Olivia Lee was no longer the center of attention; the panting figure at the door was.

Even Olivia Lee looked over curiously—so that unlucky guy was actually her classmate...

It was a small, thin figure in a sorry state, sweat trickling down from the temples along the cheeks. Although he had called out to report in, at this moment he was leaning against the doorframe with both hands on his knees, completely ignoring the murderous glare from the Homeroom Teacher, just burying his head and gasping for breath.

Then Olivia Lee heard the Homeroom Teacher beside her gritting his teeth: “Ryan Howard! Go run three laps on the field for me!”

A burst of gloating laughter erupted in the classroom.

“Oh, okay...” Amid the laughter, the boy agreed readily, then lifted his head.

Olivia Lee got a good look at the face of this unlucky latecomer and was stunned—wasn’t this the guy playing with a frisbee downstairs at her building yesterday... no, the one playing soccer?

The boy seemed to notice Olivia Lee’s puzzled gaze. He also glanced curiously at the figure standing next to the Homeroom Teacher, then simply turned and ran toward the hallway, the sound of “thud thud thud” footsteps echoing in the corridor.

Once the footsteps faded, the Homeroom Teacher signaled for Olivia Lee to introduce herself again.

This time, no one interrupted her. Olivia Lee smiled and greeted the whole class: “Hello everyone, my name is Olivia Lee. Starting today, I’ve transferred to Dongchuan Middle School. I like soccer. I hope to spend three wonderful years here with all of you.”

Chapter 6: A Talented Man and a Beautiful Woman

John Lee and the Old Principal stood together in the empty school sports field, an area slightly separated from the campus by two stands.

The main stand and the area opposite it were the spectator stands, and the area between the two was a soccer field surrounded by a 400-meter red synthetic track.

Alternating shades of green artificial turf covered the field, with white chalk lines marking the center line, center circle, penalty area, and goal area.

The two stood on the main stand, looking down at the soccer field.

“Just renovated, the facilities are top-notch,” the Old Principal introduced to John Lee. “There’s even a restroom, two changing rooms, a storage room, and a PE office hidden under this stand—your coach’s office is there too.”

John Lee looked around and nodded.

It had rained all night yesterday, but there was hardly any standing water on the field, which showed that the drainage system was excellent. For a middle school sports field, these facilities were indeed impressive.

“Thirty years ago, this place was overgrown with weeds. You could barely stand here, let alone play soccer...” he said.

“I know. Back then, when you all went to the school to request an intramural soccer tournament, the school’s condition was that you had to pull out all the weeds on the field yourselves,” the Old Principal continued. “I heard some teachers say the school was deliberately making things hard for you. Who would have thought you’d finish it all in one afternoon?”

John Lee laughed, “That’s right, everyone was really enthusiastic. After all, once the weeds were gone, we’d have a soccer field and our own league.”

“Who would have thought that Dongchuan Middle School would later become known for soccer? That the field of a top soccer school was once covered in weeds—who could have imagined?” the Old Principal sighed.

The two of them stared at the soccer field, falling silent together.

After a while, the Old Principal said to John Lee, “The school invited you here because we hope you can restore Dongchuan’s soccer tradition. You know, the country is paying more and more attention to soccer, especially school soccer. Dongchuan can’t fall behind. That plaque for ‘Traditional Soccer Powerhouse’ is still hanging in my office. I hope one day I can hang it back at the school gate.”

“I’ll do my very best,” John Lee replied earnestly with a nod.

“All right, let’s go.”

The Old Principal turned and led the way down from the stand, with John Lee following behind.

As they descended the steps, just as they reached the bottom, they saw a student-like figure rushing over from the main entrance of the stand.

Seeing the Old Principal, the student quickly braked and bowed, “Principal Zane!”

The Old Principal asked sternly, “Why aren’t you in class? What are you doing here?”

The student explained, “I was late, so the Homeroom Teacher told me to run three laps...”

“Which class?”

“Class 2, Grade 10...”

“Go on, then.”

The student hurried off toward the track inside the stands.

John Lee glanced back at the student. “Aren’t teachers not supposed to punish students physically?”

“It’s just running. How can running be considered punishment?” the Old Principal smiled and waved his hand. “Running is a way to strengthen students’ bodies, not a punishment. Our teachers seize every opportunity to improve students’ physical fitness. Only with healthy bodies can they study better. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Now that you put it that way, it does make sense...” John Lee stroked his chin behind the principal.

※※※

After class, Olivia Lee stood alone in the school corridor, looking through the closed glass curtain wall at the old teaching building next door.