On the football field of East River High School.
Unlike their archrivals, the Wolves.
The Titans usually didn't schedule any high-intensity morning training on game days.
But at this moment, Lin Wansheng and Mark still appeared on the field, conducting basic quarterback footwork drills.
Mark looked at Lin Wansheng's footwork—which, though still green, already had proper form.
He couldn't help but think of last night's "masterpiece," and a laugh escaped him.
"Say, how long do you think those words we wrote will stay on their field?"
Lin Wansheng was focused on the agility ladder beneath his feet, slightly out of breath as he answered, "At least three months."
"I checked their school district board's next voting session. It won't be until December."
"Whether it's replacing the turf, cleaning with chemicals, or even treating it with special paint, it's not a small sum."
"All these expenses have to be reported to the district board and put to a vote."
Lin Wansheng stopped his feet, glanced at the still-laughing Mark, and couldn't help saying:
"I just think there was no need to write that sentence."
"Wouldn't just writing 'Losers' have been enough?"
"Did we have to write such a long string?"
"Last night, everyone was out until almost three before getting back."
"Last night I felt like I didn't sleep at all."
Mark's smile grew even wider. "No choice. It was that childish Kevin's idea."
"Who told the whole team to vote for his?"
He paused, then shifted topics: "Say, when do you think we'll get the notice to change venues?"
Right then, Lin Wansheng finished his last set of agility ladder drills.
He ended with a crisp lateral slide step, then walked straight to the bench by the sideline where water bottles and towels sat.
He picked up a bottle, unscrewed the cap, and tilted his head back for several large gulps.
Mark followed over, still wearing a smile.
Lin Wansheng wiped the sweat from his face with a towel, looked at his watch, and said, "It's about time."
"At this hour, they should have already seen our greeting."
"Then their coach will have to go to the district board and coordinate the venue. They'll have their hands full."
Lin Wansheng added:
"If it weren't for the precedent set by another school before, where a venue was changed because of turf problems,"
"I would have actually thought this method wasn't very good."
"After all, having to play at someone else's home field is always a disadvantage."
But Mark laughed without a care in the world.
"Don't worry," he said, looking at Lin Wansheng, his eyes filled with the confidence of a team captain.
"I've already spoken with the PTA."
"If they don't change the venue, give them half a day, and they can organize at least a thousand parents and alumni to come with us to the away game."
"You saw that dump of a stadium in New Rochelle."
"It holds three thousand people at most."
"When the time comes, with over a thousand of us going over, we'll turn their home field into ours," Mark's mouth curved into a grin.
"Tell me, who would be at a disadvantage?"
He stepped forward and patted Lin Wansheng on the shoulder.
"Believe in the decision you made."
"I think your method was great."
"Just thinking about them having to train on 'titan d*ck' for three months, I honestly feel better than if we'd beaten them."
Lin Wansheng glanced at him: "If Coach Bob lets me play today, we'll definitely win too."
Mark looked at him and said seriously, "You know how angry Coach Payne was yesterday? Quite a few of those trophies were from his time."
"Don't worry. On our way to New Rochelle, I already spoke with Coach Payne and straightened things out."
"I specifically clarified that Spencer wasn't involved, and that he didn't want to be involved."
"Starting from today, the starting wide receiver position. It can only be yours."
After hearing Mark's words, a sense of unease surfaced in Lin Wansheng's heart.
Going around Head Coach Bob to directly communicate with Coach Payne was undoubtedly overstepping.
Moreover, based on his observations, Payne and Bob's relationship was hardly harmonious.
Of course, Mark's promise was a good thing for him, so he naturally wouldn't say much.
Right now, the most important thing was to guard against that New Rochelle bunch.
Before today's game was over, just don't let them run to Chinatown to cause trouble again.
But thinking about how Wang Tiancheng had been sleeping at his house these past two days, he felt much more at ease.
Speaking of which, before heading to New Rochelle last night, a small incident had occurred.
Last night, more than a dozen offensive players had gathered in the back alley of Champion BBQ Restaurant, preparing to split up and get in their cars.
Before getting in his car, Kevin had still been animatedly egging everyone on.
"Listen to me, let's not go to their field first. Let's go smash their locker room too!"
Right then, a clear, cold voice suddenly came from the alley entrance.
"You're going to New Rochelle?"
Everyone turned around to see Li Shuyao standing there quietly, still holding a few books in her arms.
Kevin saw her, froze for a moment, then winked at Lin Wansheng and let out a whistle.
"Yo, Jimmy, you've got it made, huh? Your girlfriend chased you all the way here?"
The surrounding teammates immediately joined in the heckling, letting out waves of hoots.
"Bring her! Bring her!"
"Yeah, bro, don't be so stingy. Take your girl to have fun with us!"
Li Shuyao's cheeks instantly reddened, but she ignored everyone's heckling and just looked at Lin Wansheng, saying, "I'm going with you."
"No way," Lin Wansheng refused without thinking. "What are you going to do following us?"
"I won't cause you any trouble," Li Shuyao's tone held a hint of persistence. "I'll just wait in the car for you."
In the end, under the combined pressure of everyone's heckling and her persistence, Lin Wansheng had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
When their convoy quietly drove into New Rochelle Central High School's parking lot.
Just as everyone was preparing to get out and head to the field, Li Shuyao suddenly spoke.
"Wait."
She pointed at several cars parked in the shadows beneath the gymnasium not far away.
"Why are there still cars parked here at this hour?"
Lin Wansheng thought for a moment, gave Mark a look, signaling everyone to stay put for now.
He lowered his body and, using the cover of night and the vehicles, quietly crept over.
He leaned close to one of the car windows and looked inside.
On the back seat were a few textbooks and some football protective gear.
Lin Wansheng silently retreated, his expression somewhat grave.
"Student cars. Probably juniors'."
"I bet someone is guarding the locker room."
After hearing this, Kevin scoffed dismissively: "What are we afraid of? Just a few junior punks. With so many of us, we can just rush in and beat them all up!"
"Shut up, you idiot!" Mark grabbed Kevin, who was preparing to charge straight into the locker room.
"They're waiting for us to rush in so they can call the cops and arrest us!"
Kevin looked toward the gymnasium: "Then how do we get in? I remember their field only has one path, and it goes past the locker room."
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