Ethan turned his beer glass. "Football is like hunting. Scoring is just the final gunshot. Look, Brazil's attacking again! This time it's Oscar's long-range shot—"
Jack also chimed in. "Ethan's right. Football is a hunting game. You can't just count the goals—you gotta look at the whole situation on the field."
Ashley: "So football has this much depth to it! We definitely need to study it more in the future."
Before the words fell, the Croatian goalkeeper flew again to tip the ball over the crossbar.
The entire BBQ restaurant sounded with a collective sigh of regret, mixed with the sound of oil popping on the grill.
Ashley and Sarah looked at each other and suddenly found that there was more charming scenery hidden on this green field than they'd realized.
In the 11th minute of the game, Neymar received a pass from his teammate at the edge of the penalty area. They watched him make a slight adjustment, then fire off a powerful volley with his right foot—the ball shot into the net like a cannonball!
"GOAL!!"
The whole BBQ restaurant instantly erupted.
Brazilian fans in yellow jerseys jumped up and hugged each other, beer foam spilling everywhere.
Jack was even more excited and hugged Ethan. "Did you see that! As expected of my future star—he's so strong!"
The way he bounced around was like an overjoyed husky.
Ethan smiled and let him shake him, but his eyes fell on the celebrating young figure on the screen.
Neymar ran to the corner flag area with open arms, and the sun gilded him from behind—who would've thought that this high-spirited teenager would become one of the brightest superstars in football in the future?
In fact, Ethan not only liked Messi but also liked Neymar. He just didn't show the same excitement as Jack because he already knew the result.
.....
When the final whistle blew and the score was fixed at 3-1, the entire BBQ restaurant was boiling over.
The cheers of Brazilian fans almost lifted the roof, and the yellow jerseys merged into a surging ocean under the lights.
"Come on! Cheers!" Ethan suddenly raised his glass high, with rare excitement on his face.
Jack's hand raising his glass stopped in mid-air, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Dude, since when are you this happy because the Brazilian team won?"
He knew this was off—as a die-hard Argentina fan, Ethan had always hoped Brazil would lose. In fact, he felt the same way.
Ethan smiled and said nothing, and the glasses collided with a crisp sound.
What Jack didn't know was that what he really celebrated was that the trajectory of the world didn't have a butterfly effect because of his rebirth—this meant that after the Spain vs Honduras match in the morning, the after-tax prize money of $1,152,000 would fall into his pocket steadily.
Ashley yawned and leaned on Sarah's shoulder, and both girls were fighting with their eyelids.
Jack still wanted to ask, but was pulled up by Ethan. "Come on, time to go home and sleep. We have to practice driving in the afternoon."
When the four of them walked out of the BBQ restaurant.
At the end of the street, the morning sun was rising from the gaps between the high-rises, stretching their shadows long, long.
This evening full of football, beer, and secrets had finally come to an end.
In the days that followed, the four of them lived a happy life with day and night reversed—catching up on sleep during the day, practicing in the afternoon, and watching football late at night.
Parents also turned a blind eye. After all, this was rare free time for the kids after the SATs.
On the afternoon of June 22, Ethan received a call from Victoria as soon as he finished his driving school training.
"Ethan, come to my house for dinner tonight!" The voice on the other end of the phone was smiling.
Ethan glanced at the schedule—there was a group stage match between Argentina and Iran at three o'clock in the morning, but there was completely enough time. "Okay, Vic. I just finished practicing and will head over in a bit."
In the evening, Ethan, who'd just taken a shower, changed into a fresh T-shirt and jeans.
When he was taking an Uber, the evening breeze brushed his face with summer's warmth, and he couldn't help but speed up his pace when he thought of the table of delicious home-cooked food he'd eaten at Victoria's house last time.
He went to the 9th floor and rang the doorbell.
"Ding dong—"
Not long after the doorbell rang, Victoria hurriedly opened the door, with some water droplets on the tips of her hair, obviously just coming out of the kitchen.
"Ah! You're here so soon? Perfect timing—there are still two dishes left!" Her eyes lit up, and she turned sideways to let Ethan in.
As soon as he stepped through the door, the rich aroma of food hit him—the mellow scent of honey-glazed salmon, the fresh fragrance of pan-fried crab cakes, and the faint smell of white pepper intertwined in the air.
Victoria took out a bottle of chilled lemonade from the refrigerator, and condensation dripped on her slender wrist. "Cool off first. Sit for a while, or you can walk around. The food will be ready soon!"
Ethan took the drink but followed her into the kitchen.
Pushing open the door, the steaming heat mixed with the aroma of sautéed oil hit his face, and the pot on the stove was bubbling.
"Sister Vic, your cooking is amazing. Have you been practicing since you were a kid?" Ethan leaned on the door frame.
Victoria was stir-frying vegetables in the wok, and when she heard this, she turned around and glared at him. "Hey, the kitchen is so hot—get out!"
The tip of her nose was dotted with fine beads of sweat, and the apron strap tied a beautiful bow around her waist.
Ethan noticed that the stray hair in front of Victoria's forehead had been soaked with sweat, and a few drops of sweat slipped down her fair cheeks. Without saying a word, he turned around and went to the living room to grab a few tissues.
When he returned to the kitchen, Victoria was concentrating on stir-frying the vegetables in the pot, and the fire reflected her serious profile.
Ethan raised his hand naturally and gently wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Sister Vic, you still haven't said when you got this good at cooking."
Victoria was slightly stunned, then smiled and let him help wipe her sweat. In her heart, she'd already grown close to Ethan as if he were her own brother.
"I started learning in elementary school," she recalled as she stir-fried, the crisp sound of the spatula colliding with the wok ringing out.
"At first, I couldn't even fry eggs without burning them, but then I slowly got the hang of it. I love studying recipes during summer vacation, and I pestered my grandmother for her secret honey-glazed salmon recipe for ages!" When she got excited, her eyes lit up.
"Sister Vic, your cooking is no worse than a professional chef. No, I should say it's more authentic than what restaurants make." Ethan sincerely admired her, and his eyes swept over several dishes on the stove that were full of color and flavor.
Victoria was praised so much that the tips of her ears turned slightly red, and the spatula spun in circles in her hand. "You're exaggerating. It's just some home-cooked taste..."
Having said that, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise.
Ethan leaned on the edge of the counter and said seriously, "It's really not an exaggeration. Restaurant dishes are too focused on plating, but they lack this..." He pointed to the bubbling salmon in the pan. "The taste of home."
Victoria's heart warmed when she heard this.
When she turned around, the tips of her hair swept over the tip of Ethan's nose, carrying a faint scent of shampoo. "If you like it, I can make it for you anytime."
Her action turning off the burner was neat and efficient. "Go wash your hands. Time to eat."
After a while, the last dish was also done.
Ethan helped bring the steaming dishes to the table one by one—the honey-glazed salmon was shiny amber, the crab cakes were golden and crispy, and the steamed mussels had a sweet aroma.
There was also a pot of milky white lobster bisque rolling and bubbling.
Today she'd made more than last time—there was even grilled red snapper.
At the table, colorful dishes looked especially attractive in the warm light.
The red snapper had an agate-like luster, and there were emerald green sautéed vegetables next to it.
Victoria had even carefully prepared iced plum juice, and condensation on the glass bottle was slowly sliding down.
"Sister Vic, this is too much!" Ethan looked at the table full of delicacies, ready to dig in.
Who could resist a table of delicious food?
She ladled a bowl of soup and pushed it in front of Ethan. "Try it quickly. I added extra herbs to today's soup."
There are 40 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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