Chapter 6: The Conversation Was a Huge Lie
Yang Yiyan won the bronze medal and excitedly took many photos near the venue. Along the way, many fans who recognized her came up to take photos with her.
Xia Yuezi picked up her phone and dutifully acted as their photographer, taking Yang Yiyan back to the hotel before things got out of control.
The two people's rooms were opposite each other, and when they went back, they saw a person standing between the two doors.
"Auntie," Yang Yiyan called out, waving her hands.
Yu Qian was walking with her back to them when she heard someone call her, and she smiled slightly in response.
Xia Yuezi knew that Yang Yiyan had come to see her. She silently thought to herself, "What's meant to happen will happen." She handed the room key to Yang Yiyan and leaned down to say, "You go in and rest first."
Yang Yiyan took the card, said goodbye, and left, leaving only the two of them in the corridor.
Xia Yuezi took a deep breath, mentally prepared herself, and swiped open her bedroom door. The curtains were half-open, and as dawn broke, a sliver of light shone on the floor, extending all the way to Xia Yuezi's toes.
There was no hot water in the room, so she had to use bottled water instead. Standing by the bed, she tried to remain calm and asked, "Is something wrong?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Xia Yuezi wanted to slap herself. What daughter talks to her mother like that, without even a proper address? But in this situation, she really couldn't bring herself to call her "Mom."
Yu Qian didn't pay attention and didn't take the bottled water from her hand. She just looked at her with calm eyes, but you could see the pain and sorrow hidden in them, like a pot of water about to boil.
Xia Yuezi felt uncomfortable under that gaze, so she unscrewed the bottle of mineral water and took a sip.
"You're not my daughter, are you?"
Suddenly, a voice uttered a sentence, so soft that Xia Yuezi choked on the water she had just drunk, looking quite embarrassed.
She forced herself to remain calm: "Why not?"
Yu Qian chuckled lightly: "I taught her massage, but never in the youth group."
Recalling their previous conversation, Xia Yuezi belatedly broke out in a cold sweat and silently took a step back. But Yu Qian didn't give her that chance, taking a few steps forward and raising her voice: "So who are you?"
Xia Yuezi coughed for a long time and finally recovered. Then someone tugged at her clothes, and when she looked up, she met Yu Qian's slightly moist eyes.
At this moment, she was no longer the calm and kind provincial team physiotherapist, but simply a mother anxiously wanting to know the whereabouts of her daughter.
The hand that had been struggling went down. Xia Yuezi didn't dare to meet her gaze, lowered her head, and lied to her, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "I switched bodies with her..."
Before she could finish speaking, her agitated mother pushed her, causing Xia Yuezi to lose her balance and fall onto the bed.
Yu Qian pounced on her, clinging and hitting her, but when she saw the face that looked exactly like her daughter's, she couldn't bring herself to be cruel. She could only slump to the side and mutter to herself, "What does this mean? What does it mean to have a different body?"
"I made a deal with her in my dream. She asked me to come and help her with something, but one body can't hold two souls, so she went into my body."
Seeing that Yu Qian was not in a good mental state, and taking advantage of her lack of aggression, Xia Yuezi blatantly lied, making up a story based on the plot of a novel she had read, and didn't dare to look at her after she finished speaking.
She never imagined that the first time she would tell such a colossal lie would be to a poor mother.
After a while, Yu Qian sneered, her eyes filled with hysterical madness. She reached out and grabbed Xia Yuezi, trying to drag her out the door.
"You think I'll believe what you're saying? Come on, let's go to the Third Hospital."
The Third Hospital is a well-known psychiatric hospital in Heilongjiang. Xia Yuezi had heard some rumors about it during the training camp, which frightened her so much that she grabbed the wardrobe next to her and quickly searched her mind for the original owner's memories.
"That amulet, didn't you ask the weasel spirit for it before?"
The tension on her body suddenly eased, and before Xia Yuezi could even catch her breath, she was forced to flip over.
"Yes, the talisman was under her pillow..." Yu Qian murmured, then looked at her, her eyes reddening, the pain in her eyes undiminished, and even more disbelief added: "Could it be... that Master Huang Er really possessed her?"
Xia Yuezi: "..."
Xia Yuezi nodded silently, cooperating with her to continue the act. The lie had already been told to this extent; it was too late to turn back now.
She composed herself, looked at Yu Qian who was on the verge of collapse, and with a determined heart, poured out everything she wanted to say: "Although I can't tell you what she asked me to do, I will do everything I can for her during this time, whether it's coaching or taking care of the elderly, I will do my best."
Xia Yuezi paused for a moment, then slowly raised her head and looked Yu Qian in the eye for the first time: "I will treat you like I would my mother."
Yu Qian slumped onto the bed, half-exhausted, supporting herself with one hand. Something had touched her, and her eyes began to light up.
She looked at the girl in front of her and gave a self-deprecating smile: "I don't need you to support me."
Xia Yuezi's heart sank, and then she heard her say, "I'm fine and can handle this news, but the two elderly people may not be so lucky."
Hearing Yu Qian's unspoken meaning, Xia Yuezi quickly promised, "I promise you, I won't come back unless absolutely necessary. The figure skating competition is in winter, so I'll have to trouble you to cover for me."
Seeing Xia Yuezi, who was using her daughter's face, to be subservient to her, Yu Qian felt very awkward and simply sat up and turned her back to her.
After a long time, the bed sank and then bounced back. Xia Yuezi watched her get up and walk forward unsteadily, then suddenly stop in front of the wardrobe.
"Xiaoyan is a good child, teach her well."
Only those words echoed in the room. Yu Qian stood there, the gradually dimming twilight falling on her body, and also casting a few rays on Xia Yuezi's face. The beautiful and mysterious golden afterglow seemed lonely at this moment.
Xia Yuezi did not answer, but Yu Qian knew the answer.
The door slammed shut, and the room fell silent once more.
Xia Yuezi squatted down to pick up the mineral water bottle that had fallen. There was a puddle of water at her feet, and the blankets and sheets were also splashed with water.
The bottle creaked as it was squeezed, and her drooping eyelashes obscured the emotions in her eyes. She slowly moved her hand to her left chest.
That spot felt heavy, as if it were being pressed down by something.
……………
After the National Championships, Xia Yuezi went straight back to Beijing. With Yu Qian's help, she only needed to go along with Yu Qian's words and smooth things over.
Yang Yiyan needed to prepare for her final exams, so her mother reduced her training sessions to two hours in the evening, which gave Xia Yuezi a rare break.
She found Yang Yiyan's score sheet and competition videos from the National Championships, and made a schedule for the follow-up arrangements. Her pen stopped at the section on flexibility.
Xia Yuezi had witnessed Yang Yiyan's flexibility when she helped her with leg and back stretches before. The range of leg openings that would make others cry out in pain was something she could do without batting an eye, even with a yoga block under her feet.
Many people believe that flexibility is something that can be developed through training, but Xia Yuezi has always believed that flexibility, like jumping, is a unique talent.
Normally, it's difficult for figure skaters to have both strength and flexibility. This is because development increases bone density and muscle strength, naturally reducing flexibility while increasing ligament strength.
A strength-based approach doesn't suit Yang Yiyan. Even with muscle growth, she still prefers to use rotational speed to propel her body into jumps, so she has to focus on using finesse, such as sitting cross-legged.
Yang Yiyan's cross-legged posture is not very good; she is used to resting her legs on her ankles or calves.
The standard cross-legged posture involves bringing both feet together while they are suspended in the air, shortening the distance between the legs, and using the hip joint to fully tighten the body.
When the height is sufficient, some athletes choose to relax their bodies and use the raised hand posture to enhance the feeling of hang time and gain more goe points. However, more often than not, it is the cross-legged posture that leads to insufficient rotations.
After much deliberation, Xia Yuezi still felt it was better to hone her skills first. The next competition was probably in September next year, giving Yang Yiyan more than half a year to use her good skills to pursue higher levels of difficulty.
During the winter break exam preparation period, Yang Yiyan was forced to practice sitting cross-legged on land. Whenever Xia Yuezi felt she was ready, she would go back to her original posture on the ice.
Watching her apprentice once again cross her legs on the ice, Xia Yuezi sighed. Yang Yiyan's core strength, flexibility, and lower limb strength were all fine; aside from those, only muscle memory and fear remained.
After finishing her final exams, Yang Yiyan was sent to training by her mother. When she saw the hanging bar next to her, she thought she would finally not have to practice sitting cross-legged today, and ran over excitedly.
"Coach, what are we practicing today?"
Xia Yuezi glanced at her and said, "What do you think?"
Yang Yiyan's face immediately fell, and she looked at the bar with some disdain, muttering, "It's already jumped more than three times, which means my tightening isn't too bad, right?"
Xia Yuezi's lips twitched when she heard this, and she couldn't help but retort: "You can only go three weeks because of your rotation speed. When you get to the development stage, with your cross-legged posture that's almost up to your knees, you'll have to give up in three weeks."
Yang Yiyan pursed her lips, turned her head away and remained silent, letting Xia Yuezi put on her protective gear.
Besides Yang Yiyan, there were other skaters on the ice, and the two found a corner to train.
"Just jump in the way you're good at, and remember to tighten your grip," Xia Yuezi said, gripping the pole with both hands.
The 3S has a longer standby time than before. When she jumped, Xia Yuezi quickly tightened her grip and watched Yang Yiyan jump into the air.
She raised an eyebrow at the little girl who was resting her hands on her knees, looking troubled, and asked, "Scared?"
Figure skaters also experience fear when they are on the ice, especially when doing triple quadruple jumps, as the speed is comparable to jumping off a building.
Just like a person takes a running start and throws something with their arm raised, figure skaters are different. After throwing something, they have to consider whether they can land safely on the ice. The fear in their hearts will make them subconsciously protect themselves.
This is why it's said that you need to achieve 120% on land to reach 100% on ice.
“When I first started ice skating, I even wanted to turn back from 2A, let alone change my technique,” Xia Yuezi said, using the same words Li Tan had used to comfort her, and began to mentally prepare the young girl, “If you want to climb higher, you have to go through these things.”
Xia Yuezi pointed to a female partner who had fallen during a jump and said, "Look, the female partners in doubles face even greater heights and fears than you, but they remain determined. You said you wanted to become an athlete better than Jiang Shuyu, so you must have experienced more pain than her."
She put her arm around Yang Yiyan's shoulder and whispered encouragingly, "Let's work hard together, okay?"
Yang Yiyan nodded slowly, stood up, exhaled, and began to glide again.
She looked at the ice rink in front of her and heard the coach's voice coming from behind: "After jumping, let your feet find your feet, bring your feet together first and then tighten your body. Don't rely on rotation speed. If you can't control your body, use your hands to increase your hang time."
Li Tan and Wang Can stood at the entrance of the ice rink, watching Yang Yiyan land in a rather awkward 3S position. If Xia Yuezi hadn't grabbed the bar, Yang Yiyan would have fallen when she landed.
"Coach Wang, what do you think?"
"After the Vancouver Winter Olympics, the Skating Union raised the scores for advanced jumps, clearly indicating a shift towards higher technical difficulty. If we don't start practicing for higher difficulty now, we might face difficulties later..."
Wang Can didn't finish his sentence, but Li Tan knew what he wanted to say.
Since the start of the preliminary rounds of the Youth Grand Prix, no Chinese women's singles player other than Zhang Mengyi has made it to the finals.
With Zhang Mengyi injured, both women's singles spots at this year's World Junior Championships were allocated to athletes from the three northeastern provinces. Even in the junior Grand Prix preliminary rounds, the Beijing team only received two spots.
The Beijing team is facing a shortage of female singles players, while other provincial teams are gradually rising in popularity.
This year's National Championships gave Li Tan hope. He remembered what Xia Yuezi had told him; perhaps, this child had truly been underestimated by them.
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