Chapter 116: You Should Go Back

Although Yi Qing Fu had seen the film, it was so long ago that he couldn't quite recall the other musical pieces within it. After listening, he made a completely opposite decision.

Frowning, Yi Qing Fu cleared his throat. "We need to change the piece."

With the deadline approaching to present the music to Bruce, Yi Qing Fu’s rejection of her selection proposal at such a critical moment left Ran Shu devastated.

"Why?" she asked.

Yi Qing Fu replied, "There’s nothing wrong with your choice, but the other pieces in this film have very different styles. If we splice them together, it will feel jarring."

Though Ran Shu was fond of the piece, her purpose in selecting music was for the competition. Naturally, any choice that didn’t favor the competition had to be discarded.

She quickly composed herself. "There’s still an afternoon left. I’ll think it over. If I can't find anything better by then, we’ll use Bruce’s backup selection."

Yi Qing Fu nodded.

When the deadline arrived, Ran Shu still hadn’t found a better piece.

Knowing her tendency to keep her worries to herself, Bruce patted her shoulder and said, "Perfect timing. I’m confident my choice will suit you."

His confident tone made both Ran Shu and Yi Qing Fu turn their gazes toward him.

"What is it?" they asked simultaneously.

Bruce answered, "The Libertango."

Yi Qing Fu put on a thoughtful expression, his gaze dropping before rising again. "If I remember correctly, Jia Hui Lin has skated to that piece."

Bruce frowned slightly. "I don’t remember that. Let me play it for you."

Ran Shu leaned on the rink’s barrier, while Yi Qing Fu’s inquisitive eyes scanned Bruce, both focusing on his hand as he pressed play.

The music began.

Her mind seemed to plunge into a haze, reaching through thick fog to a strange, eerie glow where men and women held wine glasses, mingling amidst laughter, yet their eyes radiated menace and danger.

Just before the music ended, Bruce hit pause.

His hopeful eyes flickered between the two. "Well?"

Yi Qing Fu said, "Not bad, but the piece is only three minutes long."

Bruce waved it off. "That’s no problem. When deciding to use this for the free skate, I already found the accompanying music. Libertango is the latter half of the piece; the first half is heavier."

Yi Qing Fu had no further objections and nodded, then asked Ran Shu, "What do you think?"

Her first impression was that this piece, like the short program, was fast-paced.

Her second was that the choreography would certainly be more challenging than before.

As the title suggested—Libertango—if this piece became her free skate music, it would inevitably involve tango.

In Ran Shu’s mind, tango was a sharp, powerful dance style. Even on solid ground, it was physically demanding. Performing it on ice would be all the more strenuous.

She hesitated, then licked her lips, revealing her concern for the first time. "I think it will be very exhausting. Can we change it?"

The smile on Bruce’s face gradually faded.

Yi Qing Fu, however, chuckled. "The year of closed-door training was meant to improve your stamina." He tousled her hair. "Trust me, you won’t run out of energy."

Bruce added, "Don’t worry. It’s only the second half of the piece, not the whole thing. The first half is quite heavy and slow. The greater the contrast, the stronger the visual impact."

Thus, Ran Shu’s new season’s short program and free skate were tentatively set, both showing significant shifts in style and rhythm. For her exhibition performance, she chose "Nessun Dorma."

To prevent a recurrence of Ran Shu’s foot injury that might hinder fast-paced routines, the backup pieces retained the gentle styles she excelled at.

Since Yi Qing Fu was busy overseeing Ran Shu’s training, Qin Liubei took on the task of editing the music.

Meanwhile, Ran Shu was practicing the tango.

Sweat drenched the girl in the mirror; her gaze was sharp as she forcefully swung her arm, the muscles on her slender forearm taut. The music was fast, and she felt her stamina draining rapidly.

"Swing your arm with more force," Jingyu Xu called out, frowning as she held her camera. "Yes, just like that..."

The piece Ran Shu was practicing wasn’t the Libertango but another tango track Jingyu had selected to help her grasp the essence of the dance.

When the music ended, Ran Shu’s tense posture relaxed, and she grabbed a towel from the bench to wipe her sweat.

She noticed Jingyu’s expression, which seemed far from satisfied.

Jingyu handed her a sports drink. "Most tango pieces are in 2/4 time," she explained, demonstrating with her arms. "You swing your arm out and then immediately pull it back, or hold it steady at a point. It’s not about brute force or over-tightening your lines. If you’re too tense, it’s a huge energy drain."

"Your biggest problem now is that you’re using too much strength, making the transitions too tight. If you take this onto the ice, you won’t be able to catch the beats properly."

Ran Shu tilted her head back as water flowed down her throat, her racing heart gradually calming.

Twisting off the bottle cap, she wiped the sweat or leftover drink from her lips and stood up. "I’ll practice a bit more."

"Alright."

This time, Jingyu stood beside her. The moment the music began, they danced together.

Ran Shu watched not only her own movements but also Jingyu’s.

Though their movements looked similar, Ran Shu’s stamina depleted much faster.

The reason was that she didn’t use skillful energy control, unlike Jingyu, who could release and contract at will.

But Jingyu’s fluidity came from years of dance training since childhood—it had become second nature.

The freshly edited arrangement was ready.

After land training came basic ice training.

Half an hour later, as Ran Shu prepared to continue practicing her short program moves, the rink’s speaker unexpectedly filled with music—not the short program but Libertango.

Yi Qing Fu called out, "Use the dance moves you just practiced in the studio and skate them to this music."

Those moves hadn’t yet been combined with this piece, so Ran Shu was skeptical but trusted Yi Qing Fu’s decision.

Besides, it was only May; she had plenty of time to adapt to the new choreography.

Taking a deep breath, she made a ready gesture to Yi Qing Fu.

When the music resumed, her expression instantly matched its mood.

Jingyu frowned, whispering, "Her short program isn’t even mastered yet. Is it wise to start the free skate now?"

Bruce also looked puzzled.

Yi Qing Fu remained calm, arms crossed, fingers tapping the rhythm on his elbow, his voice light. "Didn’t we say she was using too much strength in the tango? Let’s see how she does when we put it all together."

Bruce and Jingyu exchanged glances, unsure of Yi Qing Fu’s intentions but watched with cautious anticipation.

In truth, Ran Shu’s performance was terrible—but she didn’t stop.

The music played on, and so did her dance.

The choreography wasn’t yet arranged for the program; there were no jumps or spins, so she improvised.

Incorporating tango moves, she struggled to stay on beat.

Sliding backward to prepare for a jump, her left skate edge caught the ice too eagerly chasing the beat, and she fell.

The music shifted; the once somber notes suddenly cascaded densely. She quickly rose, executing a twist step as her right arm struck a pose.

Jingyu gasped, "Oh my God, this..."

Even though she didn’t finish her sentence, Bruce understood her meaning perfectly—it was more impressive that she didn’t say more.

His previously furrowed brows eased, a spark lighting his eyes.

Their reactions pleased Yi Qing Fu, who let a faint smile play at the corner of his mouth. "If the reason you can distinguish different dance moves so clearly is because of your lifelong dance training, then the ice is Ran Shu’s best practice ground," he said, addressing Jingyu but still watching Ran Shu.

Sometimes moves she couldn’t execute well in the studio, she could perform on ice.

At first, Yi Qing Fu thought it was coincidence, but after working closely with her, he realized it was her years of skating habits.

As Jingyu said, Ran Shu didn’t use skillful energy in tango, but on ice, she could harness sliding, inertia, and various moves to help her accomplish difficult dance steps.

Those were her true strengths.

Yi Qing Fu added, "And her stamina is better than before, so she won’t run out of energy."

Bruce chuckled, "Looks like you know her better than any of us."

Yi Qing Fu replied calmly, "Of course."

No one knew Ran Shu’s strengths and weaknesses better than he did. Where she could avoid pitfalls, they did; where she couldn’t, they maximized her advantages.

After training, as Ran Shu skated toward the exit, Jingyu shrugged. "Looks like I’m out of a job?"

Ran Shu bent to pack her skate guards, puzzled. "What?"

Yi Qing Fu chuckled softly. "She’s joking."

Jingyu said, "No, I’m really leaving." She paused, gauging the others' reactions, then blushed and looked down hesitantly.

Yi Qing Fu’s brows knitted sharply.

Bruce was only responsible for ice dance lessons; land dance training was entirely Jingyu’s domain.

He was troubled over who would now guide Ran Shu’s dance moves.

Ran Shu, however, hadn’t yet considered this.

She interpreted Jingyu’s expression as shyness and quickly said, "It’s okay, you can go. But what’s this about?"

Clearing her throat, Jingyu’s cheeks flushed. "Um… I’m going to register something."

Ran Shu pressed, "Register what?"

Before Jingyu could gracefully explain, Yi Qing Fu bluntly said two words: "Marriage."

Those two words rippled like a stone thrown into a still pond.