“Who are you?” Qiao Nan had been listening in on a conversation between two Americans next door when she was suddenly tapped on the shoulder. Startled, she looked back in confusion at the girl behind her—who was almost a full head taller. 

The girl was unmistakably Slavic, with light blonde hair and blue-gray eyes. If Qiao Nan was the kind of delicate, filter-perfect Eastern beauty Pearl always admired, then this girl looked exactly like what Qiao Nan imagined a life-sized Barbie doll would look like. 

Fair skin, delicate features, and… Qiao Nan couldn’t help but notice that she wore the most minimal outfit among all the skaters here. She felt a little envious. 

It was below freezing, and this girl was wearing just a single jacket. If Qiao Nan had even half her physical resilience, maybe she wouldn’t be bundled up like a snowball. 

That’s right, on her journey from 120°E to 38°E, Qiao Nan, unsurprisingly, got sick. Again. 

This time it was a cold paired with a fever, two debuffs stacked on top of each other. 

“Aurora Ivanova. Just call me Aurora,” the girl said with a smile, repeating her name. “I’m Mr. Wright’s student. Coach Marlon’s over at the Garcia rink right now, do you want to come with me?” 

The Garcia Ice Rink was a private, non-commercial venue under Wright’s name. According to Tuan Tuan, it had top-tier ice that was practically untouched—perfect for practice. 

Qiao Nan had heard of Wright. Before coming to Moscow, Marlon had told her they’d meet at one of his student’s rinks. 

Apparently, Wright was a top-tier coach, someone who practically ruled the Moscow skating scene. 

Qiao Nan didn’t arrive in Moscow super early—just two days before official practices (OP) for the competition started. 

A typical figure skating event runs about seven days. The first two are for official practices and music coordination. The actual competition usually happens on day four and six. 

However, the Volin Memorial competition was for skaters under the age of 13, and the only event was a free skate lasting around two minutes and thirty seconds. So, the overall process was shortened considerably. 

According to the information Qiao Nan received, the official competition would begin in five days. 

She was tempted to go with Aurora and find the coach now—after all, the chance to practice on good ice was hard to pass up. But then she remembered: Cheng Cheng was still helping her check in. That made her hesitate. 

Not to mention, her skates were buried deep in her luggage. Not exactly easy to grab on the spot. 

“Can you wait a bit?” Qiao Nan asked, a little embarrassed. “My guardian’s still checking me in.” 

“It’s okay, check-in doesn’t take long.” Aurora understood her hesitation. Seeing the serious expression on the younger girl’s face, she sneakily pinched Qiao Nan’s cheek when no one was looking. “Garcia rink isn’t far from the hotel—we’ll be there soon.” 

“Oh, by the way…” Aurora glanced toward the crowded lobby behind Qiao Nan, then leaned in close like she was sharing a secret. “Was Pearl trying to say hi to you just now?” 

“Pearl?” Aurora’s pinch had added a bit of color to Qiao Nan’s pale, cold face. “You mean that older sister from just now?” 

Even though Qiao Nan had the mental maturity of someone older, she was still only six and a half—the youngest one around. So calling Pearl “sister” wasn’t out of place. 

Aurora, who was just a year older than Pearl, didn’t quite catch on at first. 

“Sister?” she blinked. “I guess that fits.” 

“Pearl is nine this year. She’s one of the top-ranked skaters in the younger age group.” 

Aurora paused and saw the confusion on Qiao Nan’s face, so she kept going: 

“The girls you just saw—Pearl, Elena from Russia, and Park Jin-Ah from Korea—they’re probably your top competitors in this event.” 

“Pearl’s working on her triple loop (3Lo), Elena’s trying for the triple salchow (3S), and Park Jin-Ah is still focusing on her double axel (2A).” 

All of them were pushing for the top three, while Qiao Nan was still practicing double jumps. Hearing Aurora’s words, the lightness she’d just felt vanished in an instant, and the faint smile on her face disappeared. 

Back in Canada, Coach Marlon had warned her that she still had a long way to go before reaching international level. Now it really hit home. Her current skill set? Pretty much “happy to participate” tier. 

Unlike Tuan Tuan, who only ever tried to comfort her blindly. 

“Qiao, right now you…” 

The girl with the two braided pigtails noticed the sudden shift in Qiao Nan’s mood. She glanced down at her and—thankfully—stopped herself before blurting out what she was going to say. 

She’d been about to ask about Qiao Nan’s level, but then remembered Coach Wright’s repeated warnings: don’t dig into other skaters’ performance. 

“Never mind, let’s not talk about that now.” 

Aurora didn’t know why Coach Wright had specifically told her not to talk to Qiao Nan about other skaters’ details, but being naturally obedient, she adapted quickly. Even though she’d already let it slip, she recovered without missing a beat. 

“You should go tell Mr. Cheng. Let’s head out together.” 

✵✵✵ 

The Garcia rink was only about a ten-minute walk from the hotel. After letting Cheng Cheng know, Qiao Nan took Aurora’s hand, and the two girls left footprints one after another in the snowy path. 

Though Qiao Nan had spent a lot of time on the ice, she’d rarely played in real snow. Compared to Aurora, who grew up in it, Qiao Nan was like a total newbie. 

Aurora mentioned a few snow games in passing—stuff she considered totally normal—that Qiao Nan had never even heard of, let alone tried. 

But that just made it more exciting. 

Soon, the cold, gloomy mood was forgotten. Qiao Nan followed the cheerful Russian girl and got caught up in a snowy kind of joy. 

They started a snowball fight. 

The rink wasn’t far, and soon the two of them, laughing and chasing each other, reached the entrance of the big building. 

Before they even stepped inside, they already heard the loud voices of Coach Marlon and Coach Wright coming from inside. 

The voices were so loud that Qiao Nan and Aurora could hardly ignore them. 

“What’s your kid’s program for this year?” 

Marlon, who had entered Qiao Nan into the Volin Memorial, actually knew very little about the competition. While waiting for her, he tried to blend in with the Russian locals—just like Wright—and cracked open a bottle of vodka to pass the time with some good old-fashioned boasting. 

He was at least smart enough to pour himself a full shot glass instead of drinking straight from the bottle like Wright. 

Aurora was eleven this year, which put her in the older age bracket for the Volin event. Since she and Qiao Nan weren’t direct rivals, Marlon didn’t bother holding back during the chat—one drink in, and he was already spilling everything. 

“If it weren’t for her being a bit young, she might’ve won a prize in this competition,” Marlon said, his face flushing a bit from the drink. “When I first saw this kid, she was only five. Now, just a year and a half later, she’s already managed to land four different jumps in two weeks.” 

“If the competition had gone on a bit longer, maybe Qiao Nan could’ve gone even further, maybe even nailed the double loop (2Lo),” Marlon added, raising his voice and enthusiastically patting his student on the back. “So, what about you, Wright? How’s Aurora doing these days?” 

Before teaching Qiao Nan, Marlon had coached Aurora for a while. Though she eventually chose to stay with Wright in Moscow, the old man still remembered her fondly. 

“Has Aurora mastered the triple jump yet? What’s next—going for the quadruple?” Marlon asked, his speech slightly slurred. The vodka wasn’t hitting him that quickly, but he was definitely tipsy. Mid-sentence, he started to lean a bit, “But wait, how has she grown so tall all of a sudden?” 

“She hasn’t even hit her growth spurt yet. Growing too fast is a bit concerning.” 

Aurora was still under 1.5 meters tall, which made her on the shorter side even by Russian standards. 

“Coach, you’re drunk,” Wright sighed, watching his teacher mumble while leaning on him. 

It had been two or three years since they’d last met, but the coach still couldn’t hold his liquor. 

“I’m not drunk,” Marlon waved his hand dismissively, tilting over just in time to spot Qiao Nan walking onto the rink with Aurora. 

“Qiao Nan! You showed up just in time,” the old man said, his eyes suddenly brightening. “Show Wright the program you’re planning to perform in a few days.” 

Author’s note: 

Qiao Nan: ??? Coach, the Spring Festival is already over! 

✵✵✵ 

The children’s group is divided into younger and older age groups, but I really couldn’t find a specific age division. I referred to the age division from the Volkovjin-tagged videos on Bilibili: 6-10 years old is the younger group, 11-13 is the older group. 

QAQ~~~~ 

And once again, it’s a day of struggling with names.