Chapter Eight: Was It a Surprise?

As soon as she heard someone calling her name, Xu Jingyu turned toward Shu Ran, her expression instantly shifting into a bright smile as she waved. “Shu Ran, here I am! Aren’t you surprised?”

Qin Liubei added with a cold laugh, “Surprised? I’d say more like shocked. You’re so noisy, don’t distract little Shu Ran from her practice.”

Xu Jingyu gritted her teeth. “You’re disgusting. You’re a man in your thirties and you call her ‘little Shu Ran’? What are you up to?”

“She’s much cuter than you,” Qin Liubei replied.

Xu Jingyu took a deep breath. “Fine, I see I’m not welcome here. I’ll leave then.” She turned as if to go.

Of course, in the end, Xu Jingyu didn’t leave at all. She and Qin Liubei kept quarreling the entire way back.

The four of them walked side by side. Fu Yiqing wore a cold expression and kept silent, while Shu Ran occasionally glanced curiously at the two who bickered non-stop.

Intuition told Shu Ran that the coming days of training would probably be spent amid their constant squabbling.

*

Shu Ran and Fu Yiqing lived on the second floor, while Xu Jingyu and Qin Liubei were originally assigned to the third. However, since the latter two could not stop causing a ruckus whenever they saw each other, Fu Yiqing had Aunt Zhang tidy up a storage room on the second floor so Xu Jingyu could move in. Only then did the villa finally quiet down.

The half hour after dinner was the only time Shu Ran had to herself. She was just about to call Xu Jingyu over to ask why she’d agreed to Qin Liubei’s invitation, but Fu Yiqing beat her to it by calling Xu Jingyu into the study.

So Shu Ran set her sights on Qin Liubei.

She sat in a single armchair, eyes fixed on Qin Liubei, scrutinizing him for a long moment before speaking. “How exactly did you manage it?”

Qin Liubei responded leisurely, “What kind of person do you think your friend is?”

Though she had initiated the conversation, he answered her with a question instead. Shu Ran was momentarily taken aback but answered honestly, “She’s very enthusiastic, often giving me advice about life and dance from her own experience. She’s kind-hearted, but…” She furrowed her brow, searching for words, then continued, “She’s also extremely rational. If you’d laid out all the pros and cons, she probably wouldn’t have come. Recommending a dance teacher for us seems more her style.”

Qin Liubei nodded as if in agreement, surprise flickering across his face, though the smile at his lips was one of delight.

“It seems you know her well. She did recommend someone to me,” Qin Liubei said, “but that wasn’t the result I wanted. I also know Xu Jingyu is a woman of principle. According to my database, 61.37% of people with this quality also possess other traits: strong patriotism, a sense of justice, and a belief in fairness. Among these, the percentage who are women is 34.58%. And of those women, as many as 89.81% are extremely stubborn, and among those—”

Shu Ran was already utterly lost, just watching his lips move. She cut in, “So what did you actually do?”

“Shu Ran, are you single-celled?” Qin Liubei flicked her forehead with a proud grin. “I simply showed her my vast database and told her my analysis ranked her dance skills below the world’s top five hundred. She agreed to come just to prove my data was wrong.”

“That’s... all?” Shu Ran was skeptical.

He nodded. “That’s all.”

*

Fu Yiqing first drew aside the curtains in the study. The starlight slanted across his face, half in shadow, giving him an air of cool detachment.

Xu Jingyu looked at the tall man standing by the window. Usually talkative, she now felt an unfamiliar sense of solitude in his presence, and her voice softened. “I know everything I need to, including the wager within the international skating federation, and that Qin Liubei deliberately provoked me to come help. So if you have something to say, just say it.”

Fu Yiqing didn’t beat around the bush. “Shu Ran’s dance training isn’t about teaching her to perform the dances you know, but about helping her experience the emotions behind every movement.”

“What do you mean?”

“She needs to understand the emotion a piece of music conveys so she can immerse herself in it and express it through her own interpretation of dance. There are over two hundred countries in the world, and countless dance styles—even you can’t master them all. People from different countries have different languages and gestures, but emotion is universal. You need to teach her to express emotion through dance.”

As Shu Ran climbed the stairs, she happened to see Xu Jingyu coming out of the study. Through the half-open door, Fu Yiqing was seated at his desk, absorbed in a book.

But Shu Ran’s attention was entirely on her long-lost friend, and at last, the two embraced, making up for lost time.

Xu Jingyu was much taller than Shu Ran. After lifting her head from Xu Jingyu’s shoulder, Shu Ran said excitedly, “I finally get to see you!”

Xu Jingyu pinched and squished her cheeks. “Since you returned to the national team a year ago, we haven’t met once. Well, are you surprised to see me today?”

Shu Ran nodded vigorously, then gestured toward the study. “What did Coach Fu say to you?”

“Come on, let’s go to my room and I’ll tell you all about it.”

The two girls lay on the bed, legs kicking idly in the air.

Shu Ran was especially animated. Though she seemed quiet and reserved, deep down she was still a young girl, just like any other—she loved celebrity gossip and silly chats with friends.

Liang Yue had always disliked Shu Ran and would never have chatted with her like this. Shu Ran’s later roommate, Jiang Wanru, was an easy-going “big sister” type who got along with everyone but was never particularly close to anyone, and so Shu Ran had become even more silent and gentle.

“So you knew Qin Liubei was goading you, but came anyway?”

“It wasn’t just my decision—it was also my mother’s,” Xu Jingyu sighed.

Shu Ran looked at her.

“My mother once sponsored a figure skating athlete, you know?” Xu Jingyu said.

Shu Ran had heard the story. Supposedly, a gifted skater was about to be forced to quit because his family couldn’t afford the expenses. Xu Jingyu’s mother, Zhu Xinhui, had personally visited his parents to ask them not to give up, and offered to cover part of the costs. The athlete stayed on, but later, when another competitor was injured at the provincial competition, he realized how dangerous figure skating could be and gave it up altogether. If he hadn’t chosen to quit, Zhu Xinhui would likely have continued supporting him indefinitely.

“My mother’s greatest wish in life is to see one of our country’s athletes win the first gold medal in figure skating. Now that you have that chance, how could she stand by and do nothing?”

Shu Ran pictured Zhu Xinhui’s stern face, the severity masking her deep hopes and expectations, and felt a pang at the bridge of her nose. “What about you? Have you thought about your own future?”

“These years I’ve given plenty of dance guidance to figure skaters—I know the sport well. And I want to know what it feels like to commit your life to a single goal.”

Shu Ran fell into thought.

A lifelong goal... It sounded distant and grand.

“What’s your goal now?” Xu Jingyu asked.

“To become world champion.”

Xu Jingyu’s smile faded in surprise, and Shu Ran realized she’d bragged again. Embarrassed, she said, “Coach Fu has been talking nonstop about making me world champion—I think I’ve been infected by his delusions.”

“That’s great!” Xu Jingyu exclaimed, smacking a pillow. “To accomplish something, you have to believe you can do it; only then do you have a real chance. If you don’t even believe in yourself, you’re almost guaranteed to fail. I think Fu Yiqing’s method is right. He’s not delusional—he’s just repeating it to help boost your confidence.”

Xu Jingyu put an arm around Shu Ran’s shoulders, smiling warmly. “You know how important confidence is, right? Didn’t you work for ages to get onto the national team?”

Shu Ran was about to ask more when there came a knock at the door and Fu Yiqing’s clear voice sounded.

“Shu Ran?”

Shu Ran jumped off the bed. “I just remembered I haven’t finished watching yesterday’s opera—I’ll head back now.”

Xu Jingyu said sympathetically, “Look at you, as if Coach Fu is terrifying or something.”

Shu Ran gave her a look of disbelief, as if to say—Isn’t he?

When Shu Ran stepped out, Fu Yiqing was waiting outside her room holding a piece of paper. As soon as she emerged, he handed it to her.

It was a schedule.

Unlike her previous ones, this one included dance training, squeezed in after morning off-ice practice and again after time on the ice.

Fu Yiqing walked over to her desk and opened her laptop.

As he worked, he said, “This is your new schedule; it starts tomorrow. Did you finish the opera from yesterday?”

“Not yet.”

Fu Yiqing paused. “Then watch it first.”

“Oh.”

Normally, when Shu Ran watched a film, Fu Yiqing would leave her alone, but today was different.

After ten minutes, Shu Ran noticed that Fu Yiqing was sitting in the only rattan chair, reading an English classic with his legs crossed and a pair of simple black-framed glasses perched on his nose, making his already pale skin look even more delicate.

He was absorbed in the book.

What was he reading? Shu Ran wondered, stealing glances at him—only to be caught this time.

Fu Yiqing lowered his legs and looked at her. “Is there an opera on my face?”

For some reason, though Fu Yiqing’s expression was blank, Shu Ran could sense a hint of annoyance in his indifferent gaze.

She thought fast and said, “Coach, when you keep saying you want to make me world champion, is it to boost my confidence?”

As soon as she spoke, she noticed Fu Yiqing’s gaze changed.

Was he touched that she’d finally figured him out?

“You only just realized?” Fu Yiqing closed his book. “Shu Ran, I’m starting to think your slowness is truly remarkable.”

“…”