Exploded

Li Ziqiang suppressed the flash of surprise on his face and asked darkly, "What did you say?"

Hu Lai knew he had misspoken too. He had accidentally voiced what was really on his mind.

There was nothing wrong with thinking about things or fantasizing about them however he wanted, but saying them aloud was probably inappropriate.

After training with the team for a month, he knew perfectly well that as a newcomer who had only just joined and spent a month on basic training, it would be hard for people to accept him playing in a match.

The team had thirty-six players and had already played three rounds of qualifiers. Counting both starters and substitutes, only eighteen people had played in matches—exactly half.

In other words, half the team had never even taken the field, so why should he be the one to play?

A lot of people had to be thinking the same thing—no matter how the turns went, it would never be your turn, kid! Even if someone were going to play, among the other thirty-five of us, whose place in line isn't ahead of yours?

Hu Lai hurriedly changed his words. "Uh, no, Coach..."

But Li Ziqiang had no intention of letting him off so easily. He had put up with this brat for a long time.

"No what?" He strode toward Hu Lai and shouted, "You can't even crawl yet, and you already want to run?! Are you dissatisfied that I've only had you doing basic training this whole time?"

"I'm not..." Hu Lai argued.

"Not what? I know you're full of complaints, complaining that my attitude toward you is rougher than it is toward everyone else! That's fine. You can state your opinion openly. I guarantee I won't kick you off the team because of it."

As Li Ziqiang said this, he stared coldly at Hu Lai, who had his head lowered. At the same time, his back was toward the stands. He did not need to turn around to know that his daughter was watching this scene from the stands.

Logically, he should have reined in his emotions to avoid arousing his daughter's suspicions. But when he thought of that scene in the clearing, of his daughter wrapping both arms around this damned brat, their faces pressed close together as they stood so near each other, an inexplicable rage surged up from the depths of his heart.

She was the fruit of his and his wife's love, the treasure they had cherished so dearly. After his wife passed away, he had raised his daughter alone, watching her grow up little by little. He had poured so much effort and emotion into her. How could the person he loved most in this world be handed over to the bastard in front of him?!

Outsiders had many labels and impressions of Li Ziqiang. For example, the players of Dongchuan Middle School's football team all saw their head coach as a "devil coach."

But perhaps few people knew of Li Ziqiang's other identity—he was, in fact, utterly devoted to his daughter.

When his wife died, she entrusted their daughter to him. He absolutely, absolutely, absolutely would not allow anyone to set their sights on his precious daughter.

This treasure whom he was afraid to let fall from his palm and afraid would melt in his mouth—just because he had been busy with the handover at his new job and adapting to the new environment, he had let his guard down for a moment, and she was about to be snatched away by a pig...

This was intolerable!

He was even deeply worried that this would become the greatest failure of his life, an even greater failure than losing his wife or losing his previous job.

The more worried he was about this, the greater his hatred for Hu Lai became.

He stared fixedly at Hu Lai as though he were staring at a corpse.

Under his gaze, Hu Lai kept his head lowered and said nothing.

"What? Cat got your tongue? Speak!" Li Ziqiang roared.

Everyone was frightened by the scene unfolding before them, including Li Qingqing and Song Jiajia. The two of them stared dumbfoundedly at the field, at Hu Lai and the coach—her father—completely unsure what to do.

No one else was doing much better. Whether players or spectators, no one knew how they were supposed to react at this moment.

Other than Li Ziqiang's roar, there was no other sound at the scene.

Then, amid that silence, a harsh laugh abruptly rang out.

"Hahahaha! You still want to play in matches? Look at you! Go piss and take a look at yourself, Hu Lai! Did you really think joining the school team meant everything would be smooth sailing? You're a joke! Did you hear me? Hu Lai, you're a joke! Everyone's waiting to laugh at you!"

Song Jiajia's head snapped toward the source of the voice, though he did not actually need to look to know who was laughing.

Li Zhiqun's voice was simply too distinctive.

Li Qingqing frowned as well, extremely displeased by Li Zhiqun kicking someone while he was down. She was about to lose her temper. Even in front of her father, she wanted to teach that mangy dog a lesson for Hu Lai.

But before she or Song Jiajia could make any move, a loud voice rang out from the field. "Shut up!"

While Li Ziqiang was berating him, Hu Lai kept his head lowered, just as he did whenever he faced his father's scolding.

He thought of his father, of the father who had always hated seeing him play football.

When he had been little and played football in the courtyard with his friends, once he was discovered, he would stand before his father just like this, head lowered as he silently took the scolding.

Meanwhile, the friends who had played football with him would stand nearby, watching the scene in confusion, unable to understand why Hu Lai's father was so harsh with him.

It had always been this way since he was little. Whenever he failed to do something properly, it would bring down his father's scolding.

His father always said it was for Hu Lai's own good, but he had never considered things from Hu Lai's perspective.

He arranged so many things for him, yet never asked what he wanted. If Hu Lai had an opinion, the response he usually got was, "Don't worry about it!" "Why ask so many questions? Just do as you're told!" "Just listen to me!" "Do I understand, or do you?"

Fine. Hu Lai stopped asking and stopped talking.

He buried all those questions in the deepest part of his heart. But they had merely been hidden away; they had not truly disappeared.

That confusion and dissatisfaction were all still there, not diminished in the slightest, accumulating bit by bit.

Now, those emotions churned in his chest along with his memories, as if searching for an outlet.

Then he heard Li Zhiqun's harsh voice.

"...You're a joke! Did you hear me? Hu Lai, you're a joke! Everyone's waiting to laugh at you!"

It was like tossing a lit match into a room full of gas.

Boom!

"Shut up!" Hu Lai raised his head and looked toward the stands behind the coach, immediately spotting the somewhat stunned Li Zhiqun. He pointed in that direction.

"Cheapskate Li, say one more word and I'll make you pay me back!!"

Li Zhiqun had never seen Hu Lai this aggressive before. He was so frightened that a "hic" escaped his throat, and he did not say another word.

Only after dealing with Li Zhiqun did Hu Lai shift his gaze back to the head coach standing before him.

For a moment, he felt as though the person standing in front of him was not Coach Li Ziqiang, but his father.

His father, who always wore a stern expression around him—the father he instinctively wanted to avoid.

The emotions surging within his chest had not been fully vented by that earlier shout. They continued to crash against his ribs.

Hu Lai stared at Li Ziqiang and said, word by word, "Yes, I want to play football! I want to get on the field and play matches! That's my goal! Is that not allowed? Is it wrong for my goal to be playing matches?! I may still be crawling, but does that mean someone who's crawling has no right to dream of running?! I! Want! To! Play! Matches! What's wrong with that?!"

Sharp intakes of breath rose one after another from the crowd.

Whether they were members of the school team on the field or spectators at the sidelines, everyone had been startled by Hu Lai's outburst.

Those who persisted in watching training from the sidelines truly loved football, the school team, and someone on that team. This was not their first time watching the school team train, so they naturally knew Hu Lai's standing in the team and how he normally behaved.

The coach had always been the only one yelling at him. When had he ever dared to talk back so forcefully?

Forget Hu Lai—who on the entire team dared to speak to the coach in that tone and with that attitude? Were they tired of living?

Mao Xiao glanced at Meng Xi. His good friend made a throat-slitting gesture at him, clearly meaning that his friend was practically courting death.

Even Luo Kai's usually calm face showed a rare hint of surprise. From silencing Li Zhiqun with a single sentence to roaring at the devil coach, Hu Lai had given him far too many surprises today. He found it hard to adjust.

"Holy shit, that's awesome!" Song Jiajia could not help cheering for his deskmate from the stands.

But Li Qingqing beside him merely muttered, "It's over..."

With that final sentence, Hu Lai leaned forward and raised his head, practically spraying it straight into the head coach's face.

Along with those words came flecks of spit, which landed on Li Ziqiang's face together with Hu Lai's stiff, forceful declaration.

As for Hu Lai, after roaring those words himself hoarse, the pent-up frustration in his chest was drained away in one burst.

Reason returned to him. The person before him was no longer his father, but a coach with spit hanging from his dark face.

"Uh, Coach... I... just now... no, my account got hacked just now..." Hu Lai's first instinct upon coming to his senses was to beg for mercy.

In response, Li Ziqiang raised a hand and wiped the spit from his face.

Throughout the process, he kept his eyes fixed on Hu Lai, his expression unchanged.

Only after wiping it away did he speak. But instead of an angry roar, he asked in an extraordinarily calm voice, "You want to get on the field? You want to play matches?"

Hu Lai froze for a moment, then hurriedly explained, "No, it's just a goal, a long-term goal... Coach, I have no complaints about your arrangements. I know I need to build my foundation right now..."

Li Ziqiang ignored Hu Lai again and said coldly, "Very well. Starting next week, I'll arrange special training for you. If you meet the standard, I'll allow you to play! If not, then you'll obediently spend a year doing basic training!"

After saying that, he turned and walked toward his office, leaving Hu Lai with a cold, merciless back.

Just as the head coach turned to leave, that emotionless voice appeared in Hu Lai's mind again: "Mission: Successfully complete the special training arranged by the head coach. Mission reward: Points ×5000, Mysterious Gift Pack ×1."

Hu Lai was stunned by his own system.

What was going on?

Usually, it played dead and stayed quiet as a mouse, but today it suddenly went all out and issued two missions in a row?

Was this a joke?

Had it heard him complaining and griping?

But this second mission should not have existed in the first place, if not for what had happened earlier...

So this system could interact with reality somehow? Events in reality could affect the system, causing it to issue missions?

Lost in thought, Hu Lai simply stood there blankly.

But in everyone else's eyes, he looked like nothing more than a weak, helpless little victim.