After Lin Wanxing’s first day of being left to her own devices at her new job, on the afternoon of the second day, the Physical Education Department actually assigned a dedicated teacher to help her become familiar with her work.

The teacher’s surname was Qian. He was chubby and although he appeared gentle and good-natured, it was said that he had previously trained in boxing.

The equipment room door was wide open, with a strong breeze blowing in.

Inside, the room was bright and clean. Teacher Qian stood stunned at the doorway.

After a while, Teacher Qian walked into the room delightedly and praised her, “Teacher Lin has organized the warehouse. What a positive work attitude!”

“It needed to be organized anyway, and I had nothing else to do.”

“So is Teacher Lin still free now? Our office also needs cleaning…”

Lin Wanxing smiled, “No problem, I can go whenever cleaning is needed.”

“I’m just joking, don’t take it seriously.” Teacher Qian had an imposing physique, but his voice was soft and gentle. He walked around the shelves.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Wanxing simply brought out all the equipment she considered to be obsolete for Teacher Qian to inspect one by one.

Jump ropes with broken strings, deflated basketballs, badminton rackets with broken strings…

Finally, she handed him the verified inventory list.

After Teacher Qian confirmed it, it could be submitted at the logistics meeting.

“If there’s any equipment that needs to be replaced, you can tell me the type and quantity when you have time,” Lin Wanxing said finally.

Teacher Qian looked at the basket of damaged equipment and felt embarrassed. “Ahem, Teacher Lin… school is also a workplace.”

“Huh?”

“Workplace experience means don’t be too diligent, otherwise all tasks will find their way to you.”

“What you say makes sense!” Lin Wanxing said while handing him another piece of paper. “Teacher Qian, I’ve also checked all the large equipment. Here’s the list. When do you think we can inspect whether the equipment is in good condition?”

Teacher Qian was speechless.

Although he had cautioned her verbally, Teacher Qian still took the time during lunch break to take her around the playground.

Teacher Qian showed her all the large equipment under their jurisdiction. They checked the basketball hoops, soccer goals, parallel bars, and uneven bars…

A regular high school doesn’t have much large equipment, but being exposed to wind and rain, they easily suffer severe wear and tear. Without frequent inspections, they could become safety hazards.

Lin Wanxing noted on her small board that she needed to remember to clean the sandpit daily.

She also recorded a broken backboard, rusted parallel bars, and missing soccer nets on the school’s goals.

Teacher Qian looked at what she was recording on her small board and said, “The budget is limited, and your application might not necessarily be approved.”

“Let’s just try,” Lin Wanxing said.

Teacher Qian spent the entire lunch break in the equipment room.

The first class of the afternoon was Teacher Qian’s class, so he simply didn’t return to his own office.

Lin Wanxing was organizing the notes she had just taken in the equipment room, while Teacher Qian, like a large mass, reclined in a chair nearby drinking tea and reading a newspaper. He held a pencil in his hand, playing with the puzzles in the newspaper—very much behaving like a middle-aged or elderly person.

A tall male student knocked at the door, saying he was the PE class representative and needed to see Teacher Qian about what equipment would be needed for the first PE class of the afternoon.

The boy had a narrow, long scar below the corner of his eye. One second he was grinning, the next second he froze when he saw her.

Lin Wanxing looked up, feeling that every meeting with student Qin Ao always seemed remarkably coincidental.

Teacher Qian put down his newspaper and said, “Next class we’re playing volleyball. Take out the volleyball basket, making sure there’s one ball for every two students in the class.”

Qin Ao nodded and turned to walk towards the ball section.

Lin Wanxing watched Qin Ao’s tall figure and asked Teacher Qian, “PE class representative?”

“Yes, before each class, the PE class representative comes to borrow equipment according to the PE teacher’s requirements.” Teacher Qian briefly explained the process to her.

Qin Ao finished counting the volleyballs and carried the basket out.

Although Lin Wanxing thought the basket was nearly half her height, Qin Ao carried it effortlessly.

The boy, without looking back, attempted to walk straight out the door.

Lin Wanxing called, “Qin Ao.”

Qin Ao’s figure stiffened. He turned around, bowing and smiling nervously, “Teacher, do you need something from me?”

“You haven’t signed yet.” Lin Wanxing opened the equipment loan and return register and pushed it to the edge of the desk.

Qin Ao put down the volleyball basket and walked over.

On the “loan and return register,” a line with “Qin Ao” signed by Chen Jianghe was conspicuously visible.

Qin Ao glanced at Teacher Qian.

Teacher Qian was still working on the puzzle in the newspaper, not looking at them.

The boy immediately took the pen and vigorously blacked out the “Qin Ao” in the “soccer ball” column of the previous line, then forcibly wrote “Chen Jianghe” in the narrow blank space beside it.

Lin Wanxing twirled her pen and pointed at the first column. “Write how many volleyballs you’re borrowing here. Make sure the number is clear.”

“I know.”

Qin Ao quickly filled it out and left after putting down the pen.

“Qin Ao,” Teacher Qian called after him.

Qin Ao stopped abruptly and turned back after a moment. “Teacher Qian, is there anything else?”

“I haven’t seen you training with the sports students lately. Are you slacking off?”

“I’m not pursuing sports anymore. My mom wants me to work at my uncle’s factory after high school graduation.”

“What does your uncle do?”

“Hardware.”

“Working at a hardware factory isn’t easy. It’s not good to have no plans for your future like this.” Teacher Qian put down his newspaper and sat up straight. “Listen, if you focus on the sports track for the college entrance exam, then enter a sports college with a soccer specialization, you could at least become a coach afterward. Why did you just stop training?”

“I’m not cut out for it. My academic scores aren’t good enough for these options,” Qin Ao said dismissively.

He left the equipment room carrying a large basket of volleyballs, while Teacher Qian continued to grieve about his decision.

Lin Wanxing analyzed the information in their conversation and suddenly asked, “Does Qin Ao play soccer too?”

“Yes, he used to be on our high school soccer team. He has great endurance.”

“What about Chen Jianghe? Were they on the same team before?”

“That’s right.” Teacher Qian smiled. “Teacher Lin is impressive, already getting to know so many students in just two days?”

“Just happened to run into them at school.” Lin Wanxing glossed over it. “I didn’t know our high school has a team?”

“There used to be a team. The previous principal liked to establish these performance projects. Don’t let Qin Ao’s current careless attitude fool you—their team achieved good results before, which is why they were admitted to our high school as sports specialty students. But after the principal changed, the new one particularly disliked these activities, so they gradually stopped playing.”

Lin Wanxing paused slightly, “Stopped playing? Why?”

“Various reasons. Parents thought soccer had no future. The national team’s poor performance created a bad social environment. As for the students themselves, well, by high school there was no one seriously supervising them. Their team had good results before, but later they just didn’t care, and it fell apart.”

“I see.”

Teacher Qian picked up his teacup and blew away the tea leaves floating on top. “In my opinion, they shouldn’t have come to high school at all. A sports technical school would have been much better. High school is too difficult; they simply can’t keep up.”

Teacher Qian finished speaking after taking a sip of tea and shaking his head.

Lin Wanxing remained silent for a while.

“It’s still a bit of a shame,” she said.

13:15.

Students for the first PE class arrived leisurely.

Lin Wanxing wasn’t a PE intern teacher, so she just sat on a small stool by the window of the equipment room facing the playground, observing the PE class.

The PE class routine was monotonous.

After the teacher and students greeted each other, Teacher Qian first had Qin Ao lead everyone in a slow jog to warm up.

The students were lazy and scattered, but Teacher Qian pretended not to notice. He walked around the playground twice, and by the time he returned, it was already time to begin the formal lesson content.

This class’s theme was volleyball.

The teaching content was front double-hand bump pass.

Teacher Qian demonstrated a few actions and then had the students stand in two rows to practice with each other.

He guided and corrected several students, and when the time seemed right, he had pairs of students take one volleyball each to practice freely.

The students all liked Teacher Qian’s PE classes. After dismissal for free activity, everyone could do their own thing.

For instance, there were several boys from Class 5 on the playground who first pretended to wander around the volleyball court. When no one was paying attention, they secretly slipped toward the small woods at the edge of the playground.

Lin Wanxing observed all of this.

After a while, she put her phone in her pocket and walked toward the small woods where the boys had disappeared.

Under a secluded camphor tree in the small woods, Lin Wanxing found three boys engulfed in clouds of smoke.

They held cigarettes, their school uniform zippers open, striking cool poses.

One of them was Qin Ao.

When Lin Wanxing appeared, Qin Ao had just tapped ash onto the ground. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and jumped in fright.

The boy’s face showed shock and frustration. He opened his mouth, probably wanting to say “Teacher,” but couldn’t get it out.

The remaining two students looked up, left and right, momentarily confused about the situation, yet unwilling to extinguish their cigarettes. One of them even secretly took another drag from the filter, his eyes large, his eyelashes curled, his expression panicked but cute.

Qin Ao recovered, adjusted his emotions, and asked with a fake smile, “Teacher, do you need me for something?”

“No, just passing by,” Lin Wanxing said.

Upon hearing the word “Teacher,” the other two boys under the tree suddenly became flustered, hurriedly throwing away their cigarette butts and stamping them out.

Qin Ao, on the contrary, remained very calm. “Aren’t you going to drag me to the academic affairs office?”

“No need. I’m waiting for my milk tea here.” Lin Wanxing pointed to the school’s iron fence outside the woods.

“Then you wait, Teacher.”

After saying this, Qin Ao squatted down again. With a “click,” he opened his lighter and blatantly lit another cigarette in front of her.

The gesture was full of defiance.

Lin Wanxing didn’t mind. She squatted down beside Qin Ao’s smoking buddy and asked, “Do you know how to play soccer?”

The young boy was still in a state of confusion. Hearing this question, he suddenly became excited and said, “Yes! I’m super awesome at soccer!”

“What about Qin Ao? Is he super awesome too?”

“Oh, Old Qin? He’s terrible at it!”

“Lin Lu!” Qin Ao called his smoking buddy with a rather stern voice.

“Just chatting a bit, don’t be nervous.” Lin Wanxing continued to squat with the high school student named Lin Lu and asked, “Do you still play now? Are there any matches? Can I come to watch if I have time?”

Hearing these words, Lin Lu was suddenly shocked. “It’s 6102 now, and you still watch soccer matches? Soccer is passé; now is the era of electronic sports!”

“So what games do you play?” Lin Wanxing asked.

“I’m super awesome at Honor of Kings. I play Li Bai with elegant flair!” Lin Lu answered.

“Bullshit, you only know how to play Cai Wenjie!” another boy beside him criticized.

Lin Wanxing chatted with them about games for a while. Five minutes later, a delivery person stood outside the fence, passing milk tea into the campus.

Lin Wanxing inserted the straw through the sealed cover, took a sip, changed position, and squatted down beside Qin Ao.

Qin Ao blew a smoke ring and raised an eyebrow.

Lin Wanxing asked, “What about you? Are you also super awesome at Honor of Kings?”

Qin Ao replied, “Teacher, I don’t play games. I study hard and make progress every day.”

“What about before? Teacher Qian said your team was very good at soccer. Did you win some impressive championships? Why did you suddenly give up?”

Qin Ao suddenly stopped smiling.

“Teacher…” Qin Ao interrupted her.

“Yes?”

“Weren’t you waiting for your milk tea earlier? Now your milk tea has arrived.”

“So now I can drink my milk tea and chat with you, right?” Lin Wanxing said.

Lin Lu burst out laughing with a “puff.”

Qin Ao smacked Lin Lu on the head, looking like he couldn’t stand it anymore. He took a drag on his cigarette, stamped it out, stood up, and walked away.

The two little followers hurriedly tried to keep up with their leader.

Lin Lu chased after Qin Ao’s retreating figure for a couple of steps, then as if suddenly remembering something, ran back, edged up to her, and whispered secretly, “Teacher, we’re not champions.”

“Huh?”

“We’re forever… the runners-up~”