Road to Success

Fu Xinshu had monolids, and when he was stunned, his drooping eyelashes would cover his eyes.

Upon hearing the question, his pupils dilated slightly, and a panicked look shone through his lashes.

But soon, Lin Wanxing saw his brows furrow slightly, his expression confused. He opened his mouth several times, wanting to say something—about what he wanted, or his future goals, things like that.

Yet, under her earnest gaze, Fu Xinshu couldn’t bring himself to say any of it.

In the end, the student looked dejected. Probably because he had a lot to say but ultimately lacked the courage.

Fu Xinshu picked up his jacket draped over the chair, silently stood up, and left without even saying, "Goodbye, teacher."

Lin Wanxing watched the student’s retreating figure but didn’t call out to him.

The pitch, which had been tense just minutes ago, had now returned to its usual tranquility. It was that time again when the sky had completely darkened, but this time, the sounds of kicking balls and fierce shouts from the field were gone. Everything felt like a hollow beach left behind by the receding tide, gray and desolate.

At first, Lin Wanxing wondered if she had been too harsh on Fu Xinshu.

She understood the students’ struggles well. Though they outwardly resisted control, deep down they desperately needed someone to tell them what to do. Not only that, they also needed someone to help them make plans, supervise them daily, give feedback, and offer encouragement and comfort.

But she didn’t want to do that—or rather, what she wanted to do went beyond that.

Her thoughts were complex. She could hear the occasional sound of vehicles rolling over the asphalt road outside the stadium. The streetlights at the top of the stands were old and poorly maintained, but their dimness made the light softer. Sitting in such a vast and empty space, she felt the sky above the pitch was even more serene.

A faint sound of breathing reached her, and Lin Wanxing glanced beside her.

Wang Fa had remained leaning back the entire time, never interrupting her conversation with the student.

He gazed into the distance as if emptying his mind, his profile sharp and handsome. Truthfully, Lin Wanxing didn’t understand why Wang Fa enjoyed zoning out in the stands, but as the city’s night fell and the stadium lights glowed softly, you could feel the peace of the wind brushing over the grass.

Only one or two stars were visible in the sky, the city’s lights casting a faint halo upward.

You didn’t have to think about anything.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but both she and Wang Fa seemed perfectly comfortable in this prolonged silence.

Lin Wanxing felt a hint of the pleasure of emptying her mind. It was a hard-to-describe feeling, free from the opposition of people and matters. She didn’t know what would become of the students in the future; perhaps they would all return to being strangers who didn’t interfere with each other.

The sky grew darker, and the wind cooler. Just as Lin Wanxing thought it was about time to head back to the dorm, Wang Fa gently nudged her.

Lin Wanxing followed his gaze and saw someone standing at the gap by the stadium’s side door in the distance.

Under the dim streetlights, she could vaguely make out a boy with a buzz cut outside the door. He was tall and sturdy, wearing slippers. When their eyes met unintentionally, the boy froze as if spellbound.

It took Lin Wanxing about ten seconds to realize that the person lurking by the stadium’s side door was Qin Ao.

To say she wasn’t surprised would be a lie. Just an hour or two ago, the boy had been full of anger, storming off in a huff—the residue of his fury seemed to linger in the night breeze around the stands. But now, the night air carried the scent of grilled skewers.

Lin Wanxing truly never expected that after their argument, a boy like Qin Ao would come back on his own.

He must have wrestled with his thoughts for a long time. Qin Ao climbed the stands, carrying a plastic bag.

From afar, Lin Wanxing could smell the cumin lamb skewers. Sure enough, Qin Ao’s first words upon arriving were, "I was buying barbecue for my dad and just happened to pass by."

Implying that he hadn’t come back specifically for them.

Lin Wanxing hummed in acknowledgment, watching the student use bravado to mask his embarrassment, feeling a strange emotion in her heart.

This time, she and Wang Fa were quite in sync. Wang Fa shifted one seat over, making space between them for Qin Ao.

Then, Lin Wanxing promptly took the skewer bag from Qin Ao and peeked inside. It was packed with fried tenderloin, lamb skewers, chicken wings, grilled corn, and the like.

With lightning speed, she picked a small tenderloin skewer. Before Qin Ao could protest, she passed the bag over him to Wang Fa.

The coach never held back when it came to food, immediately selecting what looked like the most expensive chicken wings. And so, they started eating skewers on the stands by the pitch, completely unbothered by anyone around. The only regret was the lack of Coca-Cola.

Qin Ao initially complained that it was for his dad, but Wang Fa started eating first, leaving Qin Ao with no room to argue.

In the end, the student gave up and silently joined in eating.

That night, Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa walked Qin Ao home and bought another portion of barbecue on the way.

The night seemed to mark the end of summer. They tacitly agreed not to mention anything that had happened earlier.

The next day, to Lin Wanxing’s surprise, more students started hovering around her in ways similar to Qin Ao.

The first to come were Yu Ming and Lin Lu, the two brothers. Lin Lu pulled a box of Telunsu milk from his pocket, claiming he couldn’t finish his breakfast, and left it on her windowsill. Yu Ming contributed a tea egg. Both dropped their offerings and ran off before she could refuse.

When Lin Wanxing opened the tea egg bag, she found an eggshell still inside—clearly, Yu Ming had saved it from his own meal...

Lin Wanxing couldn’t help but feel that her and Wang Fa’s barbecue feast the previous night must have given Qin Ao the wrong idea.

Sure enough, at noon, Zheng Feiyang gave her two tangerines. They were green, their skins still hard, as if freshly picked from somewhere—their origin was highly suspicious. Chen Weidong came by, made a round, and delivered a guiding speech about the disarray of skipping rope equipment and the failure to promptly handle damaged gear.

The most absurd was undoubtedly Qi Liang. He actually brought an English exercise book and asked her about a cloze test reading passage. Lin Wanxing flipped through the book, which was otherwise completely blank, and pointed at the passage he had specifically opened to. "Why suddenly ask about this one?" she asked.

"Because I saw the word ‘women’ in this passage," Qi Liang said.

"So?" Lin Wanxing looked at him skeptically.

"This passage is about the impact of women’s emotions on aging. You should read it," Qi Liang said.

Lin Wanxing immediately flared up, "Bullshit, this is about women’s schools!"

"Like I said, you need to watch your emotions," Qi Liang patted her shoulder with two fingers, comforting her.

In short, Lin Wanxing knew very well that the students were hovering around her in various ways as a kind of strange probing. She wasn’t actually angry; she didn’t even understand why the boys thought she was. Maybe that was just how straight guys thought. But as more and more people appeared before her, Lin Wanxing found it both irritating and amusing, so she decided to put on a stern and tense demeanor to maintain proper teacher authority.

Finally, in the evening, Lin Wanxing saw Fu Xinshu.

Miraculously, the entire school football team had gathered outside her equipment storage room, even Zhi Hui and Zheng Ren, who usually didn’t attend training. The tall students sat or squatted, their faces flushed from the sun, crowding the small open space.

This was the scene Lin Wanxing encountered when she came out to lock up.

A few class dismissal bells rang, but the area grew even quieter. The osmanthus branches enclosed by the flower beds swayed gently. Even someone as socially fearless as Lin Wanxing was momentarily stunned by the array of faces waiting at the door, unsure of what to say.

"Ahem, we’ve sent a representative to talk to you," Qin Ao, who was sitting boldly on the flower bed, spoke up and then gave Fu Xinshu a strong push.

Fu Xinshu stumbled from the shove. He was still wearing an overly large school uniform, the zipper pulled all the way up, revealing a slender, pale neck, making him look exceptionally serious and proper.

"Teacher Lin," Fu Xinshu began earnestly, "I’ve thought very carefully about the question you asked me yesterday."

"Mm," Lin Wanxing twirled the keys in her hand, waiting for him to continue.

Unexpectedly, as the representative negotiator, Fu Xinshu faltered again under everyone’s watchful eyes.

Qin Ao, exasperated, stood up from the flower bed, patted Fu Xinshu to move aside, and then looked down at her.

The boy’s eyes were sharp, exuding a decisive aura. "We discussed it and think you have too much going on in your head."

"Ah?" Lin Wanxing was bewildered.

"We can’t figure out what you want to do, but we agree with the principle of ‘you do whatever you want,’ so you can watch the exams from the stands," Qin Ao said magnanimously.

There was a long silence of about ten seconds.

Finally, Qin Ao’s annoyed voice broke the silence, "It’s awkward when you don’t say anything."

"Do I need to say something?" Lin Wanxing felt unusually mixed emotions. "Don’t think too highly of me either; I don’t have that much experience."

Lin Wanxing was genuinely helpless. This was her first time—first time as a teacher, first time leading so many students, first time thinking about how to talk to students.

"We know you mean well. We’ll follow you for tutoring. You can try to manage us if you want, though we might not listen, we’ll try to restrain ourselves..." Qin Ao’s tone was strained by the end. After all, voluntarily asking for tutoring felt more like a compromise after guessing her intentions. "So don’t overthink it, and don’t expect us to figure everything out. Let’s just make do. Anyway..."

Qin Ao paused here. Just as Lin Wanxing was about to respond, she heard him say,

—"Anyway, yesterday was our fault. Sorry."

Time seemed to freeze for a moment.

It wasn’t even osmanthus blooming season, but standing under the lush tree shade, pinned by the boys’ courageous yet fierce gazes, Lin Wanxing felt as if a warm wind had swept over her. She truly hadn’t expected this.

"I don’t actually want to manage you guys."

This thought drifted lightly through Lin Wanxing’s mind, hovering at the tip of her tongue, almost something she would have said instinctively.

But facing the students who had mustered their courage to appear before her, she suddenly felt she shouldn’t say that.

Many thoughts and emotions scattered in Lin Wanxing’s mind.

Indeed, she always believed that students should have the freedom and time to explore their inner selves and what they truly wanted. After all, they were used to following various instructions since childhood, rarely having the chance to think about "what I want."

But when she explicitly told them they were free to do as they pleased, they grew anxious. Lin Wanxing understood this fear well. The world was vast, with countless choices; when you looked toward the future, the uncertainty could swallow anyone.

So, while the kids said they didn’t want it, they desperately needed someone to "manage" them. Fu Xinshu was like this, Qin Ao was like this...

This kind of management went against what Lin Wanxing believed in. She truly didn’t want to "manage" them, but faced with the students’ almost pleading attitude, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

Humans were incredibly complex creatures. Most weren’t that good, nor that bad. Just like most so-called principles, there weren’t really that many "musts" and "must nots."

Finally, Lin Wanxing let out a soft sigh and made a compromise the students couldn’t understand.

"I understand."

That’s what she said.