Later, Lin Wanxing thought, if this was about learning.

Then currently playing against Yongchuan Hengda was like elementary school students—no, seventh graders—taking a college entrance exam math test.

Tests that were too difficult, papers lacking differentiation, easily made students lose confidence and the joy of learning.

Lin Wanxing wasn’t certain whether, under these circumstances, glimpsing the world of the strong still held much meaning.

Fortunately, there was a two-month break until the next match.

Without the pressure of match schedules, time could solve some problems.

Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa decided to give everyone two days off after the match against Yongchuan Hengda.

But the students didn’t want freedom at all. They desperately insisted they didn’t want a vacation.

In their own words—

“At home, all I think about is the match!”

“The gap is already so big, how can we not work hard!”

“Home is so boring!”

In short, they had their reasons.

Early Sunday morning, Lin Wanxing was again woken by their work sounds in the rooftop vegetable garden.

The boys worked very efficiently.

Millet porridge with salted duck eggs, egg pancakes with pickled vegetables, and soy milk with beef-filled pastries.

Looking at the breakfast table, Lin Wanxing could only eat with her head down.

Although the students were chattering noisily, they hadn’t emerged from yesterday’s shadow of defeat, eating very glumly.

When Wang Fa pushed open the door, he was intimidated by the intensity of eating.

He ladled a bowl of porridge from the stove and sat in the empty seat beside her.

After a few bites, Wang Fa realized something. “Isn’t today a day off?”

“Yes,” Lin Wanxing was also tired. Yesterday she had chatted with Wang Fa until very late, plus she’d had some alcohol and hadn’t fully woken up.

Wang Fa yawned, suddenly looking a bit pitiful as he said, “I thought capitalists wouldn’t even give two days off a month.”

Hearing this, Lin Wanxing’s eyes brightened, and she tapped the table at the students. “Did you hear that? The coach wants a day off. You don’t want a day off yourselves, but you can’t deny us our rest!”

“But—”

“But what but!”

“Shouldn’t we vote on whether to rest or not?”

“That’s right, Teacher and Coach, you can rest if you want!”

“But you can’t force us to rest or not rest!”

The students spoke one after another like a tongue twister, giving Lin Wanxing a headache.

Winter sunlight shone down from the roof, and half the cold-resistant plants in the vegetable garden were still growing diligently.

After thinking for a moment, she could only let them do as they pleased.

Lin Wanxing’s original day-off plan was very simple—morning: wash the duvet cover, sun the blankets, and clean the room. Afternoon: read books, take a nap. Before dinner: ask Wang Fa if he had any plans, whether to find food together.

The life of a homebody was just that plain and simple.

The washing machine was under the eaves for shared use.

Lin Wanxing threw her four-piece bedding set into the washing machine, and Wang Fa very conscientiously brought his bed sheets and duvet covers to add.

Outside, the boys were chattering, wondering what to do on this precious day off.

They first listed a bunch of plans, like card games such as Werewolf or Legend of the Three Kingdoms, or watching movies together. Lin Lu then suggested that everyone form a five-player team to rank up in a game.

The last option was immediately rejected.

“Last time we played as a five-stack, weren’t we slaughtered like pigs by the opponents!” Yu Ming said.

“Is it possible that you were pigs?” Qi Liang laughed.

The boys argued on the side, but eventually, as they chatted, they still couldn’t get over yesterday’s crushing defeat and took a football downstairs.

The rooftop suddenly emptied, with only the sound of the washing machine drum working diligently in the air.

When Lin Wanxing finished tidying her room and came out, she saw Wang Fa lying alone on the wooden sofa on the rooftop. His baseball cap was turned backward on his face, purely sunbathing.

The washing machine had just stopped, and the air smelled of laundry detergent and sunshine.

Wang Fa got up to retrieve the clean bedding, while Lin Wanxing went to set up bamboo poles.

The small basin couldn’t hold all the washed sheets and duvet covers, so Wang Fa made several trips to bring them over.

There was a red mark on his cheek from the wooden sofa, and he looked lazy and relaxed.

Lin Wanxing pulled the sheet over the bamboo pole and couldn’t help asking, “Coach, for this day off you’ve been longing for, don’t you have other plans?”

The sunlight filtered through the blue checkered sheet; his eyelashes were very long, and his eye color appeared particularly light.

Wang Fa looked very innocent. “I’m waiting for Teacher Lin’s arrangements. Am I not being obvious enough?”

The wind blew the sheet up, and Lin Wanxing got a faceful of it.

She hurriedly waved away the sheet, coughing twice. “Let me think about it.”

Wang Fa fished out the last sheet from the plastic basin and tossed it over the bamboo pole.

On the sheet were two cats, one black and one white. Lin Wanxing held the edge of the fabric and shook it flat.

Under the blue sky, the crumpled bodies of the small cats were spread out, and the air was fragrant with laundry detergent.

Wang Fa also mimicked her actions.

Shake, shake.

Commercial street, shop window.

The kitten behind the floor-to-ceiling glass window shook its body.

It was a chubby cow-patterned cat, front paws stretching forward, back pressed low, forcefully stretching in a lazy yawn.

Wang Fa’s fair fingertips tapped on the shop window, and the cat turned its back to him.

A glance floated over.

Lin Wanxing said, “I didn’t know the cat cafe was closed today!”

Yes, after hanging the sheets and sun-drying the cotton wadding.

Lin Wanxing, to fulfill her “employee’s” wish and become a not-so-“unscrupulous” capitalist, had arranged a cat cafe trip.

But when they walked here, a “Closed” sign at the door directly disrupted Lin Wanxing’s plan.

She opened the review app and discovered that the cat cafe’s operating hours began at 13:00.

And now…

They had been busy all morning, and it was just after 10:00.

Hongjing was an ancient city. Winter days in ancient cities saw few people, and on Sundays, everyone slept in and didn’t like to go out. Maybe this street was relatively remote, so not many people came.

Fortunately, the milk tea shop next to the cat cafe was still open. Lin Wanxing ordered two cups of milk tea as a benefits for the employee.

Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa leaned against a stone bench by the street.

Inside the shop, a chubby golden shaded cat lay down, flipped over to expose its belly and rolled around, seemingly arrogantly taunting them for not being able to enter.

Lin Wanxing breathed on her hands, looking at the cat cafe across the small road, angrily saying, “Next time I’ll come and make you cry!”

“What?” Wang Fa turned to look at her.

Lin Wanxing said, “I meant Little Liang!”

She pointed at the cat in the shop window.

“It’s called Little Liang?” Wang Fa chatted with her casually.

“Yes, golden-shaded cats are usually silly, but Little Liang is just sly,” Lin Wanxing whispered in Wang Fa’s ear. “Is it possible that all those with ‘Liang’ in their names are like this?”

“Very possible,” Wang Fa paused. “What’s that cow-patterned cat called?”

“It’s called Sheriff. Though the name is very common, it’s quite smart. That big-faced black cat is called Wanwan. Wanwan often pees everywhere.”

Lin Wanxing was thoroughly familiar, introducing each cat behind the glass window to Wang Fa one by one.

The milk tea was ready across the street. Wang Fa stood up with his hands in his pockets and brought back two cups.

The milk tea was warm to the touch, and her fingers gradually warmed up as they held it. Lin Wanxing inserted the straw and took a sip, then exhaled twice because it was hot.

“When you were abroad, did you have any pets?”

Wang Fa thought for a moment. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t have time to take care of them.”

“I see…”

“Teacher Lin seems so familiar. Do you come here often to spend money?” Wang Fa also took a couple of sips of milk tea and asked.

“Mm, there was a period when I wasn’t feeling well, so I often came to pet cats,” Lin Wanxing said.

“Why weren’t you feeling well?” Wang Fa asked.

This question was very ordinary.

Lin Wanxing sat beside him under the bare plane tree. The sunlight was gentle, and the wind wasn’t so cool. But she could still feel her heart racing, an involuntary physiological reaction caused by the memory itself.

Her fingers stiffened. Lin Wanxing relaxed a bit before saying, “Wang Fa, you see, the difference between you and me is that no matter what, you’re very honest with me.” Lin Wanxing looked at him. “But I can’t do that. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Silence persisted for a while, and the young man looked at her with very calm eyes.

His hair seemed slightly longer because he hadn’t cut it recently, and the strands looked very soft in the sunlight.

“It’s okay,” Wang Fa took a sip of milk tea, comforting her. “At least that statement was honest.”

After finishing the milk tea, the cat cafe was of course still not open.

The students’ phone calls had already come in.

The boys first asked where they were, then said they had decided to go swimming and asked if they wanted to join.

Lin Wanxing initially wanted to refuse but suddenly thought of something.

“Where are you going swimming? The sports center on Wuchuan Road?” she asked.

“Yes, where else could we go!” Qin Ao said on the other end of the phone. “We haven’t used our swimming vouchers for a while. Teacher, you said it’s a vacation, but we can’t just purely rest, right? Swimming’s good, isn’t it!”

Lin Wanxing nodded. “Yes, it’s good.”

Qin Ao was still urging on the other end, asking if they wanted to join.

Lin Wanxing asked, “All ten of you? Did you call Wen Chengye?”

“Why call a dog?” Qin Ao said impatiently. “Besides, this is for relaxation and fun, not a group activity.”

Lin Wanxing covered the mouthpiece and asked Wang Fa, “Hasn’t Wen Chengye been to the gym yet?”

Wang Fa replied, “No, he hasn’t.”

“I remember Wen Chengye doesn’t have a gym card. It’s perfect to call him along to get one,” Lin Wanxing found a way out for Qin Ao.

On the other end of the phone, the young man was stuck. He was probably searching desperately for a reason to refuse.

Qin Ao said, “Wen Chengye always wants to harm people. What if he drowns us in the pool!”

Lin Wanxing replied, “Then you should be careful.”

The other students were also arguing noisily. Most people were resistant to Wen Chengye. But they also felt that not inviting him would make it seem like they were excluding him.

After a while, Qin Ao said, “Then I’ll ask if Old Fu is willing! Anyway, you can’t force us!”

With that, he hung up.