Chapter 44 - The Shadow Under the Sunlight (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
If you just heard the sounds of reading and laughter from the inside, you would think that it was just an ordinary school. But the tall walls and gates that were guarded by security guards as well as the deserted streets near the school, all gave off an unusual feeling. Some people called it a place of management while others called it a work-study school. Actually, it had a very nice name―Yang Guang High school.
…
The place used to be a small warehouse, which stored sports equipment. Now, there was a tattered notice on it’s doorway and the handwriting on it was barely intelligible: Yang Guang High School Soccer Team. It was filled with darkness inside, so the lights were turned on for most of the day. It was a room filled with a heavy musty odor.
“Hey! Our next match is against Shu Guang High school.”
“I heard those brats were the dark horses last year.”
“Pah! Watch how I clean them off when I meet them!”
“Hey, but I heard their manager’s really pretty! Fine and tender meat―” Before the person got a chance to finish his sentence, a stool flew towards him from the door. He fell to the ground before he was able to dodge the broken stool.
A figure approached them and the players who were standing or sitting all stood upright. They then shouted in unison, “Coach!”
The man who was addressed as coach said gloomily, “I told you before that you’re not allowed to discuss anything unrelated to soccer in the activity room. Who was the bastard who farted?”
The person who fell earlier crawled his way up and stuttered as he replied, “It-it was me, C-Coach.”
“That’s 20 around the field.”
The honest person accepted his punishment.
The coach then took the stool and sat on it. He glanced at all his players without any expression before he said, “The next match is against Shu Guang. I suppose I don’t need to introduce any of them for you to know what kind of opponents they are? But I’d like to ask, are you guys confident that you’ll win?”
“Yes!” twenty of them shouted back, causing the dust to fall from the ceiling.
The coach nodded.
“This week, you’ll have to accept a training regime much stricter than before. Y’all better put some heart into getting ready. Tu Yong.”
A pale and tall boy who wore a pair of glasses stood up.
“Bring them out for training. Run 10 rounds first.”
…
“Our opponent for the next match is Yang Guang High School,” Liang Ke said.
There were whispers all around.
“Yang Guang High School… I’ve never heard of it.”
“Have you heard of this name?”
“No, but the name sure sounds nice.”
Liang Ke coughed and everyone in the room immediately quieted down. “The name Yang Guang High School is unfamiliar to everyone… But, I’m sure everyone’s heard of the work-study school,” Liang Ke said slowly.
This time, everyone jumped like they were in a frying pan.
“The work-study school? Coach, are you joking?”
“Oh God! How could it be them?!”
“Wow! This is terrible!”
…
Zhang Jun did not understand why everyone was so worked up. “What’s a work-study school?”
Ren Yu De explained to him, “There are tons of misbehaving teenagers in our society. Whenever they join together and become a force to be reckoned with, the policemen always get a headache. Now, if any of these teenagers are caught by the police, they’ll be sent to the work-study school to study. The school has the worst people from the same age group, hence the school’s also very strict in it’s management. Their militarized style of management and violence are key features over there.”
As Zhang Jun listened, he asked Ren Yu De, “How do you know about this so well?”
Ren Yu De did not answer Zhang Jun’s question, he just turned his head away to the side.
Liang Ke raised his voice again to cut off the players’ discussion. “Everyone should be able to know the characteristics of this school’s soccer team just from listening to its name. They all have a strong style― they are rough in their movements and cause frequent fouls. They would take any opportunity to vent when they’re playing soccer.” Liang Ke’s speech made a few of them turn pale in the face and green in the lips. Liang Ke knew how his speech would affect them, but telling them about it now was better than letting them find out on the field, where they would be flustered and weak in the knees.
“Opponents who have played against them were all injured and sent to the hospital. They were seriously injured and even hospitalized. Two years ago, the preliminary match between Yang Guang High School and Wai Yuan Fu High School took place in Yang Guang’s stadium. The spectators of Yang Guang High cursed at the opponents since the start of the game; any small or rough movements they made caused the atmosphere to become tense. After that, due to a foul, both of the teams fought and Yang Guang High was banned from sports for a year. They were not allowed to participate in any form of competition and their names were gradually forgotten. But this year, their ban has been lifted. They won their first game with their consistent rough playing and fouls.”
Everyone seemed to have a lot on their minds after training. They had made many errors earlier and Liang Ke could only laugh bitterly at this. It was up to them to overcome this psychological problem, no one else could do it for them. Their ability to overcome it would determine how far Shu Guang could go and also how far these kids could walk in their future. They had to rise above the occasion; this was the only way for them to grow.
Looking at how unnerved Zhang Jun was, Yang Pan could not endure his nervousness any longer. For Zhang Jun’s good, he decided that it was better to remind him. “Yang Guang players are notoriously brutal when they play. Looking at your current state, aren’t you afraid of being attacked by our opponents?”
Zhang Jun replied, “How can there be no fouls in soccer?”
“Their fouls are unusual; they’re rough and they even hurt people!”