Chapter Seven: The First Test

After a day and a night, the speeding train finally came to a halt, marking the arrival of their group in the ancient city of Lanzhou.

There was no time to tour this city with its five-thousand-year history. In truth, Long Yuyun and Fan Yuhan lacked the energy to look after these twenty-some children—after all, every one of these kids was the apple of their parents’ eye back at the compound. They, too, feared that someone might get lost along the way.

Fortunately, the Lanzhou Military District had provided strong support for the selection of players for the Bayi Football Team’s youth squad. Following the address they’d been given, Long Yuyun and Fan Yuhan led their troop of youngsters to the reception site arranged for them.

Coach Liu was already waiting. Upon seeing the group Long Yuyun had brought, he was overjoyed.

“Old Long, you’re still the one I can count on most,” Coach Liu boasted a bit. “The others brought at most a dozen each, but you’ve brought over twenty! If the entire Lanzhou Military District’s youth selection ends up being from my recommendations, that’ll be quite the feather in my cap!”

Long Yuyun and Fan Yuhan exchanged wry smiles. Who didn’t know the football level of the children from their compound? The fact that a five-year-old like Fan Pengfei could play alongside boys several years older spoke volumes about the mediocre skills of the others. As for the children his own age, their abilities were barely above playful chaos.

In terms of numbers, their group was the largest in the district, but as for quality… Long Yuyun glanced at the jubilant Coach Liu, a trace of pity stirring in his heart.

Coach Liu quickly arranged their accommodations at the district guesthouse. With two days still to go before the selection process began, they were among the earliest arrivals and thus had some choice in their lodgings.

Long Yuyun and Fan Yuhan finally understood what a daunting task it was to shepherd a herd of half-grown boys on a trip—even with their lifelong familiarity with military discipline, it was only this that prevented the boys from running off on their own. Otherwise, two adults could never have managed.

After finally settling the group, Long Yuyun and Fan Yuhan breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t exhaustion—the task hadn’t taxed them physically—but rather a growing concern for the upcoming selection in two days.

“Did you see? Already over two hundred candidates have arrived, and more are sure to come in the next two days. With seven age brackets and only two spots per bracket, that’s just fourteen openings… The competition is fierce,” Fan Yuhan said, handing Long Yuyun a cigarette with a sigh.

Long Yuyun felt a twinge of anxiety as he accepted the cigarette but didn’t light it. “That’s only to be expected… Getting into the Bayi youth team means a formal spot on the roster. Who wouldn’t want that? Still, I think your boy should be fine. Coach Liu was full of praise when he saw him play the other day! Besides, Pengfei is truly impressive—he ought to make it.”

Fan Yuhan smiled. “Your boy’s got great physical qualities, too. He’s the best in our compound—he should have a good chance as well.”

“It’s tough,” Long Yuyun frowned. “Football isn’t just about physical strength… These are the district’s elite. But even if they don’t make it, the experience will be good for them.”

“That’s true. They’re still kids, after all,” Fan Yuhan nodded.

Two days later, the Lanzhou Military District’s selection for the Bayi Football Team youth squad finally began.

Clearly, Long Yuyun and Fan Yuhan had underestimated things. They’d guessed maybe five or six hundred would show up, but in reality, the number of children from military families participating reached one thousand and sixty-nine! And there were only fourteen spots.

Though not quite one in a hundred, the odds were not far off.

Even in Pengfei and Bisheng’s youngest age group, there were nearly a hundred contestants.

The selection process was comprehensive and couldn’t be finished in a single day. In fact, the trials would last an entire week: the first three days were preliminary, assessing physical fitness, technical foundation, and so on. Only those who passed this phase could proceed to the final selection.

The first test was naturally the physical examination. While football doesn’t demand height, it certainly requires stamina—without it, even the best skills are wasted. At that time, Chinese football was learning from its neighbor, Korea, emphasizing mental fortitude and physical prowess—gone were the days when Guangdong players were prized solely for their technique.

All the candidates hailed from military families, so physical fitness was rarely an issue. Few were eliminated at this stage.

Of the twenty-three children Long Yuyun and Fan Yuhan brought, only one failed to pass. Both Fan Pengfei and Long Bisheng sailed through—Bisheng’s fitness was outstanding, tall yet agile, and even the seemingly slender Pengfei possessed admirable physical strength; otherwise, he couldn’t have held his own against older boys.

Out of more than a thousand candidates, about fifty were eliminated at this stage—most were physically frail or had conditions affecting their fitness. Given the overall health of children from military compounds, this was a small proportion.

That evening, Coach Liu came by for a chat, sighing in frustration. “It’s ridiculous—some kids could barely run a few steps without gasping, some were so overweight they hardly looked like children! And they came to try out? It’s a joke! And you wouldn’t believe it—one was discovered during the checkup to have a congenital arrhythmia. Any exertion or excitement leaves him breathless—we coaches were scared out of our wits!”

Long Yuyun couldn’t help but laugh. Clearly, such large-scale selections had their drawbacks—the pool was too mixed from the start. If there’d been a preliminary screening, the coaches wouldn’t have such headaches. After all, choosing a dozen from over a thousand was a monumental task.

Aside from those unlucky few eliminated early, the rest of the children who passed the physical test were in high spirits—they’d made it through the first hurdle! At this rate, the selection seemed easy enough. If so-and-so could pass, why couldn’t I?

Little did these cheerful children realize that, for them, the real trials were only just beginning.