History of Women in the Wei Dynasty

Chapter 129 Gonghuo
Some of the teenagers glared at Wei Mao, while others sneered at Lu Jiayi. Fortunately, they stopped there and did not cross the fence to start a fight.

Practice begins.

In Wei Yao's group, Wei Mao was responsible for controlling the ball with his interception techniques, while she was responsible for receiving the ball with her feet. Within five moves, she would kick the ball back to him according to the position he called out.

Wei Zhen was worried about Wei Yao. After watching Wei Yao skillfully kick the ball back and forth between her toes and calves without dropping it, she was astonished: "A Yao, you're so amazing!"

Wei Jinghao said regretfully, "I'm also good at using short-range techniques. Sigh, if I hadn't set a departure date, I could have played some quick three-kick games with my fellow disciple Yao."

"Quick Three-Kick" is a common competitive game among children, and it can be played by one person, two people, or multiple people. In two-person quick three-kick, each person kicks the ball three times with their toes, then passes it to the other person, who kicks it three times and then passes it back, and so on, until the ball hits the ground.

If neighbors hear a child suddenly shout something silly like "I'm a bad guy," or have soot smeared on their face, it's considered a punishment for losing a quick three-kick fight.

Wei Mao urged them on: "Hurry up and practice over there with Wu Ji. Zhen, you should also hurry up and practice. Spread out and go further away, even further away, that's right."

"Catch the ball!" Wei Yao shouted, kicking the ball towards Wei Maocai without warning.

Wei Mao received the ball with his left shoulder, and simultaneously, using his left foot as the center, he drew a circle around himself with his right foot.

Wei Yao praised, "Good!" Wei Mao became even more energetic, arching the ball with his left shoulder, spinning his body quickly, and catching it with his right shoulder.

This technique is called "passing the temples".

"Good!" Wei Yao praised again.

Hearing this, Lu Jiayi, on the other side of the field, curled his lip. What's so special about it? Anyone can do that! He kicked the ball high, caught it with his shoulder, and also did a "passing the ear" move. He and his cousin Lu Zhengpin were a team. He first shouted "Catch the ball!" and then used his shoulder to throw the ball towards his opponent.

"Okay..." Lu Zhengpin quickly lifted his short legs, missed the catch, and guiltily hurriedly chased after the ball.

Lu Jiayi roared, "Don't use your hands, try kicking me with your feet, and control your strength!"

"Okay." Lu Zhengpin aimed and kicked hard, sending his shoe, ball, and mud flying in three directions simultaneously.

"Hahahaha." Lu Fashan and He Shutong were in the same group. They weren't laughing at Lu Zhengpin for kicking his shoe away, but at Lu Jiayi for lunging in the wrong direction and almost catching the shoe.

Lu Zhengpin felt even more guilty, staring at his stomach. When he took the shoes back from his cousin, he felt like the breath coming out of his cousin's nose was like two balls of fire.

Lu Jiayi was even angrier: "Where are you looking? Where are you looking?! You need to look at the ball, look at me! Do you hear me?"

Lu Zhengpin wiped away his tears after being scolded, silently picked up the ball; he didn't want to play anymore, Cuju (ancient Chinese football) was no fun at all. He heard Sister Wei praising Brother Wei and felt envious, so he came over, his eyes brimming with tears, looking pitiful.

Wei Yao stopped practicing her ball skills. Seeing Lu Jiayi's angry expression, she could only stand in front of Lu Zhengpin to protect him.

Wei Mao stopped Lu Jiayi, displeased, and said, "Can't you handle this? If you think the recruit isn't good enough, let him join my side."

"You're quite the schemer. Does that mean there are seven of you against the five of us?"

Wei Mao: "You're still not convinced when I say you're stupid? Why don't you just find two more partners?"

"If both sides only send one person, how can they compete?"

Wei Yao spoke up: "Za Ti."

"Miscellaneous kicking" is a pure competition of kicking skills and duration. It can use the toes, heels, insteps, and calves to kick the ball, but not the knees or the upper body.

Wei Mao immediately understood her meaning: "The competition method for the three groups of seven people remains the same, and the single players compete in mixed kicks."

"it is good!"

The fool Lu Zhengpin became an opponent, and Lu Jiayi's anger turned to joy. He quickly went to find a new teammate. Wei Jing, Wei Zhen and the others came over to see what had happened. Wei Mao said to them, "Your groups will remain the same. I will team up with Lu Zhengpin. Let's send Yao Tong out to compete with them in mixed kicking."

"Huh?" The others all looked at Wei Yao.

Wei Jing: "Lu Fashan is famous for his acrobatic kicking skills on Lufu Street. No one his age can beat him. Lu Jiashan will definitely let Lu Fashan go first. Let me go alone. I will compete with Lu Fashan in acrobatic kicking, and let Yao and Wu be in the same group."

"What a coincidence!" Without time for polite formalities, Wei Yao decided to show off her skills to put her companions at ease.

Instead of using her own ball, she took Lu Zhengpin's, placed it on the ground, and then flicked her right toe to lift the ball, adding power! The ball flew high into the air, and she turned around to face Lu Zhengpin. The ball flew over her shoulder and landed back on her right toe. Just as it was about to roll down, she balanced the ball's momentum by lifting her leg to the side and juggling it up again. This time, the ball landed steadily on her toe and remained still.

Another fancy shuttlecock kick, and the ball landed on her left heel.

Wei Yao returned the ball to Lu Zhengpin before continuing, "I have no rivals in Chiyang Lane!"

The fact that she was able to control the ball on her first try using someone else's ball shows her skill level, and her teammates are all delighted.

Lu Zhengpin burst into laughter through his tears and casually wiped his snot onto the ball.

Wei Yao let out a soft "Ah": "You... Oh dear, no wonder I felt sticky."

Wei Zhen laughed so hard she punched Bu Yanzhen on the shoulder.

Wu Jichao and the other man rolled their eyes and kicked the ball back to their previous practice spot. "Wei Jing, actually I don't want to learn poetry anymore. After you leave, it'll be even more boring for me to stay in Dormitory One."

"Why don't you come to Shuozhou with me?"

"Can it be done?"

"Why not? We're good brothers. If you're willing to come with me, how could I abandon you?"

Whether or not they were going to Shuozhou was another matter, but Wu Ji was overjoyed to hear these righteous words.

Wei Mao instructed Lu Zhengpin: "Every time I throw the ball to you, I try to control the force as little as possible so that you don't have to use too much strength to catch it. This will make it easier for you to pass the ball. Pass the ball back to your right foot and kick it into the circle I drew. How you catch it is my business, you don't need to worry about it."

"Brother Mao, I understand."

"You little rascal, calling Wei Yao 'sister' and him 'brother' is quite the smooth talker." Wei Mao chuckled and patted the other's shoulder, encouraging him to give it a try.

After Lu Zhengpin failed several times, Wei Mao praised him for his progress. Gradually, Lu Zhengpin found his rhythm in receiving the ball.

At this moment, Wei Yao also regained the feeling of her previous life's football skills. This sense of ball control was very mysterious, and she gradually became fully focused.

Kick, flick, catch!

Spin your body, the ball is high above your shoulder, catch!
Back kick, overhead kick, forward drop! Receive the ball!

When Hu Wuwu first came to the plum garden, she saw Wei Yao from quite a distance. Through the fence of the training ground, she thought to herself, "Could it be that we are destined to be together? Heh, no, you are not worthy."

"Xu Jiaoqing, Xin Chun, look who's that?" she called to her companions, then subtly guided them: "We finally managed to shed our servant girl identities, but seeing her... sigh, I feel like even though we're at Cui Academy, we're still a cut below this poor girl. Shall we go somewhere else to play?"

"Why should we change places?" Xu Jiaoqing immediately became angry, her delicate eyebrows furrowing.

Xin Chun was more astute than Xu Jiaoqing and saw through Hu Wuwu's instigation. However, Xin Chun herself had also had enough of being mistreated at Cui Academy, so she added fuel to the fire, saying, "Forget it, Pingcheng may be a county, but it still has the prefecture and county governments to keep it in check. Our Gaoliu County is much better. In Gaoliu, if anyone dares to make me unhappy, I'll slap their face and make their whole family unhappy!"

(End of this chapter)