Chapter 50

Thinking back to the beginning, Wang Bo had jokingly asked Lu Lu if she could spend the night with him in exchange for the truth about the rumors from his junior high school days. Now, the joke had come true, but he really didn't have the courage to do anything, or else his mother would skin him alive. Hadn't she started favoring Lu Lu as soon as she stepped through the door?

Wang Bo sat on the bed, making Lu Lu feel extremely uncomfortable. She felt as if the person behind her was staring at her, making her back feel uneasy. She secretly turned her head to glance back and saw Wang Bo staring intently at her legs. She couldn't help but feel a deep resentment, but this was his room, and she couldn't ask him to leave. She could only endure it and continue her homework. However, she changed the direction of her exposed legs, moving them inward.

Wang Bo noticed her change in position and realized he had probably been caught. His heart started to race, and he couldn't stay in the room any longer. He grabbed the dumbbells and ran to the balcony next door to do some muscle training.

After a while, his parents came home, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief. His mother was cooking in the kitchen, and his father walked into the room and asked why Wang Bo was hiding here.

"She's doing her homework, and I don't want to disturb her, so I'm staying here," Wang Bo said softly, as if afraid that Lu Lu in the next room would hear. His father sighed lightly, "You've worked hard. Your mother really should have discussed this with the family before making the decision."

"Would you have said no if she had discussed it?" Wang Bo had long seen through his father's intentions, which were to create a rift between him and his mother, so he could get closer to his father.

"Uh, you're right, but we should at least consider your feelings. After all, she's your classmate, and suddenly bringing her home, who could adapt to that?" It seemed that as a man, his father could very well understand Wang Bo's current feelings.

Wang Bo was deeply moved and hugged his father, patting his back. "Dad, no more words, you understand me."

The family sat down to eat together. His father said he would go to watch Wang Bo's match in the afternoon and asked Lu Lu what she planned to do. She told her uncle that she would go to a tutoring class in the afternoon, as it was close by, so she could walk there.

Wang Bo's mother then asked Wang Bo to give his key to Lu Lu to use. There was no spare key, so they would have to get one made later.

After finishing the meal, it was only half past eleven, and Lu Lu wasn't in a hurry to go to class. She returned to the room to continue her homework. While helping his mother clear the dishes, Wang Bo casually mentioned, "By the way, Mom, I won't be back for dinner tonight. After the match, I'm going out with some friends."

"Who are these friends?" his mother asked.

"Oh, just two classmates," he replied casually. His mother then asked, "Boys or girls?"

She never asked such detailed questions, which made Wang Bo a bit uncomfortable, but he still answered truthfully, "Girls, the ones who performed with me at the cultural festival."

"Why don't you take your sister along?" His mother felt relieved upon hearing it was girls and suggested, "Since they are classmates, you can all go out and have fun together."

"She won't go, we're not that close..." Wang Bo's face twitched.

"How do you know she doesn't want to go? Not close? Go out a few more times, and you'll get closer. As an older brother, you should take care of her and help her make more friends." Seeing her son hesitate, his mother got a bit angry, "Or is it that you don't want your sister to be there when you go out with them?"

Wang Bo lowered his head in defeat, "Okay, I'll ask her..." As he walked to the room, he thought, but we only have three tickets. Do we have to buy scalper tickets outside the stadium?

"Lu Lu, Liu Yan and I are going out tonight. Do you want to come along?" he asked vaguely. Lu Lu stopped writing and turned to look at him, "Where are you going?"

"Uh... to Chongbei District."

"So far?" It was a 40-kilometer trip at night, and she frowned, "What for?"

"To a concert..." Wang Bo confessed under her questioning.

Lu Lu nodded and said, "You go ahead, I won't go." She wasn't interested in concerts and would rather spend the time memorizing more words.

Wang Bo happily reported back to his mother, who, upon hearing that her niece didn't want to go out, couldn't help but scold her son, "Look at your sister, how serious she is. Look at you, the mid-term exams are coming up, and you still want to go out and play. You, you..."

"Mom, don't worry, I'll do well this time," he promised solemnly, which finally calmed his mother down. Thinking about having to be constantly compared to the top student in the future, Wang Bo felt his carefree days were over.

Lu Lu and Wang Bo left the house almost at the same time. She was going to her tutoring class, and Wang Bo was heading to the sports center to meet the school team. They parted ways outside the neighborhood, and Lu Lu said coolly, "Be careful not to get hurt during the match."

This made Wang Bo, who was used to her cold treatment, feel quite surprised, "Yeah, you too, finish your tutoring early and come home, don't wander around."

After exchanging these words of concern, they went their separate ways. When Wang Bo arrived at the district sports center, it was not yet one in the afternoon, but Coach Zhang Guangda was already waiting in the field, and most of the football team members had arrived.

After everyone was present, Coach Zhang called them into the locker room. There, he handed Wang Bo his new team uniform and began to lay out the tactics for today's match on the tactical board.

Wang Bo changed into his uniform in the locker room while listening to Coach Zhang. Today was the seventh round of the high school spring league, and their opponent was Nanding High School, which currently ranked fifth in the league. This team was considered a mid-level team, with a 5-3-2 formation, focusing on central attacks and using offside tactics. In defense, their defenders often launched high balls from the back to counterattack, which had been quite effective. Their forwards and defenders were strong, but their midfield was average, a common issue in most high school league teams.

Coach Zhang's formation for today was still 4-4-2, with a flat midfield. He required the two wingers to take advantage of the gaps in the opponent's midfield and actively push forward, and the full-backs to also join the attack to support the flanks. They were to use Hao Bin's aerial advantage to break through the dense defense. He particularly emphasized that the two central midfielders should always be ready to contest the second ball and seize opportunities for long shots.

After a brief tactical briefing, he announced the starting lineup. To everyone's surprise, the new and highly regarded player Wang Bo was not in the starting lineup. The lineup for this match was almost identical to the previous one, with two first-year players partnering in the midfield. Only the vice-captain, Lu Guanghe, was suspended due to a red card in the last match, and a substitute center-back was playing in his place.

At half past one, the sports center began to fill with spectators. There were not many, only about 200, mostly football enthusiasts from the area. This amateur-level match indeed didn't attract many viewers. Some parents, including Wang Bo's, were also in the stands.

Nanding High School had already arrived at the sports center and was warming up and adapting to the field. In addition to the coach, they had a cheerleading squad of about twenty people who had come to support them, holding banners and blowing whistles on the opposite side of the stands from the Guanglin fans.

From the size of the crowd in the stands, Wang Bo could see that although the student league had gradually become more widespread under the new system, it still hadn't received enough attention. Chinese football, after a brief rise, had begun to decline again (this differs from reality, for the sake of the plot).

At the beginning of the high school football league, a batch of talented players who would otherwise have been overlooked emerged. As these players matured, Chinese football reached a certain height. However, as time passed, people's attention shifted to professional matches, and they forgot the place where these dreams began. Even talented players were quickly poached by professional clubs, and the high school football league's situation began to deteriorate year by year.

At two in the afternoon, under the blazing sun, the match officially began. The spring league, considering the students' physical condition and to increase the intensity of the matches, adopted a 30-minute half system with a 15-minute halftime break, similar to the arrangement during Guanglin High School's training matches.

At the start of the match, Wang Bo and the other substitutes sat on the bench, with Coach Zhang sitting next to him, occasionally chatting with him. Coach Zhang now regarded Wang Bo as a young friend, as he had gained many insights from him, including the expansion of the central midfield and the transformation of the defense.

In the early stages of the match, Guanglin High School dominated the play, with eight defenders from Nanding High School being pinned in their own half. The other attacking midfielder and two forwards were mostly around the center circle, not penetrating into the opponent's half.

On both flanks, especially on the right, the right winger, Zhao Jianbin, repeatedly broke through and crossed the ball, but either the crosses were poorly placed, or Hao Bin won the header but the second ball was not contested. The second striker, Yu Peng, habitually moved to the flank to support Zhao Jianbin's breakthroughs instead of actively helping the center-forward score.

At such times, the two midfielders executed the tactics too rigidly, staying outside the opponent's penalty area waiting for long shots instead of pushing into the box to assist the center-forward, missing several good opportunities.

After twenty minutes, neither side had scored, and the one-sided attack and defense were not very exciting, causing the spectators to shake their heads.

Coach Zhang said, "It seems Nanding High School is determined to force a draw."

"Not necessarily," Wang Bo replied, "I think our full-backs are too far forward. They are definitely waiting for an opportunity."

Indeed, due to the intense attack, Guanglin High School's two full-backs had already crossed the halfway line, and the wingers were almost playing as wingers. Just as Wang Bo finished speaking, the left winger's breakthrough was intercepted, and the opponent's full-back, after a quick glance, decisively kicked a long pass to the flank. The ball sailed over the head of Guanglin's left full-back and was picked up by Nanding's forward, who was not offside!

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