Lin Wanxing rubbed her hands together and blew into her palms. "I told him it was the students' choice. All I can do is assist them."
"But playing football really isn't that interesting," Wang Fa said.
Lin Wanxing immediately glared at Wang Fa. "I thought we were on the same side!"
"Of course I'm on Teacher Lin's side," Wang Fa laughed.
"But football still disappoints you," Lin Wanxing finished the half-spoken words Wang Fa left hanging.
"What about you?" Wang Fa suddenly turned to look at her.
Lin Wanxing showed a puzzled expression, yet in that instant, she felt completely seen through by Wang Fa's calm gaze.
This was a dark street on a cold winter night, starless and moonless, boundlessly silent.
"What has disappointed you?" Wang Fa asked.
Chapter 98: Preparation
"We're ready to face failure!"
Of course, Lin Wanxing didn't answer Wang Fa's question.
Life isn't just about multiple-choice questions and proof problems—there's also the option of not solving them at all.
So, Lin Wanxing dodged the question again.
The next day, Lin Wanxing announced a day off for the entire team. But when she woke up and went downstairs to buy food, standing in the hallway, she heard such an impassioned declaration.
"Then it's settled. Let's take a vote."
Sunlight streamed through the hallway window frames, the shadow of the iron door grating falling at their feet. Lin Wanxing pushed the door open and entered the classroom.
The students raised their hands one by one. In the sunlight, everyone turned to look.
It seemed similar scenes had repeated many times before—whenever the students faced setbacks in their football pursuits, they would shift their focus.
But this time was different from all the previous ones.
This wasn't giving up without trying—it was giving up after realizing the gap and practical difficulties through their efforts.
The students appeared clear-headed and rational. They even used the methods she had taught them to make new plans.
They changed their goal from "advancing from the National Youth League Group Stage" to "completing all Group Stage matches."
According to the students, Fu Xinshu's leg wasn't in good condition and couldn't handle intense training. They didn't want to find new players to join the team and go through the process of adjustment and conflicts again, so they decided to complete the matches with just the ten of them.
"We don't need to find anyone else. Let's just play with our ten players. Since we're going to lose anyway, we might as well go down fighting."
The students didn't show any particular sadness or similar emotions. After listening for a while, Lin Wanxing decided to ask one more time: "Are you really sure about giving up the next match against Yongchuan Evergrande?"
"We're not giving up! We're just reducing training. Mainly because Old Fu's leg isn't good, and even if we try our best, we can't win. The chances of advancing on points are too low, so what's the point!" Qin Ao said.
"Right, I really don't want to go around begging for players like last time," Yu Ming added.
The students seriously analyzed the practical factors with her, and Lin Wanxing nodded earnestly. They talked a lot, chattering excitedly, but no one mentioned Wen Chengye's name even once, as if it had become taboo.
Next, the students continued discussing shifting their daily focus to studying.
In Lin Wanxing's memory, the last time they decided to switch to focusing on studies was when they learned they were playing against Green View International.
Now, just a few months later, the opponent that made them want to "study hard" had changed from "Green View International High School" to "Yongchuan Evergrande Youth Team."Just from the names of these two teams, one could sense the difficulty involved. Moreover, they weren’t completely giving up as before but were preparing to "complete" the match in a very "rational" way.
It seemed these past few months had made everyone more mature.
Next, the students continued to formulate long-term plans, setting their goal as gaining admission to undergraduate programs and arranging their studies accordingly.
Zheng Feiyang prepared a document and took the stage to present.
He started with how to secure foundational scores, then moved on to understanding the mindset of exam question designers to aim for excellence.
The boy spoke with great clarity and logic. By the end, Lin Wanxing couldn’t help but ask, “Where did you learn all this?”
“I read it on Zhihu! ‘How to Go from the Bottom of the School to Passing the First-Tier University Entrance Exam in Three Months’—then I summarized and refined it.”
Lin Wanxing nodded seriously.
This, too, seemed to be part of what she had taught her students earlier: to seek solutions on their own when facing problems.
The boys appeared highly motivated. They had been studying all along, and their grades had already improved significantly. Now, with more energy devoted to their studies, they were eager to see how far they could go.
Not only that, just as they had once given up "earning money" for soccer, now that they were reducing training time, it seemed they could consider making money again.
Earning a little extra to support their families felt much more worthwhile than exhausting themselves playing soccer without achieving any notable results.
The more they discussed, the more they felt they should have made this smart choice earlier and not continued to focus solely on soccer.
Lin Wanxing didn’t say much, just listened quietly.
While she was still asleep, the students had already gathered and engaged in serious future planning.
They had made their own decisions, set their own goals, devised their own plans, and made clear, rational choices for the optimal path. She was merely someone being informed of the outcome.
Sitting in the corner of the classroom, Lin Wanxing watched dust motes dance in the sunlight and quietly listened as the meeting continued.
Life often has moments like this—you think this option is acceptable, that one isn’t bad either. You conduct the most rational analysis and make the most optimized choice.
Just like an adult.
Lin Wanxing had no intention of interfering with their decision.
In the afternoon, Lin Wanxing was organizing new teaching materials in her room.
Based on the students’ latest needs, she had to make some adjustments to the teaching content.
None of this was set in stone.
Wang Fa had likely been informed of similar changes. In the afternoon, he brought two cups of coffee into the room, placing one on her desk.
Lin Wanxing looked up at the young man leaning against her desk. “What’s up?”
A playful expression crossed Wang Fa’s face. “Just now, I was informed that I need to reduce soccer training sessions going forward. Then the players asked me to think about how a team of 10 can play against 11 and still not lose too badly.”
“Well, isn’t that a surprise a day?” Lin Wanxing laughed.
Wang Fa raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.
“They believe that, realistically speaking, there’s over a 99% chance we won’t advance to the next round. So, they don’t want to waste too much time on soccer and plan to focus on preparing for the college entrance exam.”
“So the chances of advancing are that low?” Wang Fa said.
“Huh?” Lin Wanxing looked at him in disbelief.
“But as things stand, we really can’t win.” Wang Fa took another sip of coffee and left it at that.In the following days, the students adjusted their schedules between football and studying.
They shifted from studying after tired training sessions to running a few laps when mentally fatigued from reading, as if this better reflected the proper proportion of time interests should occupy.
After the rains passed, the Awakening of Insects solar term approached, with birds chirping and insects humming as plants gradually sprouted.
Yet whether on the rooftop or in the classroom, the previous noisy and vibrant sounds were absent.
Instead, the students remained unusually quiet.
Whether preparing for the diagnostic test after school resumed or simply affected by spring lethargy, they could spend entire lunch breaks without speaking.
Sometimes they would water the plants listlessly before suddenly zoning out, like robots rebooting their systems.
Lin Wanxing observed these changes in her students.
One day, they sat lined up on the rooftop.
In the distance lay the football field, where withered winter grass was now sprouting new shoots, a faint green hue spreading across the pitch that looked particularly pleasant against the blue sky.
The boys held history materials they were preparing to memorize, but at one moment, they all simply gazed into the distance.
Lin Wanxing turned to Wang Fa and suddenly remarked, "They actually share some similarities with you, don't they?"
Wang Fa had been living quite leisurely these days, having switched his spring beverage from hot cocoa to lemon mint tea. He didn't immediately process the question.
Lin Wanxing smiled without elaborating.
Along with the warming weather came the freshly released match reports for the fourth round of the National Youth League group stage.
Though the students claimed not to care, they immediately opened the official account after the Yongchuan Evergrande versus Shen Cheng Hai Bo match concluded.
Qin Ao held his phone with tense expression while the others crowded around him.
The page began with routine formalities before presenting the match reports.
First was their Hongjing No. 8 Middle School's game against Yuzhou Silver Elephant.
The tournament organizers had polished the match description and selected live photos. The images showed the same cold, foggy rainy day. As photos slid across the screen, Wen Chengye's figure prominently appeared, intently watching the distant football with focused expression.
Qin Ao paused briefly before quickly scrolling down.
Since Jin Ziyang brought Wen Chengye back to Hongjing that day, Lin Wanxing hadn't seen this student again. The other students never sought out Wen Chengye, and he never returned to their Wutong Road No. 17 address.
In a way, this rupture demonstrated a peculiar understanding between teammates.
The Yongchuan Evergrande and Shen Cheng Hai Bo match report appeared in the second article.
The report indicated Yongchuan Evergrande encountered stubborn resistance from opponents Shen Cheng Hai Bo. The 1:1 score persisted until the 35th minute of the second half. Had it not been for Qin Qiechu's precise free kick goal, Yongchuan Evergrande might have even drawn with Shen Cheng Hai Bo.
But the students didn't care about their other two opponents. When they saw Yongchuan Evergrande defeated Shen Cheng Hai Bo 2-1, they visibly relaxed and even showed slight excitement.
Yu Ming happily opened a cola bottle, and everyone fetched cups to share.
"Why so happy?" Lin Wanxing asked.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend!"
"Don't you get it, teacher? Since Yongchuan Evergrande is definitely advancing, we want them to win as many matches as possible."
The students explained the scores and standings to her.
From the fourth round results:
Yongchuan Evergrande 2:1 Shen Cheng Hai Bo
Yu Zhou Silver Elephant 3:0 Hongjing No. 8 Middle School
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