Chapter 23 The Reactions from All Sides

The episode featuring the Chinese youths playing against Arsenal's youth team saw a resurgence in viewership for "Green Field Inheritors." Many viewers tuned in specifically after hearing about the Chinese youths' impressive performance in the previous episode.

Following the broadcast of the episode against Dortmund, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with online reviews becoming much more favorable than before.

All of this was due to the three goals scored by the Chinese youths against Dortmund's youth team.

He Ying was already a familiar face, the main striker for the Chinese national youth team, widely reported on by domestic media as a rising star in Chinese football. He was the strongest player in that youth squad.

His participation in a reality show was initially unexpected, but it significantly boosted the show's popularity.

However, He Ying's performance on the show later proved disappointing for many. It was a disappointment not only for him personally but also for Chinese football as a whole—the strongest player of our seventeen-year-old generation can't even score a goal abroad? Is this really our best? How pathetic!

Numerous critical comments targeting He Ying appeared online, claiming he was just overhyped by the media at home and revealed his true colors as soon as he went abroad.

His supposed speed, excellent dribbling, comprehensive technique, and awareness far exceeding his domestic peers… were all just media exaggerations.

Thus, He Ying, the only player in our seventeen-year-old age group capable of competing with his Japanese and Korean counterparts, became a fabricated illusion… Leading many to criticize the country as a whole.

"Is there anything real left in our country?"

Even He Ying's staunch fans felt powerless in the face of such criticism, as He Ying had indeed failed to deliver any noteworthy performances in reality.

But the match against Dortmund's youth team allowed them to finally hold their heads high.

He Ying remained silent until he struck, and then he struck twice!

However, He Ying's performance at best proved he wasn't entirely undeserving of his reputation. Frankly, it wasn't particularly shocking.

On the other hand, Zhou Yi, the other goal scorer, piqued more people's interest.

A quick online search revealed him to be a representative of student players, selected through a nationwide audition. Beyond that, there was little information or introduction. He wasn't a standout in previous episodes either, with the exception of a humorous exchange with a cameraman in the first episode. He had zero playing time in the previous four matches, so naturally, he had no impact.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly started in this match and provided two assists and one goal!

Although the final goal was undeniably lucky.

But he had already provided two assists, and He Ying's brace was all thanks to Zhou Yi's assists.

He instantly attracted a lot of attention.

How could a student player possess such abilities?

Everyone was utterly baffled.

Because of their outstanding performance in the match against Dortmund, this episode generated more widespread discussion and attracted greater media attention.

Prior to this, most media outlets were largely uninterested in the show, except when paid to issue announcements.

But now that everyone was talking about it, they naturally recognized it as a news hotspot.

Especially Zhou Yi.

This player was shrouded in mystery and was the perfect news subject.

He was selected through auditions, meaning he wasn't a professionally trained, soon-to-be professional player.

How could an amateur perform so well?

What stories lay behind him? What kind of person was he?

But unfortunately, the media could only access publicly available information and couldn't uncover much else about Zhou Yi. They knew he was a student, but no one even knew where he went to school.

They couldn't find a path to delve deeper.

However, just as everyone was struggling to find detailed information about Zhou Yi, they realized they might not need to care about Zhou Yi's identity after all…

Because in the following episode, the Chinese youths suffered another crushing defeat in the match, losing 0:7 to Arsenal's youth team!

This immediately silenced the previous voices praising Zhou Yi and the other youths.

0:7! And all goals were conceded in the first half. "Crushing defeat" wasn't enough to describe it; it was a "massacre."

Someone complained online: "It truly is a football reality show, inheriting the glorious tradition of Chinese football—just when you start to have a glimmer of hope, it slaps you hard in the face! Letting you know how silly and naive you are!"

In an instant, the barrage of abuse returned with renewed intensity.

All kinds of harsh words were thrown around.

Just like the Chinese football they were complaining about, they maintained their fine tradition—lavish praise after a win, fierce abuse after a loss…

Everyone was the same.

Amidst this storm of criticism, few people noticed that Zhou Yi was substituted off halfway through the match, or that the score was still 0:0 when Zhou Yi was on the field, and 0:7 after he was taken off.

Even if there were such people, they were drowned in the ocean of abuse, unable to create even the smallest ripple.

But regardless… there was a very small yet undeniably present change.

That was, a Baidu Tieba (online forum) named after "Zhou Yi" appeared online.

The introduction of the Tieba clearly stated: "Zhou Yi Fan Club Tieba for 'Green Field Inheritors' Contestant!"

Currently, it only had a meager twenty-two followers.

Though small in number, Zhou Yi had at least gained his first group of fans, though he himself was unaware…

※※※

A week passed quickly, and when Thursday night came again, the television station broadcast the latest episode of "Green Field Inheritors."

Following the heavy defeat to Arsenal's youth team, it was somewhat surprising that the initial viewership for this episode wasn't low, at least not as low as everyone had imagined.

Why was that?

A wildly popular post on the "Green Field Inheritors" Tieba might shed some light: "I heard that this episode's opponent for the Chinese 'masochist team' is Chelsea's youth team, waiting to get slaughtered. Let's guess how many goals they'll concede this time!"

A netizen with a Messi avatar replied in the second floor: "Eleven, no more!"

A netizen with a Lampard avatar quoted the second floor in the third floor: "Why no more?"

"Because I'm a Barcelona fan!" the netizen on the second floor replied.

"Okay, then I'll support Chelsea to score thirteen!"

The original poster came out: "Please guess civilly, no arguing!"

"I guess eight!"

"Nine, nine! Nine nine makes one, so auspicious!"

"Then why not ten? Perfection!"

"I guess twelve, twelve zodiac signs!"

"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves!"

"Sixty-six, smooth sailing!"

"Ninety-nine eighty-one tribulations!"

"Enough! It's obviously the Water Margin's one hundred and eight heroes!"

……

"The youths who represent our Chinese football are being kicked so badly, is it easy for them! And you guys are just bashing them like that? Do you have any conscience? Any sense of morality or patriotism?! Huh! How did you guys take your ideological and moral education classes! Did you all fail?! If you want me to guess, we have fourteen billion people in China!"

"The commenter above is too dark…"

Indeed, many people watching this episode were actually there to see the Chinese youths humiliated, to see them get abused. It was a very twisted pleasure. The more unfortunate Chinese football was, the more excited they became.

It was hard to say they weren't football fans; the subjects they followed on Tieba were all major European clubs, and they could talk at length about European football. They could even passionately discuss a certain league match in history for a long time.

It was also hard to say they weren't Chinese football fans; there was a time when they would sit in front of the TV to watch every match of the Chinese national team, and they would queue up all night just to buy a ticket to a certain Jia A League match to shout "Xiong Qi" (Rise up!) in the stands.

But who should be blamed?

That was a very serious question.

※※※

The production team seemed to know that the domestic audience was just waiting to see the final match, so they intentionally compressed the preceding content and focused the episode on the match, with all previous segments revolving around it.

Of course, the production team had its reasons for doing so, as they already knew the outcome of this match, so they naturally knew what to do in post-production.

If it had been the previous match against Arsenal's youth team, they would have definitely never done this.

Soon, the pre-match segments were over, and the main event began.

The match between the Chinese youths and Chelsea's youth team officially kicked off!

What the viewers watching the show on TV or online didn't expect was… they had been expecting a massacre, but instead, it was the Chinese team that scored first!

When Zhou Yi assisted He Ying to score the first goal, the unprepared viewers in front of their TVs and computers were stunned!

What was going on? The Chinese team was leading?

No… was the Chinese team leading again?

Many people quickly thought back to the episode against Dortmund's youth team, where the Chinese team had also scored first!

So, leading at this point didn't mean much.

After the initial surprise, the audience regained their composure and rationality.

Some people even commented online that the Chinese team had angered Chelsea's youth team, and were just waiting to be slaughtered in the following match!

They weren't wrong, and soon after, Chelsea's youth team scored to tie the game.

Then, they scored again before the end of the first half, going from a deficit to a lead.

"See, see! I told you, this is the way of Chinese football!"

"Alas, Chinese football is so disappointing!"

"Not surprising at all, this is the normal rhythm!"

"So many years have passed, only the national team remains as stable as ever, it's really not easy!"

"Same recipe, same flavor, this is the sourness I crave!!"

"Actually, you all misunderstand, it's not that the national team is too weak, it's that they're nostalgic!"

All kinds of complaints appeared online, and the comedians once again had ammunition to fully utilize their "intelligence."

The internet was practically in a carnival, forming a stark contrast to the crisis atmosphere of the Chinese team falling behind, which was being vigorously created in the show.

In addition, after the end of the first half, the show also broadcasted a segment of Sun Pan and a Chelsea youth team player confronting each other, further igniting the audience.

Except for the swear words being [beeped] out, not a single word of the shouting was eliminated.

"Yo yo yo! If you can't beat them, then you want to hit them! Truly a fine tradition of Chinese football!"

"Losing the game and losing face, so embarrassing!"

"This is the Chinese player we're familiar with—I now believe these kids were all selected from various domestic clubs!"

"Is this trying to learn from the national Olympics team? Can't even win a fight?"

"That Sun Pan is from the Northeast, right? Doesn't look like a good person at all!"

"The commenter above, don't engage in regional attacks!"

……

While everyone was reveling online, the show temporarily paused for a commercial break.

After the five-minute commercial, when the show restarted, it jumped straight to the locker room scene.

As soon as Hao Dong's passionate speech came out, the online jokes about these youth teams began to decline sharply.

Everyone sat blankly in front of their TVs or computers, with Hao Dong's voice coming from the speakers: "...If any of you still have even the slightest illusion about your future, then give me your full attention and treat every game, every opponent seriously! Don't become numb or accustomed to it just because we've lost a lot before. Remember! Even failure must be made valuable! Every failure now is for the sake of future victory!"

Few reality shows would expose their own shortcomings, but Hao Dong did so in the show, discussing the previously lost matches without reservation, and the fact that the players weren't actually qualified as the main force of the club's youth team. And this locker room speech was not cut at all by the production team.

It was presented to everyone so completely and bloodily.

Everyone was stunned; no one expected a match and show they were treating as a joke to suddenly turn into this.

This was even more unexpected than the Chinese team taking the lead.

Of course, there were still some stubborn people.

"What's so hard about moving your lips and saying a few nice platitudes? Isn't it always been the tradition of Chinese football to talk tough?"

"Mouth-based football powerhouse, hahaha!"

"Tch, what era is it? Still thinking you can win by saying a few nice and bold words during halftime? No wonder Chinese football hasn't made any progress after all these years!"

But after the second half started, these voices disappeared.

When Zhou Yi volleyed a pass, assisting He Ying to score the tying goal for the team, many people even jumped up from their TVs and computers!

Subsequently, many positive comments began to appear online.

"That ball was awesome! Unbelievable!"

"Zhou Yi's pass...unthinkable, unthinkable!"

"He Ying's movement was also very agile! The two of them have combined to score all of China's goals so far, a true golden partnership! I heard they're also roommates, I wonder if their chemistry has something to do with that?"

"Interesting idea! Could it be that this match...I can't say, I can't say…"

※※※

The person in charge of monitoring the ratings of each show at the television station quickly discovered that the ratings of "Green Field Inheritors" were soaring.

Her exclamation immediately attracted more onlookers, and everyone watched as the rating numbers after the show's name constantly jumped and changed, and the show's real-time rating ranking also climbed upwards.

"What's going on... how could there be such a change?"

The surrounding colleagues discussed.

"Is there anything special about this episode?"

"No, it's said to be a match against Chelsea's youth team..."

"Isn't that still a loss?"

"Maybe the audience prefers to see the national team make a fool of itself?"

Amidst the discussion, a voice coldly said: "They just tied the game."

"Ah?"

A group of people was stunned and speechless.

But they also understood what was happening.

Chinese football fans... the vast majority of Chinese football fans, still sincerely hope for Chinese football to improve...

※※※

Although the Chinese youths had also scored two goals in the match against Dortmund, and had even taken the lead twice.

But this time, with the groundwork laid in the first half and during halftime, everyone's emotions were running high.

No one wanted to lose anymore!

However, the subsequent progress of the match also made everyone sweat for the Chinese football youths—Chelsea's youth team was attacking so fiercely, Zhou Yi was clearly running out of energy, could this game... be defended to a draw?

Yes, they didn't ask for a win, they only asked not to lose; a draw would be enough to make everyone happy for a week!

Zhou Yi's orchestrated passing in the backfield also drew some criticism, with some believing that it was playing with fire and that something was bound to go wrong if they continued to play this way.

At this moment, the situation on the field suddenly changed. The Chinese team, which had been passing the ball in the backfield all along, suddenly passed the ball out, and Zhou Yi sent a through ball straight into the Chelsea's backfield gap!

Then, He Ying sprinted all the way, passed the Chelsea youth team goalkeeper who came out to challenge, and slammed the ball into the empty net!

Those sitting or standing in front of the TV and computers didn't make any sound, as if petrified, blankly watching the screen.

A reversal?

We actually reversed the score!

What was going on!

Afterwards, everyone reacted, and the internet exploded.

"I didn't see it wrong, right? Did the Chinese team really just score?"

"Is this really not a pre-written script?"

"Damn! Too cool! He Ying is too cool! Zhou Yi is too cool! The Chinese team is so damn cool!"

※※※

Next, Zhou Yi was substituted off by Yang Fei because he was cramping and unable to continue the match. Zhou Yi, who was substituted off at the time, didn't enjoy the treatment of fans standing up and applauding, because there were no spectators on the sidelines at the time.

But now, in the TV show, he enjoyed the treatment of many fans in front of the TV and computers standing up and applauding as he left the field.

Then came Sun Pan's highlight moment. This Northeastern boy, who was ridiculed by fans as a representative of the low quality of Chinese players at the end of the first half, used his almost world-class performance to block Chelsea's youth team's attacks again and again, shot after shot. Especially the save of that swerving ball, made the audience in front of the TV and computers exclaim.

"This—how—is—that—possible?!" They themselves didn't believe it.

The game time ticked away minute by minute, and Chelsea's youth team was still unable to shake Sun Pan's goal.

The audience also became nervous, afraid that they would concede a goal at the last moment.

Things like the "black three minutes" had happened many times in Chinese football history. It had almost become a chronic disease in the hearts of all Chinese fans. As long as the Chinese team was leading by one goal or drawing in the final stages of the game, the fans watching the game couldn't help but worry that the tragedy would be repeated...

But this time, the unheralded youths didn't let it happen!

When the referee blew the long-awaited whistle to end the game, the Chinese team players on the sidelines rushed onto the field, and the audience in front of the screen also raised their arms and cheered.

At this time, the show suddenly played an old song.

A very old song, so old that the children today might not have even heard of it.

"...In my heart, there was once a dream, to use singing to make you forget all the pain; in the brilliant starry sky, who is the real hero? Ordinary people give me the most inspiration..."

After the piano prelude, four different voices sang, and the screen showed scenes of the youths celebrating their victory with excitement.

And Chelsea's youth team coach took the initiative to come to Hao Dong and shook hands, saying: "Congratulations, Hao. I saw a wonderful game, this victory is well deserved for you." As he spoke, the music was lowered, faintly, and his words were displayed at the bottom of the screen with Chinese subtitles.

Zhou Yi raised his arms and shouted on the sidelines: "Ooooh! Ooooh!!"

The music continued.

"Seize every minute of life, go all out for the dream in our hearts; how can we see a rainbow without experiencing wind and rain? No one can succeed easily!"

"Seize every moment of inspiration in life, embrace passionately with beloved friends; let the sincere words, and the happy tears, flow in my heart and yours..."

At this time, the audience in front of the screen, those who were slightly older, realized that they were already in tears without knowing when... just like the song sang.

Because this song really... evoked too many memories for them, a collective memory belonging to the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties.

Back then, in the most popular era of Chinese professional football, this song was frequently sung in the Jia A League stadiums. The degree of popularity was almost like "You'll Never Walk Alone" in foreign stadiums.

People sang this song and carried small stools and quilts to queue up at the stadium entrance to wait for tickets; sang this song to cheer for their team; sang this song to welcome the triumphant return of the team they supported...

As soon as this music started, they seemed to have returned to the Chinese football scene in the 1990s.

But now, this song has gradually been forgotten. No matter how popular a song is, there is a time when it becomes outdated. Just like this song, no matter how popular the football market is, there will be a time when it cools down, and no matter how glorious the era is, it will pass.

The cities that once created the Chinese gold-medal football market have long been unable to accommodate a professional football club. The stadiums that were once crowded and difficult to get a ticket for are now only used for concerts and nothing else.

The teenagers and youths who were once crazy about Chinese football have also grown up and gotten old. Perhaps they haven't watched the Chinese league for many years, or perhaps they still watch every game and curse every game, masochistically and painfully.

But there will also be such a night when they will remember the things they loved when they were young and frivolous, and will remember the crazy actions they took for this love.

For example, this night when "True Hero" was sung again.

That was their "young age" that they and Chinese football could never return to...

The music continued, and the four singers' chorus pushed the song to a climax.

The screen gradually turned black.

A series of texts silently appeared in the center of the black screen.

"Six weeks ago, we buried some seeds in the frozen soil of Chinese football. This land is so hard and not suitable for growth, and no one had any hope that these seeds would survive.

During these six weeks, the outside world was full of lightning and thunder, wind and sand, and was extremely treacherous. And the seeds, dormant in the dark, seemed as if they would never sprout...

But today, they broke through the soil and declared war on the conventions, worldly prejudices, and decadent regulations in this world.

Seeing them full of vitality, I can't help but think—maybe in a few years, there will be a forest of freely smeared greenery in this brownish-yellow wasteland?

Perhaps this is the meaning of why we must do this thing.

Thank you, youths, please grow as you please! The more stubborn the past you have to break is, the more tenacious you must be.

And we will cheer for you.

——The "Green Field Inheritors" Production Team"

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ps, I was particularly emotional when I wrote this chapter, and there are many things in it that I wanted to say.

I think that the fact that I have insisted on writing football novels for thirteen years, in addition to making money to support my family, also has a meaning that I must do this thing.

In addition, thank you for your enthusiasm yesterday, which allowed us to reach the recommendation list and click list on the homepage. I hope we can work together to persevere and stay on the team!

Finally, Li Zongsheng's "True Hero" and Zheng Zhihua's "Young Age" are both very old songs, but they still sound very good now, and I recommend them to everyone.