Chapter Thirty-Two: To Punish Evil Is to Promote Good

After returning home, Long Yuyun began to use his spare time to inquire everywhere about the enrollment methods and fees of legitimate football schools. However, summer was always the toughest time for military training, and he wasn't the kind of officer who sits in an office; he had to handle everything personally. Luckily, it was the summer vacation, so he had enough time to investigate.

Soon, Long Bisheng had gathered information about more than a dozen legitimate football schools across the country. Geographically, the closest was a football school in Sichuan. Though it hadn't been established for long, its young players were sent to the youth teams of two strong top-tier clubs, Tianfu of Shu and Chongqing Universal. Unfortunately, the school mostly admitted children from the Ba-Shu region. While there was no explicit rule barring students from other provinces, it was still difficult for outsiders to gain a foothold there.

Local ties run deep, and that's not just empty talk. Moreover, children from Ba-Shu are known for their fierce nature, making integration a real challenge.

As for other football schools, five were located in Liaoning—three in Dalian, two in Shenyang. Shandong had two, one in Jinan and another in Qingdao. Guangdong, which used to rival Liaoning as a football powerhouse, had gradually declined since professionalization began, and now only had two football schools left. Other schools existed in Jilin, Shanghai, and Wuhan as well. Worth noting was Yunjia, a city of just over a million people, which had recently become prominent and boasted two football schools. One belonged to the Yunjia Tianyu Football Club, covering grades from elementary to junior high; the other had just been launched in cooperation with Italy's Inter Milan.

In terms of facilities and emphasis on youth development, Yunjia led the way. Tradition belonged to Liaoning and Guangdong. However, getting into these legitimate football schools was no easy feat; strict selection was required upon entry. Except for the Yunjia Tianyu Football School, which wasn't profit-driven, the fees for other schools were not much cheaper than the scam school Long Bisheng had attended that year.

During this period, Long Yuyun was busy with military matters and, whenever he had free time, thoroughly investigated all the schools. He was stretched thin. Long Bisheng wasn't idle either. Although he'd returned from football school, he didn't want to give up training. Not knowing how to train on his own, he continued to follow the methods taught by the coaches at that school, practicing every day.

Under his influence, other children in the compound joined his training. Of course, few stuck with it, but a new football craze swept through the compound. Every afternoon, passersby and guards would see a pack of children around ten years old racing across the yard, chasing a small football.

Thanks to his performance in the selection trials and his experience at football school, no one pushed Long Bisheng aside anymore. He truly demonstrated his trained abilities, playing every position on the field. Unconsciously, he began to notice the differences in what each position required.

What frustrated him was that, after nearly a year of playing, he still couldn't find the position most suited to him—at football school, he felt somewhat lacking in every role, while with his untrained friends, he seemed to excel in any position.

This was because his technical style hadn't yet solidified. The coaches at the football school simply didn't know how to nurture a player; they only taught basic training. So, while Long Bisheng had built a solid foundation, he was utterly confused about which position was his forte.

If things continued this way, after missing the prime opportunity for rapid growth, even if Long Bisheng eventually found his ideal position, he wouldn't have much of a future.

Fortunately, an opportunity appeared before him, brought by the very person responsible for his departure from the scam football school…

**********************************************

That day, just as Long Bisheng and his friends finished playing and were about to head home, a somewhat familiar voice called out nearby, "Hey, young man, can I ask you something?"

Long Bisheng looked up and immediately froze—his memory was excellent, and he rarely forgot a face, especially one that had left such a deep impression.

"You are..." Long Bisheng stammered, only getting out two words when the man smiled kindly. "I bet you've forgotten me."

For some reason, after hearing this, Long Bisheng calmed down. "How could I forget? You're the one who tricked a ten-year-old just to get information."

Standing before Long Bisheng was the young man who had questioned him that day. Later, Long Bisheng learned he was working for the Xi'an Football Association, investigating whether there were any scam football schools in Shaanxi. Because he had the firsthand information, the school was quickly closed.

Long Bisheng didn't know the full significance of this, but he did understand that the young man had saved him—at least now he still had the chance to go to other football schools and pursue his future. Still, emotionally, he didn't like the person who had deceived him.

Honest people tend to dislike being tricked, while cunning people don't really mind.

"What’s wrong? Don’t want to see me?" The young man shrugged and asked.

"I don’t like you," Long Bisheng glared at him. "I don’t like being lied to."

"How did I lie to you?" The young man laughed.

Long Bisheng continued to glare, perhaps showing his dislike openly for the first time. "What about that relative of yours, whose family isn't well off but wants to send his son to play football? If such a person really exists, then you didn’t lie to me."

"There are people like that, more than one," the young man said seriously. "Aren’t you one of them? Your family isn’t rich, but your parents would rather suffer themselves and pay expensive tuition so you can play football... There are countless families like this in China today. By shutting down one scam football school, fewer families will be deceived. If we close them all, no family will ever fall victim to this again—though you’re still young, you should understand the principle that punishing evil promotes good."

ps: Made it onto the rankings, feels great. Thanks, brothers, for your support. Another chapter tonight!

ps2: To those who get disgusted by Chinese football and want to vent that disgust here, please don’t read this book, alright? Don’t come here to vent your frustrations just because you’re sick of Chinese football. I don’t force you to follow Chinese football, so please don’t force me not to write about it—after all, writing about Chinese football isn’t a crime.

Let’s just love whatever we want to love.