Lin Wansheng changed into his practice gear and, following a group of rookies who had just joined the team and still had a trace of childishness on their faces, began the warm-up laps.
Setting foot on this familiar grass once more, his feelings were slightly complicated.
Just as he passed by the second-string practice area.
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a burly figure darting out from behind and to the side.
It brought a gust of wind with it, charging straight at his back.
Lin Wansheng did not even have time to think. His body’s instincts had already reacted before his brain could.
His left foot suddenly stepped inward, and his entire body slid half a step to the side.
“Bang!”
With a muffled thud, the ambushing figure missed completely and crashed solidly to the ground, taking a mouthful of turf.
“F**k! Jimmy! Do you have eyes on the back of your head or something?!”
A blond-haired, blue-eyed white boy, built as sturdy as a young bull, climbed up from the ground. As he spat out the grass in his mouth, he roared in disbelief.
Lin Wansheng took a closer look and finally recognized the guy.
Avery Carson.
East River High’s starting running back, and his best friend since elementary school.
Their friendship had begun with Avery’s self-introduction back in elementary school.
At the time, after Lin Wansheng heard his name, he had subconsciously muttered in Chinese to the classmate beside him, “What kind of weird family names their kid ‘A-very’—as in ‘a very’? What a strange name.”
Never in a million years had he expected that this kid could actually understand Chinese.
Naturally, after class, Avery came looking for him and they had a thorough fight.
After that fight, the two of them somehow became friends for many years.
“Are you sick or something?” Lin Wansheng looked at his face covered in bits of grass and said irritably.
“If this were anywhere else, I would’ve kicked you flying already.”
“Tch, you don’t even draft your bragging before you say it!” Avery patted the dirt off himself and puffed out his chest with disdain.
“I’m the future number one running back in New York State. Two hundred pounds of pure build. Try kicking me flying.”
Lin Wansheng smiled.
He said nothing. He only took a quick step forward and slammed his shoulder hard into Avery’s chest.
It should have been a playful bump.
Avery did not take it seriously at all.
How could Lin Wansheng possibly knock him over?
And yet Avery felt as if he had been hit by a rhinoceros charging at full speed. Both his feet left the ground.
His entire body toppled backward out of his control, and once again, he had an intimate encounter with the earth.
“Holy m**her f**ker!” Avery lay on the ground, completely dumbfounded. “You… did you spend summer break eating livestock feed?!”
“I feel like I haven’t seen you for only three weeks!”
Lin Wansheng looked at his stupid expression, smiled, and reached out to pull him up from the ground.
“You really are back!” Avery hooked an arm around his neck and thumped his back hard.
His tone was filled with genuine joy. “I knew you wouldn’t just let it go like that!”
He leaned close to Lin Wansheng’s ear, lowered his voice, and said proudly, “I’ve been laying the groundwork with Coach Bob for ages.
Every day, I tell him how good your technique is, and that your body just hadn’t caught up yet.
Besides, I’ve already gotten three verbal D1 offers. Coach has to keep me happy now.
When the time comes, I’ll find a chance to get him to let you run a few plays during garbage time.
Even without a scholarship, as long as there’s game footage.
You can still put it in your application.”
He squeezed his eyes at him and gave him a “you know what I mean” look. “These past few weeks, I bet I’ve annoyed him so much he wanted to die.
And sure enough, you came back.
So? I’m asking you.
Am I enough of a brother or what?”
Listening to his friend take credit, a warm current surged through Lin Wansheng’s heart.
He did not tell Avery that if it had not been for Kevin’s damned algebra,
plus that old fox Hank giving him a push from behind and moving him from running back to wide receiver, there was no way he could have come back this quickly.
It was better not to let these complicated dealings of the adult world contaminate “A-very’s” tender young heart.
He only smiled and thumped Avery’s back just as hard.
“Fine, fine, you are, more than enough! After we win next week, I’ll treat you to a proper meal!
Now hurry up and get back to practice.
Careful Coach Bob doesn’t make you run shuttle sprints again.”
Coach Bob, who was standing in the distance, saw this scene, and a gleam of eagerness flashed through his eyes.
Then he looked over at the other side, at the first-string starters who were running even shuttle sprints with no energy, and cursed inwardly.
“Fucking hell, you get a few verbal offers that can be revoked at any time, and you start slacking off on me? A bunch of idiots who don’t know the height of the sky or the depth of the earth!”
Bob suddenly blew his whistle. The sound was sharp and piercing, as if it meant to stab through everyone’s eardrums.
“Get the fuck over here, all of you!”
All the players, whether first-string or second-string, stopped their training and quickly gathered in front of him.
Bob’s gaze was like a knife, sweeping one by one across the faces of those starters who were clearly being a bit lax.
“Very good. Looks like some of you have too much energy.” He sneered. “Ordinary regular training can’t satisfy you anymore, is that it?”
“Fine!” He suddenly raised his voice. “Let me remind you useless trash! Last season, how many times did you get stripped halfway through a drive, then let the other side counterattack straight into a touchdown?! Have you forgotten?!”
“A bunch of garbage!”
Bob pointed at the players from the two offensive units and gave an order that made everyone’s scalp go numb.
“First-string offense, second-string offense, get up here! You’re playing a scrimmage!”
“Second string, offense first!”
The second-string players walked onto the field with their heads down and spirits low. They knew very well that they were nothing more than punching bags for those big shots on the first string.
In the huddle, the second-string quarterback listlessly called the simplest running play.
“Wait,” Lin Wansheng suddenly spoke, interrupting him.
“They definitely think we’re going to run the ball right now. Why not fake the run and pass instead?”
“I’ll run a post route. Just look for me.”
The quarterback froze for a moment. Looking at the unquestionable look in Lin Wansheng’s eyes, he somehow nodded as if possessed.
After the snap, the second-string quarterback made an extremely realistic fake, stuffing the ball toward the running back’s arms and instantly drawing most of the first string’s attention.
As for Lin Wansheng, he was like a ghostly shadow. Using that gap, he easily shook off his defender and cut into the middle.
A perfect pass, and the second string advanced fifteen yards without shedding a drop of blood.
Coach Bob’s face instantly darkened.
With a sharp motion, he threw the play board in his hand onto the ground and roared at the first-string players on the field: “Look at yourselves, you bunch of trash!”
“You can’t even defend against your own second string! And you fucking want to play the Cheetahs next week? Huh?!”
“Why don’t we stop playing right now! I’ll call them directly and tell them we forfeit! Saves us from going out there and embarrassing ourselves!”
“A bunch of garbage!”
Regarding the team setup in this story, it differs slightly from reality. On a real high school team, a twelfth-grade backup quarterback would generally be on the first string.
However, in order to make the distinction between the characters and teams clearer, the backup quarterback, including the protagonist, has been placed on the second string.