Fox in the Penalty Area

1. Reflection on the relationship between father and son

The Madrid Pirates returned to Madrid that afternoon after playing against Real Huelva.

After half a day of recovery training the next day, Parotti gave the team two days off.

Let the players who have worked hard for a season take a good rest and relax.

Then come back to prepare for the Copa del Rey final against Saria and the Champions League final against Madrid.

The two-day holiday is not long, and many players will choose to stay at home.

But there are also those who are naturally playful and will take advantage of every available opportunity to go out and have fun.

For example, Ion asked Hulay if he wanted to go to Torres near Madrid together.

Hu Lai declined Yion, not because he didn’t want to hang out with Yon, but because he had business matters:

His parents were flying from China to Madrid to visit them, and he had to pick them up at the airport.

On the second day of the holiday, he and Li Qingqing went to the airport to pick up his parents and Song Jiajia, who came with them.

"Oh, this house... Oh, it's so advanced! Oh, it's high-tech! Oh, it's such a big yard..."

From the moment she entered the gate, her mother Xie Lan’s exclamations continued.

When she saw the lawn in the yard, she finally showed another expression.

"Alas...it would be a pity not to grow some vegetables in this yard!"

she sighed sadly.

Hu Lixin complained from the side: "You want something good!"

"Isn't this good? Isn't it good to grow vegetables? Green, pollution-free vegetables can only be eaten with confidence if you grow them yourself. You can grow whatever you want!" Xie Lan retorted.

Hu Lixin had no choice but to surrender.

Xie Lan was still unfinished. She looked at the lawn in the yard and said, "If you don't want to plant vegetables, you can plant some onions and coriander, right?"

Hu Lixin was too lazy to pay attention to her and just pretended not to hear her.

Song Jiajia followed the two of them and giggled. He knew very well who was the most untouchable person in the family.

It was Hu Lai who said, "Mom, how can we have time to grow vegetables?"

Xie Lan shook his head first and then nodded: "That's right. You two have the final say in your life."

Then she stopped judging.

Just carrying the bag, walking through the yard and entering the house.

When she entered the door, she couldn't help but exclaimed:

"So big! So bright!"

“This house uses a lot of floor-to-ceiling windows.

So the lighting is good. "Li Qingqing began to introduce it to her aunt.

Xie Lan nodded: "Compared with this, the villa we bought in Dongchuan is still not worth it."

Hu Lixin was noncommittal: “The style is different.”

He is also taking a closer look at his son's home in Spain.

The furnishings in the house are modern and simple, and there are no unnecessary decorations - after some football stars make money, they hope to follow the trend and collect various art works like those celebrities.

Or they are keen on buying all kinds of luxury goods. The packaging of luxury goods at home is piled up, which shows the owner's financial resources.

But neither Hu Lai nor Li Qingqing did this. They still maintained very simple living habits. There are some basic necessary furnishings in the house, and there are no other messy things. There are no masterpieces by modern artists or weird statues.

Except that it is larger and brighter, it is no different from ordinary people's homes.

He turned his eyes again and looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the side of the restaurant. He saw the movable goal in the backyard and a few footballs scattered on the lawn.

He remembered the media reports, pointed at it and asked Hu Lai: "Is this where you usually practice?"

Hu Lai and Li Qingqing replied: "Yes, Dad."

Hu Lixin nodded, and then walked straight from the restaurant to the backyard.

Upon seeing this, Hu Lai quickly followed.

Xie Lan walked towards the stairs with great interest, intending to have an in-depth visit, with Li Qingqing accompanying her.

When Song Jiajia saw that nothing happened to him, she simply lay down on the sofa in the living room and enjoyed the comfortable and relaxing time.

※※※

Hu Lai and his father stood alone on the lawn in the backyard. His father pulled the football at his feet, picked it up and bounced it twice.

The football is full of gas and has strong rebound.

Obviously it is not the kind of thing that has been left for a long time and left to run out of gas. But it should be used every day.

This shows that his son does practice extra often with Li Qingqing.

He is satisfied with this.

His son has not lost the motivation to continue fighting after becoming famous. He still likes to play football, just like when he was a child. Even if his butt is swollen after being beaten by himself, he will still continue to play football secretly after he recovers from the injury...

Hu Lixin knocked the ball twice and then pumped the football into the small goal.

When Hu Lai saw this, he flattered him: "Dad, you are really a treasure! This shot is of a good standard!"

"Climb, climb, crawl!" Hu Lixin waved to him repeatedly.

If someone who has scored 60 goals in the league says this, that is not a compliment, it is a shabby person!

Then he looked at his son, habitually wanting to teach his son a few words as a father.

But the mouth was opened, but he didn't know what to say.

Yeah, what did you say?

He was just the coach of an elementary school football team, but the son standing in front of him was already one of the top stars on the planet.

Can he offer any advice?

After all, the person in front of him at this moment is no longer the "little kid" who didn't understand anything, or he thought he didn't understand anything.

He can no longer scold him, teach him, order him, mold him according to his own will like before...

The road on which I once broke my head and was bleeding, which was considered a "dead end", was taken by my son to where he is now.

What he achieved was something he could never achieve or even imagine in his lifetime.

Does this mean that everything he did to his son was wrong?

He even felt lucky that his son didn't listen to him, and that his son and his mother teamed up to deceive him.

Otherwise, I will kill such a future with my own hands.

How can a short-sighted, stupid, and incompetent father like me have the face to still act like a "father" in front of his son?

Hu Lixin stood in front of his son with a slight stoop. He was obviously taller than Hu Lai, but he looked a little small.

※※※

"Hey, the view from this balcony is really good... Oops, why is Madrid so flat?"

After Xie Lan climbed to the terrace on the third floor, looking at the city of Madrid in the distance, he expressed this emotion.

Li Qingqing walked in from behind and said with a smile: "We had the same emotion when we first came to Madrid."

Then the two of them saw Hu Lai and Hu Lixin in the yard.

The father and son were standing in the yard downstairs.

Seeing this scene, Xie Lan swallowed back everything he wanted to say, and even made a "shh" gesture to Li Qingqing, lowering his voice to remind Li Qingqing: "Don't disturb them..."

She even lowered her body reflexively, as if she was afraid of being seen by the people below.

Li Qingqing didn't understand the situation for a while, so she followed her aunt and got down and hid behind the balcony railing.

Then she asked in a low voice: "Mom, this is..."

"Hey...the two of them have had a bad relationship since childhood. Qingqing, you know that, right?"

"Yeah. Hu Lai told me..."

"Yes. But things happen for a reason. Now that my son is successful, Wang Xianke doesn't know where he died... But I always feel that they have not really reconciled, and there is still a little... knot in my heart." Xie Lan lay on his stomach feeling uncomfortable, Simply squat down while holding on to the railing, and then look down through the gap in the railing.

Li Qingqing felt strange: "But didn't Hu Lai thank dad at the award ceremony, indicating that he actually doesn't care anymore?"

"Hey, that's him. He's heartless... I'm talking about Lao Hu." Xie Lan complained in a low voice, covering his mouth. "Now that Hu Lai is becoming more and more promising, Lao Hu always feels that he owed him back then, and even feels that he harmed his son back then..."

"It's all over." Li Qingqing gently patted the back of Xie Lan's hand.

"In Lao Hu's place, he feels that he can't live with it. In fact, I can feel that he feels that he should apologize to his son for what happened in the past. But you also know that men... no matter how much they think in their hearts, they will not say it out loud. He is so awkward that he values ​​his face more than his life..."

Listening to her aunt complaining about her husband, Li Qingqing said: "In fact, there is no need to apologize. Hu Lai doesn't need his father to apologize to him. He even told me that he still has to thank his father. If He lives in a family with a loving father and a filial son. He may not become what he is today or achieve what he is today. I think he is right. Everything that everyone has experienced has shaped who they are today. As long as If you are doing well today, don't worry too much about the past. You have to look forward and move forward."

Xie Lan grabbed Li Qingqing's hand and said happily: "Hu Lai meeting you is a blessing that our Xie family's ancestors cultivated for eighteen generations!"

Li Qingqing felt a little embarrassed when her aunt praised her in the same special way as Hu Lai.

Xie Lan sighed again: "Lao Hu is now the head coach of their school's school team. He has several coaches under him and leads more than a hundred little kids to play football. He is simply the 'King of Kids'. I was definitely not the same as before. I dare to think that he will get along with the children... Although he has never told me, I can guess that he just wants to make up for the regret he had for his son in the past. After all, he has never played football with his son before. ball……"

As Xie Lan spoke, he glanced down through the gap in the railing, and saw two people in the yard downstairs, neither of whom spoke, just standing face to face.

She looked anxious: "What are you doing? Two wooden stakes!"

※※※

Hu Lixin recovered from the unspeakable complex emotions, then waved his hand: "I'm going back."

With that said, he turned around and walked back into the house.

This scene made the wife on the terrace grin in anger.

But at this moment, Hu Lai behind him suddenly said: "Dad, would you like to play football with me?"

Xie Lan held his breath.

Li Qingqing was keenly aware of the nervousness of her aunt beside her, so she reached out and gently took her arm.

Hu Lixin stopped and looked back at his son in surprise.

He was smiling to himself.

That smile was no stranger to him. When he used to glare at him with a straight face, he would smile at him with a flattering and flattering expression, smiling cautiously.

Seeing such a smile, Hu Lixin realized that his face had become serious again unconsciously.

So he pursed his lips and tried to put a smile on his face:

"good."

※※※

Xie Lan called softly: "Qingqing..."

"I'm here, Mom."

"Help me...help me up..." Xie Lan grinned and said, "My feet, my feet are numb..." (Note 1)

"Okay! Ha..." Li Qingqing laughed and slowly pulled Xie Lan up from the ground.

"Ouch, ouch..." Xie Lan complained to the two men in the yard while beating her legs. "You have been grinding and moaning for so long. You are more feminine than us women. You are not simple at all!"

Li Qingqing looked at her lovely aunt and couldn't help laughing.

Xie Lan didn't mind being laughed at by Li Qingqing. She said, "Let's go, take me to visit your big villa."

"good."

"You walk slower, my feet are still numb..."

"Okay." Li Qingqing pursed her lips and smiled, holding her future mother-in-law in her hand, and slowly walked out of the terrace.

※※※

Sunlight shines in through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows and shines on Song Jiajia's face.

Along with the sunshine came the thump of football in the yard.

Auntie's exclamation and laughter came from upstairs.

Song Jiajia turned over in the sunshine, smiling and sleeping soundly.

※※※

Note 1: Wei, pronounced gu, means "squatting" in dialect.

PS, the title is taken from "Newly Written Old Songs" by Li Zongsheng. This chapter was written after listening to this song repeatedly. I wrote another version at the beginning, and I didn’t finish it until 4:30 in the morning. But it still felt wrong, so when I checked for typos the next day, I simply overturned and rewrote it. So it actually took two days to write these more than 3,000 words.

Li Zongsheng's song is about being a son, and it is only when he is old that he begins to reflect on his relationship with his father.

In this chapter, Hu Lixin began to reflect on his relationship with his son when he was getting old.

In fact, there is no difference. Father and son ultimately reach the same destination through different paths.

It is not until this chapter that the father-son relationship between Hu Lixin and Hu Lai in the book is truly and completely straightened out.

All the grudges, regrets and shame dissipated with the words "Dad, play football with me."