Chapter 28 Parting

For Zhou Yi, pairing up with Guo Nu for training every morning and practicing with the whole team in the afternoon was a great help. He could see it from the changes in his stats every night after entering the system.

His personal relationships with Sun Pan and Yang Muge were also developing well.

Guo Nu still treated him like an enemy, refusing Zhou Yi's offers to eat together, but Zhou Yi didn't care.

As for He Ying... after that one time she spoke a few words to him out of curiosity, the two of them returned to their previous state. If there was any interaction between them, it was always Zhou Yi who spoke first, and their conversations ended quickly, because He Ying's replies were very simple, and he never took the initiative to continue the topic, so once the words were finished, that was it. Not ending would be very awkward.

Of course, after spending so much time with He Ying, Zhou Yi had gradually gotten used to it.

Apart from being a little cold, He Ying was pretty good in other aspects. At least, Zhou Yi could see that He Ying never cursed him as a "mad dog" behind Guo Nu's back, nor did he get involved in the affairs of the others. He was a loner, didn't form cliques, and didn't go along with the crowd.

If there was any regret about this training camp, it was only one thing – it was too short.

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and two of those weeks were spent on physical training, with only the last week involving ball training, which didn't satisfy Zhou Yi at all.

But no matter how much he didn't want it to end, the domestic training camp was coming to an end.

On the last day of training, Hao Dong stood in front of all the young players.

"Four weeks... some of you it was three weeks. I think everyone should be clear about how much improvement you've made during this time. Those who trained seriously will naturally improve, while those who didn't, wouldn't improve even with three more months. So our training camp ends here. Next, you have a week off to go home, and then return to Beijing. Then we'll be leaving for Europe. During this week, please manage yourselves well and don't cause any problems. If you can't go to Europe because of your own reasons... no one will sympathize with you."

As a celebrity idol, Hao Dong was very approachable.

But as a coach, he was strict, and spoke in his usual straightforward style, without considering how the audience would receive it.

"So, I hope to see all of you again in Beijing on Sunday, September 7th. Now, training is over, dismissed!"

Some of the players cheered, but Zhou Yi felt a little melancholy. His first formal football training course in his life had come to an end, and he also realized that school was about to start.

※※※

After packing his luggage, Zhou Yi didn't leave immediately. He sat on the bed in the dormitory, while He Ying was still packing his things, and couldn't help but say, "Um... do you need any help?"

As soon as he said it, he knew that He Ying would definitely refuse, but to his surprise, He Ying said, "Could you please hand me the shampoo?"

This stunned Zhou Yi for a moment, but he reacted quickly and immediately ran to the bathroom, took the shampoo from the shelf, and handed it to He Ying.

"Thank you," He Ying said to Zhou Yi with a smile after taking the shampoo.

It was still an almost invisible smile.

"You're welcome!" Zhou Yi also smiled, smiling brightly, but then his smile disappeared, because he didn't know when he would be able to see He Ying and teammates like Sun Pan, Yang Muge, and Guo Nu again after this reality show…

Maybe everyone would go their separate ways in the future and never contact each other again?

Although he wanted to become a professional player, he didn't know if he would definitely succeed. There were too many uncertain factors involved. He hadn't even seen his mother yet, and he didn't know if he could persuade her after seeing her, just like Yang Muge had persuaded himself.

Perhaps everything in life would return to how it was before he participated in the reality show. He wouldn't know these people, he would be an ordinary student in a key provincial high school in his hometown, playing football on the field during physical education classes and school team training and matches, taking monthly tests and two major exams every semester, attending summer and winter classes… until the college entrance examination that would ultimately determine his fate arrived.

And what would the future hold for He Ying, Sun Pan, Yang Muge, and Lao Guo?

He Ying snapped the lock on the suitcase shut and looked up, finding Zhou Yi still standing there.

"Have you packed your things?" he asked.

"Packed," Zhou Yi replied.

"Oh, goodbye." He Ying picked up his suitcase, nodded to Zhou Yi, and walked out of the dormitory.

"Ah, goodbye..."

As soon as He Ying left, Sun Pan and Yang Muge came to find Zhou Yi: "Have you packed your things?"

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for you guys." Zhou Yi put on his bag and dragged his suitcase.

"Let's go then!"

The three of them walked out of the dormitory building side by side and headed towards the gate of the training base.

Along the way, they saw teammates leaving with their suitcases, greeting each other and saying things like "goodbye" and "see you in Beijing."

Then Zhou Yi saw Guo Nu.

No one said goodbye to him, nor did he say goodbye to anyone. He was carrying a backpack almost half his height and dragging a huge suitcase. From the back, it looked like the backpack had two legs…

"Ah, Lao Guo!" Zhou Yi called out quickly.

Guo Nu heard the voice and turned around, saw Zhou Yi waving at him: "Goodbye! Have a smooth journey! Have a smooth journey!"

Finally, someone had said goodbye to him, but Guo Nu's reaction wasn't happiness, but… his face turned red again!

But after looking at Sun Pan next to Zhou Yi, he finally gritted his teeth, turned his head back, quickened his pace, and left resolutely.

"What an attitude!" Sun Pan snorted, very dissatisfied with Guo Nu's behavior – Zhou Yi was the only one on the team who thought highly of you, kid, and you don't know how to cherish it, putting on such a stinky face, you're asking for a beating!

Yang Muge said from the side, "Actually... I understand why Guo Nu reacted this way."

"Huh?" Sun Pan looked at Yang Muge unconvinced, "How can you side with an outsider?"

"Because I, like Guo Nu, am taking a plane home." Yang Muge spread out his hands. "It's not good to have a smooth journey by plane..."

Sun Pan was stunned, and Zhou Yi suddenly realized, quickly ran a few steps to catch up, and shouted at Guo Nu's back: "Lao Guo! Have an *adverse* journey! Have an *adverse* journey!!"

Hearing his shout, Guo Nu's short legs swung even faster, flying like the wind, and quickly disappeared around the corner of the tree-lined road.

※※※

At the gate of the training base, Zhou Yi waved goodbye to Sun Pan and Yang Muge, repeating the words they had said to people inside the base before.

"Goodbye."

"See you in Beijing!"

"See you in Beijing!"

Sun Pan and Yang Muge got into taxis one after another and left, while Zhou Yi had to wait for his father, who was coming specifically to pick him up – even though Zhou Yi had repeatedly emphasized on the phone that he was already a second-year high school student and didn't need his parents to pick him up, he could completely take the train home alone, but his father insisted on coming, and there was nothing he could do.

His father must have missed his son very much after not seeing him for almost a month.

Zhou Yi didn't have to wait long. As soon as Sun Pan and Yang Muge left, his father appeared.

Seeing that his son was about to speak, Zhou Jianliang preemptively said, "I used the pedestrian crossing to cross the road this time."

Zhou Yi laughed.

Zhou Jianliang also laughed, reached out and touched his son's head: "You brat! You're darker, stronger, and seem to be..." He squinted his eyes and took a step back to look him over. "A little taller."

"That means I've been training hard," Zhou Yi said proudly. The effort and sweat I put in are something Dad definitely can't imagine, hmph!

"Of course you have to train hard, or did you think you came here for summer camp? Let's go, let's go home!" Zhou Jianliang picked up his son's suitcase. "Your mother is still waiting for us at home."

As soon as his mother was mentioned, the smile on Zhou Yi's face disappeared. He said to his father with some apprehension, "Um, Mom, she..."

"We'll talk about it when we get home, we'll talk about it when we get home." Dad chuckled, not wanting to continue the topic.

Zhou Yi didn't ask any more questions and had no choice but to follow his father to hail a taxi.

※※※

Hao Dong sat in his room, looking out at the training base through the window on the third floor.

The football field had been lively for the past four weeks, with the sound of whistles and coaches shouting always echoing on the training ground, while the dormitory building was filled with the laughter and shouts of young players. Their figures appeared and disappeared in the tree-lined roads outside, either together or alone.

It filled this training base, which was usually not frequented, with life.

But now, there was no human voice except for the sound of birds singing and the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through the trees.

Everyone had left.

Hao Dong stood by the window, watching the children dragging suitcases and backpacks that were disproportionately large compared to their bodies, leaving the dormitory, saying goodbye to their teammates, and heading towards the gate.

Then everyone had left.

The dormitory building was empty, and it was silent outside the dormitory building.

There was a knock on the door behind him: "Dong-ge, the car is here."

Hao Dong turned his head to see Xiao Wang from the production team, who was specifically responsible for following him, acting as a liaison between the team and the program's film crew, and also as a personal assistant, running errands for him.

"Okay." Hao Dong picked up his suitcase, walked out of the dormitory room, went downstairs, and walked out of the dormitory building. Then he looked back at the dormitory building.

The morning sun shone obliquely from above the roof, a little dazzling. He didn't put on his sunglasses, but squinted his eyes.

A crusade of young men to the west.

This was the name he had originally given to this reality show, but it was ultimately not adopted. After all, it wasn't distinctive enough. Just hearing the name didn't immediately tell people that it was a program about football, and it wasn't attractive enough. From a ratings and commercial perspective, the current name of the reality show was "Green Field Inheritors."

But Hao Dong preferred the name he had given it.

A group of young football players gathered together, with a great dream and ambition, going west out of Yangguan Pass to fight in Europe.

What kind of result would they ultimately achieve?

Would what he created with his own hands be another "disgrace" or "new hope" for Chinese football?

Who the hell knows!