But it didn’t matter—this was only the beginning.
Thinking this, the Yongchuan Evergrande Youth Training Coach couldn’t help but glance toward the opposing team’s coaching bench.
There, his opponent seemed to be anxiously discussing something trivial, not fully focused on the match.
In fact, as a youth training coach at the Evergrande base, he certainly knew who the opposing coach was. No one had expected that the other party would choose to coach an obscure high school football team.
But because the opposing coach was "him," both he and his players had initially looked forward to facing Hongjing No. 8 Middle School.
However, the result of their first encounter was "nothing special" and "uninteresting"…
A match that shattered expectations was deeply unsatisfying. Still, at the time, everyone thought it was only his early days coaching the opposing team, so they could afford to give them more time to see how Hongjing No. 8 Middle School would develop under his guidance.
But today, expectations were shattered once again—the opposing team had even fielded only 10 players. They clearly hadn’t prepared properly and didn’t even seem intent on playing this match seriously!
The initial dissatisfaction turned into anger. Just from the intense focus on Qin Qiechu’s face on the field, he could tell how furious the young man was.
As for him…
He withdrew his gaze.
Hongjing No. 8 Middle School’s overall performance in the group stage had been poor, with almost no hope of advancing.
Perhaps, in the end, there was no such thing as a miracle.
Chapter 105: Nineteen
"Hey, young man, wake up."
His shoulder was gently patted.
Wen Chengye didn’t want to open his eyes, but the person persisted, patting his shoulder again.
"Hello, could you wake up, please?"
It was a gentle, warm female voice, somewhat similar to one he’d heard before.
Wen Chengye slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the policewoman’s cap, he instinctively pulled his scarf tighter, trying to cover more of his face.
"Are you Wen Chengye?"
The policewoman bent down. She held a cup of warm water in one hand and a phone in the other, as if comparing him to a photo.
So he’d been found after all. Stupid people deserved stupid consequences.
Waking from that cramped, endless dream, Wen Chengye felt no sense of relief. His first thought, upon seeing the police uniform, was exactly that.
The furious arguments of his parents seemed to echo in his ears already.
He neither nodded nor shook his head—he didn’t want to respond to anyone.
Truthfully, the moment he decided to pack his bag, leave home, and board the bus, he should have known the consequences.
Why hope for an outcome that didn’t exist?
Why act like such an idiot?
Wen Chengye clenched his fists, his thoughts spiraling as if he were still trapped on that sunless runway.
Just then, a paper cup of warm water was pressed into his hand.
"If you’re Wen Chengye, please turn on your phone quickly. Your teacher is extremely worried—she’s looking for you."
The police officer spoke to him.
Why had he turned off his phone?
When someone does something stupid, of course they want to keep it secret, not let the whole world know.
And when that thing is exposed, they want to avoid being found even more, delaying it for even a second.
But for some reason, hearing the officer say, "Your teacher is extremely worried," he couldn’t help but think of Lin Wanxing’s face.
Would she be worried?
Why would she worry?
Wen Chengye slowly finished the water.
Finally, he pulled out his phone and, as if steeling himself, pressed the power button.
Missed call notifications flooded his screen first, followed by a barrage of text messages and WeChat alerts.Have you ever known how to make things easier for adults in all your life?
Where exactly are you?
If you don’t want to study abroad, can’t you just say so? Do you have any idea how hard it was to find you an agency teacher?
……
……
After reading his parents’ messages, Wen Chengye returned to the main WeChat interface. Scrolling down a bit, he saw Lin Wanxing’s profile picture.
Her profile picture was a black, chubby cat.
Wen Chengye remembered that the cat was called Xiao Qiu, a stray that had recently appeared in their new neighborhood. Xiao Qiu was very fat, and Lin Wanxing loved fat cats the most, so she had contemplated many times about capturing Xiao Qiu to keep for herself.
And now, there was a bright red number "2" on the chubby cat’s profile picture.
2 unread messages.
Lin Wanxing
[Video]
On the football field by Dongming Lake, the thin mist seemed to be gradually solidifying.
The air was heavy with moisture, and every breath felt like it took all the strength in the body.
It was hot, extremely hot, sweat trickled down the forehead as if it were free.
Fourth goal
Qin Qiechu received the ball at the edge of the penalty area, forcefully turned to shake off Zhi Hui’s defense, and amidst the double-team from Zheng Ren and Zheng Feiyang, he seized the opportunity and took a shot.
The football flew toward the goal like a cannonball, and the goalkeeper, Feng Suo, dove to block it.
The next moment, the ball was smothered by his body, and everyone broke out in a cold sweat.
Fifth goal.
Yongchuan Evergrande delivered a cross from the wing, and their center forward, under Qi Liang’s tight marking, managed to get a touch on the ball, which just grazed the crossbar. Qi Liang collided heavily with the opposing center forward and, after falling, took a while to get back up.
The shaky footage, with severe background noise.
It was a phone-recorded video, zoomed in to capture the action near the goal, so the image was particularly blurry.
The cameraperson’s skills weren’t the best—the moment Qin Qiechu took the shot, the camera failed to track the ball.
Everyone collided.
The screen showed a glaringly bright sky, and Wen Chengye snapped awake instantly.
The video ended, and the screen went dark.
The short video returned to the beginning. Wen Chengye, gripping his phone tightly, tapped the small triangle to replay it.
The opposing players wore blue-and-white jerseys. He had faced them before and knew they were from Yongchuan Evergrande.
Play, scrub, confirm.
Yongchuan Evergrande took a shot, and the ball was saved.
Wen Chengye let out a sigh of relief.
Grass clippings flew, the screen was hazy with mist, yet it felt as if a scorching wind swept through.
Wen Chengye’s heart raced as he opened the second video.
Yongchuan Evergrande base, football field.
Learning that Wen Chengye was at a highway rest stop, Lin Wanxing felt slightly relieved.
She held her phone as the wind on the field brushed past her temples. In the chat with Wen Chengye, the words [Typing…] appeared, indicating that Wen Chengye had opened his phone.
After a moment’s thought, she switched her phone’s camera back to video mode, recording some moments from the field.
The match was completely one-sided.
One game, a 10-player lineup—how many goals did they have to defend against?
Lin Wanxing didn’t know the answer either.
29th minute
The Yongchuan Evergrande youth team’s attacks came in waves.
The players from Hongjing No. 8 Middle School had almost lost track of time, knowing only to defend, defend, and defend.
They were passive, forced to chase the ball, using man-marking and movement to disrupt the opponents’ passes, striving to leave no gaps in their defense.
As for how solid this defensive line was, only their opponents truly knew.Outside the thirty-meter defensive zone, Yongchuan Evergrande could pass the ball freely without interference. However, once the football entered the thirty-meter attacking zone, whether it was a running player or a ball carrier, they would face tight marking and aggressive pressing from Hongjing No. 8 Middle School players!
Leaping, intercepting headers, collisions, tackles, the whistle blowing...
Then came another round of attack.
Physical training could yield results in a short period.
The running and tackling abilities displayed by these high school students from Hongjing No. 8 Middle School in the match had already caused Yongchuan Evergrande players to suffer several solid setbacks.
With 15 minutes left in the first half, Qin Qiechu's boast of scoring 20 goals had not seen even one completed. The arrogant young man showed no anxiety; instead, he felt a rare excitement.
35 minutes.
Yongchuan Evergrande coaching bench.
Evergrande's head coach and assistant coach exchanged glances.
Although the football team had yet to break through the opponent's goal, and the situation differed from what they had envisioned, this was still not enough to make them anxious. However, the overall physical fitness and defensive strength demonstrated by Hongjing No. 8 Middle School players during this period had surprised them somewhat.
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