Toronto has been hit by strong winds and heavy rain these past two days. I don't know if some god in heaven had a broken heart or something, but the Polar Bear Club was flooded like a flood scene.
Because he couldn't ask his male companion to carry him around every time, Lu You bought a pair of rain boots for himself and Xie Yunjun.
However, Xie Yunjun would always come to pick her up with an umbrella after lunch. Every time on the way to training, Lu You would hold Xie Yunjun's hand, step on the puddles, making loud splashing sounds, and have a lot of fun.
"Ouch! Erica, you're crushing me to death!"
On the ice rink, Erica and Carlo fell into a heap. Carlo used his female companion as a human cushion and grimaced in pain.
Erica fell for no apparent reason. She got up and picked up her ice skates. Sure enough, there were cracks on the blades, and the steel material where the blades touched the ice was badly worn.
——This knife that had been with her for almost two years finally broke.
"Oh, what bad luck! The season is about to start, but my shoes are broken," Erica took off the knife distressedly and took out her spare skates. "I finally made some money during the off-season, and now I have to buy new skates."
Erica counted the expenses for the new season on her fingers, and the more she counted, the sadder she became: "Mr. Eugene's coaching fee, dance lessons, choreography and costume customization fees, venue fees...Okay, after paying these fees, I'll sleep under the bridge."
Hearing this, Lu You couldn't help but thank the glorious motherland in her heart. Not only did she not have to worry about these things, but she also received a salary every month.
I heard that the Publicity Office of the Sports Bureau has recently been trying to find advertising endorsements for her and Xie Yunjun. If they can get the deal, it will be another big income.
Erica is a child from an ordinary working-class family in Canada, and she has saved up the money for figure skating over the years.
The overall environment for figure skating abroad is slightly better. Figure skating is not just a sport for the nobility, but ordinary families can also participate.
For example, in Canada, many coaches offer free tryouts for students from ordinary or poor families, and the Ice Hockey Association also provides some targeted subsidies, aiming to not miss out on any talented child.
Carlo was a young master from a wealthy family. When he heard that his female companion was about to have to sleep under a bridge, he stopped talking nonsense and took out a card with a serious expression.
Carlo: "Erica, this is all the money I saved from ice performances and endorsements over the years. If you need it, take it."
Erica: She was just exaggerating. She wasn't so poor that she needed a male companion for support.
Unexpectedly, after she refused, Carlo held her hand seriously and said, "Don't worry, Erica, the money here is all earned by me. I originally wanted to save it to buy a diamond ring for my future girlfriend, so it's okay to give it to you."
Erica: “?”
Lu You, who had just finished training, had a mouthful of water stuck in his throat and almost choked himself to death.
What terrible secret had she overheard?
Xie Yunjun quickly patted her on the back. Lu You wiped his mouth and looked at the young man beside him.
No way, no way? Isn't Xie Yunjun also secretly saving money for his wife?
"No," Xie Yunjun seemed to be able to read minds. He stroked the girl's back and whispered, "We put all our money together. Aunt Liang said that when we go to college, she will take out the money and use it as a down payment for a small house for us, so that we don't have to live on campus."
Lu You: “Yes.”
They have saved a lot of salary and bonuses since they participated in the competition. The bonus given by ISU to the youth group is not as much as that for the adult group. After all the divisions, the players can only get a few thousand dollars in their own pockets.
However, after winning the gold medal in the World Youth Championship, Jianglin Province gave him a six-figure bonus.
The two of them don't have much expenses on a daily basis, so if they keep saving until they become adults, they might be able to save enough for a down payment on a house.
"You, Jun, let's go to training first."
Lu You lay on the bench in the storage room and said "hmm".
Erica wrapped up the broken ice skates, wrote her name on them, and stuffed them into the box that the Polar Bear Club used to collect athletes' discarded ice equipment on her way to training.
This is a tradition of the Polar Bear Club. Every once in a while, staff will come and select some ice skates that were replaced by famous players and make them into exhibits and put them in the showroom.
After they left, a figure quietly walked to the box, looked around for a while, and then carefully picked up the broken ice skate.
At this moment, Xie Yunjun, who was about to step out of the storage room, was pulled back by Lu You and pressed against the wall.
"Hush," Lu You hugged Xie Yunjun's waist, "Look over there."
Lu You poked his head out from under Xie Yunjun's arm and pointed at the figure rummaging through the waste.
The boy was wearing a black coat with the hat turned inside out. He was soaked by the rain and water was dripping from his trouser legs.
But he didn't care at all, as if he had obtained some treasure. He wiped the ice skates that Erica threw away with his sleeve, put them in his arms and smiled.
Arturo tapped his forehead, chest, and left and right shoulder sockets with his middle finger, and silently said, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen."
I hope God will forgive him for taking the pair of ice skates without his consent.
After Arturo silently confessed his sins, he opened his eyes and saw the angelic face of a little girl.
Then he saw the angel pointing at him: "Xie Yunjun! That's him! The pervert who secretly picked up Erica's ice skates!"
Arturo: “…”
Players' locker room.
Arturo sat on the bench, holding the ice skates he had picked up, like a big dog drenched by the rain.
Lu You stared at Arturo, who was soaking wet. "Are you really not a fan of Erica? I saw you picking up the ice skates that Erica had replaced, and you were laughing so infatuatedly. I was..."
I almost called security.
Lu You thought.
In fact, it’s not just the entertainment industry that has many weird fans. There are also those extreme fans in the figure skating world.
For example, at this year's World Championships, a contestant wearing only underwear broke into the room of a North American ice dancer and shouted that he wanted to propose to her. The female contestant was frightened and made many mistakes during the competition the next day.
Lu You subconsciously thought that Arturo was a stalker fan following Erica.
Arturo blushed. He didn't speak English well, so he could only speak word by word: "No, no, no one wants this skate. I want to pick it up and use it myself."
Xie Yunjun said: "These skates are broken. It's very dangerous to use them for skating. They are no longer usable."
Arturo lowered his eyes and stammered, "If I fix it, it can still be used..."
As if he was afraid that Lu You and Xie Yunjun would mistake him for a thief, Arturo's face turned red as he explained.
"After I came to Canada, I lost my ice skates and skates on the train. I heard there was a figure skating club here, so I wanted to try my luck," Arturo said. "I'm really not a thief. Please don't call the police."
Lu You and Xie Yunjun looked at each other.
Arturo's accent and appearance didn't sound like a Canadian. Considering what he said about his country being in the midst of war and him and his family taking a train from Colombia and losing their skates, the two thought of a possibility -
Arturo is a refugee from Colombia.
And Arturo's next move confirmed their guess.
As if he was afraid that Lu You and Xie Yunjun would misunderstand him, Arturo quickly took out a certificate from his pocket: "I, I am not a stowaway. I have a UNHCR pass."
Lu You and Xie Yunjun, who have grown up in a peaceful country, are naturally unfamiliar with terms such as "UNHCR" and "smuggling".
Lu You took a dry towel from his cabinet and handed it to Arturo: "Wipe it off."
Arturo glanced at Lu You, then quickly lowered his head and whispered, "Thank you."
"The Polar Bear Club is not open to the public, and you are not allowed to come in casually," Lu You explained to Arturo in English, "This knife is broken, and Erica's knife is too small for you. It is not suitable for you to continue practicing figure skating with it."
After realizing that Lu You had no ill intentions, Arturo gradually relaxed.
"I practiced figure skating for a while when I was a kid in Colombia, but then war broke out in my country and all the ice rinks were closed. After the war started, I fled to Canada with my parents to seek asylum."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know the rink was closed, I thought I could come here to skate," Arturo lowered his eyes, "As for the skates... Mom and Dad have already spent a lot of money to bring me to Canada, and they don't have money to buy me a new pair of skates."
Arturo should be a few years younger than Lu You. He is a typical Indo-European mixed race, with wheat-colored skin and slightly curly hair. Although he is not fully grown yet, you can vaguely see a bit of his handsome and heroic appearance.
After he said this, the two yellow-skinned boys and girls in front of him were silent for a while, and then they communicated something in Chinese.
The handsome boy thought for a while and nodded.
The girl with an angelic face seemed to send a message to someone before walking up to him.
She said in simple English: "The ice rink closes at 12 o'clock at night. If you want to skate, we can take you in to play for a while after 12:30."
Arturo didn't know why he believed what the Asian girl said.
Perhaps it was because he firmly believed that a person who was given an angelic appearance by God would not lie.
Anyway, at half past midnight, when the club's security guards finished their last shift, Arturo secretly ran out of the house and arrived at the entrance of the ice rink on time.
The Chinese boy and girl appeared from somewhere, followed by two white people.
Lu You stuffed a triangular skate bag into Arturo's arms and lowered his voice: "This is my male companion's spare skates. Your shoe sizes should be similar, so I'll lend them to you first."
The Polar Bear Club's ice rink had no spectator seats, so it was built in a wooden building. Erica gently pushed open the window that she had left open during the day. Lu You asked, "Will we really not be discovered like this?"
"Don't worry, I'm familiar with this. Carlo and I used to come in here to play in the middle of the night." Erica put one foot on the window frame, "Carlo, it's a little high and I can't climb up, give me a push."
Hearing this, Carlo moved his shoulder forward to cushion Erica's position.
Lu You estimated the height of the window with his eyes, and then walked to Xie Yunjun very naturally. Xie Yunjun held her waist and lifted her up easily, placing her on the windowsill.
After the two girls climbed in first, Carlo snapped his fingers at Arturo and said, "Little cutie, it's your turn."
Arturo let out an "ah" in confusion.
Then Carlo and Xie Yunjun lifted him up together, even though he was almost as tall as Lu You.
After they climbed onto the ice rink, they naturally didn't dare turn on the lights, but the moonlight coming in through the window lattice was bright enough, so as long as they were careful, there was no need to worry about a car crash.
Erica and Carlo quickly changed into their skates and rushed onto the ice.
Lu You waved his hand in front of Arturo: "What are you standing there for? Put on your skates quickly."
"Oh, okay," Arturo replied.
At this moment, no one knew that this 13-year-old boy who sought asylum from the Canadian government because of the war in his homeland would become the most dazzling player in Canadian men's singles in the future.
Their sole purpose was to help a big boy who came from a war-torn country but loved figure skating.
At this moment, Arturo simply felt that the girl's smile under the moonlight was really beautiful.
“Angel.”
He placed his hands on his chest and whispered.
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