Mark could no longer suppress the fury in his chest. He lashed out with a vicious kick at a fallen locker beside him, producing a deafening crash.
“F*ck!”
His bloodshot eyes swept over the wreckage, his teeth grinding audibly.
“Goddamn sons of bit**es! Those sons of bitches! It had to be those Wolves from New Rochelle!”
“Those people don’t fucking live in the civilized world at all. They’re just like those rednecks in Texas—a pack of rabid dogs!”
“When they threw bricks at Coach’s house before, we should’ve driven over there and beaten the shit out of them! Mo*her f*ckers!”
He abruptly turned his head and looked at Lin Wansheng, ordering him in the unquestionable tone of a captain.
“Lin! Guard the door! Don’t let anyone else fucking come in!”
“I’m going to get Coach and the others!”
With that, he didn’t even wait for Lin Wansheng’s reply before turning and charging out of the locker room, still cursing nonstop.
“F*ck! I’m gonna fucking kill them!”
Lin Wansheng stood alone in this stinking garbage dump, smelling the pungent reek of paint, irritation surging in his heart.
He had originally wanted to go straight back to class.
But then, Avery’s words to him in the locker room flashed through his mind.
“If you’re always drifting outside the team like this, are you going to be like that on the field too?”
He glanced at the slogan on the wall that had been crossed out, then at the various belongings of his teammates that had been tossed all over the floor.
In the end, he sighed helplessly, took out his phone, and sent a text to his AP teacher.
Then he walked to the locker room entrance and, like a door guardian, folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the doorframe.
……
……
……
In less than ten minutes, the entrance to the locker room was packed with people.
Several coaches and all the first-string and second-string players had rushed over after hearing the news.
The hallway was filled with suppressed curses. Every face was written with disbelief and uncontrollable rage.
Offensive Coach Payne was the first to rush inside. When he saw that even the trophy wall at the very back, the one symbolizing decades of the team’s glory, had been overturned onto the floor, his face instantly turned green.
He crouched down, trembling as he picked up a trophy that had snapped in two. His lips quivered, but he couldn’t say a single word.
Even Kevin, who was usually so carefree, clenched his fists in fury at the sight of the wreckage.
Unable to hold back, he punched the wall beside him, producing a dull thud.
Lin Wansheng’s gaze swept over one face after another twisted with anger, but in the end, it landed on Avery at the back of the crowd.
Unlike everyone else, there was no anger on Avery’s face—only a strange calm.
He stood there with his hands in his pockets, his gaze passing over the crowd and fixing firmly on the insulting graffiti on the wall.
Lin Wansheng walked to his side and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong with you? Aren’t you angry? Oh right, why didn’t you come to practice yesterday?”
“I asked for leave.” Avery looked at the graffitied wall and slowly spoke.
“I went to New Rochelle.”
Coach Bob looked at the group of boys before him, their eyes red with anger, and his heart sank.
He knew that if he didn’t guide them properly now, this malicious prank would very quickly evolve into a real violent conflict.
In football, what he loved most about his players was precisely this unyielding drive and hot-blooded spirit.
But it was also their greatest weakness.
Once people lost their heads at the wrong time, extremely serious consequences would follow.
Especially now, when the vast majority of the players present were already in twelfth grade.
At this critical point of applying for college and deciding the course of their lives, if any violent incident occurred at all...
What they would face would be more than suspension.
Their futures would be destroyed.
Or even, if things were a little more serious...
Uncontrollably, a piece of history Bob had once seen in a coaching training course flashed through his mind.
Many years ago, a game between Baylor University and Texas A&M University.
The prank before that game hadn’t even been as vile as the one before his eyes.
But with both sides’ players losing control, it ultimately escalated into a massive brawl involving thousands of people.
In the chaos, a student was struck in the head by an iron chair and died on the spot.
Thinking of this, Coach Bob shook his head, driving that terrifying image from his mind.
He suddenly blew the whistle hanging around his neck. The sharp sound instantly drowned out all the cursing and arguing.
“Stop!”
“That’s fucking enough, all of you!”
The players’ anger seemed to be doused with cold water, and they all turned to look at their head coach.
“I’m going to call the cleaning staff to come clean this up.”
“All of you.”
“Now.”
“Immediately.”
“Right now, get your asses to class!”
Kevin was the first to shout in defiance, “Coach! They’ve already bullied us right to our faces! Are we really just going to let it go?!”
“Let it go?!” Bob’s gaze swept over like a knife.
“I’ll say it one more time!”
“No going after revenge!”
“Whoever dares to go to New Rochelle privately for revenge, I’ll fucking kick him off the team! Do you hear me?!”
Bob’s words slammed into every player’s heart like a boulder.
The more hot-tempered players had unwillingness written all over their faces. Subconsciously, they looked toward the other coaches, hoping to get even the slightest bit of support.
However, the defensive coach and the special teams coach merely stood behind Bob with their arms folded.
Their expressions were solemn, and their actions clearly stated their position.
Only Offensive Coach Payne stood silently at the very back of the crowd, his face dark. No one knew what he was thinking.
……
……
On the way to AP Macroeconomics, the atmosphere was terrifyingly oppressive.
Mark and Avery both had dark expressions and said nothing. Their footsteps thudded heavily against the floor, as if they were venting all their anger into the ground.
Seeing them like this, Lin Wansheng wisely kept his mouth shut.
Just then, the phone in his pocket suddenly began vibrating like crazy.
He took it out and saw the caller ID: “Wang Tiancheng.”
Why would he be calling at this hour?
With a trace of doubt, Lin Wansheng swiped to answer.
The moment the call connected, Wang Tiancheng’s anxious voice exploded from the receiver like a string of firecrackers.
“Jimmy! Ask for leave, quick! Come back right now!”
“There are a lot of white people surrounding the little supermarket. We don’t know what they’re trying to do!”
“Brother Xiao Lin and I are already helping your parents guard the door!”
“Brother Yu is bringing people over too!”
Wang Tiancheng took a breath, then spoke even faster.
“If the police show up later, it won’t be convenient for us to step forward. You understand!”
“You have to come back immediately!”
“Hurry!”
Generally speaking, a football rivalry week is the week when you play against your archrival.
During this week, because honor is at stake—not only the school’s honor, but also the community’s—the atmosphere across campus becomes extremely feverish. The school will also hold various pep rallies to boost morale.
In certain extreme cases, things like what happens in the novel can occur. Students play “pranks” on each other. There can even be vandalism and smashing incidents.
Historically, multiple accidents have happened, and there have even been deaths.
Guys~
I’d like this book to go on shelves a little later.
So I’m asking for continued reads and monthly tickets.
I hope it can make a push on the new book rankings.
Let this book, together with Lin Wansheng,
fight its way to a future!