36 Yuan Yuan
The air was filled with fine dust particles floating around the old incandescent light tubes.
Lin Wanxing snapped back to reality. Behind her, the students stood rather stiffly in the corridor.
They moved cautiously yet couldn’t resist looking around curiously, as if everyone was waiting for her next move.
Lin Wanxing slowly walked to the door of one of the classrooms and gave it a gentle push—it opened.
As the lights flickered on, it felt as if time had frozen in the past. The classroom had been converted from an old residential unit, making it slightly smaller than standard classrooms.
The window frames were dusty, but the desks and chairs inside were neatly arranged. On the blackboard, traces of years of writing remained, with "College Entrance Exam Countdown 【】 Days" painted in yellow. Some of the characters had peeled away, but the rest were still clearly visible. The classroom walls were adorned with paintings of rather peculiar taste, and along one side stood a full-length bookshelf filled with books of varying ages and conditions.
Lin Wanxing’s hand glided over the cabinet doors as she scanned the shelves. The collection included different editions of textbooks and supplementary materials.
There were versions from People’s Education Press and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, as well as complete sets of "Three-Five," "Huanggang," and "Haidian Secret Papers." Not only that, but the shelves also held all the extracurricular readings required by each version of the curriculum standards, neatly categorized by genre, era, and region. Even more surprisingly, the shelf closest to the window was entirely filled with novels—from Jin Yong and Gu Long to Asimov and Keigo Higashino, and even works like "Coiling Dragon" and "Love O2O" were present.
The entire space exuded an atmosphere where seriousness and liveliness complemented each other.
Unconsciously, the students had each chosen seats and settled in. Lin Wanxing stepped onto the podium and looked at her students once more.
Qin Ao was still glancing around, Fu Xinshu’s hand unconsciously brushed against the desktop, Yu Ming’s eyes were lively, and Qi Liang had already raised his hand.
This was Lin Wanxing’s second time formally standing at the podium, and just like the first, she felt a bit unsure of where to begin.
"I know you have many questions, but let me finish speaking first, and then I’ll answer them," Lin Wanxing said.
The story of this tutoring center was simple.
Lin Wanxing explained to the students that her grandmother was named Shen Shuyuan, and "Yuan Yuan" was her grandmother’s childhood nickname—her grandfather had always called her that.
It was said that her great-grandfather had chosen this name based on a short poem by Lu You titled "Reading": "In old age, I may not have five acres of garden, but the purpose of reading lies in the common people. Though my eyesight is no longer what it used to be, I still pore over twenty thousand tiny words by lamplight."
"Yuan Yuan" meant the ordinary masses.
Her grandparents were both top-tier teachers. After retiring from school, the elderly couple bought this old residential building. Not only did they rent out parts of it, but they also ran an after-school tutoring center on the second floor, continuing to contribute in their later years. The poetic sentiment resonated with their aspirations, and the tutoring center’s name naturally derived from it.
At the time, the tutoring center had many students, including quite a few from underprivileged backgrounds.
During some of her school breaks, Lin Wanxing would come to her grandparents’ tutoring center to pass the time. As a young child, she sat among high school students, absorbing whatever she could understand or not—it was all fascinating to her.
Later, her father’s relationship with her grandparents soured, and she rarely visited. As the elderly couple grew older and their health declined, they could no longer teach. She heard the place had been turned into a study room for students, occasionally doubling as a childcare space for younger children. But no one can defy the laws of nature. After her grandparents passed away, the tutoring center’s doors were naturally locked.
Looking back now, many things filled her with deep regret.At this point in the story, the students had grown very quiet.
From the boys' perspective, they first received something called a "Ball Borrowing Card," then encountered a "black and white crossword puzzle." More coincidentally, just as they started their extracurricular tutoring venture, Fu Xinshu received a treasure map, leading to the unsealing of an old tutoring classroom. It was only natural to suspect she was behind it all, forcing her to explain once again that she knew nothing about it.
For Lin Wanxing, standing in this classroom and looking at the students below the podium, she could only be certain that someone deeply concerned about these students was using various methods to connect her with them.
That person desperately wanted her to help them. Though she was the target, it wasn't entirely about her.
"So, this building really belongs to you, teacher?" Yu Ming was the first to snap out of the story. "Your grandparents are amazing."
"Then do you charge our coach rent?" Qi Liang posed an unexpectedly tricky question.
Lin Wanxing was stunned, not expecting the kids to be so unpredictable.
She glanced toward the corner of the classroom, where Wang Fa had somehow retrieved a novel from the bookshelf and was reading it. The cover was brightly colored, clearly from the romance genre.
Hearing this, Wang Fa looked up innocently: "It doesn't have to be completely free. Some appropriate discount would suffice."
Lin Wanxing: "..."
"Teacher should be more generous," Fu Xinshu chimed in.
Fu Xinshu wasn't the type to joke around, and Lin Wanxing realized he was imitating Qi Liang and the others, trying hard to cheer her up. The exercise book was still spread open on the desk, and the hastily retrieved "treasure map" stood out sharply under the fluorescent light. The boy looked at her with burning intensity and said, "We have a place now, right?"
——
The next day at noon, the football team mobilized together.
It was customary for high school day students to go out for lunch, and the sound of eleven boys clattering up the old residential building attracted the attention of the elderly women living there.
For these straightforward boys, there were no complicated thoughts. Since someone had pointed them to this tutoring space, and since the owner, Lin Wanxing, didn't mind them using it, then this place was theirs!
Lin Wanxing directed the students in a thorough cleaning. The tutoring center's small storage room still had unused chalk, and old exam papers were taken down from the walls. Elderly residents came to investigate, and even a grandfather from the neighboring building asked Yuan Yuan if the tutoring center was reopening and whether it accepted third-grade elementary students.
Finally, after shooing away the curious aunts and uncles, Lin Wanxing closed the classroom door.
The students still had smudges of dust from the cleaning on their faces.
Lin Wanxing signaled for everyone to quiet down and said, "I received an email from the organizing committee today. Our opponent for Sunday's match has been decided. They'll come to our venue—still the Pearl Club field from last time. The match starts at 1:00 PM sharp."
Lin Wanxing picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard, above the countdown timer where the students had just been eagerly discussing: "Venue: Hongjing Pearl Club, 13:00. Opponent—"
Qin Ao immediately sat up straight: "Who are we playing against?"
Lin Wanxing took out her phone, opened the email, and confirmed once more before saying, "Green View International High School."
The tutoring classroom erupted like a boiling oil pot.
Some slammed the desks, others shouted in disbelief.
"Damn."
"What the hell."“How come we ran into these assholes even in the qualifiers?”
“Didn’t they get direct entry into the main tournament? Why have they fallen to playing qualifiers?”
“Have they gotten this bad?”
Lin Wanxing was puzzled by her students’ reactions.
“Is Green View International that strong?” She couldn’t help but glance at Wang Fa. Come to think of it, the cigarettes Wang Fa smoked yesterday seemed to be from that brand.
Wang Fa had swapped yesterday’s romance novel for a fantasy book with two imposing dragons on the cover. He looked up and said, “I don’t know much about them.”
Come to think of it, Lin Wanxing pulled out her phone and searched on Baidu. She then discovered that, like Yongchuan Evergrande Club, Green View Club was a top-tier club with eligibility for the Chinese Super League. As for Green View International High School, the name alone made it clear—it was an international high school sponsored by a well-known tobacco company. Not only did its main branch have a professional youth team, but the high school division also boasted many talented young players.
Lin Wanxing could somewhat understand her students’ shock. After all, Green View International High School should be a top-tier high school team. For them to have fallen to playing qualifiers, just like an ordinary high school team, was indeed hard to believe. However, as she continued her search, Lin Wanxing gradually realized that Green View was likely forced into the qualifiers due to violations of certain National Youth League regulations. Moreover, Green View International had performed poorly in the previous round, and match reports suggested internal team issues. For these reasons, they now had to face such a top high school team in the qualifiers.
The students were worked up, with some even suspecting it was a scheme by the organizing committee or that Green View had bribed them.
Lin Wanxing quickly stopped them.
“Anyway, we only have to play one match,” she said. “Regardless of win or loss, we just need to focus on doing our best.”
OpenNovel