The major competition was like a major exam.
Parents were worried; even if the children appeared indifferent on the surface, they couldn’t help but feel nervous deep down.
On a winter Sunday, the students of the Hongjing No. 8 Middle School football team gathered at the school gate.
Yellow leaves drifted down as the bus arrived. Wen Chengye stepped onto the vehicle heading to the competition venue for the first time.
The weather was warm that day, with sunlight filtering through the bare branches and falling on the pristine white body of the bus.
Playing at home, the route was still the one leading to the Hongjing Mingzhu Club.
This time, however, the students’ spirits were not high.
Inside the bus, there was none of the usual banter and chatter they were accustomed to.
Wen Chengye sat alone in his seat. Normally, the boys would occasionally pick arguments with him, but today, no one even had the interest to confront him.
Everyone sat quietly in their seats, either listening to music or resting with their eyes closed. The atmosphere in the bus was unusually subdued.
Lin Wanxing sat beside Wang Fa and looked back at the students, hoping to lighten the mood. "What was it like when you went out for competitions as kids? Did you all sing together?"
Surprisingly, the boys showed little reaction to her words.
In the past, they would have teased her for her old-fashioned ideas or asked her to stop with the awkward small talk.
But this time, no one even responded to her.
The bus was silent, filled only with the rumbling of the engine. Lin Wanxing coughed lightly, turned back, and looked at the young man beside her.
But Wang Fa was wearing earphones and showed no reaction either.
The air was heavy and still. Not daring to break the silence, Lin Wanxing took out her phone and typed a message on WeChat: Are you feeling down too?
Wang Fa glanced at his phone and tapped it briefly.
Lin Wanxing looked down and saw that Wang Fa had sent a sticker: an excited, smiling face with hands raised.
[Lin Wanxing: ???]
[Wang Fa: I’m looking forward to the upcoming match. I’m quite happy.]
[Lin Wanxing: But being happy isn’t right~! We’re going to lose today!]
[Wang Fa: Why can’t we look forward to a meaningful defeat?]
Lin Wanxing thought for a moment and found some logic in his words.
—
Wang Fa had a great mindset.
His words indirectly influenced Lin Wanxing as well.
So, before actually meeting the members of the Yongchuan Evergrande Club’s U-19 team, Lin Wanxing began to wonder: What would this team be like?
They first encountered Anning Experimental High School’s team, another high school team like theirs, followed by the football academy Green View International, and then the opponents they would face after advancing to the Group Stage.
The gap between professional tier players and their preliminary round opponents was already stark.
What left the deepest impression on Lin Wanxing were the players from Shen Cheng Hai Bo, who had previously defeated them decisively.
Each of those players was well-trained and in excellent physical condition, reminding Lin Wanxing of scenes from the animal kingdom—they were like young cheetahs running across the grasslands, full of wild energy and strength.
As for the players from Yongchuan Evergrande Club, Lin Wanxing found it hard to imagine: What could be stronger than wild beasts?
After a little over an hour’s drive, the bus stopped at the entrance of Hongjing Mingzhu Club.
Lin Wanxing looked toward the gate. Under the camphor tree stood a young man in a hoodie and a baseball cap, heading straight toward their disembarking point.
Before the bus had even come to a complete stop, the young man was already bouncing up and down beside their window.
He had dark skin, bright eyes, and an exuberant expression.The students had been resting with their eyes closed the entire journey, so aside from Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa, no one initially noticed this excited young man.
Lin Wanxing recalled the meme Wang Fa had sent in the group chat earlier—it bore some resemblance to this cheerful, hand-waving youth. Could he possibly be a plant arranged by the coach?
She cast a suspicious glance at Wang Fa.
Wang Fa, however, showed no expression of strategic calculation. He looked at the young man with surprise.
The bus door opened, and Lin Wanxing stepped out first while the students were still gathering their belongings inside.
"Are you the Hongjing No. 8 Middle School team?" the young man suddenly darted to the bus door, his expression extremely excited.
"Yes, we are. And you are?"
"Sister, hello, sister!" The baseball-capped youth politely bowed, and Lin Wanxing noticed his shaved head. "My name is Qin Qiechu!"
"Qin... Qin Qiechu? What can I do for you?" Lin Wanxing felt the name sounded somewhat familiar but couldn't immediately recall where she had heard it before.
Qin Qiechu didn't answer. Instead, his dark, bright eyes scanned behind her as if searching for someone.
The students filed out one after another, and when they saw Qin Qiechu, they all froze in astonishment.
Wang Fa was the last to get off.
The moment Qin Qiechu's eyes landed on him, they lit up instantly: "Coach, coach, coach!"
He rushed excitedly to Wang Fa's side, grabbing his hand firmly. When he smiled joyfully, deep dimples appeared on his cheeks.
"Coach Winfred, I finally get to see you again, coach! Why did you abandon us after leading us on?"
Qin Qiechu's tone was exceptionally sincere and innocent.
In that instant, Lin Wanxing was certain that Wang Fa's face finally displayed the legendary expression known as "cracking."
The usually arrogant students were utterly shocked. After the initial shock, they widened their eyes, their faces screaming, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Lin Wanxing could only tug at Wang Fa's sleeve and whisper, "Is he one of your former students from England?"
"No."
"Then?"
"He's Qin Qiechu from Yongchuan Evergrande," Wang Fa said.
Qin Qiechu from Yongchuan Evergrande?
Lin Wanxing finally realized where she had heard that name before.
Wasn't he the player being groomed as the future defensive cornerstone for the national team?
"Coach, you remember me! I'm so touched!" Qin Qiechu bounced around Wang Fa like a little monkey, overjoyed. "Director Liu said you were coming to coach us before, but you never showed up. After you finish coaching them, can you come to our team?"
As soon as Qin Qiechu said this, Qin Ao immediately took offense.
"What are you talking about? This is our coach. Stop calling someone else's coach 'coach'!" Qin Ao immediately stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Wang Fa to block Qin Qiechu.
"Oh, Qin Ao? I love your penalty area breakthroughs." The young man suddenly changed the subject and, like magic, pulled a marker from his pocket, handing it to Qin Ao. "Can you sign this for me? Right here."
Qin Ao held the marker, completely bewildered.
Qin Qiechu tugged at the hem of his hoodie, gesturing for Qin Ao to sign.
Qin Ao looked utterly lost, completely unaware of how the situation had escalated to this point. After a long pause, he picked up the black marker and scrawled "Qin Ao" crookedly on the young man's hoodie.Qin Ao wrote very slowly, the pen tip was difficult to control on the soft white T-shirt, and in the end, his name came out extremely distorted.
The young man patiently waited for him to finish, looked at the characters "Qin Ao" on his own clothes, and commented very seriously: "If you become a star player in the future, handwriting like this won't do."
Qin Ao felt struck by lightning again: "How could I ever become a star player?"
He blurted out without thinking.
Qin Qiechu didn't respond to Qin Ao's words but instead turned to the next player beside him.
"Fu Xinshu, right? I watched your coordination with Qin Ao and Qi Liang—it was quite interesting." As he spoke, the young man enthusiastically shook Fu Xinshu's hand, casually slipping the marker back into his pocket. "Oh, it's not that I don't like you or don't want your autograph. I just prefer the one who dribbles past defenders."
"No... no problem..." Fu Xinshu stammered as well.
The young man chattered on, radiating extreme social confidence.
He greeted every player on the team, reciting their coordination and match details as if they were old friends.
Lin Wanxing had previously thought her students talked a lot, but compared to Qin Qiechu, her "babies" were completely outmatched.
The high school students from Hongjing No. 8 Middle School were made to look like social recluses next to Qin Qiechu, only able to awkwardly say "thank you" without managing another word.
After enthusiastically greeting them, commenting on and praising each of their technical styles, the young man came and went like the wind, saying, "Well, I won't disturb you any longer, or the captain will scold me later!"
With that, he happily ran to the iron gate and dashed into the Hongjing Mingzhu Club. Just before entering, he turned back, his dimples showing in a sweet smile, and said, "Coach, see you later!"
The young man's figure disappeared into the club, and it took a long time for the high schoolers, who had been stunned speechless by Qin Qiechu's series of performances, to slowly recover.
The boys muttered to themselves, lost in thought.
"Qin Qiechu knows us?"
"He even knows each of our positions?"
"And he asked Qin Ao for an autograph?"
"He just seems a bit off in the head..."
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