Chapter 1 The First Sunrise

While media around the world and fans and netizens in China were still hotly debating the meaning of Zhang Jun's words, the Chinese team welcomed their first sunrise in South Africa.

At nine o'clock in the morning, all the members of the Chinese team got up, dressed, and washed, then came to the hotel courtyard to assemble. They were going to hold a flag-raising ceremony here. Necessary patriotic education was still needed.

For safety reasons, the Chinese team did not stay at the Carlton Hotel in the center of Johannesburg, although it was conveniently located. Instead, they chose a four-star hotel—the Balalaika Hotel.

This was a British-style hotel, still floating with some colonial atmosphere. An open-air handicraft shop in the hotel courtyard was very distinctive. On their first day here, most of the Chinese team members were attracted to it and bought a lot of souvenirs.

Johannesburg could already see the sunrise in the morning. Located in eastern South Africa, Johannesburg was one of the first places to see the sunrise.

Xiang Tao shrank his neck and walked out of the lobby. He thought that winter in South Africa would be very cold, but after walking out, he didn't feel very cold, except for the occasional gust of wind.

"Huh? When you guys arrived yesterday, you were shivering from the cold. Why are you all so energetic today?" Xiang Tao deliberately talked about others, not himself.

Zhao Pengyu, still a little excited about participating in the World Cup, said: "I read the travel guide yesterday. It's not as cold here as we thought. In winter, the daytime temperature is around twenty degrees Celsius, which is very suitable!"

Kru snorted coldly beside him: "If you're afraid of the cold, just say you're afraid of the cold. Why say 'you'..."

Xiang Tao didn't show weakness: "What? I'm afraid of the cold? I grew up in Sichuan, how could I not know how to write the word 'cold'! I have a blue dragon on my left, a white tiger on my right, and an ox at my waist. Gods who stand in my way shall die, Buddhas who stand in my way shall be destroyed! I'm telling you, I really don't take this bit of cold seriously... Ouch!"

While Xiang Tao was gesticulating, a hand reached out and pushed him aside, and then Qiu Suhui appeared in the spot where he had been standing.

Standing next to Qiu Suhui was Hu Li. He looked at the people standing in the courtyard and counted them slightly. The number was right, they had all come. No one was lying in bed.

The five-star red flag had already been tied to the flagpole rope, waiting for someone to raise it.

"Stand up straight, don't mess around. I'm telling you, there will be a lot of reporters watching you later. Anyone who does anything to embarrass the Chinese people, humph! Don't blame me for being rude! Xiang Tao! Get back in line!"

Xiang Tao grunted and got up from the ground, then patted his butt and stood in the line.

The flag raisers were Yang Pan, the captain of the Chinese national team, and Zhang Jun, the third vice-captain. The flag guards were Li Yongle, the second vice-captain.

After this flag was raised, it would be hung until the end of the group stage. Then, depending on China's group ranking, they would move to another location. If they could eventually reach the final, they would return here.

Everyone stood up straight and looked at the three people under the flagpole and the national flag surrounding them.

The sound of the national anthem rang out from the broadcast. The *March of the Volunteers* played in the South African morning. As the music played, the national flag slowly rose.

Zhang Jun felt very strange. He had never served as a flag raiser before, whether in elementary school or middle school. So when Qiu Suhui found the three of them last night, he was a little afraid to agree, fearing that he would mess up this solemn thing.

He could only focus his attention on the music, following the rhythm, not letting the national flag go too fast or too slow.

Beside him, flashbulbs popped.

Yang Pan gently sang the national anthem. Zhang Jun was stunned for a moment and then followed him in singing. This was a good way to distract himself. Yes, the battle-hardened he felt nervous when raising the national flag. He felt that the rope in his hand was very heavy, and he had to use all his strength to pull it.

For Zhang Jun, this was the most special and unforgettable flag-raising experience of his life.

When the national flag reached the top, Zhang Jun realized that he was covered in sweat on this winter morning.

He could feel that what he was raising was not just a national flag, but the expectations of hundreds of millions of Chinese people, no, to expand it further, the expectations of 1.4 billion people.

After raising the national flag, Zhang Jun recognized Sophie in the crowd of reporters at a glance, as well as Li Yan, who was standing next to Sophie and looked like a bodyguard. He nodded to them as a greeting. Because they had just arrived in South Africa and needed to adjust to the time difference, today's training was changed to the afternoon. In the morning, even if they were sleepy, they couldn't go back to their rooms to sleep, but had free time.

As a result, everyone kept yawning and chatting in the lobby. Some people with good spirits naturally went to the open-air handicraft shop again, while others went to the bar for entertainment.

Zhang Jun said hello to his friends and went straight to Sophie.

Sophie was discussing future work arrangements with Li Yan. Now she vaguely had the appearance of that reporter again. Zhang Jun walked up to the two of them, looking at them with a smile, without saying anything.

Then Li Yan immediately said knowingly: "Well, Sophie, they just arrived in South Africa, and I don't think there's anything good to shoot. Besides, shooting a group of yawning Chinese team members would also tarnish the reputation of our national team. I think let's do this, take half a day off today, go to the training ground in the afternoon, and in the morning, you have free time, and I have free time too..." After speaking, he turned around and slipped away.

"Brother Li, take care!" Zhang Jun shouted at Li Yan's receding figure, then reached out and put his arm around Sophie, not caring about the eyes of others, and kissed her on the forehead, "Let's find a place where we won't be disturbed, sit with me for a while, and chat."

※※※

Yang Pan had just called Yi Lan to greet her, her father, and her son in her belly. Because Yi Lan was pregnant and had limited mobility, she couldn't come to South Africa to watch his games. They could only contact each other by phone.

Yang Pan, who had hung up the phone, came to the lobby and looked at his teammates scattered around. Even Qiu Suhui and Hu Li were sitting together, drinking coffee and chatting, enjoying this rare leisurely morning.

He walked around and couldn't find Zhang Jun, so he decided to go to the bar to see. As soon as he entered the bar, he saw a lot of people gathered around the pool table, mostly his Chinese teammates, and from time to time there were cheers and laughter.

He decided to join in the fun.

When he went inside, he saw that An Ke and Kru were playing snooker. Yang Pan knew that An Ke played well. When he was a student, he played so well that Ren Yu, who was the second best in the team, couldn't lift his head, but he didn't expect that at this time he was standing aside dejectedly, watching Kru sweep the balls off the table one by one.

Xiang Tao shouted excitedly from the side: "An Ke, your defeat is set! You're treating for the drinks today!"

A large group of people left and followed to jeer. An Ke counted the money in his wallet and said fiercely to Kru: "Why don't you go to the Snooker British Open... what are you doing playing soccer... shit!"

Yang Pan looked around in the crowd and didn't see Zhang Jun, but he saw Li Yongle in the jeering crowd, holding a glass of juice, which was probably paid for by An Ke.

He squeezed over, grabbed him, and asked if he had seen Zhang Jun.

Li Yongle nodded, "He's with Sophie."

Yang Pan was a little surprised: "Sophie is here too?"

Li Yongle was also surprised: "Didn't you see her? I saw her before the flag raising. She was holding a huge camera, in the crowd."

Yang Pan patted his head: "I had my back to the reporters, I didn't see her. If they're together, I won't go be a third wheel, hehe. How many games has An Ke lost?"

Li Yongle smiled, "Not a single win." He remembered that it was An Ke who had just clamored to play billiards, and it was also An Ke who had clamored that he was the best in the team. After being provoked by Xiang Tao, he agreed to this bet. He didn't expect Kru to be really unassuming. He had never seen him participate in collective entertainment activities, but this time he played on behalf of Xiang Tao and became an instant hit. It seemed that An Ke's title of "best snooker player in the team" was going to change hands.

"Hmph, that's even better, I've been displeased with him for a long time." Yang Pan said, walking to the bar and saying to the waiter, "Give me a glass of lemonade, and put it on..." He turned his head and pointed to An Ke, who was still arguing with Kru, "...put it on his tab."

※※※

Sophie was sitting on a gorgeously designed long chair, and the person holding her was her fiancé—Zhang Jun.

"What, are you here to set goals again?" Sophie said with a smile to Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun quickly shook his head: "No, no. The goal you gave me last time is worth fighting for my whole life. I just simply want to chat with you."

"Chat?" Sophie covered her mouth and smiled. Her smile made all the flowers in the garden lose their color. If a stranger passed by at this time, he would definitely be captivated by Sophie's smile. "Wouldn't it be better to just make a phone call? Look, our Brother Li is going to drink alone all by himself."

Zhang Jun put his arm around Sophie: "How can a phone call compare to being face to face? Smelling your breath, caressing your skin, kissing your hair..."

Sophie quickly pushed Zhang Jun away: "You're so disgusting, Zhang Jun. When did you learn to talk nonsense?"

Zhang Jun laughed and pulled Sophie back into his arms. "No, I just really miss you. You know, once the World Cup starts, we won't have so much leisure time. At that time, I'll be training and playing games every day, and you'll be flying around with us, just taking pictures and developing pictures. No one will have time, and if we want to be face-to-face and cuddle with each other like this, we'll really only be able to contact each other by phone. Just like Yang Pan and Yi Lan now, it's really pitiful!"

Sophie smiled sweetly and leaned her head into Zhang Jun's arms.

"The World Cup opens on June 15th, right? It's already the end of May, is it okay? Your body?" Sophie asked.

"Don't worry, even Feng Qing said that my physical condition and competitive state are extremely good, there's nothing to worry about. I'm determined to marry you home. Do you remember what I said at the airport?"

Sophie nodded, "Of course I remember, Brother Li also told me that the country is in an uproar now, and everyone is discussing your shocking remarks. And many websites have done polls, with some people supporting and some people opposing."

"The people who oppose it think that this is a gimmick that I'm creating, right?"

Sophie nodded again.

"Hehe, they don't know, they don't know anything. This World Cup championship is not just for this team, but for you, Sophie. I said I would take the World Cup as a betrothal gift for you, and I will definitely do it. I don't want to be a man who doesn't keep his word. For you, I will risk my life to complete it."

Sophie lovingly stroked Zhang Jun's hair: "Just try your best, I don't want you to risk your life. Don't say such things ever again. If you lose your health for a World Cup championship, everything will be gone. I don't want you to announce your retirement after this World Cup. If you really love me, cherish your body and keep playing until you get tired of it."

"There's still a lot of time, we have a lot of time to do this until lunch. And it's still too early for me to get tired of it..."

※※※

With a "bang!" the red ball hit the side of the table. Kru casually threw the cue away. He was leading An Ke by a large margin and had won the victory in advance. There was no need to play the remaining balls in this game.

"Ah! Lost again, An Ke, you're really a loser! Treat us, treat us!"

"If the three meals here weren't included in the hotel package, I would definitely make you treat the whole team to dinner, to the most luxurious place in Johannesburg!"

An Ke also threw the cue away: "I'm not playing! I'm not playing! I don't have any money left! I'm really unlucky. I will never play billiards with Kru again, and I will never believe Xiang Tao's nonsense again! He said Kru was just a third-rate player who was just playing around?"

"Useless An Ke! You even believe Xiang Tao's words..."

"Shit!"

The only leisurely morning in South Africa passed by in such a chaotic way. Next, waiting for them was endless training and games. Exciting moments, or the pain of falling into hell. The future was so fascinating because of its unknownness, because the unknown meant infinite possibilities.

Whether it was to become a world champion as Zhang Jun said, or to return home after the group stage, or, as Sophie said, to at least reach the quarterfinals.

Everything was possible...

In the afternoon, at the Chinese team's training ground, energetic, confident, optimistic and cheerful young people were running. Hu Li shouted loudly, conveying Qiu Suhui's instructions. Outside the wire mesh fence of the training ground, there were reporters from all over the world, twice as many as expected. They were all focused on this team, because of the bold words they had released before. They hoped to find the basis, reasons, or excuses to support these bold words from ordinary daily training.

Yang Pan quickly broke through on the right wing. Xiang Tao tried very hard to chase back, but for Yang Pan, completely甩开(shuaikai - to shake off) his opponent was not his intention. He only needed a space to pass the ball.

Cross!

Wu Shangshan fought for the header, but Liu Peng's defense prevented him from calmly shooting, so he had to pass the ball to the outside.

Zhang Jun appeared at the landing point of the ball. He drew his bow and set his arrow, and without stopping the ball, he directly volleyed a shot!

The ball went into the goal guarded by An Ke.

Many reporters and fans from China burst into cheers and applause.

The Chinese team is here, everyone, are you ready to take the challenge?