"Head Coach Jiang, this is... the new coach Lu from the provincial team, right?"
Jianglin Provincial Sports General Administration, after the end-of-year summary meeting for winter sports, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses tapped the pen in his hand, looked at Lu Tingsong inconspicuously, and then extended his hand: "Nice to meet you."
Lu Tingsong stretched out his hands and shook hands with him. The middle-aged man smiled slightly and quickly got to the point.
"I remember the pair of skating you had. The female partner's birthday was before July 1st, and the male partner was one year older than her, right?"
"So in the year of the Winter Olympics, the female partner will be exactly 16 years old, which is within the minimum age limit for the Olympics."
"The reason why I left you two here alone today is to convey to you the considerations of the General Administration - we want these two children to be promoted to the adult group in the 2021 season and prepare for the Olympics next year as substitutes for the adult group."
In January in Jianglin, the temperature had dropped below zero. The middle-aged man who was speaking wore a neatly ironed white shirt and his hair was neatly styled with hairspray. If it weren't for the slightly protruding belly under his shirt, he would have looked quite gentle.
This person is Zhai Gaofei, who was recently transferred to Jianglin Province to serve as the director of the Youth Sports Department.
Jiang Yang frowned. "Didn't we agree before that Si Nan and Xu Zhensheng's group, and Lu You and Xie Yunjun would stay in the youth group for another year? Why did you suddenly adjust the plan?"
Zhai Gaofei smiled and replied: "We didn't expect that Coach Jiang could train two such excellent pair skating talents."
"Athletes who can achieve good results should make full use of their abilities. Coach Jiang should understand this principle better than me," Zhai Gaofei said. "Sinan and Xu Zhen are in a slump right now. They are not competitive at all in the adult group. On the contrary, their juniors shined in their debut in the youth group. I don't need to explain this comparison."
Lu Tingsong could only listen silently to the conversation between the leaders. Naturally, he could not say anything. However, Zhai Gaofei's description of the word "things" in "making the best use of things" was very subtle, which made him, a former athlete, feel a little uncomfortable.
Jiang Yang explained: "After a season of adjustment, Sinan has gotten much better at dealing with the development phase, and has now recovered a triple jump."
What this means is that the 2020 season is only halfway through, and after the adjustments in the 21st season, Si Nan and Xu Zhen will have no problem coping with the adult competition, and there is no need for Lu You and Xie Yunjun to fill in so quickly.
Jiang Yang originally thought that he had expressed himself very clearly.
Unexpectedly, Zhai Gaofei asked, "By picking up one jump, can you guarantee that Si Nan can get back to his peak level, Coach Jiang?"
"Even if Si Nan returns to her peak performance, can she do 3Lo? Can she do a difficult combination of 3S+2T+2T? In terms of difficulty reserve, the Si Xu combination cannot be compared with the current Lu You and Xie Yunjun combination. You know this better than anyone."
Jiang Yang took a breath and said, "Director Zhai, that's true, but figure skating competitions are never judged by difficulty alone. The contestants' competition experience, psychological age, and stress resistance all need to be considered comprehensively. The provincial team does not believe that Lu You and Xie Yunjun can replace Si Nan and Xu Zhen and meet the standards of Olympic substitutes based on their current conditions."
"Then you have to consider us too, right? 2022 is our country's Olympic year, and we have to get good results so that we can report to our superiors."
“…”
Hearing this, Jiang Yang's always kind face finally fell. He had been waiting for him here for a long time.
Jiang Yang tried his best to sound calmer. "We in the Jianglin Province Figure Skating Team don't do things like forcing things to happen. Director Zhai, if you want to have a good career resume, go find someone else."
"If you have nothing else to say, I will take my coach back to the provincial team."
After the old coach of the provincial team finished speaking, he called Lu Tingsong, pushed the chair away and was about to leave.
"Girl Jiang, you misunderstood. I am not—"
Zhai Gaofei hurriedly chased after them, but as a person who had not exercised for many years, how could he possibly catch up with two coaches who dealt with ice skating every day? After chasing for a few steps, he couldn't even see the backs of Jiang Yang and Lu Tingsong.
Jiang Yang almost had to hold back his temper to not scold Zhai Gaofei in the office. Now, after leaving the Provincial Sports Bureau, this fifty-year-old coach finally couldn't help himself -
"I'm really obsessed with results. I want to start a dyeing factory as soon as I see a little color. I just finished a grand prix this season, won a silver medal, and started planning for the next season."
"He thinks the kids of our provincial team are bricks, and they can be moved wherever they are needed. From what I heard from him, he meant that Si Nan and Xu Zhen are not a good match. How come our kids are not a good match? When the development stage was so difficult, Si Nan never said she would give up. She finally recovered, but he just denied it with a few words?"
"Now that the Provincial Sports Bureau is making a transfer, can't they transfer someone who used to be an athlete? Why are you taking it for granted?"
At the end of the scolding, Jiang Yang concluded: "I am really pissed off."
Lu Tingsong was angry at first, but when he saw Jiang Yang getting so angry, he suddenly felt a little surprised.
He quickly calmed down his former coach and drove the car over.
"You bought a new car again?" Jiang Yang looked at the four circles on the front of Lu Tingsong's car. "The salary the provincial team gives you is so small that you can't afford this car even if you save for ten or eight years."
Lu Tingsong's eyelids twitched. "With my salary, I only have enough money for food after paying off the mortgage. How can I buy a car? This is my brother's car. I'm going to drive it to pick up Youyou and Xiaojun for the winter vacation."
Lu Tingsong had mentioned to Jiang Yang that Lu You and Xie Yunjun were going to have their final exams today, so the provincial team gave them a few days off to focus on their studies.
Jiang Yang sat in the passenger seat and sighed, "It's time to improve the salaries of our sports-related professions."
"Who says it's not true? Especially in figure skating, the investment and return are not proportional. Now fewer and fewer people send their children to learn," Lu Tingsong also sighed, "Coach Jiang, are you going back to the provincial team or home? I'll take you there."
Jiang Yang thought for a moment and said, "It's the New Year holiday, and the provincial team has finished running. Let's go home."
Lu Tingsong stepped on the accelerator and drove Jiang Yang to the downstairs of the community. After the master and apprentice said "Happy New Year" to each other, Lu Tingsong drove to Jianglin Provincial No. 1 Middle School to pick up Lu You and Xie Yunjun for the holiday.
When we arrived, Lu You and Xie Yunjun were just coming out of the school gate.
The little girl, carrying her schoolbag, held Xie Yunjun's hand and said goodbye to her classmate with smiling eyes.
After getting into the car, Lu You first gulped down half a bottle of water.
Xie Yunjun took a napkin to wipe her face and said patiently, "Go slowly."
"call--"
As the cool water flowed down his throat, Lu You let out a long sigh and patted his chest: "The math for this final exam was too difficult. I almost didn't finish it."
"By the way, Xie Yunjun, what is the answer to your last big question?" Lu You asked expectantly, resting his chin on Xie Yunjun's shoulder.
Xie Yunjun recalled and gave an answer. Lu You immediately held his head in pain and said, "Okay, don't say it. Let me be happy for a few days before the results come out."
"You are the one who asked them, and you are the one who told them to stop talking," Lu Tingsong said with a smile, "Little aunt, you are really hard to serve."
Lu You made a face at Lu Tingsong.
The winter vacation for primary and secondary school students in Huai City started late this year, and the seventh day of the vacation was New Year's Eve. The provincial team simply gave the athletes a holiday, allowing everyone to go home and celebrate the New Year first.
Although there was less time on the ice, it was impossible to completely stop training. Lu You only had a great time with Xie Yunjun the day after the holiday, and then he picked up various land training again. The daily training time was still no less than five hours.
In fact, all kinds of technical movements on the ice can also be performed on the ground. Even rotations can be practiced on land with the help of a spinning board.
Lu You’s spinning board is from the famous ice sports brand EDEA, and the cartoon pattern printed on it can just form a picture with Xie Yunjun’s spinning board.
On New Year's Eve, Lu You and Xie Yunjun were spinning on the spinning board in their home gym. They had made some adjustments to the spins they had performed at the World Youth Championships, adding a few more points to ensure that their spins would be rated at level four.
Liang Jie and Lu Shi'an were shoveling snow in the yard downstairs. Because the snow was thick, Lu Tingsong stared at Lu You and Xie Yunjun for a while, then went downstairs to help.
As I was sweeping, a head popped out of the window on the second floor.
Lu Tingsong pointed at Lu You with a broom and said, "Lu Xiaoyou, what are you doing?"
Lu You leaned against the window frame, looking at Lu Tingsong with his big eyes. The only thing missing from the picture was the four big words "I want to go out and play".
Lu Tingsong stared at his niece for a long while, and finally said with a smile: "Today is New Year's Day, so I'll let you go. Take your skates. There is an outdoor ice rink under Huai City's landmark Ferris wheel. I'll take you two to play."
The little girl immediately hugged Xie Yunjun and cheered, dragged him downstairs and rushed into the yard, diving into the snow pile that had not been swept yet.
Only two legs were left kicking outside.
Xie Yunjun pulled the person out. As they were going out, he put on Lu You's woolen hat, scarf and gloves one by one. In the end, Lu You was wrapped up like a round bear, with only a pair of big eyes showing.
Then the big eyes curved.
Lu You took off his gloves, touched the snow first, and then deliberately played a trick by putting his cold hand into Xie Yunjun's scarf and touching his neck.
Xie Yunjun shuddered, his neck shrank due to the cold, and he hid while whispering, "Youyou, stop making trouble."
Lu You laughed so hard that he was out of breath and almost hung on Xie Yunjun.
New Year's Eve is undoubtedly the time of year when the roads are most congested. Since the place they were going to was not too far from Lu You's home, only four kilometers away, Lu Tingsong thought about it and decided not to drive, otherwise it would be annoying to be stuck in traffic for half a day.
Lu Tingsong walked into the utility room and rummaged around for a long time before finally pulling out a very old-fashioned 28-bar bicycle.
This is already an antique, and it was used by Lu Tingsong and Lu Shian when they were in school.
Things from that era were very solid and durable. After being stored for so long, they are still rideable without any problems.
Lu You looked at the big-wheeled bicycle, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings, and asked in confusion: "Uncle, I look around, and your bicycle only has one seat. Can it carry me and Xie Yunjun?"
Lu Tingsong dusted off the seat and said, "I didn't say I wanted to take you two with me."
Lu You: “?”
"It's just four kilometers. I usually run 10,000 meters in the provincial team. Today, I'll just use it as a warm-up before going on the ice," Lu Tingsong showed a loving smile, "I'll ride the bike, and you two can just run behind me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
