Xi Ming and Gu Fu sneaking off to the ice rink for some skating was fun, but the consequence was being bombarded with messages from family members.
One of the main sources was Xi Yu, who complained that after finishing his conversation with Zhou Jingshen, he couldn’t find Xi Ming anywhere. Xi Ming’s response to this was to counter-complain that someone had originally promised to come watch the competition in person but had stood him up. Although it was for legitimate work reasons, Xi Yu felt guilty in front of his younger brother and backed off.
But his family wasn’t just Xi Yu there was also Trouble Number Two.
“I know, I know, I didn’t see you that day, okay? I’ll come find you when I’m free later.” Xi Ming assured the person on the other end of the phone for what felt like the umpteenth time. It seemed the other party finally believed in his credibility and hung up.
Xi Ming put his phone back in his pocket, wearing an exhausted expression.
The person Xi Ming had just been on the phone with was his second brother, Wu Zhuo the son of Xi Ming’s aunt on his mother’s side, making him Xi Ming’s cousin. Because he had often stayed at their house when they were kids, he had a very close relationship with Xi Ming. So Wu Zhuo, who hadn’t managed to catch Xi Ming at the banquet two days ago, had been calling for two consecutive days to berate him.
Actually, the main reason was to get Xi Ming to put in a good word for him. Wu Zhuo was the rebellious one in their family, and unfortunately, he was now attending university locally and hadn’t managed to escape his parents’ grasp. He frequently clashed with them, and the only person he would actually listen to was Xi Yu.
Incidentally, Xi Ming was the youngest among the cousins of his generation and also the most favored. Generally, when faced with this well-behaved child, the elders would be much more agreeable.
So he was Wu Zhuo’s number one choice for cover.
Just thinking about his second cousin Wu Zhuo’s situation gave Xi Ming a headache. Fortunately, aside from some bickering, there wasn’t much else going on, so Xi Ming set it aside for now.
“Alright, let’s get going.”
Not long after Xi Ming hung up, Zhao Zhengchang, who had been busy checking that nothing was missing, finished packing and came to find him. Xi Ming pulled his suitcase along and got into Zhao Zhengchang’s car.
Right now, the most important thing was to report to the national team!
Although many people had become strangers, the figure skating national team still felt somewhat familiar to Xi Ming. While he wasn’t picky about training locations, actually returning to the national team stirred a bit of nostalgia in him.
A tangible sense that his athletic career had truly continued downward from age fifteen.
“Isn’t it great?”
Yu Jinghui and Song Yili stood on either side of Xi Ming, like his guides. Seeing the wistful expression on Xi Ming’s face as he walked along, Song Yili asked.
Xi Ming blinked, tucked away his subtle emotions, and shot Song Yili a look like he was an idiot. “We were training here together in July, and I trained here last summer too. Assuming I haven’t lost my memory, I should be pretty familiar with this place.”
“Cough.” Song Yili realized he’d asked a stupid question too. It was just that his buddy was going to train together with him again, and he was a bit excited, inexplicably feeling the urge to give Xi Ming a tour.
Yu Jinghui, clearly not swept away by excitement, was also very happy about Xi Ming’s arrival. “This way, we can all train together after school.”
“Yeah, yeah!” Song Yili cheered up again.
Song Yili, a year younger than Xi Ming and Yu Jinghui, was still a middle school student. Fortunately, the school Xi Ming and Yu Jinghui attended had a middle school division, and it wasn’t far from the national team, so Song Yili now went to the same school as them.
When Xi Ming learned about this, he remarked, “Is this the only middle school in the entire city, or what? How else would all three current national team junior division skaters end up at the same school?”
Little did Xi Ming know, he was somewhat onto the truth. His school had lenient academic requirements, which suited athletes well, and it was also one of the few schools that admitted students with figure skating special talent status.
This was just a minor curiosity for Xi Ming, and he quickly deleted it from his mind.
No training was arranged for Xi Ming on his first day with the team, but he didn’t have much stuff anyway and finished unpacking quickly. Since he was already very familiar with the national team from the previous training camps, he simply decided to follow Yu Jinghui and the others to training in the afternoon.
Tagging along for training.
The figure skating national team didn’t have many official members, and when divided among the four disciplines, the numbers were even smaller. So when only the men’s singles and women’s singles skaters were training on one rink that afternoon, the number of people could genuinely be counted on one’s fingers.
So Yang Wu naturally spotted the extra figure of Xi Ming in the lineup.
He tapped Xi Ming’s shoulder with the training plan in his hand and joked, “Didn’t I give you a day to rest? Can’t wait to get here, huh? The coach hasn’t even started yet, but the athlete’s already taken his position.”
Yang Wu wasn’t just the head coach for men’s singles on the national team he’d also always been the head coach for men’s singles in the training camp. So Xi Ming knew him well and responded to his teasing with an obedient smile. “That’s exactly why I’m here to learn from you, Coach Yang.”
Xi Ming said he was “tagging along” for training because the one with actual business wasn’t him it was Zhao Zhengchang. As a veteran coach returning to the national team, the team naturally took him seriously, so the head coach Feng An had pulled Zhao Zhengchang into a meeting, leaving Xi Ming free as a bird.
But that was fine he could tag along with Coach Yang Wu’s training sessions. Not only was Yang Wu the head coach for men’s singles who oversaw all of them, but Yang Wu also happened to be a student of Zhao Zhengchang’s, albeit in learning how to be a figure skating coach.
Yang Wu naturally wouldn’t refuse Xi Ming.
Besides, Zhao Zhengchang had already anticipated that Xi Ming wouldn’t be able to sit still and would want to get on the ice, so he’d given Xi Ming’s training plan to Yang Wu in advance to oversee.
“Coach Zhao really knows me best,” Xi Ming remarked. This was probably what they meant by master and disciple being of one mind.
For athletes at Xi Ming’s level, basic training was no longer their challenge instead, coaches had to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn’t overdo it beyond what their bodies could handle.
Take a young athlete like Yu Jinghui, for example. He was only fifteen. Even though he could already perform quadruple jumps, to protect his body, the number of quadruple jumps he practiced each day was limited.
Too many would put excessive impact on his knees and cause injury.
“Jealous of Yu Jinghui’s quad?”
When Xi Ming paused to watch Yu Jinghui practice his 4T, Qi Yu had somehow sidled over, standing beside him to watch Yu Jinghui as well, then asked him that question.
Xi Ming glanced at Qi Yu. “Not jealous, because I know I’ll master the quad eventually too.”
“Wow, so confident.” Qi Yu looked amused by Xi Ming’s response. He draped his arm over Xi Ming’s shoulder and asked with a grin, “Remember what I told you after the selection trials ended? Want me to teach you the 4T? Starting today.”
“But I haven’t confirmed my spot in the final yet.” Xi Ming’s ambiguous answer and smile left Qi Yu momentarily puzzled it seemed the quad didn’t hold as much appeal for Xi Ming as Qi Yu had imagined.
Could it be that he’d finally hit a generation gap with the kid? Qi Yu’s expression twisted in confusion. Back in his day, he’d been obsessed with quads.
Of course, even though he wasn’t sure whether he could convince Xi Ming, Qi Yu kept his composure on the surface. “Are you worried about not making the final? Don’t worry the points from the champion and third-place finishes will make you one of the last six.”
“That’s the wisdom of a senior.”
“But” Xi Ming deliberately dragged out the word, and only when Qi Yu fully turned his head to look at him did he continue, “your results in the junior division only got you into the JGP Final once. Not much experience to speak of there.”
What Xi Ming said was true. In Qi Yu’s two years of junior competition, he’d won two silver medals at the World Junior Championships. But he’d always stumbled at the Grand Prix, with his best result being fourth place in the final.
In that regard, Yu Jinghui really was a bit like Qi Yu, Yu Jinghui had also failed to make the JGP Final two years in a row, which was entirely achievable given his skill level.
“Little junior.” Qi Yu met Xi Ming’s gaze with a friendly smile. “Even if I never won a JGP medal, that doesn’t affect my judgment on the points for the six finalists.”
“Right, I was overthinking it.” Xi Ming shrugged without much sincerity.
“Pfft” When both Xi Ming and Qi Yu’s gazes swept over, Jiang Jun waved his hand apologetically, but he still couldn’t suppress his laughter.
Jiang Jun insisted he hadn’t meant to eavesdrop he was just curious about what the two of them were talking about during the training break.
Who knew that the moment he got close, he’d overhear the two of them trading barbs? Qi Yu, who was always teasing others on the national team, kept getting the short end of the stick in front of Xi Ming. He just couldn’t hold back his laugh.
Qi Yu, deflated by Jiang Jun’s laughter, lost whatever momentum he’d been building and crossed his arms in defeat. “Little junior, I’m just trying to teach you the quad. So, are you learning or not?”
“Didn’t I say before? Having an Olympic silver medalist teach me I’m deeply honored, of course.” Xi Ming’s soothing words perked Qi Yu right back up, but then Xi Ming’s tone shifted. “Although, I’d rather see your complete new program for the upcoming season.”
Before Qi Yu could answer, Xi Ming changed the subject first. “Of course, we’ll both be at the national team from now on, so there’ll be chances to see it. Let’s just learn the quad today.”
Qi Yu’s lesson almost got interrupted by Yang Wu before it even began, when Yang Wu found out that Qi Yu was going to teach Xi Ming the quad today.
“His condition isn’t fully stabilized yet. Coach Zhao hasn’t even rushed him to increase difficultyw, here did you come from?” Yang Wu shot a cold glare at his troublesome student. “If he gets injured, are you going to pay for it? There’s a major competition coming up soon.”
“Coach Yang, Brother Qi is just showing me around, not seriously teaching.” Xi Ming rescued Qi Yu from being scolded by his own coach, flashing the kind of obedient look coaches couldn’t refuse. “I just want to experience what a quad feels like. I won’t push myself.”
Yang Wu, who rarely experienced Xi Ming’s obedient gaze, couldn’t resist and agreed. He even let his mind wander, thinking that since all of Xi Ming’s opponents had 4Ts, it was no wonder Xi Ming was anxious himself.
However, although Yang Wu had relented and agreed out of softheartedness, when Qi Yu eagerly offered to set up the harness for Xi Ming, Yang Wu shooed him away, preparing to handle it himself.
Then Xi Ming refused, saying, “No need for the harness, I’ll just try it directly.”
Because of Xi Ming’s words, the few people watching nearby felt even more that Xi Ming was just playing around for the moment.
Qi Yu explained the details of the jump to Xi Ming and even demonstrated by performing a few 4Ts himself.
Just as Xi Ming had said, Qi Yu, who could win Olympic medals, naturally had impeccable technique. The moment he executed the quadruple jump a move not uncommon among juniors this season it instantly seemed to set him apart from the younger skaters. Stunning height, beautiful rotation, and a clean landing Qi Yu’s jump firmly captured everyone’s attention. Qi Yu himself seemed to be in high spirits, and the moment he landed, he quickly followed up with another 4T.
“Give it a try, little junior,” Qi Yu said, gliding back and gesturing for Xi Ming to attempt it. “Don’t push yourself; safety comes first.”
Xi Ming pushed off the ice with his feet, accelerating forward, and glanced at Qi Yu as he passed him.
Just as Qi Yu was puzzled by the seriousness in Xi Ming’s eyes, Xi Ming began to accelerate, turned, and performed several consecutive triple toe loops.
On the final jump, Xi Ming leaped high into the air, seemingly higher than his usual height.
He spun rapidly in the air one rotation, two, three, and then four.
As he descended, his axis tilted slightly, but it didn’t affect his landing. Though his posture wasn’t perfect and his free leg lightly touched the ice, it didn’t change the fact that this was a successful quadruple toe loop.
Qi Yu was stunned, and everyone else was a bit taken aback. Xi Ming’s 4T he’d nailed it on his first try?!
“Are you satisfied now?” At that moment, Zhao Zhengchang’s voice came from the edge of the rink. Everyone instinctively turned their heads and saw Zhao Zhengchang and Feng An standing by the boards.
Coach Feng An’s face showed surprise similar to everyone else’s, while Zhao Zhengchang wore an amused expression.
“To keep your unrevealed 4T a secret and surprise the national team like this looks like you really did it, little Xi.”
Everyone’s gaze snapped back to Xi Ming.
At that moment, Xi Ming smiled, with a hint of endearing smugness, and revealed the truth: “Actually, I’ve been practicing my 4T for a while now. It’s just that my landing success rate was too poor, so no one knew except my coach.”