"It doesn't matter to you, does it? Is my sister okay? Xiao Qi turned back from his seat and asked Luca. Le Ben, who was sitting on the sidelines, had a crying face, and his friend's goodbye must have made him uncomfortable for a night, and Lukka said sorry to him in four languages before he felt a little better.

"My sister hasn't woken up yet. I thought about it all night, and going back didn't help much. I still have my own mission here, and I can't leave everyone alone. Luca's eyes were bright, and he looked kindly at Xiao Qi, who was a little guilty.

"Luca is a big fool! What is your mission? Who's in charge of you? If your family has something to do, you have to accompany you! Le Ben complained to his companions.

"I volunteered. The ticket was changed to the evening, and I left after the game. Lukka put his arms around Leben, and the little friend struggled and slammed his thigh with his fist a few times.

I know there are no gods in this world. But in the trembling car to the school, I prayed in my heart that the delay of a few hours would not leave Luca with eternal regrets. The air conditioner was blowing hard, and the sound of the fan blades turning was clearly recognizable, but cold sweat was oozing from my head. Miller must have noticed it and secretly grabbed my left hand. I also held him hard.

If you shouldn't think so, how can you have regrets? Luca's sister will surely wake up.

May all of us have no regrets today.

Students, the teacher from another school just sent me a WeChat message. I would like to inform you in advance. The coach walked to the middle of the car, and his voice was loud, drowning out the sound of the wind and tires outside the car. Today is National Memorial Day. The race is a special day to remember before the race for the victims. The students in the second year of junior high school know how to do it, and they mourned for the victims of the air crash last year. This time, the school made a banner and displayed it on the court. When the time comes, stand behind the banner with them in silence and take a group photo.

The warmth suspended on the roof of the car has not yet isolated the heavy history from the icy present. Looking past the window, the airtight clouds gathered low. If I hadn't mentioned the silence today, I would have forgotten about last year's plane crash. My sister once told me that everyone's interest in public events is always three minutes hot – no one is an exception, and she is included. After about a week, no matter how major the event is, it will slowly fade out of the field of view of life. Does this count as oblivion? I can remember it when I mention it, I don't think about it if I don't mention it, it has always occupied a place in the depths of my memory, but I can no longer "trigger" it by myself, and it is no longer a part of life. This sounds good, especially if it's something that has been forgotten about something that is close to you. Does this mean that the wound has healed and it is time to turn to the next page? But there are things that seem to be not forgotten, and people must have a conscience. In other words, you can't forget if you want to, and there is no possibility of graceful and calm withdrawal. We have always followed the past to the present, whether it is one person or a group of people. An inadvertent move in the past can turn into solid ground or soft dirt beneath our feet. As long as we stand on the earth for a day, we are constantly feeling the past, constantly becoming the past, and at the same time moving forward from the present.

"Big brother. It's so cold, are you wearing enough clothes? "While waiting in the stadium aisle to play, Pu Yun habitually walked up to us to say hello. We have already heard the starting list reported by the MC of the other school, and there are only a few junior high school students in the lineup from the other school, most of whom are substitutes for the first year of junior high school. For them, today is a good opportunity to train with a match.

I clapped my palms with him and said don't worry, I'm ready.

"You don't have to wear that much. I'm a free man in the front court today, and I won't be able to let you be idle, and you won't have time to undress when it's hot. He lifted his face and proudly pointed to the captain's armband on his arm. Ah Hua and Yoon Il Young did not start, and he was the only trump card on the field of the school.

"Don't be careless, I won't show mercy at all. I'm going to make you cry and cry all the way home. He spoke in a very small voice, standing on tiptoe, as if he was afraid that others would hear it, so he lost much momentum, but seemed to be a very close whisper.

"If you have the ability, come on." I poked him in the head with my glove. "Heaven and earth have righteousness, and miscellaneous manifolds." The two lines are still so legible.

This is probably the closest string has come to Pu Yun in three years. I read a sentence on the Internet that every year today, the streets of Nanjing will be crowded because 300,000 people have to go home. They should be passing by Jiang Yuan. If possible, would you be able to pass by here? You're so smart, you might just be able to sneak in. At least Pu Yun will believe that you can see us.

If I could see you, I think I'd be crying all the way home, right now, right now, right away, not caring about winning or losing the game, or putting the armband back on my hand. However, not necessarily. I'm no longer the kid who can only cry. I found my past and the responsibility I had on my shoulders. Whether you can see it or not, I'm going to do my best to protect everything behind it.

The "Fair Play Song" sounded, as loud as the horn of an expedition. The two teams, who were once again opponents, lined up neatly and stepped under the sky where the clouds made up. Passing through the narrow gate through the dark passageway, the bright dimness of the other side of the sky was a little dazing. It's snowing. Thin snowflakes fell silently onto our hair, shoulders, and outstretched palms, and we were truly sure that we had just seen it in the dark. "The clouds are low, the mountains and rivers are dark, and the sparse forests are cold and withered." Tiny snowflakes in the south are falling from the endless clouds like debris of stars and clouds. Almost every child has a natural affection for snow. In the midst of the depression, an irrepressible sense of excitement hit his chest, his heart was beating vigorously and powerfully, and he felt the urge to run in the vast expanse of land. Let's go down, let's go down, the bigger the better. I've never played in the snow. "Flying snow shoots white deer in the sky", let us wear a felt hat cloak today, step on the chaotic jade, and penetrate the door of the old opponent in the snow! [1]

After the song came to an abrupt end, the students from the other school took out their banners from the bench. The black letters on a white background blend with the gradually dense snow. "Don't forget history, Jinling lives forever". The starters of both teams stood behind the banner and gently grabbed it with their small hands. Everyone's positions are interspersed with each other, regardless of opponents and teammates. Next to me were Miller and Pu Yun, but they were surrounded by classmates who didn't know each other. There is no opponent at this moment, we are all people who stand side by side on this land. The audience is invited to stand and observe a three-minute silence in memory of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Against the fluttering snowflakes, my eyes hurriedly swept over the stands, and I saw Xuexue, Ming Ming and Xiao Qi in down jackets, and then immediately lowered my head. The moment we closed our eyes, we all fell silent in the snow, motionless, and let them slowly cover us, solidify into deep and serious trees and fences, and stand on the vast land for a long time. [2]

What comes to mind? It's probably a poem, I've seen it from time to time. It says that snow falls on Chinese soil and that the cold is blocking China. The wind is like a sad old woman. He followed closely, stretched out his cold fingers and claws, and tugged at the placket of the pedestrian's clothes. In words as old as the land, they kept chattering for a moment...... Where are you going to go out of the woods, driving the wagons, you Chinese peasants, wearing fur hats and braving the snow? Tell you, I am also a descendant of peasants—and because of your wrinkled faces, carved with painful wrinkles, I can know so deeply the hardships of the years of the people who live on the steppe. And I, too, am no happier than you,—— lying on the river of time, the waves of misery, which have swallowed me up and rolled me up several times—wandering and imprisonment, having lost the most precious days of my youth, and my life, like yours, is as haggard. [3] The invisible palm swept over the infinite rivers and mountains, the fingers were stained with blood and ash, and the palms were stained with darkness, only the distant corner was still intact, warm, clear, strong and vigorous. On it, I caressed it with my broken palm, like a lover's soft hair, and a baby's breast in his hand. I put all my strength in the palm of my hand and put love and all hope on it, for only there is the sun, and there is spring, which will drive out the darkness and bring about life, for only there we do not live like cattle and die like ants...... [4]

When the harsh winter comes, is the spring still far away? [5]

Silence was over. Guys, get ready to fight. The words of the MC of the home school of the other school are still fresh in my memory.

"Big brother, this is the last time the two of us will play each other in junior high school, and today is still the old rule, just wait to catch the ball from the goal! Next year, you're going to have to play qualifying. ”

When guessing, Pu Yun smiled again and said something like this. I didn't know how to respond, but I smiled faintly, but a little spark came out of my head. Does he want to kill us so much? Maybe. Half a year ago, the scene of forcing the foreign school to the edge of the cliff is still vivid, and no one wants to release such a big trouble. Even if more than half of today's starters are first-year students, it doesn't mean that other schools want us to pass easily. Substitutes who lack opportunities often go on the pitch to prove that they are not weaker than the main team, and they will never be soft-hearted. In the final game of the group stage last year, we fielded an all-new starting line-up after qualifying for the top spot, and the result was an exaggerated score of 7:2. At this time, at that time, we would never have imagined that a year from now would be so life-or-death.

There must be no distractions! Now that you're back on the field, you can forget about everything but winning the game on your own. I walked over to my teammates. Today's slogan is only one: One China will win. We have no choice but to win. From the third round of the group stage, this is the path we are destined to take. The cold wind blows and rolls up the flying snow, which is densely entrenched on the eternal greenery. Against the snowflakes that flew on me, I trotted all the way to the door, raised my left hand again, and habitually tiptoed to pat the beam. When I looked down, I saw the verses on the glove again.

I'm not going to lose. What if Pu Yun is my nemesis? He can't score a goal every time he sees me, not to mention that Yan Xi here also scores every time he is a foreign school. Look at it carefully, don't say it's Pu Yun, even if you're on the other side, I'm not afraid at all!

The whistle pierced the snowy sky, and the orange-white battle started again in the snow and ice. This time, we still put out a combination of four defenders, Lao Ye and Brother Chuan in the middle, Luka on the left, and Mile on the right. The coach clearly required the two full-backs to participate in the attack without hesitation, so Ah Hui in the midfield had to take on the heavy responsibility of both offensive and defensive ends, connecting the whole field in attack, and actively filling in for his teammates when defending. Yan Xi's position was a little further back, more like coming to the midfield to respond, and on the front line was Le Ben, who started for the first time. It's a patchwork, but it's the strongest lineup we can put out. Luka's return is no longer a blessing in disguise, it is simply a desperate life. The coach consulted with me before the game and asked me if I could partner Miller in midfield, after all, I had played a few minutes against Kitagawa before. I said that everything is under command and that I have no problem playing as a striker. In fact, this year, I also secretly bought a No. 23 white jersey, and I didn't let my sister pay for me. I thought that if I won this time, I would give her that goalkeeper suit (as long as she didn't dislike it, I washed it every time I did my laundry), and this white one could be kept as a souvenir.

Maybe I agreed so simply yesterday when I bought the shirt, maybe one day, Miller and I will be partners in midfield and even in the front line in a game, and we will go to the team when we need us the most. Of course, it's just a pipe dream. I can't remember the last time I played in midfield, and I don't know why people kept saying I was good at passing. I've been working hard, but I'm afraid I'm going to be able to barely play half the game. When the daydream is about to become a reality, it may be more of a trance than excitement, so I agreed vaguely. If it weren't for Luka coming back, I might have been playing against Pu Yun in midfield.

And Pu Yun is telling me with practical actions that what he said before the game is anything but a bluff. Time has passed, and he has gone from being a substitute who can't get a minute to being the starting captain, and he has also played from left-back to the heart of the school's attacking playmaking. What he is doing now is what Xianxian has done, in the past days, Xianxian is a free man in the frontcourt, and there is no shortage of his shadow on any offensive line, breaking through on the side, going straight in the middle, excessive midfield, inserting forward, grabbing points, long-range shots, and everything. After a long journey and constant falling and getting up, Pu Yun seems to have really caught up with the footsteps of the strings.

Even if you're a string, I'm not going to give you a chance! When Pu Yun evaded Brother Chuan's interception in front of our penalty area and took advantage of the situation to take a long-range shot, my belief was even stronger. Leaping up, I lifted the ball with a bit of an eerie arc off the crossbar with my left hand, and the fast ball sprinted through the snow after rushing off the court. Millet pulled me up from the snowy ground, the impact of the ball running from my left hand to my body, and there were a few times in the countless days and nights that I had been practicing shooting with such a numb but excited shot. The more powerful and tricky the angle, the more I felt the urge to save.

But we can't play like that. After taking off the corner, I wanted to look for an opportunity to counterattack immediately, but the "young players" of the foreign school were very disciplined, and Yan Xi and Miller had people around them to guard against the ball in order to prevent them from receiving the ball in the first place. And Leben's running position was not wise, hiding himself behind the players from the outer school, and there was no route to pass to him at all. I had to wait for everyone to disperse before handing the ball to Lao Ye and slowly advancing from the backfield, and at this time, the defense of the outer school was completely in position, almost airtight, only the snow continued to fall above their heads.

This is probably the true portrayal of the first half, the foreign colonel through Pu Yun constantly create a threat on the offensive end, the defense is unified, advance and retreat, our improvised offensive line repeatedly failed, but the defense seems to be a little careless. In the 20th minute, we had only two shots on goal, all of which were reluctantly kicked by Yan Xi after passing with his individual ability, and the Colonel had already tested my saving ability three times. The ground ball in the midfield and backfield could not be given to the feet of the striker at all, so there was a very strange scene on the field: when we needed to attack the most, we could only rely on the big foot to get up the high ball to find two short strikers, watching Yan Xi, who was not one meter six or five, jumping to compete with the defender of nearly one meter eight from the colonel, it was really miserable, as if using a big knife and spear to fight with the enemy armed to the teeth. After he jumped, he was pressed under him almost without suspense, his head was already covered with snowflakes, and after he fell, his face came to the snow several times to "touch up his makeup", and the whole person was like a guerrilla who had just fought a fierce battle in the snow field. However, he just shook his head and patted his face, shook off the snow and continued to look for fighters. But our attacks were still so sporadic that it was useless to stab a rock-solid shield with a blunt spear. And the Colonel's steel knife is waiting for an opportunity near our flesh and blood. They even have more weapons on the bench, and they are wrapped in cotton clothes and calmly admiring the fierce battle in the snow, ready to go into battle at any time.

And our reserves are left with no one to replace. Perhaps, as our physical energy is gradually depleted in the heavy snow, we will all end up in the snow without exception. The gap in squad depth has been a flaw that has been difficult for us to solve from start to finish this semester. Compared with the foreign colonel, the absolute strength of the starting team is no longer dominant, and there is a lack of surprisingly winning ambushes, and we are really fighting a doomed battle when dragged into a stalemate by the reserve forces of the foreign colonel? Are we waiting for their main players to come on the pitch and then kill the game completely?

It's too hanging. It's Pu Yun again. The Colonel seized a mistake by Leben in the front court, and played a quick counterattack with lightning speed, tearing through our defense with three passes and two deliveries. Pu Yun and his companion completed the cooperation of hitting the wall, entered the right side of the penalty area, and fired a low left-footed shot. I made the save but the gloves only caught the wet snow on the ground. The ball went past me and headed straight for the goal, it was going into the net, but it was about to hit the post. Luka kicked the ball off the line before the opposition player could make a follow-up shot, but he stumbled and planted himself in the goal.

"Good boy!" I don't know why this sentence came out. I picked Lukka up from the ground and rubbed his curly hair, which was a little messy from the snow. Rather score himself than let the ball go in, Luka's dedication after returning is very impressive. We didn't say much, and the Colonel's corner kick came again. There was chaos in the penalty area again, it was dark, the snow was strong and the wind was blowing, and in the midst of the crowd, I punched the ball hard. In the midst of a black pressure back scramble, it seemed that Ah Hui got the ball and stuffed it to the right. Miller, who won the ball, turned into white lightning again, turning the side of the school into his own galloping corridor, and instantly hit the opposite half. The retreating players were already in front of and behind them, and Miller's next move took me back to the moment when we first played on the pitch a year ago. A long pass with his right foot, precisely guided, the ball became a feathered arrow in the windy north wind, which passed through the thousands of troops of the colonel and landed steadily on the left side of the front. It was Yan Xi who appeared there without mistake, and he stopped the ball perfectly with his left foot. In the previous four times he faced the Colonels, Yan Xi scored five goals, two of which came off the bench, and it took far less time than Pu Yun, who scored four goals in four games. It was too late, it was too late, and the Colonel killer slammed past the only defender and fired a right-footed shot at the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation. It was also a low flat ball that ran to the left of the halfway goalkeeper without stopping.

The goal didn't go in! Probably because the weather was too cold, or Yan Xi's number of touches was too few to find the situation, or maybe he was too nervous, Yan Xi's single ball was saved by the goalkeeper. It was the best chance of the first half, and arguably the only one. Yan Xi fell to the ground in frustration, but only to get up after only a second. The ball was saved at the feet of the defenders who fought back non-stop against our counter-attack, and our whole formation didn't have time to retreat. Leben hurriedly stepped forward to press, trying to delay the Colonel's offense at the end of the first half with a tactical foul. However, the advance of the outer school was like a gale, and in the vast sea of snow, although Le Ben ran into his opponent, he failed to put him down, and instead fell to the ground, rolling in pain. The midfielder stumbled to the ball at the feet of Pu Yun, who bounced out in front of our box and fired another long-range shot close to the ground. This time my wet fingertips touched the ball slightly, and it was this touch that changed the direction of the ball slightly, and it spun around in the snow and ran behind me, hitting the post again. Life hangs by a thread, the Colonel has been in the frame twice, but if the luck is a little worse, we may be two goals behind and completely killed by the Colonel.

But there's no time to think about it. Leben still couldn't stand up, and everyone hurriedly ran to the place where he fell despite the wind and snow. With a few minutes to go until the end of the first half, the decisive time drew nearer, and the snow and ice that swept across the land showed no signs of stopping.

[1] Quoted from Lin Chong's singing passage in the Peking Opera "Wild Boar Forest". The story of Peking Opera "Wild Boar Forest" is based on the classic literary masterpiece "Water Margin" in China, and its content is that Lin Chong, the head of the 800,000 forbidden army in Tokyo during the Northern Song Dynasty, was framed by Taiwei Gao Yu and sent to Cangzhou. Gao Yu also ordered Xie Cha to kill Lin Chong in the wild boar forest, not wanting to be rescued by Lin Chong's sworn brother Lu Zhishen. Later, in the mountain temple, Lin Chong stabbed the enemy Lu Qian, and braved the wind and snow to defect to Liangshanbo overnight. The first to put this story on the stage of Peking Opera was the martial arts master Yang Xiaolou. He co-wrote the Peking Opera "Mountain Temple" with Pu Xu (Qingyi Jushi), which was later changed to "Wild Boar Forest". Therefore, there will be a story of Lin Jiaotou's Fengxue Mountain Temple in this play.

[2] "Jinling Immortal" is a Chinese character carved on the tombstone of the American Weitling. Minnie Vautrin (1886-1941) was an American missionary. He was born on September 27, 1886 in the small town of West Cole, Illinois, USA. In 1912, when he first arrived in China, he saw that many girls were illiterate, so he was determined to promote women's education in China and founded Hefei Sanqing Girls' Middle School. In 1919, Weitling applied for the job of Jinling Women's University in Nanjing, China, where she took charge of the school's affairs, prepared for the construction of a new campus, and encouraged students to get out of the ivory tower and dedicate themselves to society and serve the poor neighbors.

In mid-November 1937, the Japanese soldiers marched towards Nanjing in three directions. On the 17th, Weitling sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy, suggesting the establishment of a safe zone to allow refugees who could not evacuate Nanjing to have a relatively safe place to shelter from the fighting. Soon after, the International Committee for the Nanjing Security Zone, chaired by Rabe, manager of the Nanjing branch of the German company Siemens, was established, and then the International Red Cross Society of Shanghai and the Red Cross Society of China were asked to recognize the establishment of the "Nanjing Committee of the International Red Cross", with Weitling as a member of the Red Cross. Before the Japanese occupation of Nanjing, Jinling Women's College of Arts and Sciences also set up a shelter for women and children.

The signs of American mission schools and the proclamation of the International Security Zone did not have any binding effect on the Japanese army invading China. During the first 10 days of the Japanese army's entry into the city, at least 10 to 20 groups of Japanese soldiers went to the Golden Women's Courtyard every day to arrest people, rape women, and rob money. Not only did they force their way through the school's main and side doors, but they also climbed over the fence to enter the school, and some climbed over the school's low fence at night. Weitling organized faculty and staff to patrol the campus and invited foreign men who served in the "International Safety Zone" to take turns keeping vigils. She herself toiled day and night, either in the gatehouse or in the Japanese soldiers who had been called to stop the Japanese soldiers who had come to the school to rape and loot, and to recapture the Chinese women from them. She couldn't eat a meal that she had settled in all day, and she couldn't get a good night's sleep. Many of the Japanese soldiers were enraged and threatened her with bloodstained bayonets; Others brutally slapped her. She endured it all, consciously took on the heavy responsibility of protecting more than 10,000 Chinese women and children, she said, Jinling Women's Home is my home, I will never leave.

As an important witness to the Nanjing Massacre, Weitling recorded many historical events through his diary. But excessive fatigue and long-term mental stress took a serious toll on her body, and after rescuing many Chinese refugees and women, she suffered from severe depression. Later, he was framed by the Japanese side and Wang's puppet government. On May 14, 1940, she left Nanjing and returned to the United States for medical treatment under the persuasion of many parties. She wrote in her diary: "For many years I have loved Jinling Nuda deeply and tried to help her as much as I could. She said so, and she did. But she's going to have to leave all that she's so passionate about. On May 14, 1941, the first anniversary of her departure from China, she ended her life and died in an ordinary apartment in Indiana at the age of 55. Before dying, he said: "If I can regenerate once, I still have to serve the Chinese, China is my home." Her tombstone is inscribed in English: Minnie Weitling, missionary to China. But in the most striking place, what is engraved are four Chinese characters - Jinling Eternal Life.

[3] This paragraph ends here, quoting from Ai Qing's "Snow Falls on the Land of China".

[4] Up to this point, quoted from Dai Wangshu's "I Use a Broken Palm".

[5] Quoted from Shelley's Ode to the West Wind, translated by Guo Moruo.