Useless Aside from That

Li Qingqing held her rice bowl, poking at the rice with her chopsticks without bringing any to her mouth.

She kept rehearsing what she was about to say in her head.

How could she subtly bring up the subject without making her father suspicious?

After thinking it over, she realized that Hu Lai's hat trick in this match had already caused quite a stir. After all, everyone had seen what his previous performances were like, and the way he scored those three goals was far too much of a talking point.

So it seemed perfectly natural for her to bring it up at the dinner table.

Besides, Hu Lai was her classmate, so it was entirely reasonable for her to care a little more than others.

With that in mind, Li Qingqing silently encouraged herself, then casually said, "Hey, Dad, did you know? The guy who scored a hat trick with his face today is my classmate."

Li Ziqiang picked up a piece of green pepper with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth without even raising his head. "Oh, really?"

That was a bit perfunctory.

Li Qingqing pouted where her father could not see, then continued, "Dad, can he make the school team?"

Li Ziqiang shook his head. "No."

Hearing that answer, Li Qingqing grew anxious, and her voice rose before she could control it. "Why?!"

Only then did Li Ziqiang look up at his daughter with some puzzlement.

Under her father's gaze, Li Qingqing regained her composure and hurriedly explained, "I've noticed he does have talent. Those three goals weren't just luck..."

Li Ziqiang interrupted her. "I know what talent you mean. His instinct in front of goal is indeed very sharp."

"Right? You noticed it too, Dad..." Li Qingqing said, feigning delight.

"But that alone is useless. His fundamentals and many other aspects are terribly, terribly lacking. You could say that aside from his instinct in front of goal, he has nothing else." Li Ziqiang changed tack. "He's a blank sheet of paper. If he were five or six years old, I would definitely take him. But I'm the coach of a middle school team now. The players I recruit need to have a certain foundation, not no foundation at all. No matter how good his feel in front of goal is, what use is it if he can't even control the ball properly?"

Li Qingqing knew her father was right, but she was still unwilling to accept it. Somewhat helplessly, she argued, "But he scored three goals..."

"Those three goals had a strong element of luck. They don't prove anything." Li Ziqiang waved his chopsticks. "Eat, eat."

Li Qingqing still wanted to try, but when she opened her mouth, she had no idea what to say.

She was afraid that if she continued, her father would become suspicious. If he asked, "Why are you so concerned about this?" wouldn't she be left speechless?

So she sighed inwardly and shoveled the rice in her bowl into her mouth.

At the same time, she was already considering how to comfort Hu Lai—since her father had said so, his chance of joining the school team was completely gone.

Hu Lai sat at his desk, with an English textbook spread open before him.

In his hand was a small test tube with a capacity of about twenty milliliters, its opening sealed with a soft stopper.

The tube contained a colorless, transparent liquid.

This was the quest reward he had obtained from the system—[Marrow-Cleansing Potion].

Unlike the first time, when he had been excited and impatient, Hu Lai waited until he got home and his parents had finished washing up and gone to bed before taking the reward out of the system inventory.

He had resisted opening it impatiently at school precisely so he could have this moment all to himself.

Last time, he had gulped it down hurriedly in the school restroom amid the pungent stench. There had been no sense of ceremony at all.

He placed the [Marrow-Cleansing Potion] on top of the book, rubbed his hands together, licked his lips, and swallowed as he stared at the tube. "WOW! Awesome!"

Only after completing this ritual did Hu Lai pull out the stopper and pour all the liquid into his mouth.

He did not immediately swallow the potion. Instead, he swished it around in his mouth, wanting to get a better sense of its taste.

Last time, the smell of the restroom had been too overpowering, so he had had no idea what the potion actually tasted like.

Now that he carefully sampled it, Hu Lai found that the [Marrow-Cleansing Potion] tasted no different from the bottled water he drank.

If someone who did not know the truth drank it, they might genuinely think they had merely taken a sip of bottled water.

After swallowing all the potion, Hu Lai did not throw away the tube. Having experienced this once before, he knew that within seconds of drinking the [Marrow-Cleansing Potion], the tube and its stopper would vanish completely, as though they had never existed in this world. There was no need to worry that anyone would discover anything suspicious through them.

After drinking the [Marrow-Cleansing Potion], Hu Lai closed his eyes and carefully felt for changes within his body... Of course, he felt nothing at all.

There was no sensation of his whole body feeling refreshed, nor was there any warm current rising from his lower abdomen and spreading throughout his body...

There was no special feeling whatsoever.

It seemed that the effects of this thing could only be felt once he started exercising.

Having gone through it once before, Hu Lai no longer worried about whether the [Marrow-Cleansing Potion] worked. He entered the system again, and this time, a gleaming golden treasure chest floated before him, waiting to be opened.

This was the other reward for completing the hat trick quest: a mysterious gift pack.

Without hesitation, he opened the chest. After a flash of golden light, a yellow test tube floated before him.

At the same time, information about the yellow liquid appeared in Hu Lai's mind:

[Training Boost Potion]: After consumption, increases the consumer's training effectiveness for thirty days.

"Holy shit..." Hu Lai could not help swearing when he saw that information.

At first, he had been somewhat disappointed that the gleaming golden chest had yielded only one item.

After all, when he had opened the novice gift pack before, it had at least contained three things: [Marrow-Cleansing Potion], [1,000 Points], and one [Lottery Ticket].

The mission was harder this time, yet the gift pack had yielded only one thing. The system was being far too stingy!

But once he saw what that thing actually was, Hu Lai tossed all his previous complaints to the wind.

What was the biggest gap between Luo Kai and himself?

Wasn't it that Luo Kai had received all kinds of professional football training since childhood, with at least ten years of accumulated training behind him, while he himself was practically a blank sheet of paper?

Although he had already begun training hard, and had Li Qingqing's help as well, Hu Lai still knew that the gulf between himself and Luo Kai was as insurmountable as a chasm.

While he trained, Luo Kai would certainly be training too. If they were both training, how could he possibly catch up to Luo Kai?

Now, this vial of yellow potion had given Hu Lai the answer.

Although the description did not explicitly state just how much it would improve training effectiveness, Hu Lai had gained some experience from the [Marrow-Cleansing Potion].

The [Marrow-Cleansing Potion] had likewise not specified exactly how much it would improve each aspect of his physical fitness, but Hu Lai had still felt the changes to his body through training.

This [Training Boost Potion] was probably the same. It would not tell him the exact numbers, but the changes it brought about would definitely be something Hu Lai could personally feel.

Drinking it would not let him catch up to Luo Kai overnight, but it gave Hu Lai hope that he could.

And hope was something as precious as diamonds in this era...

As long as there was hope, that was enough!

Thinking about it, Hu Lai felt that the bridge of his nose, which had been struck by the ball, did not hurt nearly as much anymore—everything had been worth it!

The only regret was that it could only last thirty days. If it could take effect permanently, that would be insanely awesome...

Since it was only effective for thirty days, Hu Lai did not immediately drink it. There was only one day left this week when he could play football, followed by a three-day break when he could not train. Wouldn't drinking it now waste those days?

He planned to use it next week, when he had several consecutive days of training ahead of him.

Even so, he took the potion out of the system inventory and carefully examined it in his hand.

The small glass vial contained a yellow liquid. It looked like a bottle of orange juice—one of those low-quality orange juices that definitely had a ton of artificial coloring added to it.

But Hu Lai knew that this was probably the most delicious "orange juice" in the world.

After admiring it for a while, Hu Lai carefully put the [Training Boost Potion] back into the system inventory.

Lying in bed, Li Qingqing stared blankly at the moon outside her window, and Hu Lai came to mind again.

Before, she had thought that once Hu Lai finished the school team entrance trial, she would no longer need to teach him football.

But tonight, her thoughts had changed.

If she had not seen Hu Lai's talent, that would have been one thing. But now, it was difficult for her to give up on this boy.

He clearly had talent. He clearly did not need to endure all that ridicule and scorn... Her father had said that his foundation was too poor, and she acknowledged that. But so what?

Then they would start training. Three days a week, right in that open space outside. She would teach him, starting from the very basics, and teach him for a year.

After a year, she refused to believe he would still be a blank sheet of paper!

At that thought, Li Qingqing turned over, putting her back to the bright moon outside the window. She closed her eyes and drifted into dreams of that future...

The corners of her lips curved upward, and her eyelashes trembled faintly.