Zhang Junbao was talking with Shen Liu when suddenly a heavy, sticky creature appeared on his back.

“Uncle, let’s take a group photo, Brother Shen, come take a picture for us!”

Zhang Junbao was about to scold him, saying “Adults are talking, kids shouldn’t interrupt,” but Shen Liu immediately realized that this was a mischievous child seeking the attention of an adult.

How should one put it? Ever since Zhang Junbao had that house and shop under his name, Shen Liu understood that Zhang Jue probably truly regarded his senior brother as a father figure. That’s why, despite his senior brother failing to find a match for years, he was not in a rush. One of the reasons for this was Zhang Jue, because this brat clearly already had plans to take care of him in his old age.

At the same time, Zhang Jue also shamelessly acted cute towards his senior brother Zhang, so he sensibly raised his phone.

“Come on, say cheese—”

Zhang Jue put his arm around his uncle’s shoulder and made a “peace” sign.

Zhang Junbao, originally a strong, muscular man, looked unusually small when his nephew hugged him. His face showed a serious yet helpless expression, but he still raised his hand to make the “peace” sign.

Ice skating fans watching from the side burst out laughing, and some even pointed at them.

“Look, even though Jue Ge is over 1.8 meters tall, Coach Zhang still dotes on him like that.”

“Ahhh, I love this uncle-nephew duo so much!”

“Family bond group is the best!”

Ilya, watching them, sighed: “He must have grown taller this year.”

Vasily: “He’s only 17, it’s normal for him to grow taller.”

However, it was surprising that, despite undergoing intense quad jump training, he still managed to grow so tall. If he hadn’t done quad jumps, maybe he would have grown to a height more suited for basketball.

Vasily smirked: “Now, when he stands next to male partners in pairs skating or ice dance, apart from not looking as muscular, there’s almost no sense of awkwardness.”

Some of these athletes are not only the most successful male singles skaters in the world, but they also have the highest commercial value in the sport (the wealthiest), and at just 17, it means that his glory could continue through the entire Pyeongchang cycle, while other peers slightly older than him would have to chase after him.

This kid really makes it hard to even feel jealous; wherever he goes, he keeps saying: “I’m just 1.8 meters tall,” and everyone with eyes can tell he’s lying about his height, but no one bothers to call him out.

Although Zhang Jue’s left foot injury would affect his ability to jump 4T and 3T in the short term, and the abdominal injury would prevent him from executing 4Lo and 3Lo well, his skating, spinning, and jumping weren’t too affected.

Well, it didn’t prevent him from making it to the podium, so Zhang Jue calmly accepted the invitation to perform.

Not only Zhang Jue, the gold medalist in men’s singles, was invited to perform, but also Sergey, the silver medalist, Ilya, the bronze medalist, fourth-place Hayato Teraoka, fifth-place David, and local competitor Kaneko Katsu.

The women’s singles gold medalist Keiko, silver medalist Katerina, bronze medalist Serena, as well as the champions and silver and bronze medalists in pairs and ice dance, including the couples who made it to the podium, would also participate in the exhibition.

By the way, all the gold medalists in men’s and women’s singles and pairs skating were Asian, while the silver and bronze medalists were Russian. The silver and bronze medalists in ice dance came from France and North America, respectively.

Clearly, the biggest faction in figure skating at the moment was still Russian, with almost all of the top athletes coming from there. If it weren’t for top athletes like Zhang Jue, Keiko, Huang Ying, and Guan Lin, who were in their prime, the Russians might have dominated the sport.

What’s even more frightening is that, aside from men’s singles, Russia has a massive backup army in all other events, which means that even though Huang Ying, Guan Lin, and Keiko are world number one in their generation, their juniors might not have the ability to compete with the Russian faction.

This was a concern the coaches had, even if the athletes themselves didn’t worry about it.

At least, watching Katerina from the sidelines, Min Shan was itching to compete but also feeling a strong sense of dread. Katerina was three years younger than Zhang Jue, which meant she would be promoted next year, while Keiko was older and technically not in the same generation, but Katerina, just one year older than Min Shan, had been her long-time rival.

“Speaking of which, this is probably because Boris only trains elite athletes, unlike another Russian coach who focuses on women’s singles and has many outstanding girls. Over in the Foot Basin, there’s an annual summer camp held by the Japan Ice Skating Association, where many top coaches are invited. Both sides have their advantages, but as for the China…”

Sun Qian’s face grew serious: “Even our most advantageous event, pairs skating, has always relied on a few exceptional individuals from previous generations. We really need to nurture more talent.”

We can’t just wait until Zhang Jue, Huang Ying/Guan Lin, and the others retire and have no one to take over. As head coach, we must think about the future of China’s figure skating.

Right now, Sun Qian was most grateful for having brought all of Zhang’s disciples into the national team; with good coaches, there would always be successors.

In a sense, unless Zhang Jue also becomes a coach after his retirement and does better than his uncle, Zhang Junbao’s long-term value to China’s figure skating might even surpass that of Zhang Jue.

Well, let’s place Zhang Xiaoyu second because without him, China’s figure skating market wouldn’t have expanded so quickly. This year, China’s Ice Skating Association also received more commercial sponsorships than ever before.

The remarkable Zhang Jue, who contributed so much to China’s figure skating, did a good deed the night after the competition—he gathered with his friends in a room and live-streamed world-class figure skaters opening cans of pickled herring…

The idea came from Keiko, who said that before, she tried stinky tofu in Beijing, but failed, and since she couldn’t stand the smell of durian, she admired Zhang Jue for being able to eat durian. So, Zhang Jue decided to challenge them with something even more exciting than stinky tofu or durian—by using “poison” to counteract poison. If they could handle the pickled herring, other stinky foods would be nothing.

In short, the live stream garnered so many viewers that the server nearly crashed. The skaters’ fearless spirit and their collective rush to vomit left a lasting impression on the audience.

Although each of them had a beautiful appearance, just one live stream revealed their silly side.

Zhang Jue, although the organizer of the event, was the first to be driven out by the smell, followed closely by Guan Lin, with the most resilient being Ilya, who managed to lick a piece of herring before finally vomiting. At that moment, the live stream’s comments were filled with colorful messages like “Courageous or is it the fighting spirit of the Russians?”

When the coaches found the live stream and rushed in to catch them, the group looked totally deflated, and because the room was so stinky, no one wanted to stay there, so it was left empty. Zhang Jue had to shamelessly go to his uncle’s house to borrow a place to sleep.

His uncle still complained about the smell, and Zhang Jue had to spend half an hour in the bathroom and spray flower water before being allowed to sleep on the couch.

Apart from Zhang Jue using flower water, most of the athletes had their own preferred perfumes, especially the white athletes with stronger body odor. They all carried deodorants or perfumes in their bags, so when they performed, they didn’t smell too bad.

And after a night’s rest, everyone successfully returned to their figure skating “fairy” appearances.

This time, Zhang Jue’s exhibition skate amazed everyone, just like his competition performance.

No one knew how much the young man had struggled with not being able to interpret the piece that Ms. Sarana had recommended to him well, nor did anyone know the emotional journey he had gone through during this time.

But the truth was, not only did he improve technically and in his interpretation of the competition programs this season, but by the end of the season, his exhibition performance had also reached a new level of appeal.

A soft and almost sorrowful melody played, and Zhang Jue wore a new costume made midway through the season, a Cossten design. The “Heavenly Maiden’s Feather Garment” in silver-gray wrapped around him, with a diagonal pink rhinestone pattern on his back, resembling a peach blossom jellyfish drifting in the river.

As a performer, Zhang Jue presented a minimalist yet modern style this time.

The athlete’s gliding, spinning, and jumping are all dynamic, but Zhang Jue’s emotions were soft and calm. Even though the difficulty of his jumps wasn’t high, with only four jumps—two of them single jumps—his performance still held a captivating power.

His performance was so beautiful that it made the audience instinctively hold their breath.

Ms. Sarana, who had recommended the piece, covered her face with excitement, a youthful look flashing in her aged eyes: “This is what I wanted to see. Beautiful music should be performed by beautiful people. Mia’s taste is really good. This child’s sense of art is amazing.”

Yes, Madam Mia had once been the principal dancer in a ballet troupe in Russia, and Ms. Sarana had watched her compete before and spoken with her at a gala. They were somewhat familiar with each other.

After the competition, the athletes had to attend the post-competition banquet. Zhang Jue changed into a deep blue suit, stood straight in a corner of the banquet hall, and secretly took a few sips of wine, exhaling deeply.

Ah, wine with ice was really good, but the suit felt a bit tight. It was the one he had ordered two months before the season started, and yet it had gotten tighter.

Hayato Teraoka, holding a bottle of juice, stood beside him: “Drinking alcohol at a young age is bad, right? You should learn from me. I resolutely avoid alcohol until I’m of drinking age.”

Zhang Jue looked around and raised a finger to his lips: “Don’t tell anyone.”

He usually made sure his uncle didn’t drink at all, and he set an example himself, so he had to hide to sneak a sip.

Ilya stood to the side, gulping down champagne, his face unchanged. Zhang Jue had heard from Vasily that Sergey and Ilya only looked well-behaved but actually hid vodka in their rooms, even once soaking fruit in alcohol from the medical room, and had to be scolded by their coach to behave.

Well, Vasily, as the older brother, was clearly more severe than Zhang Jue. When he disciplined his juniors, he would gently pinch their faces or ears, but Vasily would take off his leather shoes and beat them. No wonder his disciples were so scared of him.

However, Ilya was already 19, so drinking champagne, which was almost like water to him, was perfectly normal for any Russian. He no longer had to worry about getting punished for it.

Zhang Jue tilted his head: “So, what are you two doing here hiding? There are plenty of sponsors outside interested in you, especially that xx gaming company. They’re looking for a blond foreigner to represent their game. Ilya, if you talk to them, your chances of success are high.”

Ilya nodded: “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll ask Vasily to accompany me. My English accent is too strong, and I can’t communicate well alone. I’m here to tell you something.”

He cleared his throat: “Sergey had to withdraw from this World Championship because of a closed injury. Getting a silver medal is good enough, so he said he’s retiring. His retirement performance will be held in the country, and he wants the second show to be at your POI.”

Retiring? Or retiring due to injury?

Zhang Jue paused for a moment, then smiled: “Sure, I’d be happy to, and I really appreciate that he wants to do it.”

Hayato Teraoka cupped his face with both hands: “Retirement exhibition skate… If I retire in the future, I definitely want to skate ‘We Are’ in a Sauron costume.”

Zhang Jue clapped: “If you need Luffy to make a cameo, I can help! I’m perfect for the black-haired role, and Ilya can play Sanji. You can dye your hair green, and we’ll be the three giants of the Straw Hat Pirates.”

Ilya smiled: “Although it sounds like something far in the future, it doesn’t seem too distant. I hope that day comes later, though.”

The 2014-2015 season had ended, and Zhang Jue, now holding two World Championship gold medals, gently shook a glass of red wine.

He had certainly returned from the season with plenty of achievements, but he felt a little melancholic inside.

Perhaps it was because of his injuries—he wasn’t sure how much longer these unstoppable days would last.

Zhang Jue lowered his gaze: “Another season has passed.”

But… for athletes, smooth sailing was rare. The norm was stumbling along together but never giving up. Thinking of this, Zhang Jue’s mood lifted again.

Leaning against the railing, looking out at the moonlight, he thought, what should I perform next season to make everyone exclaim: “Wow!” in surprise?

Just thinking about it excited him.

 

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