Chapter Thirteen: A New Environment, A New Roommate

July, Jiaozhou Willy Football Academy.

After a month-long break, the players from all the academy’s squads were gradually returning.

But this time, unlike before, a huge banner hung at the school gate.

“Congratulations to our U15-A team for winning second place in the Korea U15 Invitational Tournament!”

Beneath the large banner was a smaller one.

“Congratulations to our U15-A player He Chaoyue for being named the top scorer of the Korea U15 Invitational Tournament!”

Accompanied by his father, Wei Lai arrived at the school and immediately noticed the banners at the entrance.

He had just been promoted to the B team, while He Chaoyue was already dominating on the international stage.

Clenching his fist slightly, Wei Lai silently encouraged himself.

“Keep it up!”

Wei Chenggong said, “Xiao Lai, I’ll head back first. Train hard and listen to the coach!”

Wei Lai nodded promptly. “Dad, be careful on the road!”

After seeing his father off into a taxi, Wei Lai turned and entered the football academy.

The entire academy was bustling; July was a special time.

Every year around this period, the academy held tryouts for new students.

As one of the country’s veteran football schools, many aspiring players came to Willy Football Academy for trials.

The academy had two campuses.

The first campus, where Wei Lai was now, was more professional, with a comprehensive team structure.

The second campus, located on the other side of the city, was more like a fusion of football training and schooling.

The main difference was that the second campus accepted students upon payment, resulting in a larger enrollment.

The first campus, however, required passing tryouts; even paying fees wouldn’t guarantee admission without qualifying.

Waivers for tuition and miscellaneous fees were reserved only for the elite.

For instance, the U15-A team.

This was the elite squad of the academy, with all players attending free of charge. They enjoyed top-tier training resources, opportunities for overseas trials, international competitions, and foreign coaches.

Wei Lai wheeled his suitcase through the main hall of the teaching building and headed toward the dormitory at the back.

The dormitories formed three sides of a square. Previously, Wei Lai had always stayed in the east dorm, where the C team resided.

This time, he turned west.

This side was for the B team.

The elite A team’s dormitory was in the center.

“Hello, ma’am, I’m a player newly promoted to the U15 team. My name is Wei Lai,” he reported to the dormitory supervisor.

The supervisor, wearing reading glasses, looked down at her roster for a moment before pointing toward the staircase. “Fifth floor, room 510.”

Wei Lai replied politely, “Okay! Thank you!”

With that, he pulled his suitcase up the stairs.

Although it was the B team, the dormitory scale was no different.

As he climbed, he glimpsed inside some open dorm rooms—all four-person rooms as usual.

—

Reaching the fifth floor, Wei Lai turned left and soon found room 510.

Knock, knock!

“Come in!” came a voice.

Pushing the door open, Wei Lai stepped inside.

As soon as he entered, he exclaimed,

“Whoa?”

The person opposite looked at him with a hint of grievance. “What’s so surprising?”

Wei Lai rubbed his eyes hard to make sure he wasn’t mistaken.

Wasn’t that Guo Fan?

“What are you doing here?”

Guo Fan replied, “I’ve always lived here!”

“No way!” Wei Lai waved his hand. “Weren’t you supposed to get promoted to the A team?”

Guo Fan fell silent.

Seeing the gloomy expression on Guo Fan’s face, Wei Lai asked in shock, “You didn’t pass the trial?”

Guo Fan looked at him gloomily and explained briefly.

Wei Lai took a seat at the foot of the bed and said, “Stomach issues? What a coincidence!”

From memory, Wei Lai thought Guo Fan’s promotion was guaranteed, but this unexpected twist had thrown him off.

Guo Fan turned his back, full of frustration.

Stomach issues?

That was just an excuse.

In truth, he had lost his composure because of Wei Lai.

After that match, Guo Fan could never figure out how Wei Lai judged the perfect moment to start and how he managed to contain him so precisely.

The exhausting sprint battle between them in the following minutes drained his stamina further.

All things considered, he ultimately failed the year-end promotion trial.

“I’ll be the punching bag for another year! Next year’s trial, I’ll definitely make it!” Guo Fan declared resolutely.

“Punching bag, huh?” Wei Lai smiled.

The U15-B team had two well-known nicknames.

The first was “sparring partners,” and the second was “punching bags.”

Whenever the A team returned from a competition, they’d make the B team their punching bags, giving them a harsh beating.

They called it “deepening exchange,” but it was mostly about making the B team feel the A team’s intensity.

And when the A team went on expedition, the B team would accompany them as sparring partners for matches.

In short, whenever the A team needed something, the B team had to cooperate!

—

Of course, during this process, the B team also honed and strengthened themselves.

Soon, two more roommates arrived, one of whom was an old acquaintance of Wei Lai.

“I’m Hao Shuai. We’ll be roommates from now on. Let’s communicate more!” he said.

Hao Shuai played midfield but hadn’t appeared in the tryouts.

“Yuan Kai!”

“Wei Lai!”

Yuan Kai smiled and patted Wei Lai on the shoulder. “You’re the third one in our dorm to get promoted!”

Both Yuan Kai and Wei Lai had moved up from the C team and formerly shared a dorm. Now, they both played in the B team.

However, Yuan Kai had been promoted as early as the U11 level.

“That brat Wan Tao is already in the A team, promoted last year!”

Wan Tao was the U15-A team’s starting goalkeeper.

Since joining the academy, he had grown rapidly and now stood over 180 cm tall.

With long legs and arms, quick reflexes, and excellent dynamic vision, he had rocketed upward like a shooting star.

From what Wei Lai remembered, Wan Tao was destined to be the future starting goalkeeper for the Jiaozhou Willy Club.

He was also one of the three golden-generation national team goalkeepers.

It wasn’t that he lacked talent; the other two were just extraordinarily gifted.

After chatting briefly with his new roommates, Wei Lai eagerly dashed out.

He made his way skillfully to the equipment room, but the door was locked.

Turning around, he headed to the guardroom and soon found the old man in charge of equipment.

“Sir!” Wei Lai knocked and entered with a smile.

“Hey!” The old man, smoking a cigarette, grinned. “You’re back?”

“Back! Back!” Wei Lai handed over some shrimp chips and squid strips. “Specialties from Bohai Port. Not expensive, just a little token.”

Wei Lai smiled at the guard and the equipment manager. “You two can dip these in your drinks when you have a drink!”

The two old men accepted the snacks gratefully, nodding. “Thoughtful of you!”

“So this is the little guy you mentioned?”

“A pretty interesting kid, and his training attitude is excellent.”

The two chatted while Wei Lai watched the equipment manager eagerly.

“All right, all right, I know,” the equipment manager said with a laugh, shaking his head. He pulled a key from his pocket and handed it over.

“Take what you need, and lock up when you’re done before returning it!”

“Got it!”

Wei Lai took the key immediately and dashed off.

—