If only he could get himself into the hospital, making his parents have to fuss over him all day and unable to go anywhere, that would be perfect.

Chris Bolton was a man of great determination. Thanks to this determination, he became the true powerhouse of "Dream Youth 307," and nearly made it to the debut lineup without boosting his scores or buying votes.

His family lived in an apartment building with an elevator, but since they lived on the second floor and everyone was too lazy to wait for the elevator, they usually took the stairs. This provided Chris Bolton with a great opportunity.

After leaving the house, while his parents and Deborah Foster were still tying their shoes, he unhesitatingly missed a step and tumbled down like a little spinning top.

On the first day of his new life, Chris Bolton successfully landed himself in the hospital, the reason—multiple soft tissue contusions all over his body.

Chapter 2 {Uncle}

Kids are flexible, and a couple of tumbles rarely cause any serious problems. Chris Bolton was lucky too—no real injuries, just some medicine from the doctor, and then his dad carried him home.

Since they went to the best top-tier hospital in the city, the pediatric emergency room was packed. They spent an hour just waiting in line, so not only did Chris Bolton miss his ballet class that day, but Deborah Foster also missed violin lessons. The whole family ended up stuck at the hospital.

Grace Bolton and Ian Foster didn’t think too much about their eldest son falling down the stairs. They just found it a bit funny and exasperating, but kids getting a few bumps and bruises while growing up is nothing unusual—just more childhood memories for when they’re older.

They took it all in stride, and after seeing the doctor, even took the kids out for fried chicken.

For some reason, ever since Chris Bolton could remember, KFC and McDonald's were always next to each other. But Chris Bolton was firmly on team KFC, because he loved their mashed potatoes.

The sweet and savory mashed potatoes were mixed with black pepper chicken gravy. Take a spoonful, and the aroma of pepper hits first, followed by a burst of salty flavor on the tip of the tongue. Dipping a burger bun in it was delicious too, and even his body seemed to instinctively rejoice at the carbs about to be turned into glycogen.

As an idol with an easy-to-gain-weight body type, back when he was a trainee, he almost had to eat nothing but greens every meal just to maintain that "youthful and slender" figure—he absolutely wasn’t allowed to enjoy mashed potatoes.

Chris Bolton squinted his eyes, looking blissful. Deborah Foster sat next to him drinking cola, the straw making slurping sounds.

In this moment, they were far from car accidents, far from death. From now on, they would continue living together for many, many years.

Realizing this, Chris Bolton felt a deep sense of satisfaction from within.

……

Ian Foster and Grace Bolton had to run their restaurant, and after the New Year’s holiday, Deborah Foster would have to go back to school. Someone needed to look after the one lying in bed.

After thinking it over, the couple decided to call over Chris Bolton’s uncle, Grace Bolton’s younger cousin—Jack Bolton—to cook for Chris Bolton.

In his previous life, Chris Bolton had a good relationship with his Uncle. After his parents passed away, it was his grandmother who adopted him, but the one who played the father role in his life was Jack Bolton.

He had once been a men’s singles figure skater.

Unfortunately, after he retired and became a coach, the most popular discipline in Chinese figure skating was pairs, while men’s singles, women’s singles, and ice dance were all in a slump. As a singles coach, Jack Bolton was frustrated and unfulfilled, eventually developing a drinking problem, and passed away from liver cancer in his early forties.

Right now, Jack Bolton had just officially joined the provincial team, and had been a coach for less than three months. He was busy adapting to his new job, and only rushed to Chris Bolton’s house at mealtimes.

Figure skating is an artistic sport, and coaches always prefer good-looking athletes, so naturally there are a lot of handsome men and beautiful women.

Jack Bolton had a handsome, baby-faced look—just by his face, he could pass for a college student. According to Grace Bolton, her youngest sibling (the baby of the family) spent so much time on the ice that his life stayed "fresh," so it was normal for him to age slowly.

When Uncle saw Chris Bolton’s legs wrapped up like zongzi, he immediately clicked his tongue and teased his nephew in a thick Northeastern accent.

“Tsk tsk tsk, look at your luck—falling down the stairs and ending up like this. You’re really something. Remember what Uncle told you? Don’t be careless when you walk, or you’ll get into trouble!”

Despite his words, Jack Bolton was fond of his nephew. He brought braised pig’s trotters, saying you should eat what you hurt, then pan-fried some marinated black pepper beef, filling the house with the smell of meat. In another pot, he boiled spinach, and in the steamer, he cooked purple sweet potatoes and carrots.

He was a disciplined person, still keeping his athlete’s diet. When it was time to eat, he ignored the pig’s trotters and rice, only eating beef, vegetables, and sweet potatoes.

Uncle was a great cook. The pig’s trotters had been marinated in advance and cooked in a pressure cooker, making them tender and delicious. Chris Bolton buried his head in his bowl, eating until his belly was round, and was about to go for a second helping when he was stopped.

“Don’t eat any more. Aren’t you going to be a ballet dancer? If you get too fat, you won’t be able to jump.”

Then he handed Chris Bolton a pack of seaweed snacks to eat while doing homework.

Chris Bolton suddenly remembered—oh right, he had homework to do.