What kind of emotion is it exactly?

Though already prepared to give up, having done such lengthy psychological construction, telling yourself countless times that this path is blocked, consoling yourself that another path is also quite good.

Yet at a certain moment, you still open your eyes in a dream.

This inexplicable, elusive emotion that accompanies you to sleep yet prevents you from sleeping.

What exactly is it?

In the darkness, Lin Wanxing opened her eyes.

The phone showed 6:00 AM.

Getting up, pulling back the curtains.

The mist spread over the lake, the sky invisible.

This was destined to be an unforgettable match day.

At 7:00, Lin Wanxing gathered with the students at the entrance of the Yongchuan Hengda base.

Yongchuan Hengda maintained its standard reception procedure.

The security guard made a phone call, and before long, a sightseeing cart drove out.

The surrounding fog showed no sign of dispersing, the field grass appearing somewhat hazy, and the closer to the lake, the heavier the moisture in the air.

Along the way, the students didn’t speak.

Even when the Yongchuan Hengda staff asked if they wanted to go to the cafeteria for a meal, no one answered.

“Our hostel includes breakfast. Everyone has already eaten,” Lin Wanxing said.

So the staff politely took them to the outside of the locker room.

Looking back after getting off the sightseeing cart, not far away was a green field, and further beyond, the lake stretched endlessly.

The locker room.

Following their habit, the students headed to the field first to warm up.

It was early, and the members of the Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team hadn’t appeared yet.

The grass was slippery. On the field, apart from the committee officials setting up the venue and equipment, there was no one else.

Today’s fog was thicker than on the day they played in Yuzhou.

Led by Fu Xinshu, the students began warming up in silence.

Lin Wanxing stood at the sideline.

Wang Fa walked onto the field, ran a bit on the turf, then ran back.

Lin Wanxing had seen Wang Fa check the turf before, but today he seemed particularly meticulous.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“There’s not much-standing water on the field, but to be safe, they should still change into longer-studded boots.”

In the spreading mist, Lin Wanxing walked onto the field. The turf after the fog was indeed slipperier than usual, and visibility on the field was poor. The moisture seemed to block every pore, “Will they temporarily suspend the match until the fog clears?”

“They won’t stop for this level of visibility,” Wang Fa looked at the students jogging to warm up and said flatly, “And if it rains, the ground conditions will be even worse.”

“Will it rain?”

In the locker room, the students had just finished warming up and changed into dry, warm match jerseys. Hearing they might have to run in the rain soon, they became even more sullen.

“Don’t like the rain?” Wang Fa stood in front of the tactics board and asked.

“It just feels…”

“Playing in the rain is annoying.”

“And we haven’t trained in the rain recently, so we don’t have experience.”

The room had air conditioning and heating on but still felt damp and stuffy. The students, having just finished warming up, were breathing heavily as they answered.

“If rain benefits the defending team, would you still find it annoying?”

The tactics board was opened.

The tactical arrangement for today had been practiced by the students for over a week.

After confirming that Fu Xinshu would drop back to play as a defender, Wang Fa set up a 5-3-1 formation.

From right to left:

Defenders: Lin Lu, Zheng Feiyang, Fu Xinshu, Qi Liang, Yu Ming

Midfielders: Zhi Hui, Zheng Ren, Chen Jianghe

Forward: Qin Ao

Midfielders Zheng Ren and Zhi Hui would also be responsible for defense, Chen Jianghe would drop back, and only Qin Ao would remain as a forward. He was also required to frequently come back to defend. A 10-man team could hardly avoid setting up an iron-bucket formation.

After explaining the tactics again, Wang Fa concluded plainly, “The goal for this match is very simple—lose by less.”

The students raised their heads in disbelief.

For as long as they could remember, the attitude in competitive sports had always been to strive for victory. Even without hope, the coach should at least encourage everyone—that’s what Teacher Qian did.

But Wang Fa was different. He very clearly pointed out the match result and the match goal—lose by less.

If a specific noun were to be added after “less,” it would be “goals.”

Concede fewer goals than the opponent.

Let the opponent score fewer goals.

Keep the score from looking too bad.

These were all things they had mentioned before, but coming from Wang Fa’s mouth, they somehow made one feel stifled.

Chen Jianghe loosened his collar.

“Understood, Coach. We’ll try our best to hold them,” Qin Ao said.

“Hold which goal?” Wang Fa closed his tactics notebook, inserted the pencil into his pocket, and casually asked his players.

The students neither understood Wang Fa’s intention nor could immediately figure out the answer, so no one responded.

Lin Wanxing sat on the locker room bench, looking at the young man standing in front of the tactics board, at the familiar light-colored eyes and soft hair, feeling a familiar yet strange, piercing sensation.

“I can tell you some statistics,” Wang Fa picked up the black water-based pen in front of the tactics board and wrote while speaking, “In the past year, the Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team launched a minimum of 17 attacks in a single match, a maximum of 36 attacks, and an average of 22.5 attacks per match. Their number of shots were: maximum 34, minimum 12, with an average of 19.17.”

He capped the pen, threw it into the board tray, and asked his players, “So I ask you, of these shots, which one do you want to stop?”

17   36   22.5

34   12   19.17

The numbers on the tactics board were written with casual flair.

But to the students, they somehow carried a solemn feeling.

“We…”

“Don’t know.”

They could only say these words.

“That’s alright. You can think about it slowly.”

That’s what the young coach said.

A gloomy, suffocating team.

Having put on their boots and protective gear, the students lined up towards the players’ tunnel, waiting to enter the field under the referee’s lead.

The base had just been renovated, and the narrow players’ tunnel still had a pungent smell of paint.

When the Hongjing No. 8 students lined up, the Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team players had already arrived.

Compared to their gloomy mood, the Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team players were very relaxed and at ease. They chatted in small groups, seemingly discussing a newly released movie and a recently reunited girl group.

Clear footsteps sounded in the corridor. Qin Qiechu turned his head, his gaze falling on the team behind him. Their opponents today seemed low-spirited. More importantly, 1, 2, 3, 4…

He counted the number of people and then said in surprise, “Hey, you have only 10 people. Where’s that guy?”

The arrogant youth obviously couldn’t accurately recall the opponent’s name, so he used “that guy” as a substitute.

“Oh, I remember now, the one who kept running around randomly.”

Heads down, cleats scraping the floor tiles, no one answered.

The youth laughed, revealing a set of white teeth, “Ten people trying to play against us? Isn’t that looking down on us?”

Qin Qiechu was getting somewhat angry.

The Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team members who had been chatting all quieted down. They looked at their opponents for this round with curious and somewhat condescending gazes.

As the captain of Hongjing No. 8, Fu Xinshu had originally stood at the front of the team. Seeing that no one else wanted to speak, he had to walk back to the middle of the team and explain somewhat awkwardly to Qin Qiechu, “It’s Wen—Chengye… he had something come up and couldn’t make it today.”

“Won’t he regret it? He had something more important than the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play against me?” Qin Qiechu pointed at his nose, looking at Fu Xinshu in disbelief.

“He won’t regret it,” Fu Xinshu lowered his head, fidgeting with his captain’s armband.

“Then let’s make him regret it! Let him see how badly his team loses!” Qin Qiechu suddenly became excited and happy. He counted on his fingers as if suddenly finding motivation for the match. “Last time we scored 12 goals against you. This time you only have 10 people. If we try harder, we can score 8 more!”

He raised both hands high, arrogantly showing the numbers 2 and 0 in front of his opponents.

“Let Wen Chengye swallow the bitter fruit of his team’s crushing defeat, make him heartbroken! How about we make Wen Chengye regret it!” The youth was overbearing and domineering, his voice resounding in the players’ tunnel.

The referee was still chatting casually, seemingly completely unaware of what was happening behind him.

The Hongjing No. 8 players slowly raised their heads. In the dim space, they quietly looked at the two numbers their opponent had shown.

The pungent smell, the suffocating air pressure, the “Athletes’ March” playing over the field.

A phone message popup:

“Hongjing Highway Shifang Section has another armed bus robbery case with shootings at the scene.”

Highway police remind passing vehicles to avoid the area.

Standing at the edge of the match field, Lin Wanxing turned off her phone screen. A strange sense of unease filled her heart.

The players had already lined up on the green field, the national anthem had just ended.

As if responding to the heavy moisture in the air, beside her, Teacher Qian’s phone ringtone suddenly broke the silence on the suddenly quiet field.

The plump middle-aged teacher tensed up. He quickly took out his phone, wanting to switch it to silent mode. But the caller’s name made him involuntarily take a few steps back, walking outside the coach’s bench to answer.

The call wasn’t brief.

Teacher Qian’s expression fluctuated, seeming shocked, and incredulous, and finally, a look of worry appeared on his face.

Lin Wanxing inadvertently saw Teacher Qian’s expression as he hung up, and in that moment, she missed the kickoff on the field.

A match, 90 minutes, countless rounds of goal attempts.

The opponents said they would score 20 goals against them, making them taste the bitterness of a crushing defeat.

Wang Fa had asked them which shot they wanted to stop.

At the time, the students couldn’t immediately answer.

And Wang Fa told them they had plenty of time to think about it.

The first shot.

As a result of the coin toss, Yongchuan Hengda chose sides, and Hongjing No. 8 kicked off.

The opening whistle sounded.

Qin Ao first passed the ball to Chen Jianghe, who passed it back.

But just as Chen Jianghe passed it back, Qin Qiechu, like a cheetah, flashed past him lightning fast!

“Damn!” Chen Jianghe was caught off guard and forced to blurt out a curse.

That speed and power made Chen Jianghe’s heart race violently. Fortunately, his back pass had enough force, and the ball successfully flew to Zheng Ren’s feet.

Zheng Ren was clearly also startled by Qin Qiechu’s sudden acceleration and pressing, and he immediately turned and passed the ball to Fu Xinshu, who was positioned further back.

The ball changed feet twice in a very short time, but Qin Qiechu had no intention of letting them off. He accelerated like a mad dog, charging like lightning in Fu Xinshu’s direction. Fu Xinshu could only lift his foot and continue passing the ball to Lin Lu on the flank.

Yongchuan Hengda’s offensive wasn’t launched by Qin Qiechu alone. The moment Lin Lu touched the ball, another player pressed up to his face.

Lin Lu had no teammates ahead to pass to, so he could only choose to pass back, giving the ball to Zheng Feiyang, who was positioned further back.

Zheng Feiyang, for safety’s sake, chose to pass back to goalkeeper Feng Suo. But by this time, Yongchuan Hengda’s pressing had even reached the goal area.

Feng Suo had no time to waste, so he had to pass the ball again to Lin Lu, who had dropped back to receive it on the flank.

The football came to Lin Lu’s feet again.

Lin Lu noticed that there were already two opposing players closing in on him. And whether it was Chen Jianghe in front of him or Qi Liang beside him, they all had opposing players interfering with them.

If he passed horizontally, the ball would be intercepted by the opponent midway!

At this moment, Lin Lu sensed a hint of crisis.

How many goals to defend against?

First, this one.

He kicked hard, sending the ball far away.

With a loud “thud,” the football soared high.

“What do you mean Wen Chengye is missing?”

Lin Wanxing pulled her cardigan tighter.

After one phone call, Teacher Qian received another. He repeatedly explained the situation at the match venue to the other party before coming to the coach’s bench to inform Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa of the news.

“Wen Chengye’s father said he saw his son before going to bed last night. He was supposed to take Wen Chengye to meet with an overseas education agency this morning, but when he went to his son’s room, no one was there.”

“What do you mean no one was there? Did he run away from home? What about Wen Chengye’s phone?” Lin Wanxing had a vague guess in her heart but also felt a sense of disbelief. She took out her phone, instinctively wanting to call Wen Chengye.

“His phone is turned off,” Teacher Qian said.

The number you have dialed is powered off.

Indeed, it was so.

Lin Wanxing asked, “They think Wen Chengye snuck out to participate in the match, so they called us to confirm?”

Teacher Qian nodded.

“But Wen Chengye isn’t here.”

Lin Wanxing opened her phone and immediately called the contact person at the Yongchuan Hengda base to ask if any students had come looking for them. The reply came quickly.

No.

Thin mist encircled the field, the distant lake waters vast.

Where are you?

In your life, have you ever had such a moment?

Not wanting to settle for the present, suddenly having an impulse to do something, deciding to go all out regardless of consequences.

But reality tells you it was a stupid decision, that you’re a complete joke.

You shouldn’t have had such thoughts.

You’re terrible, so you should be content with being a terrible person.

At the cold highway rest stop, the background noise was chaotic and shrill, with many people arguing.

“Why can’t we leave yet?”

“We’re fine now, what investigation are they doing?”

“I have urgent business in Yongchuan!”

The voices of middle-aged men and women were particularly loud, while the youth with a backpack had been curled up in a corner seat the entire time.

He wrapped a scarf around his head, not wanting to appear in anyone’s field of vision.

Tired, and nauseated, the dream was almost completely black.

If only he could disappear, that was what he thought.

“How can a person disappear without a reason?” Lin Wanxing found it incomprehensible. “Have they checked the community surveillance?”

Teacher Qian replied, “They said Wen Chengye’s parents are still arguing. They just called the school to make a fuss. They probably haven’t had time to check the community surveillance yet.”

Lin Wanxing frowned and looked to the side.

Wang Fa stood with his arms crossed, “You still think Wen Chengye came to us?”

Lin Wanxing took out her phone and opened the cloud storage download page.

Downloads: 1.

“He read my email and downloaded the match,” Lin Wanxing said.

“But he didn’t show up,” Wang Fa said.

“Let’s assume he wanted to come for the match. He should have arrived at the venue before 8 AM. It’s too early unless he took a taxi, so his only option would have been to take an overnight bus.”

Lin Wanxing recalled something, pulled down her phone’s message list, and showed Wang Fa and Teacher Qian the breaking news about an incident on the Shifang section of Hongjing Highway.

On the field.

Due to being short one player, Hongjing No. 8 was forced to set up a 5-3-1 formation.

Fu Xinshu was assigned to the center-back position, filling Wen Chengye’s vacancy. Chen Jianghe dropped back to midfield, leaving only Qin Ao up front.

The football rolled forward like a lightning bolt.

One person certainly couldn’t get the ball when surrounded by the opponent’s defenders. Although Qin Ao was running with all his might, he still lagged behind the opponent’s defenders.

A Yongchuan Hengda defender extended the tip of his bright yellow boot, about to touch the football. In that instant, Qin Ao gritted his teeth, went in for a sliding tackle, and knocked the opposing defender to the ground.

His body scraped against the grass, painfully burning half his side.

The head referee’s whistle blew. Qin Ao had committed a foul.

Yongchuan Hengda was awarded a free kick in their half.

The boy got up from the slippery field, patted the mud and grass stalks off his body, and looked at the arrogant youth opposite. Of your twenty goals, which one is this?

“You think Wen Chengye is on the hijacked bus? You must be joking,” Teacher Qian found Lin Wanxing’s conjecture extremely funny.

First, Wen Chengye might not even be coming to Yongchuan for the match. No one could guess what was going on in that child’s mind.

Second, even if he did come, how could he be so unlucky as to get on a hijacked bus?

This isn’t…

This isn’t…

Teacher Qian racked his brain trying to find an appropriate word but felt that every word carried a strong sense of mockery.

“Can we confirm with the police about the list of people on the bus?” Lin Wanxing asked.

“How can we confirm that? By saying our student might be on the bus and asking the police to check for us?”

Lin Wanxing nodded, “Thank you for your help.”

Panting, running, a hopeless chase, a road that never reaches its destination.

Wen Chengye could barely distinguish the edge between dream and reality.

He remembered boarding a bus from Hongjing to Yongchuan at 4:30 in the morning.

The sky hadn’t yet brightened, and the smell in the bus was extremely unpleasant.

He held his ticket. It was the compartment he despised the most, with a nauseating smell of engine oil, yet he felt an unprecedented sense of ease. He even fell asleep in that environment.

In his dream was a vast expanse of green, a dark red track surrounding the field. He stepped onto that track and began running forward.

Then came gunshots—someone had hijacked the bus.

In an instant, the entire green world began to contract.

It continuously compressed the track space, reeds grew wildly, everything around him pressed in, and even the colors completely faded away with the collapse of space.

The reeds swayed, blocking the sky and sun. He could only see a bit of the road ahead.

Dark red rubber particles—it was indeed still a track.

The hijackers left the bus, and highway police rescued them at a rest stop, but he seemed to be forever trapped on this section of track, unable to reach the end no matter how hard he ran.

Like a complete joke.

The football soared high, straight toward the clouds.

Next door, at the Yongchuan Hengda coach’s bench.

The head coach watched the ball fly out of bounds and roll on the ground, feeling slightly regretful.

Just moments ago, a free kick had been directly sent from their half into Hongjing No. 8’s penalty area.

Yongchuan Hengda’s tall striker Fang Sulun, overpowering Zheng Feiyang, was about to head the ball to set up Qin Qiechu. Unfortunately, as soon as the ball was headed down, Yu Ming, who had tracked back in time, rushed in with a kick, sending the ball far out of bounds.

If Hongjing No. 8’s defender had hesitated slightly, Qin Qiechu, upon receiving the headed pass, would have had countless ways to send the ball into the opponent’s goal in the first moment.

Unfortunately, it was disrupted.

But it didn’t matter; this was just the beginning.

The Yongchuan Hengda youth coach thought of this and couldn’t help but look toward the opponent’s coach’s bench.

There, his opponent seemed to be anxiously talking about something irrelevant and wasn’t fully focusing on the match.

In fact, as the youth coach at the Hengda base, he naturally knew who the opposing coach was. No one had expected that he would choose to coach an obscure high school football team.

But because the opposing coach was “him,” he and his players had all been very much looking forward to facing Hongjing No. 8 at the beginning.

But the result of the first encounter was “nothing special” and “not interesting”…

A match that shattered expectations is disappointing. However, at that time, everyone thought he had just started coaching the other team, so they could give the opponent more time to see how Hongjing No. 8 would be trained.

But today, expectations were shattered again. The opponent even fielded only a 10-man lineup. They hadn’t prepared properly and didn’t even seem to want to seriously play this match!

The initial disappointment turned into anger. He could even tell from that brat Qin Qiechu’s focused expression on the field just how furious he was.

As for himself…

He withdrew his gaze.

Hongjing No. 8’s overall group stage performance was poor, with basically no hope of advancing.

Perhaps, in reality, there had never been a miracle.