Chapter 41 No Suspense
After the French station, He Hui welcomed the annual start of school and officially moved from the second year to the third year of junior high school.
In early autumn, the garden of the villa halfway up the mountain still carries the last fragrance of flowers from late summer.
"The high school entrance exam is coming up next year. Huihui, have you decided which high school you want to attend?" Lu Yanfeng spoke first.
He Hui closed his eyes resignedly.
Well, it turns out that the theme of today's family gathering is still centered around her.
He Hui was silent, and there was an atmosphere of impending storm in the garden.
Lu Xing was browsing on her tablet nearby. She looked up at her parents and sister, then quickly lowered her head and decided to continue looking at her tablet.
He Jianmu took a sip of tea and started to make the topic more direct.
It asked, unabashedly, “Do you want to study abroad in high school?”
In her previous life, she went abroad to study in high school as arranged by her parents, which was more conducive to her university application. It was also from that time that He Hui regarded figure skating as a hobby and said goodbye to the professional arena.
Thinking about this, He Hui's answer is obvious.
Lu Yanfeng and He Jianmu looked at her at the same time, waiting patiently for her reply.
He Hui took a deep breath and said with determination: "I want to continue practicing figure skating."
Perhaps it was due to the continuous efforts since his rebirth at the age of seven, as well as He Hui's achievements that dazzled the world, that his parents did not object.
Instead, they accepted the reality calmly.
He Jianmu nodded, but the topic did not end.
"If you want, we can find you a new top coach in the United States. You don't have to give up figure skating."
"We just think that this will help you apply to a better university." Lu Yanfeng hurriedly added, fearing that He Hui would misunderstand.
When He Hui heard He Jianmu say "There's no need to give up figure skating", she felt that the gears of fate were turning really fast.
She thought that today would probably lead to a fierce quarrel, or at worst an awkward ending.
However, I didn't expect it to be so quiet that even the chirping of birds outside the window could be heard clearly.
He Hui had thought about the third path proposed by He Jianmu.
But she will be promoted to a higher group soon, and the Winter Olympics will be held next season. If she changes coaches and environment at this critical juncture, she will have a lot to adapt to and it will be very risky.
In addition, the academic studies in American high schools are not easy. The area is vast and sparsely populated, and the ice rink is most likely located dozens of kilometers away from the school. The daily training is estimated to be quite tiring.
not to mention......
What's more, she seems to be a little dependent on her current coach and friends.
A white light flashed in He Hui's mind, and he made his decision!
"I want to stay in Rongchuan during high school."
Rongchuan International School is a top domestic school integrating elementary, middle and high schools. Its annual admission rate to world-renowned universities is not low, including some from the UK's G5 and the US Ivy League.
He Hui is not opposed to studying abroad according to his parents' arrangements.
"I can study AP first, and then I can graduate in time."
The so-called AP refers to the preparatory courses for American universities, which can be exchanged for university credits and are also a plus for university applications.
Lu Yanfeng and He Jianmu nodded with satisfaction.
"That's good. You can stay with us longer." Lu Yanfeng looked at He Hui lovingly, with anticipation in his eyes.
He Hui felt like he was hit by that look and his heart trembled.
Lu Yanfeng no longer takes He Hui to ice skating every week like she did when they were children, and she can't go to every He Hui competition to cheer her on, but the look of anticipation and expectation in her eyes is exactly the same as when she was a child.
A look that is always trusting, expectant and full of love.
Some people always support you silently, hoping that you will grow and become a towering tree.
*
There is no direct flight from Beijing to Zagreb.
He Hui's parents wanted to arrange a private plane, but the flight route was not approved. In addition, there were several other players leaving together, so He Hui felt that there was no need to make special arrangements, so he and his teammates embarked on a long transit journey.
Time passed quickly by chatting with my friends who went ice skating with me.
In October, the temperature in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, was pleasant. Looking at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window, He Hui couldn't wait to get off the plane.
"We're finally here." He Hui took a deep breath of fresh air. "The plane smells so bad!"
Lin Xiaoman smiled and said, "Let's go, Miss. After we get our luggage, we'll set off for the hotel. Then you can have a good rest."
Several people were chatting and laughing while waiting at the turntable.
The team members' luggage were unloaded from the conveyor belt one by one. He Hui thought that his luggage was probably pushed too far back.
But the conveyor belt rumbled around several times, and He Hui still didn't see her luggage.
An unwanted premonition arose in her heart.
"Hasn't it come out yet?" Shang Yuqing, who was pair skating, was also participating in this event. She was staring eagerly beside her two large suitcases.
"Oh." He Hui sighed.
Until the conveyor belt stopped completely, there was no sign of the luggage.
He Hui and Lin Xiaoman looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes.
"I guess the airline lost it." Lin Xiaoman patted her shoulder and said, "Let's go, let's go there and make a final struggle."
After the two confirmed with the airline again, they found that the luggage was indeed lost.
"I'm sorry, we checked and found that your luggage was mistakenly sent to Rome during the transfer. We will arrange the nearest flight to bring it to you. We are very sorry."
He Hui replied superficially: "Okay, thank you for your help."
In my heart, I was complaining about the unreliability of European people. Losing luggage on European airlines is really normal. It happened to me when I went on a trip with my classmates in my previous life.
But I didn't expect that this time the luggage loss would happen to me, and it happened the day before an important competition.
Shang Yuqing was a little anxious and asked with concern: "Did you bring your skates, equipment, and coats with you? Did you forget anything important?"
He Hui nodded: "Nothing, just some daily clothes, towels, disposable items and so on."
Since the last dressing room accident, she is now much more safety-conscious.
"Fortunately, you brought everything important with you this time." Lin Xiaoman sighed with some fear, "Otherwise, by the time the airline sends it to you tomorrow, your competition will have already begun!"
He Hui: "It's a blessing in disguise."
His teammates felt very sympathetic towards He Hui's tragic experience and offered their comfort.
"If you need anything, just tell me." Shang Yuqing patted her chest and said to He Hui.
"Okay, thank you." A warm feeling surged through He Hui's heart.
*
He Hui's feat of breaking the world record in the youth group in the French station made this competition even less suspenseful.
The biggest opponent in this event is Constance Simona from the United States. Her short program configuration is the same as He Hui's, and her free skating is also at the top level in the youth group.
The 14-year-old Simona is the new US champion. She defeated the unstable Hardy-Elling with a high difficulty and is currently on a strong upward trend. You know, the bonus of program content points brought by her nationality should not be underestimated.
But with He Hui around, all the contestants assumed they would only fight for second place.
Simona is no exception.
But Simona did not distance herself from He Hui because of the competition. Instead, she ran to chat with her backstage: "I watched your free skating at the last stop. It was so wonderful! I really like your 3A!! "
One is Hardy Irene and the other is Constance Simona. Is America rich in people who like to be friendly and easy going?
He Hui had doubts in his heart.
Fortunately, He Hui's experience studying abroad in her previous life made her well versed in the culture of being approachable. She nodded politely, smiled sweetly, and said "thank you".
In the short program, Simona performed very stably, completing all three jumps as planned, and finally got a high score of 59.32 points.
He Hui, with his outstanding performance in the previous stop, secured his place at the top of the youth group in the judges' minds and scored 62.07 points.
"To be honest, I'm really looking forward to He Hui's promotion! The Sochi season is coming!"
"With He Hui here, I'm really not worried about not getting the gold medal in this event."
"If I had seen the American and Russian opponents in the past, I would have gone to the temple to pray to the gods, hoping that the p score would be higher. It's so funny."
Simona is quite capable to win the championship in the United States.
Without the triple axel, Simona's free skating was arranged to the limit, especially because she put all five jumps in the second half of the program for the bonus of 1.1 points, which made her BV reach a high score of 58.91.
There are only two sets of jumps in the first half, namely 3Lz+3T and 3S+3T, and the following time is filled with two sets of rotations.
But Simona has a fatal weakness, which is that her 3F is often caught by the wrong blade.
For the 3F+2T+2Lo triple jump in the second half of today's performance, the referee was quite lenient and only gave a vague exclamation mark with a blade.
Next is 3Lo, 2A, 3Lz, 2A, four consecutive jumps are choreographed very densely.
Simona showed the strength of a U.S. champion and completed the free skating with a set of beautiful steps.
With 112.03 points, Simona secured the runner-up spot.
As for the championship, He Hui is very confident about it.
The gap that could not be widened in the short program was opened up by He Hui in the free skating. After all, it was two top 3A configurations, and the difference was an order of magnitude.
However, the judges were a little tighter this time, and the goe and program content scores were lower than last time, leaving He Hui with no chance to break records consecutively.
But the free skating score of 130.95 points and the total score of 193.02 points are something that many athletes can only dream of.
"Next city." Lin Xiaoman congratulated.
He Hui smiled and said, "Did I give you stable happiness this time?"
He Hui once again stepped onto the championship podium and entered the 2012-2013 Youth Grand Prix Finals with the unsurprising first place in points.
After the game, He Hui took the freshly-made score sheet and read it line by line very carefully. While reading, He Hui also wrote down some notes beside it, with a very serious expression.
"What are you looking at so carefully? Are you counting the items?" Lin Xiaoman was curious.
He Hui looked up and blinked: "I'm figuring out how to get into the 200-point club."
Lin Xiaoman: Didn’t this person say he would give me stable happiness ten minutes ago?
"Did you come up with any results?" But Lin Xiaoman quickly digested the facts and asked calmly.
"Hmm..." He Hui frowned, "Either I wait for the promotion to a higher group and my program content score to increase, or I try it for four weeks."
"Which one do you think is more realistic?"
Lin Xiaoman: “…”
It all sounds unrealistic.
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