Discussion of Cleats

Zhang Yu pinched Xia Mengyin's arm and pointed at the players. "Do they carry so much gear every time they go out?"

Xia Mengyin said, "You have to carry at least two pairs of shoes. Actually, this is already considered good. This is still a school competition. If it were a large-scale competition, many players would carry more pairs of shoes. For example, many foreign players would carry a lot of shoes for the World Cup."

Zhang Yu replied, "Oh, I thought you only needed to bring a pair. I don't really understand."

Xia Mengyin said, "Of course not. It's already been confirmed that it's a sunny day today, so it's fine. If the weather changes, sometimes the shoes will change too, and different venues will need different shoes as well. Hmm? I thought you learned something from Chang Yu?"

Zhang Yu waved her hand and said, "No, no. The two of us have been having fun together. If not, we would have asked you to commentate last semester."

Xia Mengyin said, "Since you asked me today, I'll tell you about the cleats later."

Zhang Yu nodded.

They had already arrived in front of the bus. This time, the school had specially sent 37 buses for the soccer match. Coincidentally, the team members, coaches, the two of them, and some other staff members had also arrived.

Lu Ang saw Xia Mengyin getting into the bus. She was still the same as before. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and she still looked youthful. She was wearing a school team T-shirt and a pair of sports pants. She looked completely different from Zhang Yu, who had exquisite makeup on.

Lu Ang and Chang Yu sat in the third last row on the left side of the car. Chang Yu sat along the aisle, but when Xia Mengyin walked beside him, Chang Yu stood up.

Xia Mengyin looked at him blocking her way and said, "Huh? What are you doing?"

Chang Yu gestured with both hands. "Little Xia, please sit here."

Lu Ang and Xia Mengyin looked at Chang Yu at the same time. "Huh?"

At that moment, Chang Yu reached behind Xia Mengyin and said to Zhang Yu, "Because we have to sit together."

Xia Mengyin looked like she was about to vomit. "Ugh, you two are too disgusting. Alright, alright, take my seat." Xia Mengyin pulled Zhang Yu's hand and placed it in Chang Yu's.

Xia Mengyin sat down and smiled at Lu Ang. "Morning."

Lu Ang adjusted his glasses and nodded with a smile.

Zhang Yu patted Xia Mengyin on the back. "Aren't you going to tell me about the cleats? Hurry up, their gears are right here."

Xia Mengyin said, "Pfft, your soccer boyfriend is sitting right beside you. Do you want me to teach one's grandmother how to suck eggs?"

This sentence caused the surrounding team members to laugh out loud. Xia Mengyin could only reply with a fake smile. She suddenly thought of something and looked at the huge bag under Lu Ang's feet. She said to Lu Ang beside her, "Can you show me your cleats? I can also do a post about it."

Lu Ang nodded.

Xia Mengyin opened his gear bag, and Zhang Yu asked her, "Do you smell ecstasy?"

Xia Mengyin rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Oh right, Zhang Yu, you can try to see if Chang Yu has that kind of smell."

Zhang Yu pinched her nose and shook her head. "No, no thanks."

Xia Mengyin took out Lu Ang's sneakers. "These are turf shoes, right? I have a pair that looks like this. You can wear them on the streets. As for the other pair, they are cleats, huh? Suitable for firm ground. If I recall correctly, you're playing on artificial grass today, so you brought these two pairs." Actually, Xia Mengyin could not differentiate between turf shoes and cleats sometimes. She only guessed.

Lu Ang acknowledged. "Yes, we usually call them cleats. But now, we're not sure what the other party's artificial grass is like. It's said to be in bad condition, so I didn't bring my soft ground cleats. Firm ground cleats are more suitable, but I don't really wear them. Previously, I basically only wore soft ground cleats to play soccer, including the field of our school's training ground. Although there are two grass fields, one natural grass and one mixed lawn, the height of the good-quality artificial grass is just right, so we still use soft ground cleats."

Xia Mengyin nodded and took a photo of the shoes. They did not look old but they were not as new.

Lu Ang said, "Oh right, you should know the turf of our school's large stadium, right?"

Xia Mengyin nodded and said, "I know. The grass seems to be cultivated very well. I remember that it was one of the best maintained real turfs among universities. It seems that the cost of cultivating grass is especially high every year."

Lu Ang told her, "Yes, if you want to take photos of my other cleats, I can bring them to the field when we go back to school for training. You will be there during the next home game, right? In our school's huge stadium, we have to wear soft ground cleats. If it rains while we're playing on the natural grass field, we can add metal studs to the sole to provide aggressive traction."

Xia Mengyin nodded and wrote down some notes. She then turned to Zhang Yu and said, "Did you hear that? So, the cleats are categorized according to the different venues. Firm ground cleats, soft ground cleats, etc."

Lu Ang said to Xia Mengyin, "Yes, there's also a type of soccer shoes for artificial grass, as well as flat shoes for indoor courts. However, the gears in the stadium are only secondary. The most important thing is to be skilled."

Xia Mengyin said, "But it's still better to have the proper gear."

Zhang Yu whispered to Chang Yu, "I suddenly realized that your roommate is quite talkative."

Chang Yu also felt that Lu Ang was different from before.

Chang Yu frowned. "I don't know. How about I tell you more about the cleats as well?"

Zhang Yu waved her hand. "Forget it."

She looked at Chang Yu and then at Lu Ang's head. Clearly, Chang Yu's hair had been meticulously styled, while Lu Ang's hair looked messy.

Zhang Yu patted Xia Mengyin and pointed at Lu Ang. She said to her, "May I ask if his hair will affect him playing soccer?"

Chang Yu couldn't hold back his laughter. "As expected, our hearts are connected. I even told him last night."

Xia Mengyin raised her head and looked at Lu Ang beside her. "That's right, aren't you afraid that your hair will cover your eyes? Also, you're wearing glasses. You'll dirty your glasses if you sweat."

Lu Ang scratched his head and looked at Xia Mengyin. "Then, what should I do?"

Xia Mengyin looked at his aggrieved expression and said to Zhang Yu, "Do you have a hair tie? His hair is so long, let's tie it up."

Zhang Yu shook her head. "No, you know that I never tie my hair."

Xia Mengyin frowned. "I didn't bring any extra hair ties… The only one is on my head. If you don't mind having my hair oil on it, then…" She looked at Lu Ang awkwardly.

Lu Ang smiled and said, "It's okay, I don't mind."