[Silver Grand Slam became Gold Grand Slam]: Did everyone watch the opening ceremony? Brother Jue was interviewed again by many countries’ stations. This country’s station showed him, that country’s station also showed him. He truly deserved to be the popularity king of ice and snow sports. (dog head.jpg)

[Xin Nan was willing to go vegetarian for a month]: About Captain Zhang’s popularity in winter sports, even without the dog head, it was fine. But Captain Zhang was really in great form this year. His performance in the team event stunned me.

[GG.bond]: It felt like over the past two years, he skated love-themed programs more and more smoothly. Last year he was a sunny handsome boy dancing disco on ice to show passionate affection. This year he became an elegant and touching tuxedo prince.

[Kicked the closet door]: I loved Captain Zhang, super loved him! Last year, watching his short program made me want to fall in love with him. This year, I just wanted to spend a lifetime with him!

 

…

 

After February 9, due to Zhang Jue’s outstanding performance in the short program, many fans were happy about his great condition and also started to speculate whether Zhang Jue was in a relationship.

They didn’t make blind guesses. Honestly, with Zhang’s qualities—celestial looks, height of 1.8m (?), single-digit body fat ratio, god-tier proportions, earning over 100 million at a young age, holding over a dozen world records—and he had already been an adult for two years. Even if he dated, it was no big deal.

But exactly because this guy was too excellent, many people wondered: how outstanding must the person be to catch Zhang’s eye?

Zhang Jue: someone who entered Shuimu at 15, finished a PhD, already worked as an attending physician at a young age, stood 1.96m tall, had a handsome mixed-race face, could raise chickens, grow vegetables, take care of pets, gave great massages, and could win amateur racing competitions.

But Zhang Jue’s past had been too clean. He seemed to be obsessed with training and studying. Occasionally, when he had free time, he got pulled into commercial activities like shows or ads. The rest of the time, he was a homebody who didn’t like going out—truly scandal-free.

The figure skating team was known for strict management. Most people had to report even when going out to eat. But in some ways, it wasn’t as strict as other sports.

Many sports discouraged athletes from dating casually or letting relationships interfere with training. Figure skating was different. The leadership never stopped skaters from dating. If any pairs in pair skating or ice dance tried to become a real couple, the whole team, from leaders to teammates, would be shipping them.

After all, in gender-mixed events like these, romantic relationships could improve expressiveness and chemistry. Historically, pair skating and ice dance were breeding grounds for real couples.

Also the easiest to sink ships.

Even pair skating and ice dance were like this, single skating wasn’t strict either. Some coaches even cleverly arranged for skaters to try love-themed programs to see if a “romance buff” could boost performance.

If someone else skated a love-themed piece at Zhang Jue’s level, rumors of romance would’ve flown everywhere. But because it was Zhang Jue, such rumors spread only in small circles.

After all, Captain Zhang was a performance master in figure skating. Even the pickiest fans had to give him a thumbs up, acknowledging that every program of his, from youth group till now, had been top-level work.

So even though Zhang Jue had mentally prepared himself to be asked “Are you dating?” ever since he choreographed the program, no one came to ask him.

Zhang Jue held a bowl of dog food that no one wanted to take, feeling a bit frustrated.

Sigh. Thinking of this, he really envied Hayato and Keiko next door. Even though they made up the biggest injury-prone CP of this Winter Olympics figure skating event, the idea of competing in the Olympics together as a couple still sounded beautiful.

Zhang Jue’s own partner might still be working in some operating room, maybe even too busy to miss him, with only human anatomy and surgical technique on their mind.

On February 10, there were no figure skating events. Gangneung Ice Arena hosted the women’s 500m and 3000m relay short track speed skating qualifiers.

And the men’s 1500m short track event finished the qualifiers, semifinals, and finals all in one day.

The schedule was tight, but during training camp, Zhang Junbao had built a good relationship with the other side and, under Coach Wang’s invitation, brought the juniors to watch live.

Then they all got pissed.

Except for Zhang Jue, who had already been mentally prepared by previous figure skating score controversies, everyone else stared at the rink in shock, not expecting to see such “premium” behavior in short track after what they saw in figure skating.

It felt like their values were being overturned.

Forget about just Chinese audiences shouting “WTF!” and other expletives, even the English-speaking ones shouted things like “Holy crap!” and “What the hell!”

For a moment, everyone except the home crowd felt like they were losing it.

Short track speed skating had actually been a traditional Chinese strength in ice sports. Its powerful history was longer than that of figure skating. Coach Wang, who now served on the short track team, had been a legendary top-tier athlete during his career, as dominant as Zhang Jue was in figure skating.

Everyone had arrived with confidence, and the leadership had assigned them medal targets. But after seeing the live scene, the leaders immediately called the lower ranks.

“Tell the athletes to try their best to win but also to protect themselves. Don’t forget we still have the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Winter Olympics in four years.”

As long as the green hills remained, there would always be firewood. Any athlete who made it to the Olympics was a genius with immense resources invested in them. Their health bars were precious—they couldn’t be lost to dirty tricks.

Athletes like Yin Meijing and Liu Mengcheng, who had switched nationality from South Korea, didn’t even show up. They skipped the opening ceremony too. Other than training and warm-ups, they just stayed in their room writing theses.

Probably also for safety reasons. Zhang Jue understood them well. These two had suffered serious harm in the South Korean figure skating scene—both physically and mentally. And the behavior of some South Korean athletes in competition raised serious moral questions. Better to take precautions from the start.

Besides, they were actually busy.

22-year-old Meijing studied at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, which ranked 220th globally, and would rise to 165th by 2021. She majored in education and psychology and was preparing for grad school with excellent grades.

25-year-old Liu Mengcheng was already a PhD student in nursing, though he studied while working. It was said he had already started helping Coach Ayala with youth ice dance pairs during training.

Judging from their majors, barring accidents, they would likely dedicate their lives to the development of figure skating in Kazakhstan.

Zhang Jue bit on a chocolate stick and suddenly thought of his own thesis, feeling a headache. He was also on the verge of graduating. Previously, he had worked on experiments with seniors in the lab and used data from caring for Sweetie No. 2 to write his paper.

But because he usually trained, he could only spend limited time at university. So his experiment data was less than others’. If this went on, the thesis quality might not meet expectations.

Maybe he should bring some seeds home and try things himself. After all, there was a garden by the pool. Building a greenhouse to grow experimental plants at home wasn’t impossible. That was also why he gritted his teeth and bought that billion-yuan mansion.

On February 11, Gangneung Ice Arena hosted the figure skating team event again. This time, it was rhythm dance for ice dance, women’s short program, and pair free skate.

In other countries, coaches gave pre-competition talks. But for Team China, the ice dancers faced Captain Zhang before going on.

Zhang Jue’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. His celestial face and serious expression made him look especially stern.

“Old Hua, Little Mei, you two have carried China’s ice dance all along. Last year you worked hard to earn two Olympic spots in Pyeongchang. Honestly, that was a huge surprise. Now just perform as well as you can.”

These words sounded gentle, but his death stare clearly said: “If you drag down the ranking too much, I’ll beat you up!”

Huang Ying and Guan Lin looked at each other, ready to give it their all. They weren’t medal contenders in individual events. If they had any hope of medaling at the Olympics, it was only in the team event. If not now, then when?

You should know, to make their ice dance results look better this year, the head coach had even thickened his face to ask Captain Zhang to choreograph their rhythm dance.

Their short program was Muse’s Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3.

Before the season began, the team had already decided in advance the order of participation for the two ice dance pairs in the team event. The two more stable pairs would perform the rhythm dance, while Sai Peng and Sai Qiong, although younger, had higher potential, so they were assigned the free dance.

So after Zhang Jue finished choreographing the rhythm dance for the main pair, he also choreographed a routine called “Soldier” for the Sai siblings.

Then the ladies’ singles event started. Since Keiko’s condition wasn’t great this year, they let one of her junior teammates compete in the team event. The young girl wasn’t very old, but she could already execute difficult jumps like the triple Axel. Aside from needing more stability, everything else was great.

Katerina and Serena were still in good shape, so they also participated in the team event.

It was strange though—although Keiko didn’t have a quadruple jump, the one whom Min Shan feared most on the ice was Keiko. When facing Katerina, she was much calmer.

Once an athlete had a steady mindset, their chances of delivering an exceptional performance increased significantly, and that was the case for Min Shan.

Though the ladies’ short program didn’t yet allow quads, she still beat Katerina with a triple Axel executed effortlessly, securing the top spot in the ladies’ short program.

China’s team finals spot was secured!

After the short program segment ended, Captain Zhang stood up with the list in hand.

According to competition rules, as captain, he had to quickly decide the lineup for the finals and submit it to the staff.

He scribbled quickly on it, discussed briefly with the coaches, then cleared his throat.

“Now announcing the lineup for the finals.”

“Men’s free skate, Jin Zixuan. Ladies’ free skate, Xu Chuo. Pairs free skate, Jiang Xiuling and Luo Mi. Ice dance free dance, Sai Peng and Sai Qiong.”

Jin Zixuan was stunned. He had thought he wouldn’t get a chance in the team event, since his consistency had always been poor. Cha Hanbuhua, although he hadn’t mastered the quad Salchow, was steady—and that already counted for a lot, didn’t it?

After announcing the lineup, Zhang Jue turned to leave. Jin Zixuan called out to him.

“Captain!”

Zhang Jue turned around, as if knowing what he wanted to say, and raised a hand to signal that he would speak first.

“Listen, I wasn’t going to say this, but since you won’t be at ease without an answer, I’ll tell you: I’m placing a bet on you so that everyone has a shot at a team medal.

Hanbuhua ceiling is what it is—even if he delivers, China might still place only fourth unless someone from another team slips up. But you have two quad jumps, and if you do well, a three-quad free skate is possible.

This is your last chance to win an Olympic medal, Jin Zixuan. Let me be blunt: the pressure to reach the podium is on you. If I lose the team medal because of you… you know what that means.”

Zhang Jue finished threatening the most emotionally fragile teammate in the team, then left coolly, leaving Jin Zixuan standing there in shock.

After a while, Cha Hanbuhua came over and slung an arm around him. Jin Zixuan turned and saw the white bull grinning with bright white teeth and holding up a fist for encouragement.

“Brother Jin, to avoid getting your head scrubbed in the bathroom with a mop—do your best!”

In that moment, Jin Zixuan, who should have been so stressed he’d rush to the bathroom with diarrhea, instead felt strangely calm. He suddenly remembered something—from the moment they met, no matter how badly he performed or how much others doubted him, Zhang Jue never saw him as weak, never looked down on him.

Because in Zhang Jue’s eyes, he wasn’t weak. So when it came time for competition, Zhang Jue never tiptoed around him, never gave soft comfort or encouragement. He just respected him as a fellow athlete and said what needed to be said.

And in critical moments like this, Zhang Jue naturally handed responsibility over to him.

He had been acknowledged.

Shortly after the list was submitted, the pairs free skate began.

Jiang Xiuling and Luo Mi lived up to everyone’s expectations and, with a performance of Love in a Fallen City, held China’s ranking.

On February 12, the men’s free skate, ladies’ free skate, and ice dance free dance took place.

Zhang Jue sat at the edge, watching the rink intently with a focused and serious expression. His side profile looked sharp. When the skaters performed well—when Jin Zixuan miraculously finished his free skate—he smiled with joy. When Xu Chuo, using a two-triple-Axel program, managed to earn second place in the ladies’ event, just behind Serena, he personally handed her a towel.

“Well done.”

Xu Chuo was still emotionally affected by the performance, her eyes slightly red. She hugged Zhang Jue, then Zhang Junbao.

“Thank you,” the girl whispered, sitting back in her seat with a sweet smile toward the camera.

When the ice dance free dance ended, they tallied the scores and found that China had come in third—behind Russia and Canada.

“We did it!”

Zhang Jue pumped his fist and stood to shake hands with the coaches.

One of the officials kept praising him: “Captain Zhang, you truly had the guts. If you hadn’t taken the risk of putting Jin Zixuan in, and if he hadn’t pulled through, we would’ve lost to France.”

Zhang Jue humbly replied: “Not at all, this was the result of everyone’s hard work. Thank you for supporting me.”

While Zhang Jue exchanged official pleasantries, on the other side, Jin Zixuan, Xu Chuo, Hua Taishi, Mei Chunguo, Sai Peng, Sai Qiong, Jiang Xiuling, and Luo Mi stared at the scoreboard. Some were so excited they picked up their partners in hugs, others jumped on the spot several times.

They were going to the podium! They were going to have Olympic medals too!

For athletes, the Olympics were the highest stage. They had thought the podium was reserved only for those legendary figures at the top of their disciplines—but life had its miracles.

When they endured the doubts and criticisms, when they gritted their teeth and pushed through, the Olympic goddess finally smiled upon them.

Xu Chuo wiped her tears and waved at the camera.

Although it wasn’t the individual gold she had dreamed of when she first started figure skating, a team bronze wasn’t bad at all. She loved the ice, and the ice loved her back.

 

 

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