Switching to WeChat was an impulse.

Then Lin Wanxing’s phone froze.

Heaven knows how many messages the students had sent her during these days. To the point that her WeChat interface continuously displayed “Receiving,” yet the phone screen had no response no matter how she touched it.

Just as Lin Wanxing was considering whether to restart, she suddenly noticed a message in her pinned chat with Wang Fa.

Theater 9 redemption code: 1S7DY678

This was a message sent by Wang Fa that she had never seen before.

On the wall directly opposite her hung an exaggerated sci-fi poster, the spotlight glaring.

“Theater 9” and “redemption code” could mean many things.

But at her cinema, there was a Theater 9 that had been reserved for a long time and hadn’t been open these days.

And not long ago, she had just walked out of there…

The most incredible guess made Lin Wanxing dizzy.

At the cinema front desk.

Lin Wanxing faced her colleague behind the cash register, momentarily unsure how to begin.

“What’s wrong?”

Hearing this, Lin Wanxing looked down at her phone, the screen still frozen. Though she wasn’t clear about the context of Wang Fa’s message, she somehow said with certainty: “I want to redeem a movie ticket.”

“Huh?”

Lin Wanxing took paper and pen, copied the redemption code onto the paper, and then handed it to her colleague.

Her colleague grumbled, but her fingers habitually entered the redemption code.

The crisp, slow keyboard sounds rang out.

After the final press of the enter key, Lin Wanxing felt inexplicably nervous.

Just then, the ticket printing machine made a light click and then began to operate.

“There is a ticket,” her colleague stared at the screen, saying with some surprise, “Theater 9?”

Lin Wanxing felt momentarily flustered but quickly steadied herself.

“What movie is it, when will it show?” she asked.

“Wait, let me ask about it.”

The cinema had a standardized screening process, but private screenings weren’t restricted.

Lin Wanxing neither knew how Wang Fa knew she was here, nor why he would book a private screening.

But whatever the reason, he had indeed done so—and succeeded.

She pushed open the heavy wooden door of Theater 9, and the duty manager who was also the part-time projectionist had just arrived.

Modern cinemas all use the standard T** system, which can be operated directly.

The manager was very surprised to see her holding a ticket for Theater 9, but the cinema was too busy on weekends, so he left hurriedly after finishing the operation.

The wooden door closed again, and the theater fell completely silent.

Still the dim and stuffy Theater 9, the lighting approaching evening darkness.

Lin Wanxing sat alone in front of the screen, surrounded by empty seats, like sitting in a spacious carriage, experiencing a lonely journey.

The screen lit up, like a faint light appearing at the end of a tunnel.

Light projected onto the grayish-white screen, outlining the scene of a rooftop at dawn. The entire image was fresh and natural, like clear water infused with mint leaves, with an exceptionally bright and refreshing atmosphere.

Someone was holding camera equipment, filming every plant and tree on the rooftop.

It was the rooftop life scene she knew all too well.

For instance, which pots of flowers were particularly difficult to care for, which vegetables would grow wildly without supervision. As the camera panned across, memories naturally surfaced.

Gradually, she heard the background conversations.

At one moment it was: “Damn, do you even know how to film.”

Then it was: “Stop shaking the gimbal.”

Lin Wanxing first recognized the voices of Qin Ao and Yu Ming; for this kind of thing, these two students had the most opinions.

For some reason, perhaps because the image was too bright, she felt her eyes stinging.

Then the scene changed, and the screen was filled with three vegetables. The students used a close-up shot of the freshly watered broccoli leaves, the water droplets crystal clear, about to fall.

“Teacher, let me introduce you to our recently raised eldest, second, and third,” Feng Suo opened his mouth very proudly.

“This is our newly introduced broccoli, especially, especially difficult to grow.”

“It’s not that difficult to grow, it’s just that you didn’t take good care of it when the temperature dropped!”

The students were clamoring, introducing her to the new plants on the rooftop. It seemed to them that there hadn’t been a separation of dozens of days; she would return after handling her “family matters.”

But they all knew very clearly it wasn’t like that.

Lin Wanxing’s hand resting on her knee trembled slightly.

She wanted to say something, “I’m sorry” or “Don’t do this.”

But this was a one-way film; no matter what she said, they wouldn’t hear.

“Show the coach to the teacher!” Lin Lu shouted in the background.

In an instant, the camera turned.

Before Lin Wanxing could react, she saw Wang Fa standing in the sunlight, waving at her.

The background was the vast field she knew so well, the wind bringing the gentle scent of green grass.

His hair had grown a bit longer, but his face had become thinner, making his jawline more clear and handsome.

Then, Lin Wanxing saw Wang Fa’s gaze.

He stood in the morning sun, his eyes filled with too many emotions.

Lin Wanxing looked up at him slightly, as if completely bathed in the sunlight of that day on the rooftop.

After a while.

“Coach, do you have anything you want to say to our teacher?” A clothes hanger became a microphone, poking in front of Wang Fa.

Lin Wanxing looked again at the person in the center of the screen.

“I miss you a lot, when are you coming back?”

The wind lifted his soft bangs, revealing a gentle gaze.

That’s how Wang Fa asked her.

Lin Wanxing covered her mouth, and in an instant, tears filled her eyes.

The image faded, and the screen darkened.

The noise of people and running gradually sounded in the background, then slowly brightened.

Lin Wanxing saw many pairs of athletic shoes.

The students were running on the field, warming up.

It was Wuchuan Road Stadium; just by looking at the footage, Lin Wanxing could completely reconstruct the entire field.

The footage recorded the students’ daily training, the process shown in fast-forward. White clouds moved rapidly, the sky changing from light to dark.

During breaks, Chen Jianghe sat cross-legged in front of the camera, staring blankly; exhausted, Lin Lu collapsed in front of the camera “playing dead.”

When students passed by the camera, they would occasionally say a few words, as if she were still standing on the sidelines.

Sometimes it was “Teacher, let me show you our recently practiced set-piece tactics.”

Other times it was showing off muscles after scoring: “Am I strong or what?”

Finally, Wang Fa’s whistle sounded, announcing the end of training, and all players regathered in front of the camera.

Their faces were flushed red, their bodies dirty and wet, and the footage returned to normal speed.

Fu Xinshu’s voice rang out: “Teacher, tomorrow we’re going to play against Hanling Victory, and if we win, we can reach the finals.”

“Can you come to watch our game tomorrow?” Yu Ming was instead straightforward.

Qin Ao slapped him: “Didn’t we agree not to mention this directly?”

“But you didn’t give me a script!”

“Anyway, she might not even see this.”

Soft grumbling arose, the image gradually faded, and finally, someone shouted: “You should cheer for us!”

Lin Wanxing, sitting in front of the screen, also followed along and nodded.

Naturally, Lin Wanxing looked forward to the next scene.

But contrary to her imagination, there was very little footage of the match against Hanling Victory.

The scoreboard showed 2-1, with only two goal clips edited in.

Lin Wanxing could clearly see that in the second half of the match, the students’ movements were sluggish. Their expressions were painful yet determined, their jerseys completely filthy. Lin Wanxing knew very well this might have been a very brutal match.

Because it was too brutal, the students didn’t want to make her feel too sad.

In the moment before the final whistle, a whistle suddenly sounded.

The speakers suddenly erupted, and Lin Wanxing almost had a heart attack.

The match referee awarded Hanling Victory a decisive penalty kick.

A suffocating feeling surged, and even the air in the theater became scorching hot.

Grass clippings flew.

The opponent took their run-up.

Lin Wanxing watched helplessly as Feng Suo stood in front of the goal. The boy closed his eyes and fell to one side, ultimately saving the life-or-death penalty kick!

The final whistle sounded, and all the students lay on the grass, finally looking toward the stands with exhaustion. They wanted to see if she had come.

Happy yet delighted, sorrowful yet sad, various emotions surged in her heart, emotions that Lin Wanxing had never experienced before.

Dark yet scorching, yet it seemed as if bright greenery was about to break through the soil.

Unknowingly, the theater quieted down again.

On the screen, the image darkened again, even darker than before.

And at this moment, Wang Fa’s face appeared in the center of the screen.

He was in a dim room, with only a desk lamp lit around him.

This form and atmosphere immediately reminded Lin Wanxing of the farewell message she had once recorded for Wang Fa.

She suddenly realized that Wang Fa must have seen all the contents of that email.

Similarly, it was a conversation that might never see the light of day, like a little secret perhaps only the two of them knew. To correspond with it, Wang Fa had also recorded a video from the same angle for her.

He wore a white t-shirt, his hand resting lightly on the table, the light drawing golden thin lines beside him.

He wasn’t as unnatural as she had been when recording her video.

He sat down at the table, leaned slightly forward, and very naturally began to talk to her.

“Lin Wanxing, the reason I’m recording this video for you is because twenty days ago, we received a strange courier package and fax. It prompted us to understand the real reason for your departure.

So I’m sorry, we privately investigated your past.

At first when we learned about those stories, we were all very sad and racked our brains thinking about how to help you.

But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that not everything can be solved.

Although it sounds cheesy to say this, the students and I have always respected your choice.”

Lin Wanxing felt as if she were sitting across from him.

They were in the same room, close enough to reach out and touch.

She could almost feel his warm breath and that gaze that seemed to see right through her.

Wang Fa knew her entire story; before him, she was completely exposed.

Yet that gaze was also filled with deep affection and acceptance.

To the extent that at this moment, learning that her secrets had been completely uncovered and laid bare, she completely forgot to feel shame, only feeling calm and composed, open and at ease.

Wang Fa continued: “So now, these stories we’ve recorded for you are only because we miss you very much.

We want to share our lives with you, share our victories.

You may or may not see this video.

But that doesn’t matter.

Once, when I decided to leave my coaching position, one day after waking up, I suddenly walked to St. Mary’s Stadium in a daze and bought a ticket to watch a game.

Although this didn’t change my decision to leave the team, I still remember the happiness that victory brought me.

For me, I just hope that you, like me, when you suddenly look back, will also have a beautiful memory.

The students are all doing well; you taught them very well.

As for me.

Please rest assured, the video you left in the email, only I have seen it. So I hope when you see this video of mine, there’s also no one around you, otherwise, I’ll be embarrassed.”

Wang Fa was gentle and calm from beginning to end, only at the last sentence did he smile inadvertently.

It seemed there were many words still unsaid, but he resolutely stood up and turned off the camera.

The screen image completely darkened, and the theater lights came on.

Lin Wanxing stared ahead blankly.

Then, as if remembering something, she gripped her phone and stood up.

Just as she was too impatient to leave, a beam of light projected onto the screen again.

A faxed letter slowly appeared.

Lin Wanxing was completely stunned; those were the font and verses she knew all too well, which she had handwritten at the end of a small booklet and given to a beautiful lady.

In an instant, an incredible feeling surged like a tide, and the bright spotlight on the ceiling seemed to completely illuminate her.

The verses appeared one by one,

At the bottom was a line of completely different handwriting.

Clear and profound.

The past is long buried, and the person who knew about it,

The one who possessed these verses could only be one person.

Like a suddenly untied knot or the final digit entered in a password.

Lin Wanxing finally burst into tears.