Chapter 13 Sunday's Make-Up Game

The history department still overwhelmingly defeated their opponent in the make-up game on Sunday, advancing to the semi-finals, with Zhang Jun continuing his hat-trick myth.

Sophie went to cheer him on as usual, and Li Shuai stood beside her.

Zhang Jun saw it all, but he didn't say anything, just shot and scored.

Sophie, on the other hand, found it a bit strange. How could Li Shuai, who was never interested in soccer, take the initiative to come to the game?

After the game, Zhang Jun ran out of the side door alone. None of the many fans stopped him. Yang Pan didn't think it was strange; anyone would get tired of being pestered every time, so getting away quickly was the best option.

Sophie was a little disappointed. She had thought Zhang Jun would come over and say a few words to her, but he ran in the opposite direction. Li Shuai said solicitously, "I'll take you back, okay? It's on my way anyway!"

Sophie looked at him and nodded.

Lin Wei knew that Zhang Jun already had a girlfriend, but she didn't mind at all and continued her tireless efforts. Now her chance had finally come! For some reason, Zhang Jun seemed to be having problems with his girlfriend and hadn't been in a good mood lately.

Lin Wei stepped up her offensive. If what she saw now was just a small crack, then she hoped to use her own efforts to completely collapse the house, and then she and Zhang Jun would build a new one on top of it.

However, Zhang Jun still seemed to be as dense as ever, not noticing her intentions at all. Lin Wei was a little angry and a little anxious. It was like playing the lute to a cow!

This Wednesday, October 20th, was the semi-final of the Freshman Cup and Sophie's eighteenth birthday.

The weather was clear, the temperature was pleasant, and there was no wind. It was a beautiful day in every way.

Li Shuai didn't know how, but he found out that Sophie's birthday was today. He went to the city center and bought a very large rogue rabbit doll, fluffy and very cute. When Li Shuai gave the rogue rabbit to Sophie, she was a little surprised. "This is…"

"Happy birthday! Today is your birthday, right? Hehe!" Li Shuai said with a smile.

"How did you know?" Sophie was a little surprised, hugging the rogue rabbit in her arms. "It's so big!"

"Eighteen years old, you're an adult! Of course, I have to give you a big one!"

"Thank you!" Sophie smiled at Li Shuai.

Li Shuai immediately felt like he was flying. The girl's smile was too beautiful! In ancient times, a smile was worth a thousand gold pieces. His mere hundred yuan was simply a bargain!

Sophie was indeed very happy because it was the first time in her eighteen years that she had received such a "big" gift. But what she was looking forward to more was the Freshman Cup semi-final that was about to begin. Ever since high school, whenever her birthday was near a game, Zhang Jun would always give her a hat-trick as a gift. Although Zhang Jun had been performing hat-tricks as easily as cutting melons and vegetables in the previous Freshman Cups, only the two of them knew which hat-trick was different, unique. This tacit understanding had lasted for three whole years, from the first year of high school to the third year. Although it was as unsurprising as a birthday cake, Sophie was still looking forward to it, the birthday gift that moved her the most.

Zhang Jun was carefully wiping his soccer shoes. These shoes would have a very, very important mission today, so they had to be taken care of carefully.

Yes, he and Sophie were having a bit of a problem, but he hadn't shown it too obviously. Even his best brother, Yang Pan, didn't know.

He didn't understand why Sophie had changed after entering college. Had the environment changed? There were indeed many people in college who were more outstanding than him. He wasn't good at studying, he wasn't handsome, he didn't have money, and sometimes he was a bit dense. He didn't have any sweet words. He didn't have any of the advantages that could attract girls. Sophie was a very outstanding girl, and she never lacked pursuers, which he knew. It was just that the people in Shuguang were very simple, and he hadn't thought of this kind of threat himself. Now that the environment had changed, it was normal for other, more outstanding boys to appear, right? Maybe, maybe he should also try to change a little, with more sweet words and a more unrestrained manner.

But would that still be Zhang Jun?

He had gone a little too far on Sunday, leaving Sophie alone in the crowd and running away first. Today was a great opportunity, Sophie's eighteenth birthday. He knew what he should do.

Looking at the pair of leather feet that had been wiped until they shone, Zhang Jun nodded in satisfaction. This pair of expensive Nike shoes had been bought in the second year of high school with the national championship bonus and all the two of them’s pocket money in Shanghai. In order to buy these shoes that were both comfortable and beautiful, Sophie had accompanied him all over half of Shanghai to choose them, and after buying the shoes, the two of them had nothing left except the money to take the bus back to the hotel. They couldn't even afford a scarf that Sophie had taken a fancy to. But Sophie didn't say anything. She was just happy that Zhang Jun had finally bought a pair of shoes that fit him.

Yang Pan pushed the door open. He had just changed his clothes. "Okay, hurry up! It's almost time!" He dragged Zhang Fan, who was still in bed, up. "You've been sleeping for so long! Are you afraid you'll sleepwalk on the field later?"

Zhang Fan muttered and sat up from the bed. "I can win even if I sleepwalk, what's there to be afraid of? Just watch me perform a hat-trick..." He yawned and fell back on the bed.

Hearing hat-trick, Yang Pan turned to look at Zhang Jun, who was still staring at his shoes. This kid… hehe! He smiled and patted the newly lying Zhang Fan again. "Hurry up! If you don't get up, you won't be able to play in the final! What did you do last night?"

"Did… did revolution!" Zhang Fan heard that he wouldn't be allowed to play in the final and quickly jumped out of bed, putting on his jersey and shorts as quickly as possible.

Li Shuai heard that Sophie was going to watch the game, and he immediately agreed, saying that he wanted to watch it too. Li Shuai had a good plan. He would accompany Sophie to watch the game and show how happy and blissful he was in front of his rival in love. That would be enough to explain the problem. For the rest of the matter, once Sophie and Zhang Jun had a falling out, he would completely control the initiative in his own hands.

When the two of them arrived at the stadium, the game was about to begin. The sidelines of the history department's field were crowded with people. Li Shuai took the lead, relying on his height of one meter and eighty-seven centimeters to push aside the crowd and help Sophie squeeze in.

Zhang Jun and Zhang Fan were standing in front of the ball, preparing to kick off. He looked up and saw Sophie… and the elated Li Shuai beside her. The referee blew the whistle, and Zhang Fan waited for Zhang Jun to pass the ball over, but Zhang Jun didn't react at all. He nudged Zhang Jun, and only then did the ball pass to his feet.

The game began! The audience erupted in a burst of excited cheers. They could see another exciting game!

Sophie also had expectant feelings, but what she expected was different from what others expected.

There was no suspense about the outcome of the game. The audience was only interested in how many goals the history department could score, how many goals Zhang Jun could score, and how many beautiful goals could be scored.

Zhang Fan satisfied the audience's desire as soon as he came up. He powerfully headed the ball in front of the goal, and the soccer ball hit the lower edge of the crossbar and bounced into the goal. Although the goalkeeper tried his best to save it, it was already too late, 1:0!

The first climax was set off outside the field.

Immediately after, Yang Pan's corner kick was smashed into the net by Zhang Fan again, 2:0!

Zhu Hui's somewhat strange free kick was blocked by the goalkeeper and went in, 3:0!

In the twenty-fifth minute of the first half, the history department was leading 3:0. It was a smooth start as usual. The only slight exception was that Zhang Jun hadn't scored a goal yet.

Every time the history department scored a goal, Sophie would cheer with the others for a while. She always smiled and waited for that moment to arrive.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Zhang Jun also scored. He received Zhu Hui's direct pass and shot directly, the soccer ball hit the inside of the goal post and flew into the goal, 4:0!

This time, Sophie cheered harder than ever before, but Li Shuai smiled awkwardly and felt very unhappy.

In the second half, Yang Pan's heavy artillery showed its power, and he blasted the ball into the opponent's goal from near the midfield position! 5:0!

What a hearty game! The spectators all sighed like this. However, Sophie was still waiting. There were only twenty minutes left in the game, and Zhang Jun had only scored one goal.

In the eighty-second minute, Zhang Jun got rid of the opponent's marking in the penalty area and easily added Yang Pan's shot into the empty goal, 6:0!

Sophie was a little excited. Although there were still eight minutes left before the end of the game, she had confidence in Zhang Jun.

Minute after minute passed, and Zhang Jun seemed to have no chance. At this time, when Yang Pan forcibly broke through from the wing into the penalty area, he was tripped by the opponent's defender. The referee unhesitatingly awarded a penalty kick!

Yang Pan handed the ball to Zhang Jun. Zhang Jun was one goal short, so of course he had to help his good friend. This penalty kick was actually deliberately created by Yang Pan. Of course, this wasn't to say that he faked a fall. Yang Pan just knew that if he broke through against the opponent like this, the opponent would inevitably have physical contact in order to stop him, and if there was physical contact, the possibility of a foul was very high. Sure enough, he finally won a penalty kick for Zhang Jun, which could be regarded as his own birthday gift for Sophie.

Seeing Zhang Jun put the ball on the penalty spot, Sophie became excited. She knew that Zhang Jun would never miss this goal no matter what.

"You seem very excited!" Li Shuai asked, bringing his face close to Sophie's ear.

"Yes!" Sophie smiled at him and turned her head to focus on Zhang Jun again.

When Li Shuai turned his face back, he smiled triumphantly at Zhang Jun, who was looking over at this side.

Zhang Jun withdrew his gaze and stared at the goal not far away. The goalkeeper had already set his posture on the goal line, waiting in full battle array.

In a nine-a-side small field, the penalty area was also small, and the penalty spot was too close to the goal. Even if the goalkeeper was waiting in full battle array, it was futile in Zhang Jun's view. He had never missed a penalty kick before. What was more, this distance was less than nine meters?

Penalty kick, the audience was quiet.

Zhang Jun began to retreat.

The whistle sounded, he ran, shot, and kicked!

The goalkeeper pounced to the right, but the ball flew high over the crossbar in a sigh!

Yang Pan looked at Zhang Jun's upright back in disbelief. In all these years, it was the first time he had seen Zhang Jun miss a penalty kick! Could it be that he was too eager to perform a hat-trick and backfired?

Yang Pan turned to look at Sophie on the sidelines again. Sophie's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Obviously, she didn't believe what had just happened either. But when she saw Zhang Jun turn around expressionlessly and walk back to the midfield, she suddenly felt that the distance between her and Zhang Jun was getting farther and farther. He didn't have any remorse or regret. He did it on purpose!

Sophie didn't know why, what was wrong with her and Zhang Jun, why would Zhang Jun do this? Did she do something wrong? Or did something happen to Zhang Jun? She knew that Zhang Jun wasn't short of pursuers now. There were also beauties in the history department, and those who were near the water got the moon first…

She didn't know how the remaining few minutes passed, nor did she know what the situation was after the game ended. She didn't even have an impression of what Li Shuai said to her on the way back to the dormitory. In short, she returned to the dormitory in a daze, slumped on the bed, her mind still stuck at the moment when Zhang Jun deliberately kicked the penalty kick away.

She felt very aggrieved and didn't understand what she had done wrong. Why did Zhang Jun treat her like this? Today was her birthday, her eighteenth birthday as an adult. She thought she would receive a birthday gift that she had been looking forward to for a long time, but she didn't expect it to be such an ending.

Zhang Jun was her first love. Did that mean first love was really just for remembering? Was the price of adulthood saying goodbye to first love? If that was the case, Sophie was unwilling to accept such a result no matter what. Why should something that happened a thousand times to others be replayed on her and Zhang Jun?

Yang Pan found that something was wrong. That penalty kick, judging from Zhang Jun's actions, he did it on purpose. After the game, he ran away without saying a word and didn't even say hello to Sophie. That was too much.

Unable to catch Zhang Jun, he decided to go to Sophie and ask what was going on. There were many things going on lately, busy with training the new team, busy with participating in the school team training, busy with the affairs in the class committee… so busy that he had neglected Zhang Jun and Sophie. In his heart, these two people who were younger than him had not yet matured and needed his care. Whether it was Sophie or Zhang Jun, they were as pure as blank paper, without any impurities.

The phone rang. Sophie wiped the corners of her slightly red eyes, got up, and answered the phone. "Hello, who are you looking for?" She tried her best to make her voice sound calm.

"It's me, Yang Pan! Sophie, are you busy right now? I want to ask you something. Can you come downstairs? I'm at the iC card phone here below your building."

Sophie poked her head out of the window and looked down. She really saw Yang Pan who was on the phone.

"Okay, I'll come down."

"What exactly happened to you guys?"

This was Yang Pan's first sentence when he saw Sophie, which stunned Sophie. What happened? She also wanted to know what happened to her and Zhang Jun. He alienated her like this without saying a word, and she didn't even know what had happened.

"What happened?" Sophie murmured, "Nothing, we're fine, very fine…"

"You're so good at pretending!" Yang Pan interrupted Sophie's words, "What's the matter with Zhang Jun kicking the penalty kick away? How do you explain him running away alone without saying a word after the game? You two rarely even say hello to each other now, and you still say you're fine? Is this what you call fine…"

Yang Pan couldn't continue because he saw Sophie burying her head lower and lower, and a hint of unease before the storm filled the air. Yang Pan regretted in his heart that he had said too much just now. Sophie was a girl after all, even if they were friends for three years, he couldn't talk like that. She wasn't a boy, it was all his fault for being too anxious…

Just as Yang Pan was constantly blaming himself, Sophie raised her head and squeezed out a smile. "It's really nothing, we… what you said are all small things, we will solve them ourselves."

Seeing that the other party's tone was firm, Yang Pan knew that he couldn't ask anything else, so he shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, this is a private matter between you guys, I shouldn't have meddled in it…"

"It's not like that!" Sophie thought Yang Pan was angry and quickly explained, "Don't think that way, you are Zhang Jun's best friend, and you are also my best friend, we have nothing to hide from you. It's just that, this time there really is nothing…"

Yang Pan smiled. "What are you thinking? Am I that petty? By the way, today is your birthday. I'm a pauper and don't have anything to give you, so I can only say 'Happy Birthday'! Happy birthday, Sophie! You should be happier on your birthday, don't be sad! If Zhang Jun bullies you, tell me and I'll help you deal with him…" Yang Pan turned around and shook his head as he walked away, “…that fool who doesn't know how lucky he is…”

Sophie watched Yang Pan's back disappear at the corner of the dormitory building. This older brother, who was older than her and Zhang Jun, always kept the affairs of his best friends in his heart. He was so concerned about Zhang Jun's affairs, and she was so old, but she didn't even have a girlfriend. In his heart, soccer and friends were always tied for first place. As long as his friends were happy, he was happy…

"Thank you, Big Brother…"

Yang Pan kicked open the dormitory door, scaring the people inside.

"Where's Zhang Jun?" He looked around the dormitory and didn't see Zhang Jun.

"He just finished taking a shower and was called out by Lin Wei…" Zhang Fan said.

"Just the two of them?"

"Yeah, it's all mysterious, I don't know what they're doing." Zhang Fan stretched and jumped out of bed. "Let's go eat, everyone!"

The other two people stood up and walked towards the door, only Yang Pan was still standing still.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Zhu Hui had just opened his mouth when he was pulled away by Zhang Fan.

The door closed, leaving only Yang Pan alone in the room.

So that's how it is! How could he not have seen it? Lin Wei always found all kinds of excuses to get close to Zhang Jun, so that was the purpose! She was indeed very beautiful, and she was also very lively and talented… Any boy would be moved, right? If Zhang Jun, that bastard, couldn't control himself… that possibility completely existed!

Yang Pan slammed the table hard with his fist and rushed out of the dormitory.