The team began training in the afternoon, and Zhou Yi saw Hao Dong again. This time, Hao Dong wasn't wearing casual clothes like before. He was in a tracksuit, with a whistle around his neck, looking every bit the coach.

And in this training session, Zhou Yi witnessed why He Ying was called the only star of this team...

The training base wasn't completely closed off; it was open to the public, like a sports park in the suburbs of Beijing. Anyone could rent the facilities for training and matches for a fee. All four gates were open except during closing hours.

So, on the first afternoon of training, everyone noticed that there were quite a few more fans outside the training ground.

This was especially felt by the players who had been training here for almost a week, because for the previous week, there wasn't even a dog by the field, let alone people.

But before today's afternoon training even started, dozens of people had gathered by the field, some older, but many were young men and women about their age.

Everyone knew that these people were here for He Ying. Because before, He Ying wasn't in the team, and these people had never appeared.

"Why couldn't they be here for me?" Zhou Yi asked, unconvinced, after listening to Sun Pan's words. "I wasn't here before either!"

Sun Pan burst out laughing, too lazy to answer Zhou Yi's stupid question.

Yang Muge kindly explained, "You're still an unknown, Zhou Yi. How could those people know you?"

But it sounded like Yang Muge was twisting the knife.

Zhou Yi also realized this, so he dejectedly said, "Thank you for your detailed explanation."

Yang Muge realized that what he said was a bit off, so he gently patted Zhou Yi's shoulder. "But it doesn't matter, maybe you'll have your own fans soon, cheer up!"

Zhou Yi quickly learned why these people were definitely He Ying's fans, and not anyone else's.

Because when He Ying appeared on the training field, a cheer erupted from the crowd gathered outside: "He Ying, He Ying! Always with the shadow!! He Ying, He Ying! Always with the shadow!!"

This was clearly a slogan to cheer for He Ying.

"This is just protagonist treatment..." Sun Pan muttered.

Zhou Yi stared at the crazy fans, frowning slightly, deep in thought.

Yang Muge saw his expression and thought he was discouraged, so he comforted him, "Don't take it to heart, Zhou Yi. Not to mention you, we're all quite far from He Ying right now. He deserves this kind of treatment."

Zhou Yi withdrew his gaze from the crowd and looked at Yang Muge, thanking him sincerely, "Thank you, Yang Muge."

Unlike the slightly sarcastic "thank you" from before, this time Zhou Yi sincerely thanked Yang Muge, this kind-hearted person.

But in reality, he was thinking about something else...

※※※

The formal training was something Zhou Yi had been looking forward to the most since coming to this team, besides challenging the youth teams of European powerhouses.

As a football-loving teenager, he naturally wanted to receive formal, high-level professional training to improve his skills. Zhou Yi was different from the other teammates present. He was the only one who hadn't entered the training system of a professional football club, hadn't received formal training, and therefore he yearned for true football training even more.

At school, the training was relatively simple, especially in terms of tactics. Campus football relied more on the individual abilities of the players. But because of Zhou Yi's own characteristics, he was more interested in teamwork—without teamwork, it wouldn't be easy for him to score goals.

When all the players were lined up in front of Coach Hao Dong, the crowd outside didn't leave, still shouting He Ying's name. Sun Pan secretly observed He Ying and found that there was no change in his expression, as if those people weren't shouting for him... No, as if those people didn't exist at all.

"What are you pretending for..." Sun Pan muttered to himself. His resentment toward He Ying was unusually strong...

Zhou Yi looked at Hao Dong with anticipation.

Hao Dong was speaking.

"...We're leaving for Europe in four weeks to challenge the youth teams of those European powerhouses. I'm taking this very seriously, and I hope you are too. I know that some of you aren't valued in your respective club youth teams, so you should cherish this opportunity even more. This will be your chance to prove your strength to your clubs, and more importantly, it will be a chance for you to showcase yourselves to all of Europe. So before that, you must train hard and strive to improve your skills."

Hao Dong didn't waste words, getting straight to the point and making his demands of the players.

"I will be very strict with you, and I hope you can keep up with the demands of the training plan. These three-plus weeks of training camp will not be any easier than when you're at your clubs, and may even be more demanding. Don't come to this training camp with a vacation or play mentality. Understand?"

"Understood!" The young players shouted loudly, Zhou Yi's response being particularly loud.

"Alright, let's start training."

The coaches of the coaching staff stepped forward and began to lead players in different positions in different training exercises. They had all warmed up before the start of training, so they could start training directly.

But no coach called Zhou Yi to train. Sun Pan followed the goalkeeper coach first, and Yang Muge also followed the defensive coach. When the offensive coach came to take people, Zhou Yi excitedly followed him, but was stopped by assistant coach Xu Yang, "Wait a moment, Zhou Yi."

Zhou Yi didn't understand why he was being asked to stay. He looked at his teammates who had followed the offensive coach away, feeling a little reluctant. His new roommate, He Ying, was in there.

The other players also noticed Zhou Yi, who was left standing in place. Everyone had left, leaving him standing there alone, solitary.

Sun Pan and Yang Muge were both a little surprised why Zhou Yi was singled out.

Xu Yang stood in front of Zhou Yi and said to him, "Don't train with the team for now. For the next two weeks, your task is to do physical and strength training in the gym."

Zhou Yi's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, looking at assistant coach Xu Yang in surprise.

Not training with the team for two whole weeks, but training alone in the gym?

This wasn't the "training camp" he wanted!

"Um... Coach, there's no problem with my physical fitness. At school, I can play the full ninety minutes in every game..."

"Those are school football matches." Hao Dong, who had been standing next to them without saying a word, shook his head and interjected. He didn't think that Chinese campus football could be compared to professional football; the former was simply playing house. "The requirements for physical fitness are completely different. You are the only amateur among the sixteen of you. You have never received systematic training, including physical training. So before training with the team, you must make up for this part of the work that you've missed."

After Hao Dong finished speaking, he didn't intend to say anything else. He was the head coach, not someone's nanny, and didn't need to spend too much energy on one person.

But looking at Zhou Yi's aggrieved and unwilling expression, he suddenly thought of that final game three days ago. This kid could fall asleep on the bench, but once he was on the field, he had a completely different performance.

So he added, "I'm doing this for your own good, Zhou Yi. Your football talent needs a sufficient physical foundation to be better developed, so you must first improve your physical fitness."

These words finally moved Zhou Yi and made him give up his insistence.

Although he was still a little disappointed that he couldn't train with his teammates, the head coach had finally acknowledged his ability, rather than abandoning him, and that was enough.

So he nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to the coach."

Hao Dong smiled slightly, "Go ahead, Coach Li is waiting for you in the gym."

Zhou Yi turned and ran toward the gym.

※※※

Zhou Yi's actions also caused a stir among the other players.

"See, I told you. That kid is the weakest. He's not qualified to train with us!" Someone shrugged and sneered. He was the team's attacking midfielder, Liang Qiqi, training in the offensive group. "We were all transferred from clubs, where did he come from? What First High School? What kind of club is that?"

Hearing this, the teammates laughed.

Yes, they were all youth training players from the formal professional football club system. They had entered the football clubs from a very young age, starting from the youth team, and had gone through layers of competition and elimination to reach the youth team of this age group. They were all determined to make football their profession, dreaming of wearing the national team jersey and winning glory for the country. If they could also go to Europe to play football and earn a lot of money, that would be even better.

Who was that Zhou Yi?

A student who went to some high school. His future didn't belong on the green field, but should be in the college entrance examination hall. In terms of examination ability, we may not be as good as him, but in terms of football ability, he is definitely not as good as us!

When facing this student teammate, they all had a sense of superiority to varying degrees.

They had known for a long time that there would be an amateur player representative in the team, and they had already discussed it, so they had decided what attitude to take. When Liang Qiqi said this, many people laughed.

In the eyes of these people, the most special person in this team was not the aloof He Ying, but Zhou Yi.

He Ying, who was also in the offensive group, didn't laugh along. He didn't even join the crowd, didn't even look at his roommate, but was just quietly doing his own thing, waiting for training to begin.

"Alright, what are you doing worrying about others? Train!" Offensive coach Du Ping scolded the players who were watching the fun.

As soon as the coach spoke, a group of people quickly stopped laughing and began to prepare for training.

※※※

Sun Pan and Yang Muge also saw Zhou Yi leave the training ground. They didn't know what head coach Hao Dong had said to Zhou Yi, but it was a fact that Zhou Yi had left the training ground and wasn't participating in team training.

The training areas for the defensive group and the goalkeeper group weren't far apart. The two looked at each other from a distance, and both saw concern for their friend Zhou Yi in each other's eyes.

They hoped that he wouldn't be discouraged by this and become depressed from then on...