Lin An Ran was slightly surprised.
For Yun Che, saying “not bad” was already high praise.
But the boy across from them clearly was not satisfied.
Ji He Yu’s delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.
The boy had a face that had not yet opened, but his tone was very mature: “Still not good enough, far from the top level.”
When the words “top-level” came out, Yun Che and Lin An Ran subconsciously looked up at him.
The boy’s eyes were full of stubbornness and determination, as if he were merely objectively evaluating his level, without viewing the “top level” as a mountain that was hard to reach.
“Why are you talking about the top level? You’re just signing up for a club league here. You are too young to be worried about such things,” Lin An Ran shook his head with a smile and pointed to a chair by the ice rink. “You must be exhausted. Sit down and rest for a bit.”
Although Ji He Yu wanted to hold on, his physical exhaustion won out, and he had to sit down as suggested. But the stubbornness in the bottom of his eyes remained as if he was eagerly waiting for Lin An Ran to give him an answer.
“Tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll ask my master to come and measure you for custom skates,” Lin An Ran saw the boy’s urgency and said helplessly, “Your basic skills are solid, but your stamina can’t keep up. So quickly go home and rest.”
Custom skates?
Ji He Yu didn’t expect such good news!
He thought buying decent skates from a reliable manufacturer through Lin An Ran would be good enough. But he didn’t expect that Lin An Ran would help him take the lead in getting customised ones!
After all, ice skates are also the “livelihood” of a figure skater. So it was more appropriate to customise them.
“Thank you, Mr Lin!” Ji He Yu’s tone carried a rare hint of excitement, but he quickly realised his loss of composure and coughed lightly, resuming his reserve. “I’m not tired yet. I want to go to the equipment room to practice my strength.”
All the muscles in his body were screaming for rest. He was exhausted, and his brain was starting to ache from the intense ups and downs of his emotions.
However, the more you train under conditions like this, the more meaningful it is.
Although exercising under extreme conditions is more harmful to the body.
It is also the fastest way.
Ji He Yu knew how to challenge his limits.
The training intensity he designed for himself was far beyond what his still-growing body could handle. But the good thing is young people grow and recover quickly. Ji He Yu figured that by “torturing” himself like that, he shouldn’t suffer any serious problems. That’s why he dared to “force the growth of the seedling”.1
He was severely short on time.
Given his age, in two years he would soon promoted to the next group, and with his current physique and skill level, he could barely make up for it in the youth group by leveraging his other advantages. But in the adult group, he would be at the bottom.
He had to seize every moment to polish himself.
Ji He Yu pinched the soft layer of flesh on his calf, he stood up with gritted teeth, removed his skates, and walked towards the gym.
Lin An Ran watched him unsure whether to laugh or cry.
The number of exercises at the moment wasn’t important; what mattered the most was the degree of the completion.
Ji He Yu told himself this.
His initial plan included twenty sets of bench presses, fifty sets of leg presses, one hundred sit-ups, and planks and handstands for over ten minutes in total.
To be honest, Ji He Yu wasn’t sure whether he could complete it. All these numbers were merely his targets, but whether he succeeded or not, he had to try his best.
Compared to skating, physical training was dreadfully dull. Even though Ji He Yu loved to train, it was hard to sustain, so he resorted to his old trick of “letting his imagination run wild.”2
He wanted to innovate more in the arrangement of “Wild Rose.”
In his mind, Ji He Yu carefully depicted the scene of roses in the forest.
Roses are not “long-lived” flowers.
The more brilliant a life, the more easily it withers. This is nature’s law, which no creature can break. Like roses, and like his former self.
The flowering period of a rose is short. It blooms in the hot, vibrant summer, but from blooming to withering, it lasts only half a month.
Similarly, for his past self, the period of “blooming” was also very short.
High-intensity training, high-difficulty routines, and long hours of hard work all took a toll on his body, all for those few dazzling minutes on the field!
He was dubbed the “Ice-Tipped Jade Beauty,”3 and everyone marvelled at his talent.
If you were to choose a genius within the figure skating circle, there would be no doubt that it would be Ji He Yu.
It could only be Ji He Yu, from his name to his appearance, to his extraordinarily graceful posture on the ice, making him resemble a beautiful jade.
But only Ji He Yu knew that beautiful jade needed polishing.
To bear the praise of the world and to bear the hope of China, he endured many injuries of all sizes, fell countless times, gritted his teeth and persisted through numerous competitions.
He endured so much, that even high doses of painkillers were of no use. Thinking of that last competition brought a slight pang to Ji He Yu’s heart.
He fell; what would happen to Chinese figure skating?
Could the next generation, which had yet to mature, seriously take over the heavy baton4 from him?
The fragrance of wild roses seemed to linger in Ji He Yu’s heart. Even when wilting, the rose never forgot its beauty. Rather than lingering on,5 it’s better to leave at the peak of fervour.
After leaving, one could even leave a lingering fragrance.
Although he had left the China of his “past life,” everything he did, the innovations he brought to figure skating techniques, and the ice and snow craze he started in China, all tangibly existed and would have a lasting impact on the world.
The wild rose had no regrets because the wild rose needed no regrets! Its birth, blooming, and even withering were all spectacular miracles!
Ji He Yu had strong empathy and infectiousness. No matter what music he performed, Ji He Yu could always throw both his heart and soul into it completely.
In just ten minutes of brainstorming, Ji He Yu not only felt a jolt in his spirit but also unknowingly made the corner of his eyes red.
A hot tear fell onto the light-coloured mat, forming a conspicuous puddle of water.
But the boy was unaware of it.
The train of thoughts wrapped around him like a tide, and he could only the tears to drop one by one from the corners of his eyes, resembling sparkling and translucent stars.
Ji He Yu thought to himself, that perhaps even the song’s title could be changed.
“Wild Rose” was too frank; maybe “Withering” would be more fitting.
Compared to the half-month-long blooming, it was the stubborn and unyielding moment of withering that truly marked the climax of the piece.
He left at the highest podium, and so did the wild rose.
Just as Ji He Yu was nearly entirely immersed in his world, a low voice suddenly sounded, “You’ve been practising this for a long time; if you don’t rest, you’ll get hurt.”
At the same time, a tissue was awkwardly stuffed into Ji He Yu’s palm.
Ji He Yu blinked in confusion, slowly realizing that a layer of mist seemed to cloud his vision.
Did he… cry?
Ji He Yu hesitantly put down the equipment in his hand and stood up.
Even this movement was quite laborious for him. Sustained muscle exertion, although effective for quick shaping, had now rendered him excessively stiff due to the prolonged duration.
Ji He Yu glanced sluggishly at the timer beside him.
Judging from the time, as the man had said, he might indeed get injured if he continued.
His thoughts gradually returned, and Ji He Yu finally remembered he should thank the kind gentleman who had reminded him.
Looking up, he saw that the figure before him appeared particularly familiar.
The other party still wore a mask during his workout, revealing only a pair of indifferent, sword-shaped eyes.
“Thank you,” Ji He Yu said, even though the man had “praised” his skating not long ago and the two had “bumped” into each other several times over the past few days. The aura of aloofness emanating from the man-made Ji He Yu was somewhat uneasy, causing him to avert his gaze.
Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to have any intention of making friends with him. He nodded lightly and said, “Wipe it.” After that, the man returned to his exercise equipment.
Wipe… what?
Ji He Yu belatedly recalled that the man had handed him a tissue.
Oh, he must have been crying.
Ji He Yu felt even more embarrassed.
I wonder what the man was thinking when he saw that I could even cry while exercising!
It was really too ridiculous.
But fortunately, the man carried through his initial impression of him and remained indifferent without saying much.
Ji He Yu gently wiped the corners of his eyes.
The light cast on him made the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye particularly captivating.
After Ji He Yu tidied his mood, knowing that his body could no longer endure further strain, Ji He Yu politely greeted the man and left the equipment room.
He had to quickly go back and finish rearranging “Withering.”
These days had been particularly fulfilling for Ji He Yu. His body was rapidly improving under the high-intensity training, and his previous “icy feeling” was gradually restored. Even though he considered himself a “twenty-five” year old adult, he couldn’t help but imagine how he might “shock the world” at the figure skating competition.
Although he only performed some basic moves when he “showed” his skills to Lin An Ran, after practising for a while, he could now execute beautiful 2A , 3T,6 3S,7 and 3Lo jumps. The success rates of his 3F8 and 3Lz had also greatly increased, progressing much faster than he had anticipated. However, whether he could perform the 3Lz+3Lo9 combination jump in the latter half of the competition depended on his state on the day.
But Ji He Yu had confidence.
In addition to nearly twenty years of experience, he had a big advantage over other contestants, and that is his mentality.
His mentality had been honed through years of major competitions.
Many contestants would perform poorly in their first competitions due to nervousness, and even he was no exception back then. But with accumulated experience and the ability to withstand increased stress, he had grown into a well-known “big competition player,” in the circle (Figure Skating Society). The greater the pressure, the better his performance. Actions that usually have a low success rate can often succeed in high-pressure atmospheres.
Likewise, Ji He Yu would not underestimate the enemy.
Every contestant on the field who earnestly respects this pure white ice deserves respect and to be learned from
Two weeks before the start of the preliminary round of the club league, Ji He Yu’s custom ice skates finally arrived.
The repertoire, costume, ice skates, as well as his abilities that could barely be called “not bad” —
Blood rushed wildly through his veins, even rushing to his eardrums, clamouring to put on the costume, step to the beat of the music, and go try it out on the ice rink he loves!
—
The author has something to say:
Ji Baobei: Practising
Someone: Indifferent.jpg
Ji Baobei: Crying
Someone (awkwardly): …Wipe it off.
—
I have never been a professional athlete, Ji Baobei’s training intensity is just something I made up, please do not imitate it QAQ
I won’t write about the practice process, the competition is coming soon!
Since he’s only recently “touched” figure skating, the difficulty won’t be too high. The 3Lz+3Lo in the second half is already quite challenging for Ji Baobei, feeling guilty.jpg
===
(sxhbyc ᥫ᭡ footnotes:)
- Pulling up seedlings to get them to grow quickly (揠苗助长) – An idiom. It’s doing the opposite of what is effective. ↩︎
- To indulge in flights of fancy (胡思乱想) – Letting your imagination run wild. ↩︎
- Just random and you don’t really need to know this but the “Yu” in JHY’s (玉) name is the same character as the “Yu” in Jade (玉) and that’s probably where the nickname ITJB came from. ↩︎
- Take the heavy baton (接力棒) – Passing the responsibilities to the successors.
↩︎ - To linger on (苟延残喘) – to struggle on whilst at death’s door. ↩︎
- 3T (Triple toe loop) – A toe-assisted jump where the skater takes off and lands on the same back edge of the skate, with two and a half rotations.Triple toe loop by Katarina Witt (0:00 – 0:04) ↩︎
- 3S (Triple Salchow) – An edge jump where the skater takes off from the back, consisting of two and a half rotations. Triple Salchow by Kaetlyn Osmond (0:00 – 0:04) ↩︎
- 3F (Triple Flip) – A toe-assisted jump where a skater takes off from the back inside edge on one foot and lands on the back outside edge of the other foot, there are two and a half rotations included in this jump. Triple flip by Alina Zagitova (0:00 – 0:04) ↩︎
- 3Lz+3Lo (Triple Lutz+Triple Loop) by Bradie Tennell (0:12-0:16) – I’m too lazy to define these because I’ve already done it before. ↩︎
===
(sxhbyc ᥫ᭡ note: I’m not an expert at some of these figure skating terms – so if there’s any mistake please tell me ᯓᡣ𐭩)
Aww author-nim was right when they said that Yun Che was warm on the inside – he’s such a cutie patootie.
===
If you like this please consider buying me a ko-fi✧₊⁺ or getting the raws to support the author. Thank You (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
