Fox in the Penalty Area

When Li Qingqing opened his eyes, there was no light in the bedroom with the curtains closed.

She waited for a while before her eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room.

Then she realized that there was no one around her. . .

But there was a faint sound from downstairs outside the bedroom.

She looked back and saw that the bedroom door was open.

So she lifted the quilt, didn't change her clothes, just got out of bed in simple pajamas, then walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs through the corridor.

The vaguely audible voice became clearer and clearer:

"...In the last Champions League semi-final that ended as early as last night, the King of Madrid, who was at home, lost 1:2 in the first leg and returned to home to defeat the Madrid Pirates 4:2, thus 5:4. The score advanced to the final... This game was very ups and downs. It was not until the 87th minute that the King of Madrid was beaten by the Pirates by Cerrados and dragged the game into overtime..."

When Li Qingqing walked to the stairs, she saw that the living room was empty, but the TV was on, playing the morning sports news.

In the news is a replay of the goal that Cerrados scored against the Pirates yesterday.

It was a surprise to all Pirates players when Meli unexpectedly passed the ball to Cerrados after attracting five Madrid Pirates players in the box.

Only Hu Lai guessed a little, or a top striker's intuition in front of goal made him realize that Merry might pass the ball.

But he was still slightly slower.

In the replay, Li Qingqing saw Hu Lai fall to the ground again, the football rolled past him, and then was pushed into the goal by Cerrados...

"Ah, ah! Since 87th! Sierrados !! He received Meli's assists, helping the king once again equalize the total score! In the game, there will be a few minutes to end, the king They survived, although the game is not over... but they are still in the semi-finals anyway!"

Here, the news uses the original sound of the commentary of the game at that time.

Listening to Sanchez's passionate roar, it seems to bring people back to that moment last night.

Li Qingqing remembered the live TV she watched at home.

When Cerrados scored, she sat on the sofa motionless like a statue.

Because she realized that the ball can be regarded as a devastating blow to the Madrid Pirates.

It was leveled with just a few minutes to go. There are not many players in the world who can't change their faces and hearts.

The next 30 minutes of overtime also proved that.

The Madrid Pirates' counter-attack didn't even try many times before giving up, they were all intent on dragging the game into a penalty shootout.

This cannot be blamed on the players on the field. On the one hand, their morale has suffered a heavy blow, and on the other hand, their physical fitness is close to exhaustion, and they are helpless.

The Kings players can ignore physical constraints for the time being because of their high morale.

"In extra time, the Kings scored the winning goal from the young midfielder Gomez Buitrago, who came off the bench, and finally eliminated the nemesis Pirates in the same city and reached the Champions League final in London..."

When Buitrago scored, several Pirates players fell directly on the turf, covering their faces with their hands, looking very frustrated and distressed, as if they had lost all their strength.

At this time, there are only four minutes left until the end of overtime.

With such a huge morale gap, it is almost impossible for the Madrid Pirates to do anything.

When the final whistle sounded, the substitutes of the King of Madrid rushed onto the pitch, embracing and celebrating with their teammates, and the entire Crown Stadium was filled with deafening cheers.

This season, the king is really aggrieved in front of the rivals in the same city. The league was double-killed at home and away. This time, he finally regained a city in the Champions League!

"Hey, Qingqing, are you up?"

Just as Li Qingqing stared at the TV screen in a daze, Hu Lai's somewhat surprised voice sounded in his ears.

She turned her head to follow the sound, and saw Hu Lai in an apron standing in the direction of the restaurant.

"No, I just woke up and found that you were not there. I came down to see if there was a sound in the living room... You got up so early?" Li Qingqing smiled at Hu Lai.

"Well, I can't sleep anyway, so I just got up. I'm making breakfast, it's not that fast. Are you going to continue sleeping?"

Li Qingqing shook his head: "I woke up, and I can't fall asleep again. I'm going to wash up."

"Okay, I'll call you when breakfast is ready." Hu Lai waved the shovel in his hand, turned and walked towards the kitchen.

Li Qingqing looked at his background and almost had the urge to stop him again. But her mouth was open, but in the end she didn't say anything. After watching Hu Lai go to the kitchen, she also walked back to the upstairs bedroom.

The TV in the living room was still on, and the morning news was still discussing yesterday's Champions League semi-final.

But Li Qingqing didn't take another look.

※※※

When Li Qingqing and Hu Lai were sitting opposite each other at the dining table, preparing to have breakfast, the TV in the living room was still playing the news.

But it has nothing to do with last night's Champions League semi-final.

Li Qingqing looked at the simple breakfast that Hu Lai made—she used to make it, because Hu Lai really didn't know how to cook.

She smiled and asked, "Why are you thinking about making breakfast today?"

Hu Lai pouted: "Do it if you want. Why, it's weird?"

"It's not too strange." Li Qingqing covered her mouth and smiled, "It's just the first time you've made breakfast for me after we've been together for so long."

Hu Lai coughed a little awkwardly.

Seeing this, Li Qingqing comforted in a low voice:

"Actually, you can have a clear conscience... Didn't you see how excited Merry was after the game yesterday? You can let him do his best and then rely on a little luck to beat you, it's already amazing, that's Merry, Everyone's recognized superstar of tomorrow..."

Today, Hu Lai's behavior is indeed a bit abnormal. It's like his wife comes home from get off work and suddenly finds that her husband has not only cleaned the house, but also cooked a table of delicious meals. The wife's first reaction must be "is he sorry for me"...

Li Qingqing certainly doesn't think that Hu Lai is sorry for herself, she knows why Hu Lai is so abnormal, because he lost the game yesterday.

She was afraid that Hu Lai would bear some psychological burden.

What she said was not all to comfort Hu Lai, but her sincere words.

In her opinion, Hu Lai can fight back and forth with Meili, which is already very powerful.

You must know that just nine years ago, the 16-year-old Meli had already emerged in the youth team of the King of Madrid and became a star of hope. In "The Godfather of Champions", he was a talented player with potential -10, and he was famous.

At that time, Hu Lai was just a rookie who was not even asked to play in the PE class of Dongchuan Middle School.

Even Li Qingqing didn't dare to think that Hu Lai at that time could be compared to Meili. Hu Lai's own goal was only to be able to join the Dongchuan Middle School team...

The two of them are like two parallel lines that can never intersect, and they are also parallel lines that are 108,000 miles apart.

And now, in less than a decade, Merry is already celebrating wildly for beating Hu Lai once.

Although Hu Lai was eliminated from the Champions League by Meili this time, Li Qingqing wanted to let Hu Lai know that this was not the end, nor was it a failure, it was just a part of the long-term competition between the two.

The two of them are the same age, and their careers are highly overlapped.

It doesn't matter if you get knocked out once, if you win again next time, that's what football is all about.

Moreover, even if he is eliminated, Hu Lai's performance in the Champions League this season is good enough.

He has scored 16 goals in the Champions League this season, and is only one goal short of the single-season scoring record in the Champions League set by Caesar. It is close to the achievement of the "Great Emperor", why can't there be more expectations for the future?

As the top scorer in the Champions League in the King of Madrid, Hu Lai actually does not need to take any responsibility for the team's elimination.

No matter who is called to take the blame, it will not be his turn.

Without Hu Lai's 16 goals, the Madrid Pirates might not have reached the semi-finals - the last time the Pirates reached the Champions League semi-finals was in the 2023-2024 season, when the team's head coach was now coaching Blue and White Bjorn Hantschek in Munich.

They lost in the Champions League semi-finals to the future champions Torino Bulls.

As for the Champions League final, the Madrid Pirates have not tasted the taste of reaching the Champions League final in 19 years. Therefore, everyone's expectations for the Pirates in the Champions League are not as big as imagined.

In fact, after this semi-final, no one in the media criticized Hu Lai.

Some fans on the Internet complained that if Hu Lai had returned to the defense faster and shoveled Merry's ball out, he might have been able to save the team. But such people are very few. Moreover, in case Hu Lai did not clear the football, but kicked into his own goal, I am afraid they have another rhetoric.

After listening to Li Qingqing's apparently comforting words, Hu Lai shook his head: "Ah, I'm not thinking about this, Qingqing."

"Then what are you thinking?"

"I'm planning to use the time before breakfast every day to do morning exercises, specializing in strength training, and continue to strengthen my core strength."

Li Qingqing was not surprised by Hu Lai's statement, although Hu Lai's strength was much better than before. But strength training, especially core strength training, is a long-term thing, because you have to keep doing it. If you don’t practice for a while, the strength you have trained will also disappear.

Therefore, Hu Laihui plans to use the time before breakfast to do morning exercises for strength. Li Qingqing fully understands and agrees.

She patted her hands and smiled: "Okay, when we practice together, I can still be your physical trainer!"

She also did a move that showed her biceps.

Right, this is the correct attitude to face failure!

It's not terrible to fail, but it's terrible to lose once you lose. Look at Merry, how many times have you lost? I never thought about giving up, isn't this just a win?

So this time I lost to Merry, and next time I look for a chance to win it back...

Huh?

Li Qingqing suddenly thought of something, she stared at Hu Lai with wide eyes.

Hu Lai was dumbfounded by her: "What's the matter?"

"I suddenly remembered one thing...Merry seems to be participating in the Los Angeles Olympics as an overage player!"

Hu Lai was stunned for a moment, but also remembered that there was indeed such a thing - the Argentine Football Association was obviously bitter about being eliminated from the group stage of the Olympic Games four years ago, so it decided to recruit Meli as an overage player. And Merry seems to have the same resentment, so the two sides hit it off.

Hu Lai's eyes lit up.

However, he quickly woke up, shook his head and said, "It may not be possible to meet."

Li Qingqing said, "It's always a goal!"

Hu Lai tilted his head and thought about it, Li Qingqing was right.

No matter whether it can be met or not, the account of being eliminated by Meli in the Champions League is still to be calculated, so it is no problem to meet Meli in the Olympics as a goal.

With that goal in mind, he's even more excited about this summer's Olympics.

Li Qingqing felt the changes in Hu Lai, which Hu Lai may not have realized.

Only then did she confirm that Hu Lai really came out of yesterday's failure. She picked up the fried egg Hu Lai gave her with her chopsticks and took a bite.

Although it's a bit cold, but still... um... It's still not good!

"Hurai."

"What's the matter?"

"I'll make breakfast in the future..."

"Why? Do you think what I cook is unpalatable?"

"No, no, you should spend your precious time on core strength training~www.readwn.com~ strive for an early revenge!"

"Tsk!"

※※※

PS, all the updates have been completed today, I wonder if anyone guessed the result? Because I read a lot of chapters saying that Hu Lai won anyway, why did it take so long?

But I don't mean to be unexpected, it's the result of me thinking about it for a long time. I think such a defeat is needed, and it also needs to further shape Hu Lai's old enemy.

So I ended up writing.

In fact, this story is mainly about Merry... I know some of you don't like to see people other than the protagonist occupy too much of the scene. I also saw someone who counted how many times the protagonist's name appeared in the first chapter, and some people directly stated that he Don't care about Merry, let me not waste ink on Merry.

But I still wrote it, because from the perspective of about 2,000 chapters in the whole book—there are now 1440 chapters, and there are 600 more chapters in the remaining content, it shouldn’t be a problem—it takes a few chapters to describe Merry more. is necessary.

After all, I'm writing about a virtual world of football, where every major character takes a pen and ink to shape and manage. Merry is definitely not a simple tool person like "the protagonist's opponent".

This is my little insistence as an author.

It is also an explanation for readers who were dissatisfied with Merry's too many scenes some time ago.

Finally, I will start to collect manuscripts tomorrow. I am not able to do what I can do when I am middle-aged. Please be considerate...

***

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