Chapter 101 The mirror character can be anyone, or it can be you...
Near the hotel booked by the organizers of the China Cup, there is an artificial lake, and a tree is planted at intervals along the sidewalk.
It was already 10:30 when we got back to the hotel after the match. There were few pedestrians by the lake, which made the two figures stand out. Their shadows were stretched long on the ground and blended into the shadows of the trees.
On the bus, Xia Yuezi sat in the last row with the other coaches and noticed that Feng Simai seemed a bit sullen. He only responded half-heartedly to the conversations with the others and mostly rested his head against the window to enjoy the breeze.
"Still thinking about short programs?" Xia Yuezi broke the silence first.
Feng Simai kicked away a small pebble by the roadside, his face showing his exhaustion. The evening breeze brought a touch of dampness, which also dispelled some of the excitement and disappointment he felt during the competition.
“A bit. When I used to skate on grand or abstract narratives, I felt that as long as I understood the historical context, I could control the scene and create atmosphere. Now, when I skate on a character with detailed experiences and complex emotions, I feel like I can’t grasp the core. It feels like I’ve hit a bottleneck.”
Artistic creation inevitably encounters periods of stagnation, but Xia Yuezi never expected Feng Simai's stagnation to appear so quickly, especially during the period when he most needed to establish a mature performance style.
She slowed her pace, carefully considering how to continue her story.
Tomorrow is the free skate, and from a timing perspective, it's definitely not appropriate to talk to him about artistic expression now, but Feng Simai is already feeling down.
If it was caused by the competition results, he could adjust on his own, and Xia Yuezi wouldn't have to worry. The difficulty lies in the fact that this low mood has made him start to question himself.
In her experience, if a contestant develops self-doubt and doesn't receive appropriate psychological intervention, their inner conflicts will only worsen.
Xia Yuezi found a bench, pulled him to sit down, and faced the lake: "Can you tell me your understanding of either 'Singin' in the Rain' or Lockwood?"
Feng Simai pondered for a moment: "My first impression of 'Singin' in the Rain' was its purity. Watching the people in the film laugh and dance, I was also infected by this outward emotion. As for the emotions, I could actually sense through their eyes and the irrepressible smiles on the screen that they liked each other very much. But I don't seem to understand why Don and Casey would like each other."
"If I were Don and met Casey at the premiere, I would think she was a capable and somewhat arrogant person, a suitable business partner. I also disapprove of Lena's attempt to cover up the truth about the voice acting, but that's just admiration and appreciation, and it would never develop into a romantic relationship."
These words left Xia Yuezi speechless. It was also her fault for trusting the child too much. After handing him the piece, she never asked him about it again. By the time she realized something was wrong, there was no time to change the piece.
Xia Yuezi had never used "Singin' in the Rain," but her teammates from the same period had. At that time, there was also a musical performance in Beijing, and Xia Yuezi, who was free at the time, went to see it with her.
How would you rate it?
It features a bold and distinctive American retro style, along with various dances such as tap dance and ballet. However, the plot follows a typical, old-fashioned romance novel formula, making it feel like a beautiful fairy tale.
The work is time-bound. The fact that "Singin' in the Rain" stood out decades ago must mean it had something special. At least it was excellent in terms of character development and camera work. Even if Xia Yuezi wasn't interested in the plot, she had to admit that, with all the added bonuses, she appreciated and was moved by this kind of love.
It's just that girls can be moved, but Feng Simai might find it difficult to change this mindset.
Xia Yuezi changed her question: "So how did you interpret 'Gone with the Bullets' back then?"
“In ‘One Step Away,’ I can understand the sense of brokenness that Lieutenant Colonel Frank exudes, wanting to use his last bit of energy to enjoy life at the ball, and it’s also the first time he’s met his dance partner. For me, I don’t need to worry about other emotions, I just need to exude charm.”
Hearing Feng Simai's understanding, Xia Yuezi couldn't help but laugh out loud: "It's okay to deal with a complete stranger, but not someone you've interacted with before?"
Feng Simai lowered his head without saying a word, which was taken as acquiescence. A gust of wind blew by, and Xia Yuezi zipped her coat all the way up, letting her long hair fall on both sides of her shoulders.
"You prefer playing a character to becoming one with it, which may be related to your acting classes from a young age. So, have you never thought about training yourself as an actor?"
“There are generally two ways for actors to improve their acting skills. The first is to write a biography to understand the character, and the second is to experience things that are closely related to the character’s profession or life. We can’t do the latter, but we can use the first method to build our perception of the character.”
Meeting Feng Simai's still bewildered gaze, Xia Yuezi continued to explain: "It's like a timeline of major events drawn in a history textbook. Draw out the timeline, then put the people's experiences on it, and feel it little by little with your own heart, and then transform it into a logic that you can understand."
"You said you think Tang's liking is inexplicable, but what about appreciation? If you can appreciate Casey, it means there is something attractive about her. Use your method to try to find that attractive thing and then slowly stir up your emotions."
“Often, performance figure skaters are like actors, but also different, because actors create a character that has never existed before, while we replicate existing characters.”
"Our ultimate goal in creating a character is not to become them, but to explore the commonalities between ourselves and them through different understandings and performances, so that they can become a mirror and help us better understand ourselves."
Xia Yuezi's voice was very soft, but it was like a pebble thrown into a lake, causing Feng Simai to fall into deep thought.
“Mirror…” he murmured.
Feng Simai has always believed that there should be a resonance between figure skaters and the characters they perform. He must understand the character's state of mind and live their wonderful life in their way of thinking. He cannot make any mistakes anywhere. However, he never thought that the character could also be a moment of himself, and he could put himself into it in other ways.
If the character were him, how would he handle his relationship with Casey, according to his own way of thinking?
Or rather, what role would he play in a romantic relationship?
Seeing that he was deep in thought, Xia Yuezi wisely didn't disturb him and sat down to wait. After a while, she rubbed her arms through her coat and stood up to remind him.
"Let's go, it's quite cold outside and it's late. You have a performance at 10 o'clock tomorrow."
Upon hearing the coach's voice, Feng Simai dazedly raised his head, his cheeks flushed, whether from the wind or from his brain working at full speed, it was hard to tell.
Xia Yuezi thought he should be thinking, since Feng Simai was thinking about this even while walking. He followed the coach slowly and was eventually pulled back to the hotel by Xia Yuezi's sleeve.
The next morning, Xia Yuezi felt a sore throat as soon as she got up. The pain didn't go away after she washed up. She thought it must be from the wind last night, so she asked the team doctor for a packet of cold medicine and put on a mask to prevent infecting the athletes.
Seeing the coach's attire, Feng Simai scratched his head apologetically. As soon as he uttered his apology, the coach raised an eyebrow at him, seemingly wondering how he had managed to raise such an honest child.
But Xia Yuezi was clearly not going to let go of this opportunity to tease. Her voice was hoarse than before, and sounded a bit muffled through the mask: "If you really feel embarrassed, then digest and understand everything we talked about yesterday, and then do well in the free skate, try to bring back a medal, so I can benefit from it too."
The joking words were taken to heart by the honest boy, who stood on the ice rink with his hands on his hips, full of confidence: "Don't worry, I've practiced my free skate program very well."
Xia Yuezi blinked and gave him a thumbs up.
Since the event lasts for three days, with the last day being an exhibition skater, the start time for the free skate is the same as the short program in order to give the skaters ample rest time.
Yang Yiyan also performed second to last in the short program. The score difference between the top three was about four points, which is quite large for women's singles where the overall difficulty level is not significantly different.
The ice skating fans who came to watch the competition were also very much looking forward to it. Before Yang Yiyan took to the ice, the two Chinese skaters had already shown their best form.
Zhang Mengyi completed a 3S+3T combination jump in her free skate, bringing tears to the eyes of many fans who have been following her since the junior level. After her physical strength gradually declined, she never performed a triple jump combination in her free skate again.
Meanwhile, Li Shiyu broke her own career highs in both the free skate and total score, securing a place in the top seven. This can be considered a good result for herself at the end of her career.
Her family has already started urging her to go back and learn how to do business, and they've even paved the way for her to go directly into the finance department of a university after retiring from the military.
She has already written her retirement application, which she will submit after the end of this season. If she doesn't get a spot in the Four Continents Championships or the World Championships, she may submit it earlier.
The Russian athlete who came on next brought the score to the 200 mark, securing a podium spot and eliciting screams from the waiting area.
Meng Xin was still interviewing Li Shiyu in the mixed zone. Only Xia Yuezi accompanied her on the field. She stood by the barrier, her mask covering most of her face, but her eyes were still bright.
Because of her cold, she didn't touch foreheads with Yang Yiyan, but instead held her hand and slowly pushed her towards the ice rink.
This is considered a signature move by the Summer Division when sending athletes off to the ice, and some figure skating fans have even made a video specifically for this move.
Whenever Xia Yuezi is on the women's singles court, she always makes sure to talk to all the women's singles players in her group before going on stage, telling them that no matter what the final result is, the coach will always be there to support them.
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