Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Lu Ang’s defense was quite good. He was tall and could easily surround the players. However, when he encountered the small and agile Han Yuan, things got a little difficult.
Han Yuan’s style was very flashy. This made Lu Ang, who already had long legs, easily break the rules. For some reason, he accidentally bumped into him.
Fortunately, Lu Ang reacted quickly and retracted his leg. Han Yuan was shocked and almost fell down.
Wang Wen, who was the referee, judged that Lu Ang had fouled.
Xia Mengyin shouted, “Your decision was wrong. He didn’t kick Han Yuan’s leg.”
Wang Wen asked, “Are you the referee?”
Xia Mengyin said, “There’s a record in my camera.”
Wang Wen asked, “You’re not a VAR1.”
Coach Wang Tie said, “Wang Wen, take over Lu Ang. The formation of training team B will also change from 5-3-2 to 4-3-3.”
Since Lu Ang was a defender and Wang Wen was an offensive player, they needed to change their formation. There was no change in the members of Team A, so they did not adjust.
This made Xia Mengyin furious. He was clearly the one who made a mistake, yet he made Lu Ang swap out.
Lu Ang smiled at Xia Mengyin and hung the whistle on his neck. He made an OK sign, hinting that he was fine.
Xia Mengyin felt that he looked really absentminded when he smiled.
As the referee, Lu Ang was also very active. Just like that, after the first half of the match ended, he didn’t have a chance to play.
Xia Mengyin said, “All of you, come over here. Wang Wen was wrong.”
Ai Wu said, “Look, Little Xia is picking on us again.”
But after the team members saw the recording, Lu Ang’s feet really didn’t touch Han Yuan.
Actually, Wang Wen only felt that Lu Ang had touched Han Yuan’s leg because of the difference in angle. However, the truth was that he didn’t come into contact. This was how the naked eye looked. There was no other way.
Wang Wen looked at Coach Wang Tie. “Then I’ll be the referee for the second half of the match. Lu Ang can come into play.”
Coach Wang Tie nodded. This had always been his training rules.
Ai Wu said, “Remember the punishment of copying the rules five times after training.”
Wang Wen patted Lu Ang, who was in a daze. “Don’t mind me. I wasn’t against you just now. It was really a visual difference. But I won’t apologize to you, because in a real competition and without a VAR and argument, the referee is the authority, and the outcome is irreversible.”
Lu Ang nodded to show that he understood.
…
Xia Mengyin said, “Everyone, I will not speak for the second half of the training. Coach Wang Tie has already taught me that I will only express my opinion after the training ends. Don’t let it affect your judgment.”
This time, it was Lu Ang’s turn again. He silently thought that he had to focus. To be honest, he was very nervous. He was even more nervous than playing in the Youth Soccer League, especially after being swapped out by Wang Wen in the first half of the competition.
He had never experienced the feeling of losing an opportunity in the first half of the competition. When he thought about how Xia Mengyin had said that Wang Wen was exaggerating, his fighting spirit suddenly rose. This time, he had to be more serious.
Team A’s attack has already reached Team B’s forbidden zone. Lu Ang was anxious. He wanted to organize the rear defense line. This time, he was surprisingly proactive. As for Jiao Wu…
When Lu Ang organized the rear defense line, Coach Wang Tie nodded in satisfaction. Finally, in the rear defense line, he learned to take the initiative to organize. He was no longer the passive forward who waited for passes. Coach Zhang had told him this before, and others felt that his play style was too individualistic.
Just like that, Xia Mengyin saw that Lu Ang managed to get the ball out of the way. Fortunately, the sports glasses did not pose any obstruction to him. However, the ball was once again taken by Team A’s attacking players. But the line of defense for Team B that Lu Ang organized was very strong. Especially Lu Ang—his feet were like a gust of wind as he took the ball out from under someone else’s feet.
A good chance to counterattack.
Lu Ang did not kick the ball to the players in the middle. Instead, he started moving forward. The moment Team A’s defending players came back, he kicked. The opposing team thought that he was going to pass the ball to the forward, but Lu Ang kicked it himself.
As a matter of fact, Lu Ang returned to being a forward after dribbling the ball from the backfield to the front. He had thought of giving his team members a chance, but his body couldn’t help but kick the ball.
Even though the ball hit the goalpost, he managed to shoot it with a stunning kick. It had an arc and was very fast.
Lu Ang’s outstanding dribbling that crossed two-thirds of the soccer field left Xia Mengyin dazzled. She no longer felt that he was an absentminded boy. He handled the ball very well, even though he did not manage to score a goal in the end.
She had long forgotten that he was wearing sports glasses. From the bottom of her heart, she felt that this player was different. The feeling he gave off when he played was completely different from when he did not.
She was so shocked that her mouth was agape. Seeing her state, Coach Wang Tie said, “Huh?”
Xia Mengyin returned to her senses and gave the coach a thumbs up before turning to Lu Ang. However, he had already started to play again and did not see her ‘praise’.
Coach Wang Tie said, “Good shot, but you didn’t recognize your position in this match. Actually, you had a higher chance of scoring if you passed it to your teammates.”
Indeed, Lu Ang’s thought process is more about attacking. Wang Tie thought.
Xia Mengyin considered it and agreed.
By the time the warm-up match ended, Lu Ang’s body was already drenched. Beads of sweat rolled down his face. He lifted his jersey and wiped the sweat off his forehead, but he did not take off his sports glasses.
Xia Mengyin saw his abs under his jersey. For some reason, she felt her face burning. Lu Ang walked towards her, and Xia Mengyin did not want to look into his eyes.
Lu Ang said, “M-Mengyin.”
When Xia Mengyin heard him call her name, she suddenly felt… very different. Only those who were familiar with her would call her name directly. He felt that it was okay, or else he would feel like a… slippery person. But he did not feel that way now.
She answered, “Mm?”
Lu Ang said, “The coach asked you to take a photo of me in my team uniform. But can I still take a photo now in this state?” He looked at himself.
The setting sun shone on his dark skin, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. His hair was obviously wet, and his expression didn’t look as suave as it was in the camera just now. It had turned into a silly look again.
Xia Mengyin said, “Hmm… your hair is wet and it’s stuck to your head. It’s not nice. How about this, we’ll shoot tomorrow at 8 am?”
Lu Ang said, “In that case, what do you need me to do? Cut my hair?”
Xia Mengyin shook her head. “No need, no need. I feel that it won’t suit your character. If your hair is shorter, it might not look good.”
But I used to have a buzz cut. It’s just that I haven’t cut it in a long time. Lu Ang thought.
However, he was prepared to listen to her.
Xia Mengyin said, “Let me think about it. For the photoshoot, should you wear glasses? Did you wear them when you had your photo taken before?”
Lu Ang waved his hand. “I’ll wear it then.” He was nervous. If he took off his glasses, he would be exposed.
Xia Mengyin said, “Don’t be so nervous, I understand. People with myopia will definitely lose their spirit if they take it off. Just wear it then, I don’t think there’s any problem.”
Lu Ang nodded, relieved.
Xia Mengyin started to imagine how she was going to take a photo of him tomorrow.
He saw Xia Mengyin fan her face with both hands. “Are you very hot?”
Xia Mengyin finally reacted and stopped what she was doing. “No, no.”
Lu Ang said, “You must be tired from holding the DSLR for too long. Let me help you.” He saw her holding the DSLR seriously at the side of the field. It was obvious that she was tired. Her chubby face was red and she looked adorable.
Xia Mengyin couldn’t reject him; she could only watch him fold the tripod and hold it for her.
Lu Ang said, “You have to lead the way. I don’t know which building to keep it in.”
Xia Mengyin came back to her senses. “Oh, right.”
…
Before she went to bed, Xia Mengyin remembered that she had forgotten to ask him for his contact details. Tomorrow was Sunday, and the school soccer team was not training. However, it was already too late. It was not good to ask the team members or coaches now, but they had to meet very early in the morning tomorrow.
Why did I have to arrange it at 8 a.m. Ahhhh!