Shameless

Although every member of No. 50 Middle School's football team fought desperately, they still failed to win the match in the end. They did not even score a single goal.

When the final whistle blew, quite a few No. 50 Middle School players burst into tears. The cheerleaders, who had been shouting themselves hoarse in the stands for over eighty minutes, fell into anguished silence. The flags that had been waving in the wind throughout the match drooped, no longer stirring at all.

Their season had ended after just the first match.

No. 50 Middle School's coach seemed quite accustomed to this scene. After shaking hands with Li Ziqiang following the match, he went onto the field to comfort his players. The team teacher from No. 50 Middle School did the same after shaking hands with Dongchuan Middle School's team teacher.

Meanwhile, Dongchuan Middle School's players celebrated their victory with great excitement.

Although No. 50 Middle School was not particularly strong, Dongchuan Middle School had formed their team in a hurry this year and had not had enough time to prepare. Winning the match and advancing to the next round was indeed worth celebrating.

During the celebration, Meng Xi shouted especially loudly. He had kept a clean sheet in this match, not allowing No. 50 Middle School to score even once. He was very pleased with his performance.

Especially in the final stages of the match, No. 50 Middle School had practically abandoned defense altogether, focusing solely on scoring a goal. That might have been their only wish for the season.

But Meng Xi cruelly denied them scoring chances again and again.

The No. 50 Middle School players cried bitterly in the end, perhaps partly because of that—being eliminated was one thing, but not even letting us score a goal was too much!

But that was football. The feelings of winners and losers did not necessarily align.

Scenes that moved onlookers to tears might not even have been noticed by the winners, busy celebrating in excitement.

Although he had not played, Hu Lai still joined his teammates after the match in thanking the students in the stands who had come specifically to cheer for them.

This was also one of the post-match procedures Li Ziqiang required them to carry out, to teach the kids manners and gratitude.

As Hu Lai applauded toward the stands in thanks, he spotted Li Qingqing. She was standing with Song Fatty.

She was waving in his direction.

Although he had not played and had not even broken a drop of sweat, Hu Lai still puffed out his chest and calmly accepted Li Qingqing's support.

Diagonally in front of Hu Lai, Luo Kai stood in the front row of the team, raising his hands with his teammates to thank the stands. Yet his expression remained calm, even though he had received the most cheers—this section of the stands was practically filled with his fans.

Whether male or female, they had all been won over by his performance on the field.

Dongchuan Middle School had ultimately won the match 5:0, with Luo Kai scoring four goals all by himself.

He deserved all those cheers and praises.

Yet he remained very calm in the face of them.

Until... he saw Li Qingqing waving her arm in his direction.

At last, a brilliant smile bloomed across his face, and he raised his hand to wave back at Li Qingqing.

Naturally, that gesture made the cheers from the stands even louder, but Luo Kai heard none of it. All he could see now was the smiling Li Qingqing.

Football was fair. Who performed well and who did not, you would know once they stepped onto the pitch.

With a performance like his, was it not perfectly natural for him to win Li Qingqing's favor?

At last, Qingqing had come to her senses...

Thinking this, Luo Kai turned his head, intending to look at Hu Lai's disheveled state with the bearing of a victor.

But to his surprise, what he saw was Hu Lai waving his arm at Li Qingqing as well!

Shameless! Was Qingqing waving at you?!

Luo Kai spat inwardly.

Xie Lan was somewhat restless. Even while watching the TV dramas she usually enjoyed, she could not focus. From time to time, she got up and went to the balcony to see whether her son had returned.

She was worried about Hu Lai—worried that he would not make it back on time, worried that his husband would discover that he was playing football at school.

Fortunately, at five minutes to five, Hu Lai opened the front door with his key and walked in.

Xie Lan, who was sitting on the sofa watching television, glanced at her son. "You're back?"

"Yeah, Mom, see? I didn't lie to you. As soon as the match ended, I hurried right back," Hu Lai said to his mother with a broad grin.

"Oh, how was the match?" Xie Lan asked casually.

"We won!" The smile on Hu Lai's face grew even brighter.

Seeing the heartfelt smile on her son's face, Xie Lan smiled too, but quickly became serious again. "Go take a shower and change your clothes!"

She did not say it too directly, but Hu Lai instantly understood what she meant. She was telling him not to let his father notice anything suspicious.

But Hu Lai shook his head. "I didn't play, Mom. I watched from the sidelines. I didn't sweat at all."

Xie Lan was somewhat surprised. "You didn't get to play? Then what did you go for? To be a spectator?"

"Even if I didn't play, I still had to go, Mom. It's called team spirit! We're a team, a whole. Whether we play or not, everyone has to be there!"

Seeing how proud her son sounded, Xie Lan shook her head. "All right, as long as you like it..."

She did not really understand what there was to be happy about when he could not even play in the match, but as long as her son was happy, that was enough.

Come to think of it, ever since joining the school football team, her son seemed to be smiling more and more—not those fake smiles he used to hide his true feelings, but smiles like this, from the bottom of his heart.

Even if he did not get to play or exercise, perhaps being able to see that kind of smile was not so bad...

At seven thirty that evening, Hu Lixin returned home, exhausted after a day of work. His wife and son had already eaten dinner, and his wife was in the bedroom scrolling through Kuaishou on her phone.

"Where's Hu Lai?" he asked his wife.

"He's reading in his room."

"How was he today?"

"Pretty good. He finished all his homework in the morning..."

Hu Lixin was a little surprised. "Why wasn't he dragging his feet?"

Xie Lan smiled. "Haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Hu Lixin was confused.

"He's been taking his studies much more seriously lately."

Hu Lixin frowned and thought about it. "Has he?"

"You really don't care enough about your own son." Xie Lan complained. "I know you're busy with work and under a lot of pressure, but you should at least pay more attention to our son, shouldn't you? He's been doing much better than before lately."

"Maybe he's getting older and becoming a little more sensible."

Seeing how indifferent her husband was, Xie Lan had wanted several times to tell him that their son had joined the school soccer team, and that his whole demeanor had changed. It felt like he had more energy for everything he did...

But in the end, she said nothing.

Her son had asked her to keep it a secret from his father. If she told him, she was certain that the door to her son's heart would shut itself against her forever, completely.

She didn't want that.

Song Jiajia pulled a plastic bag from his backpack, then poured its contents onto the floor. A complete yellow Dongchuan Middle School soccer team uniform appeared before him. The number "14" was clearly visible on the back of the jersey, which had been turned inside out.

Looking at the uniform on the floor, Song Jiajia frowned.

Hu Lai had handed it to him after the match and asked him to keep it for him, saying that his father didn't like him playing soccer, so there couldn't be anything related to soccer in his home.

Since he couldn't hide things at home, handing the uniform over to a good friend for safekeeping sounded perfectly reasonable.

But Song Jiajia felt that things weren't so simple.

In today's match, Hu Lai had only stood on the sidelines in his uniform. Other than warming up with the team, he had never gotten a chance to play, and he had barely even broken a sweat.

So the shorts and socks in this uniform were still clean.

But what if Hu Lai got to play in future matches? He'd be drenched in stinking sweat, plus all the dirt from the field...

After the match, he'd stuff the jersey, shorts, and smelly socks all into his hands... Oh, and the shoes too—those damned soccer cleats giving off an unbelievably foul stench!

Was he really just keeping them for him?

The next time he played, Hu Lai would wear all those dirty things onto the field? Then build up even more sweat stink, foot odor, and stains before handing them back to him?

Just imagining that scene made goosebumps rise all over Song Jiajia's body.

So after every match from now on, I'd have to wash his jersey and his stinking socks?!

Song Jiajia was furious. He felt that Hu Lai had tricked him.

But then, on second thought, he let out a sigh of relief.

How could a loser like Hu Lai possibly get to play in a match?

That was close, that was close... Thank goodness, thank goodness...

Song Jiajia patted his chest, then stuffed the uniform back into the plastic bag and tossed it into the corner by the wall.