Great Immortal Hu

Dongchuan Middle School's field was noisy at noon, so loud that the students trying to nap or do homework in the classroom building could not concentrate.

Even when Hu Lai scored his first two goals, there had been brief bursts of cheering.

But now, at this very moment, when Hu Lai sent the ball into the second team's goal for the third time, not a single person in the stands on either side of the field made a sound.

Even Li Qingqing stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the pitch.

She could not believe that Hu Lai had actually completed a hat trick just like that.

Everyone watched the second team's goalmouth in silence.

That silence and stillness were shattered by a burst of wild laughter.

At the center of everyone's attention, the figure who had fallen to the ground rolled over, sprang up, and flailed his arms as he ran toward the corner flag.

Only when he got closer did everyone notice a dark red patch on his face—or, more specifically, beneath his nose and around his mouth...

It was blood.

But they could not tell whether it was a nosebleed or blood from his mouth.

As he shook his head exaggeratedly, the blood scattered through the air, landing on his shoulders, arms, and the front of his shirt, making the red of his training bib look even deeper.

Yet he seemed completely unaware of it—or simply did not care. He just laughed loudly, threw back his head and howled at the sky, waving his arms around. Like a child who had been rewarded with a trip to an amusement park.

The stands remained silent. Only after quite a while did Li Qingqing and Song Jiajia hear someone behind them exclaim, "Holy shit... isn't that luck insanely heaven-defying?! Did this guy save the Milky Way in his past life or something?"

After the first trial match ended, Li Zhiqun limped back to the classroom. He did not want to stay by the field any longer, in that place of heartbreak.

Back in the classroom, he sat in his seat, rubbing his strained muscle. Thinking back on the match, he still felt deeply frustrated.

He had been looking forward to that game, hoping to see Hu Lai make a fool of himself.

Who would have thought Hu Lai would score three goals? Even if it had been pure dumb luck, three goals were still three goals, weren't they?

Meanwhile, he himself had not done anything worth mentioning before getting injured and leaving the field... It felt like he was the one who had made a fool of himself.

Students who had finished watching the excitement gradually returned to the classroom. Boys and girls alike were discussing the match that had just ended. The girls were more concerned with Luo Kai's performance—he had completed two hat tricks in that game and shone brilliantly.

But surprisingly, the boys mentioned Hu Lai's name more often.

"I really didn't expect Hu Lai to score three goals..."

"Yeah, you'd never be able to tell normally..."

"Hey, do you think he might actually make the school team?"

Hearing that, Li Zhiqun could not help snorting heavily through his nose. "What are you thinking? He scores three goals and that means he gets into the school team? The school team isn't that easy to get into."

The student Li Zhiqun had refuted looked a little embarrassed and argued, "He scored three goals. Why shouldn't he make the school team?"

"So scoring three goals makes him amazing? Hu Lai was just lucky!" The moment that came up, Li Zhiqun's anger flared, and his voice rose several notches. "Anyone standing there could have scored those three goals. What's so impressive about that? What does scoring through luck mean? It means it can't be replicated! Can you guarantee he'll be that lucky every game? If he scores only when he's lucky, then when he isn't lucky, he can't score. His goals are basically like stumbling into a windfall... What coach would recruit someone like that for the school team? Would he have to be out of his mind?"

Li Qingqing happened to reach the classroom door just then and heard Li Zhiqun's grand speech coming from inside.

She frowned slightly.

The student who had been arguing with Li Zhiqun fell silent after hearing him say that.

Because, upon thinking it over carefully, Li Zhiqun did make sense.

Every coach wanted their players to perform consistently. Putting all their hopes on some vague and intangible luck was not something a professional coach would do.

Li Qingqing also returned to her seat in silence.

Just then, jeering voices came from the hallway outside. "Immortal Hu! Immortal Hu!"

"Hu Lai, you must have used up all the good luck of your life here!"

Then Hu Lai's voice rang out. "What luck? That was skill!"

"Right, right, skill, skill. So tell us tonight's lottery numbers, then?"

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Go buy them!"

Laughter erupted from outside. Amid that laughter, Hu Lai walked into the classroom with his head held high, then sat down at his desk.

Watching him, Li Qingqing thought of how seriously he had trained before the team tryouts. He must have been happy with his performance now, right? After all, he had scored three goals and completed a hat trick.

But could those three goals really get him selected for the school team?

Honestly, Li Qingqing was not sure either.

With his backpack on, Hu Lai stood outside a lottery shop. Several people crowded around the lottery terminal in the small store, handing over slips of paper.

Seated in front of the terminal was a middle-aged woman with permed hair and glasses resting on her nose. Squinting, she took the slips people handed her with one hand while rapidly pressing the terminal's buttons with the other. She did not even look at the numbers on the screen; she was thoroughly practiced at it.

Soon, a freshly printed lottery ticket came out and was handed to the person waiting beside her.

After carefully checking the numbers on the ticket, the customer cautiously tucked it into an inner pocket. But instead of leaving immediately, he turned and wandered over to the wall behind the terminal, staring at the chart of lottery number trends as he studied it.

Hu Lai passed this lottery shop every day on his way to and from school, but he had never considered going inside before.

Standing at the entrance today, Hu Lai hesitated over whether he should buy himself a lottery ticket.

The heckling from his classmates had given him the idea.

He had a clear understanding of himself. Even with the cheat, completing a hat trick in such a short time would have been difficult without luck.

And the facts proved that his luck during the match had indeed been excellent.

Especially the third goal. In that situation, the ball had actually hit his face and bounced back into the net...

If that kind of goal couldn't be explained by good luck, there really was no other explanation.

Although he had argued back when his classmates said he'd been lucky in the hallway, he knew the truth. He had only refused to admit it out loud.

How could he possibly admit to their faces that his goals had depended on luck?

But now, standing outside the lottery shop, he thought that getting rich overnight through luck didn't sound too bad either.

If he really won five million, he could pay off all of his family's debts in one go.

The busy middle-aged woman at the lottery shop caught sight of someone standing nearby from the corner of her eye. Seeing that no slip of paper was being handed over, she asked without looking up, "What are you betting on?"

A young voice answered, "Double Color Ball. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven."

The woman's hand reflexively moved to press the keys, but she stopped just before touching them. She looked up, frowning at the high school student standing in front of her with a backpack and school uniform on.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah." The student nodded.

"How many times?"

"Just one ticket..."

The woman said nothing else. Without looking at the keypad, she printed out a lottery ticket and handed it to the student.

Hu Lai took the ticket, still warm from the printer, and checked the seven numbers. They were indeed 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06 + 07.

He lightly flicked the ticket, then slipped it into his school uniform pocket.

The ticket was warm, and so was his heart.