Volume 3: A Life of Wandering - Chapter 111: The U-17 Squad

Graduation.

What is graduation? People go through many graduations in their lifetime, and the reflections upon each one may differ.

Primary school graduation—perhaps there is no memory of it. Middle school graduation—what remains might be the reluctance to part with friendships and the lingering worries of one's first stirrings of love. High school graduation—perhaps it is merely the relief of being accepted into a desired university, or the thought of embarking on the path of life. University graduation—carrying both bewilderment and anticipation for the society one is about to enter. Marriage is also a form of graduation, signifying the impending burden of family responsibilities. At the end of life, there is another graduation—the graduation of existence. Standing at the finish line, looking back at the journey one has traveled, is it a life without regrets, or one filled with unwillingness? Yet, there is no chance to do it all over again.

Long Bisheng and his peers have graduated. As the time transitioned into the 2004 Spring Festival, this group of players graduated from the Yunjia Tianyu Football School. When Long Bisheng first enrolled, there were forty-three students in his class; now, only thirty-one remained. Over these five years, like iron barracks seeing flowing soldiers, the tides have washed away the sand, leaving only the gleaming gold behind.

Being able to participate in this graduation ceremony meant they would at least receive apprentice contracts from the club. Some exceptionally outstanding players would be promoted directly to the U-17 squad, while the others would head to the U-15 squad. Those entering the U-17 squad directly meant they would have more opportunities to play.

Ning Xi and Liu Lin remained at the school to continue their studies. Being an agent is a highly complex job; relying solely on eloquence and cleverness is not enough. Economics, public speaking, interpersonal skills, an understanding of football, knowledge of the clubs their players might join, negotiation techniques, business acumen, financial literacy—all these and more must be explored.

Of course, these things cannot be learned solely in a classroom. But without a deep foundation and solid knowledge, it is even more impossible to learn them through practice. They would spend another two years in school, followed by internships with the club’s agency team. They would observe how their predecessors handle the role of an agent before sitting for domestic agent certification exams. If their results were excellent, the club would recommend them for the FIFA-recognized international agent license.

There are now quite a few official agents from Yunjia Tianyu who possess licenses and work within the country. Their presence has caused the so-called "agents" living in the gray areas to lose their market. However, those who hold the internationally recognized FIFA agent license are few and far between. The only agent truly renowned even in Europe is the current general manager of Yunjia Tianyu, Jiang Hao. Almost all Chinese players in Europe are under his representation. This is simply the nature of the business; agents have their tiers. A top-tier agent can command respect even from the transfer managers of major clubs, while an average agent might not even be able to secure a meeting with such people.

Sometimes, cultivating a good agent is even harder than cultivating an outstanding player. Liu Lin, for instance, was a talent discovered by Jiang Hao through a stroke of luck. With a sharp mind, clear thinking, a relatable demeanor, and a keen sense for information and numbers, he was a natural for the agency business. He was placed into the Yunjia Tianyu Football School as a special talent to be nurtured. Jiang Hao is now extremely busy; he is not just an agent, but the general manager of Yunjia Tianyu. He has little energy left to manage agency affairs. Moreover, Jiang Hao has many hobbies; outside of work, he loves fine wine and beautiful women. Ever since Pei Wei stepped down as the club chairman, leaving Li Qiang, Jiang Hao, and Wang Sa to form the club’s iron triangle, Jiang Hao has been too busy to attend to his indulgences, and he desperately needs a brilliant talent to assist him.

Yet, training an agent takes time, just as training a great player does.

There were ten players who skipped levels to enter the U-17 squad this time, and all seven players from Dormitory 101 were selected. This proved that Ding Yu’s initial judgment was correct—all seven children in this room possessed the potential to become professional players. They were now semi-professional athletes.

Graduating successfully from the football school meant they could move into the club’s dormitories, train on the youth squad’s pitches, receive a monthly apprentice salary, play in official youth league matches every season, and potentially be loaned out to lower-level league teams. The income from that would be substantial, especially for teenage players; being loaned out could earn them nearly ten thousand yuan a month, which is not a small sum.

Of course, Long Bisheng hadn’t thought that far ahead. He only knew that he now had a monthly apprentice salary of 1,200 yuan and a certain amount of subsidies. With a monthly income, he no longer needed to ask his family for a penny and could even send some money back to help with household expenses. His friends were still by his side, and he could still be with Ning Xi every weekend. He felt very satisfied and fulfilled.

Over the past year, Long Bisheng’s height had surged to two meters. In the last year, he had grown as if he were on stimulants, sprouting fifteen centimeters in a single year. It worried Ding Yu so much that he thought Long Bisheng might have "gigantism" and sent him to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor, however, said that Long Bisheng was in excellent health and had no illness; his growth spurt had simply arrived early. It was unlikely he would grow much more in the coming years.

This result relieved Long Bisheng as well. He didn't want to grow too tall—after all, excessive height is a burden. For a footballer, reaching two meters is already a remarkable figure. Furthermore, Long Bisheng didn't want to struggle with finding a wife later in life; hadn't he seen that even someone like Yao Ming had to find a girlfriend within the women's basketball team?

For Long Bisheng, the U-17 squad was a magical place. It wasn't magical because of the accounting office that paid his monthly salary, but because of everything else.

Here, you could encounter people you could previously only see on television. The U-17 squad’s dorms and training grounds were located within the Yunjia Tianyu Club. This club, the most magical in all of China, possessed many extraordinary figures. That ordinary-looking man walking along while lost in thought might be the current club chairman, Li Qiang. That chubby man sitting in the shade of a tree in a daze was the transfer department manager, Wang Sa. That curly-haired little man was the seventeen-year-old Messi, who had risen to fame in the last two years and was now playing for Yunjia Tianyu’s first team. That old man guarding the door might look unremarkable, but he had a famous son—Adriano, who played for Arsenal.

Seeing the first-team stars every day and witnessing the club's key figures daily satisfied Long Bisheng’s inner fanboy. The only thing that slightly disheartened him was that, upon entering the U-17 squad, his self-confidence suffered another blow. Back at the school, his level had been quite outstanding—otherwise, he wouldn't have earned the chance to skip levels—but compared to the proud elites in the U-17 squad, he was still the weakest one.

Fortunately, Long Bisheng was used to this situation. His solution was the same as when he first entered the football school: If others have a higher skill level, then if they train five days a week, I will train seven. If they train eight hours a day, I will train twelve. "The bird that flies first is not necessarily a stupid one." Long Bisheng remembered that sentence from Ding Yu clearly.

The U-17 squad’s head coach was Xia Liquan. This vice-principal of the football school had been transferred to lead the U-17 team a year ago, while Ding Yu had taken over his position as vice-principal. Ding Yu seemed addicted to nurturing young players; he had even resigned from his post as first-team assistant coach to focus entirely on fostering youth talent.

Xia Liquan was a very strict coach with a wealth of experience in coaching youth teams. Nie Fei, Zhu Guosheng, Ai Lin, and Wu Jiang were all his proud protégés. The club’s decision to appoint him as the U-17 head coach was undoubtedly aimed at having him produce another batch of young players capable of joining the first team in bulk.

The ten new players, combined with the original twenty-three, formed the Yunjia Tianyu U-17 squad. This team was only one step away from the reserve team, but for many players, that step was an insurmountable chasm. Furthermore, reaching the reserve team didn't guarantee playing time on the first team. Over the years, at least a hundred professional players had come out of the Yunjia Tianyu youth system, but only about twenty had managed to establish themselves in the first team. Most other players were transferred to lower-level league teams. Those who eventually remained on the first team were the elite of the elite, the geniuses among geniuses.

Long Bisheng didn't know if he would ultimately be able to stay on the Yunjia Tianyu first team. In the past, he would have been satisfied just to be transferred out, because even if he were just playing for a second-division team, as long as he could be a starter, earning hundreds of thousands a season was no problem. Playing for ten years would make him a small millionaire, easily supporting his family and allowing his parents to enjoy their later years in peace. That had originally been his minimum goal for playing football. But now, that goal was no longer enough.

He had said he wanted Ning Xi to be his agent, and Ning Xi had said she would only represent him as a player. Therefore, he had to earn more money so that the ten percent she took from him would be enough to support her. To achieve that, merely being a starter on a lower-league Chinese team was far from sufficient... it was absolutely not enough.

That was why he had to work even harder.