The students of Hongjing No. 8 Middle School’s soccer team received two pieces of news during their morning practice on the second day—one good and one bad.

The good news was that late yesterday, Teacher Lin received a notice from the school that starting today, they wouldn’t need to attend regular school classes.

The bad news was that the gym had also sent their final quote yesterday, but it was still a bit expensive.

Regarding the first piece of news, the students were somewhat confused.

Every student dreams of not going to school, but when suddenly told they didn’t have to attend classes and had plenty of free time to arrange as they wished, everyone became at a loss.

“What are we supposed to do if we’re not in class???” Qin Ao was the first to ask, not understanding.

“Well, what do you do in class every day?” Lin Wanxing asked with a smile.

“Sleep,” Yu Ming said as if it were the most natural thing.

“You’re just being allowed to skip classes. If you want to go back to the classroom to sleep, that’s no problem,” Lin Wanxing said.

Hearing this explanation again, the students simply couldn’t be bothered with her anymore.

How to arrange their own time was quite a significant subject for the students.

Lin Wanxing didn’t plan to offer too many suggestions to the students about time management, only hoping they wouldn’t over-plan.

First, see what they did each day, such as asking the coach how long they should scientifically train daily, then think about what else they might want to do.

Record like this for a day or two, then make arrangements.

As for the second “bad news about the gym”…

“How expensive is ‘a bit expensive’?” the students asked one after another.

Lin Wanxing sat at the small table on the rooftop, spreading the price sheet she had calculated with Wang Fa yesterday on the table, and showing it to the students.

7,920, 10,989, 13,200.

The students crowded together, and seeing the final prices, they all gasped, “That’s too expensive! How can it be so much!”

“How can fifty gym sessions cost eight thousand yuan, over one hundred and fifty per session? What gives that crappy gym the right?!” Student Zheng Feiyang took the lead in shouting.

Lin Wanxing noticed that although she had written the price sheet very clearly, the boys hadn’t looked carefully. Whatever the first person shouted, those behind repeated.

She reminded them, “Those are the total prices. Each person’s cost is listed in front.”

Qin Ao smacked Zheng Feiyang on the back, “Don’t make a fuss for nothing.”

Zheng Feiyang was dissatisfied, “Weren’t you the one yelling the loudest just now?”

Qin Ao — “I was just shocked, wasn’t I? So each of us only needs to pay around one thousand yuan?”

“That’s not bad then!” Yu Ming became happy.

“Teacher, next time just keep it simple and tell us the result,” Chen Jianghe said.

The morning sun was rising on the rooftop, with a refreshing breeze.

Because they didn’t have to go to school, the students were all very happy. So they didn’t think the thousand-plus yuan gym fee was a big deal.

Lin Wanxing observed each of their reactions, and after they had all quieted down, she asked, “So now, what do you plan to do?”

“What do you mean, what to do?”

“Of course, we’ll train hard.”

The students answered as if it were obvious.

They were full of fighting spirit and confidence as if they could overcome any difficulty.

Lin Wanxing pondered for a moment, then asked, “I mean, will you participate in the gym’s physical training, and how will you pay for it?”

The boys were stunned — “Teacher, I thought you meant you would pay…”

“This is your training. Why should I pay for it?” Lin Wanxing countered.

“But Teacher, you have money,” Lin Lu said.

“Didn’t you say this building belongs to you?” Chen Jianghe asked.

“Yes, but that’s my money. Why should I use it for you?” Lin Wanxing said.

After spending so many days together, the students were used to hearing her say such things and didn’t flare up as they had before.

“Then can we borrow from you? You can cover it first, and we’ll pay you back when we earn money,” Qin Ao negotiated with her.

“Yes, we can write IOUs!” Yu Ming, the little follower, agreed.

Very clearly, they just wanted to solve the problem quickly and get back to training.

Lin Wanxing — “I have no obligation to advance your training fees, including your coach.”

Wang Fa sat at the table nearby eating breakfast, glanced at Lin Wanxing, and shrugged at the students, indicating he couldn’t help.

“Then I’ll just ask my parents, no big deal,” Zheng Feiyang said.

“We won’t spend your money; we have New Year’s money,” Feng Suo said.

“But I’ve spent all my New Year’s money,” Lin Lu said quietly.

“What did you buy? How could you spend it all?” Feng Suo was shocked.

“I didn’t get much New Year’s money, and it’s been more than half a year. Isn’t it normal to have spent it all?” Lin Lu said defensively.

The students began discussing the process as usual, talking over each other, and Lin Wanxing simply sat down across from Wang Fa to eat breakfast. Today it was steamed buns and soy milk with ice cubes. She took a sip, and the coldness made her lips cool.

“Teacher, why did you walk away!”

After a while, the students gathered around the breakfast table again.

Lin Wanxing took a bite of her bun, looked up and asked, “It’s your own business, solve it yourselves. What can I do?”

“Teacher, you’re just being difficult. Just say it directly—’ I won’t pay for this, you need to raise the money yourselves.’ Is that what you mean?” Qin Ao said.

Lin Wanxing was shocked, “Wasn’t I direct enough before?”

Qin Ao — “…”

=

For ordinary high school seniors, when faced with a money shortage, asking family was completely normal.

But asking for money to get a gym membership wasn’t something parents would easily accept.

Additionally, each family’s background was different. Some dared to make the call, some didn’t, and others had never even considered this option.

“Mom, it’s just like going to cram school!” Lin Lu stood in a corner of the rooftop with his phone. His voice drifted over on the breeze, and it didn’t sound like things were going well.

Zheng Feiyang was having similar difficulties.

Zheng Feiyang’s parents were northerners who had come to Hongjing to open a barbecue restaurant. When his father heard his son wanted money from home to get a gym membership, he immediately thought it was ridiculous.

“Don’t talk nonsense, everything you do is half-baked. If you’re not playing soccer, hurry up and get back here, honestly make some skewers. Just looking at you makes me angry!” Zheng Feiyang’s father’s voice came through the receiver, and young Zheng was immediately frightened into silence. After appeasing his father with a few words, he quickly hung up the phone.

Lin Lu and Zheng Feiyang were already among the most pampered children on the team. The others were even worse off.

As for Qin Ao, Fu Xinshu, and Chen Jianghe, they hadn’t even made the call home.

For these boys, asking for money from home at their age was already embarrassing. And their parents’ reactions made them even more reluctant to do so.

In the end, everyone became silent.

Lin Wanxing looked at the sun overhead. It seemed their first day without school wasn’t going very smoothly.

Seeing his teammates all very dejected, Fu Xinshu said, “Teacher, let’s go train first. If it doesn’t work out, those who can afford the membership like Feng Suo can go, and it’s fine if we don’t.”

Yu Ming — “Old Fu makes sense. The gym isn’t necessary. We didn’t go before, and we still beat Green View International.”

The more the students talked among themselves, the more they felt this was acceptable.

For most people, when a problem couldn’t be solved, it was normal to simply not solve it.

Lin Wanxing thought for a moment and was about to speak when she heard Wang Fa’s voice.

“Indeed, for the opponents you’ll face in the upcoming group matches,” biweekly gym training doesn’t make much difference,” Wang Fa said casually after finishing his last sip of soy milk.

The boys weren’t so foolish as to think the coach meant exactly what he said.

“Coach, don’t be angry. These idiots are just lazy and don’t want to think,” Qin Ao didn’t dare say it was Fu Xinshu who first suggested not going to the gym, so he could only direct his frustration at Yu Ming.

Yu Ming also felt wronged, “What else can we do? Go to your uncle’s factory to tighten screws?”

“Are you sick? My uncle’s factory is in Wuping, it takes over four hours round trip,” Qin Ao said, then suddenly remembered something and looked at Zheng Feiyang.

Young Zheng shuddered, “No way, brother. If we go to my dad’s place, he’ll crack your skulls open for sure.”

As the students talked, it seemed like they had hit another dead end.

At this point, Qi Liang, who had been listening for a long time, finally stood up.

“We’ve discussed and reflected enough. Can you say something now?”

Lin Wanxing raised her head. Qi Liang, with his messy hair, walked to her and knocked on the table, saying this to her.

“What do you want me to say?” Lin Wanxing asked.

“Teacher, you have many ideas. From the moment you said you ‘wouldn’t pay,’ you’ve been waiting for us. Be straightforward. Do you want to exchange conditions for lending us money, or do you have other plans?”

While Qi Liang was speaking, Lin Wanxing listened attentively.

When he finished, Lin Wanxing scrutinized her students and slowly said, “I think I’ve expressed my views many times. Although you don’t quite believe it, most of the time, I don’t want to teach you exactly what to do. So I can’t possibly use ‘money’ to exchange for you following my instructions.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Qin Ao, enlightened by Qi Liang, said somewhat impatiently, “Just watch us like a nursery nanny?”

Lin Wanxing was very calm, “Nursery nannies look after your basic physiological needs. I provide help when you want to reach higher-level needs.”

“Then according to what you’re saying, now that we want money, what help will you provide us?” Chen Jianghe asked.

Qi Liang — “Directly giving money is a low-level satisfaction method. So what’s the high-level way, taking us to earn money?”

Lin Wanxing shook her head, “You were already thinking about how to earn this money just now. Why not continue the discussion?”

“Well…” Yu Ming was at a loss for words.

“We talked, but couldn’t think of any other way,” Qin Ao said.

“It feels strange in various ways. Because we’ve never done it before, we feel we can’t do it, so we can’t think further.” Quite unusually, Qi Liang answered her question seriously.

Lin Wanxing said to Qi Liang, “If you want to know what I want to do, first, I am indeed letting you ‘go think’ for yourselves because thinking and discussing means you’re trying to solve problems on your own.”

“You mean we have to figure out how to earn money ourselves?” the students asked. “Then how can you help us, by telling us where we can easily make money?”

“I could give you one yuan, or tell you where you can earn money. But have you thought about learning some methods to solve problems, rather than getting definite answers?”

This is what she asked.