Chapter Ninety-Six: Back in the Old Shoes

The moment the tail left the ground, the uneasy sensation of weightlessness spread uncontrollably through her. Only after the plane shot up into the clouds and settled into steady flight did it slowly begin to fade.

"What did he say to you?"

At the sound of the question, Shu Ran turned her head and saw Fu Yiqing holding a magazine, looking vaguely distracted.

"Joseph?"

"Mm." He was still turning the pages, his eyes never leaving the magazine, yet his answer came quickly.

Shu Ran rubbed her temple in confusion. "When?"

"While you were both laughing."

For reasons she could not explain, although his tone was perfectly flat, Shu Ran still heard a trace of sulkiness in it.

But Fu Yiqing did seem to be asking casually, so Shu Ran looked away and replied, "He said I look a lot like Rowlin, and then I said, 'Every athlete probably looks alike.'"

Fu Yiqing lifted his gaze, suspicion in his eyes. "That was all?"

"What else should there have been?" Shu Ran frowned, puzzled. "Coach, why do I feel like you're acting strange?"

Fu Yiqing averted his eyes and quickly looked back down, entirely composed. "I was just thinking about the skates."

Shu Ran's attention was drawn to the skates as well, and she began to worry again.

Yet her distress showed too clearly. Fu Yiqing soon realized that his excuse had merely led Shu Ran into another awkward corner, and he moved at once to comfort her.

The journey was too long for any of them to have much energy left to worry. They put on their eye masks and drifted into sleep one after another.

As soon as they got off the plane, Fu Yiqing escorted Shu Ran straight into the car.

The door had barely closed when Xu Jingyu's voice came from outside.

"Shu Ran, long time no see."

Shu Ran had not expected Xu Jingyu to be there to meet her. The excitement of seeing her friend after so long surged up at once, but all it became in the end was a small smile tugging at her lips. "Jingyu, why are you here?"

Xu Jingyu smiled. "It's been so long since I saw you. Wasn't I supposed to come pick you up? And besides..." Her smile faded a little as she looked toward Fu Yiqing. "I wanted to know how things really are with you now."

Shu Ran's eyes darkened. Guiltily, she could not bring herself to meet her friend's gaze. "Not very good."

Xu Jingyu already understood.

After returning home, a domestic team of specialists was assembled to work on Shu Ran's foot.

But the situation was exactly as Joseph had said: five months was not enough time, not only for competition, but even for the injury to heal.

"At least a year."

That was also the unanimous conclusion of the doctors at home.

Yet time was running out. Before long, January arrived, and once Shu Ran had rested enough, she resumed training.

For Shu Ran at this point, that was no different from taking a risk. But she had no other choice.

The swelling on her ankle had still not gone down.

Now she trained only two hours a day, divided between morning and afternoon.

Switching to new skates had a huge impact on her training, and every bit of it was negative.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Shu Ran always felt the new skates were heavier than the old ones, forcing her to exert herself harder when jumping.

She was jumping higher, which meant she could no longer find her balance point accurately.

And with Shu Ran still training on an injury, she could not practice jumping often. In short, the training results were very poor.

Under the immense pressure, Shu Ran's mood was terrible. On the day she resumed training, she wore a gloomy expression the whole time, smiling only when Qin Liubei joked around.

It had only been yesterday that she resumed training. By the end of today's afternoon session, one more day had been lost, yet Shu Ran had made no progress at all. If anything, she had only regressed.

Exhausted in both body and mind, Shu Ran skated out of the rink.

Fu Yiqing came over with tissues and asked with concern, "Has the pain in your foot gotten worse?"

Shu Ran shook her head.

As usual, Qin Liubei tried another joke, but having run out of material, he began reading out a joke he had found online that day.

When he finished, Shu Ran only gave a perfunctory smile.

Fu Yiqing was the first to notice her expression. His gaze darkened, and he called out, "Liubei."

Qin Liubei stopped at once and only then noticed that Shu Ran was in a bad mood. "What's wrong, Shu Ran? Was that not funny? I thought it was pretty funny."

Shu Ran walked to the bench and sat down to change her skates. "I've already seen that joke."

The group fell silent.

Although Shu Ran had only just resumed training, her injuries were too serious for her to return to the intensity needed for the Winter Olympics. Aside from mental simulation training and watching videos, she still had much of the day free.

And to keep the pressure off her, Fu Yiqing had her watch comedy clips and films.

The effect was obviously not very significant.

After changing her skates, Shu Ran sat in her wheelchair, and Fu Yiqing pushed her toward the exit. "Are the new skates feeling okay?"

"Fine," Shu Ran said.

The two of them had very different thoughts.

In truth, whether the new skates were really suitable, Shu Ran knew the answer but did not say it, and Fu Yiqing could naturally tell from her training that something was off.

But Shu Ran still lied.

There were only forty days left until the competition. That meant Shu Ran had to adapt to the new skates and regain her former level in the time remaining.

She lied not only so Fu Yiqing would not worry, but also to deceive herself.

She held onto the thought that maybe, after a few days, things would be better.

"How about..." Fu Yiqing said evenly, "switching back to the old skates?"

Shu Ran's eyes widened in surprise, but the first to react was still Qin Liubei. "Switch back to the old skates? Those hurt her feet. You know the bone spur on Shu Ran's foot still hasn't gone down, don't you? Her daily training is already enough to make her suffer, and you want to add to it? Fu Yiqing, that's too cruel. Don't tell me you're still thinking about that bet with Quentin?"

Fu Yiqing said nothing for a long time.

Shu Ran slowly turned her wheelchair to face them both.

When Qin Liubei had first met her, he had accused her of dragging Fu Yiqing down. But now he had already forgotten the reason he had come to China to help her train.

It would be a lie to say she was not moved, but as for Fu Yiqing, Shu Ran had not the slightest doubt. "Let him finish."

Qin Liubei froze before finally understanding.

Shu Ran was the person Fu Yiqing cared about most. If he could avoid it, how could he ever be willing to let her stand on the podium at the cost of hurting her?

Fu Yiqing glanced at Qin Liubei, then looked at Shu Ran with a complicated expression. "Switching back to the old skates is fine, on one condition: before the Winter Olympics, you must rest properly."

The other two were both stunned.

Although the old skates were tight, if one thought about it carefully, there were actually more advantages to switching back.

First, there would be no need to adapt to new skates. Second, she would have more time to recover from the injury. And most importantly, the psychological strain from adapting to the new skates would also ease.

Although Fu Yiqing's suggestion had its benefits, hidden beneath the calm surface was danger and challenge unknown to others.

Since the Olympic qualifying event, Shu Ran had hardly trained at all. Could she still perform at her previous level if she switched back to the old skates?

Shu Ran, still injured, would have to endure the pain no matter what. But compared to the alternatives, the new skates at least would not press against the wound.

So whichever she chose, this Winter Olympics would be the greatest challenge Shu Ran had ever faced.

"I disagree." Qin Liubei's face was cold. "Rather than compete in skates that hurt her feet, she'd be better off withdrawing, or simply resting and then going out there in the new skates later."

Seeing Shu Ran lost in thought, Fu Yiqing called softly, "Shu Ran?"

Shu Ran came back to herself at once. After lowering her gaze in thought for a moment, she looked up. "All right."

Fu Yiqing's expression softened again. "Then it's settled."

He took the handle behind the wheelchair once more and pushed Shu Ran out of the rink.

Qin Liubei hurried after them, shouting, "I still don't think this is okay."

After Fu Yiqing's suggestion was carried out, the most immediate change was that Shu Ran smiled more often. But as the competition drew closer, her worries grew day by day.

After learning that Shu Ran was busy recovering and had not been training, Huo Guang also expressed understanding.

And so the Winter Olympics arrived.

This year's Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver. Five days before the competition began, Shu Ran arrived in the city.

During the Olympic qualifying event, Shu Ran's performance had moved the entire figure skating world, so the moment she landed that day, she could feel the media's enthusiasm.

Several cameras were trained on her.

After nearly five months of rest and adjustment, Shu Ran had long since regained the ability to walk freely. There had even been reports before that she had gone abroad to have her foot injury examined. Seeing her stride along so briskly today, the reporters on the scene could not immediately tell whether she had fully recovered.

But if she really had recovered, why had she not taken part in the team event a few days earlier? That only made the state of her injury more mysterious.

Shu Ran's public practice session was scheduled for the third day after her arrival in Vancouver.

Though others did not know it, Shu Ran understood her own condition very well.

She had not trained for five months, and the only two sessions she had managed since then had been soured by the new skates. What would happen at this public practice session was anyone's guess.

Shu Ran changed into her black training clothes, then sat down and picked up the old skates to put them on.

Her left foot slipped quickly into the boot. She tied the laces, and although she had not worn skates for a long time, the speed of her hands remained ingrained in her body. It was still fast.

Once her left foot was done, she slid her right foot into the old skate.

The inside of the boot pressed tightly against the ankle joint, and Shu Ran felt as though she had been struck hard in the foot.

For a moment, her breathing became uneven.

Hearing familiar footsteps, she took a deep breath and, pretending to be calm, continued putting on the skate.

Fu Yiqing's voice then sounded above her head. "How is it? Can you bear it?"

With her head lowered, Shu Ran quickly finished tying the laces. She looked up and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's much better than I expected. I can endure it."

Fu Yiqing nodded.

Shu Ran rose at once, but the smile on her face froze instantly, leaving her as white as a sheet.

Standing made the side of the boot press harder against her ankle, and the pain became even more pronounced.

Shu Ran could not hold it in and let out a soft groan.

Fu Yiqing reacted instantly and helped her sit down. "It hurts that much?"

Shu Ran knew she could not hide it, so she nodded, though she still insisted stubbornly, "That impact just now hurt. Maybe about thirty percent of the pain from the Olympic qualifying event."

Her explanation did nothing to reassure Fu Yiqing. His face was dark, his expression unreadable, as though he were thinking about something.

"Coach, don't suddenly tell me to switch back to the new skates again. I'm not confident I can adapt to them during a public practice session!" Shu Ran said with a shiver of fear.

Her panic made Fu Yiqing laugh instead. After he finished laughing, his expression quickly turned serious again. "I'll get you some painkillers."

Shu Ran took the hint at once and nodded rapidly. "Okay, okay."

She was clearly in a lot of pain and yet still told him it did not hurt.

Feeling Fu Yiqing's silent reproach, Shu Ran finally realized she had let something slip. A little embarrassed, she held back her laughter and lowered her head.