In front of her, the students were still in a state of confused bewilderment.

Actually, Lin Wanxing also felt that talking about choices and life was too abstract for a group of seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys.

They had grown up on decks and in cabins, and even when occasionally encountering storms, their lives were mostly comfortable and peaceful. Their life journeys had only just begun, with vast waters ahead. Suddenly telling them that every sailor would be cast adrift at sea to float alone seemed too cruel.

Before her were faces full of youthful energy. Lin Wanxing sighed softly and decided to change the topic.

“So, who’s planning to train?”

The students were stunned for a moment.

Fu Xinshu raised his hand. “I am. No matter the outcome, if there’s hope, I want to try.”

Chen Jianghe had been standing against the wall with his head down. Hearing this, he finally glanced at Fu Xinshu.

His gaze was cold, but there were also some other emotions.

“I don’t mind,” said Yu Ming.

“If everyone’s training, I can too,” Zheng Feiyang stated.

“You guys decide. If you need me, I’ll join in for practice.” This was Feng Suo.

“Shit, what do you mean ‘if you need me’? How can we play without a goalkeeper?”

The students chattered back and forth, becoming lively again.

They all expressed that if others were playing, they could join in too, but if not, they didn’t mind not playing.

Qin Ao never expressed his position from beginning to end.

“Then let me first send a WeChat message to my elementary school classmate and ask,” Lin Wanxing opened the WeChat account she had added the day before yesterday.

“Your chat history is empty,” Yu Ming, who was sitting very close to her, suddenly said.

“Ha, after all that talk, teacher, are you using us as an excuse to chat with a handsome guy?” Zheng Feiyang shouted.

“I’m trying to find you guys a coach. How can you accuse your teacher of making excuses to chat with a handsome guy?” Lin Wanxing protested.

“Our fault, our fault,” Qi Liang said with a sarcastic tone.

“So should I send it or not?” Lin Wanxing was both annoyed and amused.

The students chatted some more, and Lin Wanxing’s nervousness about sending the message was also significantly relieved.

“You mentioned earlier that you’re back in China between jobs… Since the students all like you very much, I wanted to ask if you have time to come guide our school’s soccer team?”

“What does ‘students all like’ mean?” Qi Liang found another highlight. “Oh, you don’t like him?”

“I think he’s just okay! He seemed pretty impressive in the first match.”

“Change it to ‘the students and I.’ You can’t always use us as an excuse,” Qi Liang suddenly adopted a tone of gentle persuasion.

“Teacher, are you perhaps… not very good at chatting with boys?” Fu Xinshu also suddenly spoke with a serious tone.

“I’ll add it, I’ll add it.” Lin Wanxing immediately surrendered, editing the message again according to the students’ suggestions.

Under the hopeful gaze of the students, she sent the message.

For the next minute or two, everyone waited for a reply, but no notification appeared. Lin Wanxing simply put away her phone. “Alright, I’ll let you know when he responds. Next, shouldn’t we discuss the venue issue?”

“Can’t we play on the school playground?”

“I’ll ask the school’s sports department teachers if it’s possible. But most likely, we can only use the school field for a short time after classes. At other times, there are PE classes on the field, and it wouldn’t be convenient for us to train there all the time,” Lin Wanxing explained in her assessment.

“Classes end at 5:30, and evening self-study starts after 7:00. Just one hour isn’t enough,” Feng Suo said worriedly.

“Don’t you remember when we trained in tenth grade? After 5:30, the sports students also need to train, and everyone competes for the field.”

“Did we ever lose those competitions?” As the students chatted, the topic changed to how to handle group fights.

Lin Wanxing quickly interrupted them. “How did you train back in tenth grade? Were you always fighting over the field?”

“Later we retreated. Isn’t there an old stadium next to the school? It’s a public facility, so we trained there.”

“That’s pretty good,” Lin Wanxing rubbed her chin. “If you fight outside school, you can run fast enough not to get caught—safer than fighting at school.”

In summary, the second congress concluded with everyone deciding to train casually wherever they could find space.

Lin Wanxing urged the students to return to class, but the secret little group formed by Fu Xinshu, Qin Ao, and Chen Jianghe stayed behind.

Originally only Fu Xinshu and Chen Jianghe were going to stay, but for some reason, Qin Ao wouldn’t leave.

Qi Liang was the fourth-to-last to leave, pretending to casually close the door for them.

But clearly, now was not the best time to resolve conflicts.

The warehouse became spacious again. Lin Wanxing said to Qin Ao with a headache, “Aren’t you angry? Shouldn’t you be slamming the door and leaving right now?”

Fu Xinshu, however, quite generously said, “He should know too.”

Having said that, young Fu stood up from the cushion and very directly said, “I lied to you all. I didn’t receive anything.”

Qin Ao suddenly looked up, stiffening his neck as if doubting his ears. “What did you say?”

“To get you to participate in this soccer match, I lied saying I received ‘something strange,’ but I didn’t.”

Fu Xinshu stood in front of Qin Ao, raising his fair face.

He said, “‘That person’—assuming there is ‘that person’—gave you clues to find me. Perhaps those clues weren’t pointing to me, but I took advantage of that.”

He spoke very calmly and naturally, but, to Qin Ao’s ears, it was a completely different matter.

In a flash, Qin Ao swung his fist, hitting Fu Xinshu in the face.

Fu Xinshu slammed against the wall, and the momentum of Qin Ao’s rage made him want to continue punching. Chen Jianghe immediately reached out and pushed Qin Ao against the wall.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Qin Ao broke free from Chen Jianghe.

“He just wants you to hit him, and you do it?” Chen Jianghe said coldly. “Get a grip on yourself. You’ve already been written up twice. If you’re caught fighting again, you’ll be expelled!”

Fu Xinshu’s hand gently brushed over the swollen area on his cheek, smiling helplessly.

Throughout all this, Lin Wanxing had been sitting on the cushion, restraining herself from speaking up or stopping the friction between the boys.

However, this was also the first time she had witnessed Qin Ao getting physical with a classmate, giving her a deeper understanding of the difficulties she would face in the future.

The boys were all like bundled fire, but they also restrained each other.

“I’m sorry,” Fu Xinshu said again.

Lin Wanxing finally spoke, “If you’re done hitting? Sit down and let’s talk.”

Qin Ao was reluctant, but having already thrown his punch, he seemed to have no other option.

In a sense, Lin Wanxing thought Fu Xinshu was truly a tough person.

“Talk about what?” Qin Ao sat down in a bad mood.

“Do I need to chair this little meeting too?” Lin Wanxing asked with a gentle smile.

Qin Ao folded his arms across his chest, giving her a cold glance.

“Then let me summarize first.” Lin Wanxing looked at Qin Ao and Chen Jianghe. “First, you two received something strange, and after decoding, the clues seemed to point to Fu Xinshu. Then, because Fu Xinshu wanted you to participate in the match, he lied to you saying he also received something strange, and that if you could defeat Anning Experimental, he would tell you what his item was.”

“You talk too much,” said Qin Ao.

Lin Wanxing smiled. “But, it seems… we didn’t defeat Anning Experimental, did we?”

Qin Ao and Chen Jianghe suddenly froze.

Afraid they would start arguing again, Lin Wanxing continued, “So Fu Xinshu could have easily not told you the truth, but he still did. Honestly, I wouldn’t have done that—it would be simple to make up some excuse. So, you might want to think about why he didn’t do that.”

Perhaps because she spoke too bluntly, Fu Xinshu lowered his head, the swollen area on his face particularly noticeable.

Qin Ao and Chen Jianghe were stunned, about to speak but hesitating, looking slightly flustered.

“Alright, don’t say your conclusions out loud. Let’s just call it his sincere teammate friendship toward you,” Lin Wanxing said straightforwardly. “The fact now is that Fu Xinshu ‘didn’t receive anything,’ and you know this now. Our clues end here.”

Lin Wanxing patted her bottom, stood up from the cushion, and said, “Meeting adjourned.”

The boys remained frozen on the cushions, completely dumbfounded.

“Just… that?” Qin Ao slowly uttered two words.

“One small knowledge point for today—teachers aren’t omnipotent either, and can’t solve all your problems,” Lin Wanxing said with a smile. “Before you leave, help me put away the cushions.”