Chapter 28 The Match-Fixing Scandal

As fate would have it, Yang Yiyan was paired with Choi Yoon-seo, the South Korean player in the same group. Choi Yoon-seo ranked fifth in the All-Korea Championships this season, but second in the junior division, securing her a spot in the World Junior Championships.

South Korea is also a figure skating desert, and the only popular figure skating event, Sung Eun-hee, did not participate, resulting in this championship receiving almost no attention from anyone other than South Korean figure skating fans.

Naturally, not many people posted about Choi Yoon-seo's feat of achieving a PT inverted hang at the All-Korea Championships.

The term "PT inversion" means that the program content score is higher than the technical score. This situation usually only exists in the case of "Art Jellyfish". As for whether this term is a compliment or a criticism, you can tell by looking at the performance of the corresponding contestant.

However, the performance that Choi Yoon-seo has shown so far is absolutely unworthy of this praise.

Choi Yoon-seo's short program consisted of 3T+3T, 2A, and 3LZ. Without the support of domestic judges, her program component score quickly dwindled, resulting in a final score of only 60.23.

The cheers from the South Korean ice skating fans at the scene were very enthusiastic. Choi Yoon-seo stood on the ice rink, tilting her head back to receive the cheers from all directions, as if she had already secured her place on the podium.

Yang Yiyan was very bored sitting on the platform, but she didn't dare to make any other movements in front of the camera until the last group of contestants kicked her off the platform.

Xia Yuezi and Meng Xin stood below the stage with her, and also found a spot with a good view to watch the game.

The first thing the little girl did after getting off the bus was to find the coach. She stretched out a hand, pouted, and blinked her eyes at the coach, trying to look cute: "Coach, I'm hungry."

The two coaches: "..."

Judging by the time, it's been almost two hours since she started warming up, and she's only eaten one banana in that time.

Xia Yuezi led the person backstage, took out an ear of corn from her bag that was wrapped in a plastic bag. She had brought it from China and cooked it in the hotel's pressure cooker this morning.

Yang Yiyan sat backstage, holding a corn cob in both hands and munching on it. Her cheeks were unusually fleshy due to muscle gain, and her jaw trembled with every bite.

Meng Xin glanced at it and immediately remembered the little girl's complaints. She turned her head away, suppressing the laughter that was about to spill from her lips, and squatted down on the ground with her back to Yang Yiyan, pretending to organize her training handbag.

Xia Yuezi was indeed squatting on the ground tidying up her things, and when she saw her partner doing this, she gave her a strange look. Meng Xin pointed behind her, and Coach Xia happened to see a little hamster with its cheeks puffed out.

She smiled slightly, but then, afraid that Yang Yiyan would see both coaches laughing, she raised her hand to cover the lower half of her face.

Yang Yiyan ranked fifth in the short program and didn't get many interviews, so she could go back to the hotel first. Xia Yuezi found Feng Simai in the stands; he wanted to stay and watch the pairs skating competition.

Considering that the men's singles competition would start at noon tomorrow, and there was still plenty of time in between, the two coaches took Yang Yiyan away first.

Before even leaving the competition venue, Meng Xin sensed something was wrong and lowered her voice, saying, "Why are there still so many reporters outside?"

The reporters inside the venue are usually journalists from various countries invited by the organizers, while other local journalists who want to get news will also be waiting outside, but their numbers are not large.

Meng Xin frowned as she looked at the reporters who had almost surrounded the entrance to the venue. A quick glance revealed that many people were holding cameras and microphones, and the flashes never stopped whenever someone went out.

"Let's go, it's none of our business anyway."

Xia Yuezi knew that the previous email must have been the one that had the effect.

She reached out a hand, through Yang Yiyan's shoulder, and covered her eyes from the other side. Meng Xin, standing on the other side, waved the reporters away to make way.

Yang Yiyan was sandwiched between the coach and could only hear a few scattered camera shutter sounds. When she finally reached the bus stop, a commotion broke out behind her.

Athletes and coaches from other countries were also on the bus, all looking out the windows. In the vast sea of ​​black people, there seemed to be a speck of white. Yang Yiyan opened the window and craned her neck to get a better look.

The temperature in March was still only in the single digits. I stuck my head out for a while, and my cheeks and nose were stained red by the wind, and the cold wind blew back into my neck.

Even so, it couldn't suppress the burning gossip spirit of everyone in the car.

Xia Yuezi zipped the zipper all the way up and glanced at the passengers sitting nearby, noticing that some of them had already started looking up information on their phones.

Initially, when they received the anonymous tip, several South Korean newspapers did not take it seriously. However, Xia Yuezi also anticipated that they would not take any action. She not only sent emails to some private paparazzi, but also referred to the coach as Cheng Enxi's former coach.

Although it was somewhat unethical to do this, since the Olympic champion had only trained with him for a month, only by getting involved with Sung Eun-hee could the paparazzi be willing to dig deeper.

While the skaters were fiercely competing on the ice, the paparazzi were also busy off the ice, managing to find some clues and post them online right at the start of the women's singles competition.

By the time the competition ended, online public opinion had spiraled out of control, and the Korean Skating Federation sent people directly to the competition venue to take the two players back for questioning.

Since this matter only involves South Korea, the International Skating Union (ISU) has not sent anyone to South Korea. However, many ISU officials and retired well-known skaters are paying attention to this matter on Twitter and have posted messages demanding that the Korean Skating Association handle the matter fairly.

After the match-fixing scandal broke out, Chinese coaches received calls from domestic leaders, and the players were also pulled into private meetings by their coaches to be mindful of their words and actions and to avoid related questions from reporters.

Before the men's singles matches on the second day, a large number of reporters still gathered outside the hotel, ready to stake out other South Korean players or coaches participating in the World Junior Championships, seemingly unconcerned about whether their performance would be affected.

Before leaving, Xia Yuezi asked Yang Yiyan if she wanted to go to the game with them. The girl looked listless and said she wanted to stay in the hotel by herself.

Xia Yuezi didn't insist, but told her not to go out alone, as it would be a very troublesome thing if she were caught and questioned by Korean reporters.

The atmosphere at the competition today was noticeably more somber than before. Xia Yuezi could sense an unusual quiet as she walked through the backstage corridor.

She composed herself, feeling sorry for the children, but she did not regret reporting them on the eve of the World Youth Championship.

There are only so many athletes who can shine on the world stage each year. Even if someone has outstanding skills, if they climb up the ladder through dishonest means and live a life stolen from other athletes, they are not truly respecting the competition or the sport.

They don't deserve forgiveness.

When the South Korean men's singles player appeared on the court, many players looked at him with a somewhat complicated expression.

South Korea only has one spot in the World Junior Championships for men's singles, and Kim Do-woo is the sole representative of South Korea in men's singles. With two years of experience in the junior group, his strength is evident to all, and there is no possibility of match-fixing involving him.

But what can you do when the central figure in this incident, T, is also his coach?

As expected, Kim Do-woo's short program was subpar, and many longtime ice hockey fans in the audience applauded him with heartache.

Yesterday, the Korean Skating Association urgently summoned all the students under the coach's name for questioning. If he hadn't had a competition today, he probably wouldn't be out now.

The screen switched to the waiting area. There was no coach beside him. He looked very lonely, but he still forced himself to wave to the audience.

Male singles athletes rarely wear makeup on the ice and have little concern for their image. When the camera zooms in, you can see not only their expressions as they jump and fly across the ice, but even the few pimples on their faces.

Kim Do-woo had faint bruises under his eyes and looked exhausted. After the free skate tomorrow, he will have to rush to the Skating Association to continue his questioning.

Lin Ye and Feng Simai were in the same group, with Feng Simai going first.

He steadied himself and continued his performance from the Youth Winter Olympics, temporarily ranking first with a score of 76.21.

Xia Yuezi sat waiting for her turn, pursing her lips as she looked at the score, her gaze gradually deepening.

Feng Simai appeared relatively late in the competition. She had seen the scores of many contestants and noticed that the scores were generally lower this time compared to their previous scores.

It seems this match was also affected by the match-fixing scandal, making these referees more cautious.

Similarly, China's top male singer was also affected. He failed to maintain his 3A in the short program, and coupled with a poor ranking, his score was lowered to below 70 by the judges.

Chinese ice hockey fans who saw this on their computers felt their hearts sink instantly. After the National Championships, they thought their number one player had improved, but it turns out he was still struggling on the ice.

Falling became like a virus, spreading widely among the athletes, leaving Xia Yuezi momentarily unsure whether she was in South Korea or France.

In order to play it safe, the last group of contestants quietly lowered the difficulty of their short program. In the end, only Andrei and Fujiwara Yoshino managed to get a 3A and even managed to stay on the field at that critical moment.

Having experienced the Youth Winter Olympics, Feng Simai was no longer at a loss when receiving her small medal under the guidance of the staff. The entire process did not require Xia Yuezi to provide psychological counseling.

Of course, what worried Xia Yuezi the most was the interview for the smaller medals. It wasn't that she liked to think the worst of people, but some reporters were particularly malicious, digging traps for the contestants every day in order to get scoops. If she wasn't careful, the contestants' words might be misinterpreted.

Xia Yuezi stood next to Feng Simai, helping him translate questions. However, what she was worried about did not happen. The atmosphere of the press conference was very good, sweeping away the previous dullness.

Besides the men's singles event, the young Chinese pairs skaters ranked first in the short program and also won a small medal. The group traveled back together by car.

There were fewer reporters outside the venue, and in addition to staff, there were police officers at the entrance, presumably because yesterday's incident had caused such a stir that South Korea itself felt embarrassed.

The players were sitting together, talking about their performance that day, when someone brought it up and the topic veered towards the recent match-fixing scandal. They all lowered their voices so that the coach next to them wouldn't hear.

They are in the prime of their lives, curious about everything, able to come up with all sorts of opinions, and daring to say some shocking things that adults wouldn't dare to say.

Xia Yuezi sat directly behind the group of contestants, closed her eyes, and leaned back in the soft chair to rest.

Now that this storm has started, it won't end easily, especially with so many eyes watching. Han Bingxie doesn't have that much power right now to dare to defy public opinion and protect someone.

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The author's note: When sorting out the plot, I considered whether to put this incident after the World Junior Championships. Figure skating is a sport that is quite dependent on form, and we can't let this incident affect the performance of other skaters.

But looking at the original outline, I convinced myself again. It was unfair to other contestants to fight for a spot in China based on their own interests. This act of stealing a spot from others is undoubtedly another form of profiting from others' suffering. They shouldn't be able to compete with a clear conscience. So in the end, I wrote the version that everyone sees now.