They want to take back what they lost
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi skated to the center of the ice together and raised their hands high towards the audience.
"Come on! Come on, Sister Tiantian and Brother Yi!" Ni Chuan put his hands to his mouth and shouted loudly.
“Will the Chinese group also skate pop rock this time?”
"Doesn't this outfit look like it?"
“I’m looking forward to it…”
There was a noisy discussion in the audience.
Due to his limited level, Ni Chuan could hardly understand the English discussions around him, but the audience's emotions more or less infected him, making him look forward to it even more.
Unlike the short dance which has certain rules, the free dance has no rules on the range of music selection.
The first free dance of the contestants in the new season is like a gift box waiting to be opened. Before opening it, no one knows what is inside the gift box.
Ni Chuan cheered up and looked at the ice surface.
Ji Tiantian, who was about to perform the free dance, wore a crimson short skirt with petal-shaped hems, and the edges were inlaid with sparkling rhinestones. As she glided, the hem of her skirt flashed, which was particularly dazzling.
Her skirt had a small V-neck in the front and a large V-neck in the back, and her shoulder blades were faintly visible on her slender back. Her black hair was tied up behind her head with a red ribbon that matched her dress.
Tang Yi next to him was wearing black trousers and a light green gauze shirt, which looked particularly elegant. The round neckline was a circle of light yellow, also dotted with rhinestones.
Ji Tiantian touched the ice with her toes, and held her hands high above her head with her fingers intertwined. She stretched her arms straight, leaned her body slightly to the side, and her posture was very relaxed. She closed her eyes and smiled, as if she was immersed in a beautiful dream. Tang Yi put his arm around her waist and looked down at her.
Soon their music started playing, a selection from the French opera The Little Prince - "By Her".
"Oh, they are performing The Little Prince and His Rose!" An audience member who is familiar with musicals showed a look of sudden enlightenment.
"Ah... compared to Coldplay's previous songs, the songs selected this time are very lyrical. The contrast is so great, can they perform well?" Someone made a confused voice.
Ni Chuan couldn't help but frown and looked at the ice surface more intently.
Ji Tiantian opened her eyes on the ice, as if she had just woken up. She gently pushed Tang Yi away and showed a somewhat indulgent smile.
She gently pushed the ice, leaving a deep red shadow on the ice. Tang Yi chased after her, and the two began to skate in a shadow-like manner.
Ji Tiantian stretched her limbs, sucked the floating leg into the ankle of the sliding leg, did a light choctaw, and then stretched the floating leg to the side, a ballet leg-controlled posture, while stretching both arms forward and to the side, appearing elegant and reserved.
Tang Yi chased after Ji Tiantian, using his brisk toe-stepping skills and twisting his body at the same time. The fast steps showed the boy's urgency and freedom.
When the two finished their respective steps, Tang Yi just slid behind Ji Tiantian. The two held hands, raised their floating legs high, and did the swallow-style balance step that appeared in the previous season.
Ji Tiantian had a happy smile on her face, and the graceful and synchronized movements of the two drew applause from the audience.
After the swallow step, Tang Yi gently lifted Ji Tiantian up and spun with her on the ice.
The red skirt blooms on the ice, and Ji Tiantian is like a blooming rose.
Tang Yi looked deeply into Ji Tiantian's eyes with a faint smile on his lips.
The opera "The Little Prince" is adapted from the fairy tale of the same name. In the fairy tale, the little prince lives alone on a planet, spending lonely days.
Then, one day, a beautiful rose suddenly grew on his planet.
He took good care of the rose, but the rose was spoiled and fickle, and they had many conflicts. The lost little prince left the rose and his own planet and started a journey. During the journey, he realized how much he loved the rose.
At the edge of the ice, Xu Chi looked at Ji Tang who was starting to do a synchronized twist and slowly smiled.
Xu Chi couldn't help but recall what happened four months ago.
At that time, Ji Tiantian had just finished her performance, and Clara quickly got inspiration and decided on the music for the free dance. Clara first found Xu Chi and explained her idea of using the Little Prince opera as the music.
"During the performance that day, I could see Tang Yi's emotions from the way he looked at Tiantian." Clara spoke to Xu Chi with great confidence, "He is like the little prince, wanting to protect his rose."
"Is that so?" Xu Chi was a little confused. "Why didn't I feel it?"
"I trust my choreographer's intuition." Clara straightened her chest with a confident smile on her face, "If you have no objection, I will go talk to them both!"
"But The Little Prince is a French opera, right? Wouldn't it be inappropriate for our country's athletes to skate this?" Xu Chi was still a little hesitant while smoking a cigarette.
"It is adapted from a world-famous fairy tale after all. The plot and emotions in the song and the story can transcend language and resonate with those who hear it." Clara persuaded Xu Chi seriously, "And compared to pop rock, opera is not that unorthodox, right?"
"That's about right. It's unprecedented in our country anyway." Xu Chi looked melancholy. "I'll have to explain to my boss the reason for the song selection for a long time... Why don't you just play the well-known Swan Lake?"
"Can you please stop mentioning Swan Lake! Believe me, explain to your leader that the Little Prince is very suitable for them!" Clara nodded vigorously at Xu Chi.
"So what you mean is... Tiantian plays the rose and Tang Yi plays the little prince?"
"Yes. Didn't Tiantian say she wanted to wear a red dress? Let's satisfy her this time!"
"I'm not worried about Tiantian, I'm thinking about Tang Yi." Xu Chi was still a little hesitant, "Although he is still young, he is not that young. Is he too old to play the role of the little prince?"
"The Little Prince is a metaphor about childhood. No matter how old a person is, in a corner of his soul, he is still a lonely little prince. And in that corner, the little prince always has his rose." Clara clasped her hands in front of her chest, with a happy smile on her face, "This is what they need to express on the ice!"
So Ji Tang’s song selection was decided.
"By Her" is the song the Little Prince dedicated to his beloved rose.
Xu Chi slowly came back to his senses from his memories, looking at Ji Tang on the ice, and couldn't help but smile in a complicated way.
Every time he selected a song, it was beyond his and his leader's expectations. But perhaps, only they who were different could handle all kinds of different song selections.
They are miracles that come suddenly.
Près d'elle
Beside her
It's a miracle
I feel a miracle that was carefully prepared
Accompanied by the light and melodious children's opera voices, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi performed a joint spin on the ice.
They held each other's arms facing each other, bent their sliding legs, bent their floating legs at their sides, maintained the difficult squatting posture, and began to rotate.
Skirts flying, the two hold hands and stand up, switching legs, preparing for the second part of the joint rotation.
Ji Tiantian looked into Tang Yi's eyes and couldn't help but think of the private conversation she had with Clara four months ago.
Clara decided to let them skate "The Little Prince", and neither she nor Tang Yi objected. She also liked this fairy tale very much.
"You have to play the role of a reserved and elegant rose." Clara said to Ji Tiantian at that time, "I have already told Tang Yi that he will play the role of a little prince who chases roses and takes good care of them on the ice. You just need to be responsible for the performance. However, if you can feel his emotional fluctuations from his skating, make some small responses."
Ji Tiantian agreed. It was also very interesting for her to play the role of a rose blooming on the ice.
But deep down she had a little doubt.
In her impression, Tang Yi's performance talent is not outstanding compared to his skating skills.
Also, he doesn't seem to be an emotional person.
Could he really play the role of an emotional little prince... She didn't have much hope.
During normal practice, they focus more on technical movements and the use of the blade with their feet, and do not pay special attention to emotional expression.
But in this game, Ji Tiantian always felt that something was different.
She looked into his dark and deep eyes, and always felt that those eyes seemed to be telling her something.
She looked into his eyes and the smile on her face softened.
Ji Tiantian performed a vertical split in the air, holding the ice skates in one hand and supporting Tang Yi, who was doing a swallow-style balance step, with the other hand. With a smile as if he was immersed in a dream, the two continued to spin.
Unsoleil
Like sunshine
Qui vient pour réchauffer ma planète
Come to my planet and shine
The joint rotation ends.
After that, it is a combined lift of arc lift and rotation lift.
"Did I see it wrong...they only did five rotations in the twist lift."
Ni Chuan was watching the game seriously when he suddenly heard a noisy discussion around him. Ni Chuan could vaguely hear that they were discussing the score.
"The highest level 4 twist lift requires six turns, but they only have five..."
"It seems like... this might be downgraded directly to level 2..."
"Then the basic score will be deducted by 1.5 points, and the GOE may also be deducted points..."
Ni Chuan was a little anxious, but he could only frown and look at the ice surface.
Ji Tang completed the remaining difficult moves, and the melodious and pure opera music stopped.
While Ji Tiantian was greeting the audience, she silently glanced at Tang Yi beside her. In the second half of the free dance, although his movements were smooth, she no longer felt the deep emotions that she had in the first half. Moreover, there was a mistake in the joint lift.
Something is wrong.
Ji Tiantian subconsciously grabbed Tang Yi's hand and led him off the ice. At the moment of getting off the ice, Tang Yi suddenly bent one leg and stretched out his hand to hold the baffle beside him, as if he couldn't take a step. He panted violently, and sweat kept falling from his temples.
"Coach! There might be something wrong with Tang Yi's foot!" Ji Tiantian immediately sensed something and held Tang Yi tightly.
Xu Chi went to find the team doctor without saying a word. Jiang Lin and Ji Tiantian helped Tang Yi to a nearby open space and took off his ice skates for him.
"Acute tendinitis caused by an old injury." The team doctor immediately gave Tang Yi's slightly swollen ankle a quick check, then turned to look at Xu Chi, "I rarely see ice dancers with injuries of this degree. How did they get it?"
"Before meeting me, this kid had never received any formal skating training and had to figure it out on his own. That left him with an old injury. It relapsed once before he joined the national team, but I didn't expect it to relapse now..." Xu Chi didn't say anything else.
He took a deep breath and watched the team doctor apply pain spray and various medicines to Tang Yi's ankle.
"Were you stimulated by the lifting just now?" Xu Chi asked Tang Yi with his head down.
"Before, I didn't feel anything..." Tang Yi gasped, his chest rising and falling violently. He didn't care about his injuries, looked up at Ji Tiantian, and whispered, "I didn't mean to hide it."
"You naughty boy, who asked you if you were hiding anything? Lie down quickly." Xu Chi scolded.
Ji Tiantian looked at Tang Yi silently. She understood what he meant. He didn't want to hide it, and he might have forgotten this injury in the past.
But I didn't expect that it would relapse on the field.
Maybe he wanted to win so badly that he couldn't help but use more force on the gliding speed, or maybe he was too hasty when changing edges, so he stimulated his old injury. The situation on the field is always changing. Accidents are inevitable.
Although Tang Yi didn't say it, Ji Tiantian knew how much pain he was in just by looking at his pale face and slightly trembling fingertips.
"Why are you so stubborn, kid? Just scream when it hurts." While taking care of Tang Yi, Xu Chi turned around and shouted, "Jiang Lin, accompany Tiantian to wait for the next section first!"
"Come on, let's go." Jiang Lin no longer hesitated, and put his arm around Ji Tiantian's shoulders and walked quickly towards the waiting area.
This was the first time that Ji Tiantian and Jiang Lin sat alone in the waiting area.
Jiang Lin couldn't help but stretch out her hand, and Ji Tiantian held it.
An elderly retired ice dancer and a new generation that is being trained by the country, they held each other's slightly cold hands and encouraged each other in this way.
Soon, Ji Tang's free dance results came out.
The technical score was 36.47, and the program content score was 35.71. The total score was 72.18. Including the short dance score of 52.62, the total score was 124.80.
The total score of the American disco group, which finished the competition earlier, was 130.94.
This group was ahead of Ji Tang at the end of the short dance, but after the free dance, they were ahead of Ji Tang.
Ji Tiantian looked at the results display screen quietly.
At this time, it seems meaningless to analyze how many points were deducted for each technical move.
She turned around to look at the American dance group standing nearby with excitement on their faces, and she and Jiang Lin quietly left to wait for the group.
With the help of the venue staff, Tang Yi has been transferred to a special rest area. The local doctor sent by the venue arrived soon. The head coach of the men's singles youth group also rushed over.
Before the ice dance free dance, the men's singles free skating had just finished. At this time, Ning Huai and the assistant coach had gone to the hotel to rest, but the head coach stayed to watch, wanting to learn some skating skills from the ice dance free dance, and this was a good time to help. In terms of dealing with acute injuries, the coaches of the four figure skating events have their own experience.
Tang Yi was surrounded by people.
Ji Tiantian couldn't help, so she stood on the edge of the ice and continued watching the game with Jiang Lin.
When Tang Yi was injured and left the field, there was a small commotion. Many audience members noticed it and there was a lot of noise in the audience. But slowly, the audience seats quieted down.
It was not uncommon for players to get injured. Ni Chuan knew that he could not help for the time being, so he sat anxiously in the audience, waiting to watch the last two groups of games and the final rankings.
The next group to perform was the British group. Lillian and Michael seemed to prefer fresher film and television soundtracks.
This time they danced lightly to the soundtrack of the movie "Amelie", with no mistakes in their technical movements and high scores in program content, with a final free dance score of 81.21 and a short dance score of 54.42, for a total score of 135.63.
The last to take the stage was the Canadian giants.
"Ahhh, Lucas!"
"Lucas!"
"Mia!"
They were greeted with thunderous cheers from their die-hard fans.
The music for the free dance of the wealthy group was "MEMORY" from the musical "Cats".
Mia's skirt was similar to the character in the musical, with cat stripes all over it, playful yet delicate. Lucas wore a striped shirt that matched his skirt, and black pants.
They finished the performance together and the free dance score was 83.15, both in terms of technique and program content.
In addition to the twist, combined rotation and lift, which were all rated at the highest level 4, the rich group also had a set of transition steps that reached level 3. Unlike the British group and the American disco group, the transition steps were only level 2. In the end, the rich group got the highest score in the free dance, which was also expected.
Including the short dance score of 56.28, the total score for the elite group was 139.47.
Amid cheers, the final ranking of the Latvian race was displayed on the display screen.
1st place: Mia Lucas of Canada 139.43
2nd place Lillian Michael of Britain 135.63
3rd place: Nancy Johnson, USA 130.94
4th place: Ji Tiantian Tang Yi from China 124.80
"The Chinese team ranked fourth... What a pity! If they had tried their best, they should have been able to surpass the American team in the free dance, right?"
"Fourth in the first race... I don't think I can make it to the Grand Prix Final with this result..."
"Oh, I feel like they won't be able to keep the bronze medal this season..."
"With the joining of the rich team, the bronze medal is in jeopardy..."
There was a buzz of discussion in the audience.
Ni Chuan took one last look at the display screen, sighed, and then left the audience eagerly.
Thinking that Tang Yi's injuries should have been treated, Jiang Lin took Ji Tiantian to the lounge where Tang Yi and the others were.
Just then, the American disco group came over and blocked Ji Tiantian.
"Excuse me, excuse me." Male partner Johnson came over and spoke to Ji Tiantian with an embarrassed look on his face, "You may have noticed that we borrowed some of your dance steps from last season... We didn't want to do this, but this is actually the choreographer's intention, and we can't object..."
"Did the choreographer put a knife to your necks and force you to plagiarize?" Ji Tiantian couldn't help but ask with a smile.
Johnson was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that the seemingly delicate and soft Chinese girl would retort so quickly.
He was embarrassed for a moment and his face turned red to his ears.
"We didn't mean it. And we only borrowed a little bit, not copied it, so it can't be considered plagiarism." The female companion Nancy continued to speak. She looked at Ji Tiantian coldly, "We just came here to tell you." Then she pulled Johnson away.
"No wonder you didn't perform well, you are so narrow-minded." Nancy took two steps away, deliberately spoke in a voice that Ji Tiantian could hear, and then left with her partner laughing.
"We got third place! Not bad..." The excited voices of the American disco group came faintly from a distance.
"They may also be worried that some fans will point out that there will be controversy, so they want to issue a disclaimer in advance. If you accept their approach, then they will be fine, but you didn't let them get their wish." Jiang Lin gently touched Ji Tiantian's head, "They are so arrogant because they know we can't do anything to them. Don't take it to heart."
"Well, I won't." Ji Tian nodded.
Several contestants and staff members around saw that the communication between the Chinese group and the American disco group did not seem to be so pleasant, so they looked around curiously and talked in a low voice.
“Can the Chinese team still compete in the next race?”
"I think Tang is seriously injured. He probably can't go. Even if he goes, he won't get a good grade."
"Well, we got fourth place in the first round, so we definitely won't be able to enter the finals, right? It's a bit of a pity... If we beat the American team..."
"Ignore them." At this moment, a voice sounded in my ears.
Ji Tiantian turned around and saw the Canadian giants group, Mia and Lucas, coming over.
"We watched your and Tang's free dance last season. We know that the American team did something unethical. What did they say to you just now?" Lucas looked into Ji Tiantian's eyes. "If you need help, you can come to us."
“No need,” Ji Tiantian shook her head gently, “Tang and I will handle it ourselves.”
"Is Tang's injury serious?" Mia asked with concern. As competitors in the same field, they naturally learned about Tang Yi's injury at the first time.
"It shouldn't be serious." Ji Tiantian said, "Thank you for your concern."
"I just got these from my personal doctor. I wonder if you can use them." Lucas handed Ji Tiantian a stack of cold compresses with English words written all over the package.
Ji Tiantian was a little hesitant.
"Take it first. We also want to express our gratitude." Mia said to Ji Tiantian, "We all hope that Tang will get better soon."
"Thank you." Ji Tiantian thought about it and took the cold compress.
"Can we exchange contact information?" Lucas shook his phone gently. "I really want to know what happened to Tang later."
Ji Tiantian exchanged contact information and went to the lounge where Tang Yi was with Jiang Lin.
Now in the lounge, there were only the national team's doctor, Xu Chi, Tang Yi, and Ni Chuan who came from the audience area. None of the four spoke, and the atmosphere was unusually quiet.
The time for the sub-station competition was short and the schedule was tight. After finishing their competitions in the other three events, the contestants all chose to rest and recover in the hotel. Therefore, the grand scene of the World Junior Championships where everyone stayed to watch the free dance did not appear again.
Fortunately, it was not like the World Youth Championship, otherwise the scene would probably be a little more chaotic.
Ji Tiantian silently looked at Tang Yi's bandaged foot. Fortunately, it was not serious enough to go to the hospital.
She couldn't help but think of the college entrance examination story in her previous life that Tang Yi told her.
He failed the college entrance examination because his old ankle injury recurred due to carelessness on the way to the examination room.
Maybe the injury he suffered during that time recurred this time. In his previous life, he missed the entire 2010-2011 season because he had no dance partner. But not in this life.
Because of the intensive practice and competition, his injury came early.
They make some things better, but at a cost.
"Lucas is looking for you?" Tang Yi's voice called back Ji Tiantian's attention.
Ji Tiantian noticed that Tang Yi was looking at the cold compress in her arms. After carefully looking at the outer packaging, she found that it was indeed a local Canadian brand.
"He was very worried about you, so he gave these to me." She paused and handed the cold compress to Tang Yi, "Do you want to use it?"
Tang Yi lowered his eyes, his expression of half-smile looked a little subtle. Just when he hesitated, Ni Chuan reached out and took the thing.
Tang Yi turned to look at Ni Chuan.
"What are you doing? It's useless if you don't want it." Ni Chuan looked at Tang Yi innocently.
"You also saw Tang Yi's injury." At this time, Xu Chi spoke slowly, "Now that everyone is here, I will say here that we will not participate in the remaining games this year." His clear voice echoed in the empty lounge.
"No, Old Xu." Tang Yi propped himself up and looked at Xu Chi with a pair of dark eyes, "I want to go to the next station."
"I can recover," he continued.
Ji Tiantian could sense the strength in Tang Yi's voice. She had a vague premonition, so she lowered her head and used her phone to check the official website of the International Skating Union to see the list of sub-stations that she had not paid attention to before.
They originally planned to go to two sub-stations. Their second stop, which was also the last stop of the sub-station competition, was in Estonia, and the American disco group was also going to go.
"Are you not convinced that the American team that copied you won, so you want to go to the next station to wash away the shame?" Xu Chi looked at Tang Yi and sneered, "But do you think you can win the next station in your current situation? If you act so impulsively now, how will you go in the future? Tang Yi, think about your body, think about your identity! Your body does not belong to you alone!"
At the end of his speech, Xu Chi couldn't help but raise his voice, and his stern voice echoed in the lounge.
"Coach Xu, I will help take care of Tang Yi during this period." Ji Tiantian was silent for a moment, then spoke softly, "If he can recover, please let us... go to the next station together."
Tang Yi sat in his seat, looking at Ji Tiantian quietly.
Ji Tiantian looked at Xu Chi with firm eyes.
At this moment, she felt that she understood Tang Yi very well.
There are seven stages in total, and the top six teams in the two stages can advance to the finals. It is true that finishing fourth in the first stage seems far away from the finals.
However, this does not mean that they will give up the next race easily. This is more like a battle of honor.
They want to take back what they lost.
At this moment, Ji Tiantian felt that Tang Yi was not only her comrade-in-arms, he was more like a branch extending from her body.
She understood his thoughts and knew his beliefs.
Xu Chi looked at Ji Tiantian and frowned. Unlike when he negotiated with Tang Yi, he couldn't say anything too strong when facing a girl like Ji Tiantian.
"Team doctor, please say a few words." He turned around and looked for help.
"Look at it in a positive light. There are no broken bones, only tendon damage. With enough rest and treatment, they can fully recover." The team doctor spoke at this time with a gentle smile on his face. "Old Xu, your next stop is mid-October, right? There is still hope for recovery. If they want to go, let them go."
Xu Chi stared at the team doctor in a daze, and after a while he spoke: "No... why are your elbows bent outward?"
"If you are not passionate, you are young in vain." The team doctor smiled and looked at Tang Yi and Ji Tiantian, "I support you. But you must pay attention to rest during this period."
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