Before his rebirth, Li Nan’s greatest strength was jump combinations involving the toe loop, with the 3F+3T (triple flip–triple toe loop) being his signature combo. In his final performance before he was reborn, the 3F+3T was one of the key elements in his program.

In the era after his previous life, the technical demands in figure skating had reached an almost absurd level. Nearly every skater with any recognition had, to some extent, mastered quadruple jumps. The more conservative ones had one or two quads under their belt; the more extreme cases could land every kind of quad.

As the oldest active skater in the figure skating world, Li Nan naturally couldn’t compete at that level of difficulty anymore. Attempting a quad at his age would likely only result in a life of partial paralysis.

Even when he went all in for his final competition, gambling everything on a do-or-die performance, he still couldn’t land a stable quad.

If he couldn’t manage the quads, then triple jumps were something he absolutely couldn’t afford to miss.

Among all the triple jumps, the one with the highest technical difficulty and base value—3A (triple Axel)—just happened to be Li Nan’s weakest. The Axel is an edge jump, which he struggled with, and since it has an extra half rotation compared to other triple jumps, he had never managed to land it successfully in competition, even by the end of his previous life.

He did, however, master the other triple jumps. Among them, the toe jumps—3F (triple flip), 3T (triple toe loop), and 3Lz (triple Lutz)—were the ones he performed best and most frequently in competition. The remaining two triple edge jumps appeared far less often in his programs.

What Li Nan had just demonstrated, the 3F+3T, was the jump combo he was most skilled at.

Perhaps the ice was a bit too soft, or perhaps he hadn’t yet fully regained control over his younger body. After the second jump, he wobbled slightly and tipped forward on the landing. But his reaction was quick—he lightly touched the ice, tightened his core, twisted his waist, and stabilized himself without both feet leaving the ice.

Gliding slowly across the rink, Li Nan stroked his chin, reflecting on his movements just now.

His body was undeniably young again—full of energy and light in the air. Even when he was about to fall on landing, he could twist himself back upright. In scoring terms, there’s a notable difference between a hand touch and an actual fall. A fall, where both feet leave the ice, incurs a full one-point deduction, whereas a hand touch is merely considered a negative Grade of Execution (GOE) rather than a fall. In fact, if the rest of the jump is solid and there are enough positive features, it can still receive a net positive GOE.

Even with this small detail, Li Nan could already feel the benefits of being young again. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: No wonder those young skaters dared to push their technical limits. Their bodies aren’t even afraid of falling!

Of course, being young came with its own set of problems, which were becoming increasingly evident.

The most obvious was that near-fall just now.

The 3F+3T combo was the jump he used to be able to do with his eyes closed, yet now, using his younger body, he nearly fell. It also seemed like he lost a bit of rotation in the air—something that would cost him dearly in a real competition.

Aside from lacking control over his body, Li Nan also realized he simply didn’t have enough strength. The loss in rotation was caused by insufficient power, resulting in lower height. Fortunately, since he hadn’t grown yet and his body was still light, his rotation speed had increased, making the under-rotation less noticeable.

If he hit a growth spurt during puberty but his strength didn’t keep up, he’d definitely sink like a stone in the water.

With that thought, Li Nan pushed off the ice with his foot and summoned the system, opening his personal stats panel. Sure enough, among the sea of data, he found what he was looking for.

[Strength: 3/100 (Even a goose might be stronger than you)]

…Well, that was definitely low.

And he couldn’t help but feel personally attacked by the sarcastic comment in parentheses.

Still, it was a brutally honest reflection of just how lacking his strength was. There was no doubt about it—he would need to start a training regimen focused on building power.

As Li Nan contemplated this, the people around the rink were starting to look at him differently.

It happened to be the weekend, right in the middle of summer vacation, so the rink was packed—mostly parents with their kids, along with a few couples and groups of teens out having fun.

With his small frame and graceful movement on the ice, Li Nan had initially gone unnoticed. But as his skating grew smoother and more confident, more and more people began to take notice.

When he executed two jumps in a row, exclamations of surprise rippled through the crowd. They gasped again when he wobbled on the landing, their hearts rising and falling with his every move. Seeing him merely touch the ice, twist his waist, and straighten back up made everyone feel he was even more impressive.

To their limited understanding, simply skating smoothly on the ice was already a skill. Those who could jump and spin once in the air were practically elite. But what Li Nan had just shown them went far beyond what they thought was possible.

How could he move so effortlessly on the ice?

How was he able to leap into the air, spin so many times, and then land directly into another jump—also with multiple spins?

He looked so young—how could he be that skilled? Was he maybe some kind of youth athlete from a professional sports team?

…

The way people were looking at Li Nan had definitely changed. It was as if they were staring at some kind of rare animal—he was one step away from being treated like a national treasure, a living, breathing panda.

Li Nan, however, remained completely unfazed by the growing attention. Whether as a former celebrity or an athlete, he had never lacked the spotlight. He had long since learned to tune out the eyes of others.

He went on to test a few more jumps. All his triple jumps ended in failure, but his double jumps had a decent success rate. After getting a better feel for this younger body, his execution of several double jumps became quite smooth and successful.

The under-rotation issue that had been obvious with the triples was almost nonexistent with the doubles. A youthful, energetic body really was the best advantage anyone could ask for.

Time slipped by unnoticed. When Li Nan finally looked up at the clock hanging on the far wall of the rink, he was startled to see that over an hour had passed. Only now, after coming down from his adrenaline high, did he start to feel the soreness creeping in—especially in his legs.

Attempting triple jumps without any serious conditioning beforehand had been a bit reckless, in hindsight.

An inner alarm went off in his mind. He couldn’t afford to treat his body carelessly just because he had a system now.

He didn’t even have any of those so-called “popularity coins” yet to buy healing items or recovery potions.

With that in mind, he decided to wrap up practice for the day. It was close to five o’clock anyway—time to head home.

His family typically ate dinner at six. The trip home took around twenty minutes, and factoring in time to change and pack up, he’d get back by about 5:40—just in time for a hot meal.

Li Nan scanned the area and spotted the bearded uncle by the entrance. The man was holding a little notebook, scribbling something down, looking entirely out of place among the crowd.

Most of the people who bought rink tickets came to skate for fun. Even if they weren’t any good, they’d at least cling to the railing and shuffle along for the experience. No one came in just to stand around writing in a notebook.

In that case… what was the point of even buying a ticket to enter?

Li Nan was a little curious, but he had no intention of digging deeper. Everyone had their own interests and hobbies—what if this uncle’s particular pastime was writing things down at the ice rink?

He’d even seen a journalist before who claimed he could only write decent reports while squatting on a toilet, so scribbling in a notebook at an ice rink didn’t seem that strange in comparison.

Li Nan skated over to the bearded man and came to a stop beside him. “Uncle, I’m getting ready to head home. Do you have a moment? Let’s return these skates together.”

The words jolted the bearded man out of his writing trance. He looked up at Li Nan abruptly, his face showing a startled expression.

Li Nan tilted his head in surprise. He hadn’t expected someone who looked so tall and burly to be so easily spooked. Feeling a little awkward, he asked, “Did I scare you? Sorry about that.”

The uncle patted his chest, and with the motion, his pecs bounced up and down. He waved his hand dismissively. “It’s nothing—I was just too focused. Not your fault.”

Li Nan’s gaze involuntarily dropped to the man’s… chest. He instinctively leaned back a little in a tactical retreat. Those pecs—my god—they looked like they could knock someone out with a single punch.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Li Nan took a small step back to put a healthy distance between them. “So, Uncle, shall we go return the skates?”

“Huh? Oh, oh, sure. Let’s go.” The man stuffed his little notebook back into his pocket. “Time to return the skates.”

Li Nan nodded and took the lead, skating toward the exit of the rink. The bearded man followed skillfully, keeping up with practiced ease. Out of the corner of his eye, Li Nan noted the man’s steady steps—clearly someone who skated often.

But that height though—

Li Nan glanced over to compare their heights and, after a rough estimate, was surprised to realize the uncle stood at least 1.85 meters tall.

Someone that tall probably couldn’t train in figure skating, right? Male singles figure skaters over 1.8 meters usually hit a developmental wall during puberty and rarely make it to the top. Most male skaters are around 1.7 meters, and the women’s singles are even shorter—anywhere from 1.5 to 1.6 meters.

Figure skating demands jumps, and to earn high scores, triple jumps and above are a must, which naturally limits the ideal height for athletes. The taller you are, the less stable your center of gravity becomes. When landing, the force on your ankles is several times that of shorter skaters, making it extremely hard to succeed.

And that muscle mass—sure, it looked cool, but for figure skating… if someone like him launched into a jump and landed, wouldn’t he punch holes into the ice?

Li Nan was pretty sure—on his own judgment—that this uncle probably wasn’t a figure skater. Most likely, he just genuinely enjoyed skating.

“Where did you learn figure skating?” the bearded man suddenly asked, breaking Li Nan’s train of thought.

Snapping back to reality, Li Nan answered honestly, “I never really learned anywhere.”

At his current age, he hadn’t actually received any formal training in figure skating. But Li Nan also knew how absurd it must’ve looked for someone to just jump into a triple jump combo out of nowhere. So, he added, trying to downplay it, “But I’ve always liked skating. I used to mess around a lot on land, trying out jumps, and whenever I had the chance, I’d play around at ice rinks. I figured most of it out on my own.”

Which wasn’t exactly wrong. In his past life, Li Nan had started skating too late. No one believed he’d make it, so no top-tier coach had been willing to take him on. Most of his jumps had been self-taught, with some help from club coaches here and there. It wasn’t until he joined the provincial team that he finally got professional training.

The bearded man was visibly surprised. “You figured all that out by yourself?”

The kid’s technique did show traces of being self-taught, but if he’d never formally trained and could still land a 3F+3T combination… that wasn’t just talent—that was genius-level ability. And at such a young age too!

With that thought, the way he looked at Li Nan turned even more intense, as if he were staring at a priceless gem covered in dust, something rare and extraordinary.

Li Nan: ???

That look made Li Nan more than a little uncomfortable. He quietly edged away, taking a few small steps to the bench beside the lockers and sat down, lowering his head to start undoing the tightly laced skate straps.

The uncle scooted over to Li Nan’s side and called out affectionately, “Kiddo~”

Li Nan visibly shuddered. That one word nearly gave him goosebumps. His whole face screamed rejection. “Uncle, my name is Li Nan. You can call me Xiao Li or Xiao Nan, either is fine.”

“Oh, Xiao Nan it is then!” The man picked the more familiar-sounding option. “I’m Ding Jianguo. You can call me Uncle Jianguo. Don’t keep saying ‘uncle, uncle’—it sounds way too distant.”

Li Nan fell silent. Were they really that close…?

“Uh, Uncle Ding,” he decided to stay polite and not burst the bubble of unfamiliarity.

“Xiao Nan, you seem to really like skating, don’t you?” Ding Jianguo eased into the conversation. “Do you know the names of the jumps you just did out there?”

Li Nan: ?

As he tugged off his skates, Li Nan finally looked at Ding Jianguo straight on. “Uncle Ding, if you have something to say, just say it. Don’t beat around the bush—it’s honestly kinda weird!”

“Well, since you said that, I won’t hold back!” Ding Jianguo slapped his thigh with a loud smack, “Xiao Nan, I think you’ve got serious talent for skating. How about it—are you interested in learning professional figure skating?”

Li Nan, upon hearing this, initially thought this bearded uncle was just another recruiter from a figure skating club. But then he heard Ding Jianguo say, “If you’re interested, how about coming to try out with our provincial team in S City for a while? Our figure skating team has the most experienced coaching staff in all of S City. I promise you’ll fall in love with this sport once you’re there!”

Provincial team in S City? Figure skating?

Li Nan’s pupils widened slightly in disbelief. He repeated, “S City’s provincial team? For figure skating? Are you serious?”

Ding Jianguo seemed a little displeased at being doubted, but he still responded with a cheerful smile. “Of course I’m serious. You think an official athletic team can get away with faking things? If you don’t believe me, I can even show you the government’s official approval documents—but you’ll have to come with me to the provincial team’s office. I don’t usually carry around important papers like that for no reason.”

Well, that made sense—who would carry around important documents that aren’t needed on the spot?

Li Nan was still in shock. In his memory, there had never been a provincial figure skating team in S City.

S City was his hometown, and figure skating was his own field—there was no way he wouldn’t have known if something that major had happened. In his previous life, all the way until his death, there had never been any news about the formation of a provincial team. Figure skating clubs were quite popular here, and if a promising skater from S City made it into the national team, it was always through one of the clubs, never an official team.

An official figure skating team? No way!

Could this all be a scam?

Li Nan began eyeing Ding Jianguo with growing suspicion. These days, human traffickers were everywhere, and he was just a defenseless little kid—he couldn’t afford to let his guard down!

Seeing the way Li Nan was looking at him, Ding Jianguo sighed to himself. What a sharp kid.

And he liked him even more because of it.

With talent like this, no matter what, he had to bring him into the provincial team!

“Actually, our provincial team was only just established recently, so it’s perfectly normal that you haven’t heard about it,” Ding Jianguo began to explain. “But all the coaches here are the best in S City. Many of them retired from the national team and were reassigned here to coach, so when it comes to training resources, you don’t need to worry at all. If you join us, we’ll give you the best support and focus on nurturing your talent!”

Li Nan’s heart stirred. He immediately asked the system, 『Why didn’t a provincial team ever appear in S City in my previous life, but now it suddenly exists in this one? 』

There was a brief pause before the system reluctantly began to explain: 【The trajectories of the two worlds aren’t completely identical. There are subtle differences, and your rebirth as the host has further widened those differences. It’s what people call the butterfly effect. Surely you’ve heard of that before?】

The butterfly effect?

Yeah, he had heard of it—at least a little.

Li Nan fell into thoughtful silence.

『From the moment you were reborn, the butterfly’s wings had already started to flap.』

The system’s cryptic words left Li Nan a bit puzzled.

Huh, Li Nan thought. Never thought the system could say something so profound… Maybe it really is intelligent.

【……】

If that’s the case, then maybe it wasn’t so strange for a provincial figure skating team to suddenly pop up in S City after all?

“I’m still just a kid,” Li Nan said. “I can’t make such an important decision on my own. I’ll have to ask my mom.”

When in doubt, bring up your mom—always the safest move.

Ding Jianguo was briefly stunned, then nodded eagerly like a pecking bird. “Yes, yes, of course. Something this important definitely needs to be discussed with your parents. How about this—where do you live? I’ll go with you now and explain everything to your mom and dad.”

“Xiao Nan, listen to me. It’d be such a waste if someone with your talent didn’t take up figure skating. If you train for just two or three years, you might even get a shot at international competitions!” Ding Jianguo was referring to junior-level global events like the World Junior Championships. Even with Li Nan’s impressive potential, Ding didn’t dare dream of senior-level events like the World Championships, which had a much higher level of competition.

Li Nan nodded in agreement. He also felt that someone like him—a top-tier prodigy—ought to make a big splash at the Winter Olympics. Who knows, maybe this time around, he could even snag an Olympic gold medal?