Life Changes on the Soccer Field - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Encounter at the Training Ground

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

This is too weird, my resume didn’t even pass the initial screening? This is too weird.Xia Mengyin paced back and forth in the dormitory.

Today, she didn’t receive any messages from the soccer media asking her to go to the school building for an interview. She thought that they had forgotten about her and that she would surely be shortlisted no matter what. In the end, she went straight to the school building and waited until they called her last name, but it did not happen.

In the end, it was Wang Xinyue who was chosen, which made Xia Mengyin very unhappy. Ever since she entered school, Xia Mengyin had written countless sports drafts. Even though the royalties weren’t much, it was still enough to satisfy her needs. Initially, she thought that she could go for an internship in her favorite soccer media this year, but reality was even more unpredictable than the score in the field.

Zhang Yu said, “I reckon that the soccer media you’re going to has already started to transform into a video-sharing company. What you want are positions like female broadcasters that stimulate the pheromones of fans. However, you, on the other hand, are not attractive to boys at all. Your knowledge of makeup is limited to your bare face. You don’t know much about chatting on the Internet and don’t understand boys, so…”

Xia Mengyin was stunned. “Is that so?”

Her roommates nodded.

Even though Xia Mengyin was unwilling to admit defeat, she did not have any experience in the field of acting. Even though she was the one who had been promoting the school’s sports position for the past three years, Wang Xinyue was the one who appeared and read the script. Xia Mengyin knew that she had already lost. She knew her limits but she could not understand why she could only do this despite knowing so much about soccer.

She couldn’t bear to think about it and felt aggrieved. She thought about how she was “abandoned” by the media that she liked. No matter what, she had watched soccer matches since she was three years old. However, she lost in this era where appearance mattered.

At 10 o’clock at the night, Anxi City Sports University’s soccer field was already empty. There was no one there except for Xia Mengyin, who was lying on the field with her limbs spread wide. The field that had just been repaired earlier in the day had a fragrance that made one feel at ease. She couldn’t help but take a few deep breaths.

She looked at the sky above the school. In the pitch-black darkness, she could occasionally see a few stars. With her eyes closed, she could actually hear the sound of a soccer ball. In her mind, she imagined that she could see a young man practicing his shots. That’s right. This time, her mind automatically replayed Lu Ang’s handsome face, his dribble, pass, and shots…

Xia Mengyin thought to herself.

As expected, I like soccer so much that I can even fantasize about it. My imagination has improved yet again. So what if I don’t have a boyfriend? Any guy will be able to show up in my mind with this high level of imagination, hahahaha.

Sigh, I really want to be a star in the sky. I don’t have to do anything, I just need to shine every day.

On the other side of the soccer training field, Lu Ang was practicing. He arrived a little later than Xia Mengyin and entered through another door. He was running with his ball, imagining someone closing in on him, where he needed to be, and which foot he should use.

He did not wear sports glasses, just regular ones. Because there was no one else on the soccer field right now for him to coordinate with. He did not need to wear the sports glasses since he would not kick the ball in his eye. Although sports glasses were comfortable enough, he had been wearing them during the day training, after all. And if he wore them for too long, his eyes would feel strained.

Lu Ang was very anxious and focused. He practiced continuously like this to ease the uneasiness in his heart. He also did not notice that someone was lying on another field.

It wasn’t until he missed his shot, and the ball rolled to the other side of the field after hitting the goal post that he discovered a person lying on the other side. Specifically, it was a girl.

Suddenly, Xia Mengyin could no longer hear the sound of practice. Instead, she heard the sound of footsteps. She opened her eyes in shock and saw a person wearing a hat and glasses above her head. She jumped in shock and sat up straight.

Lu Ang was surprised as well. He took another look, wasn’t this the girl on his resume? He had always remembered this name: Xia Mengyin. She looked exactly the same as in the photo, her chubby face.

Xia Mengyin patted her chest to calm herself down. “Oh my god, it’s a human. Oh my god…”

This voice was the one that occasionally echoed in the training field not long ago. Lu Ang remembered it.

Lu Ang straightened his back. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to confirm if you’re… alive.”

“Wow, of course I’m not dead. You scared me to death, and disrupted my thoughts.” She had always thought that the soccer field at night belonged only to her. Who knew that there was really someone else.

After calming herself down, Xia Mengyin realized that the boy in front of her was really tall. He should be at least 1.9 meters tall. He was wearing a pair of black-framed square glasses that looked a little odd. Perhaps it was because he was wearing a hat and glasses at night, Xia Mengyin did not see his face clearly at first. However, she could feel the aura of a liberal arts student.

“Can I sit next to you?” the boy asked, his voice pleasant.

The affection he felt for her rose again at the sight of her in a Kompany jersey. Of his countless Manchester City jerseys, he also had this one in the same season and with the same number.

“Ah, have a seat.” Xia Mengyin came back to her senses and patted the grass beside her, gesturing for the boy to sit down. She thought that since this was a sports school, no bad outsiders would dare to enter. Furthermore, this boy looked harmless. Even though he was tall, one look and she could tell that he was just a huge nerd.

It did not matter to her having another person by her side since she was already in a bad mood.

The boy bent his knees and placed his hands behind his back on the field as he said to Xia Mengyi, “I didn’t expect to meet someone on the soccer field at this time.”

Listening carefully, the boy’s voice was pleasant to the ears. It was steady and clear, but not lacking in spirit. It was the kind of voice that Xia Mengyin liked.

Xia Mengyin said, “I should be the one asking you that.”

Lu Ang responded, “Huh?”

Xia Mengyin nodded. “You’re the first person I’ve met so late at the soccer field in three years.”

Lu Ang was even more confused now. He pushed his glasses up with his index finger and a big question mark appeared on his face.

Xia Mengyin pointed in the direction of a few doors. “The doors are locked every night at 9 o’clock. The athletes won’t train at such a late hour. If other professionals climb over the wall and are discovered, they will be punished. People like me rarely come here during the day.”

Lu Ang asked in confusion, “Then how did you get in and climb over the wall?” He looked at her legs and felt that it would be very difficult for her to climb over the walls.

Xia Mengyin made a helpless expression and said, “Brother, look at my height, can I climb in?”

As she spoke, she took out a bunch of keys from her pocket. “Hahahaha, I have a key.”

Lu Ang opened his eyes in surprise. She actually had a key? But he had come alone to train every morning and night and had never seen her.

Seeing that she did not say anything else, he did not know what to say. He could only sneak a peek at Xia Mengyin from the corner of his eye. Even though her eyes were not big, they were very pretty. Even though she was not fat, her face was as chubby as in the photos. Lu Ang thought that this might have been what it meant to be cute.

Xia Mengyin suddenly asked with a sharp gaze, “You’re not from our school, right? So did you climb over the wall? To think you said that I did it.”

Lu Ang waved his hand. “I-I have a key too, and it belongs to Anxi City Sports University. I just haven’t been coming to school all this while.”

Xia Mengyin said, “Don’t tell me you’re an athlete? You’re a nominal? And now you’re back in school.”

This was a sports school, after all, so Xia Mengyin had seen it all.

Lu Ang replied, “It’s a long, complicated story.”

Seeing how vague he was, Xia Mengyin probably thought that the sports school itself was already unusual when it came to recruiting sports students. She decided to not delve too deeply into it.

Xia Mengyin said, “Which specialty do you have then? Swimming? I’ve seen swimmers who are short-sighted, especially when your glasses are so thick and you’re very tall. Your legs seem very long too.”

After all, Xia Mengyin was a sports news major, so she was very observant. However, it was quite strange for a swimmer to play soccer in the middle of the night. Furthermore, Coach Wang Tie never gave his team members keys, yet he actually had one.

Lu Ang replied, “No, it’s soccer.”

Xia Mengyin’s jaw dropped.

Lu Ang asked, “Don’t I look like it?”

Xia Mengyin always felt that this boy gave one the impression that he was actually a liberal arts student from the school next door. He did not give one the feeling that he was a soccer player, not only because he was wearing glasses, but also that he did not have the vigor, and importantly, a natural sense of pride and arrogance. This boy’s eyes were filled with hints of cowering fear.

Xia Mengyin said, “That’s because I’m quite familiar with our school’s soccer team. I often help them take photos and write school drafts. I’ve never seen someone like you. There’s no one else like you among the players.”

Lu Ang asked, “Is it because of my eyes?” He pointed at his glasses.

Xia Mengyin said, “It’s just a small aspect, so no. By the way, do you usually wear contact lenses or sports glasses when you’re playing soccer?”

She didn’t know much about it, but she felt like she’d never met a soccer player in real life who wore sports glasses.

Lu Ang responded, “Sports glasses.”

Xia Mengyin’s eyes lit up. “Really? That’s amazing. I heard that good sports glasses are very costly, and I’ve never seen a player around me wear a pair before. When I saw Davids on TV, I thought he was actually quite cool. You know, the ugly kind of cool.”

Lu Ang suddenly felt a little different inside. The eyes and glasses that had been making him very frustrated recently were actually described as cool by her?

Xia Mengyin judged the thickness of his lenses and continued. “Actually, there are a lot of people who gave up on soccer because of their eyes. There are still differences, so many of them went for short-sighted surgeries or wore contact lenses. However, the degree of your lenses should be very high.”

Lu Ang said. “My eyes are more than 1,000 degrees. The doctor said that I can’t undergo short-sighted surgery. My eyes might deteriorate if I wear contact lenses. That’s why I wear glasses.”

Xia Mengyin’s heart ached. “It must be really inconvenient too to wear sports glasses.”

Lu Ang replied, “Actually, I’m still adapting.”

Xia Mengyin asked, “Adapting?”