Chapter 116 Never. Dreams themselves are never enough. ...

Women's singles events have always involved a batch of players per cycle.

Of the participants in this year's finals, apart from Yang Yiyan and Polina who were from the previous cycle, the other four were promoted to the women's singles group during the Pyeongchang cycle, and half of them were promoted to the group this season.

Yang Yiyan won two gold medals, while Polina won one gold and one silver. Both competed in the later rounds of the competition. Despite this, the two "veterans" still received blessings from their fellow competitors.

For example, when the Chinese delegation arrived at the hotel, Yang Yiyan ran into Japanese athlete Akina Koike. Back when she was still in the youth group, Yumekawa Ria had greeted them with her juniors.

Mina Koike qualified with one silver and one bronze medal, and Stella, an American player who had just been promoted, was ranked similarly to her.

"Mengchuan said that by the time the World Championships are held next year, she should be fully recovered and she is looking forward to playing against Yan-chan again."

Before the match started, Akina Koike found an opportunity to say something to Yiyan Yang in English. At the time, Yuezi Xia was packing her bag and listened to a bit of it.

This statement actually reveals some information. There should be a Four Continents Championships before the World Championships, but Yumikawa Ria will be facing Yang Yiyan at the World Championships.

Xia Yuezi speculated that Yumikawa Ria was probably saving her strength to fight hard for Japan's spot in the World Championships, while this newly promoted Koike player had clearly become Japan's number two in women's singles.

She could even be more audacious: if Yumekawa couldn't return to his peak form before the Winter Olympics, Japan's script for supporting their star player at the Sochi Winter Olympics could very well be rewritten.

Xia Yuezi was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't even realize when the conversation ended. She only heard Yang Yiyan slowly walk up to her side and mutter something.

"Koike's English is a little better than Yumikawa's; you can hear the 'R' in her pronunciation."

Xia Yuezi took the down jacket from her, annoyed, and lightly slapped her on the head: "Go warm up. Do you think your English pronunciation is good?"

As far as she knew, because of her frequent trips to compete and exchange ideas, Yang Yiyan didn't become a "mute" in English, but her English wasn't very high either; at most, her written test, listening comprehension, and speaking skills were relatively average.

Her pronunciation is still very typical Chinglish. If she encounters a native English speaker or reporter who reads her words in rapid succession, so fast that she could cook a dish in her mouth, she can only blink and look at the other person without a translator.

Yang Yiyan stuck out her tongue, found an open space, and started massaging her muscles while wearing thick sportswear.

This year's finals were held in Russia. Although the indoor heating was on, so the athletes with low body fat percentages didn't feel cold, many athletes still wore full sportswear to warm up, only taking it off slowly after they started sweating.

Apart from the music playing during the ice dance competitions and the occasional cheers, the only other sounds in the corridor were the footsteps of the athletes waiting in the wings.

Some of the younger athletes were running above the stands, while Polina and Yang Yiyan chose to stay in the room, their positions cleverly forming a diagonal line.

Polina took a running start and landed on the 3A land course, the impact causing her to hop to the side twice on one foot, quickly escalating the tense atmosphere.

This wasn't her first time playing at home, but come to think of it, she seems to have never beaten Yang Yiyan in an important match held at home.

This is true for the World Youth Championships, and it's also true for the Olympics.

They say things shouldn't happen more than three times, so she deserves to win this time.

Yang Yiyan did a few sets of frog jumps, leaned against the wall, observed the data on her fitness watch, and slowly started training again after her breathing had calmed down.

Apart from the women's singles in the adult group, none of the other Chinese players participating in the finals had matches today. A group of people, including their coaches, sat neatly in the stands, cheering for their own players.

A casual sweep of the camera reveals a sea of ​​vibrant red, impossible to ignore.

The season before the Olympics is also known as the warm-up period. Many athletes will put the choreography and jumps they want to do in this season in advance. Therefore, the quality of the programs in this season is mostly no less than that of the Olympics.

The three contestants who appeared before were all very young. Their skills and performance style had not fully transitioned from the youth group, and they still showed some nervousness and inexperience.

It wasn't until Vivian appeared that the performance style began to resemble that of an adult group.

This is her third season in the senior division, and it's also the year she truly began to rediscover her champion aura in the junior division after completely overcoming the developmental hurdle.

Meng Xin stood in the shadows and hissed, "Her skating style this year looks a bit like Claire's."

"We can remove the 'seems like' part. They're from the same country, and Claire has also sung this piece. I bet they even have the same choreographer, as the transitions are handled very similarly."

Xia Yuezi chimed in from the side. If she remembered correctly, the person who choreographed the program for Claire was a former ice dance athlete. To this day, the footwork of that program is still a model for many new generation athletes.

It's worth mentioning that Claire achieved the highest program component score in the history of women's singles with that short program, and not a single figure skating fan raised any objections.

However, her junior seemed to lack the necessary experience and didn't fully unleash the potential of the show, but her existing performance skills were enough for her to get a high score.

Polina, who came on next, also chose a classic piece, and her steps and style were very gorgeous, making her look like a young lady dancing at a medieval royal party.

Xia Yuezi accompanied Yang Yiyan while waiting in the wings, and watched Polina's program. For some reason, she suddenly thought of Yan Rui's free skate this year.

If Polina's show is like a noblewoman in foreign literature, immersed in love and determined to elope with her sweetheart, then Yan Rui's show is like a noblewoman bound by interests, completely unable to extricate herself.

Both of their shows share a common core—a spirit of rebellion.

According to Xia Yuezi, resistance in literary works is not only a challenge to the fixed order, but also a rejection of self-compromise and a steadfast adherence to self-worth.

Often, Xia Yuezi would also associate these words with another word—desire.

Because no one around them could understand them, their inner needs were not recognized, and their desires were not fulfilled, they gradually developed into an unstoppable pursuit.

This is probably a coincidence, because Yang Yiyan's program just happens to fill another gap in Xia Yuezi's understanding.

"Never Enough" is a classic female solo from the movie "The Greatest Showman," and it is also the climax of the entire film.

Yang Yiyan lowered her head, her hands straight, crossed and stacked in front of her.

The moment the piano music began, both hands and head were raised together, looking at the lights above. Then, they were pulled to their chests and slid forward. When the voices came out, the audience seemed to remember that scene from the movie.

Yang Yiyan's first jump was a 2A. She used her outstretched hand as she landed to gently brush her face, and then glided out in a large split.

Meng Xin stood to the side, muttering to herself, "Was her skating speed a bit too fast today?"

The camera will follow the athletes closely, and except for when they jump, it will cut to a wide shot; otherwise, it will almost always show full-body shots of the athletes.

Looking at the large screen above the ice rink, even the names of the advertisers were blurred where Yang Yiyan skated. Her subsequent crouch turn almost formed a spinning top that matched the color of the Costen ice rink, and all that could be seen was the skater's expression as she tried to control herself.

As the music reached its climax and the program entered its second half, Yang Yiyan stepped on the first "never" mark and quickly completed a series of jumps. While maintaining high skating speed, she was also able to lift her free leg up and gently push her body backward with her right leg, making her posture look very graceful.

In the movie, Jenny used this song to shout out her feelings; now, Yang Yiyan is using this program to shout out her feelings.

“Jenny is a dreamer.”

These are the words Yang Yiyan said to Xia Yuezi after watching the movie.

For some reason, starting from the youth group, Xia Yuezi felt that Yang Yiyan was very good at finding a new viewpoint among popular opinions, and she also had evidence to support it.

After watching the movie and hearing this song, many people immediately realized that this woman's pursuit of love largely overlooked Janet's own ambition.

In any era, illegitimate children are often looked down upon, but in the Victorian era, they were often deprived of the opportunity to move up in high society.

Jenny's childhood hardships created her inner flaws, which also provided a reasonable explanation for the romantic storyline in the film.

But if we step outside this framework and look at Jenny's career, who can say it's not amazing?

Xia Yuezi believes that she is a person who dares to rebel, but her way of rebelling is different from what the public understands. She uses art and talent to prove her value and improve her status. Her singing voice becomes her weapon of rebellion.

"Then why does the core of this song have to be emotion? Why can't she use her emotionally charged voice to announce her dream to the world? After all, Barnum was initially painting a blueprint for Jenny, and Jenny was determined to step out of her comfort zone."

Xia Yuezi couldn't answer that question because everyone's understanding of art is different.

Yang Yiyan has always believed that the melody of this song is the answer.

From the very first few simple piano notes, a dreamlike atmosphere is created, while the ever-increasing vocal range represents her expectations for her dreams. The final chorus is a complete and unfiltered expression of her feelings.

With its grandest arrangement and powerful high notes, it directly allows the audience to feel the passion within them.

Jenny was never a woman bound by fame or money. Generally speaking, people who care about their reputation will maintain their public image. If she were that kind of person, she wouldn't have kissed Barnum in public.

Therefore, her belief that "it's never enough" is not about superficial fame and fortune, but rather the ultimate pursuit of her artistic dreams.

Xia Yuezi suddenly recalled the scene when Yang Yiyan interpreted the solo part of Jenny's song for her.

She pointed to a frame of the film: "Look, at that moment, there were tears in her eyes, but her head was held even higher. If it were tears for love, there was no one in the venue, so she could have just cried. But the fact that she did this can only mean that the reason she cried was related to something she has always insisted on."

At this moment on the ice rink, not only Xia Yuezi, but the entire audience should be able to understand Yang Yiyan's interpretation at that time.

Dreams are never enough.