Wang Lei and Ding Wenjun stood excitedly among their classmates, heads close together in hushed whispers: "Hey, you got the stuff ready?"

"Ready!"

"Good, we must find a chance to get an autograph later!"

"You don't even need to say it!"

"But…" Wang Lei looked around, frowning. "It seems like a lot of people have the same idea as us… There's a lot of competition."

"Of course, that's Zhou Yi we're talking about!" Ding Wenjun repeated excitedly, "That's Zhou Yi!"

"If everyone wants to get his autograph, he definitely won't be able to fulfill everyone's wishes, right?" Wang Lei said worriedly.

"We can only rely on luck…" Ding Wenjun also realized the difficulty of the task.

He looked around, wary of his classmates like a thief.

But as he observed his surroundings, he also met the same gazes. Obviously, others had the same idea as him—treating everyone else as competitors.

Similar furtive glances and whispers spread throughout the stadium, causing a buzzing sound to fill the air.

The students of Qingyang High School gathered in the school's stadium by class, waiting for Zhou Yi's arrival.

Even the senior students who had already taken the national college entrance exam had returned to campus, knowing that the person coming today was very special.

※※※

When the taxi carrying Zhou Yi's family stopped at the entrance of Qingyang High School, Wang Shunquan, the dean of students who had been waiting by the roadside for a long time, immediately rushed up, took the initiative to open the back door, and when Zhou Jianliang and Li Cuiyun got out of the car, he took the initiative to shake their hands with a very attentive attitude.

Then he ran to open the front passenger door. Li Cuiyun tried to stop him, "You're too polite, Director Wang."

"You're too kind, you're too kind, it's all right, it's all right…" Wang Shunquan said with a smile to Li Cuiyun, while still opening the car door.

However, Zhou Yi did not get out of the car immediately. He was signing an autograph for the driver…

"Hurry up, people are waiting!" Li Cuiyun scolded her son.

"Wait a minute, let me finish signing." Zhou Yi didn't care about making Wang Shunquan wait. This driver was his fan. He could still tell which was more important to him.

After signing the autograph, Zhou Yi got out of the car and shook hands with Wang Shunquan.

While shaking hands, Wang Shunquan kept praising Zhou Yi: "Oh, you've really grown taller and stronger!"

Zhou Yi smiled, but did not reply.

Next, Wang Shunquan led the way, taking Zhou Yi's family into the campus.

Zhou Yi looked up and saw a red banner hanging above the school's main entrance: "Warmly Welcome Our School Alumnus Zhou Yi to Visit!"

Zhou Yi smiled with satisfaction—he didn't expect to enjoy such treatment.

Back then, when he had just finished recording the reality show and returned to school, the main entrance was quiet. How could it be as grand as it was today?

※※※

Wang Shunquan led Zhou Yi and his family all the way to the stadium. From afar, Zhou Yi could see the dark crowd on the field.

Of course, he knew that the school had arranged for the students to wait for him on the playground.

When he was a student, he had experienced similar things. It was always when important leaders were coming to visit that such arrangements were made, gathering everyone on the playground, and then the leaders would give speeches.

It seemed that he was enjoying the treatment of an important leader today.

When Zhou Yi and his entourage walked into the stadium, the students who had been waiting for a long time burst into a huge cheer.

Amid the cheers, Zhou Yi waved to everyone, and the cheers grew even louder…

The sudden increase in cheers startled Zhou Yi, and he couldn't help but shrink his neck.

This scene was noticed by the waiting students, and some couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Amidst everyone's laughter, Zhou Yi seemed a little embarrassed, and he scratched the back of his head.

"This is Zhou Yi…" Wang Lei said as he looked at Zhou Yi. This big star in front of him didn't seem to be any different from them…

"He doesn't seem to have any airs of a celebrity…" Ding Wenjun also said.

"The media said Zhou Yi is very approachable, and it's true!" Wang Lei was very happy. If Zhou Yi was approachable, he might be able to get Zhou Yi's autograph without being turned away. Some celebrities, who weren't that famous, acted very high and mighty. They'd go out with four or five bodyguards, and if a fan dared to ask for an autograph, they might even get beaten up by the bodyguards…

Similar comments about Zhou Yi spread among the students.

※※※

After Zhou Yi went on stage, as usual, various leaders gave speeches.

The first leader to speak was Xie Fanghua, the principal of Qingyang High School, a female principal who had taken over as the principal of the high school four years ago from the old principal, Lin Xianrong.

This female principal talked about the success of Qingyang High School from the success of Zhou Yi's individual, believing that Zhou Yi's success reflected the spirit of Qingyang High School in cultivating talents "in an unconventional manner", hoping that students would learn from Zhou Yi, dare to pursue their dreams. And she encouraged the students to be proud of being students of Qingyang High School and win glory for the school.

The principal's far-sighted speech did not resonate much. Everyone had long been indifferent to this kind of leader-style speech. The students in the audience listened with their ears, but their minds were empty. Many people focused their eyes on Zhou Yi, and didn't listen to a single word the principal said.

After the principal's speech, it was Zhai Liying, Zhou Yi's former homeroom teacher, who gave a themed speech on "How I Witnessed Zhou Yi's Growth from a Student to a World-Class Football Star."

This was slightly more interesting to everyone, because Zhai Liying added some "inside information" that everyone didn't know in her speech, such as when Zhou Yi asked her for leave to participate in the filming of the reality show. Zhai Liying revealed some of the conversations between her and Zhou Yi.

This content was unknown to the media, and naturally everyone had never heard of it. Now that Zhai Liying said it, it felt like she was revealing celebrity gossip. Who doesn't like gossip? Moreover, it could be seen that Zhai Liying was different from the principal. She really had teacher-student feelings for Zhou Yi. After all, Zhou Yi had been her student for two years.

After the leaders and teachers had finished speaking, it was finally Zhou Yi's turn to take the stage.

But he didn't.

Wang Shunquan stood up, with a courteous smile on his face, and said: "Before letting Zhou Yi speak to our Qingyang High School students, please allow me to invite today's mystery guest!"

Everyone was stunned, including Zhou Yi—he hadn't heard that there was a mystery guest.

Seeing that everyone was surprised, Wang Shunquan was very satisfied with this reaction, and then he took a breath and shouted loudly: "Now, let us invite… the old principal of Qingyang High School—!!!"

He took the lead in applauding.

The others also reacted and followed suit, and warm applause rang out in the stadium—these applause were not to deal with the leaders, but from the heart. Any Qingyang High School person, whether student or teacher, respected their old principal, Lin Xianrong, very much.

After the initial surprise, Zhou Yi also clapped his hands vigorously. Of course, he also respected the old principal from the bottom of his heart.

Amid the warm applause, the seventy-nine-year-old Lin Xianrong walked onto the stadium's rostrum with the support of his son.

The current principal, Xie Fanghua, quickly ran forward to help support Lin Xianrong, and asked about his health with concern.

"I'm fine, very well." Lin Xianrong replied with a smile. Although his figure was much more hunched than before, his spirit was very good.

Cheers rang out from the audience.

Lin Xianrong waved to the students in the audience again, and the cheers grew even louder.

Then Lin Xianrong turned around and walked towards the other teachers in the school, shaking hands with them one by one.

Finally, he came to Zhou Yi, did not immediately reach out his hand, but stared at Zhou Yi carefully, looking him up and down, before reaching out his hand, but not just one hand, but opening his arms and giving Zhou Yi a hug.

Zhou Yi was caught off guard by the old principal's enthusiasm for him. At the beginning of the hug, he was a little stiff and unnatural, but he quickly adapted.

He also patted the old principal's back gently.

After Lin Xianrong hugged Zhou Yi, he turned around and walked to the microphone in front.

He looked at the students below, waved his hand, and said: "Everyone don't be nervous, I won't give a leader's speech."

A burst of laughter rang out from the audience.

Even Xie Fanghua, who had given a leader's speech before, laughed along—if someone else made this kind of joke to her, she would naturally be upset, but if Lin Xianrong made this joke, she would definitely not have any unpleasant thoughts. On the contrary, if you can be ridiculed by Lin Xianrong, it means that the relationship is extraordinary!

So she also laughed very happily.

Zhou Yi looked at the old principal in the back. The voice he spoke in just now was a little trembling, far less sonorous than when he was still a student at Qingyang High School and listened to the old principal's speech.

Thinking about it carefully, the old principal is also seventy-nine years old this year.

It has been five years since I left school to pursue my dream of becoming a professional player.

The scenes from school back then played back in his mind, and time flew by like a white horse, slipping away in the memories.