Don't Chicken Out of a Bet

A long, long time ago, people loved making xiehouyu-style jokes out of the titles of popular songs and movies.

For example, there were seven days in a week, and people used a movie title to annotate each one.

Monday was explained with the classic Egyptian dubbed film Toward the Abyss, because there were still five straight days of classes ahead—truly an abyss.

Tuesday—The Road Is Long. The weekend was still far away, so the road ahead was indeed long.

Wednesday—The Night Is Vast. Though two days of the week had already passed, Wednesday sat right in the middle of those five dark nights, so it truly counted as a vast night.

Thursday—Breaking Through the Darkness Before Dawn. There were only two days left until the break. Dawn was right before their eyes, but the night before dawn was often the darkest.

Friday—Homeward Bound Like an Arrow. The weekend was almost here. No one had the heart to study; everyone was only thinking about how to spend the weekend. Naturally, they were all desperate to head home.

This was a meme students liked to play with more than twenty years ago. Times had changed, and students twenty years later no longer played it this way, but the emotions remained the same.

There always seemed to be more laughter on campus on Fridays than usual.

"What are you doing on Saturday?"

"How about we go shopping? I know a new milk tea shop just opened on Spring Breeze Road, and it's really good. But we have to get there early—the line is such a pain..."

"Come over to my place on Sunday and play FIFA!"

"I can't, I'm going to my grandma's for dinner..."

Voices like these could be heard everywhere on campus.

For those students who loved football, though, Friday brought one more thing to look forward to—at noon today, the school football team would post a notice on the bulletin board announcing who had made the team.

To them, that was the most important matter of all.

The moment Hu Lai had just sat down at his desk, a hefty figure pounced on him. "Hu Lai, confess!"

Poor, weak Hu Lai was pinned firmly to his seat beneath Song Jiajia's body. He was sprawled across the desk, unable to move, and could only tilt his head and say with difficulty, "Con... confess... what..."

"Confess what your relationship with Li Qingqing is!"

"I... told you yesterday... she's... my... coach..."

"Coach? What kind of coach?"

"Football... coach..."

"How did she become your football coach?" Song Jiajia simply could not figure it out.

"Cough, cough... If you don't... get up... I'm going to... get crushed... crushed to death..." Hu Lai's broken voice came from beneath the fat guy.

Only then did Song Jiajia shift away and free Hu Lai from under him.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Hu Lai coughed for a while, catching his breath before explaining his relationship with Li Qingqing to Song Jiajia.

After hearing him out, Song Jiajia's eyes widened. "You brat..."

Before he could finish, he covered his mouth and glanced in Luo Kai's direction.

Everyone knew that Luo Kai treated Li Qingqing differently, while Li Qingqing was relatively cold toward Luo Kai.

But no one had expected Li Qingqing to be this close with Hu Lai in private.

Song Jiajia knew very well what kind of image Hu Lai had in the class.

Calling him a "clown" would not have been wrong at all.

And yet now, this "clown" had gotten together with the universally acknowledged "goddess"...

If Luo Kai found out, he would probably go crazy, wouldn't he?

Thinking of this, Song Jiajia could not help glancing toward Luo Kai. He was staring in Li Qingqing's direction.

At that moment, Hu Lai snorted. "What are you thinking? Our relationship is completely innocent!"

Song Jiajia kept looking toward Luo Kai and nodded repeatedly. "Right, right, right. Yours is innocent, but Luo Kai's practically drooling himself to tears."

Li Zhiqun entered the campus with his backpack slung over one shoulder, his upper body slightly tilted as he limped along with the crowd. Then he stopped in front of the bulletin board.

He noticed that an area had been cleared on it.

The corners of his mouth curled up at once, because he knew what would appear there.

The names posted there would all be selected for the school team.

Naturally, his own name would be among them.

Although he had only played for a short time in the trial match before leaving the field due to injury, and although his foot injury had yet to heal, he believed that based on his overall performance throughout the tryouts, there should be a place for him on the school team.

The only thing troubling him now was his injury. He had to catch up with the team's training as soon as possible, because he knew there was not much time left before the qualifiers for the National Middle School Football Championship began.

He was worried that by the time he recovered, the qualifiers would already be nearly over.

Still, that was better than Hu Lai, that idiot, not making the school team at all.

At the thought of Hu Lai, Li Zhiqun's mood improved considerably.

Today was the day the answer would be revealed. He had to pay close attention to Hu Lai's changing expression. Just imagining Hu Lai looking like a homeless dog then brightened his mood considerably...

In such a wonderful mood, Li Zhiqun walked into the classroom of Class 2, Grade 1.

Then, at a glance, he spotted Hu Lai grinning happily. This kid was actually in such a good mood?

Li Zhiqun was somewhat surprised, then could not help sneering, "Hu Lai, you can still laugh?"

Hearing that, Hu Lai turned to look at Li Zhiqun with a grief-stricken expression. "Sorry. My condolences, Li Zhiqun."

Li Zhiqun froze for a moment before realizing what he meant. He snapped, "Condolences for what? No one in my family died!"

Hu Lai looked surprised. "If nobody died, why can't you let me laugh?"

Li Zhiqun nearly choked on the breath stuck in his throat. He then tried hard to control his emotions, putting on a victor's smile as he looked down at Hu Lai. "The school team's selection list is being announced today. Don't cry when the time comes."

"Tears of joy? Don't worry, I'm not that easily moved."

"My ass!" Li Zhiqun was truly annoyed by Hu Lai's shameless twisting of words. He felt Hu Lai was changing the subject because he did not dare face the issue directly, so he decided to lay it bare and strike at the heart of it, leaving Hu Lai completely embarrassed. "You won't even make the school team, so what are you happy about?"

But after saying that, he saw Hu Lai raise three fingers at him.

"What?" Li Zhiqun asked with a frown.

Hu Lai said calmly, "I scored three goals."

Li Zhiqun was stunned at first, but then he laughed. "I was wondering what it was... You think you're definitely getting picked for the school team just because of that? Is there something wrong with your brain? Oh, right, I remember now. Of course there's something wrong with your brain... Hahaha! Let me tell you, those three goals prove absolutely nothing! You just got ridiculously lucky! No coach with normal intelligence would pick you for that reason!"

Li Zhiqun went on a frenzied tirade, mocking Hu Lai. His voice grew louder and louder, until nearly everyone in the classroom heard him. They stopped what they were doing and turned to look over.

It was no secret in Class 2, Grade 1 that Li Zhiqun disliked Hu Lai. Everyone knew it.

But it was still rare for Li Zhiqun to go at Hu Lai so fiercely right to his face like this.

After all, their previous verbal spats had usually ended after just one or two exchanges...

Li Qingqing was very dissatisfied with Li Zhiqun targeting Hu Lai like this. And not only did he target Hu Lai, he also took jabs at her father at every turn. He had said before that her father should have let Luo Kai join the school team directly, or else it meant he had no eye for talent.

She frowned, unable to stop herself from wanting to say something for Hu Lai in front of the whole class. Leaning forward with one hand braced on her desk, she was gathering strength to rise.

Luo Kai, who had been watching Li Qingqing the whole time, seemed to have his suspicions confirmed when he saw this.

It was as though he heard something inside him shatter.

At that moment, Hu Lai interrupted Li Zhiqun's grating voice. "Let's make a bet, Li Zhiqun."

Li Zhiqun froze, not expecting Hu Lai to say something like that.

Hu Lai continued, "A bet. If I make the school team, you give me a hundred yuan. If I don't make it, Song Jiajia gives you a hundred yuan!"

"Ha, Hu Lai, looks like you're really confident..." Li Zhiqun stopped halfway through, because he had spotted the flaw.

Song Jiajia, who sat beside Hu Lai, also turned to stare at him in surprise. "Why do I have to pay if you lose?"

Hu Lai looked sincerely at his deskmate. "Because we're friends."

"No... We're friends, but that doesn't mean I have to pay for you..."

Hu Lai spread his hands. "I don't have that much money."

Seeing the two of them turn on each other, Li Zhiqun laughed happily. "Hu Lai, look at the things you do all day. You shouldn't be studying at Dongchuan Middle School—you should be going to a hospital to get your brain checked! Ha! You two should fight each other first..."

With a loud bang, Li Zhiqun's laughter was cut off.

Song Jiajia slammed the desk, pointing at Li Zhiqun with one hand as he glared furiously. "Fine, I'll pay it!"

Li Zhiqun: "..."

Everyone else: "..."

"Are you insane?" Li Zhiqun yelled after coming back to his senses. "What does this have to do with you?"

Song Jiajia raised his head and puffed out his chest with a snort. "Hu Lai is my friend!"

Standing beside Song Jiajia, Hu Lai gave him a thumbs-up.

Seeing the two of them like this, Li Zhiqun felt as though he was trying to reason with two idiots. He waved a hand. "Forget it. Why should I lower myself to your level..."

He was about to return to his seat.

But Hu Lai called out to stop him. "The bet, Li Zhiqun. Don't tell me you're scared?"

His actions greatly surprised the watching classmates. Li Zhiqun had clearly been about to let Hu Lai off the hook, so why was Hu Lai still refusing to let it go?

Although Li Zhiqun's attitude was rather awful, what he said was true.

Hu Lai's three goals in that match had obviously all been products of luck. Who would get picked for the school team because of three lucky-as-hell goals? If that were enough, why hold such a professional selection process? They might as well have everyone buy lottery tickets and pick whoever won. Whoever won the most money could be the starter—wouldn't that be ridiculous?

Yet Hu Lai was so certain he could make the school team?

Had those three goals gone to his head?

But seeing how certain Hu Lai was, Li Qingqing thought of another possibility—yesterday, she had sincerely and earnestly told Hu Lai that he had talent.

At the time, she had wanted to encourage Hu Lai's confidence and fighting spirit as much as possible, so he could prepare for the year of training ahead.

But she seemed to have overlooked one thing: someone who had never been praised for having football talent before, suddenly being told so sincerely that he had talent—just how happy would that make him...?

Seeing Hu Lai like this, Li Zhiqun smiled. He nodded firmly. "Fine, a bet! Don't regret it later!"

He pointed at Hu Lai and Song Jiajia, then sat down in his own seat with a disdainful smile.

Seeing that the show was over, everyone else withdrew their attention as well.

After Song Jiajia returned to his seat, he grabbed Hu Lai and asked in a low voice, "Hey, Hu Lai, are you really that confident about making the school team? It's not that I can't bear to lose a hundred yuan. I just really hate losing to that bastard Li Zhiqun..."

Hu Lai gave him a thumbs-up. "Don't worry. Even Li Qingqing said I've got incredible talent!"

"That Li Qingqing?" Song Jiajia sounded unconvinced.

"She's a real professional..." Hu Lai simply began quietly explaining everything that had happened recently to his deskmate. From Li Qingqing's incredible football skills to her accurate prediction of the exact contents of the school team trial, he arrived at one conclusion: Li Qingqing's words had to be reliable. Since even she believed Hu Lai had talent, the school team's head coach would surely see it the same way. That naturally made his chances of joining the team much higher.

Watching the backs of Hu Lai and Song Jiajia as they leaned their heads together, Li Qingqing frowned.

She did believe that Hu Lai's talent was exceptionally, exceptionally impressive. But there was still a long road between possessing extraordinary talent and turning that talent into real ability.

Having talent did not mean one would definitely become a professional player.

Growing up beside her father, she had seen plenty of people with outstanding talent who ultimately failed to make anything of themselves in football.

She did not want Hu Lai to become another cautionary tale.