The video ended.

The screen had darkened, and the classroom remained quiet.

It was hard to describe the feeling.

Playing football as children was simple and joyful, thoughts were pure—even if you lost this time, you’d feel sad for a moment, but would win it back next time. There weren’t so many difficulties; it seemed like anything was possible.

The students were silent for a while, just staring at the screen.

Until Lin Wanxing ejected the CD.

With a “click” from the tray, everyone was awakened.

“Coach…”

“Was it from Coach?”

They seemed unable to organize their sentences.

Why did Coach Jiang make this CD?

Why give the CD to Wen Chengye?

These should be everyone’s questions.

Lin Wanxing thought for a moment and asked, “Was this footage recorded by Coach Jiang?”

The students recalled:

“I remember Coach had a DV camera that day, right?”

“It was called a DV, right?”

“Yes, he said he borrowed a DV camera from a friend to record it as a memento for us.”

But Lin Wanxing found something strange: “Have you seen this footage before?”

“No.”

“So, Coach Jiang recorded this video as a memento during your junior high years, edited and burned it to a disc, and recently sent it to Wen Chengye?” Lin Wanxing rubbed her chin.

The students also thought it strange, but they focused their confusion on Wen Chengye: “Why did Coach Jiang send it just to you?”

“Maybe because he was more disobedient,” Qi Liang said.

This sounded quite reasonable.

Others let out a long “oh.”

Lin Wanxing now understood why Wen Chengye would rather message Qin Ao.

In any case, although there were many questions—like why Coach Jiang didn’t appear personally but used these mysterious things to guide the students, or what role Teacher Qian played in all this—for the students, the details weren’t that important.

After all, the video that had just been played was undoubtedly recorded by Coach Jiang.

The letter was addressed to Wen Chengye, even though he had thrown away the note without watching the video on the CD. But whether it was the note or the envelope, it should have reminded him of something.

It’s not to say that a single note prompted him to make up his mind and board the bus to Yongchuan. But regardless, students who received “gifts” would be moved. Those “gifts” gave them a “reason,” indirectly pushing them to solve difficulties and come together again.

Wen Chengye brought the envelope and CD, along with two assignments.

Of course, he only awkwardly pulled the latter out of his backpack after the other students had left.

One was for her, written on composition paper, titled “Football Is for Victory.”

The other, naturally, was the review summary that Wang Fa wanted to collect.

Lin Wanxing was shocked to receive the assignment she had been urging for almost half a month.

Wen Chengye tried to maintain a cold expression. He waited for a while, seeming embarrassed, then turned to leave.

“Wait.” Wang Fa flipped over a page and looked up, stopping Wen Chengye.

The coach still had considerable authority.

Wen Chengye turned back, exceptionally docile.

“Share your thoughts,” Wang Fa said after reading the last line of the review assignment.

Wen Chengye stood frozen.

The moonlight was just right.

After two days of rain, the temperature had warmed a bit; it wasn’t cold on the rooftop.

“My thoughts?”

“Your review only describes what you think the problems were in the match, but there are no suggestions for improvement.”

“Suggestions for improvement?” Wen Chengye paused. “If I say them, will you listen?”

Wang Fa thought this was a pointless question and didn’t answer.

“I think our attack is too weak,” Wen Chengye said directly.

“Continue.”

“Coach Jiang used to say this when he was here—defense, defense, defense is the foundation of attack, but even if we defend perfectly for 90 minutes, it’s still a 0-0 draw. We need to strengthen our attack.”

“Not direct enough,” Wang Fa commented.

Wen Chengye’s expression stiffened.

“Anyway, if you lose the next match, you won’t have any more games. If you don’t speak now, it will be too late,” Wang Fa said calmly, raising his eyes to examine the young man before him.

Wen Chengye looked at him the same way.

Lin Wanxing suddenly recalled the end of the match that day.

The Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team’s head coach approached Wang Fa and asked, “What exactly are you trying to do?”

The question sounded strange, and since Wang Fa was consistently aloof on the field, he didn’t answer.

Wen Chengye’s brows furrowed, his fists gradually tightening at his sides. As if resolving, he said, “I want to play midfield.”

Lin Wanxing was stunned. Recalling how Wang Fa had previously moved Fu Xinshu to the defensive line, she turned to look beside her.

“Alright,” Wang Fa answered.

Wen Chengye was equally stunned; he hadn’t expected the coach to agree so easily, unable to believe his ears.

“So, I’m in midfield now?” Wen Chengye pointed at himself.

“My agreement doesn’t mean you can successfully play the midfield position,” Wang Fa leaned slightly forward. His posture wasn’t casual but very serious as he engaged in this conversation with Wen Chengye.

In the night breeze, the young man was momentarily stunned, as if deep in thought: “What else do I need to do?”

“As you said, defense alone cannot achieve victory, but pure attack cannot either. What do you think?”

“You mean teamwork?” When Wen Chengye reached this point, his brows furrowed. He clearly understood Wang Fa’s meaning but was still reluctant to discuss those things.

Wang Fa checked the time and straightforwardly told Wen Chengye, “Tomorrow at noon, you can directly present your ideas to your teammates, and persuade them. Of course, that’s if you want to.”

Wen Chengye had come uncertain and left more confused.

It was said that his parents were battling for divorce, and the so-called “managing him” was just a tactic in the divorce proceedings. He had a lot of freedom most of the time.

The iron door of the rooftop closed with a bang, and the surroundings returned to the quiet of night.

Lin Wanxing lowered her head and carefully read the composition Wen Chengye had submitted. Then at one point, she rested her chin in her hand and turned to study Wang Fa.

Comrade Wang Fa’s profile was quite striking, though his full face was even better. Lin Wanxing was trying to think of descriptive words used in novels to flatter him. Just then, Wang Fa suddenly turned to look at her.

The descriptive words scrolling through Lin Wanxing’s mind were cleared.

Perhaps because she looked so dazed.

Wang Fa stared at her for a while, honey-colored eyes revealing amusement: “Does Teacher Lin want to ask something? Do you need me to give you a chance too?”

Lin Wanxing froze, then lightly tapped the table: “First of all, the reemployment opportunity was given to you by me.”

“Then what about other opportunities? Can Teacher Lin give those?”

At that moment, Lin Wanxing certainly understood Wang Fa’s meaning.

The night breeze was gentle, and they maintained their previous distance. Wang Fa’s posture was relaxed, his bangs and sideburns appearing damp from having just taken a shower, but his gaze was earnest and sincere.

The air was filled with the scent of surrounding flowers and lemon shampoo. Their hands were very close, almost close enough that they could hold fingers with a slight lift.

The atmosphere was pleasant. Everyone has moments when they want to play dumb, and Lin Wanxing wants to play dumb too.

So she asked Wang Fa, “Then I’ll give Coach a chance. Tell me about your plans.”

Various emotions flashed through Wang Fa’s eyes for an instant, but he quickly calmed down and smilingly asked, “Is Teacher Lin asking about my plans for the team?”

“Mm.” Lin Wanxing smiled and said, “It feels like Coach has had plans all along.”

“I don’t,” Wang Fa said.

“But you arranged for Fu Xinshu to go to defense and also supported Wen Chengye’s bid for a midfield position.”

“What I mean is, the process isn’t as planned and foresighted as you think,” Wang Fa paused. “They’ve played together for a long time; they’re a highly integrated team. It’s quite remarkable, isn’t it? Playing together as children and still being teammates when grown up.”

Lin Wanxing understood clearly that Wang Fa had moved around a lot in his youth and was accustomed to player changes as an adult. He always believed that teams like Hongjiang Eighth Middle School were very rare.

Lin Wanxing smiled: “You absolutely cannot let them hear you say that; they’d put on a show of disgust right on the spot.”

Wang Fa poured himself a cup of water and also smiled: “But integration can sometimes be a double-edged sword. Players’ thinking becomes fixed, and the playing style rigid. Even when there are conflicts, it’s like patching an old boat—when the waves get big, it easily breaks.”

Hearing this, Lin Wanxing suddenly could understand why Wang Fa hadn’t disciplined the locker room from the beginning.

The Eighth Middle School football team was fixed; they could rely on constancy and hard training to defeat some opponents.

But matches became increasingly difficult, and after losing, they naturally blamed each other. Chen Weidong’s departure was just the beginning of the conflict. Wen Chengye’s arrival intensified the internal strife.

At this point, Wang Fa, as the head coach, actually had only two choices: continue to patch this small boat or watch it be destroyed by huge waves, then find a way to rebuild.

Thinking of the locker room brawl that day, and the heavy and oppressive air, Lin Wanxing fell silent.

“But it might not succeed,” she said.

Sometimes when something breaks, it stays broken. Whether Wen Chengye and the other team members would change because of this, whether they could reorganize into a competitive team—these were all unknowns.

“But we always pursue better possibilities,” Wang Fa said.

Lin Wanxing looked at Wang Fa.

The incandescent light from the ceiling cast a pale golden glow. His features were elegant and peaceful; this was an approach after careful consideration.

He didn’t want ambiguous choices, nor did he want a reluctantly stable team. Even for an ordinary high school team, he hoped they could pursue better possibilities.

Lin Wanxing genuinely felt that Wang Fa was remarkable.

The unknown is always the greatest challenge.

“What do you mean?”

The next day at noon, Yuanyuan Tutoring Center.

The students gathered at the time required by Wang Fa. Wen Chengye reluctantly shared a couple of his thoughts from the podium, and immediately there was a small explosion below.

They couldn’t understand why Wen Chengye dared to stand on the podium saying he wanted to play midfield, nor could they understand why Wang Fa agreed to let Wen Chengye take the stage.

Voices rose from below, and Wen Chengye became somewhat flustered on the podium.

Wang Fa sat down below, and the players also turned to see what the coach thought: “Coach, do you think Old Fu should give his position to Dog Wen?”

“I have no preference.”

“Last time when we played Yongchuan Hengda, you had Fu Xinshu play defense,” Chen Jianghe suddenly remembered.

“Fu Xinshu displayed his strengths in the defensive line, didn’t he?”

“But…”

The students still couldn’t express their conflicted feelings.

This was the lineup they had been accustomed to from childhood; suddenly changing it, especially with the captain giving his position to the least sociable person, felt uncomfortable.

Wen Chengye took a deep breath and said, “This is my problem. It’s not that Fu Xinshu doesn’t play midfield well; it’s that I don’t like the defender position.”

“Just because you don’t like it, others have to give way?”

Lin Wanxing raised her hand to correct: “You can replace ‘don’t like’ with ‘not good at.'”

Wen Chengye maintained a cold face, finding it very difficult, but still changed his words: “I am not good at the defender position.”

With this change in wording, the opponents in their seats were suddenly speechless.

But thinking carefully, it seemed to be true.

Wen Chengye naturally lacked team spirit, preferred to be alone, and only had eyes for the opponent’s half of the field. Making him focus on defense made him uncomfortable. In contrast, Fu Xinshu had excellent team spirit, was meticulous with a good overall view, and was very suitable as a mainstay in the defensive line.

In terms of personality, swapping their positions seemed like a good choice.

But should they change a team that had been playing together for five years to face the strong opponent Shencheng Haibo?

That would likely be their last opponent.

Everyone fell into deep thought, unable to decide.

Until Fu Xinshu stood up.

“I agree,” he said.