After Paris Saint-Germain was removed from the list, I led England to victory!

The day after the riverside night.

Yan Yuan arrived at the national team training camp at noon. In the next round of the UEFA Nations League, they will play Croatia at home.

This match was not just a simple UEFA Nations League game; it was also seen by England fans as a "revenge match."

England are looking to avenge their defeat in the World Cup semi-finals.

……

In London, the morning sunlight streamed through the blinds of Lin Jianwei's small apartment, casting slanted rays onto the tidy kitchen countertop.

Early this morning, Lin Jianwei was wearing an apron, and she was frying salmon fillets in a pan, making a sizzling sound, mixed with the fresh aroma of lemon and rosemary.

However, her mind wasn't entirely on breakfast.

Last night, the gloom and fatigue along the riverbank faded considerably after a good night's sleep.

In a corner of her heart, a small opening seemed to have been quietly carved out, letting in a glimmer of light different from before.

Sudden.

Lin Jianwei's phone screen lit up next to the cutting board and began to vibrate.

This is a message from a large group of Chinese students at Imperial College London.

Normally, Lin Jianwei would only glance at these group chats with 99+ messages occasionally and rarely participated.

But today, a series of rapidly updating messages firmly caught her attention.

"@All members and family! Breaking news! Saturday at Wembley! England vs. Croatia! The Three Lions' revenge match! Anyone want to go as a group?!"

"We have to go! Yan Shen is going to make an appearance, we have to go and support him!"

"Tickets! Tickets! They'll be gone if you're late! Hurry up, guys!"

"Aren't there any Modric fans?"

"Modric? Given Yan Shen's recent form, he'll tear their midfield apart in this match!"

"Any girls want to go see Yan Shen's looks? I love his eyes!"

"Yes, yes, yes!!!! I've already bought Yan Baobao's jersey!!!"

"Hey upstairs, stop arguing! We're here to watch the game! You know what watching a game is all about?! Yan Shen's breakthroughs and shots are only exciting to see live!"

"+1! That backflip goal in the Champions League last time, I was blown away watching it live, wouldn't it be amazing to see it live?"

"@Lin Jianwei! Are you going or not? He's a freshman in your computer science department! As his senior, shouldn't you go and support him?" The message was sent by Lin Jianwei's good friend and classmate in the same major, Su Yutong, a lively and cheerful girl.

Lin Jianwei looked at the message, her finger hovering above the screen, oblivious to the tempting golden brown edges of the salmon in the frying pan.

A week ago, or even two days ago, if she had seen this message, she would most likely have politely replied...

"You guys go ahead, I still have papers/models/reports to write."

She then continued to immerse herself in her world of financial models and code.

football?

In Lin Jianwei's past understanding.

Football is far less sophisticated and strategic than a high-level tennis or badminton match.

Football is a sport filled with sweat, collisions, and overly direct displays of power, lacking the elegance and precision she admires.

But just now, Su Yutong's words, "a freshman in your major," were like a small pebble gently thrown into the small opening that had just been chiseled open.

Lin Jianwei couldn't help but recall the silhouette of the boy on the riverside bench last night.

In the cool London night, he sat quietly beside her, offering no further comfort.

He simply used his own personal experiences of failure and disappointment to clumsily but sincerely tell her that he too had smashed his head against the wall between effort and results.

The warmth of being understood, along with the composure beyond his years and profound understanding of the essence of competitive sports that he revealed in his words, quietly changed something in her heart.

She is no longer the Lin Jianwei who was completely oblivious to the world of football.

She began to wonder about the boy who shone like a god on the football field, driving the global media crazy.

How exactly did he manage to sweat and control the winds of change on his own battlefield?

The boy who listened quietly by the river, and the star player who stirred up a storm on the court.

Is it really the same person?

Lin Jianwei's finger fell, and she replied in the group:

"Okay, I'll go too."

The message caused an immediate uproar in the group chat.

"Wow! Goddess Lin has actually come out of retirement!"

"Sister Jianwei! You've finally got it! Let me tell you, you'll absolutely love the charm of football once you experience it live!"

"Weiwei, I knew you'd go, after all, he's your junior." Su Yutong immediately messaged her privately, sending a mischievous smiley face.

Then, Su Yutong said something in the group chat.

"By the way, Weiwei, use your senior's charm to your advantage. After the competition, could you call Junior Yan over so he can take a group photo with us supporters and get an autograph?"

I promise this will only happen once, I won't bother him again! I mainly want to experience his stunning good looks up close!

Some male classmates in the group also started making trouble.

"Yeah, yeah! Senior Lin! We really need your help, we really want your autograph!"

"Please, senior..."

"Please, senior, I really want Yan Yuan's autograph..."

"Please add +1..."

Lin Jianwei looked at the string of "please" and "I'm counting on you" on the screen, her delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly.

She and Yan Yuan...

Are we extremely close?

The time at the library was an academic exchange, while the time by the river was a vulnerable outpouring during a chance encounter.

Lin Jianwei wasn't sure if Yan Yuan really saw her as a senior or just a classmate who needed help.

Should I rashly go after the game to ask him for a photo and autograph?

This feels... a little strange.

Lin Jianwei hesitated, her finger lingering on the screen for a long time.

In the end, she did reply.

"I... I'll give it a try, but I'm not sure if he'll even notice me, or if he'll have the time."

She added a helpless emoji and concluded with a final comment.

Don't get your hopes up too high.

"Received! I'll do my best! Love you!" Su Yutong replied immediately, and the other Chinese classmates also expressed their understanding.

After filling in the ticket information, Lin Jianwei put down her phone, turned off the stove, and plated the fried salmon.

She sat at the dining table, but had little appetite.

A strange feeling, mixed with anticipation, spread through her heart.

She opened her phone's browser, hesitated for a moment, and then typed "basic rules of football" into the search box.

From that moment on, Lin Jianwei, who had never been interested in football before, began her first "academic study" on football.

Her learning style bears the distinct mark of a top student: rigorous, systematic, and focused on in-depth understanding.

She first searched for "football match rules" and quickly browsed through basic concepts such as match duration, number of players, offside rule (she had to look at the diagrams three times to roughly understand this complex concept), fouls (yellow card, red card), penalty kick, free kick, corner kick, goal kick, etc.

She even specifically looked up the definitions of "double" and "Golden Boot".

Because these two words appear frequently in reports about Yan Yuan.

As she searched, she realized that knowing the rules wasn't enough, so she also searched for "common football formations".

4231, 433, 442...

These combinations of numbers reminded her of data structures in computers.

She clicked on a video explaining the 4-2-3-1 formation, trying to understand the division of labor and coordination among positions such as "double defensive midfielders," "attacking midfielder," "winger," and "center forward."

When Lin Jianwei saw the simulated attack route map in the video, she subconsciously compared it to a financial market capital flow model.

The defensive midfielder is like the central bank, responsible for scheduling and risk control (interception);

The attacking midfielder is an investment banker, responsible for creative ideas and key deliveries (through balls).

Wingers are the hedge fund for charging into battle (breaking through and crossing);

The center forward is the entity that ultimately reaps the profits (scoring goals).

To better understand Saturday's game, Lin Jianwei also specifically searched for information about the two teams.

Regarding England, she focused on Yan Yuan's position as a right winger.

She watched several highlights of Yan Yuan's goals and assists this season, trying to understand his technical characteristics of "cutting inside", "crossing from the byline", "driving", and "shooting".

While watching the video, Lin Jianwei was amazed by his calm and precise handling of the ball while running at high speed, which reminded her of the stable output of high-performance algorithms under extreme loads.

She also searched for information about Harry Kane, Sterling, Rashford, and others.

When Lin Jianwei searched for Croatia.

The name of this country immediately reminded her of the "World Cup knockout stage" that Kawai Yanyuan had mentioned last night.

She searched for "2018 World Cup England vs Croatia" and found related reports and highlights.

Modric's name came into view, along with veterans like Rakitic and Perisic.

She understood why the English news media called the match a "revenge match," and she also understood the regret of missing out on victory that Yan Yuan described last night.

Lin Jianwei even specifically looked up Croatia's midfield configuration.

She was eager to know how the Croatian players had managed to "resiliently" equalize the score.

Finally, regarding the match venue, Lin Jianwei searched for pictures and information about Wembley Stadium, imagining what it would be like to see nearly 90,000 spectators gathered there on Saturday.

She also watched several videos of fans cheering at Premier League and England national team home games, the deafening singing, the synchronized movements, the thunderous shouts...

This was in stark contrast to the quiet atmosphere of the library or lecture hall she was used to.

This raw, passionate collective energy felt both unfamiliar and subtly anticipated to her.

Time flew by as I focused on my studies.

Nearly two hours had passed when Lin Jianwei looked up from her computer screen.

She rubbed her slightly sore eyes, looking at the dense notes on her notebook and the dozen or so football-related webpages open, and a faint smile unconsciously curved her lips.

This feeling is wonderful.

It's not for completing an assignment, nor for project research.

Just to better understand a match I'm about to watch, to understand Yan Yuan running on the field.

She discovered that although the rules of football are complex, the logic is clear; and although the tactics seem varied, they also contain profound wisdom in space utilization and teamwork.

This seems to share a strange commonality with her expertise in financial modeling and computer algorithms in terms of underlying logic.

Both of these involve seeking the optimal solution under established rules and require a deep understanding and precise control of complex systems.

Lin Jianwei turned off the computer and walked to the window.

She looked south, towards the direction of Wembley Stadium.

The boy who quietly accompanied her by the riverbank will once again step onto his battlefield there, under the gaze of tens of thousands of people.

Lin Jianwei let out a soft breath, a hint of anticipation flashing in her eyes that she herself was unaware of.

Saturday at Wembley will be her first time watching a football match live.

As for Yan Yuan's autographed photo,

Lin Jianwei decided to put this aside for the time being, because she wasn't sure if Yan Yuan would notice her.

Being able to understand Yan Yuan's matches is perhaps the best way to support him.