But Wang Fa was indeed leaving.
Lin Wanxing was very clear about this.
Whether it was Wang Fa clearly informing her of his annual salary, or later when she received the call from the property agent saying the top-floor tenant wanted to terminate the lease—each of these matters made Lin Wanxing understand that Wang Fa was truly leaving.
Lin Wanxing held her phone; on the other end was the agent she had always entrusted with handling her rental affairs.
The agent said the top-floor tenant was being very generous.
Both the rent and deposit would be handled according to the contract. The tenant had originally signed for one year with a one-month deposit and quarterly payments, but would now pay the full year's rent in one lump sum.
Moreover, the tenant also said there was no need to keep the apartment reserved for him. The contract could end here, and she was free to rent it out to someone else.
"This is generosity like no other!" the agent said in a tone that seemed to be seeking praise.
"I understand," Lin Wanxing replied indifferently after hearing the report, then ended the call.
Putting down her phone, Lin Wanxing thought that Wang Fa could be considered a magnanimous tenant. As the landlord, she should be happy, yet she couldn't help feeling disappointed.
Because Wang Fa could have told her these things in person.
For example, during their morning meals, or during their boring evening walks, or even when they sat in the stands waiting for students to finish their day—Wang Fa could have mentioned it then.
But he didn't.
She didn't think it was because Wang Fa felt "awkward" about it; rather, it seemed more like an attitude—a "this is where it ends" kind of attitude.
He was very generous; a year's rent was enough to offset the small amounts of money he had previously "swindled" from her.
And by handling it so formally, his intention was clear and resolute—he was indeed leaving.
For almost the entire day, Lin Wanxing stayed in her sports equipment room, thinking about Wang Fa.
It wasn't about any romantic feelings; rather, she felt there was something else at play. She began recalling how she had met Wang Fa.
The notices on the wall had yellowed, and the registration book on the table had been flipped through a few more pages. Other than that, even the temperature was as hot as the day she first started working here.
She had met Wang Fa on her very first day on the job.
That day, she went to collect the football from Chen Jianghe and encountered Chen Jianghe with a scout on the field. Wang Fa spoke up to warn them, and she went down to chase the scout away for Chen Jianghe.
In truth, Lin Wanxing was quite curious: if she hadn't shown up, would Wang Fa have come down from the stands? Would he have "meddled" and sent away the "ill-intentioned" scout for a high school student he had never met before?
The job was leisurely, so during work hours, Lin Wanxing pondered this question.
After thinking about it for a long time, her answer was still "yes."
If Wang Fa weren't that kind of person, he could have ignored Chen Jianghe altogether. He wouldn't have agreed to her request to "lend a small hand" during the students' first match, nor would he have spent so many days with them, devising tactics, training plans, and patiently teaching the students.
He was actually very patient. Although he appeared nonchalant, most of the time he was serious and meticulous. Whether teaching the students how to play football or how to conduct themselves, he was beyond reproach.
All of this culminated in the reason why he was "worth that much money."
Although none of this meant he wouldn't leave, there were still parts where logic and emotion didn't align.
He had a bright future abroad, yet he chose to return to China.
He paid a year's rent but had lived there for less than a month before leaving to start his new job.
So why did he come back? For the future of Chinese football?
But he had clearly said, "I have no dreams."
If it wasn't for a dream, then it must be for money.
He had also said, "They offered too much."The overall logic seemed coherent, but was Wang Fa really someone who could be swayed by money?
Lin Wanxing pondered repeatedly but couldn’t pinpoint the issue.
Evening had arrived when the phone rang again, pulling Lin Wanxing out of her prolonged contemplation.
It was Fu Xinshu’s voice on the other end.
Lin Wanxing realized the students hadn’t visited the small warehouse all day.
Yesterday, the boys had said they were going to “clear out the inventory” together and then get gym memberships. Now, with evening approaching, they should have finished clearing things out long ago.
Based on the students’ habits, if they were still active near the school, they would have come to her small warehouse around noon to hang out.
Sometimes they’d drop by to scrounge some food or drag out mats for a nap.
The fact that none of them had shown up today was surely because Wang Fa had told them about his early departure.
“Teacher.” Fu Xinshu’s voice sounded calm on the phone, without any trace of disappointment.
“Hmm, what’s up?”
“We’re not training tonight. Don’t go to the field. Come straight to the rooftop after work.”
Fu Xinshu’s “home” referred to the rooftop where she and Wang Fa lived.
“Okay,” Lin Wanxing replied.
“We feel like having a barbecue tonight. We still have some money left from what we earned earlier. Since the coach is leaving, we want to have a barbecue on the rooftop. Is that alright?” Fu Xinshu asked.
Lin Wanxing was relieved that the students sought her opinion before making decisions.
And the fact that they sounded calm and composed, without any fuss, was surely because Wang Fa had spoken seriously to them.
Though she didn’t know what Wang Fa had said, some things could only be said by a coach to his players.
Lin Wanxing held the phone silently for a long time until Fu Xinshu urged her.
“Ah, I understand. I’ll head back soon,” Lin Wanxing said.
Fu Xinshu: “What about the barbecue?”
“Of course, it’s fine,” Lin Wanxing laughed.
——
As if to mirror the farewell, the weather was exceptionally clear that day. By evening, brilliant crimson clouds filled half the sky.
Lin Wanxing climbed up to the rooftop and saw the vast expanse of red clouds.
The students had set up a barbecue grill, with bought vegetables and charcoal scattered across the ground.
They were each busy with their tasks—some skewering meat, others washing plates. They exchanged a few words occasionally, not particularly excited but not unhappy either.
When they saw her, the students waved and greeted her with smiles on their faces.
Lin Wanxing noticed the boys had mud on their legs, dirty clothes, and faces red from sun exposure. They must have trained with Wang Fa as usual today.
She scanned the rooftop—Wang Fa wasn’t there.
The students gestured with their lips, indicating the coach was inside.
Lin Wanxing glanced at Wang Fa’s door but didn’t go over. She had already been anxious in the morning, but now she felt more at ease.
“Did you go to get the gym memberships?” Lin Wanxing washed her hands and joined the boys in skewering food.
“Yeah, we even haggled. They gave us a new discount of 7,500,” Qin Ao said lazily. “And we negotiated that if we want to keep training later, like upgrading to an annual membership, we just need to pay the difference.”
It was a discount even she hadn’t managed to secure.
The student’s tone was full of pride. A few days of hustling had helped him grow a lot.
Lin Wanxing nodded, skewering a shrimp with a bamboo stick. But the shrimp was too slippery, and she accidentally pierced straight through its back.
She startled herself.
“Teacher, go ask the coach to do the skewering,” Chen Jianghe said disdainfully.Lin Wanxing was just thinking of an excuse when she heard Qi Liang say, "Don't make things difficult for our Teacher Lin. Our Teacher Lin wouldn't dare."
"What do you mean, 'wouldn't dare'?" Lin Wanxing was speechless.
"Aren't you avoiding our coach?"
Qi Liang's lips curled slightly, his narrow eyes fox-like.
This was clearly a provocation, but Lin Wanxing was indeed provoked.
She simply wiped her hands and walked to Wang Fa's door, knocking.
With a creak, the door opened.
The room was clean, just as tidy as she had glimpsed through the window that morning.
Wang Fa wore clean, soft loungewear, his hair still wet as if he had just showered, towel-drying his head.
His gaze was bright and gentle as he stood in the doorway, slightly bowing his head. The faint scent of mint shower gel lingered in the air, making everything seem perfectly normal.
If not for the large open suitcase in the room, Lin Wanxing might have mistaken this for an ordinary evening.
The students had just earned some money and were clamoring for a barbecue. So the coach agreed to end training early as a reward for their hard work over the past few days.
She had returned from work, washed her hands, and joined the skewer-preparing team.
After messing up the shrimp skewers, the students shooed her away, so she had to go call the coach.
If this were an ordinary evening, the following scene would be easy to imagine—
Wang Fa would join the prep work while the students bickered over skewers. They'd argue about who burned the chicken wings or who took extra pieces of meat, with sparks flying from the lit charcoal—a lively, bustling scene.
Lin Wanxing could already picture it clearly.
But the existence of the phrase "farewell dinner" gave this ordinary evening gathering a different meaning.
"What's wrong?" Wang Fa asked.
Lin Wanxing shifted her gaze from the luggage and looked up at him. "When are you leaving?"
"Later," Wang Fa said.
"Later today?" Lin Wanxing was taken aback, instinctively asking a question to which she already knew the answer.
"Yes."
"Taking the high-speed rail? Then we should hurry with dinner. I remember the last train to Yongchuan is at ten tonight." That was her first reaction, and she rambled on before realizing that Wang Fa's "later" indeed meant he would be moving out and leaving them.
The air grew somewhat stifling.
Perhaps noticing her expression, Wang Fa comforted, "No need to rush for the train. Someone is coming to pick me up."
Right, Hongjing to Yongchuan wasn't far. It made perfect sense for the club to send a car.
"That's still too rushed," Lin Wanxing could only say helplessly in the end.
"A little," Wang Fa agreed.
Then, they fell silent. The details differed slightly from what she had imagined earlier.
But overall, the students were in good spirits.
After she called Wang Fa, the coach washed his hands and joined the students in preparing the skewers.
The joy of barbecuing lay not only in the grilling and eating copious amounts of meat but also in the chaotic, bustling time spent together.
At one moment, they couldn't find the black pepper they bought; at another, they added too much seasoning to the marinated chicken wings... When it was time to light the charcoal, the students found they couldn't get the fire started no matter what.
After huddling together and searching online for a while, they finally realized that lighting charcoal required not only stacking it in a specific shape but also using flammable materials like alcohol, dry leaves, cotton, or newspaper.There were newspapers at home but no alcohol. To be absolutely safe, Lin Wanxing was sent downstairs to borrow some from the neighbors.
She knocked on the door of the fourth-floor resident and explained her purpose.
The person downstairs was an auntie who ran a small goods business.
"Oh dear, how come you don’t have any alcohol at home?" the auntie exclaimed in surprise.
"I forgot to bring it when I moved," Lin Wanxing said.
"You should always keep alcohol on hand," the auntie said, handing her a large bottle. "Take this whole one."
"How much do I owe you? I’ll pay you," Lin Wanxing said, reaching for her phone to transfer the money.
"How much could a bottle of alcohol cost?" The auntie paused and then asked, "Xiao Lin, I heard you’re moving out?"
Lin Wanxing was taken aback. "Who told you that?"
"Xiao Li. I mentioned to him earlier that I have a relative who wants to rent a place in Hongjing, and he told me the top floor is available now, so we could discuss it." The auntie paused again, lowering her voice mysteriously. "Are you and Xiao Wang moving out so soon?"
Xiao Li was the agent Lin Wanxing had entrusted with renting out the property.
Xiao Wang… probably referred to Wang Fa.
Lin Wanxing looked at the auntie and replied calmly, "No, he’s the one moving out. I’m still staying here."
"Broke up?"
The hallway was dimly lit. Because of the heat, the auntie’s face was flushed, and her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"No, we’ve rented two separate places. He and I, we…"
Lin Wanxing trailed off here.
She wanted to clarify her relationship with Wang Fa, but when she tried to find the right word, she suddenly hesitated.
Were they "colleagues"? Not really.
Were they "friends"? Not exactly close enough to rent a place together.
A more accurate description would be two people who happened to cross paths and were in the process of getting to know each other.
That was about it.
Lin Wanxing didn’t explain further. She thanked the auntie again and returned upstairs, carrying the alcohol.
When she pushed open the rooftop door again, the clouds in the sky had reached their peak brilliance, grand and dazzling.
The scene was so spectacular that the students had all taken out their phones, snapping pictures of the sky. When they saw her return, they shifted their lenses toward her.
"Teacher, smile!" one of the boys called out, waving.
"Does it have a beauty filter?" Lin Wanxing handed the alcohol to Fu Xinshu and leaned in to take a look.
In just that short moment, the red clouds in the sky had darkened, like embers glowing fiercely in a furnace.
Someone turned their camera toward Wang Fa.
The young man was sitting in his usual lounge chair, legs crossed, gazing at the distant soccer field. The evening glow had faded, as if stepping into a long night.
Lin Wanxing thought for a moment and called out, "What are you looking at?"
Her voice drifted with the wind, and Wang Fa suddenly turned his head.
In that instant, his hair was damp, and his gaze was calm.
In the distance lay the vast expanse of the soccer field and the sky on the verge of darkness.
And Wang Fa seemed as though he might dissolve into the last remnants of the sunset.
Lin Wanxing would always remember that gaze.
Profound and obscure, like embers about to extinguish.
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