“The entire summer, Zhang Jue had a hard time because he lost 4 kilograms during the offseason, and with the new season approaching, he needed to regain that weight and build muscle.

While others enjoyed themselves after their college entrance exams, Zhang Jue worked even harder than before.

He trained for eight hours a day. Apart from regular strength, fitness, jumping, spinning, and skating drills, he also had dance and flexibility training, and polished his routines. After all of that, he still had to swim 3 to 4 kilometers in the pool.

In addition to this, he had to eat a lot, undergo physical therapy, and start previewing his university courses early to ensure that despite competitions and training taking up so much time, his academic performance wouldn’t fall behind. Finally, he also had to sleep nine hours every day.

Eight hours at night, and one hour for a nap.

No matter who you are, there are only 24 hours in a day, so Zhang Jue often felt like he didn’t have enough time and wished he could split himself in two.

With the start of the school year, his uncle finally took pity on him and cut his ice training down to two hours, replaced aerobic exercises with morning runs, and moved anaerobic training to after his classes at Shougang. This reduced his total daily training time to six hours when he had classes, though it remained the same when he didn’t.

First, he had to report to school.

Note: He left from his own home, of course. He didn’t live with Zhang Junbao.

This time, China’s figure skating team brought home two silver medals and a bronze in the team event from Sochi, and Zhang Jue also won gold at the World Championships. All of this caused a surge in popularity for figure skating, and Zhang Jue’s endorsement fees rose as well, largely because his face was quite marketable. So, unknowingly, his savings reached a point where he could buy more than one house.

Zhang Jue counted the zeros in his bank account and immediately found a community near Olympic Park. The nearby schools, hospitals, and other amenities were complete, with two subway lines nearby, and close to the Bird’s Nest, Water Cube, and the Science and Technology Museum. The upcoming speed skating and skiing venues for the 2022 Olympics will also be built here.

There was a four-bedroom, two-living room unit with a 40-square-meter commercial space for sale. The total price was 12.6 million yuan, and Zhang Jue didn’t even blink before paying for it in full. He then spent around 800,000 yuan to hire a renovation company to redo the water, electricity, and decoration and replaced all the furniture with new high-end brands.

He then transferred these two properties to his uncle’s name.

At first, Zhang Junbao didn’t want to accept this precious asset.

His uncle firmly believed that Zhang Jue had returned to figure skating because of him (which was true). And in order to compete, Zhang Jue had already suffered a lot. Every time his uncle saw the plaster patches all over Zhang Jue’s body, he felt heartbroken. But as Zhang Jue’s main coach, he had indeed gained fame thanks to Zhang Jue.

To be honest, if Zhang Jue hadn’t made such a big name for himself on the international stage, who would know who Zhang Junbao was?

After all, he was just a retired men’s singles skater who didn’t have much fame during his career and never ranked in the top 20 in the world. Any talented kids he found left for other famous coaches after building their foundations.

Without Zhang Jue, would he have been able to recruit such talents as Cha Hanbuhua, Xu Chuo, Min Shan, and Jiang Yihong, and become the head coach of the largest single skating school in the country?

Zhang Jue’s presence had made his coaching career illustrious. He had already gained a lot because of this child, so he didn’t want to get anything more from him. All he wanted was for Zhang Jue to skate happily and healthily.

Yes, he could proudly say: “I treat all my students equally as a coach” but as Zhang Jue’s uncle, the child he loved the most in this world was indeed Zhang Jue, not even his own son could compare.

After all, Zhang Jue had caused the family a lot of concern since childhood. Even if it was just the sunk cost fallacy, Zhang Jue held a heavy place in his heart. Besides, they were comrades in the competition arena.

But Zhang Jue knew his uncle’s personality well. He acted spoiled, spoke sweetly, and coaxed him with both truth and lies. He said he planned to buy more houses in the future, but Beijing had purchase restrictions, so he needed his uncle’s help.

At first, Zhang Junbao resisted.

“Wait a minute, wouldn’t it be better for your parents to help with this?” he asked.

Zhang Jue quickly came up with a believable story: “To buy a house in Beijing, you need either household registration or five consecutive years of social security or income tax contributions here. They don’t meet that requirement.”

But his uncle did. He used to be a national team member and now was a national team coach. Zhang Jue confirmed through Sun Qianyi that his uncle indeed had the qualifications to buy a house.

In the end, Zhang Junbao was convinced.

He thought he had done well as a coach, and since he was his parents’ only son, the family home, land, and orchards would eventually be passed down to him. So, he was a man who didn’t lack property, land, or a career, and he wouldn’t cheat his nephew.

And such a reliable person as himself was the best one to help his nephew. Who else could be as trustworthy as him?

Anyway, the true owner of this house was still Zhang Jue. Zhang Junbao considered himself just a ‘tool man.’

Later, Zhang Jue also asked his uncle to ‘live in the house with Coach Shen to bring some life into it so it wouldn’t be abandoned’ and to ‘help manage the shop because training and studying kept him too busy to handle leasing and rent collection.’

Even Zhang Qingyan didn’t object. She quietly told Zhang Jue: “Your uncle is getting older now. He’s been on five blind dates this year, but he says he doesn’t feel a connection with any of the women and is fully focused on his career.”

“If he remains single his whole life, you’ll have to be extra filial to him because he sees you as his own son.”

This was true. Every holiday, Zhang Junbao’s parents nagged him to find a partner, but he never found anyone he liked. Earlier this year, he discovered he had chronic liver inflammation, possibly due to staying up too late. To prevent it from developing into cirrhosis, his family watched him closely, making sure he took his medicine and adjusted his lifestyle.

After this diagnosis, Zhang Junbao quietly wrote a will, stating that if anything happened to him, his personal property would go to his parents. If they passed away before him, it would go to Zhang Jue.

That was how Zhang Jue’s beloved uncle came to live near the Olympic Park while Zhang Jue himself lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Princess Tomb, Haidian.

Of course, Zhang Jue hadn’t forgotten his parents and younger brother as he became successful. But his mother, Zhang Qingyan, and father, Xu Yan, refused to take a penny from him and even occasionally gave him money. As for his younger brother, who was still too young, Zhang Qingyan had sternly warned Zhang Jue not to give him too much pocket money.

The Zhang family’s basic pocket money was 300 yuan a month. If you ranked in the top 100 at school, you’d get an extra 100 yuan, top 50, an extra 200, and top 30, an extra 500.

Zhang Jue felt like life was tough. He only wanted to be a filial son, but his parents were much harder to fool than his uncle. So the only things he could do for them were to call home often, show concern for their health, and take them for regular checkups (which was when his uncle’s liver inflammation was discovered).

Since his uncle had other students, Zhang Jue decided not to bring his parents on the day he reported to school and went alone.”

Before heading out, Qin Xuejun, who had just finished his night shift and had slept for less than five hours, was awakened by the fragrant smell of eggs and oil as they sizzled together.

He walked into the living room and saw Zhang Jue frying eggs in olive oil with low-calorie pepper salt. The lettuce on the balcony had been plucked down to just a handful, with the rest floating in a pot of boiling water. Zhang Jue had also cut three avocados and toasted a slice of whole wheat bread.

That was his breakfast—bland and tasteless.

Seeing Qin Xuejun come over, Zhang Jue scooped out the lettuce and casually asked: “Xuejun, you’re up? Want some noodles? I’ll make you some.”

With a toothbrush in his mouth, Qin Xuejun mumbled back: “Sure.”

Zhang Jue tossed a handful of noodles into the still-boiling water.

“I’ll make you a cold noodle dish, with shredded cucumber, mashed garlic, and the leftover black pepper beef from yesterday, alright? Oh, by the way, could you change the water for Sha Zhi?”

Qin Xuejun wandered back to the bathroom, and it wasn’t until he was changing the water for his daughter that he suddenly woke up fully. He realized something—wasn’t that kid still calling me ‘Brother Qin’ ‘Peijia,’ or ‘the kid’s mom’ just yesterday? How come he’s using my first name now?

Are we really that close to call each other like that?

Actually, we might be. I usually call him ‘little Jue.’

Ever since they started living together, the two occasionally clashed, and when Qin Xuejun got annoyed, he’d call Zhang Jue ‘Big Fatty.’ Then they’d bicker for a while, playfully fight, and soon enough, they’d be happily eating hot pot together.

So, no problem—he could call him whatever he wanted.

Although as an active athlete, Zhang Jue could only eat nutritional meals, he was really good at cooking. Back when Doctor Qin cured his foot, Zhang Jue even made fried dishes as a thank-you gift.

Maybe it was because, when he was younger, he had often managed dinner for himself and Xu Dela by cooking noodles, so his noodle-cooking skills were top-notch.

A giant bowl, big enough to fit a person’s head, was filled with nearly half a kilo of noodles, and without pausing, Qin Xuejun devoured it all. Though he felt overly full afterward, the satisfaction was undeniable.

Zhang Jue packed up his school bag.

“Brother Qin, just put the bowl in the dishwasher. I’m heading to school in the morning, then training in the afternoon, so I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”

Qin Xuejun, holding the bowl, blinked his grey eyes: “How do you plan to get there? Subway? Bus?”

Zhang Jue replied: “Bus, I think. I’m pretty familiar with the route from here to Wudaokou, and also the one from here to Shougang.”

He grumbled: “I just don’t know how to get from Wudaokou to Shougang.”

Although his uncle had offered to pick him up, at 17 years old, Zhang Jue didn’t want to keep relying on adults for rides.

Qin Xuejun offered: “Should I pick you up?”

Zhang Jue looked pleasantly surprised: “Really?”

Qin Xuejun nodded: “Yeah, I’m off today anyway.”

Zhang Jue beamed: “But I think the pickup truck isn’t allowed within the Third Ring Road. You can take my car.”

Even though he wasn’t old enough to get a driver’s license yet, Zhang Jue had already bought a car long ago, and his uncle had even helped him get license plates for it.

So, when Zhang Jue, the famous figure skater widely followed by his fans, was photographed by an ice skating enthusiast while reporting to Agricultural University, he stood outside the university gate, carrying academic books and a bag of nutrient soil he’d somehow gotten hold of. After waiting for about five minutes, a bright red Chery QQ6 with cartoon Piglet graphics on the hood pulled up in front of the school.

A six-foot-five guy got out to help Zhang Jue with his books. Zhang Jue slung the bag of soil over his shoulder, walking with a farmer-like gait, and loaded the soil into the trunk before climbing into the passenger seat.

The soil bag was one of those woven plastic sacks. If Zhang Jue weren’t so incredibly handsome, comparable to the top male celebrities, he could have easily been mistaken for an old farmer bringing produce to the city to sell.

As he climbed into the car, Zhang Jue muttered to Qin Xuejun.

“We have two balconies at home, right? One in the kitchen and one in the living room. It’s such a waste to only grow vegetables on the small kitchen balcony. We should make full use of the space. I brought this nutrient soil to grow more vegetables, and we could try growing some water spinach indoors too. If you don’t mind, I’ll bring a chicken coop home tomorrow…”

Being an athlete wasn’t easy. If he wanted to eat safe food, he could only rely on the canteen. Zhang Jue thought that since he was now part of an agricultural university, it was time to contribute to his own dining table.

Qin Xuejun replied: “Uh, I don’t mind, as long as you’re not bothered by the smell.”

Agricultural student Zhang Jue assured him: “I’m not worried. We can use a fermentation bed. It’ll prevent any odors. We can raise two hens, they’ll lay eggs when they’re young, and when they’re old, we can make chicken soup. Old hen soup is very nourishing.”

It wasn’t the first time Zhang Jue had raised chickens or grown vegetables on a balcony. Back when he was in university, during summer breaks at his grandparents’ house, he’d helped take care of the orchard and raised chickens, ducks, and geese.

If his maternal grandparents hadn’t passed away early, he might have been involved in pig farming too.

But that meant that when Zhang Jue was away for competitions, Sha Zhi, the chickens, and the vegetables would probably all be left for me to take care of.

To Qin Xuejun’s surprise, he didn’t mind the idea.

After all, since his parents’ divorce, he had long been deprived of this kind of bustling life.

“By the way, both of our cars have odd-numbered plates. I’m thinking of getting an SUV with an even-numbered plate. It’ll be more spacious, too.”

Zhang Jue tapped on the car roof, and Qin Xuejun froze for a moment.

Even though he felt a little touched inside, he wondered—little Jue, are you planning to make me your permanent driver?

 

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