When he completed this short program with his dedicated1 choreographer, he was twenty-one, which was when Ji He Yu began to shine in the adult group.
Therefore at that time, besides the joy of returning to the field after recovering from a severe injury. “New Sprouts” was more about expressing his absolute authority in the field through the use of thick and heavy techniques.2
What did the critics say at the time—
“There is no doubt about it, this is an extremely colourful program.” The critics naturally gave their praise to a program that was impeccable both in terms of difficulty and cleanliness.
But this praise had an undercurrent of sarcasm. “However, compared to ‘New Bud,’ this program would be more suitable to be named ‘Giant Tree,’ in every sense.”
“New Sprout” was indeed a perfectly choreographed program, especially with its difficulty that would be considered a showstopper in an adult group, making even the judges, who were often harsh on Chinese and Eastern faces, couldn’t help but applaud.
Moreover, he had just recovered from a serious injury and made a stunning comeback, delivering a nearly perfect performance that left the world in awe.
The critics were right; he was no longer a mere bud. Compared to a new bud struggling to find its way through winter snow, he was more like a giant tree growing in the extreme north—
Although the branches were almost bent by the snow, as long as the ice and snow melted, he would rise to the sky!
Now, his task was not just to regain his lost physical instincts and spectacular skills. He also needed to rekindle his belief, which had never before extinguished, in the pristine ice rink, burn more fiercely and vigorously!
Although for the time being, he couldn’t perform stunning sandwich jumps or the once effortless triple Axel,3 he still had the Biellmann spin, the Inu Bauer,4 and many other techniques emphasizing flexibility, which suited his younger self perfectly as a finishing touch.
Compared to the power shown in high-difficulty jumps, the flexibility and beauty of the Biellmann spin might better illustrate the “New Sprout” metaphor.
New Sprouts are flexible. Not only flexible but strong. To persist in the snow, sprouts will instinctively grow towards the light, even if their stems and leaves are bent by the snow, breaking out the ground!
With this in mind, Ji He Yu threw off his quilt and eagerly went to the table to write and sketch.
Inspiration is fleeting, and although he was not a professional choreographer, years immersed on the ice had made him well-versed in the scoring of the different standards. Now, he had to grab hold of the inspiration in his head and record everything that came to mind before seeking help online to finish it.
He had always had a habit of drawing skating trajectories on blank paper, and this habit was about to prove to be a big favour for him! The lines on the white paper were messy but also lively, perhaps only understandable to the one who drew them, expressing his excitement with each stroke.
Ji He Yu’s wrist was still sore from propping himself on the ground earlier in the day, and the continuous drawing made it numb, but he didn’t seem to notice. Glancing outside, he saw the city’s lights had gone out, leaving only a few lonely street lamps illuminating the path for night travellers.
Ji He Yu smiled slightly. This night was destined to be a sleepless night.
Unnoticed, the morning light climbed onto the windowsill. The outside remained excessively quiet, but the rising sun silently sprinkled on Ji He Yu’s body, highlighting his already slender figure to be even thinner.
Under the morning light, Ji He Yu blinked dreamily. The golden light brushed his long, thick eyelashes, reflecting a shimmering glow.
“Morning sun…” Ji He Yu murmured.
The choreographed plan on the table looked chaotic but was quite orderly. After a night of work, Ji He Yu had organized it well.
The initial difficulty level was just what he estimated his body could handle in a month and a half. Although it was far from enough to enter the stage of the World Junior Championships, it was enough to cope with the Grand Prix series.
The program’s choreography was almost perfectly crafted, from theme to climax.
Ji He Yu still felt something was missing. But now, he finally knew what it was.
The morning sun, it was the morning sun!
The new sprout that sprouted in the winter, having endured a long winter and broken through the snow-covered obstacles, yearned for the warmth of spring sunshine.
He had suffered from an old injury relapse, fell from the podium, and which likely ended his career. Yet here he was with his eyes open, ready to stand on the ice he loved once more and contribute to his country’s ice skating.
The new bud welcomed its morning sun. And he would also embrace his morning sun!
At the program’s climax, a 2A5 wasn’t enough. Although a 2A was intense, it couldn’t convey the fanatic joy in the new bud’s heart after enduring the whole winter and seeing the long-awaited6 morning sun.
He had to do a combination jump at the climax of the song! A 3Lz (triple lutz jump)+3Lo (triple loop jump)!7
But could he do it?
It was a risky decision. In the program’s second half, the technical score for jumps increases by a 10% bonus due to the athletes’ stamina being consumed, making it difficult to execute a jump perfectly.
The hook jump (Lz) is the second most difficult jump after the A jump. Even with a month and a half of training, it would be too difficult for him to master the 3Lz again, let alone complete the right back outside edge take-off at the moment it touched the ice.
But Ji He Yu had made up his mind. Since he was here to embrace the morning sun—How could he shrink back in fear?8 So, let’s fight!
Ji He Yu set aside the arrangement he imagined. He hadn’t learned music editing, and even if he was skilled enough to hum the melody of “New Sprout.” Professional things should be left to professionals, so he recorded a rough version of himself humming it and sent it, along with a written description, to a professional composer.
As for the costume, Ji He Yu drew the desired pattern on paper according to his ideas. He didn’t have much talent for art, but fortunately, this was just modifying the old dark green costume. The pattern’s style didn’t need a big change, only the colour scheme needed adjustment, so he could barely manage. After sending the design and his body measurements to a professional costume-making studio, Ji He Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although only the short program’s choreography was completed, at the moment the free skate was still undecided, after a night of brainstorming, Ji He Yu’s brain was already showing signs of fatigue. It was time to relax.
Ji He Yu casually washed up, threw on his sportswear, and went out the door. Yes, this was the plan Ji He Yu had made for himself; this was his way of “relaxing.” …But who relaxes by going out for physical training?
Previously when he was on the national team, even though Ji He Yu was already the undisputed top skater in China and even the world, he was always the first one in the team to get up and start training. Training had become as normal as breathing for him.
For him, switching to a different kind of training at the peak of his regimen was a way to relax. Besides, last night’s efforts only exhausted his mental energy.
Ji He Yu set a goal for himself: ten kilometres. It is important to train both stamina and lung capacity. It didn’t matter if you started running slowly; the important thing is to persist.
There were still very few people on the streets at this hour. The morning light was still soft; it wasn’t fully daylight yet.
Ji He Yu stretched and warmed up briefly, then started jogging around the area.
Because his nutrition wasn’t particularly adequate, his body didn’t have much stamina. He hadn’t even run half a lap when Ji He Yu could feel his heartbeat and breathing becoming excessively rapid.
The sufficient training experience in his past life allowed Ji He Yu to estimate his heart rate at the moment without a monitor. And sure enough, he was too weak
Soon, his thighs began to ache and soften, and even his lungs felt like they were being torn apart with every breath. The taste of blood rose in his throat, which was ignored by its master. His soft body was resisting this type of “inhuman” torture.
Ji He Yu panted as his mind wandered. He needed to think about something else to distract himself. Maybe he should think about the free skate program.
Compared to the short program, which had set moves and a short duration mainly to showcase basic skills and techniques, the four-and-a-half-minute free skate was more flexible in choreography and divided into technical and program points. The technical moves and the choreography were equally important. Although some skating fans jokingly called the program score “watery,” the artistry and skill in the free skate were far greater than in the short program, and the longer performance required more stamina from the skater. Even though the junior category lasted 4 minutes, it was still too strenuous for Ji He Yu.
Ji He Yu had prioritized the short program because the free skate had higher requirements, and he couldn’t decide on it immediately. Countless pieces of music flashed through Ji He Yu’s mind, each one rejected.
With time running out, he couldn’t perfect every element, spin, and jump; he had to make some sacrifices. Therefore, it was best to include some elements in the free skate that overlapped with the short program. It sounded practical, but generally speaking, most skaters preferred to polish only one or two programs each season, continually increasing their technical difficulty and cleanliness. If they had a favourite move, many liked to include it in their program.
However, he couldn’t force the choreography. Even though the program score was often inflated, Ji Heyu genuinely loved the sport and couldn’t slack off on any part of it.
In the men’s singles circle, focusing on technical difficulty while ignoring program artistry was a deeply rooted problem. Skaters from certain countries could win judges’ favour and score well in the program as long as they had difficulty. Ji He Yu didn’t want to do that.
In his “previous life,” Ji He Yu despised this phenomenon. Because of the free skate’s flexibility, many skaters added lots of jumps and combinations for difficulty, often clashing with the music style and diminishing the performance’s appeal. Ji He Yu didn’t want his program to be like that.
Indeed, thinking about something else quickly distracted Ji He Yu. The excruciating feeling in his lungs was temporarily forgotten as his mind continuously replayed past programs.
Not this one, not this one, this one… Oh, “The Wild Rose”!
An inspired idea burst forth in Ji He Yu’s mind. Until a sudden “thump” and a sharp pain in his nose brought him back to reality.
Ji He Yu blinked in confusion and saw that he had somehow run into another person who was also out for a morning jog. Were there really that many people who got up early to jog?
—
The Author has something to say:
Ji Baobei: How come there are still people who get up early in the morning to go for a morning jog?
Someone: Hm?
Who did he bump into? Ahem.
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(sxhbyc ᥫ᭡ footnotes:)
- The original text says (御用) which means ‘use only for the emperor’. But with this context, it sounds better to go with personal or designated. ↩︎
- Thick and heavy (浓墨重彩) – Idiom. To describe something in colourful language with attention to detail. ↩︎
- Triple Axel takes off forward and consists of three and a half rotations. Triple Axel by Mirai Nagasu (0:06-0:12). ↩︎
- The original text said waist bending bow step but I’m going to change it to Layback Inu Bauer because that’s what this move is actually called. Inu Bauer (Yuzuru Hanyu). ↩︎
- Double Axel takes off forward and consists of two and a half rotations. Double Axel by Mao Asada (0:00-0:05). ↩︎
- To yearn for something even in one’s dreams (梦寐以求) – Idiom. To long for something day and night (long-awaited). ↩︎
- Triple Lutz (3Lz)+Triple Loop (3Lo) – A Triple Lutz (also known as a hook jump) is a toe-pick-assisted marvel. It begins on the back outside edge and lands on the opposite foot’s outside edge. This jump consists of two and a half rotations. During a Triple Loop (also contains 2.5 rotations) skater takes off and lands on the same back outside edge. This creates a circular, seamless movement. Triple Lutz+Triple Loop by Bradie Tennell (0:12-0:16). ↩︎
- To shrink back in fear (畏缩不前) – An idiom. Being too cowardly to advance. ↩︎
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(sxhbyc ᥫ᭡ note: I’m not an expert at some of these figure skating terms – so if there’s any mistake please tell me – sorry for all the footnotes – btw I’m gonna change the title to Ice-Tipped Jade Beauty bc I think it suits Ji He Yu a lot more ᯓᡣ𐭩)
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