"Su He! I'm here!" Chen Yang called out excitedly from afar.
He remembered casually mentioning a few days ago that he had a soccer match with someone over the weekend. He was pleasantly surprised that Su He had taken it so seriously, remembering it all the way and even coming to cheer him on.
Su He smiled serenely and said,
"Chen Yang, I'm here to cheer you on!"
Looking at Chen Yang's brand-new sportswear, Su He asked,
"By the way, is Sister Qian alright?"
At the mention of Ning Qiaoqian, Chen Yang suddenly felt a pang of guilt. He lowered his head, straightened his clothes, and, avoiding Su He's gaze, replied,
"Oh… just a little trouble, it's all resolved!"
"That's great!" Su He, completely oblivious to Chen Yang's awkwardness, immediately exclaimed happily upon hearing that Ning Qiaoqian's problem was solved. "Chen Yang, the goddess's here to cheer you on! You'd better perform well today!"
"Haha, didn't you see Lao San hasn't even gone on the field yet, but he's already like he's been injected with superhuman energy? The effect is immediate!"
Su He is a very well-known campus beauty at Rong University, and given the recent rumors about her and Chen Yang's ambiguous relationship, her appearance on the C field immediately caught the attention of Chen Yang's dorm buddies. They all stopped training and started teasing her.
Hearing Han Song and the others' teasing, Su He blushed deeply. She lowered her head and whispered,
"Chen Yang, you should go train. The competition is about to start!"
Chen Yang chuckled and said,
"Okay, don't just stand there, go find a place to sit in the opposite stands!"
Chen Yang jogged into the field, where Cao Xiao greeted him with a mischievous grin. Before he could speak, Chen Yang reached out and roughly ruffled his hair, saying casually,
"Cao Xiaosi, if you dare mention the name 'Su He,' believe me, I'll turn around and leave right now. I'm not playing this match anymore…"
"No! Third Brother, I won't mention it, okay?" Cao Xiao quickly smiled apologetically, then turned and shouted, "Everyone, hurry up and warm up! Stop watching the fun!"
Last week, the two sides agreed on a small-field five-a-side football match. On Cao Xiao's side, besides Han Song and Chen Yang, there were also Liu Da and Huang Qunfei from the mechanical engineering major in the next dormitory. These two were both tall, muscular men, lacking in agility.
As previously agreed, Liu Da was in charge of goalkeeping, Han Song and Huang Qunfei focused on defensive play, Cao Xiao was the main attacker, and Chen Yang's position was slightly behind Cao Xiao. This was also part of the plan, mainly to utilize the role of a surprise weapon. After all, forwards are the most closely marked players, and this arrangement meant that with Cao Xiao drawing attention up front, Chen Yang would have more opportunities.
The group huddled together to reconfirm the tactics. They unanimously agreed to focus on counter-attacking. Their opponents were athletes, and the school's football team at that. If they tried to go toe-to-toe with them, their defense would be overwhelmed, potentially leading to a more crushing defeat. Han Song felt the chances of winning were extremely slim, but for his brother's sake, he had to persevere, no matter how difficult it was. He also had a bottom line: he couldn't afford to lose both the game and his reputation.
After the discussion, the group dispersed again to practice passing. Only then did Chen Yang realize that his teammates were all wearing white tracksuits, while his was light blue. This would be inconvenient during the game and could easily lead to misjudgments by his teammates.
Just as Chen Yang was fretting about this, Cao Xiao walked over with a smile, carrying a plastic bag. He handed the bag to Chen Yang, saying with a smile,
"Third Brother, I brought your 'ultimate battle robe' for you. Hurry up and change into it!"
Chen Yang opened it and saw that it was his knock-off "Adidas" brand t-shirt. Before today, this was the only sports t-shirt Chen Yang had ever worn. His roommates knew this, so they all agreed to wear white tops and brought Chen Yang's as well.
It turned out that everyone chose white clothes to accommodate Chen Yang's situation. Chen Yang was suddenly moved. His brothers seemed carefree, but they were actually very thoughtful and tried their best to protect his fragile self-esteem.
Seeing Chen Yang in a daze, Cao Xiao laughed:
"Third Brother, you wouldn't be fickle, would you...?"
"Get lost, do you think I'm that kind of person?" Chen Yang snapped out of his reverie and retorted with a laugh.
Without another word, Chen Yang took off his new Adidas sports t-shirt, quickly changed into the "Adidas ripped" shirt, tossed the old shirt aside, and joined the group for passing drills.
"Kid, cramming at the last minute? Humph! Too bad your skills are so bad, even Buddha can't help you! A bunch of stinking trash!"
A boastful voice rang out as everyone was passing the ball, and Cao Xiao's face flushed bright red.
Chen Yang looked closely and saw a large group of people surrounding a tall boy wearing an Italian national team jersey. This was the boy who had spoken earlier; his jersey had "Rongcheng University Football Team" printed on the left chest. This man was Hu Tian, the sports student and captain of the Rongda University football team, who had clashed with Cao Xiao on the field last week. Today, he brought a group of his teammates, intending to teach Cao Xiao, this arrogant brat, a lesson on the field.
"You son of a bitch! Who the hell are you calling a bastard?" Cao Xiao's temper flared instantly. He stiffened his neck and was about to charge forward. Han Song, quick-witted and agile, grabbed Cao Xiao and whispered in his ear:
"Fourth brother, don't be impulsive. Let's settle this on the field. If you start a fight, you'll lose your temper!"
Cao Xiao calmed down after hearing Han Song's words, but he still snorted coldly and glared at Hu Tian with hostility.
Hu Tian ignored Cao Xiao's gaze, glanced around at Han Song and the others, and clicked his tongue, saying:
"I'm talking about you bunch of trash! Humph! A rabble!"
Hu Tian and his group of seven or eight people were all members of the university team, dressed in identical blue Italian home jerseys and professional football boots. In contrast, Chen Yang and his teammates, aside from their jerseys being mostly the same color, wore mismatched brands and ordinary sneakers, making them appear significantly less imposing.
At this moment, a man behind Hu Tian stepped forward, pointing at Chen Yang's jersey and laughing unabashedly:
"Haha! Captain Hu, this student's jersey is quite unique!"
Chen Yang, who had been observing coldly, was surprised that someone was now targeting him. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the man as Shen Tu Fan, the president of the calligraphy and painting club with whom he had had a less-than-pleasant encounter a few days prior. Unexpectedly, he was also a member of the school's football team.
Shen Tu Fan had actually seen Chen Yang long ago, and he had even spotted Su He sitting quietly in the stands. Shen Tu Fan wasn't so narcissistic as to assume Su He was there to cheer him on; he knew she was there for Chen Yang, and thus felt a mixture of jealousy and resentment. With Hu Tian having a verbal altercation with him, Shen Tu Fan immediately jumped in to launch a sarcastic attack on Chen Yang.
After speaking, Shen Tu Fan glanced smugly at Su He in the stands. Su He, however, remained seated calmly, as if Shen Tu Fan were nothing.
Upon hearing Shen Tu Fan's comment, Hu Tian also noticed the oddity of the logo on Chen Yang's jersey. After a closer look, he couldn't help but burst into laughter:
"Shen Tu, you have sharp eyes! This is the latest jersey this year, produced by 'Adidas Bass,' a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adidas!"
The school team members immediately erupted in laughter, with Shen Tu Fan laughing the loudest.
After laughing for a while, Hu Tian asked sarcastically:
"Hey classmate, I didn't expect to be able to buy the famous 'Adidas ripped jeans' jersey in China already! Where did you buy it? Can you get me a set too?"
Seeing Hu Tian and Shen Tu Fan's clumsy performance, Chen Yang sneered inwardly. He was already thirty years old mentally; this kind of teasing was too naive to provoke him.
Chen Yang feigned ignorance and said:
"Are these jerseys hard to buy? I bought them at the night market at the east gate of the school! Fifteen yuan a piece. If you want to buy some, go to stall number three. I know the owner well; I've bought several jerseys from him. I'll talk to him, and I can at least get you a two-yuan discount!"
Hu Tian was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down his face. Shen Tu Fan and the other teammates also looked at Chen Yang with disdain and roared with laughter. Shen Tu Fan was filled with smug satisfaction. That day at the calligraphy and painting club, Chen Yang had humiliated him greatly in front of Su He, and he hadn't expected to witness Chen Yang make a fool of himself so soon, in front of Su He herself. So, while laughing, he frequently glanced at Su He, but she remained completely calm, not even lifting an eyelid, which diminished Shen Tu Fan's sense of revenge.
After laughing, Hu Tian ignored Chen Yang completely. He thought to himself, "So he's just a simpleton! What a waste of breath!"
Han Song, unable to bear watching any longer, stepped forward as his roommate was being mocked. He frowned and said, "Hu Tian, we're here to compete today. Save your words!"
Hu Tian snorted and said, "Fine, let's see what happens on the field! Coach Lu will be here at 3:30 sharp. I'll make sure you all accept your defeat!"
With that, Hu Tian led his teammates to the other side of the field for pre-match training.
Coach Lu was a young teaching assistant in the School of Management. He loved playing soccer, knew the rules of the game, and most importantly, knew Hu Tian and had played with Cao Xiao before. Therefore, both sides agreed to have him serve as the referee for the match.
Chen Yang noticed that Shen Tu Fan kept glancing at him during training, his eyes filled with hatred. A thought struck him, and he walked to Han Song's side, whispered a few words in his ear, then a cold smile appeared on his lips.