Chapter 66

When Rongguang began his walnut-kicking special training on the greenway the next day, he ran into Lucas again.

Lucas was still wandering the beach, trying to chat up beautiful women, his language as crude as ever: "Hey, miss, did you know? The power of the mind is amazing! If you just stretch out your hand and pretend to sprinkle some salt into your mouth, you can actually taste a bit of saltiness! Don't you want to try it?"

Rongguang heard Lucas's voice before he saw him.

So he picked up the walnut, held it in his hand, and shouted to Lucas: "Lucas!"

Lucas saw Rongguang and turned to look at the woman he was chatting up, but she had already walked away... Clearly, he had failed again.

So he ran over and complained to Rongguang: "It's all your fault, Rong! You scared away my girl!"

Then he put his arm around Rongguang's neck and said in a crude tone: "You owe me a dozen!"

"Where am I supposed to find them? I don't even know one... Oh, weren't there two yesterday?"

At the mention of the two women from yesterday, Lucas's face turned a bit awkward—he had wanted to lure both women to bed for a threesome.

But in the end, he didn't get any advantage. After dinner, the two women left.

Of course, it wasn't a total loss. As they left, each gave Lucas a kiss on the cheek.

"That's for the thanks, Lucas," the blonde winked at him.

And Lucas couldn't do anything to keep the two women from leaving...

Rongguang's question made Lucas think of the embarrassing events of yesterday. He waved his hand and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that, Rong. Are you still doing your special training?"

Rongguang nodded: "Yeah, I'm still training."

"How long have you been training?"

Rongguang thought for a moment: "Since the 21st."

Today was May 27th, so Rongguang had been training on the beach for six days.

"Almost a week?" Lucas was surprised.

Rongguang nodded: "Yeah, I need to continue, Lucas. You go find your beauties."

But Lucas suddenly became very curious about Rongguang's training. If running with an old man on his back was considered training, what about today? Was just running on the greenway considered training for a professional player like them?

So he shook his head: "You don't need to worry about me, Rong. I'll just watch from the side."

Rongguang ignored him and threw the walnut on the ground.

Seeing Rongguang throw the walnut, Lucas asked: "What's that?" Chinese walnuts are rare in Brazil, as the tropical region is known for its juicy fruits, not walnuts. They only have pecans, which are long and thin with a thin shell and crisp flesh.

These walnuts are very different from Chinese walnuts.

"Chinese walnuts," Rongguang explained simply.

Lucas found this even more curious.

What was he doing with a walnut?

Then he saw Rongguang start to kick the walnut!

Was this his training?

The walnut bounced irregularly on the ground, and Rongguang followed it, changing his running route from time to time, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, and sometimes he had to change direction multiple times after kicking the walnut...

Lucas was so curious that he started running alongside Rongguang on the side of the road.

He completely forgot about chatting up women.

After running a few hundred meters, the walnut was kicked out of the greenway and landed on the beach.

"Ah, damn it!!" Seeing the walnut go out of bounds, Rongguang's reaction was strange to Lucas because he didn't immediately run out to pick it up. Instead, he let out a long, mournful cry!

What was going on?

It just rolled out, why not just pick it up and continue? Was it really that big a deal?

After his long cry, Rongguang finally ran out of the greenway to pick up the walnut.

But he didn't continue kicking it forward; instead, he clutched the walnut and ran back.

"What are you doing, Rong?" Lucas caught up to him.

"Starting over," Rongguang said through gritted teeth.

"Starting over? What do you mean?"

"The walnut rolled out of the track, so I have to go back to the starting point and start over," Rongguang explained, his tone filled with frustration.

"Where's the starting point?" Lucas asked.

Rongguang pointed ahead: "There."

"Where?" It was a large area, and Lucas didn't know exactly where Rongguang was pointing.

Rongguang couldn't explain it clearly, so he looked at the pedometer on his wrist and told Lucas the distance: "Seven kilometers away. Damn, I was just three kilometers away from finishing... Ah!"

Lucas almost stumbled when he heard the distance. He was forced to stop.

Seven kilometers away?

Lucas looked up at the distance, not knowing exactly how far it was or whether it was within his line of sight.

He just stared in amazement. That was Rongguang's starting point, and when he failed, he had to go back to the start and run again, even if he was just three kilometers from the finish line...

Just three kilometers from the finish line?

Wait!

That means he had to run a total of ten kilometers, right?

And he had to complete it in one go. If he failed, he had to go back to the start, no matter how many meters or kilometers he had already run... But the walnut's surface was uneven, and its trajectory was unpredictable, so it would often roll out of bounds.

This meant that Rongguang actually ran much more than ten kilometers. Maybe twenty, maybe thirty...

This was his training?

Lucas shivered as he thought about it, suddenly feeling terrified.

When he came to his senses and looked back at the starting point, he couldn't see Rongguang anymore.

Rongguang's figure had disappeared into the distance, out of sight.

***

Lucas stood there for a long time before he saw Rongguang running back to him. Clearly, Rongguang had failed a few times and had to go back to the start and start over.

For some reason, he clenched his fists, feeling worried for Rongguang.

He was afraid that Rongguang would kick the walnut out of the greenway again while running...

If that happened, he might not even get a chance to talk to him before he ran back to the start.

Fortunately, this time it went smoothly, and Rongguang ran all the way to Lucas, with the walnut still bouncing on the greenway.

"Rong." Before Rongguang could kick the walnut, Lucas quickly called out to him.

He had something he wanted to say to Rongguang.

"Is that old man watching you?" As he said this, he looked around.

He thought the old man Rongguang had carried yesterday must be Rongguang's "coach."

Rongguang shook his head: "No."

He didn't know where the old man usually was or what he did.

When he kicked the walnut, he couldn't see the old man. He only saw him in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.

At noon and in the evening, the old man gave him massages. In the morning, the old man was still sleeping when Rongguang got up.

"Why are you so stupid? If the walnut rolls out, just pick it up and keep running. Why do you have to listen so obediently?"

Lucas thought Rongguang was incredibly stupid!

Since no one was supervising him, why not slack off?

Lucas often did this and was very good at it.

But Rongguang shook his head: "No, Lucas."

"Why not?"

"Because the old man doesn't like lazy or dishonest people," he said seriously.

Lucas rolled his eyes, thinking Rongguang's brain must be broken.

Rongguang didn't continue to explain how amazing the old man was. He just continued kicking the walnut forward.

Looking at Rongguang's back, Lucas muttered: "Idiot!"

***

When Rongguang finally finished his ten-kilometer special training and returned to the tent, the old man had prepared lunch for him.

A sandwich, a very ordinary sandwich. The lunch was simple, almost insignificant compared to the sweat Rongguang had shed and the energy he had expended.

But Rongguang didn't eat. As soon as he returned to the tent, he lay down and didn't want to move.

He was too tired and had no appetite. He had been training for almost a week, and his body was still adapting.

When Lucas found Rongguang's tent, Rongguang was lying inside, his legs still sticking out. If it weren't for the black shorts, Lucas might have walked past.

The black shorts left a deep impression on Lucas, so when he saw them, he knew it was Rongguang, even though Rongguang was lying face down, his back to him.

Rongguang was lying on his stomach, his upper body bare. Below the waistline of the black shorts, there were marks where the sweat had soaked through, then dried, leaving white stains on the dark shorts. These stains formed rings, one after another, extending down like the rings of a tree.

The rings of a tree prove its age, its memory.

And these rings of sweat proved Rongguang's effort, the memory of his sweat.

It was hard to imagine... Lucas thought he could never do it!

It was crazy. There were so many beautiful things in life: sunshine, beaches, waves, and women in sexy bikinis... Why waste time on such self-torture?

Either Rongguang was crazy, or the old man was crazy. Or, most likely, both were crazy!

Seeing Rongguang so exhausted, Lucas, as Rongguang's good friend, felt a surge of anger.

He was convinced the old man was a fraud, 100% tricking Rongguang!

He had to save his friend from this damn fraud!

So he turned and rushed out.

***

"Hey, you! Old man!"

Rongguang, who was resting in the tent, suddenly heard his good friend Lucas's voice, and it sounded like he was going to confront the old man.

He quickly struggled to get up and turned to crawl out of the tent.

When he crawled out, he saw Lucas pointing at the old man.

"When Rong is almost exhausted, you're here watching women! Is this what Rong's 'god' is like? Don't think I don't know what you're up to! I have more experience than you!"

The old man, who was facing away, slowly turned his head and looked at him: "Is that so?"

"Lucas? What are you doing here?" Rongguang was surprised to see Lucas.

"Rong, go rest. I'm going to expose this fraud. He's not the 'old god' you talk about! He's just a lunatic!" Lucas continued to point at the old man, feeling a sense of greatness in defending his friend—wondering if any of the women had noticed his heroic and tall image.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but start looking around, hoping to catch the eyes of the women who were looking at him with hearts in their eyes.

But unfortunately, he didn't see any.

Instead, he heard the old man's voice.

"Are you a soccer player?"

Lucas stopped looking around, puffed out his chest, and raised his head: "I'm a professional player!"

Actually, he hadn't signed a professional contract yet... But that didn't stop Lucas from boasting to strangers.

The old man pointed at Rongguang, who was standing next to Lucas: "Who's better, you or him?"

Lucas wanted to blurt out: "Of course, it's me!"

But the words were on the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed them.

Four months ago, he could have said it without hesitation, but now he couldn't.

As Rongguang's best friend, he had seen how Rongguang, who didn't even understand the basic rules of soccer, had become someone who could score a decisive goal against Corinthians and help São Paulo win the last Rio-São Paulo Championship.

Could he have done the same?

He didn't know how to answer that question.

He was supposed to come to confront the old fraud, but instead, he was left speechless by a single question from the old fraud.

Lucas felt a deep sense of defeat.

At that moment, the old man saw his embarrassment and smiled, stroking his long beard and said: "It seems you're not as good as him."

Although being looked down upon by the old fraud made Lucas unhappy,

But in front of Rongguang, Lucas couldn't say, "I'm much better than him," because...

"He's a monster! Who can compare to him?"

Yes, to make such progress and have such strength in just four months, what else could he be but a monster?

"Do you want to get stronger?" The old fraud's question stunned Lucas.

Do you want to get stronger?

This question circled in Lucas's mind, grew larger, and eventually filled his entire brain.

He had come to confront the old fraud, but now he felt as if he had fallen into the old fraud's trap...