Chapter Forty-Four: The Beast Long Bisheng

Time flowed quietly like water. Before anyone realized it, two months of the new semester had already slipped by.

It was the weekend, and after a week of grueling training and study, the students finally enjoyed a rare respite. There was no alarm at half past six, no reason to wake unless they pleased, and both afternoon and evening promised leisure. For the residents of Dormitory 505, the afternoon always followed a familiar pattern: Dai Guangming would inevitably head to the bookstore, Zhang Yi and Zhou Wei would probably go play a few rounds of billiards, Hu Gandang would watch some videos, and Wu Bufan and Li Jie would most likely be found playing games.

Yet, right at half past six, Long Bisheng rolled out of bed. Though he moved quietly as he dressed and folded his quilt, everyone knew that the tireless training fanatic—whose fitness bordered on monstrous—was off for another extra session of practice.

Once the sounds of washing and brushing in the bathroom faded and Long Bisheng’s heavy footsteps receded, Zhou Wei rolled over on his bed and groaned in agony. “My god, does this guy have an alarm clock in his head or something? Up at the exact same time every day? I’m telling you, I snuck a look at the clock just now—he got up at exactly six thirty, not a minute off!”

“Don’t you know anything?” Li Jie teased. “The human body has its own biological clock. If you’re used to it, you wake up at the same time every day. Otherwise, considering the way you came back last night looking dead on your feet, how did you even notice him getting up? He was so quiet!”

Zhou Wei was about to retort when Dai Guangming chuckled. “That’s what comes of growing up in a military compound, I guess. He’s probably been used to this since he was a kid… But I really do admire him. I thought I was already pretty hardworking, but compared to him, I’m just lazy… Old Hu, if you look at how much extra training he’s done these past two months, do you think you could keep it up?”

“You must be joking.” Hu Gandang’s voice drifted from the upper bunk. “Come on, I’m human, not a beast of burden.”

Privately, they had all agreed on Long Bisheng’s nickname: “Beast.” It was not meant as an insult, but rather as a mark of their deep respect. The man was like an old ox—willing to tackle any task. For boys their age, a day of training left them with no energy for chores. Laundry was often just dumped at the washhouse. But Long Bisheng, who trained more than any of them, always rushed to clean the floor and wipe down the tables as soon as he returned. Compared to other dorms, which looked like pigsties, Room 505 was a veritable paradise.

Spurred by his example, the other six became much more diligent, but none could match Long Bisheng for speed or thoroughness. If there were an award for cleanliness, Dai Guangming and the others would bet their lives that Long Bisheng could win it year after year, for all eternity.

Before this semester, Hu Gandang had been the most hardworking student in the school. But with Long Bisheng’s arrival, he was immediately bumped to second place—and he accepted it without complaint. He had done the math: if he tried to keep up with Long Bisheng’s extra training, he’d last maybe a month before hitting his limit.

A man doesn’t like to admit defeat, but in terms of stamina and persistence, Hu Gandang felt that conceding to Long Bisheng was nothing to be ashamed of.

And when it came to appetite, Long Bisheng was also unmatched.

The food at Yun Jia Tianyu Football School was much better than what they’d had in Xi’an—plentiful, nutritious, though not especially tasty. Most of the boys came from well-off families, so eating in the canteen was hardly a pleasure. But Long Bisheng was different. He was never picky; he could eat anything and in vast quantities. The amount he put away each day matched Zhou Wei and Zhang Yi’s combined intake.

Whenever they watched Long Bisheng order a heaping tray of food in the canteen and polish it off with gusto, they could only sigh and concede: a beast is a beast.

A beast’s work ethic, a beast’s stamina, a beast’s appetite—how could Long Bisheng not earn such a nickname? In some ways, it was the highest praise.

“But for all his hard work, it doesn’t seem to be paying off much,” Wu Bufan remarked after a period of silence.

“How many years have you played football, Wu Bufan?” Hu Gandang suddenly asked.

“Three, I think,” Wu Bufan replied, uncertain why the question was posed but answering anyway.

“I’ve played for five years—and I mean proper, formal training, not just kicking a ball around. Even if you’ve played less than me, it must have been at least three years, right?”

The others responded in agreement.

“But Long Bisheng only just started formal training this year. Before that, he had a year of haphazard instruction—if you can even call it that. In fact, most of what he learned before was probably wrong. Given those circumstances, how much progress can you really expect from his training?” Hu Gandang gave a cold laugh. “But at this rate, with how hard he’s working, he’ll catch up to us in less than two years… Long, oh Long! Dai Guangming, didn’t you once say, ‘A dragon can be great or small, can soar or hide’? I really look forward to the day he finally takes off—what a sight it’ll be.”

“Damn, doesn’t that mean he’ll catch up to us soon?” Zhou Wei leapt out of bed. “That’ll be so embarrassing for us!”

“We’re improving too, you know,” Dai Guangming said with a laugh. “Besides, the stronger our teammates are, the easier it is for us to improve as well. That’s just how it works.”

“Seems like we shouldn’t let ourselves fall behind, either,” Zhang Yi mused. “Even if we don’t have his beast-like stamina, it feels wrong to just lie around in bed on a Sunday, waiting for the afternoon to play.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get up! No way we’re letting Long train alone!” Li Jie threw off his quilt and sprang from bed.

The others followed, jumping up and dressing in a rush. In a wild stampede, they charged out of the dormitory, their noisy footsteps making everyone else in the building bury their heads under their blankets and wail, “Oh god, one beast wasn’t enough—now there are several more!”

PS: Three chapters today—please vote! Starting tomorrow, each chapter will be 3,000 words…