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A double Axel jump, abbreviated as 2A, required skaters to take off while facing forward, turn 900° in the air, and then land. It was a jump that became popular in the 1990s.
By the way, Zhang Sushang was only six years old when he first learned it.
It was precisely because of his familiarity with this jump that he could pick it up again so quickly after losing weight and practising a few times on land.
Upon landing, he swung his head, thinking that he looked very cool. Meanwhile the onlookers, including his student Misha, only felt that he was unfathomable.
That was a 2A! How could he do it just like that?
Under normal circumstances, didn’t skaters have to skate for a while to gather momentum? Where did this Chinese guy get his strength? Did he eat a bear?
Then everyone watched as Zhang Sushang kept going after standing firm. He raised his feet and jumped again, another 2A. He did this four times in total.
Coincidentally, every time he finished a 2A, his blades drew a quarter circle on the ice. When he finished four 2As, he ended up with a perfect circle.
What terrifying control this was!
After Zhang Sushang finished this set of jumps, he said to Misha, “Learn the new jumps before Worlds starts.”
This wasn’t a negotiation but an order from his coach.
Misha stared at him for a while, then slowly replied, “Yes, I’ll work hard, coach.”
“You don’t need to put pressure on yourself, I’ll help you,” Zhang Sushang said, returning to his usual cheerful mien. Just as Misha was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he added, “But you can’t be too relaxed either. An athlete without any pressure can’t burst out with potential, so I’ll be adjusting the plan based on your situation.”
Misha’s heart rose again.
After getting along for a time, Misha had realised that Chyushka was easy-going yet meticulous during training. In the words of the Chinese student called Jiang Jinghu, Chyushka was a smiling tiger.
He was usually all smiles and cracking jokes, but that all changed if he wasn’t focused when he should be or couldn’t complete the assigned training.
Perhaps it was a natural law that students were scared of teachers just as athletes were scared of coaches — Misha was particularly afraid of Zhang Sushang’s impassive face, so he was very obedient.
Since he was so proactive, Zhang Sushang skated away and began practicing on his own. Compared to the skaters today, Zhang Sushang who had learned all his skills a hundred years in the future had never seriously studied compulsory figures, only using them as an auxillary tool to increase control over his blades’ footwork.
Although Zhang Sushang wasn’t particularly good at jumping, he had been the best at basic skating skills among his age group. Coupled with an elderly coach who had experienced competitions where figures were an official element, he was at least familiar with all the compulsory figures.
It was fortunate this was the case, otherwise he would have no way to compete in this day and age with just his jumping skills.
By now, neither Luka nor Maxim had any objection to Zhang Sushang teaching Misha.
Zhang Sushang was Chinese.
But he could do a 2A.
Misha was Russia’s top figure skater, he couldn’t be handed over to just anyone.
But he could do a 2A.
Zhang Sushang was only 18 years old.
But he could do four 2A in a row, and said he would teach Misha how to jump a 2A!
What they didn’t know was that if Zhang Sushang didn’t exist, the world would only see the first 2A in 1948’s Winter Olympics.
It was currently 1926. If Misha could learn the 2A, and if Zhang Sushang didn’t participate in competitions, then Misha could absolutely sing ‘how lonely it is to be invincible’.1Lyrics from Zhou Xingchi’s song 美人鱼 (Mermaid)
Even if they didn’t know this history, they could easily see how amazing Zhang Sushang was.
“How can this be?” Luka mumbled. “He’s Chinese, his country doesn’t have anyone who can participate in any international competitions, why is Chyushka so good? Do athletes just spring out of the ground there? Is there even anyone who can teach figure skating in China?”
Others also had this question, but they could control themselves better. A middle-aged man wearing green overalls like a factory worker approached them. “Maxim, when I first heard that Misha was bewitched by a foreigner I thought his career was going to go down in flames, but now he’s probably only going to go higher.” He took off his hat and patted it a few times. “I’m someone who believes what he sees. Later I’ll report back that that Chinese boy is excellent, he deserves to be Misha’s coach.”
This meant that he accepted him as a coach.
“I understand, Pyotr Petrovich. I’m very sorry I reported Misha without properly investigating first, I’m willing to accept full responsibility,” Maxim sighed.
“My dear Maxim,” Mr. Pyotr replied, “you were only worried for one of our own, you haven’t done anything wrong. I also only came to take a look. I’m quite happy that Misha was able to find someone he sincerely respects as a coach.”
Zhang Sushang was confused at first, not knowing who this bald uncle was, but the uncle looked very polite, so he stopped to speak with him.
After introductions, he realised that this Mr. Pyotr was an official in charge of sports — not someone with an especially high position, but someone who would help his country’s athletes liase with organisers of international competitions. In other words, he entered their names and arranged itineraries for them.
Mr. Pyotr asked if Zhang Sushang was interested in becoming Misha’s official coach. By official, he meant joining their skating federation.
The Figure Skating Federation of the USSR, in other words, the forerunner of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, would actively cultivate people with figure skating talent and sponsor them to compete internationally. Figure skating needed money, after all. In a world where most people struggled to get food on the table, where would athletes get meat, eggs, and milk to eat? Where could they find a professional coach to teach them skills?
Maxim, for example, was a coach from the federation. The main reason why Misha lacked a coach thus far was because he was too strong and no coach was able to teach him anything.
Pyotr knew very well that with the current situation, Zhang Sushang’s current ability could only be due to talent as well as hard work. If they could attract him they would be able to give him other athletes to train, raising the entire country’s level of figure skating.
Besides, Zhang Sushang was only 18 years old. If he competed under Russia’s name, they would be able to enjoy glory in figure skating for at least the next decade.
Americans weren’t the only ones able to entice talents, Russia also had their ways. Everyone liked geniuses.
Zhang Sushang blinked. He didn’t expect that just skating casually would get him a pie falling from the sky.
After a long silence, he replied slowly, “Sir, thank you very much for your good intentions, I’m very honoured. But I came here to study in order to help my country. If I accept your offer today, that would be spitting on my original intentions.”
He had no expectations of becoming a hero throughout the ages after time travelling. He was self-aware — the ones who would achieve big things were people like Wu Yeming, Li Yuan, and Jiang Jinghu. As for him, he would be satisfied just having food to eat and clothes to wear, going ice skating once in a while, and surviving until he was 90.
But no matter how hard life was, no matter how the world changed, he had no intention of emigrating.
His motherland was suffering right now, he still wanted to go back and be a doctor after graduating. If he couldn’t save Chinese people, he could at least save the people he could see, right?
Zhang Sushang rejected Mr. Pyotr’s invitation, along with his offer of a staggeringly high salary and the opportunity to immigrate.
After the day of skating practice, Zhang Sushang advised Misha, “Remember to stretch after going home, and also practice the ballet movements I taught you, you’re still a little stiff. Figure skating is the one snow sport where aesthetics are important, so you can’t be stiff. You can only look good when it looks effortless.”
Misha listened seriously. Before he left, he also dug out a big piece of rye bread that he had made himself.
Misha’s rye bread was very thick, just as solid as himself. Hefting it, Zhang Sushang guessed that it might be as heavy as 2kg, which was more than enough to hit someone with.
Thank goodness he rode a bike here.
Bicycles were first invented in 1790 and had become a popular means of transportation. When he walked on the main streets of St. Petersburg, he could always see many people flying by on bicycles.
He also bought one after getting some money. Usually after classes, Alexei would ride the bike while he ran beside him and only sat on the passenger seat when he got tired.
At first, Alexei didn’t dare to ride fast for fear that he wouldn’t be able to keep up, but later he discovered that if he didn’t pedal faster he wouldn’t even be able to catch Zhang Sushang’s shadow.
There were cars available for sale at this time; however, the entire reason Zhang Sushang had travelled through time was due to an incident during a driving lesson. Now he didn’t dare to get behind the wheel even if you gave him a hundred guts.
He didn’t know how good the cars’ shock absorption technology was right now…
Zhang Sushang tied the extra big loaf of rye bread to the back seat and leisurely rode back. On the way, he met Alexei on a street corner, where he was hesitantly watching a brawl going on not far away.
Ringing the bike’s bell, he called out, “Lyosha, what are you looking at?”
Alexei turned with a complex look flashing in his blue eyes. “Nothing. Are you done training? Then let’s go back,” he said as he stood in front of Zhang Sushang.
Zhang Sushang peeked around him and chuckled. “Hey, isn’t it just a fight? There’s nothing to cover up.”
Everyone knew that people from warrior nations all had hot tempers, this wasn’t the first time he saw Russians moved to blows. The most exciting fights all happened during Maslenitsa.2An Eastern Slavic religious & folk festival, traditionally the last chance to participate in social activities before Lent
Surprised, Alexei moved aside. Zhang Sushang observed for a moment with his head tilted. “Huh, why is it a group of people beating up one person? What did he do? Are the others good samaritans or gangsters?”
If it was the former, Zhang Sushang would pretend he didn’t see it and take Alexei home to eat lieba; if it was the latter, he would give a hand.
“The one being beaten is gay,” Alexei replied.
Homosexuality was considered a disease. After being found out, patients would be ‘treated’ via electroshock therapy, lobotomy, and more, which could all easily kill them. In times and places that were more conservative, such things were never uncommon.
“What?” Zhang Sushang looked at his flatmate in surprise. Just as Alexei was about to explain more, his expression changed. “They can’t hit people just for that!” He rolled up his sleeves. “It doesn’t matter who that person likes, if he isn’t eating those people’s food how can they have the right to care about what he does?”
Then, like a Pikachu using Quick Attack, he charged forward with a flying kick.
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- 1Lyrics from Zhou Xingchi’s song 美人鱼 (Mermaid)
- 2An Eastern Slavic religious & folk festival, traditionally the last chance to participate in social activities before Lent
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