The students' football training logs slowly grew into a thin stack.
The study folders Lin Wanxing had prepared for each of them also grew thicker and thicker.
The number of books on the desks at Yuan Yuan Cram School increased. The autumn wind began to rise, and on the day the first batch of lettuce seeds planted by the students sprouted, they welcomed the day of their first match in the Youth Super League main tournament against Yuzhou Silver Elephant.
That morning, the students woke up bright and early.
According to the schedule, the match would start in the afternoon. Lin Wanxing had originally arranged for everyone to get a good rest in the morning, have lunch at home, and then gather at the school gate in the afternoon to take the bus to the Hongjing Pearl Football Club's base together.
However, the students rejected this proposal that would have let them sleep in, insisting that they had to gather at her place and set off together after lunch.
At first, Lin Wanxing thought it was because the students had developed good daily routines and didn't want to disrupt them.
But when the boys ran up to the rooftop early in the morning, bustling about wanting to pull up scallions to make scrambled eggs, she suddenly realized it was actually a damn sense of ritual.
The students absolutely had to have a bite of the vegetables they had grown with their own hands before heading into battle.
There was no necessary connection between the two, but to the students, they were convinced it must represent some kind of good omen.
After lunch, the autumn sun was warm and gentle.
For the first time in over twenty days, the students returned to the entrance of Hongjing No. 8 Middle School.
The small shop selling things at the school gate was the same as always, with colorful goods hanging by the entrance.
The bus that would take them to the match venue was waiting at the school gate.
This, too, was a strange kind of ritual, Lin Wanxing thought.
One by one, the students boarded the bus from the school gate. The vehicle started moving, and they embarked on a brand-new journey.
Hongjing Pearl Club Football Stadium.
After entering the Youth Super League main tournament, the match venues had also changed.
The environment was more formal, upgraded from a training ground with no stands and surrounded by an iron fence to the club's standard football pitch with a running track and spectator stands.
Before the match, the students and Wang Fa were in the locker room going over tactics, so Lin Wanxing went out first to check things out.
Her concept of the Youth Super League was probably still stuck at the level of their last game against Green View International High School.
They were all students, but other schools were richer than them, so they had better support staff.
But this match was clearly different.
Directly opposite the halfway line was the fourth official's supervision platform, with a camera set up beside it, connected to a computer on the platform.
In the rest area by the pitch, a person who looked like a reporter, wearing a press pass, was waiting with a long-lens camera.
When the players from the Yuzhou Silver Elephant Club filed out of the players' tunnel, he snapped a few photos of them.
As the flash went off, Lin Wanxing felt an inexplicable pressure.
She knew very well that this was the real Youth Super League main tournament, a completely different caliber from the qualifying tournament they had participated in before.
What had also undergone a qualitative change was their opponent.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant was a completely "professional army."
Just in terms of physique, their players were taller and more imposing than the school teams they had encountered before.
Their skin was dark, and their eyes were bright and sharp.
During their warm-up, the Yuzhou Silver Elephant players seemed relaxed, working in pairs and chatting casually. But in reality, every warm-up movement was executed with textbook-perfect form, thoroughly loosening every muscle in their bodies.
Under the sun, every inch of those muscles seemed to contain immense power.
A little while later, the students of Hongjing No. 8 also walked out of the players' tunnel in formation.
The boys were chattering noisily, and the camera, which had just stopped, started clicking again.
Lin Wanxing turned her head. The brilliant afternoon sun also fell upon her students.
The players of the Hongjing No. 8 football team had changed into brand-new, uniform kits—white with blue lettering. Behind them was the vast green pitch and the even vaster rolling meadows.
It was only at this moment that Lin Wanxing suddenly realized her students seemed to have changed as well.
Perhaps it was the high-intensity training for over a month straight. They were exposed to the sun every day, which had thoroughly tanned their skin, making them look incredibly energetic.
Or perhaps the results of a month of physical conditioning were finally beginning to show on their bodies.
The boys' muscle definition was more obvious, their postures more upright, and even their temperaments had become more focused.
Lin Wanxing looked from side to side, comparing the players from both teams.
It seemed that her students, when compared to the professional youth team players of Yuzhou Silver Elephant, didn't have that big of a gap in physique and spirit.
Lin Wanxing recalled what Wang Fa had said before the match.
At that time, the students had surrounded their coach, insisting that Wang Fa say something to boost their morale and give them some confidence to win the match.
Comrade Wang Fa, adhering to his consistently simple and calm style of instruction, had them feel the thickness of the training logs they had accumulated over the past days after handing out the new week's physical training sheets.
Wang Fa: "Trust me, accumulation is always useful. The training you've done for so many days will pay off on the field. It will give you ample stamina to complete the entire match."
The sun beat down fiercely, making the tips of the grass glisten.
All sorts of cleats tapped restlessly in the grass, then suddenly fell silent.
The referee took his position. A clear whistle blast echoed through the sky. Studs kicked up turf and soil. The match officially began.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant did not underestimate their opponent this time. They were different from Green View International.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's coach, Zhou Hongbo, knew very well that a team capable of eliminating Green View International High School, even an amateur one, must have its own unique strengths.
Therefore, he had repeatedly warned his players not to underestimate the school football team in this round and had made targeted arrangements for the opening.
Zhou Hongbo understood that the biggest gap between an amateur team and a professional one was often not tactics, but mentality.
It took a long time for an amateur team to get into the game.
Green View International had made this mistake. They hadn't seized the best opportunity. Their initial attacks were too lukewarm, giving Hongjing No. 8 a chance to settle into the match.
So, Zhou Hongbo demanded his players go on the offensive right from the start, to be decisive and finish off their opponents quickly! He wanted to make this group of amateur players feel the cruelty of the professional world right from the get-go.
With this in mind, Yuzhou Silver Elephant launched a fierce attack as soon as the opening whistle blew.
The Yuzhou Silver Elephant players were all semi-professionals. They had refined footwork and had been playing together for a long time.
The opponents Hongjing No. 8 had faced before all looked down on them, often taking control of the ball and just bombarding their goal.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant was different.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant tried to use layered dribbling and constant pressure, gently penetrating their penalty area with a fluid offense.
The killing intent would only appear when you finally realized there was a problem.
After the kickoff, Yuzhou Silver Elephant patiently passed the ball around, slowly sending it into the defensive line.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's No. 10 confidently delivered the final pass. No. 9 took the opportunity to shake off his defender and make a run forward. The football traced a gentle arc, gliding into Hongjing No. 8's penalty area.
But just then, two brutish figures charged forward like lightning, slicing Yuzhou Silver Elephant's fluid attack in two.
Thud.
Qi Liang and Chen Weidong double-teamed the player and directly stole the ball.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's No. 10 player staggered, a little dazed.
When he passed the ball, he had clearly noticed that Hongjing No. 8's players were still some distance from his teammate, No. 9. But the moment he passed, the opponents pounced instantly, so much so that No. 9, with his excellent footwork, didn't even have a chance to receive the ball before it was stolen.
The situation on the field changed in an instant.
Before he had time to think, Hongjing No. 8's counter-attack had already begun.
Lin Lu was unmarked. He received the ball and, with one kick, passed it to Fu Xinshu, who was slightly ahead.
Fu Xinshu took the ball, turned, and before the opposing midfielder could press him, he sent a long pass to Qin Ao!
The football streaked across the green pitch like a bolt of white lightning.
Although Lin Wanxing had seen this scene countless times in training, seeing it happen in a real match still made her jump up in excitement.
According to the counter-attack route Wang Fa had drawn on the tactics board countless times, the next person was Chen Jianghe.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's defense tracked back with unimaginable speed. Just as Chen Jianghe made his forward run, two retreating center-backs immediately stuck to him like glue.
The passing lane between Qin Ao and Chen Jianghe was completely cut off.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's head coach, Zhou Hongbo, wasn't nervous. This was another difference between them and Green View International.
Their Yuzhou Silver Elephant was a team with great chemistry, well-balanced in both attack and defense. A team like Hongjing No. 8, with only one fast counter-attack tactic, wouldn't find many opportunities against them.
Next, the ball should be intercepted...
Zhou Hongbo judged.
But just as Qin Ao lifted his foot, he changed direction. Instead of forcing a pass to Chen Jianghe up front, he quickly lifted his foot before the Yuzhou Silver Elephant defender closed in and powerfully kicked the ball towards the wing.
There, sprinting forward at high speed, was Lin Lu!
The usually adorable boy was so fast, so decisive, as he charged forward at this moment.
A month of training, days spent drenched in sweat, had given Lin Lu the explosive speed he needed at this moment. He received the pass, knocked the football a big step forward, and took off running.
On the wide green field, he had completely forgotten his old foot injury. He chased the football in front of him with only one goal in mind.
Faster, even faster!
A Yuzhou Silver Elephant defender immediately moved into position, rumbling towards Lin Lu like a truck.
The seemingly slender boy was fearless. Just as he was about to collide with the opposing defender, Lin Lu calmly lifted his foot and passed the ball back to the center.
And there, making another forward run, was Chen Jianghe.
Chen Jianghe was behind Lin Lu, but in front of all the retreating Yuzhou Silver Elephant players.
Chen Jianghe received the ball, faced the onrushing Yuzhou Silver Elephant goalkeeper, and calmly slotted a shot into the far corner!
As the Yuzhou Silver Elephant goalkeeper dove to the ground, the silver-blade-like arc had already rolled past him and into the goal!
1-0!
Just five minutes into the game, Hongjing No. 8 had taken the lead with a lightning-fast counter-attack!
Chen Jianghe was ecstatic. This was his first goal in the main tournament of this league.
The boy with the buzz cut was no longer cool and detached. He excitedly rushed towards the sideline, diving towards Wang Fa and Lin Wanxing!
The other players followed his lead, diving towards the coaches' bench together.
The sun shone brightly. The students twisted open bottles of mineral water and recklessly poured them over Chen Jianghe's head.
Lin Wanxing patted the students' wet heads and clapped vigorously.
The rest areas on the sideline were a world of fire and ice.
One side was fired up because of the goal, while the other was frozen in a tense atmosphere due to conceding.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's coach, Zhou Hongbo, had an ashen face. He glanced at Hongjing No. 8's rest area.
He had been the one who wanted to strike decisively, yet he was the one cut down by an almost perfect defensive counter-attack from the opponent within the first five minutes.
His good coaching etiquette stopped him from yelling at the players on the field.
During a dead ball, when a player came to the sideline for a drink, he even calmly encouraged his key player, "It's okay. They scored this goal early, which means we have plenty of time to equalize. Attack patiently and don't give them a chance to breathe."
The players looked at their coach and nodded one after another.
Zhou Hongbo put on a confident expression. When the players returned to the field, he glanced at the neighboring rest area.
Unlike their own fully staffed area, the rest area next to them was empty, save for a young man in a black baseball cap and another girl with an excited expression.
Zhou Hongbo's gaze lingered on the young man for a moment.
Although he couldn't see his face clearly, he had a gut feeling that the opposing coach was very young, perhaps not long out of sports school. A young man like that, his experience and coaching ability would be insufficient to handle the ever-changing situations of the Youth Super League.
Zhou Hongbo told himself to relax and forced himself to ignore the strange feeling in his heart. For some reason, he felt like he had seen the other man somewhere before.
Contrary to his wishes, the rhythm of the subsequent match gradually slipped out of Zhou Hongbo's control.
Twenty minutes into the game, perhaps Zhou Hongbo himself hadn't realized that he had been "completely figured out."
But Lin Wanxing knew.
When she saw the Yuzhou Silver Elephant players' fluid passing and attacking on the field, she couldn't help but recall what Wang Fa had said before the match—
"Yuzhou Silver Elephant is a technically refined team. They are good at ground attacks. In other words, their style is relatively artistic. But in this world, things that are too refined are always easily broken by decisiveness and violence."
"Destruction." These two words were Wang Fa's entire requirement for the players before the match.
He demanded the students fight hard for the ball, not to fear physical collisions, and to use constant, violent pressure to disrupt Yuzhou Silver Elephant's attacking rhythm.
He demanded the students be brave in their counter-attacks. As long as there was a chance to counter, they were to push forward, forward, and forward again.
He told the students that any failed counter-attack was nothing to be afraid of, because they had enough stamina to last the entire match. As long as they dared to look for it, an opportunity would surely exist.
On the field, the Hongjing No. 8 players ran like the wind, defending back and forth. Yuzhou Silver Elephant's attacks were often "destroyed" before they even reached the penalty area.
So many days of complex and detailed physical training, all sorts of projects that could be called torture, the hard work in the gym, the stamina logs that accumulated bit by bit...
All of this had led to a great improvement in the students' forward running speed and endurance.
Every day, Wang Fa would have the students watch videos of their training sessions, letting them review their own training data.
The body is easily deceived by feelings, but numbers don't lie.
Their progress in stamina was clearly reflected on the charts.
And in training, just as Wang Fa had said, many moves they couldn't complete on the field before became possible due to their improved physical fitness.
This clear sense of their own progress gave the students enough confidence for this "destruction" mission.
And confidence brought resilience.
The 1-0 scoreline held for the entire first half.
The Yuzhou Silver Elephant coach's expression grew uglier. He could no longer maintain his usual refined demeanor. Given the situation on the field, it was highly likely his team would lose the match just like Green View International.
Facing an amateur school football team with un-fluid technique and poor coordination, but one that charged forward with ferocious, destructive power, Zhou Hongbo clearly recognized that his team was too soft.
The halftime whistle blew, and the Yuzhou Silver Elephant players walked off the field dejectedly.
All sorts of strange thoughts filled the minds of the Yuzhou Silver Elephant players. They clearly felt that the situation had been under their control, and Hongjing No. 8 had only organized that one attack from start to finish, yet somehow they were trailing.
Even though they had most of the possession, they couldn't penetrate the defense at all. No matter how they shifted the play, they couldn't find an opening.
This amateur team's running and defensive capabilities were astonishing.
The players reported this to their coach, but what they received was no longer gentle encouragement and comfort, but a harsh demand: "In the second half, I don't care what method you use, tear open their defensive line for me! If one attack doesn't work, try twice! If twice doesn't work, try three times!"
He had to fight fire with fire.
Zhou Hongbo was very certain.
The Yuzhou Silver Elephant coach's shouts drifted over from afar. Lin Wanxing glanced at Wang Fa.
The young man's face remained calm, simply waiting for the match to restart.
Just like all the opponents Hongjing No. 8 had faced before, Yuzhou Silver Elephant couldn't hold back. They launched a ferocious, all-out attack in the second half.
And as per Wang Fa's arrangement, Hongjing No. 8 smoothly deployed a three-center-back defensive formation.
There were three lines of defense here.
The midfielders in front of the penalty area were the first line, the two center-backs were the second, and the sweeper behind them, Zheng Feiyang, was the third.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's attack was initially like a surging, powerful river. But after passing through these three filters, even the murkiest water would become clear, transparent, and harmless.
The more their attacks failed, the more impatient and agitated the Yuzhou Silver Elephant players became.
The pressure on them came not only from their opponents but also from their head coach on the sidelines, who was demanding they press and challenge aggressively.
A head coach's emotions can spread to the players like a plague.
Yuzhou Silver Elephant's attacks became more and more ferocious, but this went against their natural style.
They excelled at possession and short-pass penetration. When such a team began to charge forward recklessly, not only did their attack become weak, but the holes in their defense would also grow correspondingly larger.
As a result, the Hongjing No. 8 players' opportunities for counter-attacks became more and more frequent.
The students deeply believed what Wang Fa had said before the match. They were convinced they had more than enough stamina to last the whole game.
The more anxious Yuzhou Silver Elephant became, the calmer and more confident they were.
Seventy minutes into the match, Hongjing No. 8 seized a counter-attacking opportunity.
A shot from Chen Jianghe was saved by the Yuzhou Silver Elephant goalkeeper, but Qin Ao, who had followed up, scored on the rebound.
The referee blew the final whistle. Lin Wanxing raised her hands high and stood up.
The sharp final whistle filled Zhou Hongbo's ears. His head was burning. He couldn't help but look at the opposing team's rest area again. He looked at the young man in the black baseball cap, and a flash of inspiration struck his mind. He finally remembered where he had seen him.
The players, like wild horses breaking free, rushed madly towards the rest area.
The next moment, the smell of hot sweat rushed towards them, and Lin Wanxing and Wang Fa were surrounded by a circle of hot, hard arms.
The sun was bright, the wind was gentle, and the autumn light was magnificent.
2-0
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