Chapter 13: Peking Duck is awesome!
Toronto
Yuzuru Hanyu's life seems to be going on as usual recently.
He returned to a routine of commuting between home and the cricket club. After practice each day, he would return home to review his own videos, analyze his problems, and then read a book. However, on his way back and forth between the club and home, he would often pass by an open-air ice rink, and he would always take a closer look.
On the open-air ice rink, there are always many children wearing thick warm clothes, holding hockey sticks and wearing round hockey skates, shoveling large pieces of ice on the rink. Every time he sees this, Yuzuru Hanyu purses his lips in displeasure and stomps on the snow on the side of the road to crush it.
The games at home have been gathering dust for a long time. After all, the goal I set for myself to buy new games after winning the Grand Prix has been broken. The "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" deal I agreed to when I accompanied Le to the wedding is probably also scrapped now.
When I think about these things, I have even less mood to play games. Anyway, it’s the preparation period for the competition, so I might as well continue to collect dust.
When he visited the shrine during the New Year this year, he saw Aunt Feng at the entrance and immediately became nervous. Fortunately, Aunt Feng did not talk to him much, but he took the opportunity to chat with Marrku Sando.
I didn't teach Raku how to skate. As a child, she often competed in ballet competitions. Her mother and teachers wouldn't let her participate in dangerous sports. But one time, I saw her sitting there, watching her classmates skate with envy, and I felt sorry for her, so I secretly bought her a pair of skates. Later, she learned to skate on her own. I don't know who taught her, but maybe her ballet training gave her a natural sense of balance. The skates are a little secret between Raku and me, so please don't tell Feng.
Watching the children swinging their sticks on the open-air ice rink, Yuzuru Hanyu recalled Marrku-san's wink as she revealed the secrets of her youth. Ice skating wasn't taught by a teacher, not by Marrku-san. Could it really be someone who plays ice hockey?!
He made a sound of "tut", stomped on a piece of snow viciously, and walked towards the club with his suitcase.
As expected, nothing good happened today when I met the kids playing ice hockey. Yuzuru Hanyu was sitting in the coach's office discussing the adjustment of tactics for the Four Continents Tournament, and he was in a stalemate with Coach Brain.
Coach Brain didn't quite support his strategy.
"Changing the program mid-season? Yuzuru, I don't think this is a good idea." Coach Brain sat across from Hanyu, holding the program chart he had adjusted for the Four Continents Games. "I know you want to win, but changing the program mid-season is very risky."
"I am very confident about these two programs. I think the risks can be minimized according to the program structure."
"Aren't you afraid that others will say you've run out of ideas?"
"Oh, others? Don't they talk less?" He put away his smile, rested his elbows on the table, and said seriously with his hand on his chin, "I have to speak out even if I lose, and I have to speak out even if I win. So of course I have to win."
Coach Brain looked at Yuzuru Hanyu across the conference table. The determination and sharpness in his eyes made him realize that it was useless to say more. He pursed his lips and pushed the paper in his hand over. "Okay, I respect you."
Beijing
The hotel room was bustling with activity. The waiter gradually filled the glass turntable on the large round table with various dishes, but no one seemed to care; they were just busy raising their glasses and chatting happily. This was a strange occasion, a team annual dinner, and Le had never witnessed it before.
Watching everyone clink glasses and drink in a customary order, the tension between reluctance and eagerness to drink, China's drinking culture is truly fascinating. Le thought, wrapping himself another piece of roast duck and shoving it into his mouth. The sweet bean sauce and the rich, fatty roast duck blended in his mouth. Peking duck was truly amazing!
"Miss, your name is Le, right? Am I remembering correctly? Come, let's have a drink." A girl from the same group came to Le with a glass of wine, "Le-chan, that's what all Japanese people call you, right? Can I call you that too?"
Before he could swallow the roast duck in his mouth, Le quickly covered his mouth with a tissue and nodded to show that he agreed with her. He picked up his wine glass and stood up to clink glasses with the girl in front of him.
"Le-chan, I wanted to ask you last time, how did you decide to come to China?"
A familiar question, Le looked at the other person's nose, smiled, and then unrolled his standard interview rhetoric. The other person listened and nodded in praise, but didn't seem to want to end the conversation, and immediately asked the next question.
Why do you want to apply for the Winter Olympics project team?
Le lowered her eyes to glance at her glass. It was clearly a common greeting question, and she had a standard response. Just as she was about to answer, the others interrupted with their glasses. Glasses clinked, and the conversation quickly forgot what they had just discussed. Everyone dispersed to find new drinking partners, leaving Le to sit back in her seat, lost in thought as she watched the lively toasts.
It was a similar situation that first sparked my idea to apply for the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony project, but it was at the 2018 CWW celebration party.
Le wasn't the main attraction at the celebration banquet, so she, like now, sat quietly by the side, savoring the food attentively. She watched Hanyuu beaming brightly amidst the crowd, holding a glass of juice and feeling perfectly at ease among the drinking crowd, and she was silently impressed. Honestly, her admiration went beyond his ability to handle the banquet with such ease.
"You are the only one in the whole audience who eats the most seriously." After the celebration banquet, Yuzuru Hanyu sat in the car and laughed at Le Ren, saying that he was like a transparent person at the celebration banquet. She just smiled and replied, "Isn't it good to eat seriously? You can't be as picky as him."
Yuzuru Hanyu pouted and changed the subject.
"How was CWW this time? It was actually quite fun working with everyone, right? It's not as difficult as you keep saying."
"That's because you're so awesome." Le said as a matter of course.
Yuzuru Hanyu disagreed strongly and raised his hand to ruffle her bangs in protest.
"You did a great job, too! I'm relieved with your help. If you're still not confident, why not try something bigger, like the Winter Olympics? See how the great directors you admire work."
"Can I do it?"
“Why not? Just write on your resume that you are a member of the executive team of Yuzuru Hanyu’s CWW ice performance, and then write my contact information on the contact list.” He narrowed his eyes and smiled proudly.
Recalling this, Le Qian smiled and took a sip of wine. She had to admit that being able to sit here now was truly a blessing thanks to him, and she couldn't let him down. Le picked up her glass, stood up, and joined in the excitement, even though she didn't quite understand the rules.
---
They say that after the company's annual reunion dinner, the Spring Festival officially begins. Isn't that the case now?
The entire city was immersed in the relaxed atmosphere of the approaching holiday, even at home. Le sat on the sofa, holding his Moomin doll in his arms, watching Guan Yue humming a song as she ran in and out packing. Seeing that the 29-inch suitcase was gradually filling up, he hesitated and spoke.
"Should I find a new roommate?"
"What?" Guan Yue, who was still busy stuffing things into the box, was puzzled.
"I have a feeling you're not going to come back once you've gone back. Bring so many things?" Le got off the sofa, squatted beside the suitcase, and picked up a tube top. "Is this summer clothing? Why are you taking it back? Is W City really that warm?"
"Oh, you Finn don't understand the fashion of hot girls!"
Well, if you want to be fashionable, then be fashionable. Why do you have to be so picky? Le curled her lips and rummaged through the suitcase again. She brought three kinds of curling irons, a straightening iron, and a book?
With a bang, a red and blue brick was thrown over and landed on the book in front of Le. "You already have a Switch, and you also have a book? Can you read it?"
"Oh, you don't understand. Look." Guan Yue took a flat box and waved it in front of Le. "This is the new game I bought, called Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It's super cute. I want to go back and play it. But if I play it every day, I'll definitely get nagged. I'll bring a book back with me, just to pretend. This is a strategy!"
Animal Crossing?
[Well~ I want "Animal Crossing" this time] Yuzuru Hanyu's bargaining smile suddenly appeared in his mind.
Yes, this seemed to be the condition for emergency help from the Jianghu before... She had almost forgotten about it. Le took the box, looked over it over and over, took out his phone, and snapped a picture.
"What? You want to play too?"
"I don't have the time." Le put his phone away and continued to rummage through Guan Yue's suitcase, complaining as he went along, finding it very amusing.
There really wasn't any time. Guan Yue knew how busy Le had been recently. Now that he finally had some free time, he had to go home again, leaving her alone.
"You really don't want to go home with me for the New Year? It's so quiet in Beijing during the New Year."
"No, I'm fine. I'll just stay at home quietly for a few days."
It would be better if I could just lie there quietly, Guan Yue thought to herself.
Le hadn't been happy since returning from Toronto, often in a daze. She also didn't seem to sleep well, as she often heard the door opening in the next room in the middle of the night, and the scented candles in her house were running out rather quickly. But she knew Le wouldn't say anything, considering he was at home anyway. But he'd been gone for ten days...
"Le Le, come with me." Guan Yue pulled Le up from the ground, dragged her to the kitchen, and began to show her the New Year's goods she had recently stockpiled. "Look, the flour is here, the noodles are here, and the rice is here. I checked that all the seasonings are complete. I've also divided the meat and put it in the freezer. I didn't prepare any vegetables for you, so it's better to eat fresh ones. I also bought some frozen dumplings and other things. I know you don't like dumplings, but during the Chinese New Year, you still have to eat dumplings to celebrate the occasion, you know?"
"You look like my mother."
"The cafeteria will be closed during the Spring Festival, and I'm afraid you will starve to death at home." Guan Yue looked at Le with disgust.
Le was a little amused and confused. Did she really look like someone so weak and unable to take care of herself?
It was simply because the cafeteria was so convenient, there were so many delicious options outside, and Guan Yue was a good cook, so she never had the chance to show off her skills. Ever since she sprained her ankle over a year ago but was too lazy to go to the hospital, Guan Yue had come to the conclusion: Yue didn't know how to take care of herself.
From then on, he took care of everything for her life, and really made Le feel the warmth in a foreign country.
"Yueyue is the best~" He hugged Guan Yue.
"Hmph~ Of course~"
At that time, the two of them really didn't expect that Le's joking remark would actually hit the nail on the head.
Two days after Guan Yue returned home, W City was closed.
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