Chapter 99 99 PyeongChang Season
The new season kicks off with everyone's configuration upgrades. Everyone knows that all this is to retain the possibility of hitting the podium at the Winter Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February next year.
After school started at the end of August, He Hui continued to maintain high-intensity training with Li Chumiao.
What He Hui had suggested before, that Li Chumiao should try it for four weeks, was magically put on the agenda and became Li Chumiao's biggest attempt in this offseason.
Of course, Li Chumiao has never been very confident about this, and He Hui almost always forces her to complete the practice every day.
"Should I really try again?" Li Chumiao's face was downcast, his eyes were lifeless, and his pupils showed that he had lost all desire to live.
He Hui nodded as a matter of course and asked in return: "You have worked so hard for so long, how embarrassing it would be to give up now?"
Li Chumiao's desire to win was poke into her, her eyes suddenly widened, she rolled up her non-existent sleeves, and strode onto the ice rink.
Although she was full of vigor at the beginning, Li Chumiao became listless again after falling on the ice eight times in a row.
She turned over and lay directly on the ice.
"Ah... Can I really become 4T?" Li Chumiao wailed.
He Hui said nothing, started from the side of Li Chumiao, and then jumped neatly on the other side of the ice rink, demonstrating a complete 4T with a perfect landing.
Li Chumiao said these discouraging words, but tilted her head and rotated 90 degrees to watch the whole process from He Hui's jump to landing on the ice.
In fact, Li Chumiao observed He Hui jumping 4T quite a few times from a close distance, but it seemed that it did not bring any practical improvement to her.
"I can't learn it, not at all." Li Chumiao wanted to give up.
But He Hui insisted on extending his arm to help her: "Then let's try again tomorrow."
Li Chumiao held He Hui with one hand and supported herself on the ground with the other hand, then climbed up from the ice.
She brushed off the ice on her body and smiled with relief: "Then let's try again tomorrow."
*
In September, the two continued their practice.
The same thing is that Li Chumiao has not yet become a 4T, the difference is that she is now more peaceful.
After several months of intensive training, Li Chumiao's 4T seems to have really increased hope.
After He Hui easily completed several different quadruple moves, Li Chumiao also stepped up to speed.
Her eyes were filled with the confidence and determination that only comes with skateboarding.
Soon, Li Chumiao came to a position a few meters away from the baffle, then suddenly gathered strength and clicked the ice, throwing himself into the air.
The rapid rotation after escaping gravity was a piece of cake for Li Chumiao, and all that was left was to land on the ice and stand still.
With a swish, the ice blade fell to the ground.
Li Chumiao's speed slowed down, and after swaying slightly left and right, she managed to keep her balance without any danger.
He Hui applauded her almost immediately.
Li Chumiao looked at He Hui in disbelief. She was stunned for a long time before she came to her senses.
She accelerated towards He Hui and asked, "What did I just do...?!"
"It's done." He Hui nodded affirmatively.
"Not a dream?!" Li Chumiao confirmed again.
"Of course not." He Hui curled his lips helplessly, and then met Li Chumiao's shining eyes, "And I've said it before, as long as you trust yourself enough, you will be able to create miracles."
Li Chumiao was still stunned. She once felt that her efforts to practice four quads here were just an ordinary figure skater's hopeless pursuit of genius.
Seeing that Li Chumiao didn't say anything, He Hui immediately added: "You have jumped out of the four circles, so you are a genius."
"I am a genius?" Li Chumiao's heart seemed to be hit by something.
It has been so long since I heard this sentence that I have forgotten the feeling of being praised. Especially, this sentence came from a true genius.
Li Chumiao raised her head and looked into He Hui's eyes.
"Please, how many people in the world can do a quadruple jump?" He Hui asked, and then answered himself, "Only a handful."
Li Chumiao felt that this way of thinking did make sense.
"Well, I... am indeed a genius." Li Chumiao frankly accepted this word which had once made her excited and painful but was now given different meanings.
*
He Hui's new season starts with the China Cup in November.
Li Chumiao and He Hui chose the same sub-station competition, and in order to better achieve good results in the Winter Olympics, after discussing with her coach, she decided to continue using the free skating selection "Murderous Symphony" from last season, but boldly added a 4T.
"Tell me, can I really do it?" On the plane flying back to Beijing from Philadelphia, Li Chumiao once again doubted her abilities.
"Why not? Your success rate is 40%, and some people have a quadruple jump success rate of only 20%. " He Hui's answer even came with data, which made people extremely convincing.
"You're right." Li Chumiao nodded vigorously and accepted this setting.
As soon as the news that He Hui was going to participate in the Huaguo Cup was released, ice fans across the country were excited again. The organizers learned from the last lesson and set the price very high. They also bundled the tickets for sale and added some peripherals of the figure skating team for sale, making it a full commercial event.
Director Zhang was quite satisfied with his arrangement, and was even more proud when he saw the income report.
But ice fans were very annoyed by this "ugly" behavior.
"To be honest, with this price, are we He Hui fans really being taken advantage of?"
"To see He Hui, you need to buy a package ticket for 1880, but the single-day tickets are sold out immediately. You are really amazing! You can grab the tickets openly, but you insist on selling them."
"You need money to learn figure skating, and now you need money to watch figure skating. Is this real?"
"It's not that we don't accept price increases, but selling only package tickets and packages with peripherals is a bundled sale, right?"
During the meeting, Director Zhang was smiling and waiting for praise from his leader.
"What's your reasoning behind setting the price like this?" the leader asked sternly, "Do you know how much dissatisfaction and complaints this has caused among the public?"
The leader was holding a thick stack of comments from netizens, all of which were insults.
Director Zhang's smile froze on his face, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He explained, "This is not to increase our income..."
His voice became weaker and weaker under the leader's intimidating gaze, and finally dissolved into one sentence - "I didn't think it through."
"Look at how many times you've screwed up?" The leader took a sip of tea and calmly announced the decision to replace him. "I understand that Director Zhang is old and may not be able to handle frontline work anymore. I think Xiao Wang's proposal is pretty good. We should also let the ideas of young blood liven up this market."
The final word was given. Director Zhang looked ashen, his lips trembled but he couldn't utter a word.
Xiao Wang, who was named next to her, opened her eyes wide at the unexpected promotion and salary increase. She had originally planned to resign from Director Zhang, after all, the planning proposal she had worked so hard to write was rejected by Director Zhang with a single snap of his head.
"Thank you, leader." Xiao Wang nodded humbly, determined to seize this opportunity.
Even though the official Weibo account sincerely apologized and stated that the previous arrangements were inappropriate, the tickets for the women's singles were indeed sold out and there was no way to remedy the situation.
He Hui also knew about this. After all, her Weibo post had been drowned out by the overwhelming cries for votes.
"What are you looking at?" Lin Xiaoman asked.
“Many people failed to buy tickets. Only package tickets and surrounding package tickets are available. It does feel a bit unreasonable,” He Hui replied.
"There's nothing we can do about it, right? You, as a player, can't do anything."
He Hui pondered for a moment and replied, "I feel that the price of this year's ice show can be more affordable so that more people can have the opportunity to watch it."
"No, ice performances cost a lot of money. Is Miss He really doing charity?" Lin Xiaoman blinked. "But I heard that your father is very opposed to you doing this."
"Don't worry about what he thinks." He Hui shrugged indifferently, "It's a good thing to increase the number of people participating in figure skating and make it easier to get involved."
"Well! It has great social significance!" Lin Xiaoman thought, He Hui is indeed a rare idealist.
*
After the pre-match incident of the China Cup, the atmosphere on the scene was still very lively and there was nothing wrong with it.
In such a home atmosphere, He Hui's winning moment was like a fan meeting, with constant screams and confessions, leaving almost no quiet time in the venue.
After He Hui performed two shows, the ice rink was filled with densely packed fox dolls, as if the white ice surface had been dyed into a red ocean.
When Li Chumiao saw it, she exclaimed that it was exaggerated, while Bian Jing was extremely envious.
With the atmosphere reaching its climax - applause and cheers, He Hui undoubtedly stood on the highest podium and won the championship of this game.
Tan Ling won the silver medal, while Li Chumiao became a 4T for the first time in her life and won a precious bronze medal in the adult Grand Prix for the first time.
On the podium, the always relaxed and at ease Li Chumiao's eyes turned red, and tears flowed uncontrollably the moment she saw the Malaysian flag rising.
After receiving the medal, He Hui looked at Li Chumiao's emotions with interest, with a smile on his face.
"What are you laughing at!" Li Chumiao narrowed her eyes and stared at He Hui.
"Happy that a talent is back on her stage."
He Hui's smile deepened, causing Li Chumiao's mouth corners to rise as well.
"Okay." Li Chumiao said.
The Internet was also buzzing with excitement about this game.
"Ahh, even though I spent a lot of money to get a ticket for the women's singles, it's really hard for you to imagine how it feels to watch a woman do six quads live!!"
"He Hui was really far ahead of the rest. The difference was so huge that my non-ice fan friend who came with me could tell at first glance that He Hui had the potential to be a champion, and the performances of the others were not as good as expected."
"Let me talk about the athlete who surprised me the most. Malaysia's Li Chumiao even got a 4T! I heard that she is a friend who trained at the same rink as He Hui in the United States."
*
At the same time, on the other side of the world, Ophelia's victory continued, forming an increasingly powerful force, challenging He Hui, who was firmly sitting on the throne of the world's number one.
As the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics approaches, the landscape of the women's singles competition is also undergoing subtle changes.
In addition to the six players from last year's Grand Prix Final, two new players have joined the ranks to challenge for the podium.
One is a Russian athlete who continuously exports quadruple jumps to the ice arena, and she has 4T; the other is a rising talent from Japan, who has 3A.
“Why do quadruple jumps seem to be free?” Li Chumiao sighed.
“But there is a difference between succeeding once and succeeding every time,” He Hui replied.
"That's right." Li Chumiao sighed.
"And you are the latter." He Hui said.
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