First came the speed tests, three sets of 10-yard sprints and 30-yard quick starts.

The yard is an imperial unit, with 1 yard equaling 3 feet or 91.44 centimeters.

Wang Fa’s use of yards wasn’t about showing off. First, it’s a standard unit in the football world. Second, using a unified measurement allows for horizontal comparison with data from many players of the same age, helping students better understand their level—which was also their request.

Wang Fa was very thorough and had explained all this to the students as well.

After completing warm-up exercises with the group, Lin Wanxing stepped on the grass, ran a few quick steps, and felt that this foot feel was very different from sprinting on a plastic track.

Wang Fa stood on the grass, having finished demonstrating the key technical movements to the students. The measuring tape was stretched out, and he held the clipboard and pencil in his hands.

Lin Wanxing jumped a couple of times and asked him — “Do you need me to time for you?”

The young man tilted his head, seeming somewhat puzzled.

Lin Wanxing took out her phone, shook it, and switched the interface to a stopwatch — “It must be inconvenient to hold so many things and still keep time, right?”

“Teacher Lin.”

Wang Fa suddenly spoke.

Lin Wanxing looked at him and saw him reach into his pocket and take out a stopwatch. The stopwatch was old, with transparent buttons worn from use, and much of the paint around the dial had flaked off. It had a long lanyard attached, suggesting it was something Wang Fa had been using for a long time.

Wang Fa put the lanyard around his neck in front of her.

Lin Wanxing was speechless.

As she silently put her phone back in her pocket, Wang Fa extended his hand toward her.

His palm was open, clearly indicating he wanted something from her.

Lin Wanxing — “Huh?”

“Your phone.”

Lin Wanxing still stared blankly.

“Does Teacher Xiao Lin plan to sprint with her phone? Don’t worry, I don’t have your password and won’t peek,” Wang Fa said.

Lin Wanxing — “…”

And so, because of one unnecessary question, Lin Wanxing not only temporarily lost her phone but was also “rewarded” by being the first to participate in the physical fitness test.

After completing three sets of 10-yard sprints and 30-yard quick starts, Lin Wanxing already felt her calves aching.

It wasn’t so much that she was tired now, but the feeling of her heart jumping into her throat after suddenly bursting into activity was certainly memorable.

She turned back to see the boys all looking at her composedly.

“Teacher needs to exercise more.”

“How can you be tired already!”

“We’ll call you for morning runs from now on!”

Lin Wanxing wanted to say “I’m not tired,” but she could barely catch her breath.

At this moment, Wang Fa called her — “Teacher Lin.”

The young man twirled the pencil between his fingertips. Lin Wanxing walked to his side and discovered that Wang Fa had recorded her data in the blank space at the top of the form, treating her just like the students.

Wang Fa showed no intention of returning her phone, instead telling the students — “You can start now.”

The students had a football foundation and had recently resumed training. Being 18-year-olds, they completed these exercises much more easily than she did.

They sprinted at full speed one by one, with ease. After running, they competed with each other, rushing to the coach’s side, eager to see their scores.

Wang Fa maintained his usual attitude, recording the time each of them completed each item in sequence, allowing the boys to point and comment among themselves beside him.

“Damn, you’re not good!”

“Qin Dog, you’re so useless, Qin Dog!”

“And what are you, something special?”

Amid the boys’ casual bickering, they completed the first test.

Unlike the common 50-meter physical tests in schools, their current fitness tests didn’t focus solely on speed but aimed at improving acceleration techniques, emphasizing the transition from jogging to full acceleration.

Next came the 30-yard T-shaped and F-shaped agility training.

In football matches, players frequently change speed and direction, sometimes sprinting to compete for interceptions, sometimes jogging back into position. Therefore, in training, steady-pace running makes up a very small proportion; most training consists of high-intensity interval exercises.

Wang Fa marked the field and required the students to sprint forward 5 yards to reach his mark. Then, side-step to the right, touch the 5-yard line on the right, then slide 10 yards to the left, touch the leftmost mark, then side-step 5 yards back to the middle mark, and finally backpedal to the original starting point, completing one exercise while being timed.

This running route formed the letter T.

Lin Wanxing felt she had seen similar training in football programs she had occasionally glimpsed. This should be a basic training item, but in actual practice, it was far more difficult than she had imagined.

She completed one set according to the running route, and as soon as she stopped, she felt the blood rushing rapidly to her limbs. Her extremities were very stiff, but her heart was beating frighteningly fast.

It was an indescribable feeling—scorching sun overhead, yet muscle reactions were even more intense than the sun.

Lin Wanxing felt her throat uncomfortable as she dragged her heavy steps back to Wang Fa’s side. The coach recorded the data, glanced at her, and signaled for the students to begin this test.

Then came the next item.

Physical fitness tests seemed to be like this—the deeper you went, the more it felt like your body was being excavated.

Lin Wanxing wasn’t sure if this description was accurate. It was completely different from the feeling of long-distance running, which was fatigue that accumulated slowly. The fitness test that Wang Fa was conducting on them now was the kind of pain that suddenly cuts open your skin, muscles, bones, and blood.

Without experiencing it personally, one could not understand.

“Damn, it’s been too long since I’ve done this,” Qin Ao finished the timed training, breathing heavily, with sweat dripping in large drops from his forehead. He simply lay down on the ground.

Fu Xinshu bent over, supporting himself on his legs, gasping for breath, unable to say a word. His face was deathly pale, making Lin Wanxing want to advise him to take it easy, though she didn’t have the energy to speak.

Throughout, Wang Fa maintained an attitude of serious recording.

His spine was straight, his well-defined fingers gripping the pencil, recording data on the front of the form and writing technical points on the back. He corrected the students’ movements while guiding their power positions.

“You need to record the time they complete each set of tests, with 2 to 3 minutes of rest time between each set. These data must also be accurately recorded. Finally, select the shortest time from the three sets of tests as the person’s baseline practice level,” Wang Fa said.

Lin Wanxing was panting, her head dizzy. Although she heard the words, she couldn’t remember them with her foggy brain.

She could only sense that this was meant entirely for her to hear. He would be leaving soon, and the task of supervising the students’ daily training and recording physical test results would be handed over to her.

This was also why she had to experience it personally. No amount of listening compared to doing it herself for a solid understanding.

Wang Fa’s explanations continued.

Lin Wanxing’s legs felt like they were filled with lead as she struggled to run toward the finish line of this round.

Her vision darkened, but perhaps because of this, she felt she could almost hear the sound of Wang Fa continuously pressing the stopwatch. It was a very old stopwatch, severely worn at the edges. In the sunlight, the white paper reflected dazzling light, and his handwriting was clear and forceful.

He skillfully recorded data for each group, having repeated such actions tens of thousands of times.

Though Wang Fa wasn’t very close, and she couldn’t see all these details, at this moment, those sounds seemed to fall right beside her ears.

Crystal clear.

Until the final set of tests ended.

All the students lay flat on the ground, and the entire field was silent.

Wang Fa made his final note. A breeze swept across the field as Lin Wanxing also collapsed on the ground, staring at the vast grassland before her, temporarily losing the ability to speak.

Lin Wanxing truly felt like she couldn’t catch her breath, as if she might die. She thought the students felt the same, but 18-year-olds are truly vigorous after just lying down for a while.

While she was still experiencing darkened vision and the taste of blood rising in her throat, the noisy voices of the boys were already sounding beside her ears.

“Teacher, are you okay!”

“Do you need us to call an ambulance?”

The air became viscous. Lin Wanxing waved her hand, indicating for them to scram.

The boys made “dee-doo-dee-doo” ambulance siren sounds around her ears.

A strong hand pulled her up from the ground.

“Stand for a while, walk slowly,” Wang Fa said.

Lin Wanxing did as instructed.

The boys stopped bothering her and began surrounding Wang Fa, wanting to see their final times and compare with each other.

“Coach, what’s my time!”

“Who’s ranked first?”

“Last place? Last place is the teacher.”

Their voices drifted over, and Lin Wanxing rubbed her chest, nearly feeling sick again from hearing this.

“Can you use the stopwatch now?”

Wang Fa’s voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.

Lin Wanxing stood on the field, at some distance from him, momentarily unsure who he was asking.

She pointed at herself, and Wang Fa nodded.

“I think I can use it now,” Lin Wanxing said.

Hearing this, Wang Fa walked toward her.

He took the stopwatch from around his neck and handed it to her, followed by the clipboard, pencil, and two mobile phones.

Lin Wanxing’s hands were suddenly full, and she was at a loss for what to do. She put her phone in her pocket, and then this black one was… Wang Fa’s phone?

Lin Wanxing looked at the young man.

Wang Fa was doing some simple stretching exercises, flexing his wrists and ankles.

The boys who had been eagerly calculating their times were shocked — “Coach, what are you going to do?”

Wang Fa answered the students’ questions with action.

He began running at full speed. Under the blazing sun, a breeze came from the stands, sweeping across the entire field.

Lin Wanxing had just completed the full set of tests and was exhausted. Meanwhile, Wang Fa was like an agile cheetah, sprinting, turning, and changing speed on the grass.

Lin Wanxing had watched several high school football matches and accompanied her students in training every day, but when Wang Fa truly began running on the grass, she suddenly understood the gulf between ordinary high school players and true professionals.

Wang Fa didn’t pause throughout, and Lin Wanxing didn’t even need to stop timing. He completed one item and immediately moved on to the next, untiring.

Strength, speed, explosiveness—you could feel how effortlessly he controlled his body, perfectly distributing his energy, and maintaining a vigorous spirit from start to finish.

Grass clippings rose gently as Lin Wanxing pressed the stopwatch for the last time.

The students fell completely silent.