Fate‘s Zero-Zero

Old Liu has no other hobbies in his life, he just loves watching football. To be precise, it's watching the national football team. It's not because they play so well, but on the contrary, because they play so badly. So bad it reaches a certain realm, so bad it develops a certain style, so bad it's addictive, like knowing it's bitter wine, but still wanting to drink it all.

Today, it's the national football team against Saudi Arabia again. Old Liu sat in front of the TV early, with melon seeds, peanuts, and beer all laid out on the table. He knew that this would be another "tragic" "battle." On the TV, the commentator was passionate, saying things like "fighting with our backs to the wall" and "battle for honor." Old Liu just curled his lips and muttered to himself: "Backs to the wall? I think it's backs to bad luck!"

The game started, and the scene was as expected. The national football team players were like a group of headless flies, running around on the green field. Passing was basically based on guessing, and shooting was basically based on being stunned. The Saudi team played quite well, but they always seemed to be missing something at the crucial moment.

Old Liu watched with relish, occasionally commenting: "This footwork is comparable to my old lady's when she's making shoes!" "Oh, that pass, it went straight to the opponent's goalkeeper, is he an undercover agent?"

Time passed by, minute by minute, and the score remained an embarrassing 0:0. This surprised Old Liu a little. In previous games, the national football team would have been riddled with holes by now. What's going on today? Did the sun rise from the west?

Suddenly, the TV screen went snowy, and the signal was interrupted. Old Liu was so anxious that he slapped the TV, cursing: "What kind of broken thing is this, breaking down at the crucial moment!"

When the signal returned, it was already the next morning. On the TV, the news anchor reported the results of last night's game with a serious face: "...Due to force majeure, the match between the national football team and Saudi Arabia has been postponed indefinitely... The specific resumption time is to be determined..."

Old Liu was stunned. Force majeure? Postponed indefinitely? What kind of operation is this? He had lived for most of his life and had never seen anything like this.

In the following days, even stranger things happened. No matter how Old Liu changed the channel, the TV was always playing the match between the national football team and Saudi Arabia. The game footage was constantly repeated, and the commentator's voice became increasingly mechanical. The score was always 0:0.

Old Liu felt trapped in this game, like the inescapable labyrinth in Borges's writings. He began to wonder if this was a real game or an endless nightmare.

He called the Football Association, the TV station, and even the General Administration of Sport of China, and the answers were all the same: the game is in progress, please be patient.

Old Liu was desperate. He realized that he might never see the end of this game. It's like a metaphor for life, we are all running in games without end, chasing a goal that we can never reach.

Finally, Old Liu sat in front of the TV, looking at the scoreboard that was forever fixed at 0:0, and a relieved smile appeared on his face. He suddenly understood that winning or losing is not important, what is important is whether you have participated in this game.

He picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. The whole world instantly fell silent. Only the tireless chirping of cicadas outside the window remained, as if playing a final elegy for this eternal zero-zero.