Prologue - Hu Lai's Hu Lai

Several girls came in from outside. The moment they entered the classroom, they called loudly in one direction, "Luo Kai, Luo Kai, we've got good news! Want to hear it?"

In their line of sight, a boy who had been talking to someone turned around. He was tall and straight, with slightly dark skin and closely shaved hair at his temples, giving him an exceptionally spirited look. Especially his eyes—larger than those of most boys, bright and full of life. Whenever he looked at someone, it felt as though his eyes were speaking directly to them.

The girls were entranced by that gaze and forgot to speak.

"What good news?" one of the boys gathered around Luo Kai asked anxiously when the girls fell silent.

"Yeah, yeah, say something already!"

The girls finally came back to their senses and rushed to say, "The school soccer team is recruiting new members!"

"I saw the poster on the notice board!"

"They're officially holding tryouts in a month..."

The boys waved it off. "Oh, that? We thought it was something important... We already knew!"

"Huh, you knew?" The girls, who had come specifically to deliver the good news, were a little disappointed.

"Heh, when it comes to soccer, we care more about it than you do!"

Luo Kai, who had not spoken until then, nodded at the girls as well. "Yeah, they already told me. We were talking about it just now."

"Ah..." The girls who had received his response blushed. "Um... then, Luo Kai, you definitely won't have any trouble making the team, right?"

"Of course!" Before Luo Kai could speak again, the boys around him answered for him. "Just look at what Brother Kai does—he's had professional training! He was even the Best Player of the middle school Andong Cup! That was the strongest middle school player in the entire province!"

"If he can't make our high school team, there's definitely something shady going on!"

"Exactly! If they don't pick Brother Kai, are they supposed to pick Hu Lai? If Hu Lai gets picked, that would be a real scandal! There'd have to be some under-the-table deal!"

At the mention of Hu Lai's name, both the boys and girls laughed.

The Class 2, Year 1 classroom was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

A short, skinny boy was running up the stairs in the school building, his movements somewhat clumsy. When he reached a landing, he could not stop in time and had to crash into the wall, pushing off it with both hands to change direction, like a rubber ball bouncing back and forth between walls.

Amid the streams of people going up and down, he nearly collided with others several times. He stumbled as he ran, sometimes even having to climb the stairs with both hands and feet. But he did not slow down at all. Leaving behind a string of "Sorry!" and "Excuse me!" he charged upstairs without looking back, leaving the angry glares and scoldings behind him.

After reaching the next floor, he found a fifty-meter corridor ahead of him—a straightaway. He sped up and ran toward his classroom.

Just as he was getting closer and closer to the finish line, a chubby boy suddenly came out through the classroom's back door!

The boy waved his arms and shouted, "You go left, I'll go right!"

The chubby boy froze for a moment, then followed his instructions and stepped to his own left.

At the same time, the boy quickly turned to his own right.

Then... the two collided head-on without the slightest suspense.

"Crash!"

"Ow!"

"Fuck!"

The cheerful atmosphere in the classroom was interrupted by the commotion at the door, and everyone turned to look.

"What happened?"

"What's going on?"

"I think I heard Hu Lai's voice..."

"Oh, it must be Hu Lai making a fool of himself again..."

Before the words had even faded, a miserable howl sounded from the doorway. "Hu Lai, what kind of directions were those? Ow, my head..."

"You didn't understand what I meant! You were supposed to turn to my left! Hiss—" The boy sucked in a breath from the pain, his voice filled with dissatisfaction and grievance.

The person in the classroom who had mentioned Hu Lai earlier spread his hands. "See what I mean?"

"How the hell was I supposed to know your left meant your left?" the chubby boy who had been hit yelled. He was even more aggrieved.

Hu Lai did not keep arguing over whose left was whose. Clutching his forehead, he climbed up from the floor, then rushed into the classroom and loudly announced the news that had gotten him so excited, under everyone's gaze: "Good news! The school soccer team is recruiting new members!"

The enthusiastic reaction he had imagined never came. It was like a pebble thrown into an extremely viscous liquid—it did not even stir a ripple.

Everyone looked at him as if he were an idiot.

An awkward silence fell.

One kind-hearted girl timidly said, "We already knew..."

Breaking the somewhat embarrassing silence.

A boy beside Luo Kai sneered, "You rushed back in such a panic just for this? Hu Lai, the team's tryouts have nothing to do with you. Don't tell me you want to join the school team too?"

"Why not?" Hu Lai shot back.

"Heh!" The boy laughed. "Don't go embarrassing yourself."

"I'm not embarrassing you." Hu Lai shrugged and turned toward his seat in the corner.

"What did you say?!" The boy was angered by Hu Lai's attitude.

Someone beside him pulled him back. "Forget it. He's right—you're not his dad. He really hasn't embarrassed you."

Hearing that, the boy laughed. "That's right, I'm not his dad!"

He deliberately stressed the word "dad," drawing a burst of laughter.

Amid the laughter, Hu Lai, with his back to them, pursed his lips.

After the laughter died down, everyone once again gathered around Luo Kai and eagerly discussed the school football team. Quite a few girls joined in as well.

Such lively conversations were probably taking place in other first-year classrooms throughout the school too. The boys were excited about football, while the girls were excited about the boys who played it.

Hu Lai was excited about football too, but no one was excited about Hu Lai... except for the unlucky guy he had knocked to the floor.

The chubby unlucky guy sat on the ground and shouted, "Hu Lai, you're just leaving like that? Apologize! Apologize to me!"

But amid the noisy classroom, Hu Lai seemed not to hear him.

After shouting a few times, the fat boy climbed to his feet himself and muttered resentfully, "I'm so stupid, really. Why did I listen to that bastard? It's not like I only met him yesterday. I know Hu Lai always messes around... I'm so stupid..."

P.S., the new book is finally here. Sorry to have kept everyone waiting so long.

During the new book period, I'll need everyone's support. Please send anything you can, including but not limited to recommendation votes and bookmarks...

Also, the new book group has been created. Group number: 751013253.

The group is called "Forbidden Zone Fox of Linhai Tingtao."

Everyone is welcome to join and have fun.

Later, I'll also post a preface to chat with everyone about this book, though I'm not sure exactly when, since I still have to write it. So there's no need to wait for it.

Also, since promotions for the new book begin at midnight tomorrow, I'll post another regular chapter around midnight tomorrow. That's essentially moving tomorrow morning's eight o'clock update forward to the early hours.

Tomorrow's second update will still be at the usual time, six in the evening.

Barring anything unexpected, that will be the schedule going forward: updates every day at eight in the morning and six in the evening.

Lastly, my deepest thanks to everyone for coming to support me!

A note for those arriving on December 10, 2020:

Recently, people posting advertisements in the book review section have become especially frequent, increasing the difficulty and workload of moderation. So, in order to solve the advertising problem once and for all, posting restrictions have been placed on chapter comments and the book review section. You must have a fan value of 100—that is, donate one yuan—before you can post.

I hope everyone can understand.