the strategy of doing countless practice problems, he had felt invincible. But now he realized he still had a weak spot—essays were his Achilles’ heel.
After struggling through the exams, on the day of the last subject, Zhang Jue decided to hand in his paper early and walked out of the exam hall in a daze.
At the same time, Chen Sijia also walked out. She saw Zhang Jue and thought about saying hello, but then saw him jog over to his parents, slumping bonelessly onto his father’s shoulder, seemingly… being a bit spoiled?
Yes, he was indeed being spoiled. Even though he was taller than his parents now, wasn’t everyone still a baby at heart these days?
Zhang Jue complained, whining: “Dad, I did my best! But there were still two questions I wasn’t sure about.”
Zhang Jue could proudly say he performed better than in his past life. But why, even after living through it again, did he feel no sense of superiority as a “reborn” person when it came to the college entrance exam?
Zhang Qingyan sighed, patting her eldest son’s waist: “Alright, you spent too much time on the Olympics earlier. For you to manage both studying and training while moving your class ranking from 120th to the top 50, Mom knows you truly did your best.”
Being in the top 50 of the Third Middle School practically guaranteed a spot in a 985 university, and Ms. Zhang was very satisfied with that. She hooked her arm around Zhang Jue’s and said the words he especially loved to hear at that moment.
“Come on, let’s go home. Your uncle brought a chicken from the cafeteria for you, and we’ll have a nice meal. Today, you’re allowed to eat white rice.”
At that moment, the thoughtful little Second Brother dug a lollipop out of his pocket and shoved it into his older brother’s hand.
“It’s okay, bro! You’ll definitely get into a good school!”
They left.
Chen Sijia stood in place, feeling a shallow sense of melancholy rise within her.
Come to think of it, once the college entrance exam was over, her connection with Zhang Jue would probably end too. After all, Zhang Jue had already confirmed he wouldn’t attend the graduation ceremony since he had to start preparing for the new skating season as soon as the exams ended.
Zhang Jue was the genius skater watched by ice skating fans worldwide and would win many more championships in the future. She, on the other hand, was just an ordinary girl who happened to be good at studying.
Chen Sijia planned to study medicine at Wujiaochang, and barring any surprises, she would be living in Shanghai for the next four years, while Zhang Jue would surely go to Beijing.
She had long known that they would become strangers someday, but if she had realized how fast time would pass, she would have spoken to him more in the past.
Chen Sijia couldn’t quite define her feelings for this boy. It seemed like a mix of admiration and respect, but perhaps there was some friendship mixed in as well, forming a slightly bittersweet emotion.
She genuinely liked Zhang Jue, but she couldn’t casually confess her feelings like others did. At the same time, her feelings weren’t strong enough to make her hope for a deeper relationship. As far as she knew, some girls at school had chosen universities in Beijing just because of Zhang Jue, but Chen Sijia had always planned to go to Shanghai. She never intended to change her plans for anyone.
So, this was just a quiet, unspoken crush, like a gentle summer breeze that would fade away without a trace.
As summer approached, the trees had grown lush with green leaves. Sunlight filtered through the branches, casting specks of gold on the ground. The wind rustled softly through the leaves.
The girl watched Zhang Jue’s retreating figure, sighed, and though she had many things she wanted to say, in the end, she just pulled out her phone and sent a text.
“I don’t know how many chances we’ll have to meet again. I hope you don’t get hurt as much in the future and can always skate in good health.”
Zhang Jue’s phone beeped with several notifications. When he opened it, he saw seven or eight messages from classmates and underclassmen.
Because of his participation in school events, Zhang Jue had given some students his contact information—just his work number, though. His friends and family contacted him on another number. Still, he had gotten to know these classmates well, and during sports meets, people from other classes would even cheer for him. Zhang Jue felt like he was pretty popular.
The messages were from both boys and girls, like the vice class president next door, the track and field girl who threw the shot put, the class monitor, and Chen Sijia from his own class.
The class hunk from Class 9 even sent a confession message, which shocked Zhang Jue. He had never expected that the guy who slung his arm over his shoulder while buying bottled water from the school store would have such feelings for him. But the message didn’t seem to require a response, it was more of a casual “I had a crush on you, but now that high school is over, so is my love for you. We can still be bros.”
The others just sent farewell and good luck messages.
Zhang Jue smiled, closed his phone, and pulled his younger brother, who was listening to music, into a hug.
Without realizing it, he had passed through another stage of his youth. Though this period had been busy, with figure skating taking up most of his time and energy, it was still a wonderful and exciting chapter of his life.
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