Chapter 1 A Moment of Happiness

Chinese fans are actually very easily satisfied because all it takes is one victory, even a meaningless one, to make them happy. So when the Chinese team historically made it to the World Cup final, immense happiness enveloped Chinese fans, making their celebrations almost impossible to stop.

Television, newspapers, magazines, the internet… everywhere was filled with the atmosphere of the World Cup. It was the first time Chinese people had paid so much attention to the World Cup. Whether they used to watch soccer or not, whether they were fans or not, after learning that the Chinese team had entered the World Cup, everyone became a fan, and the most hardcore kind at that.

On the way from their home to the airport, Sophie's parents and Zhang Jun's mother saw countless Chinese flags and jubilant crowds, as well as inspiring slogans. The ground was dyed red by firecrackers.

"I never thought soccer would have such a big impact in China," Zhang Jun's mother said, looking at the shops outside the window, all with notices like "Celebrating the Chinese team's entry into the World Cup final, all items in this store are 50% off." Many department stores were selling small national flags, and almost everyone strolling on the street had one of these small flags in hand.

"That's because of your son," Sophie's mother, sitting with her in the back seat of the taxi, said, holding her hand.

"No, it's our son."

All three of them laughed.

The taxi driver turned on the radio in the car, and no matter which channel he tuned to, it was definitely talking about the World Cup final. Judging from the taxi driver's expression, he cared a lot too, listening very attentively.

For a moment, the car fell silent, everyone quietly listening to the excited voices coming from the radio.

"...The Chinese national men's soccer team has historically reached the World Cup final for the first time. No matter what the final result is, we have already become the best-performing team in Asia in the World Cup. When we made it to the semi-finals, some people compared us to the South Korean team of 2002, but now it's different, the Chinese team is the only one. We don't rely on home-field advantage, we don't rely on the referee's help, we entered the final with our own true ability. This alone is something that the so-called history-making South Korean team can't compare to! After the game ended early this morning, the whole country became a sea of joy. Next, please listen to the news from our reporters from all over the country..."

※※※

Summer vacation meant no team training sessions, but Liang Ke still came to school every day because, as a single man with a very monotonous life, playing Chinese chess with the gatekeeper at the school's gatehouse was an important form of entertainment. Every morning at nine o'clock, he would appear in the gatehouse on time.

Even now, when he often had to stay up late to watch the World Cup, his routine hadn't changed. Yesterday's semi-final made him very happy, and he couldn't fall asleep for a long time after lying in bed. Later, he simply got up and paced around the house, walking back and forth, not sleeping.

It wasn't until almost dawn that he dozed off on the sofa for a while, and then woke up at eight in the morning by the chirping of birds outside. He got up, splashed his face with cold water, brushed his teeth, and went out for breakfast.

After breakfast, he slowly strolled towards the school. The old man must have brewed him strong tea in the gatehouse, waiting for him.

The morning sun in Luoyang was very bright, even a bit intense, and it felt a bit hot on the skin. There were many pedestrians on the road, most of them hurrying to work, but everyone had an undisguised smile and pride on their faces. The Chinese soccer team's entry into the World Cup final brought a great sense of honor and happiness to the people of this country.

Liang Ke himself was also proud of the disciples he had once trained.

Because none of the children now could reach their level back then, Liang Ke sometimes particularly missed the former Shuguang soccer team.

Going forward, a right turn would lead to the school gate.

At the corner, Liang Ke saw Chen Huafeng, who was obviously waiting for someone. Seeing Liang Ke appear in his field of vision, he walked towards him.

"What? You want to interview me too?" Because of the Chinese team's good performance in the World Cup, Liang Ke, who had trained Zhang Jun, Yang Pan, and An Ke, naturally became the darling of the media again. Every day, he received interview requests from media all over the country, even from abroad.

Chen Huafeng smiled: "I think you're becoming paranoid because of those reporters. Do we need to pretend to interview you with our relationship? Besides, do I need to interview you for what I know? It's nothing, I just want to invite you for a drink."

"A drink?"

"I was particularly excited after watching the game early this morning, and I couldn't fall asleep for a long time. Look…" Chen Huafeng pointed to his eyes. Only then did Liang Ke notice that Chen Huafeng's eyes were bloodshot, and his eye sockets were a little dark. It looked like he hadn't slept well, no, he hadn't slept at all.

Liang Ke also pulled down his eyelids and then pointed to the bloodshot in his eyes and said to Chen Huafeng, "Same here."

The two men laughed at each other.

"After watching such a wonderful game, I wanted to find someone to chat with, talk about soccer, talk about those kids. When I close my eyes, the game replays, it's very exciting. But there doesn't seem to be a decent person to chat with around, so I came to find you." Chen Huafeng took out a cigarette and handed it to Liang Ke. "Wake up."

"Still need to wake up? I'm already too excited to sleep." Although he said that, Liang Ke still took the cigarette from Chen Huafeng.

"Haha! Let's go, I know a very good place, the environment is particularly good, and it's not expensive, the wine is good, and the food is good too." Chen Huafeng patted the motorcycle behind him, and then handed Liang Ke the helmet.

"Besides good wine and good food… how's the service there?" Liang Ke asked, straddling the back seat of the motorcycle.

"Haha! You old lecher! With this energy, why don't you just find a partner!"

In Chen Huafeng's laughter, the motorcycle made a huge roar, and then left with the two men.

Inside the gatehouse of Shuguang Middle School, the strong tea on the table had cooled down. The old man stood at the door, looking at the distant intersection, muttering to himself: "That's strange, why hasn't Lao Liang come yet? Did he stay up too late watching the game today and oversleep?"

He shook his head and walked back to the locker room.

※※※

The taxi stopped at the airport entrance. To the surprise of the three, even the airport lobby was decorated in connection with the World Cup. Soccer models, player posters—naturally, they were posters of players from Luoyang.

The taxi driver very diligently helped the three of them take out the luggage from the trunk and put it down.

When Sophie's father was about to give him the fare, he didn't expect him to shake his head and wave his hand in refusal.

"Huh? What's this?"

"Hehe. I know who you are, so I can't take this money." He pointed to the huge Zhang Jun poster inside the hall. "This is also my way of thanking them. Because of the nature of my work, I have to watch some games on replay the next day, so I can't cheer for them. Are you going to South Africa to watch the games? Hehe, please thank them for me!"

After saying that, the driver went up and shook hands with each of the three. Then he waved goodbye. Taxis were not allowed to stay at the airport entrance for too long. They had to leave immediately after dropping off passengers, or he would be fined if he was too slow.

Watching the departing taxi, Sophie's father murmured: "This is the World Cup… let's go, let's go check in."

After saying that, he pushed the luggage cart and walked into the airport lobby from under Zhang Jun's huge portrait.

※※※

"Although the final is only two days away, the Chinese team's coach, Qiu Suhui, still gave the players half a day off as usual. This rare holiday was unanimously welcomed by the players. Judging from their excited expressions, they don't seem to have the final in mind..." This was the evaluation of an Italian television station during a program.

Their photographers did capture the relaxed smiling faces of the Chinese team's players, so the reporters speculated based on this.

The Italian media was the most concerned about this final, besides the Chinese and Brazilian media, because many of the main players in both teams played in the Serie A league. Special attention should be paid to the top scorer in Serie A last season, the captain of the treble-winning Fiorentina, and the current top scorer in the World Cup—Zhang Jun.

About a third of the media from Italy had him as their target.

Now, groups of reporters were gathered outside the hotel where the Chinese team was staying, waiting for the Chinese players to come out, and then see if they could find their target.

Xiang Tao and Ke Lu came out, An Ke and Li Yongle, Yang Pan also came out, and more other players came out. But people still didn't see Zhang Jun's figure. Reporters familiar with Zhang Jun knew that the low-key Zhang Jun liked to appear after everyone else, whether he was the captain at the club or in the Chinese national team, he was always like this. So the reporters still had hope that they could interview Zhang Jun before the final, and hear his views on the final and the World Cup, which would be very valuable news.

When almost everyone had come out and then scattered, no Chinese team players had entered or exited the gate for a long time. The reporters began to suspect that Zhang Jun was staying in his room and hadn't come out.

※※※

Today was the Chinese team's day off, and Li Yan also gave himself a day off. He was now a gold-medal reporter, and he didn't need to rush to join in on everything. Things like staking out at the hotel entrance could be left to his subordinates.

He had arranged to meet Caliani, who was also a gold-medal commentator for the *Milan Sports News*, for a drink and a chat at a bar. The players had been busy on the field for a month, and these reporters had also been busy outside the field for a month. Now they really needed to take a good rest.

"A rare opportunity to relax before the big battle!" Caliani stretched. "We really have to thank Qiu Suhui for this. If he hadn't given the Chinese team a day off, we wouldn't have had this time to sit here and chat."

Li Yan nodded: "The Brazilian team also has a day off, the two sides seem to have a tacit understanding."

"Everyone needs to rest."

The two of them drank and chatted casually. They talked about the World Cup, about the past season, about the upcoming new season...

"Speaking of which, there must be a lot of reporters surrounding the Chinese team's hotel entrance waiting for Zhang Jun, right? He is now the hottest star in the entire world of soccer. Defeating strong teams like Italy, England, and Argentina has raised his prestige to an unparalleled height." Although Caliani was an Italian reporter, he had no national or ethnic prejudice when it came to Zhang Jun. In fact, he was still proud that he had firmly supported Zhang Jun from the beginning.

"Yeah, yeah, there are, many, many people." Li Yan tilted his head and looked out the window. Suddenly, he saw two familiar figures outside the window, leaning on each other and quickly disappearing at the street corner.

He suddenly smiled, his lips curving upward: "But those reporters are probably going to be disappointed."

※※※

Sophie happily walked side by side with Zhang Jun on the streets of Cape Town, South Africa. The bright sunshine made people feel relaxed and happy, and the excitement of just reaching the World Cup final hadn't faded yet.

"Now that you've reached the final, there are two voices in the country. On the basis of celebrating reaching the final, one voice is that it's pretty good to stop here, not considering the final result, you've already brought endless joy to Chinese fans. The other voice is saying that since you've already gotten to this point, why not strive for the championship? Since you have the ability to enter the final, why don't you have the ability to lift the championship trophy? I've even met some reporters from other countries who asked me if you no longer have the fighting spirit to continue working hard," Sophie said to Zhang Jun as they walked.

Zhang Jun laughed: "Sometimes it's quite interesting to watch these people speculate and worry for you."

"You're not being fair, Zhang Jun."

"No, I just think it's fun to surprise the reporters occasionally. Whether I have the fighting spirit or not, they'll know when the time comes." Zhang Jun pointed ahead. "The park in the center of the city, let's go sit there. You must be tired after walking for so long, right?"

Sophie nodded.

Although it was winter, Cape Town's landscaping was still particularly good. Besides, Cape Town was close to the Atlantic Ocean and wasn't as cold as people imagined. Parks like the one Zhang Jun and Sophie were in now were everywhere.

Green trees, red flowers, the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers. There were many benches in the park, most of which were full. Zhang Jun and Sophie didn't want to be disturbed, so they didn't squeeze onto a bench with strangers. They strolled slowly, looking for an empty bench.

A couple on a bench ahead showed signs of getting up. Sophie jogged a few steps, and after the other couple got up and left, she immediately ran over and sat down, while reaching out to occupy the empty seat next to her, waiting for Zhang Jun to come over with a smile.

"I really didn't expect that we could see each other so often during the World Cup. I thought we would be living in a concentration camp during this World Cup, and then relying on phone calls to communicate..." Zhang Jun said, leaning back on the bench and looking up at the blue sky.

"Then do you find it annoying?"

"How could it be? I think it's great, because I can often confirm that you're by my side. Then, I have the motivation to go for the World Cup... Do you remember what I said to you before the World Cup?"

"What?" Sophie didn't remember. They said too many things before the World Cup, how would she know which sentence Zhang Jun was asking about.

"I said that we wouldn't have this kind of time alone after the World Cup started, every day would be just games and training, and you would fly around with us, filming and producing. Everyone would be very busy. I didn't expect Qiu zhi (coach) to arrange for half a day of rest after each game. So I think there are many things about this World Cup that we didn't understand at all before. Think about how I said before the games that we were aiming for the championship, how many people sneered at the time, and what about now? Hehe."

"The future is inherently unpredictable, what's the point if we know everything?"

Zhang Jun squinted his eyes, the winter sun was actually a bit dazzling. "Yeah, I can't predict what the final score will be between us and the Brazilian team the day after tomorrow, what the result will be. Now that we're at this point, I can only guarantee that I'll do my best. But there are some things I'm very clear about..."

He moved his eyes, which were stung by the sunlight, and finally stopped on Sophie's clear and fair face. When he first saw this girl on the campus of Shuguang Middle School, the sun seemed to be as bright and clear as it was today, so he saw Sophie in a white dress emitting a dazzling light, which was the sunlight reflecting off of her. But Zhang Jun was more convinced that it was Sophie's own charm radiating out.

Liu Qi, this lovely "matchmaker", without his enthusiastic help back then, maybe Zhang Jun and Sophie wouldn't be together now. When they got married, they definitely couldn't forget to invite him.

The two of them had gone through so many ups and downs together, from high school to college, and then to Europe. There were also some twists and turns, misunderstandings and conflicts. But fortunately, he had never let go in the end, never given up. Now the two of them had a very deep understanding, and their love path was almost impossible to have any more twists and turns. Everything had returned to normalcy, and to outsiders, maybe it no longer had any passion, no longer made people feel romantic.

But Zhang Jun knew that he and Sophie were not the kind of romantic people, this kind of ordinary love was what they had always wanted. From the summer of 1998 to the summer of 2010, thirteen years had passed, did their relationship still need to rely on romantic stimulation to maintain it? Sometimes, a gesture, a look was enough to explain everything.

"There are some things I'm very clear about... In the future, I will marry you, we will have a cute and smart child, I will always love you, until one day, you become an old woman, and I become an old man... You are the best lottery ticket I've ever drawn in my life, Sophie." Zhang Jun said affectionately, staring into Sophie's eyes.

Sophie blushed: "I hate it, when did you start learning to be so glib?"

Zhang Jun got up and stretched. Then he turned to look at Sophie, who was still shyly lowering her head on the chair, and smiled.

Sophie lowered her head, she didn't want strangers to see her shy appearance. At this time, she saw Zhang Jun, who was facing away from her, reach out his right hand behind him, and then gently beckon...

Sophie reached out her hand and took it. Then Zhang Jun pulled her up with a little force.

"Let's go buy something for our parents." Zhang Jun turned to look at her.

Sophie nodded.

Actually, this was very good.

No need for vows of eternal love.

Nor the twists and turns of life and death.

Just holding your hand like this, until we grow old.