Chapter 94: Shen Ao's First Meeting with Someone Requires Him to Write a Self-Criticism
Li Shiyu arrived silently and left without anyone noticing.
The last thing I looked at was the big screen on the ice rink. The skater who had returned to the ice had scored 204.11 points, a score that did not disappoint her hard work.
The domestic commentators were excited: "Ladies and gentlemen, let's congratulate Yang Yiyan! She put on a wonderful performance under pressure and has once again made it into the top six of the World Championships."
"From a technical point of view, Yang Yiyan is currently leading the other skaters by nearly three points. Overall, although she still has some shortcomings in the smoothness of her skating, her control over details and transitions is better than at the beginning of the season in Russia."
"I think it's really not easy to maintain this level of performance after missing most of the season due to injury. In fact, I'm already looking forward to her performance next season."
As soon as the three left the waiting area, the two coaches began discussing her music selection for next season. Yang Yiyan, who was changing her skates not far from them, overheard the conversation and looked up in surprise: "Hey, why so early this year? Are we starting to select music now?"
Upon hearing this, both coaches looked at her with complicated expressions. Xia Yuezi was the first to retort, "Don't you have any awareness of what it means to be a soon-to-be senior in high school?"
This August, Yang Yiyan will be entering her senior year of high school and will be attending extra classes at school in advance. Once the next season ends, she will be seamlessly transitioning to the college entrance examination. Even if her mother applies to her homeroom teacher to allow her to skip evening self-study, she will still have very little time to spend on the ice each week.
Yang Yiyan paused as she took off her skates, blinked at the coach, and smiled somewhat awkwardly.
As the transitional stage of high school, the second year of high school is a crucial period for students to learn. Teachers in all subjects will constantly remind students how important the present is and how important the next year will be, striving to create a strong learning atmosphere in the class.
Unfortunately, during this period, Yang Yiyan was either competing abroad or undergoing rehabilitation in the hospital, and she wasn't affected by this atmosphere at all.
Just by looking at the expression on her face, Xia Yuezi knew what she was thinking. She earnestly advised, "Even if your grades are good enough for a guaranteed admission, and your parents and teachers don't have high expectations for you, you can't really let your studies fall behind just for figure skating. Look at the other skaters in your cohort; even if they are guaranteed admission, their academic scores are still above the passing mark."
Back then, no matter how mischievous Xia Yuezi was, she didn't dare to resist when Li Tan forced her to study. In the end, she passed the second-tier university entrance exam thanks to her slightly better Chinese and foreign language scores.
Yang Yiyan stuck out her tongue and didn't continue the topic.
Meng Xin, standing to the side, offered her opinion: "If there isn't enough time, we could use the two programs from this season. At most, we've only skated three international competitions, so the judges won't get tired of them."
Xia Yuezi thought about it and realized that it was indeed a method. Then, looking at her own child, she thought of the school curriculum that Yang's mother had mentioned, and it was as if she had returned to the fear of being controlled by Feng's mother.
"Let's wait until her final exam results come out. If there's still time to create new programs, I'll work with Teacher Mi to come up with a list first, then show it to Xiaoyan and adjust it based on her feedback."
Yang Yiyan huddled against the wall, trying to minimize her presence. She inexplicably felt that remaining silent was the most advantageous thing for her to do right now.
After the women's singles competition ended, before the group even returned to the hotel, Xia Yuezi received a greeting from her superiors.
Vivian made a mistake in her free skate, turning her triple jump into a triple two. Furthermore, the judges were hesitant to award a high score to a newcomer, preventing her from overtaking Yang Yiyan. The two Chinese skaters ultimately finished tied for 13th place, securing one of the three qualifying spots for next season.
Xia Yuezi sat by the bus window, her mouth full of polite words. Only when she heard "business" did her smile become a little more genuine. At the same time, the leader was also probing, wanting to have the contestants film a few minutes of promotional video together.
The final host country for the 2022 Winter Olympics was determined this summer. The figure skating association and the bid ambassadors have been extremely busy lately, and even several domestic brands whose endorsement contracts with figure skaters are about to expire are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Xia Yuezi was well aware that China would become the host of this Winter Olympics, after all, she was an athlete participating in this Olympics, and the figure skating association had also caught her and packaged her as the leading lady of the figure skating team, and she was bundled with the short track team next door to participate in several variety shows to help with subsequent promotion and publicity.
She first asked the contestants in the car if they had time, and only agreed after receiving an affirmative answer.
Yang Yiyan, sitting in the front row, turned around and hugged the back of her chair, her eyes shining. Seeing the coach put down his phone, she rushed over and pulled the two of them even closer: "Did they say how to shoot the promotional video?"
Xia Yuezi glanced at her and slowly pushed her head back with her finger: "When we were shooting commercials before, you weren't this enthusiastic even though you were getting paid."
Yang Yiyan couldn't help but sit up straight and retorted, "How can that be the same? If the bid for the Olympics is successful, I can go out and say that I contributed to it. Ask other people, I don't believe they won't be excited."
Seemingly to cooperate with Yang Yiyan, Xia Yuezi glanced around. Everyone else had smiles on their faces, and the younger children had barely suppressed anticipation and envy in their eyes.
"The shoot is scheduled for the day after the World Championships, right here on this ice rink. Everyone should wear their team uniforms or training clothes, listen to the photographer, and relax. But before that, the athletes who haven't finished their competitions should not get too excited. Let's save our emotions for on the ice."
After saying that, she glanced meaningfully at Lin Ye next to Feng Simai. She had just noticed that this kid's cheers were the loudest.
Those who were close to Xia Yuezi noticed the gaze and lowered their heads to suppress their laughter, giving him some face. However, Lin Ye couldn't help but cough a few times to ease the atmosphere.
On the last day of the World Championships, the only event in which China still has a chance to win a medal is the men's singles competition.
The men's singles score was even closer than the women's singles score. The last group consisted entirely of athletes with scores above 90, and the score difference was within three points. There wasn't even a single triple jump score.
This doesn't even include the second-to-last group of skaters, three of whom scored 88 or 89, and were also able to land two quadruple jumps in their free skate.
Just after the sixth practice session, the other athletes and coaches noticed that the morale of the two Chinese men's singles athletes was unusually high. For example, the warrior who did a 4LZ in the short program seemed to have just done another 4LZ.
As the smile on his teammate's face gradually faded, Coach Yamada of the Japanese team touched his bald head and realized something was wrong.
The next second, Fujiwara Yoshino did a 4F jump on the ice. From Xia Yuezi's perspective, the jump didn't seem to be a full rotation.
The last group of contestants were a group of young men around twenty years old. Their chuunibyou phase hadn't completely ended yet, and two consecutive advanced four-week sessions seemed to have triggered some kind of switch, turning the sixth training session into a jumping competition held in Russia.
Of the group, only Anthony remained relatively calm. It wasn't that he didn't want to jump, but rather that he had just received a nerve block injection. If he didn't take it easy, he would be carried on a stretcher to an ambulance as soon as practice six ended, and he wouldn't even have a chance to compete in the free skate.
As the final note sounded, the group of children who were engrossed in the game returned to their coach's arms. Feng Simai was the first to go out, but as soon as he slid to the side of the barrier, he was met with a brutal blow from his coach.
Lin Ye, who hadn't even left the field yet, shrugged in fright and subconsciously looked at his coach. Song Qiao was also standing on the sidelines with his arms crossed, his expression calm, but the scabbard on his hand was an eyesore no matter how you looked at it.
Although Xia Yuezi has a baby face, she can be quite intimidating when she scolds someone. If it weren't for the competition, she wouldn't just give someone a flick on the forehead, but would instead rush onto the ice with her scabbard.
Meng Xin stood nearby, not daring to say anything nice to him. This kid knew he wasn't physically fit, yet he still did two quadruple jumps on the ice; wasn't he just asking for trouble?
Xia Yuezi suppressed her anger and tried to make her voice sound gentle: "Go ahead, if you're not physically fit enough, take the second set of equipment."
Feng Simai nodded, put the used tissue aside, and turned to run towards the ice rink.
The fans who watched the whole thing on screen wanted to laugh but dared not, and could only silently pray that he wouldn't collapse in the most important game of the season. Even Lin Ye, who escaped unscathed, was on tenterhooks.
The opening 4T+3T had a flaw on the landing, and the skater used his hands to steady himself. The two skaters on the sidelines turned into giraffes, standing on tiptoe to look at the ice.
Feng Simai adjusted quickly, changing his second jump to 3A. Xia Yuezi understood; her mentality was probably still affected, and she dared not gamble on her later performance, so she temporarily switched to another setup and only performed for four weeks.
His physical condition was still affected. In the second half of the 3LZ, he had a 3-turn rotation, and his triple jump was 1L0 in the middle, so he couldn't continue to connect. He could only make up for it in the 3F.
Feng Simai saved the entire program by reducing the difficulty, preventing the footwork and spins from looking too bad and managing to salvage some of the losses.
Xia Yuezi breathed a sigh of relief. Goe almost fell, so what? As long as he didn't fall, it didn't matter.
"What's with your quadruple jump?"
As soon as they left the stage, Xia Yuezi draped her coat over his shoulders while asking him a question.
Feng Simai, supporting himself against the shield, put on his scabbard, his forehead covered in sweat: "I stepped into an ice hole, but my leg is fine."
"It's best to have the team doctor check it out. Some problems don't hurt at first, but can be fatal later on."
Athletes who practice quadruple jumps will experience more severe muscle strain than ordinary athletes. Even if Feng Simai takes good care of her body, she will still suffer some chronic injuries.
Seeing his somewhat pale face, Meng Xin handed him the sports drink prepared by the team doctor as soon as they reached the designated area.
Due to various mistakes, Feng Simai's free skate score was fixed at 159.39. Including the short program, her total score reached 249.86, currently placing her in second place.
Before the scores were released, most people were mentally prepared. Although the scores were still within an acceptable range, it was inevitable that they would feel disappointed.
The skaters who came after them learned from their mistakes and didn't dare to push themselves too hard in terms of difficulty. Even the famously athletic Yoshino Fujiwara didn't manage to get a 4F in his free skate and maintained his ranking by sticking to his original three or four routines.
Feng Simai leaned against the barrier, his energy drink half empty. He looked at Lin Ye, who was taking deep breaths on the sidelines, pursed his lips, and looked somewhat annoyed.
"Coach, do I still need to write a self-criticism when I get back?"
Xia Yuezi found this statement very strange. No one in the group was willing to write a self-criticism. As long as it wasn't a serious mistake, they could usually get away with it by playing a trick on her.
What's wrong with this person today? She's already put the matter aside, but she's still rushing to write a self-criticism.
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Author's Note: I thought I could successfully time it perfectly, but the app glitched for a minute, so I'll just refine this chapter a bit more [pity].
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