Just as Lin Wansheng’s bold words had yet to fully fade…
A figure appeared silently beside the players’ bench.
It was head coach Bob.
“Mark, Jimmy, you two come out with me.”
When Avery saw the coach, he instinctively moved to stand up as well, only to be stopped by a look from Bob.
“You,” Bob said, pointing at Avery. “Sit here properly and clap for them.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the players who had instantly fallen silent at his arrival.
“These girls put in no less effort than you did to prepare for today’s pep rally.”
“They’ve been cheering for you all along.”
“And now look at you, sleepy as dead dogs. What’s that about?”
With that, he paid them no further attention, turned, and led Lin Wansheng and Mark out of the gym.
To get from the gym to the football office, they had to cross more than half the campus, roughly six hundred meters.
All along the way, Coach Bob did not say a single word.
He simply walked ahead, his pace neither hurried nor slow.
Behind him, Lin Wansheng and Mark grew increasingly uneasy.
The bit of hot blood that had been ignited during the pep rally had long since been chilled clean away by this eerie silence.
After all this commotion, Lin Wansheng was now completely awake.
When they reached Coach Bob’s office, the coach pointed at the two chairs in front of his desk.
“Sit.”
He himself did not sit down. Instead, he turned and walked out of the office.
Before long, he came back in carrying a steaming cup of coffee.
Without paying any attention to the two of them, he walked over to his own seat, settled in, and unhurriedly took two sips of coffee.
After a long while, Coach Bob slowly raised his head, his sharp eyes sweeping across their faces.
“Talk.”
“What did you two do last night?”
Mark was anxious to explain, and his body instinctively tried to rise from the chair.
“Coach, we just…”
Before he could finish, Lin Wansheng lightly pressed down on his wrist.
In an instant, Mark stopped talking.
Seeing that small movement, a barely perceptible hint of amusement flashed through Coach Bob’s eyes.
Lin Wansheng took over.
“Last night, everyone on the offense went together to Big Mike’s Championship Barbecue.”
He glanced at Coach Bob’s expression, then added,
“No drinking, Coach. I swear.”
Bob looked at the two brats in front of him and laughed.
“Just a meal?”
“Right,” Mark immediately chimed in.
“We only had a meal. Don’t worry, Coach, we all listened to you. We didn’t even bring any rally girls.”
“Just us guys from the offense.”
Bob looked at the way these two young men were banding together to deny everything and found it somewhat amusing.
“What about Spencer?” He leaned back in his chair and asked as if casually, “He didn’t go with you?”
“Right,” Mark answered without hesitation. “He’s not a good team player.”
“Actually, Coach, I wanted to talk to you about that. As captain, I don’t think Spencer has the ability to start anymore.”
Hearing this, a trace of understanding flashed across Bob’s face.
“Fine. Payne told me the same thing this morning.”
He turned his gaze to Lin Wansheng, his expression becoming serious.
“So, Jimmy, do you have confidence?”
“Of course, Coach!” Lin Wansheng answered without the slightest hesitation. “Trust me.”
Bob nodded, seemingly very satisfied with that answer.
“No problem,” he said, waving a hand in an indifferent tone. “If you make a mistake, you get your ass off the field. Simple.”
After saying that, he leaned back in his chair again, picked up his coffee, and slowly took a sip.
“I just received notice.”
“Over in New Rochelle, there’s a ‘minor issue’ with their field.”
“Today’s game has been changed to our home field.”
He looked at the two boys before him, both with surprise appearing on their faces at the same time, and the curve of his lips grew wider.
“Now, I’m giving the two of you a mission.”
“Go find the people from the PTA.”
“Tonight, I want you to fill our five-thousand-seat stadium to the brim.”
He set down his coffee cup, leaned forward slightly, and issued his final order.
“I want to make sure those bastards from the Wolves can’t get a single spectator in here!”
……
……
……
Lin Wansheng followed Mark as they charged out of the office, just in time for the end of first period.
The quiet hallway was instantly filled by students pouring out of every classroom, the noise rushing in like a tide.
Mark was like a king inspecting his territory. Wherever he went, the crowd automatically parted to make way for him.
“Hey, Mark!”
“Captain, give ’em hell today!”
People kept high-fiving him, bumping fists with him, and greeting him enthusiastically.
Lin Wansheng was used to being invisible in situations like this.
Today, however, things were completely different.
“Hey, Jimmy! Good luck!” A burly guy from the basketball team passed by, laughing as he gave him a punch.
“You play way better than that bastard Spencer!” Another wrestler he did not recognize also gave him a thumbs-up.
A few girls who had previously revolved around Spencer looked Lin Wansheng up and down after seeing him pass by.
Their gazes were a mixture of curiosity and appreciation, and only after he had walked away
did they break into suppressed yet excited whispers.
Just then, a brown-haired girl holding a math textbook gathered her courage and stopped them.
Her cheeks were slightly red as she looked at Lin Wansheng somewhat shyly. “Jimmy, um… are you playing tonight?”
Before Lin Wansheng could answer, Mark had already jumped in first.
He slung an arm around Lin Wansheng’s shoulders. “Of course. He’s definitely playing.”
Lin Wansheng was somewhat unaccustomed to dealing with this sudden enthusiasm, while Mark watched from the side, thoroughly amused.
Only after the two of them had finally made it through the crowd did Lin Wansheng at last find a chance to speak.
“No, seriously, why did Coach have to bring me along?”
Mark strode quickly without even looking back, a trace of matter-of-factness on his face.
“Come on, man.” Mark turned his head and looked at him as if to say, Are you kidding me?
“In previous rivalry weeks, all we did was smash cars, ram doors…”
He paused, then added, “But this time, this kind of psychological warfare… Coach isn’t stupid. He definitely knows it was your idea.”
Lin Wansheng sighed helplessly, then could not help asking, “Then why do I have to go with you to the PTA?”
Mark suddenly stopped, turned around, and looked at him. “Buddy, you know Spencer used to be our team’s vice-captain, right?”
“Huh?” Lin Wansheng froze.
“You replaced Spencer,” Mark said, patting him on the shoulder. “So now you’re the vice-captain too.”
Lin Wansheng’s face was filled with disbelief.
“No, wait.”
“Spencer was the vice-captain?”