{"id":6712,"date":"2024-10-16T10:41:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T08:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/?p=6712"},"modified":"2024-10-16T10:41:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T08:41:41","slug":"figure-skating-im-more-suited-for-the-olympics-chapter-119-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/2024\/10\/16\/figure-skating-im-more-suited-for-the-olympics-chapter-119-reasons\/","title":{"rendered":"Figure Skating: I’m More Suited for the Olympics – Chapter 119 Reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Ever since Zhang Jue entered his senior year of high school, except for his father, who had to serve as the head chef at the restaurant, Zhang Qingyan came home every day to cook for her child. In her belief, after so many years of schooling, this was the toughest year for her child, and she had to accompany him, making sure he felt the support from his family.<\/p>\r\n

Although Mrs. Zhang was the owner of the most popular restaurant with the best-tasting food in the university town, she was also a cooking enthusiast. Back in the day, she met Xu Yan in a dessert-making class near the university.<\/p>\r\n

So, her cooking skills were quite good, otherwise, Zhang Jue wouldn\u2019t have been chubbier than the neighbor’s kid Pang when he was younger, even though he was younger but ended up with the nickname “Little Fatty.”<\/p>\r\n

With a father who could be the head chef of a restaurant and a mother who had 80% of the father’s cooking skills, both of them were willing to give their child as much care and love as they could within their abilities. All that love naturally turned into extra weight on a child who was prone to gaining weight.<\/p>\r\n

Note: One of the reasons Zhang Jue, who landed a double Axel on land at the age of six, was not allowed by Coach Lu to start on-ice double Axel training early was because the kid was overweight at the time, and all that extra weight put more strain on his joints.<\/p>\r\n

Today was Friday, the only night Zhang Jue had free in the week, so Mrs. Zhang made him his favorite pan-fried mixed-grain pancakes with scallions. She also sliced duck breast, fried eggs with chives, and made shredded pork in Beijing sauce that could be wrapped in the pancakes. There were also peanut butter and chili sauce for dipping.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue only ate two egg-filled pancakes without dipping sauce. After wiping his mouth, he carried his bag and left.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cMom, I\u2019m going out to exercise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Qingyan responded, and after the door closed, she exchanged a knowing glance with Xu Dela.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao\u2019s call came in right on time, and his first words were: \u201cHe went out again?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Qingyan said: \u201cYes, he went out again.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao glanced at his youngest apprentice, Jiang Yihong, who was only 11 years old this year.<\/p>\r\n

At the end of August, Yihong had gone to the mall with his parents to get glasses. While looking down at the commercial ice rink on the first floor from the second floor, he saw someone who looked like his senior brother, although he didn\u2019t dare confirm it because his senior brother\u2019s protective gear was too well-concealed, and he was spinning clockwise.<\/p>\r\n

Afterward, Zhang Juebao received a call from his first coach, Coach Lu.<\/p>\r\n

In short, hearing that Zhang Jue had resumed skating wasn\u2019t really surprising. After all, this kid had been recovering for a long time. Young people have a strong recovery ability; while a cut on Zhang Juebao would take two or three days to heal, Zhang Jue\u2019s would heal in a day, leaving only a faint white scar, proving that age had its advantages.<\/p>\r\n

As for Zhang Jue\u2019s reluctance to let go of figure skating, his family had already sensed it. After all, a kid who used to sneak chocolate whenever the coach wasn\u2019t looking during competitions had been out of figure skating training for five months but still managed to maintain his weight at 63 kilograms despite being 179 cm tall and prone to gaining weight. Who would believe he wasn\u2019t deliberately controlling it?<\/p>\r\n

At 9:00 p.m., Coach Lu called to calmly report that Zhang Jue had managed to land a double Axel while spinning clockwise today. Zhang Juebao was not surprised… at all!<\/p>\r\n

His uncle really didn\u2019t expect Zhang Jue to be able to complete a double jump in the opposite direction. Although he always knew the kid had maxed out his talent, he was still shocked.<\/p>\r\n

If an athlete could complete a double jump in the opposite direction of their usual practice, they should have no problem completing a triple jump in the normal direction.<\/p>\r\n

This wasn\u2019t just Zhang Juebao talking nonsense; it was something Shiratsuka Keiko said on Twitter. She\u2019s naturally ambidextrous, so while she mainly trained counterclockwise, she could also land a clockwise double toe loop and spin in both directions, making her an authority on the matter.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue was a typical right-hander who wasn\u2019t even good at holding a spoon with his left hand, so it was a miracle he could pull off such a feat. It was likely a new skill developed out of sheer boredom during his training break.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao hurriedly asked: “Has he tried landing on his right foot? Has he practiced counterclockwise skating and spinning?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Coach Lu calmly replied: “He has. He tried jumping a few days ago, but maybe because of psychological issues, his entire right leg stiffened upon landing, and his muscles couldn\u2019t flex properly, so his chances of landing a triple jump are not good.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao sighed: “After all, his previous injury was pretty serious.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

After three months in a wheelchair, who wouldn\u2019t have some lingering psychological issues?<\/p>\r\n

Shen Liu, who was lying beside him, asked anxiously: “How is littke Jue doing?\u201d Song Cheng also looked at Zhang Juebao with concern.<\/p>\r\n

Not many people knew that Zhang Jue was doing light training at the commercial ice rink, only Zhang Jue\u2019s parents, Zhang Juebao, Shen Liu, and Song Cheng, who was the coach of both Shen Liu and Zhang Juebao, knew. But everyone was very concerned.<\/p>\r\n

After a moment of silence, Zhang Juebao replied: “I can\u2019t say he\u2019s recovered well. His jumping technique hasn\u2019t come back, but his skating and spinning have reportedly improved, and he\u2019s learned a few new compulsory figures.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Although these are tedious skills, with a good coach overseeing him, Zhang Jue\u2019s talent would eventually fix these minor issues. The main challenge still lies in jumping.<\/p>\r\n

Shen Liu sighed: “The old saying is true: the older, the wiser. Only Coach Lu could get Zhang Jue to patiently practice these fundamentals.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

If possible, they all hoped Zhang Jue would return.<\/p>\r\n

After all, it was so heartbreaking to see a kid feel like he had to leave the competitive scene. That lively child stood on the World Championship ice, tilted his head back, and covered his eyes, with tears streaming down his chin, breaking everyone\u2019s hearts.<\/p>\r\n

At the time, a fan had captured a perfect shot of the scene. The tear in the photo just happened to reflect the light from the ice, making it a favorite desktop photo for countless figure skating fans. Bai Suqing, who was in charge of selling figure skating merchandise, even asked if they should release the image as a poster. Zhang Jue casually agreed, and the poster eventually sold over 960,000 copies, setting a record for the highest sales of figure skating merchandise in China.<\/p>\r\n

So, it wasn\u2019t just fans who were sad about Zhang Jue\u2019s retirement, even the leaders were, because no one had his commercial value before, and probably no one would after.<\/p>\r\n

Moreover, with Zhang Jue\u2019s performance skills, as long as he could regain his triple Axel and stabilize his combinations, he would be at least a second-tier skater, better than 99% of the men\u2019s singles skaters in the country. If Zhang Jue could return, the leaders in China figure skating would all breathe a sigh of relief.<\/p>\r\n

Just a day ago, Jin Zixuan finished sixth in the American Grand Prix with a total score of 256 points, including only 76 points for his free skate performance.<\/p>\r\n

When Zhang Jue used to score just over 80 in performance, his uncle would lament how dismal the score was. But Jin Zixuan\u2019s performance score was so low that it didn\u2019t even elicit tears, not even enough to complain about unfair judging.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue\u2019s low performance scores were due to being underscored, something even his competitors acknowledged. But as for Jin\u2019s performance score, it was actually reflective of his real ability.<\/p>\r\n

Even though the coaches believed Jin Zixuan\u2019s technique was just good enough to hold the position of a backup top skater, fans, who were used to Zhang Jue bringing home a medal whenever he competed, couldn\u2019t stand the new top skater not even making the top five in a Grand Prix event.<\/p>\r\n

Fortunately, the media attention was diverted by the news of Xu Chuo\u2019s mother forcing her daughter to retire, followed by a video of her slapping her daughter during an argument at the hospital entrance.<\/p>\r\n

Otherwise, Jin\u2019s fragile heart might have been shattered by the harsh criticism from extreme fans.<\/p>\r\n

As for the other two male singles skaters with a chance of being selected for the Winter Olympics, Fan Zhaoying spent his summer vacation taking performance classes with Zhang Juebao. His movements were still stiff, but his emotional expression had improved significantly, although his technique hadn\u2019t caught up.<\/p>\r\n

As a result, the national team was considering bringing Zhang Juebao in as a performance coach for the Olympic training camp.<\/p>\r\n

Gave five times the overtime pay.<\/p>\r\n

Shi Mosheng had it worse. His skills were decent domestically but could barely make it to the lower ranks on the international stage.<\/p>\r\n

Although all three of them were in good form this year, the problem was that even at their best, they couldn\u2019t compete with athletes from other countries. On the Olympic stage, they lacked competitiveness.<\/p>\r\n

After the competition at the U.S. event ended, there were international fans on Twitter who posted videos, wondering why Zhang Jue hadn\u2019t even participated in any of the events this year. Clearly, to the fans from other countries, Zhang Jue was the only male figure skater from their country they recognized as a representative.<\/p>\r\n

The reality was that even with three skaters who could consistently make the top ten at these events, they still couldn\u2019t compare to Zhang Jue, who could stand on the World Championship podium.<\/p>\r\n

The athletes themselves were also under a lot of pressure. If the three of them took the spots that Zhang Jue had fought for but couldn\u2019t make it into the top ten at the Winter Olympics, the fans\u2019 criticism alone could drown them. Furthermore, both Liu Yemeng and Dong Xiaolong could do 3A jumps, and Liu Yemeng could even attend Zhang Juebao\u2019s performance class daily, showing rapid improvement. Shi Mosheng\u2019s position wasn\u2019t stable either.<\/p>\r\n

After much thought, Zhang Juebao decided to visit Zhang Jue\u2019s house at 9:30 p.m.<\/p>\r\n

The kid happened to still be awake, bent over his desk, studying his materials worth a thousand yuan. When his uncle called out, he opened the door, wearing black-framed glasses and looking confused.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao stared at his eyes and asked: “…When did you become nearsighted?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue replied: “Huh? These aren\u2019t for nearsightedness; they\u2019re protective glasses I bought because I\u2019ve been using my eyes too much lately.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

His uncle sighed with relief and said: “Never mind, let\u2019s sit on the couch and have a chat.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Then, the first sentence out of his uncle\u2019s mouth stunned Zhang Jue.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cZhang Jue, do you want to return to competition?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue was taken aback, instinctively looking at his mom, who was calmly sipping hot milk.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou decide for yourself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao added: “It\u2019s August now. If you decide to come back, you can use last season\u2019s program and just focus on recovery training. If you can regain your 3A by January and make the top three at the National Championships, you\u2019ll definitely get one of the three spots, which means you can join the high-altitude training camp and participate in the Winter Olympics in February.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue was silent for a long time before shaking his head with difficulty.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to. I need to focus on my college entrance exams this year. If I go back, I\u2019ll have to train for at least four hours every day, which will conflict with my studies.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue found many reasons, like how his skills probably wouldn\u2019t recover and how he couldn\u2019t afford to waste time during his final year of high school. In the end, his uncle didn\u2019t push him and just patted his head, smiling as he changed the subject to how the older brother of Cha Hanbuhua bought chicks and ducklings to raise at home so his younger brother could eat better. He fed them vegetables and grains every day so the meat would be hormone-free and safe to eat.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHe said he wanted to thank you for helping Cha Hanbuhua edit his competition music. He\u2019ll bring over a prepared bird soon. Do you want to keep the chicken or duck blood? It\u2019s great for stir-frying or making soup.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue responded absentmindedly, but both parents could tell his mind was elsewhere.<\/p>\r\n

Finally, Zhang Juebao said: “One of these days, come with me to Room 703 to see Dr. Chai for a check-up, to see if your ligaments have fully healed. Otherwise, you probably don\u2019t even dare to run full out when you go jogging at night, right?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue, who had been climbing three-meter walls, hanging out of windows, and doing clockwise 2S jumps on the ice while digging in his ear, fell into an awkward silence.<\/p>\r\n

Uh, his right leg was just a bit stiff due to post-surgery complications, but it wasn\u2019t so bad that he couldn\u2019t even run.<\/p>\r\n

When Zhang Jue finally went back to his studies in a daze, Zhang Qingyan kicked her brother.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cMy son was on track to get into one of the top universities, and you\u2019ve tempted him into wanting to run away again!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao sheepishly climbed off the sofa and crouched down, pulling at his ears.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWell, I only dared to tempt him because I\u2019m confident he\u2019ll at least get into a 985 university. Besides, there\u2019s a college entrance exam every year, but the Olympics only happen once every four years. If he misses this chance, who knows what shape little Jue will be in four years from now? If he has a chance now, why not give it a try? Coach Lu said he has a good shot at it, considering he seems to be adapting well to the changes in technique and has a solid foundation in strength training.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Four years might seem short, but who knew what Zhang Jue would be like in four years? It wasn\u2019t like everyone could just pick up where they left off after a four-year break.<\/p>\r\n

Most importantly, Zhang Juebao couldn\u2019t think of anything other than the Olympics that could ignite Zhang Jue\u2019s passion and help him overcome his psychological barriers. He was convinced that if Zhang Jue missed the Olympics and gave up skating, he might not feel it now, but he would definitely regret it in the future.<\/p>\r\n

Since Zhang Jue had a strong foundation and the Olympics were in February while the college entrance exam was at least four months later, he still had time.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Qingyan lowered her voice and said sternly: “If Coach Lu hadn\u2019t vouched for you, I wouldn\u2019t have let you in the door today!\u201d<\/p>\r\n

But after Zhang Juebao left, Zhang Qingyan thought about it and secretly sent a message to Zhang Jue\u2019s class teacher.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTeacher Qian, we\u2019re requesting a week off for Zhang Jue. He\u2019ll be back next Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

After what Zhang Juebao said, Zhang Jue probably wouldn\u2019t sleep well tonight, but Zhang Jue\u2019s mom decided to strike while the iron was hot. She gave him a week to get checked out and seriously think about whether to return to training or focus on his studies.<\/p>\r\n

After all, if he wanted to aim for the Olympics, there were less than four months left. Zhang Jue didn\u2019t have much time and couldn\u2019t afford to hesitate.<\/p>\r\n

With this in mind, Zhang Jue\u2019s mom booked the plane tickets. When Zhang Jue woke up, he hadn\u2019t fully realized what was happening before being handed his luggage and pushed out the door.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Juebao, who was squatting by the door, greeted him weakly.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cHi.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue was dumbfounded: “I\u2019m leaving already? What about Saori?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Xu Dela leaned in and replied seriously: “It\u2019s your hamster, so your brother will take care of it. Brother, you go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

This kid had been listening to too many Three Kingdoms podcasts lately.<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue couldn\u2019t help but laugh. By the time he got to the airport, he finally felt like eating his egg pancake.<\/p>\r\n

As a former athlete who frequently traveled abroad for competitions, Zhang Jue was used to flying. He put on his headphones and set his MP3 to Madonna\u2019s \u201cMasterpiece,\u201d a song recently recommended to him by Zhuang Zi. It was the theme song of the movie W.E., directed by Madonna.<\/p>\r\n

The smell of savory Chinese crepes wafted from the seat behind him. Zhang Jue was tempted. After finishing his soy milk, he planned to throw away his trash, but then a hand reached out from the seat behind him and waved in front of his eyes.<\/p>\r\n

He turned around in surprise and saw a pair of familiar gray eyes, as cold as the Siberian winter sky.<\/p>\r\n

Qin Xuejun said: “I\u2019m going to throw away some trash too. Give me yours, and I\u2019ll take it with me.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The boy\u2019s bright phoenix eyes widened: “What are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Qin Xuejun replied: “I\u2019m accompanying the professor on a surgery trip. We\u2019re operating on a 12-year-old with osteosarcoma. The professor is teaching me how to amputate cleanly while preserving as much of the limb as possible for future prosthetics.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Little Qin then pulled a fruit hard candy from his pocket and placed it in Zhang Jue\u2019s hand.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cA child gave this to me after the surgery.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Zhang Jue held the candy and suddenly remembered that they were candy-exchange friends.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Support translation:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever since Zhang Jue entered his senior year of high school, except for his father, who had to serve as the head chef at the restaurant, Zhang Qingyan came home every day to cook for her child. In her belief, after so many years of schooling, this was the toughest year for her child, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-figure-skating-im-more-suited-for-the-olympics","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ontimestory.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/fg.png?fit=200%2C281&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6712"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6714,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6712\/revisions\/6714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}