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On yet another early morning, Zhang Sushang and Alexei had a breakfast of two eggs boiled in bone broth and lieba dipped in hot milk, then jogged to school side by side.

It was Zhang Sushang who suggested with good intentions that the two of them exercise together.

Although strictly speaking they hadn’t known each other for long, Zhang Sushang already acknowledged Alexei as a good friend. He sincerely hoped that when they both lived to be 90 years of age, they could still become pen pals and send letters across international borders.

He didn’t dare to think about doing video calls, the difficulty level required to live until that era was a bit too high.

With a former athlete like Zhang Sushang controlling their diet and training appropriately, not to mention Zhang Sushang himself who went from 168kg to 160kg, Alexei’s weight also dropped to 175kg.

When a person lost weight, their facial features would become clearer, so people with exquisite bone structure often made others feel as if they had been reborn when they slimmed down. Zhang Sushang and Alexei both fell into this category — the two of them were very eye-catching as they walked on the streets.

When passing by a second-hand bookstore, Zhang Sushang ran inside. He had just finished Twins Who Share No Blood a few days ago and was currently in the process of outlining the next installment, so he wanted to read more Russian books to improve his writing skills.

Alexei stayed at the store’s door and bought the day’s newspapers, including St. Petersburg Morning Post. When the lady boss saw him, her eyes lit up and she greeted him cheerfully.

“Good morning young man, do you want a paper? A bundle is thirty-two kopecks, but I’ll drop it to thirty for you.”

Alexei thanked her, then opened the St. Petersburg Morning Post first, muttering, “Today is Thursday.”

The lady boss chatted with him very happily. “Yes, today is Detective Ilya’s turn. It’s the one I’m looking forward to the most nowadays. Although the stories in this section are all interesting, only Detective Ilya will make me remember its storyline after laughing. I dare say that the Saint Petersburg Morning Post sells a lot more every Thursday.”

As the most important city of Russia besides the capital, Moscow, St. Petersburg had a large population and its literacy rate was among the country’s top three cities — meaning that newspapers were very popular here.

Since Detective Ilya began publication, the sales of St. Petersburg Morning Post had increased by at least 15,000 to 20,000 copies every Thursday, and this number was still on the rise.

Alexei smiled; he didn’t know why, but hearing the lady boss’s exaggerated praise of Zhang Sushang’s story made him even happier than when he was complimented.

The newspaper contained not only the story of Detective Ilya but also had a special comment section below. Every week, the newspaper would publish a review written by a specially invited critic, as well as two or three letters sent from readers during the prior week.

Their own critic would naturally have only praises to say, while the letters from readers were much more interesting.

【When I first read Detective Ilya, I just thought that it was another funny story, but as the plot developed, I found that the author’s grasp of pacing was very good. The entire thing had not one extraneous word. And at the end of the first story, the two protagonists’ discussion about whether we should pity criminals is also quite thought-provoking.】

【This is an authentic detective story thinly veiled by comedy. The concept of bait-and-switch murders is novel and bold, yet easily believable, and the design of the female characters is also very unusual. They may not be beautiful, have noble backgrounds, or have ambiguous relations with the male protagonists, but they are memorable. I think the author is someone who advocates egalitarianism.】

【I don’t know much but that donkey made a huge impact on me. That was a strong, smart donkey. I’ve decided that from now on all my sons and grandsons will be called Boris!】

Alexei fell into deep silence upon reading the last comment.

In some countries, it wasn’t an unusual situation to have the father, son, and grandson sharing a name. For example, Alexei had a classmate called Ivan Ivanovich Ankosky — from the patronymic, we can see that he had the same name as his father, meaning he was Ivan2. Supposedly there was an Ivan3 in the Faculty of Mathematics next door.

Zhang Sushang ran out of the bookstore with a tall stack of books in hand. “I’m done, let’s go,” he said.

Alexei put the newspapers into his coat pocket and took half of the pile from Zhang Sushang, asking as they walked, “Your novel is very popular, why didn’t you agree when the newspaper offered to set aside a special section for you to serialise it daily?”

He knew Zhang Sushang’s writing speed. This person was fully capable of writing and editing an installment within a single day; every time, he would write a manuscript several days in advance and then throw it aside, and when the editor came to his door a few days later, he would hand it over, as reliable as clockwork.

Zhang Sushang shook his head. “The money I’m earning now is enough for us to eat meat every day, wear warmer clothes, and save some for later. I think it’s enough.”

You must know that as long as he kept updating, he could earn at least 200 rubles a month, and the editor planned to raise his manuscript fee yet again. Presumably, by the time Detective Ilya finished, he would be able to pay off his entire university tuition fee and have some left over to bring back to China.

“Writing novels is just a way to make a living in the short term. Rather than spending too much time on writing, I want to concentrate on studying, and also translating some books,” he sighed. “You also know that my Russian is very good, but my countrymen still find Russian hard to understand. Since we all want to bring more knowledge back home, it’s only right for me to put in more effort.”

Studying medicine was inherently a hard thing to do. Zhang Sushang was exceptionally gifted in languages, but he wasn’t smart like Alexei, who could learn classroom knowledge at a glance and always ranked first in exams. Yes, he had only recently realised that Alexei’s grades were super good — no wonder he was the teachers’ favourite and could support himself with scholarships.

Since he was here anyway, Zhang Sushang would only have the face to return to China if he studied his major properly. This was a matter of principle. While Jiang Jinghu, Wu Yeming, and Li Yuan had no problems with their study habits, their Russian wasn’t so good, but they worked hard. Every day the three of them would squat under a street lamp to review together until their eyes burned.

They were all future pillars of the country. Zhang Sushang really couldn’t bear to watch them struggle like this, so he simply requisitioned their textbooks and translated them into Chinese in advance every day. He would also go over to tutor them in Russian to help them overcome the language barrier as soon as possible.

Fortunately, everyone who could study abroad these days were smart people who could learn quickly, the kind who would be top students if they were placed among future generations. Zhang Sushang estimated that their Russian language level would reach a sufficient level by the end of the semester.

Thinking of this, he looked up at the grey overcast sky and said softly, “Clear days will come.”

Alexei didn’t know why he suddenly said this, so he just hummed.

When he arrived at the door of the classroom, Zhang Sushang found an unexpected crowd. He couldn’t squeeze into the classroom with the things he was carrying, and Danil who sat in the row behind him was also blocked at the door and even lost a shoe.

He went over to help kick Danil’s shoe to an empty space, where Danil thanked him and put it back on. Zhang Sushang stood on tiptoes as he looked inside the classroom. “What happened?” he asked.

“Ivan A’s brother came to see him,” someone said from behind Zhang Sushang. When he looked back, he found that it was Ivan B.

There were three Sergeis and four Ivans in their classroom. It was too confusing to remember their patronymics one by one, so Professor Yevgeny simply didn’t bother and instead added ABCD to their names to distinguish them.

According to Zhang Sushang’s memory, Ivan A was a short young man with a good family background, no more than 1.65m, while Ivan B was a well-informed boy with freckles. If anyone wanted to know school gossip, they would ask him.

“Is his brother very special?” he asked curiously.

Hearing this, Ivan B showed an exaggerated expression of surprise. “Chyushka, I know you usually focus on studying but you don’t even know this?”

Danil straightened and said to Zhang Sushang, “Ivan A’s brother is Misha Platov, he won a silver medal at the last Olympics!”

That was an Olympic runner-up!

“Oh, it turns out he’s an athlete. Is he very famous? Which sport?” Zhang Sushang responded calmly.

“He’s in the men’s singles figure skating event,” Danil replied. “Figure skating is an ice sport, athletes wear blades to perform on the ice by spinning, gliding, and jumping, and this sport is divided into three events…”

He was afraid that this country-bumpkin classmate from China didn’t know what figure skating was, so he started to explain it.

Zhang Sushang calmly added, “Men’s singles, ladies’ singles, and pair skating, I know.”

Figure skating had four events in the 21st century, the fourth being ice dance which was added in 1976.

By the way, pair skating was introduced in the 1924 Winter Olympics, which was the first Winter Olympics. Before that, the Olympics had only two figure skating events: men’s singles and ladies’ singles.1this is untrue, pair skating debuted together with men’s and ladies’ singles at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

“You know it?” Danil asked in surprise.

“Of course I know, I also skate.”

Ivan B and Danil looked at each other with clear doubt. First of all, Zhang Sushang had never stepped foot on the ice in all the time they had known him; with the temperatures in St. Petersburg being below zero until yesterday, the lake located inside the campus was frozen solid and many people went there to play after class.

Secondly, if Zhang Sushang also skated, how could he not know the Olympic silver medalist in his own sport? Even if he only remembered the name of the champion as some people did, shouldn’t he be curious now that the world’s second-best athlete was here?

Then they saw Zhang Sushang tiptoeing and craning his neck again. “Hey, which one is Ivan A’s brother? There’s too many people, I can’t see him.”

This was the silver medalist for men’s singles skating in 1924, the first Winter Olympics! Thinking of this, his eyes lit up.

If he was in the 21st century, he would only be able to find their tombstones if he wanted to see these ancient figure skating celebrities. How exciting was it to see the real-life version!

Ivan B and Danil realised that this person actually was curious, his reaction was just a bit slow.

The anatomy professor appeared on the scene, wearing a thick coat and as majestic as a bear. “Why are you blocking the way?” he shouted.

The crowd dispersed like a flock of birds taking flight, allowing Zhang Sushang, Danil, and Ivan B to squeeze into the classroom. At this time, a handsome young man about 1.6m tall with brown hair and blue eyes happened to pass Zhang Sushang.

Their eyes met for only a second as Zhang Sushang smiled at him.

Hello, senior.

The 2053 Junior Grand Prix silver medalist greets you across 130 years.

Author:
Pikachyu’s dad has a room dedicated to medals which is filled with gold medals from major A-level events, including 2 Olympic gold medals, a precious silver medal, and 3 team event bronze medals.

Moreover, as a direct descendant of the best figure skater coach in the country, Qiuqiu’s social circle has several Olympic athletes. With the addition of his dad’s old rivals, Chyushka has met a lot of Olympic gold medalists, silver medalists, and bronze medalists. For a while, he thought that gold medals from A-level competitions were something everyone in his family and friends had, only he wasn’t good enough to get one… As the saying goes, he’s seen so many big bosses that he went numb.

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  • 1
    this is untrue, pair skating debuted together with men’s and ladies’ singles at the 1908 Summer Olympics.