To choose this, or to choose that?

To choose to study hard, or to choose a tiny hope of making one last effort in the final high school football career?

No one knew the answer.

There was still a week until the match.

All the football team students had submitted their ideas about arranging the new formation.

Tactically speaking, because they lacked Wen Chengye, their defense was vulnerable, and someone would inevitably need to drop back from midfield.

Every student mentioned this point in their short essays.

However, when discussing specific candidates, everyone had different ideas.

On the field, Wang Fa’s gaze swept over his flock.

Finally, his finger pointed lightly, and Fu Xinshu widened his eyes.

The students all felt puzzled.

Among Hongjing No. 8’s three midfielders—Fu Xinshu, Zheng Ren, and Zhi Hui—Zheng Ren was tall, Zhi Hui was sturdy, and Fu Xinshu was the midfield organizer. No matter how you looked at it, he shouldn’t be the one to drop back.

Wang Fa said, “Fu Xinshu’s foot was just injured. Defensive players run less, which can reduce strain.”

Fu Xinshu responded, “Coach, don’t worry about my foot injury. I’m fine now. I think…”

“Aren’t we just playing casually? What position you play doesn’t matter, does it?” Wang Fa asked in return.

Fu Xinshu was instantly speechless.

Wang Fa continued, “If you want to play casually, then defend casually and protect your body. That’s the most important thing—that’s your goal for this match.”

“What if I want to play seriously?” the young man asked.

The wind on the field blew across Wang Fa’s light green hoodie, rushing toward the distant mountains.

The coach said, “Then use your midfield instincts to judge the opponent’s attack routes more keenly. While protecting yourself, become the mainstay of the defensive line.”

The match date drew steadily closer. The early spring mist from the southeastern coast rolled in like dense smoke, covering the land.

Lin Wanxing pushed open the door.

She looked around but couldn’t see the boundaries of the rooftop railing. The entire city was shrouded in milky white fog.

Today was the day they would depart for Yongchuan.

Lin Wanxing’s hand brushed through the air, the mist threading through her fingertips. It seemed like a long time since a concrete image of Yongchuan City had appeared in her mind.

But as the destination became definite words on the ticket, “Yongchuan” became clear once again.

Hongjing – Yongchuan

D7016 Departure 9:29

The display screen in the ticket hall flickered.

Due to the heavy fog, road transportation was obstructed. The high-speed train station was crowded with busy travelers.

It was still early. The fog outside the floor-to-ceiling windows hadn’t dispersed. The surrounding air was thick with the smell of tea eggs and instant noodles.

“Teacher, what are you looking at?”

A voice sounded, and Lin Wanxing came to her senses.

Zheng Feiyang, with a pair of cleats dangling from his neck, was excitedly asking her.

She looked for a moment before realizing that the student had tied the laces of both shoes together and hung them around his neck. The bright yellow cleats swung on either side of his chest.

Lin Wanxing asked helplessly, “Why didn’t you put the shoes in your bag?”

“My bag is full of food. How could I put them together?”

Quite clean.

Lin Wanxing instinctively lowered her head to look at her phone.

Qin Ao said, “I just asked you something, and you changed the subject. Now why are you checking your phone? Who are you waiting for?”

Lin Wanxing raised her phone, displaying Teacher Qian’s avatar and contact name, “I’m waiting for my leader. But what about you? Who do you think I’m waiting for?”

Qin Ao looked defeated and said, “Don’t disgust me.”

After speaking, he turned and left.

Teacher Qian arrived soon.

He had much experience leading teams to competitions and had prepared a small yellow hat for each student.

The boys were reluctant to wear them, but Teacher Qian wasn’t easy to argue with. He had a background as a boxer, and when he put on a stern face, he was quite imposing.

The boys received the hats like elementary school students and, however unwillingly, attached them to their backpacks.

Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa also took theirs.

The hats were group-purchased from Pinduoduo, all identical.

When Lin Wanxing wore hers with the students, she looked shorter.

But when Wang Fa put him on, his whole person appeared handsome and bright, out of place among them.

Even the boys said, “Damn, Coach, why do you look cooler than us in that hat!”

“Maybe it’s the person wearing it?”

Lin Wanxing joked with a smile, only to be teased by the boys, “Teacher, you’ve become even shorter.”

When the hats were distributed, one was left over.

Teacher Qian looked around, “Who hasn’t taken one? Is someone in the bathroom?”

Though it was a noisy high-speed train station, the moment Teacher Qian asked, their small area suddenly fell silent.

The atmosphere became strangely eerie, and Teacher Qian felt it too.

Lin Wanxing said, “Wen Chengye didn’t come.”

“What? How could he not come? We’re about to check tickets!”

The students’ faces were rigid; no one wanted to speak.

Lin Wanxing briefly explained what had happened.

“You’re saying ten people are going to Yongchuan to play against the Hengda Youth Team? How is that possible!”

When he heard everyone’s final plan, Teacher Qian suddenly slapped the handle of his suitcase, indicating that this was truly reckless.

Lin Wanxing responded, “There’s nothing we can do.”

“Couldn’t you have tried to persuade him?” Teacher Qian stared at her.

Lin Wanxing replied, “It’s not like a divorce or breakup—what was there to persuade about?”

Teacher Qian was extremely upset, “Don’t you know that Wen Chengye’s parents are going through a divorce? The child is in a bad mood and acting out. What could be such a big conflict between boys?”

The other football team students knew nothing about this and were shocked when they heard it.

But Lin Wanxing remained calm, “I knew that.”

The other students all looked at her with even more disbelief.

“Teacher?” Even Fu Xinshu involuntarily called out to her.

Lin Wanxing didn’t intend to explain much. She scanned the students and finally pointed to Qin Ao, “What do you think?”

“So what if his parents are divorcing? It’s not like my parents aren’t divorced.”

Qin Ao’s tone was contemptuous, and the students didn’t say anything more.

But their wandering gazes and the long silence that followed still betrayed their true emotions.

The departure time grew closer.

Luggage pieces were placed on the conveyor belt one by one, and passengers passed through metal detectors.

The train ahead departed from Hongjing Station. The D7016 train’s position kept moving up the display board until the words “Checking Tickets” lit up behind it. The empty hat still hung on Teacher Qian’s trolley case.

The announcement for ticket inspection sounded.

The students shouldered their backpacks and passed through the high-speed rail check-in gates one after another.

Fu Xinshu walked last.

He looked back and saw only the rolling crowd, hurried footsteps. Further away, the fog was blown apart by the wind, but the sky remained invisible.

Dark red plastic track, pounding beats.

The song was a new Korean hit, with repetitive melodies that made one’s heart explode.

Once, twice, three times…

Finally, the sound of a ringing phone interrupted the suffocating musical repetition.

The youth didn’t answer immediately. Panting heavily, he picked up the backpack and jacket he had thrown by the lakeside plastic track.

The surroundings were empty and deserted. The cold lake breeze brushed over his body. He put on his jacket and shouldered his backpack with deliberate slowness. Just as the call was about to disconnect from impatience, he finally answered.

“Good son, have you finished class?”

The youth zipped up his jacket and simply grunted an “Mm” in response.

“Then come home quickly. Mom asked Auntie to make soup for you.”

The voice was enthusiastic but conveyed no warmth.

After hanging up, and zipping his jacket, he looked at today’s running record.

3 laps around Hongjing Lake.

17,787 meters, a total time of 97 minutes.

It was a long distance, made even longer by the variable speed running setting.

Long enough for a family to believe he should have finished class.

Long enough for the train that left the station to reach its destination.

Wen Chengye looked at the time.

Noon, 11:06.

Yongchuan was a big city.

Its difference from Hongjing was directly reflected in Dianping reviews. Yongchuan had 279 restaurants with an average per person cost of over 300 yuan, while Hongjing had only 9 in the entire city.

After getting off the high-speed train, the distance from the train station to Yongchuan Hengda’s suburban training ground was almost equal to the high-speed train time from Hongjing to Yongchuan.

The fog had finally dispersed. Along the way, they could see green reed clusters along the highway, spreading out to meet the horizon.

Lin Wanxing had booked a youth hostel near the suburban stadium.

On the way, the bus passed through Yongchuan University Town, stopping at station after station at various university gates. Vibrant college students got on and off while Lin Wanxing covered her face with her hat and fell into a deep sleep.

By the time the bus reached the terminal, only their football team remained. Lin Wanxing got off drowsily and was awakened by the lake breeze that hit her face.

The Yongchuan Hengda training base was beside East Ming Lake.

The students had been on the bus for a long time and felt their bones would fall apart.

“Making us come so far…”

Everyone stretched, carrying their luggage off the bus.

Lin Wanxing checked her phone. It was already past noon, with no messages on WeChat.

“The final match venue is at Yongchuan Hengda’s home field in the city. I remember there are many good places to eat nearby.”

That’s what she said.

“Teacher, are you joking?”

“I’m stating facts, not joking,” Lin Wanxing asked the students, “What were you expecting?”

The students looked embarrassed, unable to articulate it.

Regarding the schedule, Lin Wanxing has already confirmed with the youth hostel and Yongchuan Hengda training base.

They would check in around 1 p.m., rest briefly, and after 3:00 p.m., the Yongchuan Hengda training base would open its grounds for them to do adaptation training.

Although she had made these arrangements, Lin Wanxing still sought the students’ opinions, “Do you want to go for adaptation training?”

Everyone sat at the long table in the youth hostel’s dining room. The hostel was by the lake, with a vast expanse of water visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Hearing this question, the boys looked at each other, “If we have the chance, of course, it’s best to get used to the turf. What kind of question is that, Teacher?”

“Oh, I thought since you rarely come to Yongchuan, perhaps you’d want to go out and have fun?” Lin Wanxing smiled and didn’t continue.

“Teacher Lin, that’s not right. Since our team has come, although our lineup isn’t complete, we should still strive for victory. How can we be thinking about having fun?” Teacher Qian clenched his fist, encouraging the students.

Lin Wanxing smiled.

Teacher Qian had previously told her to keep a close eye on the children’s studies, but now he was talking about striving for victory. She felt it wasn’t just the children who were pulled in different directions.

“Victory is impossible. With just two matches left, we just want to lose respectably,” Qin Ao said rationally.

“That’s the wrong attitude!” Teacher Qian slapped the table, “What do you mean ‘just two matches left’? If we qualify from the group stage, we have the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals to play!”

“We’re at the bottom of our group. This round, we play Yongchuan Hengda. When Yuzhou Silver Elephant and Shanghai Haibo fight each other, whoever wins will secure qualification. We have no chance.”

Teacher Qian asked, “Not even a slight chance?”

“I wouldn’t say no chance,” Fu Xinshu, who was responsible for calculating points, spoke up. “There are two possibilities. First, we win against Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team with our 10-man lineup.”

Teacher Qian made an “uh” sound, feeling it was indeed impossible.

“What’s the second?” he asked.

“Second, if Yuzhou Silver Elephant and Shanghai Haibo draw this round, they each get 1 more point, then we still have a chance in the next round.”

“Isn’t that a great hope?” Teacher Qian didn’t understand.

“How is that possible? They drew last time, and they’ll draw again?” Yu Ming said. “Even if they draw, we’d still need to beat Shanghai Haibo with our 10-man lineup in the next match to qualify. Do you think that’s possible?”

Teacher Qian rubbed his mouth, feeling that the probability indeed wasn’t high.

The students’ conversation with the middle-aged man grew increasingly depressing. Claiming they were exhausted, they went back to their rooms to rest. Teacher Qian wouldn’t let the students off, following them to continue his ideological education.

Being the off-season, once they left, the youth hostel’s lobby instantly emptied, leaving only Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa.

Wang Fa hadn’t participated in the meeting at all, continuously browsing a fantasy novel from the bookshelf.

Lin Wanxing asked, “Coach, aren’t you going to rest?”

Wang Fa replied, “I was waiting for Teacher Lin to finish the official business so I could invite you for a walk.”