The Fox in the Forbidden Zone

“Mr. Hu Lai, in today’s football world, the opportunities for a striker like you, who only knows how to score goals, are becoming increasingly limited... And yet you’ve achieved such dazzling success. What’s the secret to your success?”

One winter afternoon, Hu Lai was showing reporters from around the world the highest honor he had just received when one of them asked him this question.

As he faced their expectant gazes, Hu Lai’s thoughts returned to an afternoon in middle school. He had stood alone beside the field, watching his classmates play. They wouldn’t let him join in, thinking he would only cause trouble. He also remembered his coach’s stern words: “Hu Lai, if you can’t work ten times harder than everyone else, your talent is nothing more than a worthless rock.” And he recalled a dismissive voice saying, “Modern football demands more and more of a center forward. You need to be more well-rounded. What good is it if all you can do is shoot?”

At last his thoughts settled on that moment. Night was just beginning to appear in the eastern sky. In the middle of an abandoned lot overgrown with weeds, a girl had said to him with complete sincerity, “Hu Lai, you really do have talent, and it’s incredible talent! Because you know where the goal is!”

Hu Lai stared into the girl’s eyes and saw the setting sun behind him reflected in them.

The sunlight shimmered and burned in her pupils, forming a halo, as if he himself might melt into its glow.

Hu Lai returned to the warm winter afternoon. Facing the eager reporters, he smiled faintly. “Because I know the goal is right there.”