This was He Youting’s first time watching a football match.

The stadium was even more magnificent and grand than it appeared on television, with different colored seats in various sections. Standing high and looking down, it was like surveying all mountains at once.

The field’s sprinkler system was lightly watering the grass.

Sunlight fell from the top of the stadium, shining through water mist at different angles, occasionally forming several vibrant rainbows decorating the green field.

Many young students had come to the stadium. Besides the original Yongchuan Hengda fans, Yongchuan City had organized numerous middle and high school students to watch this Youth Super League final in person.

Students wore unified school uniforms, some with “Yongchuan Middle School” written on their backs, others with “Yongchuan No. 1 Middle School.” Without exception, they all came to cheer for the Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team.

The Yongchuan Hengda Youth Team players had already finished warming up, with some key players returning to the locker room to shower and change jerseys.

They were determined to win this match.

Only 30 minutes remained before the official start.

The Hongjing Eighth School players had still not appeared on the field.

The first person to sense something was wrong with the match was Jiang Xun.

Yongchuan Hengda Club executives naturally wouldn’t sit in the visiting team section. He accompanied Professor He, listening to stories about Dr. Yan.

According to the schedule, the final’s opening ceremony would be held at 13:30.

There would be brief artistic performances and speeches from officials.

But Jiang Xun noticed that not only had the Hongjing Eighth School players still not come out to warm up, but the scheduled official speeches hadn’t begun as planned either.

He saw familiar Football Association officials being called down from the prepared podium. Unable to contain himself, he took out his phone and called Wang Fa. The dial tone rang for a long time, but no one answered.

Chen Weiming was the match referee.

Having finished inspecting the field, he was lined up with the linesmen in the player tunnel, waiting to enter for the opening ceremony.

Today, the player tunnel was exceptionally quiet.

In his left pants pocket was a folded referee’s oath—the same content read at every match: strictly abide by referee discipline, practice sports professional ethics, and fulfill referee responsibilities. Respect objectivity, seek truth from facts, be meticulous, and referee fairly.

He could recite it backward, with no need to review it before taking the field.

In the Yongchuan Hengda home team locker room,

The youth team players had changed into dry jerseys, put on jackets to stay warm, and were preparing to line up for the opening ceremony.

Fang Sulun looked back to see Qin Qiechu wearing headphones, head down.

All players were exceptionally serious.

Fang Sulun knew clearly that although they didn’t say it, they valued this final more than anyone.

They had been elite since childhood, facing final opponents of the same professional level.

Everyone loves stories of underdogs triumphing and dark horses prevailing, but they didn’t want to become stepping stones for legends.

Moreover, in the previous 10-versus-11 defensive battle against Hongjing Eighth School, the opponent wasn’t at full strength, making the match truly regrettable.

It was said that Hongjing Eighth School remained undefeated after Coach Wang Fa changed their formation.

Even if they were to become stepping stones, they wanted to face the legend head-on.

Outside the security checkpoint, people were waiting.

The thin, dark-skinned forwards were Qin Ao and Chen Jianghe. The former midfielders were three people—Zhi Hui, Zheng Ren, and Fu Xinshu. Later, Wen Chengye rejoined and exchanged positions with Fu Xinshu. Both were fair-skinned and handsome, quite eye-catching from a distance.

From right to left, the defenders were Lin Lu, Zheng Feiyang, Fu Xinshu, Qi Liang, and Yu Ming. Lin Lu had large eyes, Zheng Feiyang was full of energy, Qi Liang with his curly hair always had shocking words, and Yu Ming was Qin Ao’s little follower.

The goalkeeper was the tallest and most robust student, named Feng Suo. He could always make agile saves completely inconsistent with his build.

And the person standing at the front was called Wang Fa.

He was an extremely capable coach with an English name that sounded like “Wind.” When in a good mood, he always had many creative ideas.

He was also the person whom Lin Wanxing, after a long journey, glimpsed from afar and couldn’t look away from.

The long run had depleted Lin Wanxing’s last bit of energy.

She forced herself to stand before Wang Fa, feeling she needed to maintain some dignity. But just as she was about to speak, strong arms pulled her forcefully into an embrace.

With her entire body drained and her vision darkening, she could only bury herself completely in the man’s arms. Her face pressed against the soft material of his sweatshirt, breathing in faint traces of tobacco and mint. Her throat felt as if cut by a knife, yet her chest gradually filled with warmth. The arms pressing so tightly around her back made Lin Wanxing understand why he had started smoking again.

She had been so afraid, running frantically after getting out of the car, hoping only to arrive before their final decision.

But seeing the people waiting at the tunnel, she knew she was too late.

Once seeds are planted, one cannot predict how tall the trees will grow.

Both heartbreaking and proud—standing together through thick and thin was a choice only hot-blooded, foolish young people would make.

“I’m sorry, truly sorry…” she could only repeat, apologizing for her previous departure without saying goodbye and for not arriving in time today.

“I told you she would cry,” Qin Ao said somewhat proudly.

“You also said the teacher would rush into the coach’s arms first, but the coach hugged the teacher first,” Chen Jianghe’s voice rang out.

“I couldn’t help myself.”

His chest vibrated with his deep voice as Lin Wanxing heard Wang Fa say this.

In the VIP section of the stands,

Jiang Xun learned of the committee’s final decision earlier than the opposing team’s players. His first reaction was that someone had interfered.

The committee official who leaked the information to him was quite surprised, only saying that the opposing players had reported themselves, and the facts were clear.

Jiang Xun immediately stood up, his mind racing, wondering whether to first find Hongjing Eighth School or work through the Football Association.

At that moment, a pair of warm, dry hands held his.

Jiang Xun blurted out everything he had just heard.

Professor He laughed with emotion, “So I won’t get to watch the match again?”

Jiang Xun’s mind was in complete chaos.

The final match, his father’s life’s work—everything couldn’t be disrupted at this moment.

“Not necessarily, I’ll go solve the problem right now.”

Professor He patted his hand, his gaze extremely gentle, “If Old Jiang were here, what do you think he would most want to see?”

The golden championship trophy had already been placed in the center of the field, with the final seemingly about to begin.

Jiang Xun suddenly hesitated.

For some reason, at the Hongjing Eighth School coaching area in the distance, he seemed to see his father standing there, hands proudly on his hips.

Chen Weiming felt a tap on his shoulder.

When he turned around, he unexpectedly received that news.

Practice sports professional ethics, and fulfill referee responsibilities.

The oath he was mentally reciting was interrupted here.

Chen Weiming only felt that today, his left pants pocket was exceptionally heavy.

On the podium, Football Association leaders hurriedly went on stage to report the latest breaking situation to the city committee leaders who had already taken their seats to watch the match.

In the visiting team’s locker room, the Football Association official announcing the result closed the door and left.

The students weren’t very surprised by this.

Everyone began packing up.

Lin Wanxing had imagined many times what the final locker room scene would be like.

Perhaps towels were thrown everywhere, shoes were all over the floor, and the air was stuffy and hot.

But this place was cleaner and more organized than ever before.

The students had already packed their bags and jerseys, doing the final cleanup work—perhaps they hadn’t taken much out in the first place.

Lin Wanxing sat on the bench, looking at the results on the tactics board, stunned and speechless.

Fu Xinshu sat down beside her.

The boy’s eyes were red and swollen as if he had been crying for a long time, but his gaze was exceptionally clear and determined.

“Why?” Lin Wanxing turned to ask him, why, at the last moment, he had changed his choice.

Fu Xinshu looked at the whiteboard and said, “Teacher, I thought for a long time, about many people, and also about your teacher. He was a bad person, but also actually very cowardly and timid. He liked you but didn’t dare say it—just a dark rat. And me? I’m different. I suddenly wanted to see the sun.”

In the stands, the teachers received the news.

They notified the students, preparing for an orderly exit.

Confused home team fans began chanting slogans, questioning the organizers.

Similar confusion and bewilderment also filled the Yongchuan Hengda home team locker room.

When Yongchuan Hengda players heard the announcement, they initially thought Hongjing Eighth School had someone caught gambling or match-fixing before the match.

But how could opponents who gambled make it to the finals? Were they only betting on their victories? That would be completely humiliating for the other teams.

Then they discovered that Hongjing Eighth School had reported themselves. Because of an illegal bet two years ago?

Some players felt their opponents must be mentally unstable.

Having come this far, why self-destruct at the last moment before the match?

What could be more important than playing the final against them, Yongchuan Hengda?

Other players reacted more slowly.

Only when they heard the news that they might be directly awarded the victory did they feel that perhaps they were the ones who were mentally unstable?

A 90-minute match plus extra time would cost half a life to play, so a heaven-sent championship would naturally be best. But instead of feeling relieved, they felt somewhat annoyed.

“What do they mean?” Qin Qiechu tore off his team jacket and demanded.

In the visiting team locker room, Hongjing Eighth School players shouldered their backpacks and opened the door.

In the distance, at the end of the player tunnel was the field, with bright, brilliant daylight falling from above.

Further away, someone seemed to be removing the trophy placed in the center.

Fu Xinshu led his teammates to the door of the home team locker room on the other side.

After knocking lightly twice, the door was yanked open from inside.

Inside was the messy Yongchuan Hengda locker room.

Shoes on the floor, towels on racks, unrolled bandages, prepared protective gear, dense lines on the tactics board, and players who had changed into full equipment.

Everything spoke of Yongchuan Hengda’s serious preparation before the match.

“What are you doing here?” Fang Sulun was startled, narrowing his eyes, still with that same haughty appearance.

“Coming to say sorry,” Fu Xinshu said seriously.

“Why?”

“The problem was on our side, so we came to apologize…”

But Fang Sulun interrupted him, “I’m asking, why did you have to say anything?”

Fu Xinshu was stunned for a moment, then remorsefully explained the situation briefly.

After listening, Fang Sulun and the Yongchuan Hengda players behind him were completely dumbfounded.

“Are you crazy?” Qin Qiechu couldn’t understand at all. “If you hadn’t said anything about this, who would have known?”

Wen Chengye looked up and answered, “We would.”

This statement plunged the Yongchuan Hengda locker room into incomparable silence.

Greetings had been exchanged, though they weren’t very familiar with each other. Fu Xinshu bid farewell to Fang Sulun, “We’ll be going now. Let’s play again when we have the chance.”

The locker room door closed.

The Yongchuan Hengda players finally understood what choice their opponents had made.

Ahead lay a long tunnel, and the Hongjing Eighth School players walked toward the dark other end.

After some time, the sound of a door opening echoed through the tunnel like a hallucination.

Footsteps approached rapidly.

There seemed to be many people.

“Hongjing Eighth School!”

A clear voice called from the distant rear.

In the dim, narrow stadium tunnel, those who were called turned their heads.

At the far end of the tunnel was a small patch of football field illuminated by bright daylight.

A black and white football flew toward them.

Qin Qiechu, breathing heavily, glared at them.

From the crowd, Fang Sulun walked over slowly. He looked back at his teammates, then turned to face them.

He said, “Why wait until next time? This time is not bad. Hongjing Eighth School, I hear you’re very strong. Interested in playing a match with us?”