"Run over here, circle around to catch the ball, the receiver should watch the flanks when catching it, protect both sides..." Jiang Hai watched the players warming up on the court and slowly made his way to the nearby stands, a hint of anticipation on his face.
Lately, Jiang Hai had nothing much to do. After tying the grass this morning, he went home to change, took a shower, and drove to Boston Stadium. He remembered Celsi mentioning that Winthrop had a game against Chelsea today. Sure enough, as soon as he entered, he saw everyone warming up.
At that moment, the receivers were practicing, footballs bouncing one after another. A tall, black receiver from Winthrop repeatedly leapt into the air, catching balls smoothly in his arms.
Winthrop's football team had a large roster, and Jiang Hai recognized quite a few faces.
Though mostly familiar, besides Celsi, he also spotted the linebacker who had sold him a sea map at the Poseidon Festival. Celsi was a running back. There were others he recognized, but he wasn't sure what positions they played.
Winthrop wasn't a big place — a small town of about a thousand people.
Everyone knew each other. Jiang Hai, though more familiar with the locals than when he first arrived, still found some faces a little blurry without close attention.
After watching Celsi and the others, Jiang Hai glanced to the side and spotted a group of girls dancing by the sidelines. To his surprise, he recognized two of them.
One was Delia, the other Kelly Soren. Both were leading a dozen girls of varying ages in an intense dance practice. Despite the cold weather — the air visibly misting as they breathed — they danced hard.
"One, two, three, four, two, two, three, four, three, two, three, four, four, two, three, four... Winsros will win, Winthrop will win, Winthrop is the strongest..." Jiang Hai listened to their chant as he approached.
He had to admit, the girls from Winthrop were quite attractive—perhaps a result of living by the sea.
They all had good figures—firm and toned. Today, they wore their summer cheerleading uniforms: short tops exposing their waists and skirts below. Though they wore safety shorts underneath and knee-high white stockings, the cold was still evident. After all, it was only a few degrees outside.
"Jiang Hai! Girls, take a break—save your energy for cheering on our warriors later!" Kelly and Delia clapped as they spotted Jiang Hai, signaling the dancing girls to pause.
The girls stopped and slipped on their coats, ignoring the sweat on their skin. They knew they weren't wearing much under their clothes.
If they waited for the sun to dry their sweat before putting on coats, they'd catch a cold—and no one wanted to catch a cold before the game. Especially in the U.S., where catching a cold wasn't a trivial matter.
The U.S. doesn't sell cold medicine like China does. Most cold medicines have side effects—they suppress white blood cells while fighting bacteria. There was once an ingredient in Chinese cold medicine that could be extracted to make a unique product, so foreign countries generally don't allow those medicines in.
And since foreign countries don't produce their own cold medicine, hospitals mostly prescribe vitamins and let patients recover with their own immunity.
If it's really serious, with high fever and coma, then hospitalization and IVs follow.
So here, catching a cold is no small matter, and people take precautions seriously.
"Jiang Hai, why are you here?" Delia and Kelly, now wearing their coats, smiled as they ran over.
"I heard from Celsi there's a game today. I didn't have anything to do, so I came to watch," Jiang Hai chuckled, looking at the two girls.
He naturally knew they weren't simply being kind.
They were quite interested in him—not him as a person, but in his money. Still, they were from the same small town, and Jiang Hai didn't want to fall out with locals. That would be awkward.
He had some connections with Aphra and others—though he kept insisting rabbits don't eat grass near their nests.
If Jiang Hai was tougher, Aphra might feel embarrassed when meeting his women in the future—but that was about it.
If George or Kelly's father blocked his way with a gun, though—that'd be a whole different level of embarrassing.
So, even though he knew the two girls would follow him if he waved, he still didn't dare.
"Yes, we'll definitely teach those Chelsea guys a lesson today. Come, sit here." Delia curled her lips at Jiang Hai's somewhat distant tone, but Kelly smiled warmly and invited him over.
The two girls led Jiang Hai to the stands in the back, where quite a few people had already gathered.
Some were family members of the players, some idle townsfolk, and some passersby.
In the U.S., football is a national pastime, and many people enjoyed watching games on a whim.
Among the crowd, Jiang Hai spotted a group of familiar little kids—the ones who had come asking him for candy on Halloween.
Unfortunately, the kids were busy running wild and paid no attention to him.
To kids, money matters, but it's not the most important thing. They knew Jiang Hai had money, but didn't care—so they ignored him.
"Jiang, do you know football?" Sitting in the first row, Delia and Kelly took their seats beside Jiang Hai. They'd just finished warming up and radiated heat.
When a woman smells a man's sweat, she often finds it manly. When a man smells a woman's sweat, it can feel a bit awkward.
Just as Jiang Hai felt a little embarrassed, Delia smiled and asked.
Jiang Hai nodded.
"I know a little. The field's divided into offense and defense, but that's professional. There are linebackers, receivers, quarterbacks, running backs, and so on. If you hold the ball and cross into the end zone, that's a touchdown worth six points, then there's an extra point attempt. If you score a two-point conversion, that's two more points. Kicking the ball through the goalposts during regular play is worth one point, but if you kick it during a field goal attempt, that's three points and no extra plays afterward." Jiang Hai smiled as he explained.
Delia was a bit surprised. Kelly smiled and placed her hand lightly on Jiang Hai's arm.
"I thought you didn't know anything," she teased.
Seeing Kelly's gesture, Delia moved closer, too.
Feeling the two girls inching nearer, Jiang Hai suddenly felt unsure. He usually said what he meant, but he was passive when it came to relationships between men and women—just look at how many times he'd been outwitted.
"Our team blends running and passing well. Celsi's speed and skills are excellent. The receivers, Tom and Kerry, are sharp runners. In the Boston area, only Boston, Chelsea, and Cambridge can compete with us. But Cambridge's main players recently moved to California, so they aren't as strong anymore. Right now, Winthrop, Chelsea, and Boston are the top three teams in Massachusetts." Delia and Kelly ignored Jiang Hai's discomfort as they leaned closer, clinging to him while talking about Winthrop's strengths and their rivals.
At that moment, on the opposite side of the court, a group of people in blue-and-white uniforms emerged from the tunnel.
If nothing unusual happened, those were Chelsea, Winthrop's opponents today.
"Chelsea security guards, go back to your hometown!" The crowd on Chelsea's side cheered, while the Winthrop stands erupted in boos.
Even Delia stood up, shouting at the opposing team.
Jiang Hai looked puzzled.
"This Chelsea team is infamous for playing dirty. Their owner and quarterback, Christian Edis, owns a large casino in Chelsea. These players are basically his hired security guards. They're notorious!" Kelly explained after noticing Jiang Hai's confusion.
"That doesn't sound good." Jiang Hai glanced at the group. Though far away, his sharp eyes could tell these people were trouble. They didn't radiate murderous intent—meaning they probably hadn't killed anyone—but their fierce aura was unmistakable.
Ordinary people would be intimidated just by looking at them.
Of course, that's what security guards—or more accurately, thugs—are like.
(To be continued.)