“What happened?”

“I think I heard Ryan Howard’s voice…”

“Hey! That must be Ryan Howard messing around again…”

Before the words had even faded, a wail sounded at the door: “Ryan Howard, what kind of directions are you giving! Ouch, my head…”

“You just didn’t understand what I meant. You were supposed to turn to my left! Hiss—” The boy sucked in a breath from the pain, his words tinged with both dissatisfaction and grievance.

The person in the classroom who had mentioned Ryan Howard earlier spread his hands: “What did I say?”

“How was I supposed to know if you meant your left?” the chubby boy who’d been bumped complained, sounding even more aggrieved.

But Ryan Howard didn’t bother arguing about whose left it was. He clutched his forehead, got up from the floor, and then rushed into the classroom. Under everyone’s gaze, he loudly announced the news that had him so excited: “Good news! The school soccer team is recruiting new members!”

The enthusiastic reaction he’d imagined didn’t happen at all. It was like a pebble dropped into a pool of extremely thick liquid—no ripples at all.

Everyone just looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Awkward silence.

A kind-hearted girl timidly said, “We already knew that…”

Her words broke the awkward silence.

A boy next to Kevin Carter sneered, “You rushed back just for that? Ryan Howard, the school team recruiting has nothing to do with you. Don’t tell me you actually want to join?”

“Why not?” Ryan Howard shot back.

“Hey!” The boy laughed. “Don’t go embarrass yourself, okay?”

“It’s not your face I’d be losing.” Ryan Howard shrugged and walked toward his seat in the corner.

“What did you say!” The boy was angered by Ryan Howard’s attitude.

Someone beside him pulled him back: “Forget it, he’s right. You’re not his dad, it’s not your face.”

Hearing this, the boy laughed: “That’s right, I’m not his dad!”

He deliberately emphasized the word “dad,” drawing a round of laughter.

Amid the laughter, Ryan Howard, with his back to them, made a pouting face.

After the laughter died down, everyone gathered around Kevin Carter and resumed their lively discussion about the school soccer team, with quite a few girls joining in.

Such lively conversations were probably happening in other first-year classrooms at this school as well—boys excited about soccer, and girls excited about the boys who played.

Ryan Howard was excited about soccer too, but no one was excited for Ryan Howard… except for the unlucky guy he’d knocked to the ground.

The chubby unlucky guy sat on the floor and shouted, “Ryan Howard, you’re just going to leave like that? Apologize! Apologize to me!”

But in the noisy classroom, Ryan Howard didn’t seem to hear him.

After shouting a few times, the chubby boy got up from the floor himself, muttering dejectedly, “I’m so stupid, really. Why did I listen to that jerk? It’s not like I just met him today—I know he always messes around… I’m really stupid…”

Chapter One: Dream Soccer World

When Ryan Howard heard a faint sound from the door behind him, he quickly flipped his left hand holding the phone downward, then used four fingers to push the phone toward his wrist, sliding it into the slightly loose sleeve of his school uniform.

Traditional Chinese middle school uniforms are usually very loose sportswear, looking quite ill-fitting. They wrap up all the youthful energy so tightly, completely hiding it away, as if afraid that students would lose focus on their studies if they saw each other’s youthful vitality.

To many who care about appearances, this uniform is a prime target for complaints. But for Ryan Howard, he actually liked the design, because when he hid a phone up his sleeve, there was no way to tell from the outside…

Just as he silently slipped the phone into his sleeve, a hand reached out from behind him, lifting up the open book and revealing the empty desktop.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Ryan Howard turned around, feigning surprise as he looked at his father.

A middle-aged man who looked seven or eight parts like Ryan Howard said sternly, “Checking if you’re secretly playing with your phone.”

“How could I?” Ryan Howard put on a smile. “I’m studying really hard!”

“Hardworking? With those results on your entrance assessment, you call that studying hard?” his father said, clearly dissatisfied.

“That’s just because I’m not capable enough, Dad. I really did study hard, but my ability is limited…” Ryan Howard grinned apologetically.

“…” His father glared at him fiercely and slammed the textbook onto Ryan Howard’s hand. “Take it seriously!”

“Okay, Dad, I’ll definitely study hard.” Ryan Howard nodded like a pecking chicken, just hoping to get his father to leave as soon as possible.

His father turned to leave, but didn’t close the door right away. Instead, he stood silently at the doorway for a while, his gaze fixed on his son’s back.

Under his watchful eyes, Ryan Howard lay on the desk, sometimes raising his head in thought, sometimes bowing his head and writing furiously.

Nothing out of the ordinary.