The second plenary meeting of the Hongjing No. 8 Middle School football team, excluding Wen Chengye, was officially convened in the school sports equipment room.
The attendees packed the not-so-spacious equipment room to the brim.
Some students were there for the first time and were surprised that the school had such a place. They circled the shelves in the storage area several times, buzzing with a sense of incredulous excitement.
With the number of attendees exceeding expectations, there weren’t enough stools in the sports equipment room. So, Lin Wanxing asked the students to bring out the soft mats used for sit-ups.
Qin Ao and Chen Jianghe stood stiffly to the side with dark expressions, refusing to lower themselves to sit, which made the other boys hesitate to sit as well.
Lin Wanxing simply sat cross-legged on a mat herself and looked up. The tall boys stood awkwardly in the small gaps between the mats.
She smiled and patted the empty space beside her. "Alright, babies, sit down first."
The boys exchanged glances. Before Qi Liang could say, "People can’t sit with dogs," Lin Wanxing cut in, "Keep an eye on each other. If you don’t get along, sit separately."
At that, even Qi Liang was taken aback.
The boys sat down in small groups, though a few still refused. Lin Wanxing paid them no mind and, half-leaning back, said casually, "I assume you all know why I called you here?"
"Teacher, you’re not really going to tutor us, are you?" Goalkeeper Feng Suo had the loudest voice, and his shout made the small equipment room rumble.
"Not at all, don’t misunderstand."
Sitting on the mat, Lin Wanxing calmly explained to the students that their parents were worried about their academic performance and therefore opposed their continued participation in football matches.
The students were probably so tired of hearing about their grades at home every day that they showed no reaction. But when football was mentioned, they clearly grew agitated.
"Personally, I believe you should decide for yourselves whether to participate in the upcoming matches, so I negotiated on your behalf."
"And your negotiation resulted in tutoring us?" Chen Jianghe asked.
"Not just that. I also promised them that your grades would improve in the first monthly exam of your senior year." Lin Wanxing paused and, before Qin Ao could sneer with his dark expression, added, "But by then, your playoff matches should be over. Whether your grades improve or not probably won’t matter, right?"
"Teacher, are you saying we’re definitely going to lose the playoffs?"
"What I mean is, I agreed to tutor you as a temporary measure to placate your parents. I’m not actually forcing you to study." Lin Wanxing said, "Similarly, I’m not demanding that you must play in the next playoff match. You’re free to choose based on your own preferences."
After Lin Wanxing finished speaking, the sports equipment room fell completely silent. The students always seemed at a loss when faced with the concept of "free choice."
The tall boys crowded together, and even Lin Wanxing, sitting in front of them, had to tilt her head up slightly to see each of their faces clearly.
"Hah." Qin Ao finally kicked the broom by the wall, looking furious but unsure where to direct his anger.
"So, teacher, you’re just going to abandon us?" Yu Ming seemed to finally understand.
"How am I abandoning you? I’m still shielding you from your parents’ wrath, aren’t I?" Lin Wanxing laughed."So... what should we do?" Yu Ming looked around and found his classmates were just as clueless as him, unsure of what to say.
"You can leave now and do whatever you want," Lin Wanxing said sincerely, still sitting cross-legged with her chin propped in one hand. "But I suggest not breaking any laws—that would be troublesome."
"Can we really leave now?" Feng Suo glanced back at the door, finding it hard to believe.
"Yes."
Qi Liang was shocked: "So you brought us here just to tell us you never planned to tutor us or force us to play soccer? We're free?"
"You can choose what you want to do—isn't that important?" Lin Wanxing seemed equally surprised.
They stared at each other for a moment until some impatient students stood up, ready to leave.
Just then, Fu Xinshu spoke up: "If we decide to train for the next match, what help can you provide, teacher?"
The students at the door paused and turned to look at her.
"Everything within my power," Lin Wanxing said solemnly.
"What exactly is 'everything within your power'?" Qin Ao asked dismissively.
It did sound like empty promises.
But Lin Wanxing replied seriously: "If you want to train, we need to address both hardware and software issues. The most important hardware is the venue—I can start by talking to the PE department to see if we can use the school field for training."
"That's it?"
"If the school disagrees, but you still want to continue training, we'll look for other venues."
"What about software?"
"You need a coach," Lin Wanxing said.
"Teacher, is that elementary school classmate of yours really willing to coach us?" The students' eyes suddenly lit up, as if remembering yesterday's match and that unexpectedly appearing coach.
"If you want to prepare for the next match and are willing to train, I can ask." Lin Wanxing took out her phone, watching her students as she waited for their response.
The students froze again, seeming to lose their resolve whenever faced with a decision.
"Teacher, you always seem to..." Zheng Feiyang began.
"Seem to what?" Lin Wanxing asked.
"I can't quite explain it—it just feels strange."
"It's like you're always waiting for us to say something."
"Right! Like you won't find us a coach until we explicitly say we want to play soccer."
At this point, the students all showed varying degrees of displeasure.
"That's correct." Lin Wanxing looked at her bewildered students gently. "First, I don't want to influence your choices. Second, I don't want to bear the responsibility of influencing your choices."
"What do you mean by 'responsibility of influencing our choices'?"
"Let me give you an example." Lin Wanxing snapped her fingers. "Imagine you're at a crossroads. To the left is a lottery shop—you might impulsively buy a ticket and win five million. To the right is a beautiful girl—you'd meet the love of your life. I'm just a passerby standing at the intersection with you. How could I tell you whether to go left or right?"
As the conversation continued, the students unconsciously sat back down.
"Obviously the five million!" Yu Ming exclaimed."Of course, with five million you'd definitely have a girlfriend!"
"Don't all women like money?"
The naive young men chattered back and forth, as thrilled as if they'd actually won five million. Lin Wanxing found herself unusually at a loss for words.
Qin Ao raised an eyebrow at her, as if mocking her example.
At that moment, Chen Jianghe spoke up: "What about moving forward then?"
He asked.
"I don't know," Lin Wanxing said with a regretful smile. "No one can know what lies ahead when you move forward."
The equipment room's shelves stood in orderly rows, still dim and somewhat stuffy.
The only electric fan above their heads whirred noisily.
"Sounds nice, but you just don't want to be responsible for us, afraid of taking on the burden."
Qin Ao sneered.
But perhaps even he himself didn't understand why he felt such displeasure.
Lin Wanxing replied: "Didn't you say you didn't want me managing you? What's wrong with me doing exactly that?"
Qin Ao stared wide-eyed, unable to utter a single word.
"Besides, it's not that I'm afraid. It's just that, probably from childhood until now, you've always followed others' instructions. Your parents said go to school, so you went to school; teachers said study, so you studied; someone sent you to play soccer, so you started playing soccer. But now, you're about to turn or have already turned 18. The most important thing for adults to understand is that people have the right to choose any path in life, but they must also take responsibility for every choice they make. No one else will bear responsibility for you. After all, the five million is yours, the lovely girls are yours, and life - that's yours too."
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