Chapter 1 The Beginning

Zhou Yi turned his head to look at the scoreboard on the sidelines before taking the field. It clearly displayed "0:0," meaning neither team had scored, and the game was still tied.

This was good news for him.

He wasn't surprised by the score.

He could have predicted it based on what he saw on the field before he fell asleep.

He wasn't lying, he really had just fallen asleep.

He had been watching the game from the bench, but the game itself was uninteresting. Other than the fierce competition, there was nothing to see.

He yawned repeatedly while watching, plus he had been too excited the night before, going to bed late and getting up early, resulting in a lack of sleep.

Despite the scorching sun overhead, and his butt feeling like it was on a griddle, he couldn't help but fall asleep.

Although it was a little embarrassing to fall asleep on the sidelines, Zhou Yi didn't feel too awkward. Football was about performance on the field, not off it.

As long as he played well on the field, what did it matter if he fell asleep on the bench?

He ran onto the field full of ambition.

※※※

After Zhou Yi was woken up, everyone understood—the kid had fallen asleep on the sidelines!

A burst of laughter erupted from the stands.

Zhou Jianliang was annoyed by the laughter—he’s my son, even if he’s embarrassing, he’s still my son! It’s not your place to laugh!

He stood up abruptly, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted towards the field, "Son, go for it! Play well! Dad supports you!"

Zhou Yi, who had just stepped onto the field, heard his father's shout. He turned and saluted his father, and Zhou Jianliang returned the salute. This was their usual way of communicating.

After the salute, Zhou Jianliang looked at the laughing people provocatively.

The parents realized that this person was the father of the person they were mocking, with an identity just like theirs, and they felt a bit embarrassed. They lowered their heads or looked away.

Zhou Jianliang waited until the last person had averted their gaze before slowly sitting down in the manner of a victor.

※※※

Although Zhou Yi ran onto the field full of ambition, wanting to turn the tide single-handedly.

The reality was far from what he imagined.

As a midfielder, he needed to handle the ball frequently on the field.

But after he came on, no one passed him the ball—of course not, everyone was just wishing they could glue the ball to their own feet, how could they easily pass the ball to a competitor?

No matter how Zhou Yi raised his hand and shouted loudly, no one passed him the ball.

He had been on the field for five minutes, with zero touches and zero impact.

※※※

"It's a complete mess…" Hao Dong on the podium finally couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

Little Wang next to him could also see that the level of this game was very low, so he took this opportunity to ask the question in his heart: "Dong-ge, I have a question… Why doesn't the final follow the previous auditions and have competitions for individual skills, but instead holds such a game? Everyone is temporarily put together, and they are all competitors, so the game must be bad…"

Hao Dong said: "These people are not bad at individual skills, otherwise they would not be able to enter the final. It is meaningless to compete again. Why do I want to turn the final into a game? Because I want to see something beyond skills."

"Something beyond skills?" Little Wang was puzzled.

"Yes, something beyond football skills is football awareness." Hao Dong explained, "It is a deeper level thing, skills can be practiced, but awareness is mostly innate, this is talent."

"This…" Hearing Hao Dong's explanation, Little Wang was even more puzzled, "Wouldn't it be too exaggerated to want to see those things in this game, Dong-ge?"

"So I only ask for one thing."

"What?"

"Teamwork awareness."

Little Wang suddenly realized: "No wonder you just mentioned it at the end, telling them that football is a team sport."

"Of course, or did you think I was talking nonsense? But unfortunately… I don't think these kids listened." Hao Dong shook his head and stopped talking.

※※※

Zhou Yi, as a midfielder, couldn't even get the ball near the Blue team's goal. The area was overcrowded, with Blue and Red team players擠在一起, and there was no room to maneuver.

Considering this situation, Zhou Yi didn't insist on squeezing to the front of the penalty area to compete with his teammates for space. He chose to retreat, falling back to the defensive midfielder position.

The teammate who was originally playing defensive midfielder was surprised to see Zhou Yi take the initiative to retreat. But he didn't ask why. Since someone was willing to retreat, didn't that mean he had the opportunity to go forward?

With that thought, he abandoned Zhou Yi and rushed forward.

Zhou Yi also saw this teammate's move, but he didn't take it to heart. His gaze went past this forward-rushing teammate, extending forward. He saw a scene completely different from when he was a striker.

When he used to play striker in various school teams, his activity area during attacks was basically in the attacking third, mainly in the opponent's penalty area. There, he paid more attention to the goal and the situation in the penalty area. He didn't need to care about the situation in other places.

But now he could see the positional relationships of almost everyone on the field, except for the two center-backs and the goalkeeper behind him.

It was like the *Qingming* Scroll. When he was a striker, Zhou Yi only ever saw a part of it.

But after being forced to become a midfielder and retreating to the defensive midfielder position, this famous painting slowly unfolded before him for the first time, revealing its full glory…

Every detail was clearly displayed in front of Zhou Yi. He turned his head to the left and saw the situation on the left flank. On the left, the Red team's left-back had rushed to the front, and from his position, he could almost be considered a left-winger. Next to him was the Blue team's right-back, who was positioned on the inside of the Red team's left-back, preventing him from breaking through and receiving the ball.

Then he turned his head back and looked at the center. The situation in the center was much more complicated than on the flanks, because there were more people.

The players of the Red and Blue teams were basically concentrated here, like interlocking dogs' teeth, with each team within the other.

Zhou Yi looked to the right again, and the situation was basically the same as on the left.

The defensive midfielder who had just run up had aggravated this chaotic and complex situation. He couldn't get the ball at all.

But in that case, how could they win the game?

Zhou Yi frowned.

After stepping onto the field and seeing this situation, his thinking had changed. He didn't know how many chances he had left to get that only spot, but compared to entering the West Expedition team, he was now more concerned about winning the game.

He didn't want to just watch the team lose the game, even though it was a team that had been temporarily put together.

He had to do something.

※※※

When the Red team attacked, they swarmed forward, but because they were fighting individually, they posed no real threat to the Blue team's goal. Instead, they lost possession of the ball during the attack. The Blue team kicked the ball out with a long pass, and it flew straight to the midfield, flying to… in front of Zhou Yi, landing, and then bouncing up. Zhou Yi controlled it with his chest.

Then Zhou Yi stepped on the ball, stopping it at his feet. He didn't dribble forward, which surprised many people.

Zhou Jianliang was very excited in the stands. After all, this was his son's first touch of the ball in the game. He stood up from his seat and shouted, "Go for it, son!!"

Zhou Yi held the ball, without moving at all.

It was like he was frozen. But in the eyes of more people, his performance seemed more like he was at a loss after making his debut and getting the ball for the first time.

While he was stunned, the Blue team's players swarmed up, planning to steal the ball and launch a counterattack directly.

The Red team's players began to run back, waving at Zhou Yi and shouting, "Pass the ball! Pass the ball!"

Everyone hoped that Zhou Yi could pass the ball to them, but Zhou Yi didn't do that.

Facing the crowd of Red and Blue players, he still didn't make any move.

It was like… he was completely dumbfounded.

The fastest runner was Liu Yadong, number nine of the Blue team. He took the lead. His speed was the fastest among the twenty-three players, and he had absolute confidence in his speed.

He believed that with his full-speed sprint, the Red team player who had just come on was absolutely impossible to react…

But just as he was about to rush in front of Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi suddenly turned around and kicked the ball backwards, passing it to the center-back behind him!

Liu Yadong didn't think much about it. Anyway, he only had eyes for the ball. Since the other party passed the ball back, he just had to keep chasing it. With continuous pressure, the Red team's defender would definitely make a mistake!

But just as he rushed past Zhou Yi like the wind, he heard the kid shout, "Pass the ball back!"

Liu Yadong's peripheral vision caught Zhou Yi quickly moving to the side after passing the ball, while pointing down at his feet with both hands, indicating that he wanted his teammates to pass him a ground ball.

However, Liu Yadong's speed was obviously faster than his brain's reaction. Zhou Yi's figure quickly disappeared from his peripheral vision, and he didn't bother to consider the meaning of Zhou Yi's actions. He continued to rush towards the ball and the Red team's number five center-back at high speed.

※※※

When Li Haoran saw the ball being suddenly passed to him by the substitute kid, he was崩溃—the opponents are chasing so fiercely, and you pass the ball to me? Are you trying to screw me over!

For a moment, he was at a loss. This time he was really at a loss, not just looking like he was at a loss.

But just as he didn't know what to do, he heard the substitute who passed him the ball suddenly shout, while running towards the center, exactly… moving out from behind Liu Yadong, so he could see him clearly, and he didn't have to worry about being intercepted by Liu Yadong when passing the ball, because the two were not on the same line at all.

Seeing Zhou Yi's actions, Li Haoran quickly swung his leg and kicked the ball back to Zhou Yi.

Just as he passed the ball, Liu Yadong pounced, and his leg went right through the air!

Li Haoran had temporarily escaped the predicament, but he had created a problem for Zhou Yi.

That was, in order to ensure that the ball was not intercepted by Liu Yadong, Li Haoran's kick had been very powerful and rushed. It didn't look like a pass, but like a failed clearance kick. The ball bounced and jumped on the grass, flying forward at high speed, straight towards Zhou Yi.

It wouldn't be easy to control such a "pass".

And if Zhou Yi didn't control it well, then the Blue team's players who were pouncing on him from behind could very well directly steal the ball and launch a counterattack.

At this time, Zhou Yi raised his right foot and steadily controlled the seemingly difficult ball, then he didn't stop, but immediately used his left foot to pass the ball to another center-back, the Red team's number four, Luo Wei.

Just as he passed the ball, the Blue team's players came up from behind him, of course he missed the kick.

But this scene made the people watching the game outside break out in a cold sweat—not to mention not getting the ball, even if Zhou Yi had adjusted his position slightly more when controlling the ball, this ball might not have been passed out, and he might have been directly stabbed in the back by the Blue team's players…

In the stands, the parents of the Blue team's players let out a huge sigh, regretting that the Blue team had not been able to seize this opportunity to steal the ball in the frontcourt and launch a counterattack.

Sitting on the podium, Hao Dong, who was originally a little bored, saw this scene and his eyes flashed.

Zhou Yi, who had passed the ball, didn't seem to know that he had just escaped a disaster. Instead of paying attention to the Blue team's players next to him, he quickly ran to the wing, while shouting to his teammates: "Pass it to me!"

Everything was the same as before.

Luo Wei naturally also passed the ball over. Zhou Yi, who was already on the wing, received the ball. This time, he didn't pass the ball back again. He received the ball, turned around, and saw the Blue team's goal and the people in that area inside and outside the penalty area again. Now there were fewer people than before.

"Hey, that's interesting…" Little Wang suddenly heard Hao Dong chuckle softly beside him.