Lin Wanxing sat on the sidelines, flanked by rows of empty player benches.
Her students were all on the field, and there was no one around her to talk to.
On the opposite side, the coach of Anning Experimental had already rushed out of the dugout. He grabbed the linesman, raising both hands excitedly as he gestured about something. Meanwhile, the students and teachers on Anning Experimental’s bench were whispering among themselves, their eyes bright, as if they had already confirmed something.
Lin Wanxing felt she should rush over too—in professional terms, it might be called putting pressure on the officials—but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to do that.
On the field, substitute player Chen Weidong, who had just leaped high to block a crucial goal, looked utterly bewildered.
The Anning Experimental players kept raising their hands, appealing to the referee.
Only Qin Ao reacted quickly. He immediately clenched his fists and shook them angrily at the Anning Experimental players.
"Fuck your mother!" "Have you no shame?" "Fucking touch again!"...
Lin Wanxing could only make out the teenagers’ heated curses. Qin Ao looked furious.
But Fu Xinshu reacted even faster. He grabbed Qin Ao, warned him a few words, and then ran toward the referee.
The high schoolers on the field gathered in a circle, arguing about something, yet maintaining a restrained distance from one another.
Their voices carried from afar—intense, yet tinged with youthful naivety.
There was clearly a dispute, but she wasn’t sure what it was about.
Lin Wanxing grew increasingly anxious. She could wait no longer. She stood up immediately, pushed the chair aside, and ran toward the back.
Beyond a green wire fence, the young man in a baseball cap remained sitting cross-legged, completely at ease.
"Handball?" she asked.
The young man raised his eyes slightly, unsurprised by her sudden appearance. His lips parted.
But the referee’s sharp whistle suddenly blew.
She could only see the shape of his words, unable to hear a single sound.
The field and the surrounding wilderness fell silent once more.
Lin Wanxing turned back.
The referee slowly walked toward the penalty area. The players made way for him.
Finally, the referee stopped in front of Chen Weidong, who had just leaped high and successfully defended the goal.
He reached into his chest pocket, pulled out a yellow card, and held it up high toward the player. Then, he pointed to a spot on the grass.
On the field, the Hongjing No. 8 Middle School players erupted. They crowded around the referee, waving their hands as if desperately explaining, trying to overturn the decision.
Only Chen Weidong, who had just received the yellow card, kept looking around in confusion. He still couldn’t understand why his brilliant block had turned into this.
Lin Wanxing was also frozen in place. Everything she had learned over the years was utterly useless at this moment.
"The referee believes your No. 3 defender spread his arms in the penalty area, touched the ball with his hand, and prevented a goal, so he awarded a penalty kick."
Surprisingly, the young man’s voice was clear and calm, even patiently explaining the situation on the field to her.
"Did Chen Weidong really touch the ball with his hand?" Lin Wanxing felt the same confusion and helplessness as Chen Weidong. "What should I do now?"
"Now?" The young man paused, studying her with a deep, calm gaze. "Now, learn your first lesson: accept the referee’s decision."
Lin Wanxing’s pupils dilated. For a moment, she didn’t understand why he was saying this to her.
But soon, she calmed down. She realized this really should be her first lesson.
She sat down right by the wire fence, leaning slightly against it, silently watching what would happen next.
The ball was placed on the penalty spot.
No matter how unwilling, her students still cleared the area in front of the penalty box.
Anning Experimental’s No. 10 stood at the penalty spot. Facing him from afar were only the goal of Hongjing No. 8 Middle School and the goalkeeper, poised in a defensive stance.
The whistle blew.
A run-up, a pause, a fierce strike.
With a thud, the ball shot toward the lower left corner of the goal.
Their goalkeeper, Feng Suo, dove in the same direction, crashing heavily to the ground.
The ball rolled gently onto the grass, settling against the white net, motionless.
Wind swept across the entire field.
"Goal!!"
"Amazing!"
The Anning Experimental substitutes leaped up, their cheers loud and piercing.
On the field, the Anning Experimental players swarmed around No. 10.
They slapped his head and shoulders vigorously, hugged him, excited but restrained, as if the goal was only to be expected.
Hongjing No. 8 Middle School 2 : 0 Anning Experimental
Lin Wanxing glanced at the timer. There were still 3 minutes left in the first half.
Frustrated and unconvinced about the penalty, her students’ morale had clearly plummeted.
Though everyone was still defending, compared to their previous active running and fierce challenges, there was an indescribable difference.
Emboldened by the goal, Anning Experimental’s morale soared. They didn’t treat the game as garbage time just because they were leading by two goals. Instead, they grew even more excited.
They even pressed forward aggressively, breaking into Hongjing No. 8 Middle School’s penalty area several times.
Even though only a few minutes remained in the first half, it felt endlessly drawn out.
Lin Wanxing knew very well that her students, like her, were counting down the seconds, waiting for the first half to end.
They were exhausted, no longer wanting to run, probably cursing themselves for choosing to play under the blazing sun on a weekend instead of sleeping in.
They felt helpless, wanting to give up, yet driven by some instinct, they kept running on the field.
This couldn’t go on.
Lin Wanxing knew it well.
She turned back.
Outside the wire fence, the notebook on the young man’s lap was already closed, the pencil tossed on the grass.
"What do you think my students need to do to win?" Lin Wanxing asked.
"Hmm?" The young man’s voice was light and faint.
"This is the first time I’ve brought them to a match, and it might be their last. There are 2 minutes left in the first half. If we don’t make any changes at halftime, the second half will only be torture for them."
"Are you asking me?"
"I’m not just asking you, I’m asking for your help." Lin Wanxing insisted. "You’re going to ask next, why am I asking you? Because I don’t understand soccer. Even if I looked up all the soccer knowledge on Baidu right now, I couldn’t give the kids any professional help. You seem strange, and we don’t know each other at all, but you seem to understand soccer. You’re the only person I can turn to right now."
She spoke passionately, but the young man’s expression remained unchanged, showing no reaction.
Lin Wanxing licked her dry lips, her mind racing as she prepared her next words.
"In that case, pay up."
A casual voice sounded beside her, cutting off what she was about to say.
"What?" Lin Wanxing was stunned.
Outside the green wire fence, the young man in the black baseball cap took out his phone.
He tapped it a few times, then held it up, screen facing her.
Beyond the crisscrossing green wires, the black-and-white payment QR code looked bizarre.
Lin Wanxing numbly raised her own phone and scanned it.
A soft "beep" sounded, and a new page popped up.
————
Payment to Individual
Winfred (*Fa)
Amount
￥10.00
Add Note
Pay
————
Lin Wanxing confirmed the payment.
The halftime whistle blew abruptly.
The young man leisurely stood up from the grass, brushed off the grass blades, and looked toward the field.
——
The students walked off the field with their heads down.
They were drenched in sweat, their jerseys clinging to their bodies.
Lin Wanxing and the young man she had just paid 10 yuan to stood by the field, handing each student a bottle of water.
The students quietly took the water, sat down separately, and remained silent.
The atmosphere was heavy. Sweat dripped from their hair onto the bright red track.
Lin Wanxing glanced at the young man beside her, but he had his hands in his pockets, completely detached.
"Let’s each say one thing." Lin Wanxing looked at the students. "I’ll start."
Among the students, only Fu Xinshu looked up at her, offering silent support for her performance.
"Fuck that stupid referee!" Lin Wanxing shouted.
The boys jumped in fright.
In the distance, a linesman seemed to hear and looked their way.
Lin Wanxing immediately smiled and bowed apologetically.
"Crazy." Qin Ao gripped his water bottle, finally letting out a heavy sigh.
Lin Wanxing noticed that Qin Ao’s hand, as he opened the bottle cap, trembled slightly from exhaustion.
"Alright, you’ve had your turn." Lin Wanxing pointed to the next student. "Lin Lu."
"I... I don’t know what to say." Lin Lu suddenly flustered.
"Hah, idiot." Qi Liang muttered softly.
Chen Weidong: "I really didn’t know my hand touched the ball."
"Touch my ass!" Yu Ming suddenly swore. "It didn’t touch at all!"
"It’s too biased. A controversial handball like that could go either way. Why give Anning Experimental a penalty?" Goalkeeper Feng Suo said.
The students chimed in one after another, still immersed in the controversial call, but at least everyone began venting their frustration with the stupid referee.
Lin Wanxing listened carefully without interrupting.
Until Fu Xinshu tried to calm everyone: "It’s okay. We put pressure on him, and he knows the call was harsh. He’ll make it up to us in the second half."
"Make up my ass." Qin Ao was still angry. He took a big gulp of water and then asked her, "Who’s this guy next to you?"
Lin Wanxing glanced at the young man standing quietly beside her and cleared her throat. "This is my elementary school classmate. I just found out he came to watch the game, so we chatted a bit."
Lin Wanxing paused. She was actually very nervous. With time so tight earlier, they hadn’t had a chance to coordinate their stories. She wasn’t sure how to fabricate his identity convincingly.
"What a coincidence." Qin Ao said.
"It is a coincidence. My classmate just returned from abroad. He’s a professional soccer coach. He happened to be watching the game today, and we ran into each other."
"Teacher, even when making up stories, you should follow basic logic. Do you know how hard it is to get a foreign soccer coaching license? There aren’t that many professional coaches. Is he trying to hit on you? Did he make up a story to trick you?" Qin Ao raised an eyebrow.
"Is that true?" Lin Wanxing turned to ask the young man.
"Yes." The young man’s voice was light.
Lin Wanxing’s heart skipped a beat inappropriately.
"I mean, foreign soccer coaching licenses are very difficult to obtain." The young man continued.
"Besides, why would a professional soccer coach from abroad come watch our school-level soccer match?" Chen Jianghe finally spoke, his gaze sharp. "Isn’t it boring?"
"It’s very interesting." The young man was as calm as ever, with a convincing composure. "Every soccer match is interesting."
The students looked at each other. Though they still found it unbelievable, they couldn’t come up with anything else to say.
"Any more questions?" the young man asked.
"If you’re a coach, are you the kind that teaches kids to play soccer?" Lin Lu asked curiously.
"I used to coach a youth team for a club in the UK. Now I’m back in the country, unemployed."
"What club?"
"Southampton."
"Huh?"
"Southampton."
Most of the students looked blank, but Chen Jianghe and Fu Xinshu both looked up sharply.
"Do you know what level Southampton’s youth academy is in Europe?" Chen Jianghe asked incredulously.
"Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gone." The young man remained unruffled, completely unfazed by Chen Jianghe’s skepticism.
"If you’re so amazing, why come back to China?"
"Want to know?" The young man glanced at his watch. "I can tell you a long story. You’d probably hear it until the game ends. But my ‘elementary school classmate’ might have objections."
Lin Wanxing immediately chimed in: "Believe it or not! I brought him here to talk about tactics for the second half. Hurry up! Professional coach!"
Fu Xinshu nodded: "Our current problems are, first, our stamina might not hold up; second, our morale is low; their offense is too sharp. We probably can’t hold them off in the second half. Do you have any suggestions?"
"My suggestion is to try long passes from the back, targeting the forwards." The young man said.
Lin Wanxing instinctively nodded along.
But as soon as he said this, the students erupted in uproar.
"Fuck, definitely a fraud."
"Fake fan?"
"Do you know how difficult medium-to-long-range passes are? Even professional players can’t pull off such combinations many times in a match."
"If we were that good, why would we be sitting here?"
The young man didn’t speak, listening carefully to each student.
"The technical requirement is too high. I can’t do it. Succeeding would just be luck." Finally, Fu Xinshu answered seriously.
"I know. But soccer is a game of luck."
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