The China Figure Skating Clubs League is a domestic competition organised by the China Figure Skating Association. Its purpose is to discover and select better additional talents in figure skating.

It is held every year, but this is only the seventh session.

The Ice Skating Association really has no choice.

There are too few supplementary talents!

They are so miserable!

China is not like North America and Eastern Europe, which are covered with snow all year round. Except for the two northeastern provinces, there are very few ice rinks in other provinces.

Without a mass base, where can they get so many seedlings and gems?

What’s more, ice skating is a sport that, as the Northeastern dialect says, is damn expensive!

Not to mention the ice skates that get worn out and need to be replaced every year, the cost of daily practice on the ice rink, and just hiring a coach of some fame to provide guidance costs an astronomical price calculated on an hourly basis.

Apart from wealthy families or those who are cultivated by clubs to be their signature players, how many people can afford to spend such money without any certainty or hope?

They are not like diving and table tennis, which have always been the focus of training to win glory for the country and win medals. The country strongly supports them and parents are willing to send their children to the team to try their luck in the future.

China’s single figure skating can be described as a complete failure.

Pair skating was too popular and brought some results, but single skating was almost non-existent, which made the situation worse.

Due to external constraints, there is no guarantee of good results and it is very expensive. Figure skating in China has been in a state of transition for many years.

China’s current top men’s singles player, Ming Qingyuan, is already 23 years old and is about to retire, but he still ranks outside the top 20 in the world for many years.

Once Ming Qingyuan retires, China’s men’s singles may not even be able to enter the free skating at the World Championships!

Zhou Yu, the single skating coach of Province H, is only 36 years old this year, but his hair has turned grey due to worry.

As soon as the team informed him that there would be a competition in a few days and asked him to come and look around to see if there were any suitable young players who could be recruited into the team, he ran faster than a rabbit.

For fear of being half a step late and any promising talents being plundered by the pair skating coach Yang Qiongguang.

But Yang Qiongguang came almost at the same time as him.

Zhou Yu had a bitter face, but he had to give her half of the observation window.

Yang Qiongguang sent a pair of skaters to the national team last year. He heard that they had been selected by the national team to be trained as the successors to the current top brother and sister. Her voice is full of energy when she speaks.

“There are quite a lot of people this year,” she looked down from the window, “There must be thirty or forty people in the elite group alone, right? This is considered a good year.”

It was indeed a bumper year. Zhou Yu didn’t bother to be on guard against his colleagues. He squinted his eyes and looked carefully at the young players who were having ice trials at the ice rink downstairs. The fine lines at the corners of his eyes were exposed.

Yang Qiongguang and Zhou Yu subconsciously ignored the contestants in the mass group and stared at the short children with shining eyes.

The elite group is composed of professional skaters who have passed the grade test, and they are very young and few in number. The mass group is a performance stage for figure skating enthusiasts, with skaters of all ages, and the ice rink is packed with people.

Not to mention anything else, when Ling Ran was standing on one foot at the edge of the field and drawing a circle with the other foot like a ruler, he was nearly bumped by a college student in his twenties.

Fortunately, Ling Ran reacted quickly and jumped back to avoid it.

Xue Linyuan was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. He ran over and pulled Ling Ran behind him, “What’s wrong with you? How could you bump into someone else!”

He quickly turned around and checked Ling Ran’s hands and feet, “Ling Ran, are you okay?”

It’s no wonder that Xue Linyuan made a fuss. How many times had he accidentally bumped into someone while practising on the ice before the game?

Especially when skating and jumping quickly, everyone’s speed is as fast as flying. If you are knocked down by someone or scratched by the ice skates, you may have to retire early in serious cases!

There are even villains who specialise in causing trouble in international competitions!

Xue Linyuan felt that his right leg bone was starting to hurt again.

If he hadn’t been hit that time, he could have retired a few years later. If anything had happened to Ling Ran… Xue Linyuan’s heart was shaking.

Then, someone grabbed his arm.

Ling Ran looked at him calmly with eyes that saw through everything, “Master Xue, I wasn’t hit.”

Just with this one sentence, Xue Linyuan felt relieved.

The college student who almost bumped into Ling Ran was called Geng Hong, a handsome young man of 180cm in height. He was so embarrassed that he couldn’t even raise his head. “I’m so sorry, I just wanted to try jumping, but I slipped when landing on the ice and almost bumped into you. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

He was dressed casually and wore a full set of protective gear. He looked like an ordinary ice skating enthusiast.

Ling Ran nodded and accepted the apology.

Let’s just leave it at that.

Several classmates who came with Geng Hong were a little dissatisfied, “Tsk, this guy is so arrogant!”

“He wasn’t even hit!”

They all had nothing to do during the holidays, so they came here with Geng Hong. They were free anyway, so they just came to join in the fun, and they only had some knowledge about figure skating.

Geng Hong is different. The fact that he is just an ordinary ice skating fan but dares to sign up for the competition and even dares to try jumping is enough to show his professionalism.

So he recognized at a glance that the move that Ling Ran avoided was a T-jump with a backward outside edge!

He was obviously so frightened by himself that he jumped up suddenly, but he jumped very high and far, and his landing was frighteningly steady.

He must not be an amateur!

Moreover, although the pair of ice skates on Ling Ran’s feet was a low-key and unnoticeable black colour, Geng Hong noticed the inconspicuous logo on the heel of the ice skates at a glance.

The boy was wearing a custom-made piece from the world’s top sports brand IR. It was expensive and well-made, and was a favourite of professional athletes!

Geng Hong had been coveting them for a long time and planned to buy himself a pair after he got the scholarship.

Geng Hong determined that Ling Ran was a professional player, so he told his guess to his companions, “The person next to him must be his coach, so we are lucky that he didn’t make a fuss about it.”

“Is it so bizarre?”

Zhang Shuo, who had dark skin and a simple and honest face, scratched his head.

Wei Ran, who was petite and cute, suggested, “They will all be competing anyway, why don’t we go and watch that handsome boy compete and see what level he is at!”

Geng Hong snorted twice, “He will definitely be competing in the elite group. The video will be posted on the official website and you can watch it anytime. But you all went to watch him but didn’t come to cheer me on. What if I can also enter the free skate?”

Wei Ran curled his lips, “Forget about your skills. If you can make it to the free skating, Zhang Shuo and I will treat you to a feast!”

Geng Hong immediately became excited, “You can’t cheat!”

A few young people chatted and laughed, and made an appointment to go watch the mass group competition together.

Ling Ran was already planning to go down to the ice.

The quality of the contestants was very mixed. He hadn’t shared the ice with so many people in many years. He had to be careful every moment to avoid being knocked down by those contestants who did fancy falls.

Instead of being constantly disturbed, it is better to go back and do land training.

When he skated to the gate, he saw Xue Linyuan running towards him nervously, “What’s wrong?”

Ling Ran squatted down and untied his shoelaces, “There are too many people.”

Xue Linyuan sighed, “I’ll ask around to see if there are any ice rinks nearby, or maybe use some connections to secretly bring you in to practise for a while at night?”

Ling Ran shook his head, wiped the ice blade clean and put it away.

“We have a competition tomorrow, and the ice maker needs to turn the ice over. We’ve almost finished what we need to practise, and we just need to go back and work on our physical fitness and flexibility.”

Xue Linyuan knew that his disciple had a big idea. After thinking about it, he felt that it was feasible and nodded.

The two of them returned to the hotel together and ran into Huo Wenze who was walking out while talking on the phone.

“You’re back now?”

Huo Wenze raised his eyebrows.

This time he came with a mission from Grandpa Huo, which was to record the entire game of Ling Ran and bring it back to show Grandpa Huo.

If Ling Ran performed too badly, it would be a real waste of his precious time.

In fact, Ling Ran didn’t originally plan to stay in a hotel.

The competition organisers arranged a unified accommodation place, which was close to the competition venue. Ling Ran and Xue Linyuan thought it was good, but they couldn’t stand Huo Wenze’s pickiness and booked another one that was a little further away, and the price was ten times higher. Because of the arrangement and costume, he had troubled Huo Wenze a lot, so he didn’t care about these small things.

But now he felt a little regretful.

Ling Ran is actually a person who is very sensitive to emotions. He is good at capturing feelings and expressing emotions. Otherwise, he would not have achieved a world-class level of program performance.

So he immediately heard the disapproval in Huo Wenze’s tone.

Ling Ran strangely felt like a primary school student being ordered by his parents to do his homework well.

Even Xue Linyuan, who was like a hen protecting her chicks, had never given him this feeling.

Maybe Huo Wenze gave people a too strong impression, he thought, but kept calm, and even smiled slightly and greeted him.

“Brother Wenze.”

Huo Wenze just said it casually, nodded and walked out.

Only after he left did Xue Linyuan breathe a sigh of relief.

“You are indeed a former soldier, and you look stern enough. Just standing there makes people dare not breathe.”

Ling Ran: “…”

It doesn’t seem to be that serious.

He didn’t respond, just put down his backpack and went out for a run to warm up.

Tomorrow is the short program competition. He doesn’t plan to consume too much physical energy. He will first run a few thousand metres, do fifty big jumps, stand upside down for half an hour, do fifty sit-ups, and then stretch.

Fortunately, Xue Linyuan didn’t know what was in Ling Ran’s mind, otherwise, he would have to complain about it.

What do you mean by ‘not too much’?

Such high-intensity training, and you call this ‘not too much’?

Every time he proposed a training plan, Ling Ran wanted to double it. If he hadn’t kept a close eye on him and enforced it strictly, Ling Ran might have succeeded.

Don’t think that he doesn’t know that he secretly stands against the wall to stretch for half an hour every day when he gets home.

If Xue Linyuan had not been to the Huo family and seen how Grandpa Huo held Ling Ran in the palm of his hand, he would have suspected that the Huo family was abusing his beloved disciple.

Otherwise, how could a fifteen-year-old child be so able to endure hardship?

Although he was complaining in his heart, Xue Linyuan still followed Ling Ran’s training that night very seriously. Before going to bed, he took out his costume and carefully examined the rhinestones and sequins on it.

Although a world-class master like Alberto would certainly not make such a low-level mistake, if the decorations on the costume fell onto the ice during the competition, points would be deducted.

Being careful will keep you safe, right?

The figure under the light squatted beside the suitcase, looking carefully at the hundreds of densely packed rhinestones and sequins, rubbing his sore eyes from time to time.

Ling Ran was lying on the bed, pulling the quilt to cover most of his face, leaving only his pair of dark eyes looking at him.

Fall asleep in the familiar peace of mind.

Early the next morning, Huo Wenze personally drove them to the Yuannanxing Ice Rink.

There are different entrances for contestants and spectators.

Huo Wenze held up a video camera that looked shockingly expensive, nodded to them and left.

Ling Ran was carrying his ice skates, and Xue Linyuan was pulling a suitcase containing a costume and shoes while waiting to enter.

There were a lot of contestants in the mass group, and it was as lively as a vegetable market when they entered.

The entrance for the elite group of players was deserted, but the entrance for the audience was very busy, with long lines. It’s heard that even the tickets were 20 yuan more expensive than those for the general group.

While queuing, Zhang Jin led Qiao Shi and deliberately passed in front of them, saying that a coach from the provincial team had contacted them and was very optimistic about Qiao Shi.

The boasting in his words and deeds could not be suppressed at all.

“You guys take your time to line up, we’ll go in and draw lots first.”

Zhang Jin left this sentence and walked into the venue leisurely.

Xue Linyuan was inevitably embarrassed when someone confronted him in the face.

Ling Ran saw it and quickly put his arm around his shoulder.

Ling Ran actually thought about convincing Xue Linyuan to sign up for the elite group.

The reason why it didn’t happen is very simple.

Age.

Ling Ran will be fifteen years old on June 6th this year.

According to international regulations, athletes who are 13 years old and under 19 years old before July of the year can enter the youth group competition.

If Ling Ran participated in international competitions, he could enter the youth group at the age of fifteen.

Of course, if an athlete is over 15 years old and has confidence in his or her skills, he or she can also pass the upgrade test and be promoted to the adult group in advance to see the market.

But this is a domestic competition, and its essence is to supplement talents for the national team and provincial teams.

Taking into account that figure skating requires practice from a young age and that young people are likely to correct various bad habits, the age limit for registration in the elite group is set at fourteen.

The rest are assigned to the general group.

Ling Ran is just one year older.

Some people may be curious and think if that is the case, why not just limit the competition to those under 14 years old instead of dividing it into a mass group or an elite group?

In fact, when it comes down to it, I still feel unwilling.

What if there are some good talents among the older contestants?

What if?

However, judging from the previous six competitions, this possibility has never occurred.

Therefore, the referees with higher levels were assigned to the elite group. The referees in the mass group competition were not very bad, but there was definitely a certain gap.

This can be seen from the fact that the mass group frequently gets high scores, and some even score higher than the elite group.

The referee team also thought it was simple.

It’s just for fun anyway, so give these enthusiasts a few more points and everyone will be happy.

It’s just that the players this year are just too bad.

Seeing everyone on the field falling down in fancy styles and some even falling far away after a one-step jump, even the referees couldn’t cover their eyes and give high scores.

Each of them only scored 30 or 40 at most. With this level, they are still expected to do a free skate?

The referees all looked exhausted.

Figure skating competitions are divided into short programs and free skating.

The short program has a set number of difficult moves, while in free skating, you can choose a certain number of difficult moves to arrange your own program.

Only by getting the top few rankings in the short program can you enter the free skating segment.

When the referees thought about having to be visually polluted for so long, their faces turned green. The middle-aged man in the referee’s seat had a face that was so green that it was almost black and dripping with water.

Until Ling Ran stood in the centre of the ice rink.

This is rarely seen in the mass group. Seeing the contestant wearing a costume, the judges’ eyes lit up immediately.

The deep and light green, the sparkling light like flowing water, tightly wrapped around the young man’s slender and flexible body, revealing his well-proportioned and slender frame without any reservation.

This player has very good innate conditions.

The experienced referees sat up straight involuntarily.

After being tortured for a long time, the audience who were so bored that they had started playing with their mobile phones were woken up by their companions.

“This contestant looks good!”

“Is he wearing a costume?”

Huo Wenze turned on the camera screen.

The buzzing discussions and the sharp gazes of the referees rushed towards the somewhat thin figure in the centre of the arena like a sea.

Xue Linyuan’s heart skipped a beat.

I was so nervous during my first competition that I almost fainted. I didn’t land well on my first jump. Ling Ran has a good mental state, so he should be fine, right?

Xue Linyuan nervously stood at the door of the ice rink, clenching his hands tightly.

Ling Ran felt no ripples in his heart and even felt a little nostalgic.

He nodded from the right, indicating that the music could be played, then closed his eyes, hugged his shoulders with his hands, and leaned his head on one shoulder.

This is the position of a baby curled up in the mother’s womb.

When the boy put on the costume, his handsome face seemed to be kissed by spring, exuding endless vitality and vigour, and so gentle that it made people sigh.

So, what show is he going to perform?

The referee and the audience were equally curious and stared at the scene.

End of the Chapter 9.