From late autumn to early winter, the change seemed to happen overnight.

Cold air moved south, making rooms so chilly in the morning that one wanted to stay wrapped in blankets. Stepping outside, the wind that hit your face told you the temperature of winter.

On the second day of formal training, Wen Chengye still arrived on time.

According to other classmates, the small car responsible for dropping him off daily had stopped at the entrance of Wutong Village.

In Yuan Yuan’s tutoring class, Wen Chengye continued to slack off. During daily football training, everyone remained combative.

Lin Wanxing thought that only Wen Chengye’s integration process could be as straightforward as the cold air.

To this, Wang Fa sneezed, zipped up his jacket, and remarked that winter required body maintenance, as strong winds easily caused colds and fevers.

Though Lin Wanxing also hoped everyone could practice for a few more days.

But match arrangements wouldn’t adjust according to the team’s bonding progress.

On the fifth day after Wen Chengye joined, the match arrived like winter wind sweeping across the plains, howling as it came.

Their next opponent was the current group powerhouse, Yongchuan Hengda Football Club.

When training ended that day, the latest group stage results were announced.

Yongchuan Hengda Football Club crushed Yuzhou Yinxiang 9-0 in the second round of group matches.

Qin Ao hurriedly opened the WeChat public account, only to see this shocking result.

After dinner, everyone sat in the classroom, anxiously calculating points.

Fu Xinshu, who was responsible for tracking match situations, picked up the chalk and wrote a summary of the first two rounds on the blackboard for the pre-match meeting.

First Round:

Hongjing No.8 Middle School 2:0 Yuzhou Yinxiang

Yongchuan Hengda 7:0 Shencheng Haibo

Points:

Yongchuan Hengda 3

Hongjing No.8 Middle School 3

Yuzhou Yinxiang 0

Shencheng Haibo 0

Second Round:

Shencheng Haibo 5:0 Hongjing No.8 Middle School

Yongchuan Hengda 9:0 Yuzhou Yinxiang

Points:

Yongchuan Hengda 6

Shencheng Haibo 3

Hongjing No.8 Middle School 3

Yuzhou Yinxiang 0

The students sat in their seats, seeing from the results table that they still had 3 points, considerably better than Yuzhou Yinxiang at the bottom.

But everyone looked grave, with no one showing a relaxed or happy expression.

Fu Xinshu was responsible for explaining the group situation. He said, “Yongchuan Hengda is too strong. They won their first two rounds with big scores of 7-0 and 9-0. I checked the match reports, and they achieved these scores in just half a game. They substituted three key players in the second half and played very casually. Anyway, according to the points, they’ve already secured first place in the group.”

He glanced at the coach sitting below the platform, and after receiving what seemed like encouragement, continued, “The third round of group matches is crucial. We’ll face Yongchuan Hengda, while Shencheng Haibo and Yuzhou Yinxiang will also fight a decisive battle. If Yuzhou Yinxiang loses again, they’ll be in an extremely disadvantageous position for qualifying from the group.”

“How Yuzhou Yinxiang and Shencheng Haibo play has nothing to do with us. The key is how to deal with Yongchuan Hengda!” Qin Ao interrupted Fu Xinshu.

“We can’t win anyway, so how can we deal with them?” Qi Liang yawned as he said this.

“How do you know we can’t win if we haven’t played yet!” Qin Ao raised his voice, trying to boost everyone’s morale.

The classroom fell silent, with no one responding.

“Are you all so spineless?” Qin Ao shouted, finally looking at Chen Jianghe, “Didn’t you always want to join Yongchuan Hengda’s youth training? Just outplay them this time, and you’re set!”

Chen Jianghe’s face was cold, “None of your business.”

“This time they have three national youth team members in their squad. Fang Sulun scored an overhead kick inside the penalty area against Japan before. He’s arrogant but his technique is extremely refined. And don’t even mention Qin Qichu. When I was scrolling through Douhu before, all the guys were saying he’s being groomed as the national team’s defensive pillar,” Zheng Feiyang sighed.

“If none of you have confidence, why don’t we just forfeit?” Qin Ao said with a bit of temper, finally looking at Wang Fa, “Coach, what do you think!”

Wang Fa was suddenly called on and commented, “Everyone’s analysis is very good.”

“That’s not what I’m asking you to say!”

“Then what do you want me to say?” Wang Fa asked.

“About our next opponent, Yongchuan Hengda. Haven’t you been giving us targeted training? Isn’t everything possible?”

When Qin Ao asked this question.

The other students in the classroom raised their heads. Though they tried to hide it, hope still lingered in their eyes.

They wanted Wang Fa to say something that would give them confidence for the upcoming match, and this included Wen Chengye.

Wang Fa said, “Don’t worry about the match against Yongchuan Hengda.”

The students’ eyes brightened even more.

Wang Fa continued, “They will defeat all opponents and qualify as group champions.”

The students were stunned, “Including us?”

“Of course including us,” Wang Fa said.

At first, the students were incredulous.

Wang Fa was extremely confident as if that undefeated team was his own.

Theoretically, they should feel depressed and dejected hearing their coach say such things.

But for some unknown reason, perhaps due to the coach’s relaxed calmness, a strange emotion welled up from their hearts.

“Then why do we even play these matches if we’re certain to lose?” A cold, calm voice from the corner of the classroom broke the silence.

The person asking was Wen Chengye.

The other students, habitually despising him, gave him disdainful glances.

However, this time, even Qin Ao didn’t retort.

The students turned back, all looking at Wang Fa, waiting for the coach’s answer.

When they first faced Lüjing International, the students had already contemplated giving up.

At that time, Lin Wanxing had asked Wang Fa to shift the students’ focus. From simple win-or-lose results to practicing specific content and gaining a sense of growth in ability.

They had been persevering slowly all along and had done well.

But strong opponents remained strong.

You look down at your feet, trying your best to climb, then suddenly look up and realize that high mountains are still high mountains.

At that moment, who hasn’t thought about giving up?

On the cold winter night, only a small window was open in the classroom.

Outside the building, passersby walked along the small path of the village, and a stray cat was startled and darted into the bushes.

Wang Fa randomly pointed at a student and asked, “Which team do you like the most?”

The one pointed at happened to be Lin Lu, who said, “Of course our Hongjing No.8 Middle School team!”

Lin Lu’s answer amused even Wang Fa, “Well, temporarily excluding our Hongjing No.8 Middle School team, which team do you like?”

“Inter Milan!”

“If you had a chance to play a match against Inter Milan, would you give up the opportunity because you’re destined to lose?”

“I’d beg for a match! But what’s Yongchuan Hengda? Some worthless nobodies! How can they compare to me?” Lin Lu immediately retorted.

Wang Fa said, “Yongchuan Hengda’s youth team certainly isn’t as desirable as Inter Milan, but it’s also the strongest opponent we can face right now.”

The students’ originally restless emotions calmed down again.

They seemed to understand some of Wang Fa’s meaning, but not exactly.

“Let’s see how strong they are and what makes them better than us,” Qin Ao suddenly began to understand.

“Watching strong teams play against each other must feel completely different from personally stepping onto the field, right?” Lin Wanxing said.

Yu Ming suddenly got excited too, “That’s right, we’re awesome enough to get into the group stage and play against future national team players. Others can’t even get close.”

Lin Wanxing nodded, “Exactly, even if we end up crying after being thrashed, that’s a matter for later.”

“Who’s going to cry!”

“It’s just one match!”

“Maybe we can win!”

The boys spoke one after another, suddenly full of fighting spirit.

The night before the match, the students finished their day of learning, training, and living.

Tomorrow they would go to the stadium. The organizing committee would provide lunch, so they only prepared some simple dinner ingredients, cooked them, and put them in the freezer.

The vegetables from the rooftop garden were tidied up, and when leaving, the students wanted to say something.

Perhaps some uneasiness and uncertainty, even if they were encouraged at heart, who could be completely relaxed when facing a strong opponent?

But in the end, they picked up garbage bags that needed to be thrown away and left, crowding together.

After the students left, Lin Wanxing finally had some free time to do other things.

The wind on the rooftop was cool.

But the students had set up a new shelter, and placed an electric heater, and it was barely habitable.

Sparkling water was no longer drinkable, and Wang Fa now made various hot drinks.

Today’s theme was hot chocolate.

Comrade Wang Fa knew well that the core technique for making a good cup of hot chocolate was to squeeze a circle of light cream on top no matter what, and if conditions didn’t allow, a few marshmallows would do.

Lin Wanxing opened her laptop at the wooden dining table on the rooftop.

In the upper left corner of the computer desktop was the schedule.

After tomorrow’s match against Yongchuan Hengda, due to the cold weather and the approaching Spring Festival, they would have a break period and would restart a new round of away games in March next year.

As usual, she made a simple summary of the student’s daily lives over the past few days, added photos, and saved them in her email, which served as a small summary after Wen Chengye joined.

But when she had pasted the photos and was about to write a few words about the team after Wen Chengye joined, she suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Write about how the students argue every day.

Write about how football training now often resembles the charging and crashing of a rugby team.

Or more gently, write that although Wen Chengye is always at odds with other team members, being able to stand on the field and train with the team already shows great progress.

That she’s looking forward to tomorrow’s match?

Lin Wanxing typed a few lines, then erased them.

She felt that the current email should have some other meaning, as a report to someone who had been quietly helping the students all along. Writing something meaningless was worse than not writing at all.

Just then, a cup of hot chocolate was placed beside her, with cream piled high, topped with almond bits and marshmallows, looking very tempting.

Lin Wanxing looked up with a smile. Wang Fa held another hot drink and sat down across from her.

“What are you writing?” Wang Fa asked.

“Oh, baby observation diary.”

Lin Wanxing took a sip of hot chocolate, the marshmallow melting softly in her mouth. She rested her chin on her hand, looking at the coach across the table.

Wang Fa also took a sip, getting a small brownish smudge on his lips. His features were handsome, and he looked very relaxed.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Fa asked, “Writer’s block?”

“Mm, I don’t know what to write for the summary,” Lin Wanxing said.

Wang Fa said, “Any match has a chance of winning, as long as we can all be of one mind, and seriously try our best in the match, there’s always a chance.”

Lin Wanxing was shocked, suspecting her ears had problems, “Did someone switch with you or possess you? Didn’t you just say we couldn’t win against Yongchuan Hengda?”

“Afraid you couldn’t think of words, helping you make up a few sentences,” Wang Fa said.

Lin Wanxing immediately deflated, half-lying on the table, “Sigh…”

Wang Fa found her reaction amusing, “If I could determine the outcome of a match by saying a few casual words, then Teacher Lin probably couldn’t afford to hire me.”

“What joke is that, I can’t afford you anyway!” Lin Wanxing retorted righteously.

Wang Fa took another sip of hot chocolate without speaking.

In the quiet winter night, the steaming mist blurred his features.

“I’m just, a little conflicted inside,” Lin Wanxing slowly began, finding it difficult to describe her emotions, “I guess it’s like, even though we tell the students that being able to face strong opponents and experience them is already the result of our efforts, a huge gain. But, there’s always going to be that little thought, right?”

Lin Wanxing looked at Wang Fa very confusedly, “We climbed this mountain, but we’re not satisfied with the current view. We want to go higher, want to conquer strong opponents, want to turn the impossible into possible.”

“You think that calmly recognizing the opponent’s strength and telling them the clear result of failure is a bit cruel to the students?”

“I think your viewpoint, from a psychological perspective, is completely correct. Letting students focus on the specific gains from the match, not fixating on winning or losing, they can learn more. But this is football, a game full of dreams and passion.”

Hearing this, Wang Fa put down his cup and gazed at her.

Lin Wanxing suddenly remembered that all these things, all the dreams and passion, were her fantasies. For Wang Fa, his football wasn’t like that.

“Everyone carries their fervent beliefs, that’s normal. If there was no challenge to the impossible, then the sport of football would be meaningless,” Wang Fa said calmly, “I just understand the current state of this team, and the impossibility now doesn’t mean impossibility in the future.”

Lin Wanxing’s eyes suddenly brightened, “Since Wen Chengye joined, it feels like our team argues every day. Is it possible?”

“Wen Chengye has good abilities, he’s smart and has a football foundation. In some sense, he’s more suitable for the team than Chen Weidong.”

“But?” Lin Wanxing helped Wang Fa with a transitional word.

“But, his excellence is only relative to high school player levels, not reaching the level of ‘destiny-changing’ that you want,” Wang Fa used a term he’d recently seen in a fantasy novel, continuing, “Secondly, his position is defender, which is a position that requires discipline and cooperation more than ability. His poor relationship with teammates only makes him a time bomb in the defense line. Compared to Chen Weidong before, Wen Chengye’s current role in the field is much worse. At least a Chen Weidong who runs and listens is more reliable on the field than the current Wen Chengye.” Wang Fa said.

“Then what about the future?” Lin Wanxing asked.

Wang Fa smiled and asked, “What future is Teacher Lin referring to? Defeating Yongchuan Hengda, winning the Youth Super League, or someday playing a match against Inter Milan?”

Lin Wanxing thought for a moment and said, “Just… I want to know, do we have a chance to qualify from the group stage?”

“So that’s what you’re worried about?” Wang Fa was somewhat surprised.

“Of course, I’m worried about that. If we keep losing, doesn’t that mean we can’t qualify?”

Lin Wanxing picked up the paper beside her and buried her head in calculating points for Wang Fa.

Their 3rd and 5th rounds were both against Yongchuan Hengda, and if they were bound to lose, then it would be best to win against their 4th round opponent, only then would they have a chance to qualify.

As she said this, she noticed Wang Fa looking at her with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

Lin Wanxing put down the paper on the table and the pen in her hand. To hide her embarrassment, she tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

At that moment, she transformed into a parent busy calculating scores for her child.

Although she always said, “Don’t mind the results, don’t mind winning or losing, just feel the progress in the matches.”

But in reality, people are like ouroboros, always falling into self-cycles.

Always involuntarily chasing their tails, spinning in circles in place, even she would do this.

Lin Wanxing cleared her throat lightly, folded the calculation paper, and tucked it into her pocket.

“You didn’t see anything,” she said.

“So Teacher Lin also gets anxious,” Wang Fa said.

“Is that not allowed?”

“It’s fine,” he said.

“What, are you saying qualifying is fine?” Lin Wanxing was shocked.

“That still has some issues, I meant, your worry about qualifying is fine,” Wang Fa took a sip of hot cocoa, his breath smelling of chocolate.

He was carefree, as if confident in his chest.

Lin Wanxing always felt that Wang Fa was deliberately teasing her.