He said, “Uncle, I have a question for you.”

Jack Bolton replied concisely, “Go ahead.”

Chris Bolton: “Do you know of any sport that can shape the body, improve cardio, correct posture, and enhance artistic temperament?”

His Uncle was also eating a skewer of candied hawthorn, and upon hearing this, he asked in return, “Isn’t ballet keeping you busy enough? Tell me, just how much do you want to sculpt your body?”

Chris Bolton answered briskly, “Full muscle groups but smooth lines—not like a bodybuilder, that’s too bulky, but preferably with an eight-pack.”

The kid’s expression was quite serious, which looked rather amusing. Jack Bolton just took it as a child’s whim and played along, lifting his shirt to reveal his solid abs.

“You want low body fat and practical muscles for sports, right? Like this?”

Chris Bolton nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, just like that.”

Uncle finished the last candied hawthorn, held the bamboo stick in his mouth, and mumbled, “I see. Then come train figure skating with me.”

Chapter 3 Ice Boy

Because regions at higher latitudes are more suitable for developing ice and snow sports, athletes from the three northeastern provinces dominate half of the country’s ice and snow events.

Coincidentally, Chris Bolton is from the northeast, living in H City, H Province. The provincial figure skating team is famous nationwide, especially in pairs skating, where the top male and female skaters for two generations have come from the H Province team.

In this situation, it’s actually quite tough for Jack Bolton, who is a singles coach, because the team always prioritizes pairs skating when selecting athletes. If they find a petite girl suitable for lifts and with good jumping ability, she’ll be steered toward pairs first. Likewise, if there’s a tall, talented boy in men’s singles, he’ll also be sent to pairs.

Without talent, even the best coach can’t cook a meal without rice.

Jack Bolton is the jump coach on the team, responsible for unified jump training for other athletes. His only real student was hospitalized, so taking his nephew along for fun wasn’t a bad idea.

After recovering from his injury, Chris Bolton was brought to the provincial team by him.

The gatekeeper saw the team’s heartthrob bringing along a boy even more handsome than himself and asked curiously, “Hey, Little Bolton, whose kid is this? He’s really good-looking. How old is he?”

Jack Bolton put his arm around his nephew and flashed a white-toothed smile: “He’s my sister’s kid, twelve this year. I’m bringing him to the team for a bit of fun. Little Grace, this is Grandpa Harris, say hello.”

Chris Bolton greeted the old man politely, “Hello, Grandpa Harris.”

“Such a polite young man.”

Grandpa Harris cheerfully handed Chris Bolton a postcard.

Chris Bolton took a look and saw that the back of the postcard featured a photo of the country’s best pairs skating duo, Megan King/Lauren Young, winning a medal at last year’s World Championships.

This could be considered figure skating star merchandise, but unfortunately, figure skating is a niche sport in China. Its popularity can’t compare to ball sports like basketball, soccer, table tennis, or tennis, nor has it produced a superstar like Liu the Flying Man in the 110m hurdles. So, even if such merchandise is made, it doesn’t make much money and is just given away for fun.

Before getting on the ice, you have to warm up on land. Jack Bolton is usually easygoing, but once it comes to figure skating, he immediately becomes strict.

He clapped his hands: “First, loosen up your joints, then run five laps around the track, 200 high knees, 200 jumping jacks, 50 squat jumps, 500 jump ropes. Begin.”

Chris Bolton quietly followed the instructions. The provincial team’s track is 400 meters per lap, so five laps is 2,000 meters. With the other exercises, Chris Bolton was left gasping for breath, hands on his knees.

Jack Bolton frowned, “Your stamina is really lacking.”

Chris Bolton protested, “Uncle, I’m not an athlete, okay?”

There’s a big difference between an athlete’s physical abilities and an ordinary person’s. For example, a regular person might feel that running 5,000 meters in a day is enough, but an athlete will do a 10,000-meter interval run just as a warm-up before training.

Being able to complete the “warm-up” assigned by Jack Bolton in one go already shows that Chris Bolton has above-average stamina for a normal teenager.

Jack Bolton complained, “I didn’t even make you do frog jumps around the track. I’m already going easy on you.” Then he took Chris Bolton to change into skates and put on protective gear.

Skates are expensive consumables. The cheapest entry-level pair costs 400–700 yuan, while competition-level skates are nearly 10,000 yuan. A hardworking athlete will go through at least one pair per season, and to be safe, it’s best to have a backup pair. For athletes who are still growing, their feet get bigger, so they need to change skates even more often.

Also, there are blades under the skates, so you need blade guards to protect them. Protective gear costs money too. A good coach charges 200–700 yuan per lesson, depending on their reputation.

If you want to compete, you’ll need to pay for choreography and costumes, which are also expensive. So figure skating is a money-burning sport.

The reason Chris Bolton didn’t continue skating back then was because Deborah Foster started learning violin, and it was hard for their parents to support two kids. Then, under pressure from the coach, he broke two teeth, lost interest, and simply quit.

Although he switched from skating to dance for many years, Chris Bolton still goes to commercial ice rinks for fun. Even as an adult, he can still land a double jump. At twelve, he had a pair of skates his parents bought him and a full set of protective gear.