Ji Mingcheng had lived most of his life and thought he had seen the world, but he never expected that his cheap son who had been missing for over ten years would be “so irritating.” A simple “What did you just say?” effectively fought back the ridicule that had lasted for so long.
Sitting beside him, Xie Yu’s expression changed. She wasn’t Ji He Yu’s biological mother but Ji Mingcheng’s early mistress. Back when Ji He Yu went missing, it was Xie Yu who persuaded Ji Mingcheng to stop looking for his son and focus on nurturing her eldest son, eventually getting him into the family’s genealogy.
Seeing his youngest son, who resembled his former wife, Ji Mingcheng softened a bit. Impatiently, he pulled out a card from his pocket and said, “There’s two to three million in this card. Use it as you need, and don’t bother us.”
Two to three million? This wasn’t what they had agreed upon!
Although this amount was a small amount for the Ji family, Xie Yu, feeling irked since Ji He Yu wasn’t her biological son, was about to glare at Ji Mingcheng when she caught the cold glint in Ji He Yu’s eyes and shivered.
Ji He Yu nodded lightly, “Okay.”
Free money shouldn’t be wasted, especially since ice sports are costly.
Ji He Yu took the card, hesitated for a bit and said, “Then Mr. Ji and Ms. Xie, please do not interfere in my affairs.
“Mr. Ji”?
This unfamiliar address annoyed Ji Mingcheng for a moment.
On the other hand, Xie Yu’s face turned pale.
By addressing her this way, Ji He Yu clearly didn’t acknowledge her status as the mistress1 of the Ji family.
Ji He Yu did it on purpose.
He rarely interacted with people and always had a cold and detached look, not because he was not well versed in the world, but because he had seen too much of human nature and understood the world too well, making him especially indifferent. Having learned the rough details from the original owner’s memory, he felt no need to show respect to this woman.
Ji Mingcheng said nothing, after all, he was the one who had given up on Ji He Yu first. Moreover, they had no intention of taking him back. He just nodded stiffly, “As long as you don’t ruin the Ji family’s reputation.”
Ruin the Ji family’s reputation?
If he could win a gold medal again, the Ji family might bask in his glory.
Of course, Ji He Yu didn’t bother to say such things.
Ji He Yu’s goal for today has been achieved. Seeing that the two people opposite him were ‘ sitting on pins and needles.’ Ji He Yu voluntarily said, “Let’s end it here today. Mr. Ji, Ms. Xie, goodbye.”
He was in a hurry to go to the ice rink.
After a hasty “farewell” to his cheap parents, Ji He Yu took out his phone to search for the nearest ice rink.
He urgently needed to test his control over this body on the ice blades.
The original owner’s memory indicated this was a ‘parallel universe’ to the one he used to live in. Fortunately, the development of figure skating and even all ice and snow sports was the same as the previous world, gradually gaining the attention and support of the nation. Although there were no leading figures that had yet emerged on the international stage, the situation was improving, and basic facilities were gradually being completed.
The nearest ice rink was in a big shopping centre nearby.
The original owner was just a high school student living on welfare and educational subsidies, but now Ji He Yu had a card, so the initial “start-up capital” shouldn’t be a problem.
On the short hundred meters walk to the ice rink, Ji He Yu had already thought out his plans for the near future
Today, he would first get on the ice to get a feel of it, so he could create a ‘tailor-made’ training plan for this body.
Although he didn’t have a coach right now, Ji He Yu had nearly twenty years of skating experience from his previous life, having struggled through various stages and was preparing to retire to become a coach or choreographer. Thus, devising a suitable plan for himself wasn’t difficult. If this body was reasonably flexible, it would significantly shorten his “starting” time.
Tonight, he not only needed to draft a good plan but also look up information about upcoming competitions.
If he wanted to get back on the world stage that he fought for in his ‘previous life’, it would undoubtedly be a long journey.
Entering the national team required rigorous selection, and although he was young, he was already fifteen. Without impressive skills, it would be difficult to catch a coach’s eye.
“I still have to participate in some club leagues first…”
Ji He Yu muttered.
He was so focused on his thoughts that he accidentally bumped into a firm back.
“Sorry,” Ji He Yu stepped back, rubbing his nose.
“No worries, are you hurt?” the man asked in a low voice.
It was clearly a question, but his tone was so calm and cold that Ji He Yu thought for a moment that he had met his former self.
Ji He Yu raised his head but only saw the man’s tall figure. Most of his face was covered by a mask, only revealing a pair of sword-like eyes. Ji He Yu vaguely felt he might have seen him in a corner of the original owner’s memory but couldn’t recall.
In front of the man, the slender youth seemed to be a whole circle smaller, and his entire body was completely shrouded in his shadow.
Oh, I’m not as tall or as strong as him.
His back was so hard, it really hurt my nose.
Ji He Yu thought randomly.
Ji He Yu shook his head, embarrassed, “I’m fine. Please move aside, thank you.”
The man was slightly stunned and nodded, and stepped aside.
The man was no other than Yun Che, a skiing genius that appeared out of nowhere in China, no, it should be said the whole of Asia.
Just Last month, he won China’s first alpine skiing medal at the World Championships, a bronze, but a historic achievement for China.
However, Yun Che was clear about his goal.
The Championship!
Competitive sports are always brutal but real.
Only by proving his strength could he help his country grow in this sport.
The national team had given Yun Che a month off, but a month’s training gap was fatal for an athlete, so Yun Che came to this ice rink every day for training.
It wasn’t to skate, but because this rink was owned by a good friend of his who had retired early from the speed skating team due to injury. Besides having a high-end rink that met competition standards, it was also well-equipped with training facilities.
Watching the boy who had bumped into him, hurriedly entering the ice rink, Yun Che seemed to see his past self for a moment, and a rare smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
Ji He Yu had already completed the procedures, and after warming up, he chose a pair of skates that fit his feet and prepared to go on the ice.
The skates at this rink were surprisingly professional.
Although they couldn’t compare to his old “buddies,” many skates were far superior to entry-level ones, so Ji He Yu didn’t mind spending a bit more to rent them.
When he was tying the laces, he felt his fingertips tremble slightly.
Before he could react, a drop of water had already fallen on the back of his hand.
Ji He Yu raised his hand and rubbed his eyes in confusion.
Tsk, wet.
Even when he was severely injured, he had never shed a tear, so why now, when he had the chance to go on the ice again, were his eyes wet?
Ignoring his heartbeat which was accelerating due to the familiar chill hitting his face, Ji He Yu quickly put on his ice skates.
The shoes felt heavy in his hands, but they were so light on his feet that Ji He Yu didn’t need much imagination to envision the sound of the blades cutting through the ice.
Although this was a new body, basic skating should be…
No problem, right?
Ji He Yu thought uncertainly.
When I was laying the foundation for my footwork and skating skills, it was more than a decade ago, so I’m not quite sure of my ‘starting’ level back then. Now, to understand the potential of this body, I can only test it out directly. At worst… at worst, I’ll fall a few times, just like I did plenty of times in the past.
Ji He Yu cautiously glided a few steps, then in a relatively open area, he lifted his right leg, leaned forward, and extended his arms naturally, planning to try a forward glide in a swallow pose.
This body’s flexibility was surprisingly good.
Without much effort, Ji He Yu lifted his right leg above his head, stretching it out fully, forming a beautiful angle with his left leg used for gliding.
Ji He Yu glided forward smoothly, his posture stood out among the crowd of amateur skaters, truly like a swallow dancing on the ice!
For a moment, many around him couldn’t help but stop their movements and watch.
There’s hope!
Ji Heyu could not help but feel a bit excited, the ice and snow on his lips forming a faint smile.
Figure skating is a sport that requires full-body coordination, even if it’s for simple forward gliding, let alone a grand movement like the swallow pose.
In his excitement, Ji He Yu had only thought about flexibility, and didn’t consider another important issue — the ability to coordinate and balance the body!
Even though Ji He Yu had nearly twenty years of experience on ice, and he could complete a flawless short program on the ice rink almost with his eyes closed, this seemingly simple swallow pose was a challenge in a new body!
This was a new body. He wasn’t familiar with every muscle in this new body nor used to controlling his centre of gravity. Not to mention his muscle memory from the past twenty years was completely gone!
Yes, it was indeed a perfect, textbook swallow-style glide.
But before he could glide a few meters, he fell to the ground with a thud.
Ji Heyu heard the disappointed sighs of those around him.
The coolness of the ice stimulated his skin, cooling down his feverish mind.
Since growing up, he hadn’t fallen in such basic steps.
He had a lot to work on.
Thinking of this, his smile deepened.
“Hey, that handsome little guy over there, why is he still smiling after falling?”
“I don’t know, but to be honest, he is indeed handsome.”
Ji He Yu heard their comments but didn’t pay attention. Once he entered training mode, a few external factors could affect his practice.
After testing the swallow-style glide, he needed to try the crab step next, if there wasn’t a clear understanding of this body’s core strength, the training plan after that would not be easy to implement.
Ji He Yu did not want to let the excuse of ‘not being familiar with his body’ affect his crab step performance and core strength assessment, he stood up and took some time to feel the body’s centre before trying the crab step.
Unlike the gracefulness of the swallow pose, the crab step was a more powerful movement. With legs apart, heels facing each other, toes pointed outwards, knees deeply bent, and body leaning back until it was on level with the ice surface—
While amateur skaters could manage a rough swallow-style glide, whether it looked good or not, the crab step clearly required better balance and was beyond amateur level!
The centre of gravity falls far behind the feet, which means that the weight of the entire upper body is completely supported by the waist, which relies on the strength of the waist and abdomen to maintain balance.
If you don’t have enough flexibility, you won’t even be able to complete the ‘lower back’ movement; even with flexibility, inadequate core strength would lead to falling. This move was popular among female skaters but rare among males. After all the core strength of men was good core but very few men of this age had the flexibility for such an exaggerated backbend.
Many onlookers held their breath unconsciously.
Would this handsome guy fall?
The author has something to say:
Ji Baobei2 has a slim build and will remain relatively petite even after fully growing up. Yun Che, on the other hand, is a sturdy guy (bushi)3 who trains in alpine skiing (hahaha). [Ashamed, it’s my cutest body shape difference QAQ]
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(sxhbyc ᥫ᭡ footnotes:)
- He addresses her as (女士) which is used to address those whose marriage status is unknown or irrelevant. She wants to be addressed by (女主人) which means female head of the household. ↩︎
- Baobei (宝贝) – baby. ↩︎
- Bushi (不是) – means no/not but putting it there allows others to know you are just kidding/messing. ↩︎
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Thanks for translating this gem. Would you continue the translation?
I’ve just finished all my exams so I’ll start posting a lot more frequently.