wipe the ice and fire

March 3, the night before the start of the World Championships.After the training, Du Qingshao went back to the room with his teammates. When he was about to walk to the door, someone put his shoulders on his shoulders from behind.

Ye Feihong patted him and said, "Take a good rest tonight, it's not easy to be a substitute."

He was so tired that he didn't want to talk about this topic, so he opened the door and entered the room, walked to the table, took out his skates and towel, and moved to the sofa to sit down.

Although he has changed countless pairs of shoes since he was a child, no matter which pair he holds in his hand, he has a different weight.He took off the soft protective cover, wiped and absorbed water along the blade over and over again, his movements were a little mechanical, and his thoughts wandered.

He remembered that when he was about to graduate from elementary school, he transferred to a county in the southwest. In order to maintain training, he had to drive alone in a car and drag his suitcase to practice tens of kilometers away.

But the summer over there is like a stove. After tossing around the whole summer vacation, I suffered from heatstroke three or four times in two months.At that time, he was practicing triple axel again, which cost a lot of shoes, and basically he had to change the blade in a month or two.As a result, I ran all over the city and couldn't find a place to repair high-end skates, so I had to send them back to Harbin, thousands of miles away, for my mother to find someone to repair.

But he never felt bored, sitting in the bus enjoying the scenery of this strange city.On the way to training, I think about technical movements, and when I go home, I think about which math Olympiad problem I haven't solved yesterday, and I never get tired of it.

It's impossible to say that he doesn't like figure skating, but he still can't say what's wrong.

Recalling the bits and pieces of the past 13 years, he still couldn't accept the fact that he had lost his qualifications as a representative. He threw the towel aside and held his skates in silence.

"Ding dong——" suddenly the doorbell rang, and then a foreigner asked, "Excuse me, is this Mr. Du?"

He was rarely called so formally, and he was stunned for a few seconds before answering the door.After opening the door, I found that it was a hotel waiter, and handed him a black plastic bag for express delivery.

The packaging is all in English, and the bag is very light.Du Qingshao shook after receiving it, and found that there seemed to be only one envelope inside.

"Who gave this to me?" He was puzzled.

The waiter explained: "This is an express mail sent from France, and it is written that the recipient must confirm it in person."

"France?" Hearing these two words, Du Qingshao immediately had an answer. After saying thank you, he rushed back to his room and hurriedly unpacked it.

Sure enough, it was a letter.He picked it up and looked at it. There was a 50-cent stamp on the upper right corner, and it was also stamped with the stamp of the Paris Post Office.The seal is covered with a delicate golden seal, with retro and dignified patterns.

It really looks like Luo Ming's style.

Is it the letter he wrote to say he was safe?Du Qingshao's heart beat fast for a while, and he took out a utility knife from the suitcase, quickly cut open the envelope, and poured out a postcard and two pieces of letter paper.

The postcard is written in English, with only a few lines, and the handwriting is very delicate.The general meaning is: I wrote you a letter, and I am afraid that the meaning is unclear, so I attach a Chinese translation.

The place where the signature was signed was the name he couldn't miss the most at the moment.

Du Qingshao quickly dragged a chair to sit at the table, spread out the kraft letter paper and read it against another A4 paper.

Du, see letter like face.

I was surprised and worried to hear that you will be playing as a substitute for this game.Forgive me for not being able to watch the game due to some personal matters, and I hope my worries are unnecessary.

I left too hastily before, and I didn't have time to say a lot, so I want to use this letter to convey it together.

Although I haven't known you for a long time, I always believe that you are a special person.

Before I left, I told you a proverb: He who makes people alive lives himself.This is not only a well-intentioned motto, but also my expectation for you.

I have seen in you your love and loyalty to the career you have chosen. It is this unwavering enthusiasm that has made you different and let me hear my heartbeat on your ice rink.

The sound of a heartbeat that wants to live.

I don't know what others think of you, but this sentence is not an exaggeration for me who has been suffering from depression all year round.

Thank you very much for giving me this strength inadvertently.So I think, if one day your performance can impress all the audience present, will it be considered a success?

I have read a sentence to the effect that "great achievements since ancient times are not just achieved overnight, but for generations to come", and it feels very appropriate to use it here.

If gold is what you want, you might be a world champion; but if your performance inspires faith in the world, you'll be a worthy hero.

The words have come to this point, I believe you can understand what I mean.

Finally, I sincerely hope that you are in good health.If given the opportunity, I would like to accompany you as a teacher all the time.

Sincerely,

Lumi Varis

Seeing the familiar name on the last line, he clutched the letter in his hand, feeling a little confused.

Why didn't he mention volcanoes and earthquakes throughout the article?That's what I want to see the most now!

Du Qingshao picked up the things and flipped through them several times, and finally found the date on the packaging——March 2024, 3, the second day after the entry list was announced.

At that time, he was still in closed training in the country, and the volcano in the Mogsang Islands had not erupted yet, but Luo Ming had already found out about the hotel where he was staying and wrote this letter.

The letter may have been sent out of France when the volcano erupted, but it was not delivered to him until today due to logistics restrictions caused by the mountain ash.

In other words, this letter still cannot prove his safety.

A thin layer of kraft paper glowed transparent yellow under the light, and the delicate italic characters fell on it, revealing a retro and old ink smell.For a moment, Du Qingshao even thought it was a letter from the Middle Ages, brushing away the dust of history and items mailed to him over the years.

The car is far away, the life of a person is nothing more than that.

He flattened the letter paper again, carefully read Luo Ming's words several times, then scraped off the Eiffel Tower stamp with the postmark with a knife, and rubbed the small gear on the edge of the stamp with his fingertips.

This is a token he gave himself, and it is a constant connection even if there are fires all over the sky.

The eye sockets suddenly became wet, and the eyes became blurred.He closed his eyes and grasped the stamps in his hands by feeling, but an extremely certain voice rose from the bottom of his heart: Luo Ming will be fine.

Similarly, even if he can't play in this game, there will still be a battlefield for him in the future.

He will always be a warrior, and Luo Ming will always be behind him, cheering for him.

He seemed to be in good spirits when he woke up the next day. He packed his things and followed the instructions of the staff to wait in the lounge.

The women's singles will be played first, followed by the men's singles and doubles.There were occasional footsteps in the corridor, followed by a long silence.Du Qingshao knew that the game had already started, so he obediently sat on the yoga mat to stretch his ligaments, fulfilled his responsibilities as a substitute, and was on standby at any time.

After about two hours, he finally felt a little bored, took out yesterday's letter from his backpack, and began to savor it carefully.

Luo Ming said that his game ignited his heartbeat to live, what a noble evaluation.

Use just a few minutes of performance to touch the hearts of all the audience present and give them strength and confidence.This is what Luo Ming expects of him, a wish that is far more grand than a gold medal in the Winter Olympics.

How exactly?

Just as he was thinking, there was a sound of hurried footsteps from far to near outside the door. Before he could react, he saw Ye Feihong push the door open, pulled him up from the chair, and ordered: "Change clothes."

"Wearing it." Du Qingshao unzipped his jacket and quickly realized the problem, "What happened?"

Ye Feihong answered irrelevant questions: "Follow me to the inspection first, and then go to the sidelines to warm up and prepare for the game."

Du Qingshao unscrewed the bottle cap, took a sip, and asked, "Who was injured?"

"Who else is there? Ma Jiabo was injured during the sixth trial jump."

"...so the game has already started?"

"I told the organizing committee, let them wait for you for 10 minutes, and take his place." Ye Feihong stood at the door and looked at him, "Time is a little tight, can you do it?"

Du Qingshao was embarrassed by this question.The two main ligaments of his right shoulder were so injured that he could hardly fix the joint, and the pain could not be stopped even with sealing needles.But seeing the other party's anxious look, he nodded hard: "No problem."

The coach had already walked to the door and waved to him. Not long after the two walked out, they saw Ma Jiabo pushed by a wheelchair at the safety exit.

Brother... Du Qingshao paused, but found that the address was stuck in his throat and he couldn't say it.

"Sorry Xiao Du, I still didn't make it through the last game of this season." He parked the wheelchair next to them, lowered his head and smiled awkwardly, "If I had known earlier, I would have given you the spot, but now it's a bit sudden. "

No matter what time, this person can still talk to himself in such a relaxed tone.Du Qingshao adjusted his breathing, walked to his side, and was suddenly held by his wrist and pulled down a little.

He knelt down on one knee beside the wheelchair.

Ma Jiabo came over, changed his playful smile just now, and whispered in his deep and calm voice, "Du Qingshao, you should know what I mean when I say these words to you now."

"I know."

"Very good," he nodded, "I know you're under a lot of pressure, but I still have to tell you that you have no right to let others down from now on."

"Of course." Du Qingshao looked up at him, suppressing a thousand words in his heart, "Even if you don't tell me, I know."

"Then go." Ma Jiabo patted him on the shoulder, pointing to the bright light at the exit of the safe passage, "Go out of this door, and your stage will be outside."

"..." Du Qingshao didn't know what to say for a while.

In the past month, he has experienced too much.Retired due to injury, struggling with disappointment, and even experienced the uneasiness of life and death a few days ago, and in front of him is the heavy responsibility of the entire national team's men's singles that has suddenly fallen.

This time, I really have no right to let others down.

"Thank you." He let go of Ma Jiabo's hand and thumped his chest.

The two exchanged a look, and when they stood up and looked forward again, Du Qingshao's eyes were completely different.

"Let's go." Ye Feihong urged from the front.

Every sound the hard knife case fell on the ground was so firm, he lowered his head and bit the collar of his jacket, raised his head slightly, unzipped the zipper with his left hand, took off the uniform and handed it to the coach.