Lin Wanxing sat at the sideline, with empty player rest chairs to her left and right.

All her students were on the field, and she had no one to communicate with besides her.

At the sideline, Anning Experimental’s coach had rushed out from the substitute bench. He grabbed the linesman, both hands raised high, excitedly gesturing about something. The students and teachers on Anning Experimental’s substitute bench were whispering to each other, their eyes bright, as if they could already determine something.

Lin Wanxing felt she should rush over too—professionally speaking, it might be called “applying pressure”—but she wasn’t sure if she could do that.

On the field, substitute Chen Weidong, who had just leaped high to prevent the crucial goal, also looked completely bewildered.

Anning Experimental’s players were still raising their hands, signaling to the main referee.

Only Qin Ao reacted quickly. He immediately clenched his fists and waved them at Anning Experimental’s players.

“F**k your mother,” “Have you no shame,” “Touch your mother”…

Lin Wanxing could only make out the young man’s hot-blooded cursing. Qin Ao looked extremely angry.

But Fu Xinshu reacted even faster. He grabbed Qin Ao, warned him with a few words, and then ran to the main referee.

The high school students on the field gathered together, seeming to argue about something, yet maintaining a certain restrained distance from each other.

The sounds carried over, intense but with the immaturity of youth.

There was a dispute, but she wasn’t sure what it was about.

Lin Wanxing was extremely anxious. She didn’t wait any longer but immediately stood up, pushed aside her chair, and ran toward the area behind her.

Separated by a green wire fence.

There, the young man wearing the baseball cap still sat cross-legged, his posture relaxed.

“Was it a handball?” she asked.

The young man slightly raised his eyebrows, not surprised by her sudden appearance. His lips parted.

But the main referee’s sharp whistle suddenly sounded.

She could only see the young man’s lip movements but couldn’t hear what he said at all.

The field and the surrounding wilderness once again fell silent.

Lin Wanxing turned around.

The referee slowly walked toward the penalty area, and the players cleared a path.

Finally, the main referee stopped. He stood in front of Chen Weidong, who had just successfully defended against a goal with his high jump.

He reached into his chest pocket, took out a yellow card, and held it up high toward the player, then pointed with one hand to a certain position on the grass.

On the field, Hongjing No. 8’s players instantly erupted. They crowded around the referee, hands waving, seemingly explaining something continuously, trying to reverse the referee’s decision.

Only Chen Weidong, who had just received the yellow card, was still looking around. He seemed unable to understand why his brilliant block had turned into this situation.

Lin Wanxing also stood frozen. All her years of education couldn’t help her at this moment.

“The referee believes that your No. 7 defender spread his arms in the penalty area, and his arm touched the ball, preventing a goal. Therefore, he awarded a penalty kick.”

The young man was surprisingly clear and calm, even patiently explaining the situation on the field to her.

“Did Chen Weidong touch the ball with his hand?” Lin Wanxing experienced the same bewildered and helpless feeling as Chen Weidong. “What should I do now?”

“Now?” The young man paused, examining her with deep, calm eyes, and said, “Now, learn your first lesson—respect the referee’s decision.”

Lin Wanxing’s pupils dilated slightly. For a moment, she didn’t understand why the young man was saying these things to her.

But soon, she calmed down. She realized that this indeed should be her first lesson.

She sat down directly by the wire fence, leaning slightly against the railing, silently watching what followed.

The ball was placed on the penalty spot.

No matter how unwilling, her students cleared the area in front of the penalty box.

Anning Experimental’s No. 10 player stood in front of the penalty spot, facing only Hongjing No. 8’s goal and the goalkeeper who had taken up a defensive position.

The whistle sounded.

Run-up, pause, powerful kick.

With a thump, the ball shot toward the lower left corner of the goal.

Their goalkeeper, Feng Suo, dove in the same direction, crashing heavily to the ground.

The ball rolled gently on the grass, pressing against the white net, and came to a stop.

Wind swept across the entire field.

“Goal!!”

“Awesome!”

Anning Experimental’s substitute players leaped up, their voices clamorous and shrill.

On the field, Anning Experimental’s players swarmed around No. 10.

They patted his head and shoulders forcefully, hugging him, very excited but also restrained in their actions, as if this goal was expected.

Hongjing No. 8 0:2 Anning Experimental

Lin Wanxing looked at the timer. There were still 3 minutes left until the end of the first half.

Because they felt the penalty was unfair, her students were low in spirits.

Although everyone was still defending, compared to their previous active running and vigorous tackling, there was a certain indescribable feeling.

And because of the goal, Anning Experimental’s morale soared. They didn’t consider the match to be in garbage time despite their two-goal lead but became even more excited.

They even pressed forward frantically, breaking into Hongjing No. 8’s penalty area multiple times.

Though there were only a few minutes left in the first half, it felt infinitely long.

Lin Wanxing knew clearly that her students, like her, were counting down the seconds, waiting for the first half to end.

They couldn’t run anymore; they didn’t even want to run. They were probably cursing themselves for not sleeping in on the weekend and instead coming to play soccer under the blazing sun. They felt helpless and wanted to give up, but due to some instinct, they were still running on the field.

This couldn’t continue.

Lin Wanxing knew this.

She looked back.

Outside the wire fence, the notebook on the young man’s knee was now closed, and the pencil was thrown on the lawn.

“What do you think my students need to do to win?” Lin Wanxing asked.

“Hmm?” The young man’s voice was very light and faint.

“This is the first time I’ve brought them to a competition, and it might be their last time participating in a match. There are 2 minutes left until the end of the first half. If we don’t make any changes during halftime, the second half will just be torture for them.”

“You’re asking me?”

“I’m not asking you, I’m requesting your help.” Lin Wanxing insisted, “You’re probably about to say, why are you looking for me? Because I don’t understand soccer, and even if I opened an encyclopedia right now and learned all the soccer knowledge, I couldn’t provide any professional help to the children. You look strange, and we don’t know each other at all, but you seem to understand soccer, and you’re the only one I can turn to for help right now.”

She spoke passionately, but the young man’s expression remained unchanged, showing no reaction.

Lin Wanxing licked her dry lips, her brain racing, preparing to organize her next sentences.

“Well then, pay me.”

The casual voice sounded in her ear, interrupting what she was about to say.

“What?” Lin Wanxing was stunned.

Outside the green wire fence, the young man wearing the black baseball cap took out his phone from his pocket.

He lowered his head, pressed a few times lightly, raised his phone, and turned the screen toward her.

Through the crisscrossing green wire fence, the black and white barcode payment code also looked strange.

Lin Wanxing numbly raised her phone and scanned it.

With a light “beep,” a new page popped up.

Payment to Individual

Winfred (*fa)

Amount

¥10.00

Add Note

Pay

Lin Wan confirmed the payment.

The halftime whistle suddenly sounded.

The young man leisurely stood up from the grass. He brushed off the grass from his body and looked toward the field.

The students walked off the field with their heads down.

They were soaked, their jerseys clinging tightly to their bodies.

Lin Wanxing and the young man she had just hired for 10 yuan stood at the edge of the field, handing each student a bottle of water.

The students quietly took the water, sat down, and didn’t say a word.

The atmosphere was heavy. Sweat dripped from their hairtips onto the bright red plastic track.

Lin Wanxing glanced at the young man beside her, but he had his hands in his pockets, appearing completely detached.

“Everyone says one thing,” Lin Wanxing looked at the students. “I’ll go first.”

Among the students, only Fu Xinshu raised his head to look at her, showing support for her performance.

“F**k that stupid referee!” Lin Wanxing shouted.

The boys jumped in shock.

In the distance, it seemed a linesman heard and looked in their direction.

Lin Wanxing immediately smiled, nodding and bowing.

“You’re crazy,” Qin Ao squeezed the mineral water bottle, finally letting out a sigh.

Lin Wanxing noticed that Qin Ao’s hand opening the bottle cap was even trembling slightly from exhaustion.

“Good, you’ve had your chance.” Lin Wanxing pointed to the next student. “Lin Lu.”

“I… I don’t know what to say,” Lin Lu suddenly became flustered.

“Heh, idiot,” Qi Liang said quietly.

Chen Weidong — “I didn’t know my hand touched the ball just now.”

“Touch my ass!” Yu Ming suddenly cursed. “It didn’t touch at all!”

“Too biased. This kind of disputed handball could be called either way, yet they still gave Anning Experimental a penalty,” goalkeeper Feng Suo said.

The students spoke one after another, still immersed in the controversial call, but at least each person had begun to express their dissatisfaction with the “stupid referee.”

Lin Wanxing listened attentively without interrupting them.

Until Fu Xinshu comforted everyone — “It’s okay, we actually put pressure on him earlier. He knows this call was excessive, so he’ll make it up to us a bit in the second half.”

“Make up my ass.” Qin Ao was still angry. He gulped down some mineral water, then asked her, “Where did this person next to you come from?”

Lin Wanxing glanced at the young man who had been quietly standing beside her and lightly coughed — “This is my elementary school classmate. I just realized he came to watch the match, so we chatted a bit.”

Lin Wanxing paused. Actually, she was very nervous inside. They didn’t have time to coordinate their story earlier. She wasn’t sure how to fabricate the young man’s identity to make it more convincing.

“That’s quite a coincidence,” Qin Ao said.

“It is a coincidence. My classmate has returned from abroad. He’s a professional soccer coach. He happened to come to watch soccer today, and we ran into each other.”

“Teachers, even when making up stories, follow basic principles. Do you know how difficult it is to get a foreign soccer coaching certificate? There aren’t that many professional coaches. Is he trying to seduce you, making up a story to deceive you?” Qin Ao raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so?” Lin Wanxing turned to ask the young man.

“Yes,” the young man’s voice was light and faint.

Lin Wanxing’s heart skipped a beat at the inappropriate moment.

“I mean, foreign soccer coaching certificates are indeed very difficult to obtain,” the young man continued.

“Besides, why would a professional soccer coach who returned from abroad come to watch our school soccer match?” Chen Jianghe finally spoke, his gaze sharp. “Don’t you find it boring?”

“I find every match interesting,” the young man remained as calm as ever, with a convincing air of composure.

The students looked at each other. Although they still found it incredible, they couldn’t say anything else.

“Any other questions?” the young man asked.

“If you’re a coach, are you the kind that teaches little kids to play soccer?” Lin Lu was very curious.

“I was previously a coach for a youth team at a club in England, and now I’ve returned to China and am currently unemployed.”

“Which club?”

“Southampton.”

“Huh?”

“Southampton.”

Most students looked bewildered, but Chen Jianghe and Fu Xinshu simultaneously raised their heads sharply.

“Do you know what level Southampton’s youth training is in Europe?” Chen Jianghe asked incredulously.

“Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t have gone there,” the young man remained composed, not caring about Chen Jianghe’s questioning.

“Then if you’re so awesome, why did you come back to China?”

“Want to know?” The young man looked at his watch and said, “I can continue to tell you a very long story. You’d probably listen until the match ends. However, my ‘elementary school classmate’ might have an objection.”

Lin Wanxing immediately picked up — “Believe it or not! I asked him to come here to talk to you about second-half soccer tactics. Hurry up! Professional coach!”

Fu Xinshu nodded — “Our current problem is, first, we might not have enough stamina, and second, our morale is low. Their attack is too sharp, and we might not be able to defend in the second half. Do you have any suggestions?”

“My suggestion is to try long passes from the back, finding the forward,” the young man said.

Lin Wanxing instinctively nodded along, but the students collectively erupted.

“Damn, he is a fraud.”

“Fake fan!”

“Do you know how difficult medium to long-distance passes are? Even professional players can’t make such combinations many times in a match!”

“If we were that good, why would we be sitting here?”

The students spoke one after another, with many opinions.

“The technical requirement is too high. I can’t do it. Success would only be due to luck,” Fu Xinshu finally said.

“I know, but soccer is a game of luck,” the young man replied.