The icy winter air passed through the players' nostrils, turning into warm white mist that mingled with the heat radiating from their warmed-up bodies, steaming above the football pitch.
The two teams lined up, and a piercing whistle cut through the sky.
Yongchuan Evergrande took the kickoff first.
After the start, both sides deployed their formations.
No matter how anxious they were before the match, once they stepped onto the pitch, the students had eyes only for this field.
The boys wore serious expressions, moved with precision, and worked hard to maintain their formation.
But Lin Wanxing hadn’t been observing her students for long before Yongchuan Evergrande scored the first goal.
That goal was initiated by Qin Qiechu, who broke through directly from the wing. With just two passes, he penetrated the penalty area. The defenders couldn’t retreat in time, and Yongchuan Evergrande’s forward gave a light push inside the box. The ball slid effortlessly into Hongjing No. 8 Middle School’s goal.
Only when the referee’s whistle blew did Lin Wanxing snap back to reality—had a goal been scored?
The pitch was unusually quiet.
The warm winter sun was gentle, a stark contrast to the usual fervent atmosphere following a goal.
The Yongchuan Evergrande players seemed to treat the goal as routine, with no celebrations.
Only Qin Qiechu stood by the sideline, making a cute gesture of doffing an imaginary cap and bowing to the others.
The boy’s smile was particularly dazzling under the sunlight.
The field remained eerily silent.
The boys from Hongjing No. 8 Middle School seemed ignited by that gesture, each one visibly furious.
Qin Ao’s face was ashen. Clenching his fists, he wordlessly returned to the center circle for the restart, as if eager to seize every second to teach the other side a lesson.
But their newly mustered fighting spirit was like punching cotton—utterly ineffective.
Hongjing No. 8 Middle School had long adhered to the most basic tactic: defend and counterattack.
The boys were constantly challenging opponents far beyond their level, accustomed to being dominated in matches.
So, after being provoked by Qin Qiechu, their haphazard, forced attacks appeared full of holes.
At least, that’s what Lin Wanxing thought.
The Hongjing players, failing to execute their original defensive positioning, began frantically seeking attacking opportunities, which completely stretched their formation.
Wen Chengye was also fervently organizing attacks.
Regardless of his usual attitude during training, once on the pitch, he couldn’t help but crave victory.
Wen Chengye was extremely active on the field.
He ran swiftly, intercepted from left and right, and was fiercely brave.
He even gestured, communicating with Qi Liang to organize Fu Xinshu’s forward press in attack.
But Hongjing No. 8 Middle School’s offense was utterly inadequate against Yongchuan Evergrande.
Wen Chengye pressed forward again.
A Yongchuan Evergrande player had the ball. As Wen Chengye rushed to intercept, the opponent effortlessly passed to the wing, where Qin Qiechu was waiting.
The enthusiastic boy smiled, stretched out his long leg to block, and the ball rolled down his thigh. With a flick of his ankle, Qin Qiechu easily passed to the center of the penalty area.
There, an unmarked forward took a shot. 2-0.
Everything happened too fast. Just three minutes after the first goal, Yongchuan Evergrande had easily breached Hongjing’s goal once more.
The whistle blew again, and the students finally reacted, their faces briefly clouded with confusion.
Goalkeeper Feng Suo seemed slow to react. He picked up the ball, stared at it for a moment, as if wondering why the goal had come so easily.
Could the ball really roll so simply into the goal he was defending?
Lin Wanxing looked at Wang Fa.
Wang Fa leaned back on the bench, arms crossed, merely watching the pitch, unmoved by what was happening.
Although the Hongjing boys quickly returned to the center circle, ready to regroup and counterattack again, it was destined to be futile.
No matter how many training sessions they had completed, no matter how many times the charts showed clear, significant progress—facing a true challenge, all those past efforts only made them feel more hopeless.
Lin Wanxing saw confusion in the students’ eyes; they didn’t know how to continue the match.
The specific difference between a team like Yongchuan Evergrande and the other strong opponents they had faced before was probably that Yongchuan Evergrande always played with such ease and freedom.
This freedom referred to their state during the match, not a lack of rigor.
Their offense and defense were seamless. They knew exactly where to go next, how to handle each wave of the opponent’s attack, or how to pass and move to create scoring opportunities.
After that, the goal whistle kept sounding.
In the first half alone, Yongchuan Evergrande scored seven goals, exceeding the total number of goals they had conceded in the previous two rounds.
When the halftime whistle blew, the students seemed to wake from a dream.
They looked at each other, wiping sweat from their foreheads, and headed off the pitch.
Lin Wanxing hurriedly stood up, holding towels and water. But looking at the students’ expressions, she felt that whatever she said wouldn’t make a difference.
The boys silently wiped the sweat from their heads with towels.
They didn’t speak for a long time.
Not far away was the Yongchuan Evergrande club. Lin Wanxing glanced over and saw their players chatting and laughing happily.
Those confident, casual voices were carried over by the stadium wind. Qin Ao slammed his fist hard against the bench.
Hearing the sound, Wen Chengye let out a faint, mocking “Tch.”
Qin Ao’s anger flared instantly. He threw off his towel, rushed up to Wen Chengye, and snapped, “You have the nerve to ‘tch’? Did you even see how well you played?”
“What kind of ‘well’?” Wen Chengye tilted his head back slightly, sweat dripping from his temples into his neck. “The kind where the opponent’s defender easily takes the ball from you?”
He was referring to the goal Yongchuan scored after Qin Qiechu stole the ball from Qin Ao.
“You have the face to say that?” Qin Ao grabbed Wen Chengye by the collar, furious. “You ran around like a headless chicken the whole game! Didn’t you see others having to cover your defensive gaps?”
“Even if my defense was a problem, does that have anything to do with you getting stripped one-on-one?”
“Are you stupid?”
“No need to curse. Just answer the question: Does. It. Have. Anything. To. Do. With. It?” He sneered. “It’s not because the other side asked for your autograph, and you actually thought you were something, deliberately slacking off, right?”
Wen Chengye fired back word by word, hitting Qin Ao’s sore spot.
Fu Xinshu joined in: “Wen Chengye, you still need to remember to defend first. Qin Ao will pay attention too. We need to organize our attacks based on solid defense.”
“So it’s my fault?” Wen Chengye raised an eyebrow.
The boys’ conversation was filled with gunpowder.
Lin Wanxing didn’t interrupt them, just listened quietly.
And Wang Fa remained as steady as a mountain from start to finish. He showed no intention of mediating or giving the students new tactical instructions.
The students argued throughout the entire halftime. Only when the second half began and they returned to the pitch did Lin Wanxing finally ask Wang Fa, “Hey, which side are you on in the babies’ fight?”
“They argued about a lot of things. We’d have to analyze each issue specifically.”
“Well, about Wen Chengye’s part,” Lin Wanxing thought for a moment and said, “Does Wen Chengye really disrupt the defense that much?”
“Defense is indeed interlinked. Wen Chengye is often not in his theoretically assigned position, so other players have to cover for him. That’s how our defensive line gets torn apart by our own people.”
“Then what should we do?” Lin Wanxing asked again.
“But what is ‘theory’?” Wang Fa countered.
Lin Wanxing was taken aback. She felt Wang Fa might have his own ideas, but she wasn’t clear about them.
“Let’s keep watching,” Wang Fa said.
But the match that followed unfolded just as Wang Fa had described.
Because Wen Chengye didn’t want to follow the previous arrangements, he often left his defensive position, causing the backline to be shredded by their own teammates.
The problems Wang Fa identified were clearly noticed by Yongchuan Evergrande as well.
After the second half began, they changed their approach, reducing breakthroughs from Qin Ao’s side. Instead, Qin Qiechu began targeting Wen Chengye, repeatedly launching attacks from his position.
Qin Qiechu was passionate and excited, but also arrogant and domineering.
When dribbling past opponents, he always wore a genuine smile.
Although Wen Chengye often pretended to be aloof and indifferent, he was still an 18-year-old boy, unable to resist such provocation.
Soon, within 15 minutes of the second half, they conceded four more goals.
By then, they were trailing 0-11.
After losing so heavily, the students’ tempers flared.
Since Wen Chengye was playing recklessly, the others started to mess around too. At one point, when Wen Chengye had the ball, Qin Ao even rushed over to tackle his own teammate. He no longer trusted his teammates and wanted to take the ball and attack himself.
Led by Qin Ao, the other students also pushed forward en masse into Yongchuan Evergrande’s half, as if they weren’t losing badly but actually leading.
But even against opponents who had lost their heads and rationality, Yongchuan Evergrande wasn’t about to give them any chances.
They used truly seamless defense to easily and comfortably neutralize wave after wave of Hongjing No. 8 Middle School’s attacks.
Time ticked away.
The young Evergrande players were well-disciplined.
Seeing that Hongjing No. 8 Middle School had little ability to counterattack, they didn’t continue with sharp attacks but instead kept possession, wasting time.
During a dead-ball situation, Qin Ao stood off the pitch to throw in. He gestured to Fu Xinshu to pass the ball back to him later.
Qin Qiechu, as a defender, moved close to Qin Ao and said to him very seriously, “You can’t play like this. You need to calm down.”
“Are you sick?” was all Qin Ao replied.
Qin Ao’s attempts to fight back seemed more like helpless venting.
Qin Qiechu controlled the ball again and orchestrated another goal.
When the final whistle blew, Qin Ao angrily lifted his foot and kicked the ball hard into the sky.
The ball soared high, flew into the blue sky, and then plummeted down.
Lin Wanxing looked at Wang Fa, and Wang Fa looked back at her.
There was no disappointment on his face; he remained calm and composed.
————
The match result was expected.
Even the manner of losing seemed to have been hinted at by Wang Fa earlier, so Lin Wanxing wasn’t surprised.
It had been agreed long ago: they were here to see the scenery halfway up the mountain, and they had worked hard to get here. They should be positive and optimistic.
But the storm was overwhelming, completely drenching them.
Lin Wanxing felt upset, and she could also sense the students’ helplessness and frustration.
Anyone who watched or played in this match knew one thing very clearly.
Whether in attack or defense, the gap between Hongjing No. 8 Middle School and Yongchuan Evergrande was like a chasm.
This gap couldn’t be bridged no matter how desperately they ran on the pitch.
A sense of hopelessness burned like a fire in their hearts, wrapped in icy, deep blue seawater.
The seawater was salty and heavy, bringing a vast, dull rumbling that made it hard to breathe.
Lin Wanxing could clearly feel this emotion in the students.
Qin Ao kicked the ball away, lowered his head, and quickly walked toward the rest area. He grabbed a towel from the bench, covered his head, and prepared to head to the locker room.
“Qin Ao!” Just then, Qin Qiechu shouted from a distance.
The boy’s clear voice rang out across the quiet pitch, sounding even more like a sharp, distinct form of mockery.
Qin Ao’s figure froze.
Wen Chengye let out a low “Hmph.”
Qin Ao gripped the large towel, veins bulging on his hands.
“Qin Ao, Qin Ao, Qin Ao, don’t go!” Qin Qiechu yelled as he sprinted over from afar.
The boy’s figure was agile, full of energy, not at all like someone who had just endured 90 minutes of intense match play.
“Can I exchange jerseys with you?” Qin Qiechu held up a Yongchuan Evergrande club jersey—white with red lettering—with a bright smile and sparkling eyes.
Qin Ao was stunned for a moment, then felt even worse.
When the opponent is clearly much stronger than you, has torn you apart, but then wants to exchange jerseys at the end—what does that mean?
Isn’t it like collecting trophies?
But you don’t hit a smiling person, especially not during a normal post-match jersey exchange. Qin Ao had no reason to fly into a rage; he could only bottle it up.
So he kept walking, strides wide, pretending not to hear, heading toward the locker room.
But Qin Qiechu added fuel to the fire, slapping him on the shoulder: “Bro, don’t ignore me!”
Qin Ao immediately turned, forcefully shaking off Qin Qiechu’s hand, and roared, “Enough already! Stop being disgusting!”
Qin Qiechu froze in place. After a moment, he murmured, “Are you angry?”
The other students around also stiffened, feeling very awkward.
Lin Wanxing wanted to step in to defuse the situation, but Fu Xinshu beat her to it. His voice was dry: “You’ve already won. Just stop it.”
“Huh?” Qin Qiechu widened his round eyes, uttering a single syllable.
“Don’t mess with our heads. You’re so strong—isn’t this just humiliating?” Fu Xinshu said what Qin Ao was thinking.
“Sorry, it’s his fault.”
A tall figure appeared behind Qin Qiechu and spoke.
The newcomer wore the Yongchuan Evergrande football team jersey, had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and wore the captain’s armband.
Lin Wanxing remembered that during the match, this No. 11 player from Yongchuan Evergrande had scored a spectacular free kick, directly breaking through the goal.
“Fang… Fang…”
Fu Xinshu seemed a bit nervous. This player was clearly somewhat famous, and Fu Xinshu wasn’t good at dealing with such people.
“Fang Sulun.” Yongchuan Evergrande’s No. 11 extended his hand to Fu Xinshu, who gave a slight bow and shook it.
And so, the two Yongchuan Evergrande players found themselves alone, surrounded by the Hongjing No. 8 Middle School team, looking rather precarious.
An awkward silence fell. Even though they had just played against each other for 90 minutes, having a conversation with Yongchuan Evergrande players off the pitch made the boys uncomfortable.
Fu Xinshu licked his dry lips and said, “I’ve heard of you. You’re really strong.”
“I know,” Fang Sulun said.
Fu Xinshu: “…”
Qin Qiechu stepped in to smooth things over: “Our captain isn’t great with words. Don’t mind him!”
“Nothing to mind. We’re just not good enough,” Fu Xinshu said helplessly. “You’re already so strong; just don’t do this.” He looked at the red jersey in the boy’s hand as he spoke.
“Huh? We can’t even exchange jerseys?” Qin Qiechu rubbed his arm, looking shocked.
“No, are you really messing with us?” Fu Xinshu said, a bit of anger creeping into his voice. “Before the match, you pretended to admire Qin Ao and asked for his autograph. Now you want to exchange jerseys? What’s your deal?”
“I just really admire you guys,” Qin Qiechu finally showed some of the pride befitting a heaven’s chosen one. “You didn’t even make the main competition before, but a school football team made it to the group stage and got grouped with us. That’s really impressive.”
“So why did you make fun of Qin Ao?”
“How is that making fun? I came to say hello to your coach and then asked Qin Ao for an autograph. Is that not allowed?” Qin Qiechu continued, looking shocked.
Fu Xinshu seemed to finally understand that they were on different wavelengths. He could only say, “Fine, whatever. As long as you’re happy.”
After saying that, he also prepared to leave. Seeing this, Qin Qiechu persisted: “So, can we exchange jerseys or not?”
“Please, can you control your player?” Fu Xinshu couldn’t take it anymore and turned to Fang Sulun.
“He really does like you guys. Exchanging jerseys is a normal post-match request. How should I control him?” Fang Sulun paused. “If you don’t want to exchange, you should clearly refuse.”
“Get lost! I don’t want to exchange jerseys with an idiot like you!” Qin Ao, hearing this, yelled angrily at Qin Qiechu.
Qin Qiechu froze: “Why are you so angry?”
“Because they feel that players from strong teams like you admiring them and wanting to exchange jerseys isn’t a friendly gesture but hurts their pride and humiliates them.”
Fang Sulun was a very straightforward person. Perhaps it was because he had been around someone as unpredictable as Qin Qiechu for so long that not being direct just wouldn’t work.
As an adult, Lin Wanxing could accept this statement.
But to the hot-blooded students, these words carried a different meaning.
The boys’ faces darkened, but they couldn’t find the words to refute it.
Often in such situations, fighting is the best option, but they were on a football pitch, so they couldn’t resort to that.
So they stood in a stalemate for a while, Wen Chengye turned and headed straight for the locker room.
“Huh? So strange.” Qin Qiechu watched his opponents’ retreating figures, puzzled, but decided to respect them.
He put his taken-off jersey back on, muttering to himself, “Are you mad because I beat you? You can’t blame me, though. I also think it’s weird. You played very differently today compared to before. Your defense was poor, and your offense wasn’t great either. Are you going to review the match later? Do you need me to help analyze it?”
Hearing this, Lin Wanxing smiled helplessly. The Yongchuan Evergrande players were indeed interesting. Especially Qin Qiechu—it was hard to figure out what they were really thinking.
Fu Xinshu: “No need.”
Qin Ao: “Mind your own business, idiot.”
“You’re so mean.” Qin Qiechu looked pitiful.
The students’ last shred of patience was exhausted. Saying one more word to Yongchuan Evergrande’s strange duo would make them idiots.
The group resolutely, without looking back, headed to the locker room.
Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa were left last.
Fang Sulun walked up to Wang Fa and greeted him.
Wang Fa, hands in pockets, nodded.
They exchanged a few brief words, and Qin Qiechu got excited again, hopping around like a monkey. Finally, Fang Sulun bowed slightly to Wang Fa, grabbed Qin Qiechu by the neck, and prepared to leave.
Lin Wanxing thought for a moment, then walked up to Qin Qiechu and Fang Sulun and called out to them: “Wait a moment, please.”
“Is there something?” Fang Sulun asked.
Qin Qiechu suddenly got excited: “Sis, are you the team manager? Do you want to invite us to review the match?!”
“That’s not what I meant.” Lin Wanxing felt a bit helpless and said clearly, “I mean, I’m not inviting you to review the match.”
“Oh.” Qin Qiechu immediately lost his excitement. “Then what are you here for?”
“I just want to explain to them why they didn’t exchange jerseys with you.” Lin Wanxing said.
“Huh?”
“They didn’t exchange jerseys with you not just because of wounded pride after losing.” Lin Wanxing looked at Fang Sulun and explained seriously, “It’s because we only have this one set of jerseys.”
A rare flicker of surprise crossed Captain Fang’s face.
Qin Qiechu: “Just one set?”
“Yeah, they usually don’t wear jerseys during training, only for matches. One set is enough.” Lin Wanxing said.
“Okay.” Qin Qiechu let the matter drop.
“After this break, we’ll go to Yongchuan. We’ll see you then.”
After saying that, Lin Wanxing waved to Qin Qiechu and Fang Sulun.
But Qin Qiechu suddenly beamed, exclaiming, “Wow, teacher, can you say ‘We’ll see you then’ again? It sounds really cool and confident!”
Lin Wanxing stopped and looked at Qin Qiechu, puzzled.
“You’re trash-talking!” Qin Qiechu said with certainty. “Then can I trash-talk too?”
Lin Wanxing smiled: “Of course.”
Qin Qiechu straightened his chest, revealing the proud expression of a heaven’s chosen one: “What a pity, teacher. When you come to Yongchuan, it won’t be the last group stage match. Otherwise, you could have exchanged jerseys with me.”
OpenNovel