My dad has watched Chinese football for thirty years and recorded as many games as he lost in his notebook.
I have never made it to the World Cup. I remember the year I was born and the year I turned seventeen.
He never said the word "disappointment". But I know that every time he closes the book, it is slower than when he opened it.
I had no coach, no team, no stadium, so I just played against a brick wall for two years.
Until the City Cup notice is posted...
I got four people together, borrowed a jersey with holes in it, and the physical education teacher was the coach, and that was it.
Across the street is a private school with full-time coaches, corporate sponsorships, and jerseys that cost more than our annual budget.
But the way I play football is different from everyone else.
I don't chase the ball. I chase where the ball is going.
I won the City Cup and the Provincial League. Every time I won, my dad would open the notebook in the stands and write it down one by one.
He remembered it for thirty years, but no one had ever pushed this matter forward for him.
Now there is.
But a man appeared from nowhere and was following us. He had a gray jacket and a black leather book. He asked my coach a question:
"That No. 10, What does his father do?"
There was also an opponent named Xiao Tianlang, who used exactly the same method to deal with me.
For the first time on the court, someone made me feel like I was playing football with myself in the mirror.
Dad, that World Cup you are waiting for——
I'll kick it for you.
