When Sai Peng and Sai Qiong followed Dong Xiaolong into the national team, they were filled with excitement.

It was strange, really, they had skated quite well when they were with their previous coach, but there was always something missing.

This was because they weren’t good at performing, and ice dance’s main focus was the athletes’ performance.

It wasn’t until last season when their coach went on maternity leave, and Dong Xiaolong reluctantly took over, that he made up for the performance aspect, which the siblings were least skilled at.

However, ice dancers needed more than just performance—they also needed good skating and excellent lifts. So, their parents ran around trying to build connections. After the club league, they proactively went to talk to Sun Qian, finally managing to get them into the national team. They then trained under the skating coach, Jiang Chaosheng.

Jiang Chaosheng was actually one of the first-generation ice dancers in New China. His skating skills were solid, and he was a well-trained coach. He had passed the judge’s certification exam and was often invited to judge singles competitions. He also worked as a commentator. Though he wasn’t as famous as Zhang Junbao, he was knowledgeable and experienced.

All of the top male and female athletes in the national team had trained with Coach Jiang, especially Jin Meng/Yao Lan, the former top pair skaters who were known for their incredible skating speed and solid technique. They were also trained by Jiang Chaosheng.

When they entered the rink, Zhang Jue was guiding his juniors under Coach Lu’s supervision, doing skating drills.

Sai Qiong glanced at him and whispered to her brother: “Zhang Jue’s ice acceleration really is as unique as they say.”

Others’ accelerations would show the coordination of joints, waist, shoulders, and so on, but his dance movements remained unchanged while his speed suddenly increased. He truly deserved to be called a top-tier athlete with world-class talent.

Sai Peng was confused “How does he accelerate on the ice?”

Why couldn’t he, as an ice dancer, figure it out up close?

It seemed like this person had an accelerator built into his feet from birth.

Apart from the four top skaters—Zhang Jue, Cha Hanbuhua, Min Shan, and Jiang Yihong—there were also three young girls. They were the winners of the junior category in the club league that year: Meng Xiaolei, Qin Meng, and Lu Qiu. The first two were 11 years old, and Lu Qiu was 9. All three had been retained after successfully passing the trial at Zhang Jue’s club.

Meng Xiaolei was a single skater from the south. She spoke fluent Cantonese, with a slight Mandarin accent. She had strong jumping talent, but her skating and spins were weaker. Her body was a bit stiff, and her performance wasn’t very graceful, though she had a delicate face.

Qin Meng was a single skater from J Province, known for its pairs skating. Her parents had wanted her to practice pairs, but the girl believed her future was in singles. After losing two male partners, she proved herself by winning a silver medal in the club league and had a classical, beautiful appearance.

Lu Qiu, the youngest, came from a family of overseas professors. She only understood Chinese, but her Mandarin wasn’t fluent. Fortunately, Zhang Junbao, Shen Liu, and Coach Lu were all fluent in English, so they communicated with her in a mix of English and Mandarin. She was a brown-haired, blue-eyed mixed-race child.

The common feature of these three girls was their looks—they were all exceptionally beautiful. Once they grew up, they could easily be compared to famous ice skating beauties like Bai Yezhong sisters, Selena, and Helena.

Regrettably, the three boys who won medals in the club league this year didn’t even show up for the trial. The gold medalist’s parents were sending him abroad for studies, the silver medalist preferred ballet, and the bronze medalist was too lazy to handle Zhang Jue’s tough training. So, Zhang Junbao had a hard time finding suitable male singles skaters.

With Cha Hanbuhua and Jiang Yihong around, they didn’t have to worry about male singles skaters for now. But Zhang Jue’s club had become more female-heavy with fewer male skaters, creating a gender imbalance.

However, the kids didn’t think too much about it. Once they were in the team, they focused on training. Although Zhang Junbao paid attention to their health, never letting them diet and always taking them for painful therapy and acupuncture, he was strict when it came to training.

Not all the kids were like Zhang Jue, who liked to act spoiled but had strong self-discipline. Some still needed their coach’s strict supervision. Under the more relaxed Russian coach Boris, Vasily even resorted to hitting lazy trainees.

When Lu Qiu, who had weaker physical endurance, first came for training, her heart rate shot over 180. Her curly hair hung limply by her face. Qin Meng collapsed on the ground, while only the more powerful Meng Xiaolei didn’t look too disheveled.

Zhang Jue, having adapted to this intensity since he was 13 or 14, was still able to do jumps. He completed a 4lz+3T+1lo+3F+3lo combo, then slipped on the last jump, falling into a full split. But he quickly got up and continued his jump training.

He tried another 4+1+4 jump combo.

He aimed to start with a 4S, but it turned into a 2S. Still, Zhang Jue smoothly followed up with a 1lo, then a 4S.

Shen Liu commented: “He can now perform a 4S cleanly, and he seems even lighter than before.”

Min Shan, who was also bold, skated up to Zhang Jue and tried to do a 4S, but she ended up falling in a heap on the ice, laughing and punching the ice.

“Senior, I’m still 120 degrees off from completing the full rotation on my 4S.”

“That’s okay, just focus on stabilizing your 3A,” Zhang Jue said, pulling her up. They continued training.”

The jumps athletes showcased on the competition floor were usually the ones with higher success rates. But in training, they tried all sorts of strange and complex jump combinations that would astonish anyone.

For the new kids in the team, after watching Zhang Jue’s training, they realized that for him, a 4+1+4 combo was already part of his technical repertoire. He could also do 3A+4T, and even trained a 4F requiring 4.2 rotations. The success rate for these jumps wasn’t too low, with 40% being quite good.

Min Shan’s jumping ability was also impressive. Previously, Bai Yezhong had completed a 3A+3T in competition, becoming the first woman to achieve this in a competition. Keiko could also do it. Now, Min Shan could too, meaning they all had the ability to land two 3As in their free skate.

Seeing the powerful jump repertoire of their seniors, the three new girls were filled with envy. Their abilities weren’t bad, but the highest jump difficulty they could do was Meng Xiaolei’s 3F+3T.

When the grueling training finally ended, the kids had to go study their cultural lessons. After all, athletes couldn’t just focus on sports forever and expect to get into college.

Thanks to the attitude of Uncle, the parents were reassured when sending their kids over.

Zhang Jue didn’t have to worry about cultural lessons, so he went to the medical room. He took off his socks and shoes to check the side of his right big toe. There was a blister that had burst. It was covered with a band-aid, but it still hurt. His heel had also developed a sore during training.

He had once hated wearing sports bandages on his joints, but now, facing all sorts of injuries, he had no choice but to wrap his foot in bandages. After each training, he had to change them. For example, his left foot bandage was stained with blood from doing 4T training, and his right foot was the same.

The worst injury wasn’t the skin abrasions, but his knees.

Yang Zhiyuan treated his blisters and right heel, then knelt down to massage his knee: “Knee wear and tear is an unavoidable sports injury; there’s really no way to fix it.”

Zhang Jue replied: “I know. As an athlete, some wear and tear is common. As long as it doesn’t affect the competition, it’s fine. I’ll also adjust the training load with the coach before the final.”

He was quite open about it. Among athletes of his age and level, Zhang Jue could proudly say: “My body is the best,” and that was enough. At least in terms of health, he wouldn’t lose to anyone else.

“By the way, has Hanbuhua waist improved?”

Yang Zhiyuan replied calmly: “Don’t worry. His injury was just a minor one from the French rink. After it’s healed, he’ll still be the healthiest person on the team. When it comes to strength and bones, he’ll beat you by ten streets.”

Had he not been diverted into figure skating, that frame of Cha Hanbuhua’s could have been used for weightlifting without feeling out of place.

Of course, Zhang Jue wasn’t particularly thin either. His leg circumference alone was 58 cm, which formed a stark contrast with his slender waist. His smooth muscles displayed strength, and sometimes Yang Zhiyuan couldn’t figure out how Zhang Jue suddenly grew from a cute elementary school kid into a grown man.

Yang Zhiyuan asked: “Have you been having trouble sleeping recently?”

Zhang Jue thought for a moment: “After I finished the short program, I still had some bad moods, but after returning to Beijing, I recovered. I haven’t had insomnia anymore.”

This meant that while competing and skating “Lovely Bones,” he still experienced insomnia.

Yang Zhiyuan rolled his eyes: “Why don’t you just change your short program? After all, there have been people who changed their programs midway through the season. If you start adjusting now, you can still complete it before the World Championships.”

Zhang Jue shook his head firmly: “No, ‘Lovely Bones’ still has potential for further Delavelopment. I can’t give up just because it’s difficult.”

It seemed like he was determined to stick with the melancholic theme, and Yang Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow, silently apologizing to Zhang Junbao.

From a team doctor’s perspective, he was willing to help the head coach persuade the athlete not to risk his mental health, but Zhang Jue was always like this—once he made up his mind, no one could change it. In this regard, he couldn’t be of much help.

He sighed: “You know, as an athlete, I won’t easily prescribe you sleeping pills. When you’re traveling for competitions, try drinking more milk to help you sleep.”

Zhang Jue didn’t think milk would work. He complained about it to Qin Xuejun when he got home: “If milk really worked, I wouldn’t have had insomnia during the last two competitions.”

Qin Xuejun responded with “Mm, mm, ah, ah” in agreement: “Then, when you’re about to fall asleep, give me a call. I’ll stay on the line until you fall asleep.”

Zhang Jue tilted his head: “But you’re so busy, always on the phone with me. How do you keep in touch with others?”

Qin Xuejun smiled: “It’s fine. I bought a new phone.”

He ruffled Zhang Jue’s hair: “Go to sleep now.”

Zhang Jue slid down in bed, pulling the blanket over the lower half of his face. Qin Xuejun turned off the desk lamp and continued reading. Zhang Jue stared at his side profile, gradually closing his eyes.

However, just as this top figure skater was preparing to head to Nagano, there were three unexpected events in men’s singles figure skating.

Ilya suffered a severe ligament strain while training for a 4Lz, David got into a car accident—no other injuries, just a concussion—and Zhang Jue suffered a stress fracture in his right leg. The three of them withdrew from the competition.

Rojas, ranked 7th, Kharhas, ranked 8th, and Cha Hanbuhua, ranked 9th, were temporarily added to the finals.

Zhang Jue couldn’t make it to Nagano.

Later, Cha Hanbuhua vividly remembered the scene: his senior, as usual, jumped high, spun at high speed, with perfect timing on takeoff, a straight jump axis, and beautiful posture in the air.

It should have been a fantastic 4Lo. However, at the moment of landing, Zhang Jue lost his balance, suddenly fell on the ice, and let out a short, painful scream. He hugged his right calf and curled up on the ice. His usually smiling face turned pale, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

The coaches gasped, and the team doctor immediately called for an ambulance and rushed over to check his leg, administering emergency treatment.

In every athlete’s nightmare—injury—had once again struck the world’s best men’s singles skater, his senior. Remeber…

 

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