Fine dust particles floated in the air around the old incandescent light tubes.

Lin Wanxing came to her senses. Behind her, the students stood awkwardly in the corridor.

They were tiptoeing around, yet couldn’t help looking around curiously, as if everyone was waiting for her next move.

Lin Wanxing slowly walked to the door of one of the classrooms and pushed it gently. The door opened.

When the lights came on, time seemed to stand still. The classroom had been converted from a former residential apartment, so it was smaller than standard ones.

Dust covered the window frames, but the desks and chairs were neatly arranged. The blackboard showed traces of writing from years of use, with “Countdown to College Entrance Exam: [] Days” written in yellow paint. Some of the writing had peeled off, but the remainder was still quite clear. The classroom walls were adorned with paintings of peculiar taste, followed by a full row of bookshelves filled with various books, new and old.

Lin Wanxing ran her hand across the cabinet doors, looking at each one in turn. The bookcases contained textbooks and study guides of different editions.

Both People’s Education Press and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press versions were available. “Three Five” guides, “Huanggang” and “Haidian Secret Papers” were also complete. Not only that, all extracurricular readings required by each curriculum standard were there, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, categorized methodically. Even more extraordinary, the bookshelf closest to the window was filled with novels—complete collections of Jin Yong and Gu Long, Asimov, and Keigo Higashino were not missing, and even “Coiling Dragon” and “Just One Smile is Very Alluring” were there.

The entire space radiated an atmosphere where seriousness and liveliness complemented each other perfectly.

Without realizing it, the students had chosen seats and sat down. Lin Wanxing walked up to the podium and looked at her students again.

Qin Ao was still looking around, Fu Xinshu’s hands were unconsciously rubbing the desktop, Yu Ming’s gaze was lively, and Qi Liang directly raised his hand.

This was Lin Wanxing’s second time formally standing on a podium, and like the first time, she was a bit unsure where to begin.

“I know you have many questions. But first, listen to what I have to say, then I’ll answer them,” Lin Wanxing said.

The story of this tutoring center was simple.

Lin Wanxing told the students that her grandmother was called Shen Shuyuan. Yuan Yuan was her grandmother’s nickname—at least that’s what her grandfather always called her grandmother.

Supposedly, her maternal great-grandfather gave her grandmother this name, inspired by Lu You’s short poem “Reading”: “In old age, what’s better than a five-acre garden? Reading books is fundamentally about yuan yuan. Though my eyesight before the lamp isn’t what it used to be, I still meticulously study twenty thousand characters.”

“Yuan Yuan” means the bustling multitude of living beings.

Both her grandfather and grandmother were distinguished teachers. After retiring from school, the elderly couple bought this old public housing building, not only renting it out but also running an after-school tutoring center on the second floor to make use of their remaining energy. The poetic meaning matched the elderly couple’s aspirations, so naturally, the tutoring center was named after this.

At that time, the tutoring center had many students, including several from impoverished backgrounds.

During some summer and winter breaks, Lin Wanxing would come to her grandparents’ tutoring center to pass time. As a little kid, she sat among high school students listening to lessons, understanding some and not others, swallowing it all whole—it was quite interesting.

Later, when her father’s relationship with her grandparents deteriorated, she rarely came back. As the two elderly people aged and their health declined, they could no longer teach. She heard that the place became a self-study room for students, while also helping parents look after younger children. But no one can overcome natural laws—when the elderly passed away, the doors of the tutoring center were naturally locked.

Thinking about it now, there were many things to regret.

By this point in the story, the students had become very quiet.

From the boys’ perspective, first, they received some “free ball-borrowing cards,” then “black and white crossword puzzles.” Even more coincidentally, just as they started their extracurricular tutoring business, Fu Xinshu received a treasure map, and an old after-school tutoring center was thus unsealed. It was reasonable for them to suspect she was behind it all, so she could only explain again that she knew nothing about it.

For Lin Wanxing, standing in this classroom now and looking at the students below the podium, she could only be certain that someone who cared deeply about these students had used various methods to create connections between her and the students.

This person very much wanted her to help them, and although she was the target, it wasn’t entirely because of her.

“So, this building belongs to you, Teacher?” Yu Ming was the first to recover from the story. “Your grandparents were amazing.”

“Do you charge our coach rent?” Qi Liang asked from a particularly tricky angle.

Lin Wanxing was stunned, not expecting these kids to be so unpredictable.

Lin Wanxing looked toward the corner of the classroom. Wang Fa had somehow grabbed a novel from the back bookshelf and was reading it—its cover was the colorful, romantic kind.

Hearing this, Wang Fa looked up innocently — “It doesn’t have to be completely free, a reasonable reduction would be fine.”

Lin Wanxing — “…”

“Teacher should be more generous,” Fu Xinshu spoke up at this point.

Fu Xinshu wasn’t the type to joke around. Lin Wanxing realized he was trying to imitate Qi Liang and the others, making a real effort to cheer her up. The workbook was still spread out on the desk, the casually retrieved “treasure map” extraordinarily clear under the incandescent light. The boy looked at her with burning eyes, saying only, “We have a place now, right?”

The next day at noon, the football team moved into action en masse.

High schools traditionally let commuting students out for lunch, and the sound of eleven boys thundering up the stairs of the old residential building drew the attention of elderly residents.

For these young men, there weren’t many complications. Since someone had pointed them to this tutoring center’s territory, and since the owner of the territory—Lin Wanxing—didn’t mind them occupying it, this place was now their territory!

Lin Wanxing supervised the students as they did a major cleaning. The tutoring center’s small storage room still had unused chalk, and old test papers were taken down from the wall. The building’s elderly residents came to investigate, and even a grandfather from the next building came to ask if Yuan Yuan Tutoring Center was reopening and if they would accept third-grade elementary students.

Finally, Lin Wanxing sent away the curious uncles and aunties and closed the classroom door.

The students’ faces still had dust marks from the big cleanup.

Lin Wanxing gestured for everyone to quiet down, then said, “I received an email from the organizing committee today. Sunday’s match opponent has been announced. They’ll come to our place, still at the Mingzhu Club field from last time. The match time is 13:00 sharp.”

Lin Wanxing picked up a pen and wrote on the blackboard, above the countdown that the students had been eagerly discussing — “Location: Hongjing Mingzhu Club, 13:00, Opponent”

Qin Ao immediately sat up straight — “Who are we playing against?”

Lin Wanxing took out her phone, opened the email, confirmed once more, and said, “Lüjing International High School.”

Suddenly, the tutoring center classroom erupted like boiling oil.

Some banged on desks, others shouted.

“Damn.”

“Are they stupid?”

“How can we meet these jerks in a qualifying match?”

“Aren’t they supposed to go straight to the main tournament? Why have they fallen to playing qualifying matches?”

“Have they gotten that bad?”

Lin Wanxing didn’t understand the students’ reaction.

“Is Lüjing International very formidable?” She couldn’t help but look toward Wang Fa. It seemed like the cigarettes Wang Fa smoked yesterday were that brand.

The book in Wang Fa’s hand had changed from yesterday’s romance novel to a fantasy one with impressive double dragons on the cover. He looked up and said, “I don’t know much about it.”

That made sense. Lin Wanxing took out her phone and searched Baidu. She discovered that Lüjing Club, like Yongchuan Hengda Club, was a top-tier club with Chinese Super League qualifications. Lüjing International High School, as the name suggested, was an international high school sponsored by a famous tobacco company. Not only did its main branch have a professional team system, but the high school also had many talented young players.

Lin Wanxing could roughly understand the students’ shock. After all, Lüjing International High School should be a top high school team, and like ordinary high school teams, being relegated to playing qualifying matches seemed inconceivable. However, as she continued searching, Lin Wanxing gradually realized that Lüjing was forced to play qualifying matches likely because they had violated some Youth Super League regulations. Additionally, Lüjing International had performed poorly in the previous round—according to match reports, they seemed to be having team issues. Various reasons led to them having to face such a top high school team in the qualifying matches.

The students were in an uproar, with some even beginning to suspect this was a conspiracy by the organizing committee, or that Lüjing had bribed the committee.

Lin Wanxing hurriedly called for them to stop.

“Anyway, we just play one match,” she said. “Regardless of winning or losing, just do our best.”