Chapter Forty-Three: Journey to Water City (Please Add to Your Collection)

Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

After an interval of five days, Wei Lai arrived in the city once more.

This time, their destination was the intensive training camp in Water City. Since Water City lacked an airport, they had to land in Shanghai and travel to Water City by road.

There were four people in total: Wei Lai, He Chaoyue, Yang Fan, and the team supervisor, Liang Xu.

Stepping out of the arrival hall, they scanned the crowd.

"Over there! Found them!"

Yang Fan pointed in a specific direction. Turning their heads, the others spotted a young man holding a placard reading "Green Field Little Lions."

Liang Xu took the lead and walked over.

"Hello, we are from Willy Football School!"

The young man's eyes lit up. "Hello! Hello! I am the staff member in charge of reception for the Green Field Little Lions. My name is Zheng Yaoyang, just call me Xiao Zheng!"

Liang Xu smiled and nodded. "Kept you waiting. Shall we head out now?"

Xiao Zheng hurriedly replied, "Let's go, let's go! The van is parked in the basement."

The group of five headed down to the underground parking garage. The spacious van easily accommodated all of them without feeling crowded.

Liang Xu sat in the front passenger seat, chatting with Xiao Zheng.

Wei Lai and the other two took the seats in the back.

"You scared the life out of me this morning. What kind of nightmare was that terrifying?" Yang Fan leaned over the armrest, thrusting his upper body forward to look at Wei Lai.

He Chaoyue also turned his head to listen.

Wei Lai rubbed the bridge of his nose and shuddered.

"Anyway, it was terrifying as hell!"

No one would believe him even if he told them!

For the entire night, he had been utterly tormented on the English Premier League pitch.

Playing in the Premier League at fifteen years old—who would believe that?

Water City was about a two-hour drive from Shanghai Airport.

The Taihu Training Base was situated even further away, adding another twenty minutes to the journey.

It was around one o'clock in the afternoon when they finally arrived at the Taihu Training Base.

As soon as Wei Lai and the others stepped out of the vehicle upon arrival, they caught sight of the man leading the welcoming party.

His figure was lean and upright, his hair spiked straight up with white patches at the temples, and his face bore a web of wrinkles. Despite having just reached the age of fifty, he looked as weathered as a man of sixty.

This person was none other than the founder of the Green Field Little Lions, Tong Xianfeng!

"Coach Tong, you've kept us waiting!"

Liang Xu stepped forward first to greet him.

Tong Xianfeng smiled and waved his hand. "I was more than happy to wait! And look what strong reinforcements have arrived!"

With that, his gaze shifted toward Wei Lai and the other two.

Each one stronger than the last!

He Chaoyue's abilities went without saying, capable of providing exceptional finishing prowess at the front line.

Yang Fan was formidable both in attack and defense!

And finally, Wei Lai!

This was undoubtedly the greatest discovery.

Tong Xianfeng's tactical philosophy centered on defensive counterattacks, with everything built upon a foundation of solid defense.

If they couldn't even defend properly, there was no point in talking about counterattacks.

He had carefully reviewed those matches of the Future Star tournament.

In particular, the match between Willy and Guangfa showcased Wei Lai's dazzling performance, which had truly made his heart skip a beat.

Chen Shaojie's performance was already stellar, and his choice of passing lanes and the subtlety of his passes were impeccable.

Yet, Wei Lai had managed to anticipate them entirely.

That sliding tackle and interception was simply a stroke of genius!

"Let's head inside first!"

Led by Tong Xianfeng, the group walked straight onto the training pitch.

"Over here!"

As soon as they stepped inside, Chen Shaojie came running over.

Yang Fan asked, "When did you arrive?"

Chen Shaojie replied, "I got here this morning."

Following that, the other six players walked over as well.

Pointing to the four players on the left, Chen Shaojie introduced them: "From left to right: Xiang Ming, Liu Baoguo, Zheng Yang, and Yao Zizhi. They are all members of the Green Field Little Lions."

Then he pointed to the two on the right: "Yu Jiahe, Luo Xiang."

"Yo!"

"We meet again!"

Yu Jiahe and Luo Xiang greeted them. Having played against each other before, they were somewhat familiar faces.

Next, Chen Shaojie introduced Wei Lai, He Chaoyue, and Yang Fan. Of course, the introduction mainly focused on Wei Lai, as He Chaoyue and Yang Fan were already known to most, having played against them before.

Wei Lai's attention was primarily drawn to Xiang Ming.

With a floppy, bowl-cut hairstyle and a perpetual smile, he gave off a bright and breezy impression.

In reality, Xiang Ming possessed precisely that kind of personality.

"Welcome!"

He Chaoyue asked, "How is your shooting practice coming along?"

Xiang Ming's expression remained unchanged. "Has everyone eaten yet? The canteen here has really good food!"

He Chaoyue countered, "Don't just think about dribbling past players; scoring goals is what wins matches!"

Xiang Ming suggested, "How about I treat you guys to something outside? There's a snack bar that's really good."

He Chaoyue persisted, "Don't always be so lazy and undisciplined..."

The onlookers wore strange expressions. Wei Lai looked left and right, then leaned toward Yang Fan to whisper, "Are the two of them always like this?"

Yang Fan merely twitched his mouth and remained silent.

Xiang Ming turned his head in annoyance. "Are you my mother? Why do you always nag me like that?"

He Chaoyue replied, "I just want to see you improve!"

Xiang Ming rolled his eyes.

That sounded even more like an overbearing mother!

"Alright, alright!" Chen Shaojie stepped in to mediate. "Let's play rondo to warm up and get familiar with each other!"

"No problem!"

"Let's do it!"

"Let's practice and build some chemistry!"

Everyone agreed, and the three newcomers immediately changed into their training gear on the spot.

Standing on the pitch and feeling the softness of the real turf, Wei Lai didn't feel any sense of discord.

After all, in the virtual space, he had been mercilessly tormented on real grass.

Zheng Yang raised his hand. "Guests coming from afar are honored. Yao and I will go into the center to press first!"

The others nodded, forming a circle and beginning the rondo exercise.

Thud, thud, thud!

Continuous one-touch passing.

The rules prohibited taking a second touch; players were restricted strictly to one-touch passes.

This exercise helped cultivate observational skills while simultaneously training instantaneous reaction times and passing precision.

Being able to stand here meant they were practically at the peak level of their peers, resulting in almost zero mistakes.

Throughout the process, Wei Lai threw himself into it wholeheartedly.

However, unlike Wei Lai, the movements of the others appeared slightly rigid.

Only He Chaoyue and向铭 (Xiang Ming) moved with natural fluidity.

Xiang Ming, in particular, had ankles that were unbelievably flexible.

Even when looking to the right and making a motion to push the ball horizontally with his right foot, he would suddenly flick his ankle and pass it to the left, rendering the pass intensely deceptive.

At the same time, it showcased the guy's peerless ball-handling feel.

"Damn it! Can we not win the ball back?"

After pressing for a while, Zheng Yang and Yao Zizhi hadn't managed to touch the ball even once.

"Shall we swap players?"

Chen Shaojie smiled and said, "Me and... Wei Lai?"

Wei Lai: "Alright!"

Wei Lai and Chen Shaojie stepped into the center of the circle.

"How should we handle this?" Chen Shaojie asked.

"Leave the defensive coordination to me?" Wei Lai turned his head and asked.

"No problem." Chen Shaojie agreed instantly.

Xiang Ming called out, "Then let's begin!"

Thud!

The moment the ball was played, Wei Lai took the initiative to apply pressure to the player receiving the ball.

"Cut off the outside!"

Wei Lai shouted, and Chen Shaojie immediately blocked the outer passing lane.

Simultaneously, Yang Fan hurriedly pushed a pass through.

Thud!

Wei Lai extended his foot, making contact with the ball.

"Whoa!!!——"

Yang Fan clutched his head with both hands, pointing at Wei Lai with a mix of shame and exasperation. "You lured me into that!"

Wei Lai retorted uncomprehendingly, "I left the gap open for you and you failed to pass it through, and you're blaming me?"

Yang Fan argued, "You seduced me into passing it there, don't think I didn't know, you love doing that sort of thing!"

Wei Lai rolled his eyes. "Stop chattering and get in here to press!"

Chen Shaojie pointed at himself. "Should I go out?"

Wei Lai nodded.

After another four passes were exchanged.

Thud!

Xiang Ming scratched his head awkwardly. "I didn't get the pass through."

Zheng Yang and the others looked at Wei Lai in astonishment.

Xiang Ming's passes were extremely concealed, making interceptions terribly difficult, yet Wei Lai had managed to seize the exact moment.

Xiang Ming said, "I'll go in!"

"No need!" Wei Lai shook his head. "I'll stay in, just nice to find my rhythm. Shaojie, come on in too, let's practice coordinated pressing!"

Chen Shaojie nodded immediately. "Okay!"