Xi Ming was dreaming. The dream was called “past life.” The scene in the dream was very similar to the championship competition that had just ended a few days ago, but Xi Ming knew it wasn’t the same.
On the ice rink radiating cold air, a young boy leaped across the ice, and the moment he landed, cheers nearly engulfed him. Then, he stood on the podium, raising the gold medal high above his head. That wasn’t just his glory it was a medal that countless people had yearned for over many years.
“Beep beep beep” The alarm clock rang persistently. A hand reached out from under the blanket, fumbling around a few times before pressing it off. Then, the lump under the blanket stirred, and a head with messy, tousled hair popped out.
This person was, of course, Xi Ming, who had just returned to Beijing by plane after the championship. With the off-season arriving, he was currently enjoying a precious vacation.
While groggily washing up, Xi Ming couldn’t help but think about the dream that had just been interrupted.
The scene in the dream wasn’t hard to recall, let alone the fact that it was a pivotal moment in Xi Ming’s life that he could never forget.
It was the 2014 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, the competition where fifteen-year-old Xi Ming won the gold medal. When the news spread back to China, it caused an immediate uproar, and Xi Ming seemed to become the hope of Chinese men’s singles figure skating in everyone’s eyes.
At that time, Xi Ming was truly a deserving rising star in figure skating.
At fourteen, he burst onto the international scene, winning silver medals at both the Junior Grand Prix Final and the World Junior Championships that very year. The following year, he went on to claim the gold at the World Junior Championships. At a time when domestic figure skating was declining and the international competition was fierce, Xi Ming’s emergence was so dazzling it was almost hard to believe.
However, this rising star didn’t shine even brighter as people had expected. Instead, like a meteor streaking across the sky, he vanished quickly.
An unexpected car accident, like a cruel joke, left this young boy who had soared high on the elite stage unable to walk ever again.
“Ugh, what a hassle!” Xi Ming put down the comb in his hand and glared at the mirror in front of him almost indignantly. Xi Ming, the former figure skating prodigy toyed with by fate, felt he had encountered the biggest problem of his life.
Not because he had dreamed about events from before his rebirth and was caught in complicated emotions, or because he couldn’t distinguish illusion from reality, but
His curly hair! Why was it so hard to comb!
In the end, Xi Ming gave up and ran his fingers through his hair a few times to make it look a bit smoother. Fortunately, even slightly messy curls looked nice, so Xi Ming decided to leave it at that.
After confirming he was presentable enough, Xi Ming left the room. But before leaving, he took one last look in the mirror hair, curly but acceptable; clothes, comfortable; height, perfect!
The bedroom door closed softly, and Xi Ming’s footsteps downstairs sounded light and cheerful.
Xi Ming had never imagined he would be reborn. Rather, such things that almost only existed in novels and films wouldn’t normally happen in real life.
Although in his past life let’s call it that for now many people, upon learning of his story, would deeply regret and think that if his life could start over, it would definitely be better. But Xi Ming himself wasn’t as dejected or unwilling as others imagined. Of course, when he suddenly encountered such a drastic change in life, he did have moments when his emotions and life were in complete disarray.
But time is both the most ruthless and the most gentle existence. What was once unforgettable gradually faded, and Xi Ming slowly adapted to his new life.
Of course, everything related to figure skating, along with his acceptance of fate, was sealed away in the depths of a cabinet. The later Xi Ming was just an ordinary student, no different from most people except for his difficulty walking. He brushed past countless people on the streets, and no one would suddenly realize that this person in a wheelchair who occasionally needed help was the most talked-about figure in China’s figure skating world a few years ago.
Then, on an unremarkable day right after he started his sophomore year of college, he opened his eyes and was Xi Ming again.
Fifteen years old, healthy, Xi Ming.
Although he had become a little curly-haired kid, although the figure skating genius had become a somewhat erratic young skater, although he had grown much taller, there wasn’t much difference from his former self
Well, okay, there were still many differences.
In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that his face was still his own, that the trajectory of his life from childhood to now wasn’t much different, that his parents and older brother were still the same, and that his memories of this life from childhood were complete, Xi Ming would have thought he had transmigrated into another person.
A curly-haired kid with the same name.
So why did it have to be curly hair! It was really hard to manage!
Because of the scattered thoughts floating through his mind all morning, Xi Ming’s last few steps down the stairs were heavy. Xi Yu, who was watching TV, heard the sound and looked up toward the direction it came from. The moment he saw Xi Ming, he could tell from his younger brother’s expression what he was thinking.
“Fighting with your hair again?”
Although Xi Ming’s hair looked neatly combed at first glance, Xi Yu could still tell from the few stubborn strands that refused to lie flat that Xi Ming was in a foul mood.
His younger brother had always had curly hair since he was little, but three months ago, out of nowhere, he started hating his natural waves and even proposed shaving it all off. Of course, that idea was vetoed by their mother, the true authority of the household, Madam Qian Xiuyu.
“My only requirement for you to continue figure skating is that you keep your curls,” Madam Qian Xiuyu had declared, while their father, Xi Teng, shook his head helplessly beside her.
But that wasn’t the only requirement, was it? Xi Yu thought to himself. He remembered that when Xi Ming was thirteen, Qian Xiuyu had said the same thing except back then, the “only” requirement was good grades in middle school.
With that thought, Xi Yu glanced at Xi Ming again. His younger brother didn’t seem to remember the earlier incident; he had just furrowed his brow in deep deliberation for a moment before agreeing anyway.
However, since that day, Xi Ming would periodically voice his dissatisfaction with his curls. Sometimes it got to the point where Xi Yu felt like Xi Ming wasn’t naturally curly at all, but had suddenly been hit by a spell one day that turned him into a curly-haired person, leaving him perpetually out of sorts.
“What are you thinking about, smiling so.” Xi Ming sat down at the dining table, took a sip of milk, seemed to ponder how to phrase it, and then slowly finished his sentence, “.weirdly.”
“There’s nothing weird about it. I’m just happy to see my cute little brother in the morning, so I smiled.” Xi Yu said with a grin, then his gaze landed on the cherry tomatoes Xi Ming was poking at with his fork. “Even if you don’t like cherry tomatoes, you should eat them properly. Auntie prepared them for you.”
“Besides,” Xi Yu added, “it’s also part of Coach Zhao’s meal plan.”
As a professional figure skater, Xi Ming’s diet was fairly strict not to mention he was currently in a growth spurt that affected his technique. Even at home, he had to follow the coach’s dietary arrangements.
Xi Ming poked at a cherry tomato with his fork again, then stabbed it and ate it, mumbling his rebuttal to Xi Yu in between bites. “A few cherry tomatoes won’t make much of a difference.”
“Then who was it that told me a few days ago that he’s not a little kid anymore and asked me not to talk to him like one?” Xi Yu looked at Xi Ming pointedly, a hint of teasing in his eyes. “Only little kids are picky eaters.”
“It’s not that only little kids are picky eaters it’s that adults have become cunning and only choose to eat what they like.”
Xi Ming rebutted Xi Yu with a perfectly serious expression, placed his empty breakfast plate in the kitchen, then sat down next to Xi Yu, nudging him to scoot over. “Are you watching Qi Yu’s program?”
Because his younger brother was pressed right up against him, Xi Ming’s curls were right in front of Xi Yu’s eyes. His fingers twitched, but in the end, he gave up on the idea of ruffling them. Maybe it was a belated rebellious phase, but Xi Ming had indeed become much more independent lately and didn’t like being treated like a child.
If he ruffled his hair now, Xi Ming would definitely bristle.
Xi Yu withdrew his hand, though there was a hint of regret in his heart. Just last year, his brother would look at him with soft eyes, call him “big brother,” and complain about losing his center of gravity on jumps. But this year, along with his rapidly increasing height, even his gaze seemed like that of an adult.
Xi Yu’s inner thoughts lasted only a moment. He turned his attention to the screen, which had started moving again as Xi Ming pressed play.
A figure in a black costume leaped to an astonishing height with the stirring music, landing a perfect quadruple toe loop, earning excellent grades on the execution score.
The moment he saw the image, Xi Ming recognized it this was Qi Yu’s free skate from this year’s Winter Olympics. It was with this program that Qi Yu had won the silver medal in men’s singles figure skating at the Winter Olympics that had just concluded. This was also the best result a Chinese male singles skater had ever achieved in the history of the sport’s development in their country.
At twenty-five, Qi Yu had reached the peak of his career at this year’s Winter Olympics, in a season where outsiders were speculating whether he would retire.
Although he had been the top male singles skater in the country since moving up to the senior ranks, it was this year that he silenced the long-standing doubts with his Olympic silver medal.
The video, which had already been playing for a while, quickly came to an end, and Xi Ming pressed replay.
“Come to think of it, you seem to really like this performance where Qi Yu won silver.” Xi Yu looked at Xi Ming, who was watching intently, and, thinking he understood, reached out to pat Xi Ming’s head in comfort. “It’s okay. Our Ming will become a skater just as impressive as Qi Yu and stand on the world stage to win gold.”
So far, the best result for a Chinese male singles skater was the Olympic silver medal Qi Yu had just achieved, and his own brother was really drawing him a pie in the sky. Xi Ming thought helplessly. Even in his past, he had only competed at the junior level; the senior circuit was a whole different arena.
“This isn’t something I should be thinking about while I’m still growing and developing,” Xi Ming said objectively. “And I like watching Qi Yu simply because it makes me happy.”
“Happy?” Xi Yu tilted his head in slight confusion. Although it had already been two months since Qi Yu won his medal, this was the first time Xi Ming had ever said such a thing.
“That’s right. Isn’t it something to be happy about that Chinese men’s figure skating has reached a new height because of Qi Yu?” Xi Ming explained. “Besides, Yu Jinghui also shone brilliantly in the junior division during the same season. Many people are looking forward to him winning medals in the new season.”
“Isn’t it something worth being happy about that the future of our men’s figure skating is looking so bright?”
Although this world seemed different in many ways apart from his family whether it was the coaches or the current figure skaters, all faces unfamiliar to him, Xi Ming still felt an undeniable surge of joy when he witnessed Qi Yu’s championship victory.
Even if he was no longer the prodigious figure skater he had been in his past life, there would still be people who would carry their country onto the world stage. Though the flame was sometimes faint and sometimes blazing, it persistently kept shining wasn’t that something to be happy about?
That was why Xi Ming always went to watch the competition where Qi Yu took off the Olympic medal. He thought that in his past life, where he had locked away figure skating, there must have been figures like Qi Yu and Yu Jinghui as well.
There must have been.
The light flickering in Xi Ming’s eyes momentarily made Xi Yu unable to read him. He only felt that at this moment, Xi Ming didn’t seem like his usual younger brother who always appeared indifferent to so many things.
But the feeling passed as quickly as an illusion. In the blink of Xi Yu’s eyes, Xi Ming looked just as he always did again. “Besides, watching more can help me learn from Qi Yu’s technique.”
“Ah Yu, didn’t you say you were going to take Ming Ming to school?” Just then, Xi Teng and Qian Xiuyu, the couple, who were dressed and ready to head out, came downstairs together. Seeing the two of them talking in the living room, they asked in surprise.
“Ah!”
Their words seemed to startle the two brothers out of their absorbed discussion about Qi Yu. With simultaneous cries of surprise, one grabbed a schoolbag and the other snatched up keys, and they rushed out the door like a gust of wind.