The mother, unable to contain her curiosity, immediately called the homeroom teacher upon returning home. It was from the teacher that she learned about Boss Huang's recruitment drive.
This recruitment news had been released yesterday, but the mother, who generally didn't have the habit of watching the news and preferred watching dramas and short videos instead, had no idea Boss Huang had unleashed such a major initiative.
"If they are selected, they can attend Jiangnan University!" After hearing this, the mother repeated in disbelief.
"Yes, that's absolutely correct. Our school has already confirmed with the relevant departments of Jiangnan Group. Our teachers' suggestion is that regardless of the child's abilities, as long as there are no significant physical issues and they meet the age requirements, we recommend they give it a try. After all, trying doesn't cost anything, and they even get a 100 yuan travel allowance," the teacher said.
"Yesterday, about 10% of our school's students went for the test, and today another 10% or so have gone. I expect most students will go in the future. We recommend you try it too!" the teacher added.
"But teacher, our child has been studying all along, what about his physical condition..." the mother asked with some concern.
"Oh, according to the reports from students who have already taken the test, aside from the first requirement, which is a long-distance run with somewhat high stamina demands, the other tests are all about ball sense and body coordination."
"As far as I know, our classmate Liu Xu was selected for the second round of testing simply because of his strong ball sense, being able to dribble a ball for a kilometer. It's said that his chances of making it into the final list of 1,000 people are also very high, as a coach on-site is very optimistic about him, believing he has the potential to become China's Messi!" the teacher said with a smile. "If he truly succeeds, then our school will have produced a world champion."
"..." The mother remained silent for a while before saying, "That's because Liu Xu enjoys sports, but our child has always been studying, so I'm afraid..."
"Sigh, Si Hang's mother, I'm just suggesting you give it a try. There's no harm in trying, right? Whether it's successful or not, that's not important. Si Hang is such a good student; it's no big deal if he's not selected. Just think of it as a chance for the child to relax!"
"Besides, the top student in our neighboring class, Tang Mu, who also got the top score in the grade this time, doesn't play sports much either. He spends his days reading in school, and he's also made it to the second round of testing."
"He almost fainted when running the 3,000 meters, but his performance in the catching test was very impressive. It's said he caught all the practice balls and was directly selected for the second round of testing on the spot."
"So, for these children, if you don't try, you'll never know their limits or their talent."
"Alright, Si Hang's mother, I still have homework to grade, so I won't waste any more of your time. Anyway, that's the situation. Whether you go or not is entirely up to you. Our school will fully cooperate; just make a phone call, and we'll grant leave. Don't worry about anything else; you decide!" The homeroom teacher then hung up. After pondering for a long time, the mother frantically searched for various information online and watched many posts and short videos on Xiaohongshu. Then, she called her son out, "Can you run 3,000 meters during your physical education class?"
"3,000 meters? We usually only run 1,000 meters in class, and I'm already exhausted. 3,000 meters is definitely impossible!" the child quickly waved his hands.
"That won't do. The 3,000 meters is a test everyone has to pass. I saw a video on Xiaohongshu where every child who goes is first made to run 3,000 meters. Those who can't complete it don't even get a chance for further testing because their stamina is too poor."
"And each child only gets one chance to participate in the test. If you go there rashly this time and can't finish the 3,000 meters, you'll have wasted that opportunity!"
"I see there are about 20 days left for the first round of testing. You don't need to do any more practice papers these days. After finishing your homework, go with your dad to run around the streets outside the community. One lap around our community is 800 meters. When you can run 4 laps in one go, we'll go for the test!" the mother said unequivocally.
"No... I don't want to run. I want to do practice papers. I want to get into Jiangnan University!" The child was completely stunned. Running 3,000 meters every day, wasn't that going to make anyone run themselves into the ground?
However, the mother's will was absolute. Even the father, who returned home from his Didi driving job that evening looking bewildered and exhausted, had to join this family running marathon.
The specific process won't be elaborated. After running for more than a week, Si Hang surprisingly could indeed run four laps. It seemed his physical foundation was quite good, but he had never exercised before, so he didn't know his limits.
After running for three more days, confirming that her son could endure 3,000 meters, the mother applied for leave from school and took her son to participate in the test.
At the testing site, the number of children was still manageable.
Compared to the initial days when short video platforms like Xiaohongshu were filled with crowds of children participating in the tests, and with over 200 children running on a single track at the same time, the current number was much more relaxed.
Just like the strategies on various platforms, Si Hang was first asked to run 3,000 meters.
Thanks to the training in the past few days, he passed, albeit out of breath. It is worth mentioning that many children, even with about two weeks of preparation time, still couldn't complete the required distance and had to leave with their 100 yuan allowance regretfully.
Following this, there were five different tests: alternating left and right foot touches on the ball, dribbling runs, slalom dribbling, goalkeeper catching, and finally, shooting tests. Throughout the process, numerous professional staff closely monitored the children, recording their performance in each test.
Apart from a few children who performed so astonishingly on the spot that they were directly informed of their qualification for the second round of testing, most children did not get immediate results. They would only receive notification for the second round of testing after the initial testing concluded.
Si Hang was one of those children. He didn't perform particularly outstandingly in these five tests, nor did he perform poorly, so he didn't receive a reply on the spot.
After returning home, Si Hang's running life came to an abrupt end, and he returned to his daily grind of studying practice papers.
The mother's thinking was very pragmatic: given the extremely slim possibility of passing the second round of testing, academic studies remained the top priority.
After some time passed, when both Si Hang and his mother were beginning to forget about it, they suddenly received a call stating that Si Hang had qualified for the second round of testing.
The second round of testing would be held in the provincial capital a week later. Si Hang could collect his train tickets and accommodation cards through the foundation's official website and then arrive at the designated meeting point at the specified time.
Therefore, after a round of cheers from the whole family, Si Hang returned to his daily life of running.
In his mother's words, "Cramming at the last minute is better than not cramming at all."
After a week of hustle, Si Hang, led by his mother, arrived at the provincial capital a day early and completed the registration procedures. His mother originally wanted to stay with Si Hang in the provincial capital but was stopped by the staff on site.
They explained that because the second round of testing was designed to comprehensively assess a child's football talent, it would be very complex and would involve a period of preliminary training. Therefore, the next half month would be a closed-door testing period, during which parents could not accompany them. However, they could always keep track of their child's situation through live video surveillance.
The mother shook her head, then agreed, and finally watched her son enter the intensive second round training camp with a tinge of sadness.
However, when she received the 10,000 yuan bonus from the organizing team, her mood instantly brightened.
This child was more capable of earning money than his useless father; he had earned 10,000 yuan in two weeks!
The mother was unaware that on the second floor of the training camp, Boss Huang himself was observing the arriving children one by one.
"I don't think the second round of testing needs to be a closed-door training. Many parents are unable to accept it and have taken their children away," Huang He asked with a frown.
"Mr. Huang, that is precisely our objective. It's to screen out children from families that are not suitable!" Sun Hai explained, standing by his side.
"The future involves five years of closed-door training. If these parents cannot even accept two weeks of closed-door training now, it's hard to imagine what kind of issues might arise during the five years of closed-door training. To prevent such situations in advance, we have chosen a two-week closed-door training period as a means to screen out unsuitable families!"
"But wouldn't this mean that many exceptionally talented children would also be screened out?"
"Yes, this situation is unavoidable. However, we unexpectedly discovered during the initial nationwide trials that there are many children with football talent across China. Almost all of those who enter the second round of testing are highly talented children. If we were to rate them on a scale of 100, they would generally have talent scores of 90 or above."
"We have currently identified over 32,000 such children nationwide. So, even if half of them leave due to this requirement, we wouldn't be concerned," Sun Hai explained. "Compared to talent, what we prioritize more is the children's potential and the cooperation of their families, etc.! Of course, if a child with a talent score of 98 or above is discovered during the initial trials, we will directly inform the parents that this child does not need to attend the second round of testing and has already been included in the 1,000-person roster, receiving a monthly subsidy of over 10,000 yuan."
"Once we explain it this way, basically no parents will refuse closed-door training."