Dog Shit Luck?

Hu Lai stared blankly at the football in the net—he himself had never expected it to go in. After all, he had found space several times before, but not once had he received the ball, much less gotten off a shot.

This was the first competitive goal of his football career!

Coming back to his senses, he ran toward the corner flag. After a few steps, he turned and beckoned to his teammates, imitating professional stars as he hoped to celebrate the goal with them.

But faced with his enthusiastic invitation, his teammates remained unmoved. No one came over to celebrate with him.

Hu Lai did not seem particularly surprised by this. Perhaps he was used to it. Seeing that no one was coming, he turned back around, spread his arms, and continued running toward the corner flag. He cheered as he ran, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Damn! What a lucky bastard!" Li Zhiqun, standing in front of the second team's goal, spat angrily. The football sat in the net right in front of him.

In his eyes, Hu Lai had scored purely by dumb luck.

Normally, there was no way a low cross aimed at the near post could end up flying to the far post.

And that was exactly what had happened. The ball had only gone through because of a botched clearance at the near post.

The odds of such a mistake were incredibly low. Even if the player who had made that clearance tried it ten more times, he probably would not be able to replicate it even once.

So the ball had somehow found its way to the far post, right where Hu Lai happened to be waiting.

As for why Hu Lai had appeared there, Li Zhiqun did not care. That kid had been running around blindly the whole time; he had simply lucked into the right spot.

Even a blind cat could catch a dead mouse sometimes.

But your luck ends here, kid!

Li Zhiqun watched Hu Lai's distant figure and thought to himself.

Behind him, the players who had come back to their senses also chimed in one after another. "That kid is really lucky!"

"What a gift of a goal... Tsk, tsk!"

"Man, why can't I be that lucky?!"

It was not just the first team's players making such remarks; the second team's players were saying the same. Looking at that wildly gesticulating figure, they felt both envy and jealousy—why did something this good have to happen to that guy?!

From the stands, Li Qingqing had seen the whole thing. She was happy for Hu Lai's goal, because it confirmed her earlier guess about him—he was not untalented; his talent had simply never been discovered.

Just as Li Qingqing was celebrating Hu Lai's goal, she suddenly heard people around her discussing it.

"Wow, that guy is seriously lucky! He actually scored like that!"

"Yeah, yeah! Who would have thought the ball would fly over there like that..."

"I saw someone kick the ball away, but I have no idea how it curved over there..."

Hearing those comments, the smile vanished from Li Qingqing's face. She sighed inwardly.

It seemed that most people thought Hu Lai had scored solely through luck.

Of course, Hu Lai's goal did look heavily dependent on luck, giving people the illusion that if I'd been there, I could have scored too.

But the question was, with so many first-team players in the penalty area, why had Hu Lai been the one to appear in that open space?

"Um... Li Qingqing," Song Jiajia leaned closer and asked in a lowered voice, "was Hu Lai's goal really just dumb luck?"

Li Qingqing glanced at Song Jiajia, then shook her head firmly. "It wasn't luck. This is the talent I was talking about."

Hearing Li Qingqing say that, Song Jiajia turned to look at Hu Lai.

When Li Qingqing had previously said that Hu Lai had talent, Song Jiajia had looked amused. But now, as he watched the figure on the field, his expression had become much more serious.

"It looks like he's just running around aimlessly, with no pattern to it, but in reality, he always manages to get into the right position. I don't think Hu Lai himself even knows he has this ability. It's entirely instinctive—a talent," Li Qingqing continued. "He didn't score before only because his teammates didn't trust him and wouldn't pass him the ball."

"Then after this goal, will those people pass to him?" Song Jiajia asked.

Li Qingqing thought of Hu Lai's teammates' reaction after his goal and shook her head. "I'm afraid they still won't."

"Why?" There was some urgency in Song Jiajia's voice.

"Because they all think Hu Lai only scored through dumb luck. After all, his goal really did look like a lucky one."

Song Jiajia fell silent and merely fixed his gaze on Hu Lai.

Though he was alone, his desk mate celebrated with complete commitment—he ran to the corner flag, spread his arms, leaned his body back, tilted his head slightly upward, and closed his eyes, as if he were listening to an entire stadium of fans chanting his name.

In reality, no one was chanting his name. There had indeed been a few reflexive cheers when the goal went in, but they quickly died away. The commotion after his goal was nowhere near what it had been after Luo Kai scored.

After Luo Kai scored, Song Jiajia had been surrounded by shrieks loud enough to pierce his eardrums. Now, all he could hear were comments like, "He just got lucky, right?" "What good luck!" "This guy is so lucky!" "His karma must be amazing!" "He probably helped an old lady cross the street on his way to school!"

He turned back to glance at the chattering crowd, scorn written across his face, and snorted inwardly. What the hell do you football idiots know? Luck only favors the talented!

Just as Li Qingqing had said, once the match restarted, Hu Lai's situation did not improve because of that goal.

His teammates believed that he had scored only because he had gotten lucky.

No matter how often Hu Lai found open space, the ball was never passed to him.

Li Zhiqun, on the other hand, was very proactive.

Hu Lai had scored, and that put pressure on him. He could not seriously let that kid outdo him, could he?

Even if Hu Lai's goal had been a complete fluke, Li Zhiqun still refused to accept it.

He kept signaling to his teammates, telling them to pass the ball to him.

But it didn't do much good.

He still failed to score.

Li Zhiqun was terribly frustrated—Why wasn't I as lucky as that kid Hu Lai? Why didn't an easy poaching chance like that come to me just now?!

It wasn't as if he hadn't been making active runs, but no matter how he moved, he never got an opportunity like Hu Lai's.

Was that kind of dumb luck really something you could only stumble upon by chance?

But that thought only made Li Zhiqun even more upset—Why does someone like Hu Lai get such incredible luck while I get none?!

He hardened his resolve.

The first team launched another attack down the wing, and the ball was passed across.

Li Zhiqun accelerated toward where it was headed, but a second-team defender was still tight beside him. He had no chance to trap the ball and adjust, and he knew it, so he decided to shoot first-time.

He swung his right leg hard at the rapidly rolling ball.

But he missed it.

Li Zhiqun had misjudged where the ball would arrive, and his full-powered swing cut through nothing but air!

The ball slipped straight between his legs.

Though his kick missed the ball, it successfully feinted out the defender trailing behind him, so the defender missed it too.

It also fooled the goalkeeper who had come out to block the shot. The keeper staggered, nearly falling over, but the ball did not fly toward him. Instead, it flashed past right before his eyes!

Then he saw Hu Lai appear at the ball's destination!

The goalkeeper's eyes went wide, and an English sentence nearly burst from his mouth: "How old are you?!"

Why was it always you?!

When Hu Lai saw Li Zhiqun take the defender toward the near post, leaving the far post exposed, he naturally ran over.

The ball was like a hunting dog that had heard his whistle, obediently darting out of the bushes and racing to his feet, wagging its tail eagerly as if it wanted to interact with its master.

When Hu Lai saw the ball roll over, he had no time to think. Pure instinct made him stick out his foot and poke it!

For the second time, the ball rolled into the second team's goal.