Chapter Fifty-One: Rumors

During the days before the start of the new semester, Long Bisheng did not stop training. As usual, he woke up at six thirty every morning for a run, then followed the training schedule left by Ding Yu. Driven by his example, the other six, although not training as long as he did, still kept up daily, uninterrupted practice. Even Zhou Wei, who always complained, managed to stick with it. Such dedication brought clear benefits: when the semester began and the school conducted physical exams, most students had gained weight and fat, but Dormitory 505 was the only one where not a single student had increased either metric. The old principal, Mr. Rad, was delighted and publicly commended Dormitory 505 at the school assembly. The seven residents felt immensely proud, their faces shining with glory.

Perhaps only Long Bisheng did not care about this praise, for when training and matches resumed after the semester began, he remained the worst performer in the class. He was always the last to finish Ding Yu's basic drills, and as a forward in group matches, he rarely scored, offering little help to his team.

Despite his relentless effort, which everyone could see, rumors spread among the students: when the semester ended and eliminations came, most believed this honest, tall boy would be among those dismissed.

No matter how hard he worked, the coaches would not consider that; they only looked at results and future potential. If you showed the ability to persevere in upcoming training, you stayed; if not, you were asked to leave.

Dai Guangming and the others were indignant at such talk but could not refute it. If every student's performance in training and matches were scored, Long Bisheng would surely be among the last.

Day after day passed. Long Bisheng continued to train diligently, but perhaps he truly lacked talent. His discipline and effort were unmatched in the school—even the former training fanatic, Hu Gantang, could not keep up with him. Yet the results of his training were among the worst in the school. He seemed to have no football talent; maybe he had some for English, but as for playing ball—aside from his height, no other strengths were apparent. Over the past few months, he grew taller again, now exceeding 1.65 meters—the tallest in the school.

If he didn't spend more time training than anyone else, the gap between him and the others would only widen. Even with such effort, he barely kept pace, avoiding being left behind.

During matches, as a forward, he always faced the class's best center-back, Li Jie. Sometimes Li Jie wanted to go easy, but dared not, because once, after purposely allowing Long Bisheng to shine, Ding Yu privately gave him a harsh warning: if it happened again, he'd be the first eliminated!

After that scare, Li Jie never dared repeat such tricks. Their little games could never escape Ding Yu's notice. Though Ding Yu had never played football, he'd watched matches for longer than their lifetimes, and he knew his players' abilities inside out. With their level, trying to pull anything under his eyes was out of the question.

Time passed in this way, and Long Bisheng grew increasingly fearful of the coming summer. Rumors inevitably reached his ears, and he could see that, despite his progress over the year, he still lagged far behind his classmates. Based on Yun Jia Tianyu's tradition of eliminating, graduating, and recruiting a batch of students each year, he was undoubtedly destined to be among the eliminated.

This fear began to affect his training; over the next few days, he seemed distracted and absent-minded.

---

"Ah Long, you can't go on like this!" That day, after returning to the dorm, Dai Guangming, usually the most even-tempered, couldn't help but shout at Long Bisheng, "If this keeps up, you'll really be eliminated! Do you know why, even though your level is the lowest in this dorm, we still respect you?"

Long Bisheng raised his head, a little lost, "Because you are good people..."

"Wrong! We're facing cutthroat elimination, brutal elimination!" Dai Guangming interrupted him. "We may be good people, but we won't be kind to someone who is useless to us! We respect you because you can do what we can't! Your persistence in training, your passion for football, humble us! And being with you, we don't feel dragged down—instead, you inspire us to improve! If it weren't so, no matter how good your temper, no matter how well you do chores or clean the room, we'd unanimously exclude you, because we would never welcome someone who could drag us down as our roommate!"

Dai Guangming's words made everyone nod in agreement. Indeed, the football school was different from others; here, students were both rivals and teammates. There would never be schemes to harm others for advancement (for students here, successfully joining the U-15 team was victory, and there was no quota—neither upper nor lower limit. Unless the coach approved your ability, even if everyone else was eliminated and you were the last, you could not enter the official squad). But no one welcomed a teammate who might drag down their performance in training or matches. Though Long Bisheng always performed poorly, he was never excluded because his earnest attitude never held others back; instead, it drove them to work harder.

"I know you are good people, you won't bully me," Long Bisheng said, and everyone sighed together. "But you see, I train so hard, yet the gap between us keeps widening. If I weren't trying, it might mean I had some talent. But I've worked hard and still can't achieve results—so the school eliminating me is a good thing. At least I can go back to school—catch up with elementary classes, right? Maybe I could go to university someday. Football—I'm just not cut out for it."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Hu Gantang suddenly erupted, grabbing Long Bisheng from his bed. The others were startled, thinking Hu Gantang might beat him up. Though Long Bisheng was bigger, Hu Gantang was no slouch either, and an expert at fighting—Long Bisheng might not win.

The others rushed to intervene. Wu Bufan grabbed Hu Gantang from behind, Li Jie blocked Long Bisheng, Zhou Wei and Zhang Yi flanked Hu Gantang, and Dai Guangming hurried to calm the seemingly frightened Long Bisheng.

"Let me go—I'm not going to hit him!" Hu Gantang said, both laughing and crying, then shouted at Long Bisheng, "What nonsense are you saying? You think you're not cut out for football? Maybe you think so, but ask anyone in this dorm—does anyone think you're not good enough?"

Hu Gantang pointed at each of the others, and all shook their heads, indicating they did not think Long Bisheng was lacking.

"I, Hu Gantang, have played football for nearly six years, and never has anyone my age surpassed me in effort. Long Bisheng, you are the first. Li Jie, among his peers, never loses a physical duel against a forward, but he can't beat you—he has to use tricks..."

Li Jie pursed his lips, unwilling to concede, wanting to protest, but Zhang Yi gently tugged his sleeve, and Li Jie, realizing, pouted but stayed silent.

---

"And you—ask Zhou Wei and Zhang Yi if they don't need a beacon like you up front in matches? In nearly a year, because you are there, how much has their crossing improved? And ask Dai Guangming—does he want a striker like you by his side? Even if you can't receive his passes, how much attention do you draw up front, letting him break through and assist others?"

Hu Gantang paused. "As for me... though our positions aren't closely related, I still want someone who trains harder than me nearby! That way, I can be constantly reminded to work harder! Who says you're not cut out for football? At least in this dorm, everyone wants you to keep going, to persist until you become a true professional! Last year, four of my roommates left. This year, I hope no one leaves. Next year, the year after—I want no one to leave! We must all advance to the first team, help Yun Jia Tianyu win every championship, then go to Europe—to the highest level of world football! That's my wish. What about yours? Do you have such a wish?"

"I do." Dai Guangming smiled, took Hu Gantang's hand, and placed his own on top.

"I do!"

"Me too!"

Li Jie and Wu Bufan shouted together, adding their hands. Zhang Yi smiled slightly and quietly placed his hand as well.

"What a childish gesture..." Zhou Wei muttered, but seeing everyone looking at him, quickly put his hand in too.

Twelve eyes of the six boys all turned to Long Bisheng.