Later, Lin Wanxing thought, if this was learning...
Then playing against Yongchuan Evergrande right now was like having elementary school students—no, first-year middle schoolers—take a college entrance exam math paper.
An overly difficult test with poor differentiation could easily make students lose confidence and the joy of learning.
Lin Wanxing wasn't sure whether there was still much meaning in letting them see the world of the strong under such circumstances.
But fortunately, there was a two-month break until the next match.
Without the pressure of match schedules, time could solve some problems.
Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa decided to give everyone two days off after the match against Yongchuan Evergrande.
But the students didn't want freedom at all. They were desperate and simply didn't want a break.
In their words—
"Staying at home, all we can think about is the match!"
"The gap is already this big—how can we not work hard?"
"Staying home is so boring!"
In short, they had reasonable arguments.
Early Sunday morning, Lin Wanxing was awakened again by the sounds of the students working in the rooftop vegetable garden.
The boys worked efficiently.
There was millet porridge with salted duck eggs, scallion pancakes with pickled mustard tuber, and soy milk with beef pies.
Looking at the spread of breakfast, Lin Wanxing could only bury her head in eating.
Although the students were chattering noisily, they clearly hadn't shaken off the shadow of yesterday's defeat, eating in subdued silence.
When Wang Fa pushed the door open, he was taken aback by this intense eating atmosphere.
He scooped a bowl of porridge from the stove and sat in the empty seat beside her.
After a couple bites, Wang Fa realized something: "Isn't today supposed to be a day off?"
"Yeah." Lin Wanxing was also tired, having chatted late with Wang Fa last night and drunk some alcohol, she wasn't fully awake.
Wang Fa yawned and suddenly said somewhat pitifully: "I thought capitalists wouldn't even give us two days off a month."
Hearing this, Lin Wanxing's eyes lit up. She slapped the table toward the students: "Hear that? The coach wants a break! You not wanting time off doesn't mean we can't rest!"
"But—!"
"But what but?!"
"Shouldn't we vote on whether to take a break or not?"
"Yeah, Teacher and Coach, if you want to rest you can rest!"
"But you can't force us to take time off!"
The students argued back and forth, their rapid-fire objections giving Lin Wanxing a headache.
The warm winter sun shone through the canopy, with half the cold-resistant plants in the garden still diligently growing.
After some thought, she could only tell them to do as they pleased.
——
Lin Wanxing's original day-off plans were simple: wash the bedding, air out the blankets and clean the room in the morning; read and take an afternoon nap; before dinner, ask Wang Fa if he had any plans or wanted to get food together.
A homebody's life was just this simple and unadorned.
The washing machine was shared under the eaves.
Lin Wanxing threw her four-piece bedding set into the machine, and Wang Fa conscientiously brought his own used sheets and duvet cover to add.
Meanwhile, the boys were noisily debating what to do with this precious day off.
They first listed a bunch of plans—card games like Werewolf or Three Kingdoms Kill, or watching movies together. Lin Lu suggested they all queue up for ranked matches in a game.
The last suggestion was immediately vetoed.
"Last time we queued as five, didn't the opponents slaughter us like pigs?" Yu Ming said.
"Maybe you guys are just pigs?" Qi Liang laughed.
As the boys bickered nearby, their discussion eventually circled back to yesterday's crushing defeat. Still frustrated, they ended up grabbing a football and heading downstairs.The rooftop suddenly fell quiet, the air filled only with the relentless hum of the washing machine drum.
Lin Wanxing emerged from tidying the room to find Wang Fa alone, sprawled on the wooden rooftop sofa. His baseball cap was flipped backward over his face, basking purely in the sun.
Just as the washing machine stopped, the air carried the scents of laundry detergent and sunshine.
Wang Fa stood up to retrieve the freshly washed bedding, while Lin Wanxing went to set up the bamboo poles.
The small basin couldn’t hold all the sheets and duvet covers, so Wang Fa made several trips carrying them over.
A red mark from the wooden sofa was pressed into his cheek, and he looked thoroughly languid.
As Lin Wanxing draped a sheet over the bamboo pole, she couldn’t help asking, “Does the coach’s long-awaited vacation have no other plans?”
Sunlight filtered through the blue checkered sheet, making his eyelashes appear long and his eyes unusually light.
Wang Fa looked innocent: “I’m waiting for Teacher Lin to make the arrangements. Am I not being obvious enough?”
A breeze lifted the sheet, smothering Lin Wanxing’s face.
She flailed to push it away, coughing twice: “Let me think about it.”
Wang Fa fished the last sheet from the plastic basin and tossed it over the bamboo pole.
The sheet featured two kittens, one black and one white. Lin Wanxing pinched the fabric’s edge, shaking it smooth.
Under the blue sky, the kittens’ crumpled forms straightened out, the air fragrant with laundry detergent.
Wang Fa mimicked her.
Shake shake.
——
Commercial street, shop window.
A chubby cow-patterned cat inside the floor-to-ceiling glass window shook its body.
It stretched deeply, front paws extended, back lowered, with full force.
Wang Fa’s pale fingertips tapped the glass, but the cat turned its backside to him.
His gaze drifted over.
Lin Wanxing: “Well, I didn’t know the cat café was closed today!”
Yes, after hanging the sheets and airing the quilts, Lin Wanxing, aiming to fulfill her “employee’s” wish and be a less “heartless” capitalist, had planned a trip to the cat café.
But when they strolled over, a “Closed” sign at the door derailed her plans.
Checking the app, she realized the cat café’s business hours started at 1:00 PM.
And now…
Despite a busy morning, it was only a little past 10:00.
Hongjing was an ancient city. Winter here was sparsely populated; on Sundays, people slept in and stayed home. Or perhaps this street was too remote, so few visitors came.
Luckily, the milk tea shop next to the cat café was open. Lin Wanxing ordered two cups, counting it as employee benefits.
Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa leaned against a stone bench by the street.
Inside, a plump golden shaded cat lay down, rolling over to expose its belly, as if taunting them for being unable to enter.
Lin Wanxing blew into her hands, glaring at the cat café across the narrow street, muttering: “Next time, I’ll come and kiss you till you cry!”
“What?” Wang Fa turned to look at her.
Lin Wanxing: “I meant Xiao Liang!”
She pointed at the cat in the opposite window.
“Named Xiao Liang?” Wang Fa chatted idly with her.
“Yeah, golden shadeds are usually silly, but Xiao Liang is just cheeky.” Lin Wanxing leaned in to whisper by Wang Fa’s ear, “Do all with ‘Liang’ in their name act like this?”
“Very likely.” Wang Fa paused. “What’s that cow-patterned one called?”"This one's called Sheriff. The name's a bit cliché, but he's actually very clever. That big-faced black cat is Wanwan, and he often pees everywhere."
Lin Wanxing introduced each cat behind the glass window to Wang Fa as if enumerating family treasures.
The milk tea across the street was ready. Wang Fa stood up with his hands in his pockets and brought two cups back.
The milk tea was warm to the touch, and her fingers gradually warmed up as she held it. Lin Wanxing inserted a straw, took a sip, and gasped twice from the heat.
"Did you have any pets when you were abroad?"
Wang Fa thought for a moment. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't have time to take care of them."
"I see..."
"Teacher Lin seems very familiar with this place. Do you come here often?" Wang Fa took a few sips of his milk tea and asked.
"Yeah, there was a period when I was feeling down, and I came here often to pet the cats," Lin Wanxing said.
"Why were you feeling down?" Wang Fa asked.
It was an ordinary question.
Lin Wanxing sat side by side with him under the bare plane tree. The sunlight was gentle, and the wind wasn't too cold. Yet, she could still feel her heart racing—an involuntary physiological reaction triggered by the memories themselves.
Her fingers stiffened. Lin Wanxing relaxed them slightly before speaking. "Wang Fa, the difference between you and me is that no matter what, you're always honest with me." She looked at him. "But I can't do that. I don't want to talk about it."
Silence lingered for a while. The young man gazed at her with a calm expression.
His hair, which hadn't been cut recently, was slightly long, and the strands looked soft in the sunlight.
"It's fine." Wang Fa took a sip of his milk tea and comforted her. "At least that statement was honest."
—
After finishing their milk tea, the cat café still hadn't opened.
But the students had already called.
The boys first asked where they were, then said they'd decided to go swimming and asked if they wanted to join.
Lin Wanxing was about to refuse but suddenly thought of something.
"Where are you going swimming? Wuchuan Road Stadium?" she asked.
"Yeah, where else would we go!" Qin Ao's voice came through the phone. "We haven't used our swimming passes in a while. Teacher, you said we're on break, but we can't just rest the whole time, right? Swimming's a good idea, isn't it?"
Lin Wanxing nodded. "It is a good idea."
Qin Ao kept urging them, asking if they were coming.
Lin Wanxing: "All ten of you? Did you invite Wen Chengye?"
"Why would we invite that asshole?" Qin Ao said irritably. "Besides, this is just for fun, not a group activity~"
Lin Wanxing covered the receiver and asked Wang Fa, "I don't think Wen Chengye has been to the gym yet?"
Wang Fa: "He hasn't."
"I remember Wen Chengye doesn't have a gym membership. It's a good chance to invite him to sign up," Lin Wanxing offered Qin Ao a way out.
On the other end of the line, the teenager clearly bristled. He was probably racking his brains for a reason to refuse.
Qin Ao: "That bastard Wen Chengye is always trying to cause trouble. Do you think he'd try to drown us in the pool?"
Lin Wanxing: "Then you should be careful."
The other students were also making a fuss, most of them resistant to the idea of including Wen Chengye. Yet they also felt that not inviting him would make it seem like they were excluding him.
After a while, Qin Ao said, "Fine, I'll ask Old Fu if he's willing! But you can't force us!"
With that, he hung up.
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