Ch54 – Love Song on Ice (11)
061 didn’t speak.
Chi Xiaochi cracked open an eye. “Liu-laoshi?”
061 let out an “en?” before continuing, “Wait a moment, I’m looking up the map for you. ……It’s almost mealtime. Compiling the results of the internal evaluation, I noticed that the junior division dining hall’s fried pork chops are delicious and are the fastest to sell out. Let’s go buy some.”
Chi Xiaochi flipped out of bed. “……This won’t affect your performance, will it?”
“My performance is you. The only thing I need to be responsible for is also you.”
061 laughed lightly. Because the person speaking was inside his body, Chi Xiaochi could practically feel a rush of warm air brush past his ear, like someone was whispering into it.
Clearly this system’s tone was incredibly proper, but for no apparent reason it had a tinge of s.e.xiness.
“……I’m your teacher, you’re my master. Wherever you go, I will follow.”
Chi Xiaochi kneaded his ears. “Tch. Liu-laoshi is very practiced in this business, huh.”
After having known each other for a long time, 061’s ability to roleplay could be said to be growing with each pa.s.sing day. “This is my first time taking on this kind of work.”
Chi Xiaochi raised his eyebrows licentiously. With quite the air of a regular customer of the red light district, he said, “Yo, fresh meat. How much for a night, hmm?”
061 laughed, “How about some fried pork chops?”
Chi Xiaochi went to the dining hall early and bought a set of fried pork chops fresh out of the fryer.
These pork chops had been fried until they were golden yellow and crispy. Upon biting into the thin, crisp sh.e.l.l, a rush of delicious, salty meat juices would explode in the mouth, enticing enough to make anyone drool. Ripping off piece by piece to eat, it would especially stoke the appet.i.te.
However, as Chi Xiaochi ate and ate, he felt like this play wasn’t quite right.
……He was the patron of the brothel, so why was he enjoying the prost.i.tute’s service fees.
It made it seem more like the one being prost.i.tuted was him.
As Chi Xiaochi gnawed on his pork chops, he made a complaint, saying, “Liu-laoshi, you’ve been corrupted.”
061 acted as if he was undergoing serious reflection. “En.”
“As a teacher, you can’t trick students like this.”
061 looked at this little brothel patron who’d gained an advantage but still wanted to act obedient and couldn’t keep a smile from forming on his face. He placed an unfolded wet towel by Chi Xiaochi’s right hand. “En.”
Chi Xiaochi stayed in the junior division.
And just like in Dong Ge’s original life, He Changsheng and Lou Sifan entered the adult division one after the other, less than two months after he joined the team.
And on his first day on the team, he put the mid-grade card to use.
Name: Compression Card (Mid-grade, 12 times acceleration)
Duration: Unlimited
Quant.i.ty: 1
Quality: Excellent
Type: One-time use
Points required: 35 regret points
Description: I put time into a can like how I would put yellow peaches, lychees and hawthorns into cans.
After time had been compressed, it felt no different from the usual, and the accelerated flow of time could only be told though 061’s occasional reminders from behind the scenes.
Three months after entering the provincial team, right after Dong Ge’s 12th birthday, an invitation for the Junior Grand Prix in Belarus was sent to Dong Ge.
This was one of the rewards for winning first place in the compet.i.tion. The first-place winner could skip the selection compet.i.tions, directly qualifying.
It could be said that as soon as Dong Ge entered the team, he could already be considered the man of the moment.
What did his young age matter? In figure skating, in gymnastics, in those kinds of sporting events that made the most of one’s youthfulness, the younger one was, the more infinite their possibilities.
Furthermore, there were also rumours from the sports school, saying that behind Dong Ge was Lou Sifan-ge’s support.
The matter of Lou Sifan helping Dong Ge out already wasn’t a secret in the sports school. Adding on Dong Ge’s glorious achievement of single-handedly wiping out four people, as well as the special attention and protection the coach was giving Dong Ge, all those people who had originally been wiping their fists, planning on showing their seniority by “having a little meeting” with Dong Ge to teach him how to behave wilted.
As for how Lou Sifan in the adult division felt upon hearing about this, Chi Xiaochi didn’t care.
In Chi Xiaochi’s words, when slotting your card into the ATM, could it be you would even ask how the ATM felt?
Thanks to the ATM’s lucky influence, Dong Ge quickly a.s.similated into the junior division.
Since Dong Ge himself was proud by nature, Chi Xiaochi also wouldn’t try to actively climb up the social ladder, only picking a few people with good morals and good skill level to a.s.sociate with, occasionally going out for dinner with them. His greatest pleasure was training, and talking with the new dining hall aunties in Suzhou dialect.
Since he was going to stay, he was going to take it slow, accompanying Dong Ge as he treated his illness.
After the exciting selection compet.i.tion, Dong Ge’s trip to Belarus officially began.
Dong Feihong had a pa.s.sport and he had experience studying and working abroad, so of course he accompanied him to Belarus as his guardian.
When they got off the plane, small carry-on bags filled Dong Feihong’s hands.
When the plane landed, it was drizzling in Belarus. After being trodden on by the numerous people before them, the jet bridge had already become muddy and wet.
This jet bridge was very long, and was slightly steep. There were a few children squeezing their way through the crowd, howling wildly, the airport security completely unable to stop them.
Dong Feihong turned his head. “Xiao Ge, be careful of the step.
Dong Ge, “En.”
Just as his words left his mouth, a bear child squeezed past him from behind. Dong Ge almost slipped.
Hearing the movement behind him, the tall man stopped in his tracks.
Dong Ge said, “Uncle, I’m alright.”
Dong Feihong lifted the things in his hands higher, then bent his knee. “Get on.”
Dong Ge stilled.
Dong Feihong repeated his words. This time, there wasn’t much room for negotiation in his tone. “Get on. Uncle doesn’t have his hands free to hold you. If you fall and hurt yourself, how will you partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion?”
Dong Ge obediently got on, circling his arms around Dong Feihong’s neck and wrapping his legs around Dong Feihong’s waist.
Dong Feihong asked, “Ready?”
Dong Ge, “Ready.”
Only then did he continue walking onwards, at ease.
The bear child from just now ran by again, deng deng deng, to Dong Feihong’s side, sticking out his tongue and making faces at the Dong Ge on his back.
Dong Feihong lowered his head, “Kid, don’t play around. Do it again and I’ll throw you off.”
The bear child hadn’t expected that this kind-looking uncle was a violent maniac. He was scared off.
Only after they safely stepped off the jet bridge did Dong Feihong’s tone finally turn gentle again. “Alright, little prince. Walk on your own now.”
Dong Ge climbed down from his back and went with him to pick up their checked-in luggage.
A youth and a young man walked side by side, looking just like a pair of father and son.
As soon as they got their luggage, Madam Dong called, asking Dong Feihong if they’d landed yet and repeatedly urging Dong Ge to remember to not catch a cold, and to pull up his quilt at night.
Ever since Dong Ge had won first place in his compet.i.tion, Madam Dong was finally willing to properly face her son’s career. She had Dong Feihong get her many videos on figure skating, and when she had free time, she would flip through and watch them.
Dong Ge listened obediently, nodding non-stop.
When she was done, he asked, “Mom, if I don’t get first place, what then?”
On the other end of the phone call, Madam Dong fell silent for a while. “If you win first place, Mom and Dad will be the happiest; if you win second or third place, Mom and Dad will also be happy; if you don’t get any place, come back home and Mom will make you your favourite simmered Crucian carp.”
When he put down his phone, Dong Ge had a sincere smile on his face.
He actually had been born with a pair of natural peach blossom eyes, the inner corners of his eyes very sharp. When he wasn’t smiling, it wasn’t visible, but once he smiled, the corners of his eyes and his mouth would curve upwards together in an extremely infectious smile.
Dong Feihong smiled along with him.
Chi Xiaochi thought that if those many years of heavy shackles named “parental expectations” weighing Dong Ge down were to be removed, Dong Ge would probably have smiled like this.
Sure enough, when it was once again thrown into training, this body had inexplicably become much lighter.
The youth had been refined and tempered through nearly ten years of international compet.i.tions. This compet.i.tion which was merely at the junior division level was naturally a cinch.
Just like this, he skated straight into the finals.
The day the preliminaries ended, he’d snuck out to have some borscht, but was caught by the Belarusian media.
The Belarusian media also thought highly of this youth from China.
Firstly, he was one of the youngest children in the junior division, but his skill level was quite outstanding; secondly, by international aesthetic standards, Dong Ge was also a budding beauty with gorgeous features.
When he was caught by the media, Dong Ge was wearing all-white casual clothes. On his head was a black headband, pulling back all the baby hairs covering his forehead to reveal a clean, full forehead. He looked up from his piping hot bowl of soup and garlic bread and smiled at the camera, not hiding or dodging.
Later on, this picture of Dong Ge appeared on the covers of the local magazines, the media praising him as “a youth that made people think of hope”.
And the photos of his finals programs were hung up in the provincial team’s trophy room.
The day of the finals, Dong Ge’s chosen accompaniment was “My Heart Will Go On”.
He’d dyed his hair a pale gold, his cultivated snow-white skin seeming even clearer against the gold. An elegant, floaty white blouse was tucked into a pair of flax-coloured suspender pants, delineating the contours of an extremely slender, pretty waist.
As the first notes of the saxophone began to play, his gaze began to gradually change along with it.
——In his last life, that long period of love allowed him to understand what love was.
Even though it turned out to be nothing more than an utterly ridiculous joke, that love hadn’t been false.
It once drove Dong Ge insane, but now, it settled in the depths of his eyes, pooling into a quiet shadow.
In order to fit with the music, his every move was made with the utmost ease and gentleness.
Dong Feihong sat in the stands, watching the youth in the rink. For a while, he felt gratified, but after another while, he couldn’t help but think about the person in his body.
The youth in the rink did an camel spin, raising his leg, grabbing the blade, and pulling it close to his head. His gaze was aimed upwards, as if he was in deep thought, as if he was looking up to someone hopefully.
His gaze, flooded with water, was spirited and clear.
Dong Feihong thought that this was probably the result of Chi Xiaochi’s efforts in taking him out to experience the light and nature over these few months.
After a perfect straight line step sequence, he prepared to jump.
Far away in Binshi, Lou Sifan couldn’t help but lean his body forward towards the screen, guessing, he was going to jump another 3A? Would he succeed?
This was his first time partic.i.p.ating in an international compet.i.tion, he had to be a little nervous, right?
Like the first time he himself partic.i.p.ated in one……
Before he could finish that line of thought, on the screen, Dong Ge moved.
In the next second, the audience’s cheers rang out:
……3lz! A three-revolution Lutz! It could be said to have an absolutely perfect GOE!
And, as they saw Dong Ge’s next move, the cheers paused for a second before setting off an even bigger wave in the stands!
Even the Belarusian interpreter couldn’t help but speak faster, “A 3lz followed by a 3T, absolutely remarkable! Let’s see if the judges will decide if this jump combination is ratified.”
……He didn’t need to hear the judges’ decision, the moment he landed steadily on the ice, Dong Ge knew in his heart how it had gone.
He’d failed almost as many times as he had succeeded. Whether he had succeeded or not, he himself knew best.
As he performed his final movement, as he spun in place, he reached forwards his hand.
There wasn’t a single person in the audience who didn’t think of the hand the suit-clad young man reached out to his princess, his lover in 《The t.i.tanic》.
He grasped air. Then, he drew his closed fist to his chest, closing his eyes in deep thought.
The program ended. The applause was thunderous, with an unceasing rain of stuffed toys and roses falling from the stands.
This was allowed in skating compet.i.tions. It represented praise and recognition.
And Dong Ge, gasping slightly, opened his mouth, pulling off his glove with his teeth and throwing it to Dong Feihong sitting in the second row.
Dong Feihong’s thoughts stirred, and he reached out his hands and caught it.
The glove looked thin and light, but it was actually very good at retaining heat. The part that had been flipped inside out still had Dong Ge’s warmth.
Dong Feihong was stunned. He looked at the person in the centre of the rink, but in his eyes, he saw Chi Xiaochi’s radiance.
061, Dong Feihong, “……”
A little happy, but a little conflicted, he tightened his grasp on the glove. In his heart, he couldn’t help but wonder, this glove, did he mean to give it to Dong Feihong?
But, thinking about it, could he have kept himself from taking care of Chi Xiaochi?
After a long time, the throwing and catching of his glove became “Dong Ge” and Dong Feihong’s tradition after the end of every finals compet.i.tion.
Even the media knew that the figure skating genius Dong Ge had an uncle he was very close to, so Dong Feihong would always have a seat close to the front in the stands.
However, the day Dong Ge turned 15, or also the day of his very first finals in the adult division, Dong Feihong was unable to make it to his performance due to his plane being late.
That seat was empty. But Dong Ge’s performance was outstanding as usual.
He was already no longer that person who would let small matters affect his condition.
This time, the song he chose was the slightly s.e.xual, languid《crush》. The shirt on the upper half of his body was tinged with a bit of blue, and his lower half was simply clad in plain black pants, but his shirt, slightly open with the top two b.u.t.tons left unb.u.t.toned, and the tattoo chain stretching from his collarbone to his neck made his entire person seem a lot more alluring and mature.
With his body’s maturation, many high-difficulty moves became much easier for him to accomplish.
And with Dong Ge’s current experience, he might have already surpa.s.sed any skater still currently active.
Both sides of him layered over one another, settling into a calmness rarely seen in youths.
After he was finished with the post-compet.i.tion interview and press conference, Chi Xiaochi said his goodbyes to his coach and then, relying on a pair of sungla.s.ses and a thin scarf, successfully broke out of the encirclement, slipping out of the ring of media personnel surrounding the area.
This was one of Dong Ge’s habits. After compet.i.tions, he would slip out to have a meal on his own.
Chi Xiaochi naturally maintained this habit.
He casually walked into a cafe with a strong retro vibe and ordered a cup of coffee and a b.u.t.ter tart. He sat down by the window and watched the crowds of people come and go.
By the naked eye alone, he couldn’t at all tell that this world’s time was going by at 12 times the speed.
……Dong Ge had come straight over to partic.i.p.ate in the compet.i.tion right after finishing up his formal transfer to the adult division. His luggage was still in the junior division dorms. He would probably have to move once he got back.
When he returned this time, he would also have to directly face Lou Sifan.
Over these few years, Lou Sifan, this ATM, had been cautious and conscientious, working his heart out and providing Chi Xiaochi 15 low-grade compression cards, 8 mid-grade compression cards and 2 top-grade compression cards. It was to the point that even 061 couldn’t bear to watch anymore.
……So he chose to watch something else, such as videos of Dong Ge’s compet.i.tions.
Chi Xiaochi was a little bored on his own. He idly took out his phone, opened up WeChat’s voice calling function, and connected to Dong Feihong. “Uncle, where are you?”
Dong Feihong’s voice was just as warm as pleasant as it had always been, “I’m on the road, I’ll be there immediately.”
Chi Xiaochi used a delicate fork to carve out a piece of the b.u.t.ter tart, then brought it to his mouth. “You can even use your phone while driving, huh. Have you seen the compet.i.tion yet?”
Dong Feihong said, “Not yet.”
Chi Xiaochi said, “I lost. I lost really badly.”
Dong Feihong laughed, “Then you’re still laughing so happily?”
Chi Xiaochi said sadly, “Uncle, you don’t know, but I was just crying.”
“……Really.”
The second after he said this, someone knocked on the window next to Chi Xiaochi.
Chi Xiaochi turned.
The rays of the Canadian afternoon sun shone down on the shoulders of the person outside the window, making his smiling face even more moving in contrast.
And from the cell phone still stuck to Chi Xiaochi’s ear, came Dong Feihong’s deep, gentle voice, “Like I said, I’m on the road, I’ll be there immediately.”