Chapter 44 Ice skates are like foot bindings in the new era

The National Championships were just a few days after the Grand Prix Final. In the meantime, Yang Yiyan encountered a problem – her skates, which she wanted to use until the World Junior Championships, were completely worn out.

Yang Yiyan was practicing 3A when she suddenly fell on the ice and almost twisted her ankle.

She dragged her skates, limped to a bench beside the ice rink, sat down, and took off her old companion.

The area near the second eyelet from the top of the old shoe has sunk, and there is also a noticeable long horizontal crease where the upper meets the shoe body.

Xia Yuezi stared at the creases on the shoes and said, "Although they broke down faster than you expected, at least they made it through the finals. Your shoes can be considered to have retired honorably."

Yang Yiyan smoothed the wrinkles on the shoes, silently put the old shoes into her ice skate bag, her expression carrying a hint of resentment and irritation.

Since she didn't bring a spare pair of skates, Xia Yuezi moved her training venue to the equipment room for today, switching to land-based training and rescheduling the ice training for the next session.

Before leaving, Yang Yiyan heard the coach remind her: "When you get home, you should try on the ice skates. If you can't stand them, heat them up."

Ice skate thermoforming is a common technique used by athletes during the adaptation period to new skates.

Before putting on shoes, protect areas of the foot that are prone to protrusion, such as the ankles and toe joints, and wear thick socks to stretch the shoes as much as possible. Then use a hairdryer to heat-sculpt the shoes from a distance.

Even so, Yang Yiyan's walking posture on the second day was still like that of someone with bound feet, let alone performing difficult moves on the ice.

"I can't take it anymore, it hurts too much!" Yang Yiyan held onto the barrier and slowly moved off the ice rink with a penguin-like gait.

Besides using thermoplasticizer, Yang Yiyan stuffed a lot of things into the new shoes to stretch them as soon as she got them, but when she wore them last night, they still felt very tight.

The new shoes still have a significant impact; Yang Yiyan's spin just now resulted in displacement, and it also affected her edge change when performing follow-up steps.

Yang Yiyan sat on a bench by the field, grimacing as she took off her skates. Her ankles were chafed and red, with several scars remaining. Her toes were also numb from the pressure.

Xia Yuezi picked up the ice pack she had prepared and placed it on the red and swollen area on her foot, asking, "How long did it take you to get used to the ice skates before?"

Yang Yiyan thought for a moment: "About a week."

"Wear them for half an hour after you get home, then sit on the sofa and wait. This way, it's easier to stretch out the shoes."

Yang Yiyan turned her head to look at these "beautiful instruments of torture," and felt a deep sense of resistance: "Can't I just not wear them?"

Xia Yuezi looked up at her: "You've come this far over the years, can't you even endure a few days?"

Yang Yiyan retorted, but her voice gradually lowered: "But this is not the same as the pain of falling. Falling hurts for a moment, but ice skates are like the foot bindings of the new era, cutting flesh with a dull knife, grinding you down little by little."

Xia Yuezi fell silent.

To be honest, she had also experienced the hardships of the adjustment period. If the National Championships were not about to begin, Xia Yuezi would not have made such a suggestion.

She glanced at the girl and then said, "Then give me a reason why you can get a spot in the World Junior Championships without participating in the National Championships, and you'll have time to adapt gradually."

China has two spots for the World Junior Championships women's singles this year, which are usually determined by the results of the National Championships. However, it is possible that a particularly outstanding player in a certain event could qualify directly without competing.

If we only look at Yang Yiyan's past achievements and the newly won gold medal in the finals, she meets the criteria, provided that there is a legitimate reason, such as last year's injury.

Yang Yiyan's face instantly scrunched up. Resigned, she tilted her head back, picked up her ice skates, and shook them.

Before the National Championships, Yang Yiyan wore her new shoes until they no longer rubbed her feet, but she was still a little unaccustomed to doing high-difficulty moves.

After careful consideration, Xia Yuezi did not allow her to participate in 3A, and even reduced the number of participants in 3lo. However, this program configuration did not affect the judges' scores for Yang Yiyan, allowing her to stand on the podium.

While Yang Yiyan was changing clothes, Xia Yuezi opened the newly refreshed scorecard.

Yang Yiyan's program component score didn't change much, but her goe was a bit lower than before. In fact, there was a reason for the score deduction, as Yang Yiyan was also a bit stiff when gliding and spinning.

In comparison, Zhang Mengyi and Jiang Shuyu received slightly better treatment, but not by much. There are only two such players in the domestic senior women's singles category, and Xia Yuezi categorized them as veterans receiving preferential treatment.

Xia Yuezi was staring intently at the score sheet when she heard the door to the changing room next door open. She glanced back and was about to leave with her people when she heard someone call out to her from behind.

Li Tan walked over with a smile: "Xia, I want to discuss something with you."

Xia Yuezi put away her phone and looked at him in confusion. Li Tan leaned down to look at Yang Yiyan, his smile becoming even more kind.

"This year's Four Continents Games are being held in Beijing. Would you like to go to the opening ceremony? The team will cover your food and lodging."

The figure skating continental championships consist of two events: the European Championships and the Four Continents Championships. The European Championships are held before the Four Continents Championships and only invite skaters from European countries. The Four Continents Championships include skaters from Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania.

This year's Four Continents Championships will be held at the end of January, less than a month after the National Championships. This coincides with Yang Yiyan's winter vacation, while Feng Simai just won a silver medal at the National Championships and secured a spot in the Four Continents Championships.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Yiyan felt there was no harm in it, so she agreed.

Many well-known athletes attended this year's Four Continents Championships. When the Chinese delegation checked into the hotel, they found that many sports reporters were already waiting outside the hotel.

Xia Yuezi and Meng Xin shared a room, Feng Simai and Lin Ye shared the room on the left, and Yang Yiyan and Zhang Mengyi shared the room on the right.

They all brought their winter break homework with them. When Xia Yuezi knocked on the door to invite them to dinner, the four of them gathered around a table.

Among these people, Feng Simai is the best student, followed by Zhang Mengyi, but Lin Ye and Yang Yiyan's academic performance is not so good. The two of them are like a study-help group in school, each pulling one other.

Xia Yuezi walked over and saw the test papers and stationery spread out on the table. Yang Yiyan was biting her pen cap, and the geometric figures on her draft paper were scribbled into a mess. Lin Ye's situation wasn't much better either; he had marked one of the coordinate axes on his draft paper with different colored pens.

Upon seeing her approach, Yang Yiyan reacted as if she had seen a savior: "Coach..."

Xia Yuezi interrupted her coquettishness directly: "Don't call me that. I'm a figure skating coach, not a math teacher."

It wasn't that she was heartless, but Yang Yiyan's mathematical talent simply couldn't compare to her figure skating talent. Teaching her a single problem required immense patience, and she had personally witnessed Feng Simai being driven crazy by her.

Yang Yiyan let out a wail and leaned back in her chair, pretending to be dead.

She now understood why her mother was so happy when she learned that she was coming to the Four Continents.

She doesn't have to worry about anything, and she can even have two top students take turns pressing her down on the table to study. This is something that mothers all over the world would love to see.

She will definitely not come again if something like this happens again, not even if you pay her.

Zhang Mengyi, who had opened the door, walked over, picked up her draft notebook, glanced at it, and pointed to the position of one of the auxiliary lines: "This auxiliary line is wrong. It should start from point E."

As he spoke, he picked up a red pen and helped her redraw the auxiliary lines.

Feng Simai also picked up the draft paper in front of Lin Ye and wrote a few formulas on it to help him understand better.

Seeing the children discussing earnestly, Xia Yuezi smiled slightly. Not forgetting why she was there, she clapped her hands to attract everyone's attention: "Alright, alright, let's eat first, and then come back to write after we finish eating."

Upon hearing the word "eat," Yang Yiyan stopped pretending and put down her pen, running towards the door.

Xia Yuezi stood at the back, watching the four children laugh and play as they walked toward the restaurant, their laughter echoing throughout the corridor.

The opening ceremony for the Four Continents Games invited a lot of people, including some young figure skaters and some well-known musical actors.

The little girl, dressed in red, blended into the crowd. If it weren't for her position in the center of the camera, Xia Yuezi wouldn't have been able to find her so easily.

After the opening ceremony, Yang Yiyan greeted her coach, found a seat in the stands, and prepared to watch her team's performance.

When Xia Yuezi returned backstage, Meng Xin was watching Feng Simai warm up, and Lin Ye, who had been entrusted to them by the Heilongjiang Province coach, was also there.

Lin Ye was stretching on a yoga mat when he saw Xia Yuezi coming over. He naturally reached out and called out, "Sister Xia."

Xia Yuezi returned his smile: "You're going head-to-head with Albert and Wayne this time, and Kevin and Fujiwara are also watching closely. Are you nervous?"

"There's no use being nervous. I'm ready to show off my skills." Lin Ye did a split and reached for the fascia gun next to him.

Feng Simai also put down the jump rope: "You're right. It's a matter of provoking trouble or hiding it. Since we got the spot, we can't lose face on home turf."

Xia Yuezi gave them a thumbs up for their ambition. Meng Xin raised her hand and glanced at her watch. There was still half an hour before Feng Simai's group went on stage.

She looked behind Xia Yuezi and suddenly realized someone was missing. She asked, "Where's Xiaoyan?"

"In the stands, the blisters on her feet hadn't gone down yet, so I made her stay in one spot. Otherwise, she was planning to run all over the stadium with me." Xia Yuezi's face was full of helplessness.

After mastering her new shoes this month, Yang Yiyan has been trying to jump 3A. She got several blisters on her toes, but she didn't dare to pop them easily. When she went on the ice, she could only use tape to hold the blisters in place with tissues.

Meng Xin also knew about this, and at this moment she stood with her hands on her hips, wearing the same helpless smile.

This girl is becoming increasingly difficult to manage after she gets to know them.

Not long after, announcements in both Chinese and English came on, and staff went backstage to remind the athletes to come on stage.

Feng Simai and Lin Ye exchanged a glance, their eyes both shining with determination.

Xia Yuezi patted Feng Simai on the shoulder: "Go ahead, don't overthink it, we're all behind you."