"Is it good?"
An inconsequential question.
"Not bad." Lin Wanxing paused, then raised the fish ball and brought it to Wang Fa's lips.
Wang Fa turned his head and glanced at the fish ball, making no move, just gazing deeply at her.
"What's wrong? We've shared so much food already, are you disgusted by me now?"
His originally light-colored eyes grew even deeper.
Wang Fa held her hand, paused naturally for a moment, then took a bite from her hand and said, "The taste really is quite good."
Lin Wanxing withdrew her hand.
She could sense that Wang Fa had held her hand just to check if she had recovered somewhat - a perfectly measured gentlemanly concern.
"The person earlier was my university teacher from 'Criminal Psychology' class." Lin Wanxing picked out a large piece of radish and took a bite.
"He's already a professor? He looks quite young."
"Associate professor. Of course, his surname happens to be Fu, so it's become a running joke. University students can be quite boring." Lin Wanxing said, "Even when you go on to graduate studies, you're just serving your advisor on projects every day. But Professor Fu should be considered a pretty good advisor."
"If you were still studying in Yongchuan, would you have come with them to serve your advisor?" Wang Fa asked.
"No, we're not in the same research direction. I'm not interested in the things they study."
"I remember you studied educational psychology?"
"Yes."
"You were interested in that."
"I used to be, I suppose."
"And now?"
"Now? I'm not sure either."
The night by Dongming Lake was shrouded in mist, with neither stars nor moon visible.
The closer they got to the match, the more intense the atmosphere of unease and restlessness became.
Tomorrow's match would start early.
Therefore, by 9 PM, the lights in the youth hostel's temporary dormitory for Hongjing No. 8 Middle School students had long been turned off.
This was the cheapest dormitory room, with 6 bunk beds that could sleep 12 people.
Even breathing sounds filled the room, as if everyone had fallen into deep sleep.
But that wasn't actually the case.
This afternoon, after Wang Fa and Lin Wanxing returned from their walk.
The students had followed their coach and teacher to Yongchuan Evergrande Football Training Base.
How to describe that feeling?
They had obviously been to Yongchuan Pearl Club to play football before, but this was an entirely different kind of base.
When they arrived at the entrance of Yongchuan Evergrande Base, staff members came to pick them up in sightseeing vehicles.
The staff formally received them and gave them a tour of the base.
First was the promotional exhibition hall, where they saw the trophies won by Yongchuan Evergrande Team and the complete layout of the base buildings.
Only then did the students learn that there were three standard 11-a-side football pitches, plus specialized cage football fields for training and sloped running tracks.
The staff then took them to the high-standard gym and swimming pool. When everyone saw the cryotherapy chamber they had never encountered before, along with the temperature-controlled swimming pool and massage relaxation pool that were far more professional than their Wuchuan Road Stadium facilities, they were practically drooling with envy.
Finally, before taking them to tomorrow's competition venue, the staff directed them to the cafeteria. Meaning that breakfast and post-match lunch had been prepared for them tomorrow, both buffet-style - they just needed to give their names to enter.
Vast expanses of green fields, high-end dormitory buildings like five-star hotels, and in the distance, the shimmering waters of Dongming Lake.
As the mist cleared, when the students closed their eyes, they could recall that bright, sun-drenched venue.Chen Jianghe opened his eyes in the darkness, staring at the pitch-black bed board above him. Suddenly, he felt an urge to speak.
The person in the upper bunk turned over.
The words stuck in his throat, but Chen Jianghe couldn't make a sound.
What was there to say?
The training base that had only appeared in dreams suddenly took concrete form in his mind.
He remembered the day he met Lin Wanxing.
The things that agent had said, the scenes he described, those promising paths—he hadn't been completely immune to their appeal.
But "Yongchuan Evergrande Base" and "trial training"—these terms sounded too perfect, so unreal that he couldn't believe such opportunities could ever be his.
Yet today, he had actually stepped inside, with no sense of reality at all.
"Are you all asleep?" A voice came from the upper bunk.
In his drowsy state, Chen Jianghe almost thought he had spoken those words.
Instantly, numerous pairs of eyes opened in the room.
But the temporary dorm remained silent.
After what felt like an eternity, Qi Liang's voice broke through: "Are you an idiot? If we were asleep, how could we answer you?"
With a rustle, Qin Ao sat up directly and climbed down from his bed.
He stood on the floor, hands on his hips, glaring at the person in the opposite upper bunk.
Qi Liang sat up too.
They stared at each other for a moment, neither able to speak.
"What do you want?"
"I don't know, I just can't sleep."
"What good does telling me do? Want me to tuck you in?"
"You can't sleep either, right?It was a strange tacit understanding born from years of training together.
In the dorm, one boy after another got up, putting on their sports shoes and jackets. No one knew who suggested it, or perhaps no one did at all—they just walked out of the room...
Lin Wanxing had draped a woolen scarf over her shoulders as a makeshift coat, curled up in the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window facing the lake.
A group of students emerged from their rooms with strange expressions.
She hesitated, about to speak, but the students silently pushed open the hostel door and ran off into the night.
Lin Wanxing looked across the room.
There, Wang Fa held the fantasy novel from this afternoon, almost finished reading it.
The sound of pattering footsteps gradually faded into the distance...
Lin Wanxing looked at him questioningly.
Wang Fa said: "Probably can't sleep. Gone for a night run."
Twenty minutes later.
She found herself glancing out the window almost every thirty seconds.
Finally, the figures of the high school students reappeared outside.
The youth hostel door was pushed open, night wind rushing in as the students returned, drenched in sweat.
But none of them spoke. After entering, they habitually gathered around the long table. Started pouring water from the teapot, gulping it down in loud, hurried swallows.
Hesitating, Lin Wanxing tentatively asked: "Was someone snoring too loudly? Do you need to change rooms?"
"It's just..." Qin Ao leaned back in his chair.
"Annoying." Chen Jianghe sat upright, gazing at the dark lake.
Thin mist floated on the water's surface. It was too quiet; you could almost hear the lake water lapping against the stone shore.
Lin Wanxing placed the laptop from her knees back on the coffee table.
In her slippers, she went to sit at the table too.
The students remained sullenly seated, even their drinking and sweat-wiping movements halted.
"Get some rest early, we have a match tomorrow," Lin Wanxing finally reminded them.
"We can't win tomorrow, can we?" Someone finally spoke after holding back for so long.
Various emotions had accumulated, making the air thick and heavy, difficult to disperse.
Wang Fa leaned back in the sofa by the window, the novel in his hand already turned to its final pages. The night outside the window accentuated his handsome features and deep-set eyes.“Indeed, we can’t win.” He put down the book and answered this way.
Chapter 104: Twenty
What kind of emotion is this, really?
Even though I had already prepared to give up, and had done such lengthy mental preparation, telling myself many times that this path was blocked, comforting myself that another path was quite good too.
Yet at a certain moment, I would still open my eyes in a dream.
This inexplicable, elusive emotion that accompanies you into sleep yet prevents you from sleeping.
What exactly is it?
In the darkness, Lin Wanxing opened her eyes.
The phone showed 6:00 AM.
Getting up, she drew open the curtains.
The lake surface was shrouded in mist, with no sight of the sky.
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