Before Zhang Jue departed, Qin Xuejun could still comfort the reluctant Zhang Jue. But after Zhang Jue left, he too felt lonely.

Fortunately, the busy routine of being a doctor didn’t leave him much time to miss Zhang Little Jue, except for one day when he returned home, fed Zhang Yingjun and the three red birds, watered the balcony plants, and turned on the TV. He discovered that the news was reporting about Zhang Jue, and that was when loneliness surged in his heart.

Fortunately, Zhang Jue’s face occasionally appeared on the TV.

Many people were paying attention to this group of Winter Olympic athletes, and Zhang Jue was the brightest star among them. Usually, whenever there was news related to the Winter Olympic training base, there would be shots of him.

Sometimes Zhang Jue appeared as just an extra in the news, too handsome to be ignored. Other times, he was the main focus of the report, with him jumping high to complete a 4lz3t, and the screen would be filled with comments like “Zhang Team is awesome.”

It was funny though, because while Zhang Jue had broken world records more than ten times and shattered the record for the most world records set by any figure skater, his popularity skyrocketed not because of his achievements, but after his income was exposed.

Now, everyone referred to Zhang Jue as “Maybe not the best performer among domestic athletes, but definitely the one who makes the most money.”

There was no way around it. No matter how many records Zhang Jue broke or how many gold medals he earned, as long as he didn’t have an Olympic gold medal, there would always be something missing. He couldn’t compare to the Olympic gold medalists in badminton or table tennis, and this was the point most criticized by haters, even making his Sochi silver medal a black mark.

Was it just because he was handsome? If he were a little less attractive, his income wouldn’t be as high as it was now!

Though insiders understood that Zhang Jue’s silver medal was unjustly obtained, the haters didn’t care about the facts when they were bent on attacking him.

Fortunately, Zhang Jue had adjusted his mindset. This time, it took him a bit longer than four years ago to adapt to the high-altitude training, but he was still one of the athletes to reach peak condition faster than others in the same batch.

Just like when he had started training again after going through puberty, his quad jumps hadn’t been stable at first, but it was only after entering high-altitude training that he managed to stabilize them. This time, he was once again strengthening his jumping ability through high-altitude training.

After completing a set of jumping exercises, Shen Liu nodded in satisfaction: “Good. Now, the success rate for these jumps is 50%. We expect that in the next season or the one after that, he’ll be able to use them in competition.”

Zhang Jue wiped his sweat with a towel: “Can I use them now?”

Coach Lu and Shen Liu said in unison: “No!”

The success rate of jumps in training wasn’t the same as in competition. If someone’s success rate for a quadruple jump was 60% in training, then having 50% success in a competition would be considered good!

The Olympic stage was very important, and at times like this, stability was key.

At that moment, Min Shan fell again.

Zhang Jue looked back: “Shan Shan’s 4T still isn’t working.”

Shen Liu shook his head: “She’s not a power-type women’s single skater. It’s not easy for her to complete ice jumps.”

The fact that this girl could complete a full rotation 4S was thanks to Zhang Yingjun training her for several years to build strength.

The current problem lay here. Min Shan’s strength was insufficient to support her after completing a quadruple jump and connecting it to a 2T. Without the ability to do consecutive jumps, she could only increase the number of quadruple jumps she could perform, thus increasing the total number of 4-jumps in her free skate.

But after some attempts, everyone realized that she was not suited for ice jumps. The 4S had seemingly reached her talent ceiling.

Coach Lu commented: “If it were an under-rotation 4T, she could do it, but such a jump would be embarrassing and would lose points.”

If Xu Chuo wasn’t injured, she would probably be able to perform a quadruple jump more easily than Min Shan. Like Zhang Jue, although her rapid growth spurt during puberty had caused some difficulties, she had passed through that phase and was naturally a power-type athlete. Her muscles developed faster than other girls.

This was a pure physical talent advantage, but unfortunately, her muscles grew too quickly, and her bones couldn’t keep up, which was useless.

Thinking about this, Shen Liu looked over at Xu Chuo, who was practicing her 3A on another rink. The girl had a height advantage over other women’s singles skaters, her jumps were powerful, her limbs were long, her skating was smooth, and her dance movements were beautiful.

Her 3A had been lost after a serious injury, but now, in order to secure a medal in the team event, she had gritted her teeth and started to recover that jump.

After about a month of intense training, Zhang Jue had to withdraw from the Four Continents Championships to focus entirely on the Winter Olympics. His rival, Teraoka Hayato, also didn’t compete, and the gold medal was won by Carlson, a guy who was known as the God of North American Skating. His performance was solid, and as long as he didn’t face the “Three Musketeers,” his mental state was good, making him about 50-50 with Arthur Cohen.

On February 5, Zhang Jue boarded the flight to Pyeongchang with the Chinese delegation.

Everyone wore the Chinese team uniforms, and before boarding, Zhang Jue made another phone call.

“Meijing, I’m about to leave for Pyeongchang and will be boarding the plane soon… Really? Congratulations on being able to enter… Yeah, see you in Pyeongchang.”

His uncle smiled and asked: “How is it? You feel better now?”

Zhang Jue nodded happily: “Yeah, I can finally relax. I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to see them at this Winter Olympics.”

“Alright, let’s go to Pyeongchang.”

He shouted, and the rest of the figure skating national team followed their captain up the boarding ladder.

Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Vasily was taking Ilya, Katerina, and Selena onto the train to Moscow, where they would meet up with the Russian Winter Olympic delegation before heading off together.

In Tokyo, Japan, Teraoka Hayato was carrying the luggage for both himself and Keiko. Standing hand-in-hand with Keiko among the delegation, Chiba Takeshi was holding anti-motion sickness medication and taking deep breaths, while his coach Cui Zhengshu stood on tiptoe, ruffling the kid’s hair.

“It’s fine, just sleep and we’ll be there,” he reassured.

In Kazakhstan, Coach Ayala checked the names: “Kharhasa, Amina, Meijing, Mengcheng… Everyone is here, ready to go!”

In France, Alexis took a deep breath excitedly and fist-bumped Martin: “We’re going to the Winter Olympics again!”

In Canada, Carlson, feeling nervous, crouched in the airport bathroom with an upset stomach.

In the United States, Arthur Cohen sipped his juice while anxiously shaking his leg: “Why hasn’t the plane arrived yet? Is it delayed? We need to get to Pyeongchang early to adapt to the venue!”

There was quite a time difference between North America and South Korea, and he had a lot to adjust to.

The world’s best winter sports athletes were about to gather in Pyeongchang.

Compared to the Sochi games, Zhang Jue’s fame was much greater now. Evidence of this could be seen as soon as he stepped off the plane, when several athletes from other countries greeted him, even though he didn’t recognize them.

He usually only paid attention to ice events, and it was no problem for him to name star athletes in speed skating, short track speed skating, and ice hockey. Thanks to Coach Lu, he could even accurately assess how good some ice hockey players were at fighting.

He also received more invitations for interviews…

Zhang Jue was a family man, and his sense of responsibility and morality kept him grounded. Moreover, the team had strict management, so he not only managed himself well but also subtly warned the other athletes traveling with him.

Fortunately, the pairs events in the team were solid, and ice dance was about the same. Another team was a sibling pair, and they supervised each other. For singles skaters, the minors were closely monitored by the coaching staff, while the adults were all sensible. Each one was eager to compete in the team event, so managing them wasn’t difficult.

After two days of adjusting to the environment, the pairs teams went out hand-in-hand to buy souvenirs.

This Winter Olympics had two villages—ice sports were based in the Gangneung Olympic Village, and snow sports in the Pyeongchang Olympic Village. Zhang Jue stayed in Gangneung.

He leaned against the window and sighed: “It’s nice to have someone to go shopping with.”

He really wanted to go shopping with Xuejun, but as a doctor, Xuejun was always too busy. Sometimes, even when they had dinner together, he would be called to the operating table midway.

Apart from downloading some of his favorite live songs from his favorite artist for Xuejun’s phone to cheer her up during surgeries, he didn’t have many other ways to show his concern.

Anyone who understood the artist knew that the live version of his songs was even better than the studio version. Zhang Jue wondered if Xuejun listening to the live version of “Blue Rain” while performing surgery would affect her performance. However, since doctors could work while listening to “Good Days,” he figured the artist’s songs wouldn’t be an issue either.

He thought for a moment, then decided to go out and wander around. He ended up being dragged into a snooker game and, after winning ten rounds, walked back while singing “How Lonely is Invincibility.”

It wasn’t until February 7th that Zhang Jue saw familiar faces at the Helex Arena.

He excitedly called out: “Ilya! Hayato!”

Little Crocodile ran over and lifted both of them up: “Are you guys competing in tomorrow’s team event?”

Ilya steadied himself and calmly nodded: “I’ll do the short program in the team event, the free skate will be handled by someone else.”

Hayato coughed and shrugged helplessly: “I can’t compete, so everything’s on Chiba now.”

Zhang Jue scratched his head: “Ah, I’m only doing the short program too.”

Chiba Takeshi bowed to him and Ilya: “Hello, seniors. Please take care of us during the short program.”

The Three Musketeers exchanged glances. Among the three of them, Ilya’s team from Russia had the strongest overall strength and was the biggest gold medal contender. Japan’s pairs and ice dance had less presence, and China’s ice dance was also not very strong.

Zhang Jue clenched his fist and knocked it against his palm: “Speaking of which, Canada’s overall strength is also strong. They’ll definitely give it a try.”

Kazakhstan was also in the mix.

Time quickly passed, and it was soon February 9th. According to the schedule, the men’s short program and pairs short program for the team event would be held at the Gangneung Ice Arena, and the Winter Olympics opening ceremony would take place in the evening.

Once again serving as team captain, Zhang Jue performed some stretches in his Kostin gear. He turned around and looked at his teammates, becoming serious as he spoke: “I know, everyone who has made it to this stage has shed countless sweat and tears on the ice. You all want to win and stand on the podium, and so do I.”

“Especially Xu Chuo and Jin Zixuan, I’m going to be blunt—given your age and injuries, this might be your last Winter Olympics.”

He spoke the truth without sugar-coating, then softened his expression: “So I won’t hold back. As captain, I’ll bring back the first place in the men’s short program. After that, whether we make it to the podium will depend on you.”

Zhang Jue stretched out his palm, and the teammates exchanged glances before stepping forward to place their hands on his.

“Team China, victory is ours!”

“Let’s go!”

From the moment Zhang Jue entered the arena, he had noticed that the place was incredibly crowded.

A girl wearing a GG Bond hat shouted hoarsely: “Go, Captain Zhang!”

Another girl held a banner with a crocodile painted on it. Even though the competition was held in Pyeongchang, the cost of traveling to South Korea wasn’t too high for many figure skating fans from China, so a lot of them had followed the team here. There were even celebrities among the audience.

For example, Zhang Jue’s younger brother, who was already becoming the top drum prodigy in China, and his bandmates. Also, his agent, Bai Xiaozhen…

This group of family and friends blended in with the fan cheering section, wearing GG Bond hats and waving little crocodile flags with puffed-up bellies—indistinguishable from most other figure skating fans.

This cold arena carried so much anticipation and passion. Zhang Jue deeply respected the atmosphere—he knew how much these people, who had traveled so far, were hoping for Team China’s victory.

Before him, Arthur Cohen had already completed his program, scoring 111.35 points—a very high score that showed just how much the judges loved him.

But the young man didn’t look happy when he left the ice. In fact, his expression could be described as heavy. He only managed a weak smile as he passed Zhang Jue.

Coach Lu, a good judge of character, said: “That American kid doesn’t think a score like that is something to be happy about.”

Zhang Jue replied: “That mindset means he still sees room to improve. That’s a good thing.”

Coach Lu: “But if your opponent can still improve, that’s not necessarily a good thing for you, is it?”

Still, his student had never been the type to fear strong opponents. So the old man bumped fists with Zhang Jue and watched him skate toward the center of the rink.

When Lu Zhaosheng came out of retirement to coach Zhang Jue, he was already 72. He had long been known for his talent in “rescuing” skaters whose careers were faltering due to physical development issues. Now 76, he was the oldest coach at the venue.

Francis sat in the audience with a gentleman next to him, a refined man with gold-rimmed glasses and a dangerously receding hairline. The gentleman looked on expectantly: “Is this the program you choreographed for your muse?”

Francis leaned gently against him: “Yes, Jue is a very talented skater. Apart from being a little too straightforward, he’s nearly flawless. This is the performance I’ve been looking forward to the most.”

Just as Zhang Jue had said before the competition—he was going all out in the team event.

As the passionate sound of a Spanish guitar echoed across the rink, the sharp sound of blades cutting into the ice rang out. Right from the start, Zhang Jue opened with a 4Lz+3T combo.

The jump left countless people stunned.

The Japanese commentator became immediately emotional: “This—this is the highest-quality Lutz in the world! And Tama-san’s decisive second jump makes the rhythm of his combos the best in the world! Incredible!”

Though his second jump, the 3A, was still high, his landing was stable, which reassured many fans who had been anxious all season every time Zhang Jue attempted a 3A.

On the ice, the young man followed up with a sit spin, side sit spin, and then a one-foot Biellmann spin, drawing a wave of astonished gasps from the crowd.

Biellmanns demand extreme flexibility; one-foot Biellmanns even more so. Many older women’s singles skaters stop doing them to conserve stamina. As a male singles skater over 20, Zhang Jue doing one on the Olympic stage was an act of boldness.

But he didn’t include the Biellmann just to add difficulty. From jumps to spins to footwork, every move was choreographed to match the music.

The Concierto de Aranjuez was composed by Joaquín Rodrigo based on his own life experiences. Though he was blind, he had a deeply beloved wife—Victoria, a direct disciple of Liszt.

They met at the conservatory, when Rodrigo was not yet a master musician, and Victoria nonetheless chose to fall in love with and marry him. Afterward, they traveled to Aranjuez in central Spain for their honeymoon, the place that would witness their love.

Later, war broke out, and they endured great hardship. Rodrigo began composing the Concierto de Aranjuez, but in 1939, Victoria became seriously ill while pregnant. Doctors told Rodrigo that they might not be able to save either mother or child.

Rodrigo, who had sold everything he had to try and pay for treatment, returned home in silence and wrote the beginning of the concerto’s second movement.

He sold his piano. Victoria survived her illness, but the baby in her womb never came into the world.

In December 1940, the Concierto de Aranjuez premiered at the Palau de la Música Catalana. It stunned the world. Rodrigo’s fate changed forever.

The life of this man, who could not see light, was finally touched by sunlight—and his sun, Victoria, stayed by his side always.

When Zhang Jue created this program, he had Qin Xuejun in mind. Those cool, unique gray eyes were forever engraved in his memory, bringing him endless beautiful dreams.

Now Zhang Jue could say with certainty that he would spend his life with Qin Xuejun. He would do everything he could to make Ah Xue happy. He had the confidence and determination—and believed that no matter what sorrow or hardship lay ahead, as long as he was with Ah Xue, he would find the strength to endure it.

But what about Xuejun from the previous life? After losing his vision, he could no longer devote himself to the medical career he loved. Would anyone love him as deeply as Zhang Jue did? His relationship with his parents was distant. Grandfather Qin and Grandma Mia were both old—would he be left all alone one day?

Zhang Jue did have a possessive streak when it came to those he loved. Of course, he wanted Qin Xuejun to belong only to him, no matter the world. But from the bottom of his heart, he also prayed that Xuejun’s eyesight would always be blessed by the sun, that no matter the timeline, Xuejun could keep chasing his dreams—and find someone to love.

The same piece of music can evoke a hundred different feelings in a hundred different people. What Zhang Jue felt in this piece was love. The Concierto de Aranjuez was born of love. Even if one day they reached life’s twilight and their time turned to ashes, as long as he had shared that journey with someone like Xuejun, then death no longer seemed frightening.

At that moment, anyone with eyes could see—Zhang Jue was skating love. His movements were so graceful and free that people envisioned a Mediterranean prince stepping out of the sea, resting beneath green trees on the shore, holding his beloved in the golden sunlight.

A great performance reveals the dancer’s soul. Zhang Jue had done exactly that.

Back in China, Qin Xuejun had just finished a 10-hour surgery. He sat on the floor of the break room, catching his breath while watching Zhang Jue skating on his phone.

An assistant nearby asked, confused: “Dr. Qin, is… is something wrong with your eyes?”

Qin Xuejun smiled and wiped his eyes: “No, I just saw a performance that truly moved my heart.”

Others in the room came over.

“What was it? A concert?”

“Sounds like classical music… was it the Concierto de Aranjuez?”

Qin Xuejun said proudly: “It’s figure skating. I was watching the world’s best figure skater—our national team captain Zhang Jue—perform his program at the Pyeongchang Olympics. He skated amazingly well.”

Among the doctors, there were figure skating fans too. One of them exclaimed in surprise: “Oh, it’s Captain Zhang! When I was interning with Director Chai, he said Zhang’s training load was heavy and his joints were quite worn. I was worried, but it looks like he’s in good form this time!”

When the performance ended, everyone was certain that Zhang Jue would take first place in the short program that day.

As Zhang Jue stepped off the ice, the coaches handed him his coat and towel. He panted as he got dressed, put on his blade guards, wiped his sweat, and walked to the Chinese team’s resting area, where his teammates waved the national flag and cheered for him.

Xu Chuo, an athlete who had no chance of standing on the individual podium and could only fight in the team event, understood better than anyone what Zhang Jue had done for them.

She gave him a brilliant smile and said: “Captain, thank you!”

Zhang Jue high-fived her: “Now it’s up to you guys. I’ll be cheering for you all the way.”

As they spoke, Zhang Jue’s score was announced.

115.88.

It was already very close to his own world record of 116.03 in the short program. Zhang Jue had delivered an exceptionally high-quality performance in this routine.

This undisputed king without a crown in figure skating had lost the World Championship gold last season for various reasons, and then again the Grand Prix Final gold this season. As a result, he had been burdened with the reputation of “the top-earning domestic athlete whose achievements aren’t the most brilliant.” He had been harshly criticized online by cynics, trolls, and bandwagon haters, and even his fans who tried to defend him were labeled as “brainless stans.”

But in this Olympic season, Zhang Jue had regained his form. His outstanding short program performance shut up many of those who predicted: “Our men’s singles will definitely fail to win gold again this year,” and gave hope to eager officials and figure skating fans that a team event medal might be within reach.

As captain, he had delivered a spectacular first battle!

Sun Qian, a little superstitious, cheerfully said to a leader: “Even though our Captain Zhang always seems to clash with the Four Continents, he gets along just fine with the Olympics! Doesn’t matter how shaky he was during the Grand Prix—he pulls it together for the Olympics. Even his 3A is stable again.”

The leader nodded repeatedly: “Yes, forget the other competitions. He’s already taken what he needed from them. As long as he’s solid at the Olympics, that’s what matters. That’s Captain Zhang for you.”

Captain Zhang—reliable!

Huang Ying and Guan Lin had even thinner stamina bars than Zhang Jue and couldn’t possibly force themselves to compete in the team event. They couldn’t afford to exhaust themselves for the sake of their teammates either, so Jiang Xiuling and Luo Mi took on the responsibility for the team’s pair skating segment.

But don’t be fooled by the fact that they had only been in the senior group for less than two years—these two were already at a level capable of making it to the senior Grand Prix Final, which meant they were among the world’s top six!

After the day’s intense team event battles ended, China’s total score miraculously ranked first. Although everyone knew it was only temporary—after all, they had fielded their strongest skaters in men’s singles, pairs, and ladies’ singles just to ensure that even if their ice dancers faltered, they could still make it to the finals.

But when it came to the free program, Zhang Jue and Xu Chuo wouldn’t be skating, so their ranking was bound to drop.

The two ice dance pairs exchanged glances—feeling a mountain of pressure pressing down on them.

Would you like the next part translated too?

 

 

Support translation: