When Li Ziqiang left home early in the morning and prepared to go to work at Dongchuan Middle School, he saw red confetti on the roadside in his car, as if his car was driving on a red carpet.
There are sanitation workers cleaning up the place and cleaning up the remnants of the firecrackers.
There were also people taking photos in front of this "red carpet".
The sound of firecrackers last night has been going off since the end of the game, and there are flashes of light in all directions, far and near.
The intensive sound of firecrackers lasted until almost twelve o'clock, and it really felt like the Chinese New Year.
In fact, after a good sleep, Li Ziqiang's mood has calmed down a lot.
When he opened his eyes early in the morning, he even felt that he was dreaming, having a beautiful dream about the Chinese team reaching the World Cup finals...
But now that he saw red confetti everywhere and the faint smell of gunpowder smoke filling the air... he knew that he was not dreaming.
The Chinese team really made it to the World Cup!
At the bus stop on the roadside ahead, many office workers gathered. What surprised Li Ziqiang was that almost everyone who usually lowered their heads and looked at their mobile phones had a newspaper in hand at this time.
Li Ziqiang could not see the specific text in the newspaper, but he could still see what the photos in the newspaper were.
That was a player from the Chinese team, waving the five-star red flag.
※※※
Xie Lan stood at a station near the community waiting for the bus she wanted to take.
Although she went to learn to drive, as a middle-aged woman who is almost 50 years old, learning to drive is not that easy. Until now, she has not passed the driving license test, so she still has to take the bus every day when commuting to get off work.
But today, Xie Lan was willing to squeeze in.
Because she wanted to hear how others exaggeratedly praised her son.
Unfortunately, people around her were looking at their phones with their heads down. She took a sneak peek and saw that the contents were all related to yesterday's game, but no one made any comments.
At this moment, a young man riding a bicycle stopped by the bus stop, then took out a stack of newspapers from the backpack on the back seat of the bicycle and handed them to the people waiting on the platform.
Some people reflexively stretched out their hands to refuse: "I don't buy newspapers..."
But the man said: "It's free, it's free! This is a World Cup number and has collectible value!"
As soon as they heard that it would be given away for free, everyone was interested. Xie Lan also crowded forward and extended his hand: "Give me one too!"
The young man was very happy that everyone was so enthusiastic. He took out all the newspapers in his bag and distributed them to the people at the station.
Then he walked away and rode along the road to the next bus stop. The backpack he put on the back seat was obviously a little empty.
After he left, Xie Lan's expected comments finally sounded on the bus stop:
"Oh, did you watch yesterday's game?"
"Of course I did!"
"It's so exciting! I really didn't expect that the Chinese team would also participate in the World Cup one day... I thought it was going to be a 'family sacrifice without forgetting to tell Nai Weng', haha!"
"Brother, I saw that you usually don't pay attention to Chinese football..."
"That's right, I haven't watched football for a long time..."
"Our country has really produced some good talents this time. Including Hu Lai... Speaking of which, Hu Lai is from Dongchuan!"
Xie Lan, who was pretending to read the newspaper, immediately pricked up his ears after hearing the key words.
"Hu Lai is indeed amazing! But I think Lin Zhiyuan also contributed a lot to yesterday's game!" Another person joined the discussion and quickly changed the topic, which made Xie Lan frown slightly.
"Hey, let me tell you. Yesterday, the Chinese team was able to qualify because the whole team played well and no one missed the mark! In the end, the person who rushed to assist Hu Lai turned out to be central defender Wang Guangwei. Can you believe it?
"
"Haha, that's right! When I finally saw Wang Guangwei rushing to the opponent's door, I was stunned...he was a divine weapon descended from the sky!"
"Hey, I have decided to go to the Chinese team's game next year no matter what..."
"Brother is a rich man!"
"What kind of rich people are not local rich? This is the World Cup match of the Chinese team! I have to go to the first place in sixty-four years! Besides, I don't know if there will be more in the future. If I miss this only opportunity,
Do I have to regret it to death?"
Xie Lan felt that what the elder brother said before was quite nice, but what did the last sentence mean?
She couldn't help but quarrel a little: "With the performance of these young people, why can't they enter the World Cup again in the future?"
A group of men who were having a heated discussion turned around and saw a woman staring at them.
The man who said "the only time" before quickly apologized to the other party: "Yes, yes, it will be possible in the future! There is really hope for Chinese football now!"
Xie Lan did not continue to argue with him, but gave up and continued to focus on the newspaper in his hand.
The young man didn't lie to them. This was indeed a World Cup newspaper. It was much thinner than a normal newspaper. When you opened it, the contents were all related to yesterday's game.
Before, during and after the game, the game will be covered from all angles.
It also translated the comments from foreign media and news agencies on the Chinese team's historic entry into the World Cup finals. It satisfied the curiosity of many readers who wanted to see how foreign countries evaluated the Chinese team's entry into the World Cup.
On the front page is a large photo of Hulay waving the national flag after the game, and even the title is what he said to the camera:
"The World Cup is coming!"
※※※
"Dad, are you a little unwilling?"
Qin Qi asked his father, who was sitting in the car taking him to school.
Since retiring, in order to allow his wife to rest for a while, Qin Lin basically drives Qin Qi to school, and then goes to work at the training base of the Flash Star Club.
"What are you unwilling to do?" Qin Lin asked while driving the car.
"I'm not willing to go to the World Cup."
"I am definitely not willing to give in. But if you ask me if I am not willing to give in now, I am not. People of every era have their mission. To reach the World Cup is the mission of Hu Lai and his generation..."
"What about your time, Dad?"
After asking the question, Qin Qi didn't get an answer. He turned to look at his father.
"In my time..." Qin Lin shook his head and refused to answer the question. "Why are children asking so many questions!"
Qin Qi had no choice but to curl his lips secretly.
After finally sending this annoying child to school, Qin Lin watched him run into the campus and sat in the car with his thoughts racing.
In his time... He also thought that his mission in that time was to lead the Chinese team to the World Cup.
When he was young, he was full of longing for the future, ambitious, and wanted to change the current situation and future of Chinese football.
As a result, he was crushed to pieces in front of the cruel reality.
He knew that when he retired, some media described him as "the only light in that dark era." But he himself had no shame in saying to his son, "Your father's mission in this era is to keep a glimmer of hope for Chinese football." He said this to his own face
If you pay gold.
He doesn't think this is something to be proud of. He only knows that he has spent his entire career not allowing Chinese football to enter the World Cup. This is the biggest failure of his career. In the face of this failure, other so-called successes are not worth it.
carry.
Just when Qin Lin was deep in thought, he was awakened by the sound of knocking on the glass next to him.
I saw a traffic policeman standing outside the car door, knocking on his window glass.
Qin Lin knew that he had parked illegally, so he quickly lowered his car window and apologized to the traffic police: "I'm sorry, I'm leaving right away to see the kids off..."
The traffic policeman was stunned for a moment after seeing Qin Lin: "Qin Lin?"
"It's me, it's me..." Qin Lin nodded repeatedly, his attitude was extremely good. "I was wrong, officer, I'll leave right away..."
"It's okay." The traffic policeman waved his hand, "I watched yesterday's game. Our Chinese team finally broke out of Asia."
Qin Lin laughed quickly.
The traffic policeman seemed to be in a good mood, and he waved his hand: "Let's go, don't park on this side of the road for so long next time... The yellow paint on the curb means that this road is a no-parking area, even for drivers
It doesn’t work in the car either…”
"Okay, officer. I won't do it next time. I was just thinking about something in the car..." Qin Lin quickly turned on the lights and prepared to start.
"I understand." The traffic policeman nodded, stepped away from the car, and let him go.
Looking at Qin Lin's car taillights, he remembered that he had just seen Qin Lin in the car looking a little lonely, and gently shook his head: "You must be very unwilling..."
※※※
Hu Lixin, wearing sportswear and a whistle hanging around his neck, stood in front of a group of children. They all looked up at their football coach with admiring eyes.
This is Hu Lai’s father!
Although they have known this for a long time, seeing Coach Hu today still brought a completely different psychological impact to these children than usual.
Because just last night, the Chinese team broke into the World Cup!
The number one contributor to helping the Chinese team reach the World Cup is Coach Hu’s son Hu Lai!
Every football boy looks at Hu Lixin with burning eyes and hearts, and seems to be looking forward to wearing the jersey of the Chinese team and appearing in the World Cup a few years later. Just like Coach Hu's son...
How could Hu Lixin not see what these children were thinking?
He really wanted to pour cold water on them and tell them how many difficulties and distances there were in going from a football-loving boy to a national football player who could participate in the World Cup, which was no less than what Tang Seng and his apprentice went through in 1998.
The Eleven Difficult Journey to the West for Buddhist Scriptures.
But when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back.
Although there will be many difficulties in the future, the situation is gradually getting better...maybe some of these children will really embark on the path of professional football?
Now Hu Lai and his teammates are the best role models for these children.
It's always good to have dreams.
Even if you can't become a professional player or represent the Chinese team in the World Cup, you can at least feel happy from today's football. Isn't that great?
Why pour cold water on it?
"Today we will continue to practice dribbling the ball around the pole..."
After saying that, Hu Lixin blew the whistle.
The whistle echoed on the beautiful artificial turf football field, accompanied by the crisp screams of the children.
On the first day after the Chinese team qualified, everything seemed to be business as usual, but in fact many things had quietly changed...