"Xu Yifan? Pff… He's trash! I can beat him with my eyes closed!"
On a school field, an arrogant youth claimed confidently. The other students dressed in school uniform nodded in agreement.
Not far away, Xu Yifan stood watch. With a football between his armpit and no one to play with. He could only stand by the sideline awkwardly.
He thought by bringing a football to school, he could make a few extra friends, or even become more popular in his grade. But not only did that not happen, he got ridiculed by his classmates!
The reason was simple— He's trash at football.
Every lunchtime, the football loving students would gather on the school field, create two teams, and play a match.
Yifan was amongst the students who would always sign up to play. But not only was he rejected, he was pushed away!
The reason?
"My ball, my rules!"
"As the owner of this ball, I refuse to let you join our game!"
As it turns out, the ordinary ball they always played with was in fact owned by one of the students.
Faced with this logic, Yifan could only stood stunned. The reason was ridiculous… but it also kind of made sense?
With little choice, Yifan had to begrudgingly sneak into the school gym, and "borrow" a ball just so he could play.
But when he returned, seeing the ball between his arms, the other students laughed mockingly. Whilst they played on the school's football field, Yifan was forced to settle on the sideline, using the little space left available to play.
With a scrappy old ball between his feet, Yifan kicked it against the brick wall. It struck, then bounced back. Yifan sharpened his gaze, lifting his foot to trap the ball. But not only did that not happen… the ball rolled right under him!
Aiyah!
Half embarrassed, Yifan could only chase after the ball.
It rolled onto the grassy field, passed a group of girls who were sunbathing, struck a kid that was running laps, and eventually rolled into the centre circle— right where the football match was taking place.
At this moment, dribbling with the ball at his feet, a student was busying charging down the field when suddenly! A broken old ball arrived in his path. Awkwardly, his foot stumbled, then fell over.
The players paused momentarily, then stared at Yifan who was frozen down the sideline. A dark gaze emitted from the student who fell over. And the rest of the students were equally displeased. Even the girls were staring at him with disdain.
With lowered head, Yifan picked up the ball, then ran away.
"Not again…" He said to himself.
The rest of lunchtime was quite uneventful. Yifan found an abandoned location at the back of the school, kicked the ball by himself and ate his sandwich when tired.
However, his skills with the ball was horrendous. And he had to chase after the ball due to his misplaced kicks. In this manner, lunchtime quickly ended, the bell came faster than one expected.
Yifan had class in the afternoon. With a sweat dropping down his forehead, he dashed up the stairs, down the corridor, before arriving at the classroom entrance.
As he entered, his eyes scanned the room. And as expected, Fatty Wang was waving at him with a beaming smile. He was Yifan's desk-mate, and sat right beside him at the back row.
As Yifan took his seat, Wang Dazhi immediately broke into his chatterbox nature. "Have you heard? We're getting a transfer student!"
"Huh? But it's already mid-semester… You sure this is true?"
"Tsk. There is some credibility to this rumour! Here are the facts: During lunchtime today, an expensive sedan pulled up to the school gate. A family of three walked into the school accompanied by security guards. And the principal personally came to welcome them. And most importantly… I saw a kid around our age!"
Yifan rolled his eyes. "You sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you? Maybe they were just some officials inspecting the school."
"Nonsense! I might be crap at studying, but my eyes never deceives me!"
Yifan only chuckled. "Remember when you tried to give your confession letter to Sun Jiaqi, but you accidentally—"
Wang Dazhi was immediately flustered. Placing his hands over Yifan's mouth before he could even finish. The fatty scanned the classroom, and his gaze lingered on a particular girl sitting a few desks away. Seeing the female classmate distracted by her friends, Fatty Wang sighed in relief.
"Yifan! That was a one time mistake! Stop brining it up!" Fatty Wang said, almost in a whisper. "What if she hears us?!"
"Pui! What's there to be ashamed of? Sun Jiaqi is the school belle, everyone's secret crush. She receives dozens of confession letters a day! Your's probably got lost in the mountain."
Fatty Wang gritted his teeth, eyeing Yifan with determination. "Don't say that. I still have a chance! Look at me! What type of women don't feel safe with me? I have a squishy dad build! Perfect for women to feel comfortable with! I'm loyal and won't cheat, what type of women don't find me attractive?"
Yifan discreetly glanced at Fatty Wang's mountain of belly fat, barely suppressing his laugh. "If you say so… if you say so."
At this moment, the classroom door slid open and an frail senior walked in. The classroom fell deadly silent right on cue, as if worried even whisper might garner punishment. Even the usual chatty Wang Dazhi submissively cowered behind his desk.
The old man lifted his glasses, his sharp eyes scanning the room. He had a discreetly smug smile seeing the students' obedience. "Turn to chapter 12, we begin now."
Class was underway. Mr Wu wrote equations on the blackboard whilst reciting class materials like a buddhist monk. It was a miracle half of the class didn't fell asleep from how boring it was.
Yifan could only stare at the clock as time passed painfully slow. Just then, a crumbled piece of paper hit his face, leaving him momentarily stunned. He checked on his best friend, finding his mouth forming the words: "open it."
The piece of paper wrote:
Gaming cafe after school?
With a quick thought, Yifan hurriedly scribbled down his response. Then tossed it to Fatty sitting next to him.
Not today. Sorry.
Wang Dazhi had a raised eyebrow as they exchanged glances. He scribbled something down.
Training again?
Yifan nodded.
Fatty Wang looked defeated, shaking his head. He had been best friend with Yifan for many years, so how could he not know what his best friend was suggesting.
He could only discreetly pass notes to other students in class, inviting others for a gaming session. Under Mr Wu's oblivious teaching, Fatty Wang successfully recruited four more students through paper notes, just enough to form a team in LoL.
Yifan only stared out the window for the rest of class. Occasionally jotting a few key points down in his notebook, but his mind was distracted. Not even when Fatty Wang was caught by Mr Wu for chatting disrupted his boredom.
The bell rang at 5pm sharp, most of the students bolted out the classroom at first opportunity. Even the normally obedient students couldn't help but scatter. Having Mr Wu for afternoon class was nothing more than pure torture. Only the most studious students stayed behind to ask follow-up questions.
Yifan was not one of them. The moment the bell rang, he jumped out his seat, picked up his bag and left the classroom. Fatty Wang gave him one last offer to join his gaming session, but Yifan firmly rejected.
Running down the corridor, he jumped down the flights of stairs in an busting manner. Even the 9 hour days of studying couldn't suppress his energy. As he dashed thought the school yard, several other students scattered to make way. At the gate, the security guard only shook his head before letting Xu Yifan through. Not even bothered to reinforce the rule of "no running" across the street.
Under the evening breeze, Yifan dashed along the side street, carrying the "borrowed" ball underneath his armpit. Whilst running, he hummed a catchy beat, though it was unclear which song it was.
Arriving at a bridge, Yifan didn't cross. Instead, he jumped down the side to the river-bank. In such densely populated location such as China, there are only few locations unclaimed by industrial projects or architectural buildings. The riverbank was one of those.
Setting the ball down, Yifan had an excited smile. "Let's play!"