The specific format of the internal scrimmage was to use approximately half the field for offense-defense drills.

The students voluntarily formed teams and divided into two groups. When an attack failed, the other side would take the ball, which also solved the problem of having only one goalkeeper.

More importantly, this limited use of the field meant they wouldn’t have to compete for space with the elderly people exercising on the track and field in the evening…

Of course, these reasons were all thought up by Lin Wanxing.

After announcing the internal scrimmage, their coach neither explained nor provided much guidance. Plus, with the severe shortage of players present, there was no need to consider space requirements…

Lin Wanxing looked toward the field.

After Wang Fa’s brief words, the boys didn’t dwell on their emotions. They simply divided themselves into two teams, grabbed the soccer ball, and ran toward the field.

During this time, Fu Xinshu urged Qin Ao to also call classmates who hadn’t shown up. They received responses like “You didn’t notify us about training today” and “I forgot and went home, I’ll come tomorrow,” but two additional students did rush to training.

It wasn’t a formal training match anyway.

Elderly people were stretching against the goalpost, so the boys placed two backpacks at the side of the field, roughly defining the goal and half-field boundaries. It seemed they didn’t need much guidance; the scrimmage began naturally. In the end, only seven people showed up, making it a very simple 3v3 match.

It didn’t matter that the field wasn’t standard or that the boundaries couldn’t be clearly defined. The boys just naturally started running around the playground, looking relaxed and happy. Rather than serious training, they seemed more like they were running back and forth chasing each other, venting the exhaustion of a day of school life.

Lin Wanxing leaned back in the stands. The sunset was warm, and she could hear the thumping sounds of the soccer ball being passed, along with occasional shouts of direction.

Sometimes a pass would be too long, sending the ball across half the field to a very distant place. The match would be forced to pause, and the boy who kicked it out of bounds would have to run a long distance to retrieve it, yet they went back and forth, never tiring of it.

The sky had completely turned to night, with the moon and the not-so-bright track lights becoming the boys’ source of light for playing soccer.

From Lin Wanxing’s position, the figures of the students running on the field became blurry. Even she was sitting stiffly in the stands. After venting the pressure of a day of exams, the boys also seemed to gradually tire. Their running range decreased, their speed slowed, and the thumping sounds of the ball being passed that traveled through the air were no longer as joyful and loud.

Finally, at some point after a goal, everyone seemed unable to run anymore.

They gathered together, apparently realizing something. After a brief discussion, they grabbed the ball and walked back toward the stands.

“Coach,” Fu Xinshu wiped away sweat and spoke first, “Did we forget to ask what the purpose of today’s training is?”

“Right,” Qin Ao said frankly, “You told us last time to bring our brains to training.”

The boys’ shirts were soaked through, front and back. It seemed they wouldn’t have thought to ask about the training purpose if they hadn’t played to their satisfaction.

The coach on the seat slightly raised his cap brim and sincerely answered with two words — “Stamina.”

“Stamina training?” The boys raised their voices.

Even Lin Wanxing probably thought that when Wang Fa said “I want to see you play an internal scrimmage,” he wanted to understand the players’ abilities to equip them with professional strategies and tactics. But unexpectedly, it was simply stamina training.

However, the boys seemed to trust Wang Fa more than she had imagined.

“Just like yesterday, you want us to keep running?” They asked seriously, “Because we have a match on Sunday, and you’re worried we won’t be able to keep running?”

“Let me ask a different question. You asked me to be your coach, what goal did you want to achieve?”

“Goal?”

For a few seconds, the boys were stumped by this question.

But their answer came quickly and naturally.

“We have a match on Sunday.”

“Yes, we want to practice these few days so we can be stronger in Sunday’s match and destroy the opposition.”

“And if we win, we might advance to the next level.”

The answers revolved around “match” and “victory.” Like all competitive sports, the purpose was very pure and direct.

“For Sunday’s match?” Wang Fa confirmed once more.

“Yes.” The students were puzzled as to why he would ask such a question.

“Then my answer is, if you’re preparing for Sunday’s match, a week’s time is only enough for you to get familiar with ball handling, increase teamwork, and improve stamina.”

“So that’s why you have us play against each other?”

“Yes, in a short time, the best way to help you is to continuously conduct training matches. In session after session of training matches, repeatedly drain your energy to let your bodies adapt to the intensity of competition.” Wang Fa paused, “There’s probably no way to find a complete team to play a regular training match with you now, so the scale of the training match is an internal scrimmage.”

“Oh, then Coach, what do you mean by ‘session after session’?”

Wang Fa looked at his watch — “It’s 7:30 now. Thirty minutes per match, five-minute halftime break, play as many matches as you can.”

The boys were probably frightened by the “play as many matches as you can” and were momentarily stunned.

Just then, a phone rang from one of the backpacks the students had left in the stands.

Everyone ran over to check their bags. After some commotion, Yu Ming answered the call.

“Hello, Mom.”

“Don’t talk now, I’m in class with Teacher Lin.”

“I know, I’ll be home by eight-thirty.”

The boy hung up unceremoniously, afraid that if he kept talking, his mother would drag him home by the ear.

“Coach, I’m sorry, I need to be home before eight-thirty, so I have to leave at eight,” Yu Ming ran over to say.

“It’s fine, I’m not in charge of training supervision, I’m just offering some suggestions,” Wang Fa’s attitude remained as always. “Training like this every day for a week is too harsh; you can do as you please.”

“Is this reverse psychology or what?” Qin Ao said.

Wang Fa said — “I do not need to use reverse psychology on you.”

Although the coach was stating facts, to the children, it sounded more like contempt.

The hot-tempered Qin Ao said directly — “Damn, your attitude is f*cking annoying, acting like you don’t care whether you coach or not.”

Lin Wanxing quickly tried to mediate — “Come on, don’t overthink it. Yu Ming needs to leave at eight anyway, so just keep playing for now, and stop when you’re tired.”

Seeing the situation, Fu Xinshu also grabbed Qin Ao.

The students pulled at each other, ran down from the stands, and started playing again.

On the misty night, fewer people were exercising around the field, with only a few scattered residents running on the track.

Everything around became quiet as the night deepened.

Lin Wanxing was also silent for a while. Although the high school students’ figures were still running on the field, she could no longer hear their conversations. Their actions and will seemed to have become subdued.

The early autumn insect sounds became more pronounced against this backdrop.

Lin Wanxing yawned and glanced beside her.

Their coach was leaning back in the plastic chair, his long legs resting on the seat in front, calmly watching the field as always. Of course, “calmly” could be replaced with “indifferently” or any other word that describes “unconcerned.”

The young man, as if receiving her gaze, looked back at her at the same time.

“I was just thinking,” Lin Wanxing began after a moment’s consideration.

“About what?”

“Um… Qin Ao is quite direct when he speaks. Can I express their thoughts more tactfully?”

“Sure.”

Hearing this, Lin Wanxing turned her head and seriously gazed into Wang Fa’s eyes — “You’re not encouraging them to persist in playing soccer. Why is that?”