Because of some pretty bloody memories from her past life, Qiao Nan decided to swap out Marlon’s old favorite, Carmen, before the choreography for her program was finalized. 

After all, even though she hadn’t shown any signs of lingering trauma, she was still a little worried about making a mistake on stage. 

She kept saying she just liked the vibe of the music—not that she wanted to break a leg dancing to it—but no matter how much she tried to explain, Marlon still refused to let her pick her debut piece from the safer, more graceful songs she liked. 

Although he didn’t get why Qiao Nan was so against Carmen, he eventually gave in to her request and agreed to switch the song. They chose another famous piece instead—Jasmine Flower. 

He admitted the main reason he agreed was simply because he liked that song too. 

There were still about three months left before the Volin Memorial, and at that point, only the rough framework of Qiao Nan’s program had been set. The detailed choreography hadn’t even been finalized yet between Marlon and Merlin. 

Although Marlon was technically her coach, most of his network was still based in Canada. Since he hadn’t settled down in China, he had only agreed to fly over twice a week to train.  

For the rest of the time, Qiao Nan would usually join group figure skating sessions, practicing repeatedly under the supervision of coaches from the Wildfire Club. 

And just like that, she dumped the problem on Marlon without a second thought about the extra work involved. 

With the issue settled, Qiao Nan returned to the ice rink with renewed energy, throwing herself back into jump after jump like she’d just been injected with pure motivation. 

She understood the benefits of sticking with one coach from start to finish, but life was what it was. Even if she had more money in this lifetime, she could only make the most of the time Marlon was physically in China. 

“Qiao, your mom’s here.” Marlon had just finalized her choreography details with Merlin despite the time difference. He looked up just as he was about to remind her of something and saw her mom standing at the rink’s entrance. 

“That’s all for today. Go home,” he called out teasingly. “Qiao, you still have school tomorrow. Don’t forget your homework.” 

He’d heard all about her jam-packed weekends. Outside of their three-hour sessions, she had a bunch of extracurriculars, living a life totally opposite of Marlon’s own relaxed pace. 

The whole “forgot your homework” thing was just a running joke, really—something he’d mentioned after chatting with Xie Luoying. 

Qiao Nan had always kept her grades near the top of the class. With how full her weekends were—with ballet, yoga, and all those other activities—it was a wonder she even had time to sleep. If it weren’t for her mom pulling her back, she probably would’ve signed up for even more during the week. 

Every time they thought about it, Xie Luoying would pull Qiao Nan aside and wonder aloud what kind of genetic mutation happened in the Qiao family—two academically average parents somehow ended up with kids who loved studying more than anything. 

“I only forgot once,” Qiao Nan muttered as she paused on her way out, turning to protest for what felt like the hundredth time. “And that was only because some teacher insisted on treating me to authentic General Tso’s chicken.” 

That night, she’d come home with food poisoning and ended up in the hospital. 

Sure, Marlon was the one who picked the restaurant—but he wasn’t taking the blame. 

“You’re still here? What, trying to squeeze in extra practice?” the old man teased, switching tones immediately. “Extra training means extra pay—two thousand a session, and overtime costs extra.” 

Yeah, no thanks. 

Even though she knew he was kidding, Qiao Nan still made a face and ran off barefoot, laughing all the way, afraid he’d actually try to stop her. 

“She’s got good energy and solid muscle control,” Marlon muttered to himself as he watched her leave. “So why’s her stamina so crap?” 

He glanced at her disappearing figure and went back to fiddling with his tablet, which was blowing up with messages from his friend across the sea. 

Merlin Murray was not happy about the last-minute song change. 

✵✵✵ 

“How was practice today?” Xie Luoying asked as she helped her daughter with her skates and led her toward the car parked by the mall. “Coach Marlon told me you’re still planning on entering the Volin Memorial?” 

The first time Xie Luoying had even heard of the Volin Memorial Competition was right after her daughter’s injury. Qiao Nan had insisted on competing and agreed to all the conditions her coach and parents set for her without any fuss or complaints. 

To Qiao Nan’s parents, they had always viewed figure skating as a way to strengthen the body, just like ballet. But after Qiao Nan’s bone fracture, seeing her continue to put in so much effort made them consider pulling her out of it entirely. 

But every time the family brought it up, Qiao Nan would get so upset that everyone would back down immediately. 

In the end, it was her older brother Qiao Li, who was studying in the U.S., that helped smooth things over with their parents in private. 

If she wanted to keep skating, fine. Qiao Nan was their little princess. If she ever wanted to go professional, the family had enough resources through Qiao Li to make sure she wouldn’t be struggling. 

“Yeah, I want to give it a shot,” Qiao Nan nodded, sneaking a glance at her mom. “I want to see how skaters from other countries perform.” 

To Qiao Nan, figure skating wasn’t just a goal—it was something she truly loved. 

Back when she was reborn with memories of her past life, she’d made countless plans for the future during those long early years. But all those plans were thrown out the window the moment her parents took her to the ice for the first time at age five. 

Forget about inheriting the family business. She just wanted to be on the ice, burning bright again in front of the world. 

She’d been in this world for more than six years now, but her parents still hadn’t given her full internet access because she was too young. So her knowledge of the current skating scene was limited to overheard coach chatter or rare moments when the system in her head woke up long enough to answer a question. 

She had to be careful not to sound too smart or ask too many weirdly specific questions, so she relied on little pieces of info to gradually build her understanding. To her, the Volin Memorial was the perfect way to start stepping into the real world of competitive skating. 

“The competition’s overseas. Your dad and I still have to work. Are you okay with going by yourself?” 

To Qiao Nan’s surprise, her mom didn’t try to talk her out of it this time. Seeing her daughter’s wide-eyed reaction, she smiled, reached over, and gently patted her soft hair. 

“Nan Nan, your dad and I aren’t trying to stop you from doing what you love,” she said. “I know you’ve got your own reasons. You’ve been skating for a year and a half now. If you’re really serious about taking it further, then go for it.” 

Her daughter having own goals wasn’t a bad thing, not in Xie Luoying’s eyes. 

But it looked like Old Qiao would be busy again soon. 

Even though the Qiao family had some connections in the sports world, it still took time and effort to open the right doors. 

Since Qiao Nan had decided to go down this path, it didn’t matter whether it was easy or not—what mattered first was figuring out what kind of challenges might be ahead. 

With that in mind, her mom gave her another careful look, checking her from head to toe. 

Her little girl was about to take part in her very first competition. Time to start getting her outfit ready. 

“Mm-hmm.” Qiao Nan nodded, remembering the two coaches she saw earlier that afternoon. “Mom, can I go ahead and pick the coach I want for class?” 

Qiao Nan hadn’t actually been in group training for very long. Before starting elementary school, she was mostly training one-on-one with Marlon, so really, it had only been a couple of months. 

It wasn’t that Qiao Nan wanted to train with a group for social reasons. It was mainly because she wasn’t very familiar with domestic coaches’ training methods and couldn’t find one who matched well with her style. 

Especially with her current club, Wildfire. Just like Cheng Cheng said before, the training there felt super robotic—even the kids were frowning through it. 

Besides daily training, Qiao Nan also wanted a local coach so she could qualify for domestic competitions. 

From the gossip she picked up today, though, the provincial team in B City sounded like a pretty decent option. 

That said, when she thought about Coach Wang and all the big promises he made, Qiao Nan couldn’t help but hesitate. 

Xie Luoying knew how picky her daughter was when it came to coaches. So when she saw Qiao Nan finally showing some interest, she actually felt a little curious. 

“You already found someone you like?” she asked with a smile. “Just tell Auntie Li which coach you want—she’ll help set it up for you.” 

Auntie Li was Xie Luoying’s personal assistant and had taken care of Qiao Nan quite a bit over the years. The little girl was pretty comfortable with her. 

So… that was a yes. 

“Okay,” Qiao Nan nodded. She didn’t offer any more details though. “I’ll talk to Auntie Li about it.” 

Their car turned into the neighborhood where the Qiao family lived. The noise outside faded away, and things became much quieter. 

At the same time, that faint static in Qiao Nan’s mind suddenly became clearer. 

The car turned one more corner and came to a full stop. The static in her head sharpened—and then a little girl’s voice sounded in her ear. 

⌈ Qiao Qiao, did you just unlock a new data point or something?⌋ 

It had been half a year since she last heard the system’s voice. 

“Huh?” Qiao Nan blurted out before she could stop herself. 

Her mom turned to look at her, confused. Qiao Nan quickly snapped back and threw on a cute expression to cover it up. 

Qiao Nan: “Did something happen?” 

⌈ My energy bar is full now. ⌋ 

⌈ A mission just popped up in the system. You’ve got three months to complete it. ⌋ 

Author’s Note: 

Merlin: Marlon, it’s easy for you to talk! You’re not the one dealing with this! I’m raising my rates! 

Cheng Cheng: ??? Did the talent I just got almost slip away? 

Reminders: 

✵ The system won’t interfere with Nan Nan’s competitions. Even though it’s showing up in Chapter Three, it’s mostly just a chatty little goofball that gets outwitted by her all the time. 

✵ Marlon’s a hardcore fan of China and will definitely get tricked into moving there eventually. 

✵ Her past life won’t be elaborated on in detail. The next chapter will officially kick off the first competition! 

Got the plot sorted out. The competitions are about to begin, but it seems the male lead won’t be showing up anytime soon… 😭