Chapter 1
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Before entering this world, Ji He Yu was standing on the highest podium of the World Championships.
The sharp stabbing pain in his knees progressed to an unbearable level, even though the physiotherapist had already administered a large dose of painkillers before the performance, it was of no use under the intense movements of the competition.
As early as the first jump of the free skate, his knees began to hurt.
During the first 4Lo, Ji He Yu’s right knee was only slightly numb, he had been skating on the ice for nearly twenty years, and this level of discomfort wouldn’t affect his performance. However, by the time of the 4T+1EU+3F, Ji He Yu’s right knee was in excruciating pain as if being torn apart.
Years of spinning and jumping on ice cause significant damage to the knees. Ji He Yu’s meniscus was once injured three years ago, and would often flare up over the years, but none were as severe as now!
What’s more, is that the high-intensity movements on the competition stage demand great flexibility from the knees.
The pain made Ji He Yu’s vision darken, almost fainting, but his repertoire was only halfway through, especially with the most difficult element, the 4A that he had been practising for years but still barely got the hang of it, was not yet performed!
The ice in front of him not only began to blur but even gradually distort. If it weren’t for Ji He Yu’s nearly twenty years of experience, which made him familiar with every inch of his muscles and every inch of the ice rink, forming an unconscious muscle memory, he might have fallen backwards even with a simple basic skating step.
Do you want to give up? It’s not like you haven’t won the World Championships before…
As soon as this thought crossed Ji He Yu’s mind, he immediately denied it.
Ji He Yu had already reached the age of retirement, originally planning to retire in a year or two. During his career, China’s figure skating experienced unprecedented prosperity. Although he was still the dominant figure among top skaters, under the vigorous development of the country, young skaters were also rapidly growing.
‘At least, let me earn a few more spots for them at the Winter Olympics before I retire…’
Ji He Yu thought in a daze.
These thoughts only flashed through Ji He Yu’s mind for a moment. On the ice, any distraction could be fatal, meaning you might lose the rhythm with the music, luckily, Ji He Yu was able to break through numerous obstacles and carve out a path for China, because of his excellent sense of rhythm—
‘Aside from his outstanding appearance and absolute flexibility, the most commendable thing about Ji and the biggest difference between him and other outstanding skaters is his unparalleled control over music!’
‘While other excellent skaters are controlled by the music, what I see in Ji is that he controls the music!’
‘Ji is the beautiful jade on ice skates, the absolute king of music!’
—Wrote a discerning foreign critic.
Ji He Yu continued to dance gracefully on the ice to the music, the judges and audience outside the rink could only see his elegant figure and beautiful lines when he raised his leg in a swallow-like glide.
However, the pain was tormenting Ji He Yu’s consciousness, making it difficult for him to distinguish between the music in his ears and the waves of applause from the audience, as if both his hearing and vision had become blurry.
But in such confusion, he felt that his body was lighter than ever before.
Although he could hardly see anything, Ji He was convinced that he was even surpassing himself, jumping the 4A with a success rate of seventy to eighty percent, perfectly, with a full rotation of 1,620 degrees, even the takeoff and landing were unprecedentedly smooth.
It’s as if even the pain in his knees had disappeared altogether.
“4A! It’s a 4A! Ji He Yu did it!” exclaimed the excited commentator on Channel Five’s Chinese broadcast, “This is an absolute lead in difficulty. Currently, there are very few people in the world who can successfully perform a 4A, even fewer in competitions. Ji He Yu’s jump is an absolutely perfect stance!”
The commentator paused for a moment, suddenly remembering something, and shouted even more excitedly, “And, this isn’t just any 4A at the beginning of the free skate, it’s a 4A performed when more than half the time has passed, increasing the technical and base scores by 10%! Look, the judges’ GOE has already given it a green light, 5 points, it’s 5 points!”
“The phoenix xiao sounds, the jade pot glows, and the ice-tipped fishes and a dragon dance!①” The commentator took a deep breath, still unable to calm down his excitement, “What is a beautiful jade? This is a beautiful jade, this is our country’s beautiful jade that shines in the world! A treasure!”
Ji He Yu didn’t know how he managed to bow his head to greet the judges and the audience.
The moment when the music abruptly stopped, Ji He Yu felt the sudden sensation of disappearing returning, as if thousands of ants were crazily gnawing at every inch of his muscles and joints, and the once most painful knee, strangely, had lost all sensation.
The coach excitedly hugged him, only to belatedly feel his frighteningly cold body temperature and the cold sweat all over him.
“Yu, how are you?” The coach nervously helped him sit down, suddenly seeing Ji He Yu’s face pale as paper.
“I’m fine.”
Seeing Ji He Yu still speaking clearly, just a little weak and disengaged, the coach finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “You are in great shape today, Yu. I knew you were a competitor for the big stage, and your performance in the competition gets better every time! Champion, undoubtedly the champion!”
Ji He Yu no longer had the strength to respond and barely managed to nod.
Soon it was time for the awards ceremony. Ji He Yu persisted on the field despite being injured because of the current situation in China, if he stepped down, there would truly be no one else to step onto the podium, let alone lift that heavy gold medal. These things couldn’t be rushed.
Ji He Yu couldn’t hear what the competition committee was saying. They instinctively followed the ceremonial lady onto the stage and received the gold medal.
“The gold medal belongs to Ji, He Yu Ji! This is his fifth gold medal in this tournament. He is the king, absolutely the king!” The host didn’t spare any praise, but the person being praised couldn’t hear it—
All they heard was a “thud,” and a person fell straight from the stage!
The brightest pearl of this era, the “Ice Jade Beauty,” fainted on the ground with the newly obtained gold medal, her face pale.
—
“Do you really think those stories in TV dramas about poor boys being taken back to wealthy families and becoming masters are true?” The woman’s sharp mockery awakened Ji He Yu’s thoughts, “Let me tell you, our Ji family can’t produce an uncultured and feral child like you!”
As if still feeling the tearing pain in his body, Ji He Yu frowned slightly, not hearing what the person in front of him was saying clearly, just faintly lifting their eyes to glance at the couple opposite.
The couple was inexplicably deterred by this indifferent glance for a moment.
The young man sitting across from them was clearly only fifteen years old, with features that hadn’t fully developed yet, and his figure was unusually slender. However, the coldness in his eyes seemed to be filled with years of frost and snow, devoid of any emotion.
He clearly didn’t have any doubts, but just that hint of quiet coldness made people feel a slight unease.
In fact, Ji He Yu had been alone since childhood, and it was the ice and snow that gave him warmth and became the object of his lifelong pursuit and love. The coldness in his eyes was like ice and snow, already indelible.
Consciousness slowly returned, and the pain in his body gradually subsided, replaced by a whirlwind of thoughts in his mind.
The feeling of blood flowing through his limbs was familiar yet unfamiliar, and a flood of memories rushed in, almost drowning his thoughts. Ji He Yu barely managed to gather a bit of consciousness, allowing these memories to be digested while listening to the middle-aged couple in front of them.
“Why aren’t you responding when your mother is talking to you,” the man couldn’t help but reprimand when he saw Ji He Yu’s indifferent expression, “Your mother and I don’t believe you’ve been a wild child without anyone raising you for so many years. Now it seems that you’re really rude and uncultured.”
Hearing the word ‘mother,’ Ji He Yu finally spared some attention to look at the couple. The man was wearing an expensive designer suit, and his imposing manner was intimidating. If it weren’t for his earlier ‘lesson,’ Ji He Yu would almost believe he was some big shot from the upper class.
The woman sitting beside him was wearing a long wine-red evening gown, with a dazzling diamond necklace around her neck. However, her mocking expression still lingered, making her look somewhat out of place.
Clearly, they were wealthy people.
Ji He Yu quickly skimmed through the memories of the original owner and finally understood the current situation.
It seems that… he has transmigrated.
Ji He Yu discreetly glanced at his appearance in the window by the table. A gorgeous face but cold appearance, with a vaguely seductive tear mole at the corner of his left eye, just the right nose bridge height, a delicate but beautiful jawline, and lips so shallow that it seemed as if they wouldn’t take on a smile.
Even though the face on the glass was still young and tender and had not yet fully grown, Ji He Yu was very sure that this was what he looked like at the age of fifteen!
This body is still very young.
This realization almost plunged Ji He Yu into a state of ecstasy. Even though they were distracted listening to what the couple was saying, they couldn’t help but daydream.
Youth means infinite possibilities.
Although Ji He Yu from the “previous life” was only twenty-five years old, due to years of intensive training, their injuries had reached a very serious level. His knees, ankles, lumbar spine, and shoulder, Ji He Yu had suffered countless injuries of all sizes.
Even if nothing unexpected happened at the World Championships, he could only skate for another two or three years at most.
But this body is only fifteen years old!
The indifferent eyes between Ji He Yu’s brows emitted a dazzling light.
Although he had never stepped on the ice yet or even knew how flexible this body was, Ji He Yu already felt that this was a gift from heaven—
In his ‘previous life,’ he left the rink as the most dazzling version of himself, not only creating a myth of an era but also achieving the goal set for himself in the competition to “earn more spots for China”;
In the blink of an eye, just as his career was coming to an end, he was given a new opportunity!
The teenager at this age probably already had stiff ligaments and muscles.
But Ji He Yu was already prepared.
These problems were nothing compared to the ice rink he never wanted to give up for his entire life!
He was already impatient to go out and find an ice rink to try it out!
The couple sitting across from him was stunned again.
Although the youngster didn’t say a word and just sat quietly across from them, his aura suddenly changed. No one knew what he was thinking about, but in just a moment, he went from being a beautifully crafted ice sculpture to someone full of vitality.
They opened their mouths but didn’t know what to say. They had already said all the harsh words, such as “How dare a waste like you return to the family,” “If the family business is handed over to you, it will be ruined,” and “Your elder brother is much more outstanding than you.” They had said all this when the youngster was in a daze earlier.
They had felt smug, thinking their threats had scared Ji He Yu, but now they suddenly felt like they had punched cotton.
Ji He Yu: I’m sorry, what nonsense are you spouting?
—
①: This is adapted from “The sound of the phoenix xiao stirs, the jade pot’s light turns, and fish and dragons dance all night long.” ——Xin Qij (辛弃疾)i, “The Jade Mansion: Lantern Festival (青玉案-元夕)”
—
No prototypes, no prototypes, no prototypes QAQ
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