By the end of March, Beijing had gradually warmed up, and the indoor heating was turned off. When Qin Xuejun returned home from work, he found that Shao Zhi’s food and water had been replaced in the trough, and the little hamster was holding a live mealworm and nibbling on it.

Seeing this, he knew that the head of the house had returned.

The sofa in their living room faced away from the door, and on the other side was a window with sunlight streaming in. Qin Xuejun then saw a long leg hanging off the edge of the sofa. When he walked over, he found that the person had used their full backpack as a pillow and was snoring, without even covering themselves with a blanket.

Qin Xuejun quickly took off his coat and draped it over the person, then went to Zhang Jue’s room to turn on the humidifier, lifted the blanket, and then carried the person horizontally to the main bedroom bed, helping them remove their shoes and cover them with the blanket.

Next, he filled a thermos with hot water and placed it by Zhang Jue’s bedside. Afterward, Qin Xuejun set the air conditioner on a timer, mainly to raise the room temperature to prevent the person from catching a cold.

At this moment, the two chickens, Da Hong and Er Hong, started clucking loudly. He gently closed the door and went to the balcony. After checking the chicken nest, he found one egg, but both chickens were still clucking happily.

He squatted down and pointed at the two chickens, muttering: “What are you making noise for? Don’t you know the master is home and resting? Your master just finished a whole season and needs to drink some chicken soup to recover. Be quiet or you might not survive…”

Qin Xuejun skillfully scolded the chickens, then went back to clean the living room, only to find a stack of health check-up forms on the coffee table.

It was normal for athletes to undergo regular health checks, and finding minor issues was not unusual. Qin Xuejun, who had nothing else to do, often used traditional acupuncture and massage techniques to maintain Zhang Jue’s body, which bore a heavy load. He also knew the two of them so well that if Zhang Jue left something out, it was meant for him to look at.

So, he naturally picked up the check-up forms and flipped through them, frowning slightly.

The abdominal muscle strain was expected.

“Flounder muscle…”

Had it flared up again?

In fact, figure skaters typically injure their right leg, as most of their jumps, like the F-jump and LZ-jump, rely on the right side for take-off and landing, unless they’re left-handed skaters who use their left foot for take-offs and landings.

Zhang Jue’s flounder muscle injury was linked to his constant practice of a left-footed 4T jump during his growth spurt to prepare for major competitions. This area had caused him the most trouble, with recurring strains that were more troublesome than old injuries to his waist, abdominal muscles, ankles, knees, and ligaments.

Fortunately, Zhang Jue’s injury had flared up again at the end of the season, but it wasn’t severe. He had still won gold in all the competitions he participated in without needing a cortisone injection, though it was clear from his near-collapse during the World Championships free skate that he had been affected.

Qin Xuejun had his own work. While Zhang Jue was competing, he was still working at the operating table. However, that didn’t stop him from worrying when watching the competition replays.

Recurrent injuries that worsen due to continuous training and competitions are one of the main reasons athletes retire.

Qin Xuejun was relieved that Zhang Jue was now in the off-season.

He sighed, took out a plaster, and put it on the table. He then went to the balcony and picked the vegetables Zhang Jue liked to eat, washed them, and placed them in the kitchen. He had planned to rest for a while, but a traffic accident during rush hour at a street corner in the city meant he had to quickly splash cold water on his face before rushing out again.

When Zhang Jue woke up, it was already 7 a.m. the next day. He sluggishly got up, made purple sweet potato, eggs, and half a broccoli flower for breakfast, then had a cup of Ladder Mountain milk. Afterward, he started cooking chicken breast, carrots, and purple cabbage for lunch, preparing to take it to university.

When he opened the fridge to grab some milk, he saw a note stuck to the door.

“Working overtime, won’t be home for the next couple of days. Qin, the liver king, left on March 31, 2015.”

Zhang Jue: … Working overtime and editing a doctoral thesis, isn’t this the definition of a liver king? This person really knows themselves well.

Speaking of being busy, Zhang Jue was also quite busy. After all, it was already the end of March, and the university had long started. He had hardly attended any classes due to his competition schedule.

The good student quickly packed his things and rushed to the Agricultural University. He took the subway there, although Zhang Jue had learned to drive in a previous life, he hadn’t really driven since his driving school days, and in this life, he wasn’t old enough to get a driver’s license yet.

Even though he had already won several world championships and broken numerous world records, he still had three months to go before he turned 18.

Thinking about it, the idea of enrolling in driving school was already on the table, and he could take the test during the summer break. With that thought, Zhang Jue walked into the university gate.

The first class of the day was a political theory class, and the lecture hall was filled with people. By the time Zhang Jue arrived, only the last few rows and the first row still had available seats.

Wearing a mask, Zhang Jue nimbly and discreetly made his way to the last row, then, in the odd stares of his classmates, he placed his hands on the desk and slowly lifted his handsome face from the edge of the table.

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Although he was two minutes late, Zhang Jue was still lucky enough to make it for roll call. After the professor called his name, many people in the class turned to look at him.

Their gazes were as if they had seen something extraordinary. The professor also called on him to answer questions during the class. Zhang Jue was not afraid of being called on, as he was confident in his political theory knowledge. However, as he answered the questions, he couldn’t help but hear a familiar “click” sound.

Then, he realized that the sweet, sweet Research Group 2 he was in no longer needed him to personally handle the manure. The senior sisters from the animal husbandry department had already taken the initiative to push a small cart and brought the fertilizer over.

His senior sighed: “The only reason they carry manure for you is to confess their feelings. This is true love. How can you reject them? Try it. Is it because you don’t think they’re good-looking?”

He then gave Zhang Jue a serious lecture: “A woman’s appearance isn’t that important. What matters is her character, whether your values align. No matter how beautiful she is, she can’t compare to you. Young people shouldn’t have such high standards, yada yada…”

In the end, the senior concluded: “That line of yours about not dating before retirement is too firm. What if you meet your true love before you retire?”

“I don’t have time for love. Training and academics are enough of a hassle for me,” Zhang Jue said, raising the materials in his hand: “If you’re free, senior, why not go check out the breeding situation in Research Group 2?”

His senior, who had also remained single due to being busy, replied: “What about you?”

Zhang Jue pushed the small cart full of fertilizer and replied: “I’m going to fertilize the experimental fields for my ancestors.”

In the first week after Zhang Jue returned to Beijing, he didn’t meet with Qin Xuejun even once.

Dr. Qin was so busy that he slept in the office. Zhang Jue was also not idle, and sometimes when Qin Xuejun returned to grab some daily necessities, he would find everything already organized and placed on the table, while Zhang Jue had already gone to bed according to the athlete’s schedule. Other times, when Zhang Jue woke up, he found warm breakfast on the dining table, but the person who made it was nowhere to be found.

On the third day after returning, Zhang Jue was notified that he would be receiving an award. The leaders were happy that the young man had achieved such great results in his first season after Sochi and wanted to encourage him to keep up the good work.

Then came interviews and several commercial activities. Between these events, Zhang Jue also had to send a message announcing that he would withdraw from the World Team Championships in early April. Jin Zixuan, Liu Ye Ming, and Fan Zhaoying would take his place.

The team competition, also known as the World Figure Skating Team Championships, was originally an entertaining competition initiated by Japan. The event’s organizers invited the top six countries in the overall world rankings to participate, and it became the precursor to the Winter Olympics figure skating team event.

Starting in 2013, the team competition was held once every two years, with this year’s event scheduled for April.

Zhang Jue had originally planned to participate in the competition to have some fun with his friends, but this year he couldn’t. His team doctor seriously told him that in order to heal his strained soleus muscle, he would need to stop jumping training for at least half a month and undergo regular physical therapy.

As a result, Zhang Jue had to withdraw from the competition to recover from his injury. He also took the opportunity to call Keiko, Zhuang, and Hayato to apologize for not being able to compete. Before he returned home, he had never anticipated that his injury would be serious enough to require withdrawal.

Being athletes themselves, his friends fully understood Zhang Jue’s situation.

As the top athlete, Zhang Jue temporarily retired, but as the senior brother of Zhuang, he still had to continue supervising the training of his junior colleagues. Shen Liu, who was proficient in foreign languages, was now negotiating with the Japanese Ice Skating Association about off-season exchange programs, while another expert in four-revolution jump technique was responsible for overseeing the jumping training.

Across the world, it was a tradition for senior athletes from prestigious figure skating schools to guide their juniors into becoming excellent athletes even better than themselves.

For example, Vasily coached Sergey and Ilya, and Martin worked as Alex’s assistant coach.

Zhang Jue flipped through the training materials Shen Liu had given him, grabbed the bar, and went on the ice, waving at Min Shan.

“Shan Shan, come over, today your senior brother will teach you the 3A.”

Min Shan happily skated over, and Zhang Jue asked her: “Shan Shan, how are you progressing with your 3A?”

Min Shan replied sweetly: “Coach Shen said that after a few more days of practice, I can try to do it without the bar.”

“See, senior brother, I’m doing great, right?”

Zhang Jue, however, was puzzled. This girl had been talking about wanting to learn the 3A since the beginning of the season, yet she still hadn’t managed to do it without the bar?

This didn’t make sense… he had learned the 3A in less than two months, but Shan Shan had been practicing for so long without success. There must be something wrong, yet her physical examination report showed that she was as strong as an ox, so it wasn’t an injury problem.

Could it be that her uncle and Coach Shen didn’t know how to teach the 3A in women’s singles?

Zhang Jue clapped his hands: “Alright, you’re close to success, let’s try this quick method. I used it myself when I was learning the 3A, and it worked really well.”

Min Shan ignored Zhang Jue’s remark about how “being able to do the 3A without the bar means you’re almost there,” and her big eyes sparkled with excitement.

Senior brother’s 3A was the most beautiful in the world, and his quick method must be some incredible secret!

Not only Min Shan, but even Coach Lu, who was standing not far away, perked up his ears, curious about the genius’s secret method for mastering the 3A quickly.

Zhang Jue cleared his throat, raised the bar with pride, and confidently explained the method.

“My quick 3A method is to start practicing the four-revolution jumps, either a 4T or 4S, it’s up to you. Don’t worry if you can land them or not, just focus on completing the full rotations.”

“Once you can rotate four times in the air, completing the three-and-a-half turns will be a piece of cake, right? When I was learning the 3A, I used the 4S to help me improve my 3A. It’s super effective! You can practice with me, and it’d be great if you can master the 3A before the exchange student from the Japanese Ice Skating Association arrives. Then you can show off to them! I want Keiko, Zhuang, and Hayato to know that it’s not just Japanese female skaters who can do the 3A!”

Min Shan’s smile gradually faded. She opened her mouth, but she couldn’t bring herself to say: “You think too highly of me.” She had the determination to do the 3A, but the exchange personnel from the Japanese Ice Skating Association would arrive in May, and with only a month to go, she really didn’t think she could master it in time.

Coach Lu rolled his eyes and walked over to Zhang Jue, shaking his cane.

“Crocodile butt, dangerous.”

By the way, after giving Zhang Jue a good scolding, Coach Lu warned him not to put so much pressure on his junior to “complete the 3A quickly.” But he didn’t stop him from teaching Min Shan the “quick 3A method.” While teaching, Zhang Jue even demonstrated the 3A himself.

The 3A didn’t require him to use his left foot for the ice pick; the landing was also on the right foot. The strength of the body twist was easy for him, and it didn’t strain the abdominal muscles that were injured. It was more like moderate activity, and Zhang Jue casually practiced it without even the team doctor saying anything.

A few days later, Min Shan successfully managed to rotate enough for her first 3A, though she couldn’t land it yet.

Zhang Jue’s junior, Jiang Yihong, practiced the 3A with his senior sister. He was only 80 degrees away from completing the full rotation and had even developed the technique for raising his hand during the A jump.

The honest and hardworking kid was practicing his own unstable 3A while being guided by his senior brother to practice the four-revolution rotations. His muscles were clearly defined, and judging by his physique, he looked even more like Zhang Jue than Zhang Jue himself.

After negotiating with the Japanese Ice Skating Association, Shen Liu came back and saw Zhang Jue’s junior girl performing a 4S with the bar. He was dumbfounded.

His mouth trembled: “I… I just haven’t been keeping track of her for a few days, and now she’s practicing the four-revolution jumps?”

So, Shan Shan was such an ambitious girl? Shen Liu suddenly realized he had underestimated her in the past.

Coach Lu expressionlessly hit him on the back of the head with his cane.

“This is just a misunderstanding.”

Shen Liu, wake up! Don’t get excited just because you see your junior practicing the four-revolution jumps, Shan Shan is a girl!

 

 

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