Lin Wanxing jumped onto the stands as usual and sat down beside Wang Fa.

The students tossed their backpacks aside and began warming up on the field in the evening heat.

Due to the senior year standardized test, very few students showed up, making the vast field seem sparsely populated. Even Chen Jianghe, the “training enthusiast,” hadn’t arrived. Yet their coach didn’t express any concern about the incomplete attendance.

Lin Wanxing always had a feeling that although Wang Fa seemed quite approachable and would occasionally joke around, he often maintained a cold aloofness that kept people at a distance.

After thinking for a moment, she still politely initiated conversation — “Is the apartment comfortable for you?”

“It’s fine.”

“Then I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“If you’re planning to coach elsewhere, why rent a place in our area?” She hinted at yesterday’s event when Coach Liu came to “recruit” for the Yongchuan Evergrande Club.

“Good point,” Wang Fa casually said just these three words.

“What do you mean by ‘good point’?” Lin Wanxing didn’t understand.

“You make a valid point. After all, choosing to rent here implies an intention to settle down. But…”

The “but” was drawn out, and Lin Wanxing waited for a long time without hearing the second half of the sentence.

She gestured to Wang Fa with her eyes, but the young man was staring ahead as if he’d completely forgotten what he was saying.

Lin Wanxing was stumped, realizing the young man had no intention of continuing the conversation with her, feeling this was just another form of his teasing.

It was still hot; sitting by the field for a while made her slightly sweaty.

“I received a call. This Sunday, we have another chance with a playoff game,” she leaned back on the seat and, like Wang Fa, looked at the boys on the field.

This was news she hadn’t shared with the students yet.

“Congratulations to you all,” he said his tone calm, making it impossible to tell what he meant.

“No need to be so formal, we’re all familiar with each other now,” Lin Wanxing smiled. “So this Sunday, can we ask you to come guide us again?”

“I have to go out on Sunday.”

Wang Fa spoke while adjusting his cap, not appearing very interested in what was happening on the field.

Lin Wanxing was taken aback, unsure whether he was making an excuse or stating a fact.

From the beginning, Wang Fa hadn’t agreed to be their team’s coach. After all, this hastily assembled team still looked quite precarious. Maybe they would disband right after Sunday’s game, so there wasn’t much reason to seriously coach this team.

With that said, she fell silent too.

Not far away, the students seemed to have finished warming up. Four of them walked over, chatting and laughing. Further in the distance, Fu Xinshu and Chen Jianghe appeared on the track; they must have just finished their exam and were jogging toward the stands with their backpacks.

When the boys approached, they always brought a wave of surging heat.

Perhaps because the atmosphere in the stands was rather quiet, or because she didn’t immediately put on a smile, as the students climbed the stands, Feng Suo instinctively asked — “Teacher, what are you two discussing?”

Lin Wanxing didn’t respond immediately as she was considering her words, but then she heard the young man beside her speak first — “Your teacher told me you have a playoff game on Sunday.”

The students instantly erupted, the boys exclaiming loudly.

“Damn?”

“We still have a chance?”

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier when you got the call?”

Lin Wanxing couldn’t explain that she wanted to confirm their “coach” was available before telling them, so she could only say — “Of course, I wanted to wait until everyone was here to announce it, to make it more official.”

She looked at the young man, not understanding why he would so naturally bring up this matter when he had already decided not to show up on the weekend.

Fu Xinshu and Chen Jianghe climbed the stands, and after loud-mouthed Feng Suo spread the news, young Fu immediately became serious — “Then we need to prepare for the match more diligently.”

After saying this, he looked at Wang Fa — “Coach, we’ll have to trouble you.”

Young Fu’s request carried a kind of unsophisticated awkwardness.

“It’s no trouble for me. I was just telling your teacher that I have to go out on Sunday and won’t be at the venue,” the young man said frankly after the students quieted down.

Hearing the rejection a second time, Lin Wanxing was already calm, but the students were more emotional.

“Why?”

“Do you have something to do, or do you just not want to go?”

Their questions came like machine gun fire, with a touch of youthful indignation.

However, their coach remained composed and had no intention of placating the students.

“Coach, may I ask why?” Fu Xinshu’s brows slightly furrowed, but he was always the calmest and the one most willing to persist.

“I have something to do and need to go out,” Wang Fa slightly raised his head and replied.

“It’s not Coach Liu inviting you to Yongchuan Evergrande this weekend, is it?” Qin Ao suddenly raised his eyebrows, quite sharply.

“Unfortunately, that’s exactly it.”

Lin Wanxing’s heart sank, although she had probably guessed it was something like this. But hearing the young man tell the students so naturally gave her a different feeling.

“Damn, I knew it,” Qin Ao waved his hand. Based on his usual temper, he would probably storm off again. But this time, his feet seemed glued to the ground. After a while, a few words squeezed out from between his lips bit by bit — “Then could you tell Coach Liu that you have something on Sunday and visit him another day?”

For a child like Qin Ao, making such a plea was truly rare.

But their coach remained unmoved — “I don’t plan to change my schedule.”

“Is it because not many people showed up today, and you think we don’t want to play soccer well, so there’s no need to waste time on us?” Chen Jianghe suddenly thought of something.

“That’s a bit direct… but unfortunately, I haven’t had such thoughts. My future work plans are my future work plans, and your match is your match. There’s no necessary connection between the two,” Wang Fa answered with certainty.

Lin Wanxing was stunned, feeling the tone sounded somewhat familiar.

One can only be responsible for oneself—that’s probably what he meant.

“Did you teach him that?”

Suddenly, Qin Ao’s angry gaze swept over.

Lin Wanxing startled, quickly raising her hand — “Wrongful accusation, it wasn’t me!”

“But Coach, didn’t you say yesterday that we should bring our brains when coming to train?” At this moment, Yu Ming’s slightly aggrieved voice sounded.

“Yes, that’s why I’m sitting here.”

Finally, Lin Wanxing could hear a trace of helplessness in the young man’s voice.

The afterglow of the sunset softened the young man’s lips and eyebrows.

Lin Wanxing thought Wang Fa probably really had no intention of coaching a high school team.

But facing a group of seventeen or eighteen-year-olds who were still finding their way, anyone would soften their heart. Even she seemed to be that way.

“You’ll teach us something, but you have something to do on Sunday and won’t come, right?”

“Yes,” the young man said.

“And us?” The students looked at each other, and hearing this, they seemed to cheer up a bit.

“What are we practicing today?”

“I want to see you play an internal scrimmage,” the coach said.