Chapter 84 Enlightenment

When the name Ning Xi was mentioned, everyone froze, and then, almost simultaneously, the same half-smiling, half-mocking expression appeared on each face, just like Liu Lin's.

"Sigh... how boring, really boring. Why am I even doing such pointless things?" Zhou Wei stretched lazily. "I'm going back to watch TV!"

"Yeah, let's go. I'm only halfway through my book..." Dai Guangming chimed in, heading toward the stairs.

The others exchanged glances and laughter, following Dai Guangming up the stairs. Hu Gandang brought up the rear. Just before stepping into the stairwell, he turned and glanced back toward the pine grove, murmuring to himself, "Looks like I wasn't seeing things that day. Heh, A-Long, good kid, keeping quiet about it..."

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These days, Long Bisheng was living in high spirits.

Dai Guangming and the others had guessed correctly: Long Bisheng's recent disappearances were because he was sneaking off to the pine grove—known only to him and Ning Xi—where he trained alone. Most of the time, if Ning Xi was free, she would come and keep him company. Over the past month or two, the two had grown much closer; no longer were they desk-mates who barely exchanged a word each day. On Valentine's Day, for instance, they had arranged to go out together that evening.

Yet, as far as both Long Bisheng and Ning Xi were concerned, there was nothing between them—at least, nothing of that sort. In fact, before inviting Long Bisheng out that night, Ning Xi had forgotten it was Valentine's Day. Only once they were out on the bustling streets did they realize it was a special occasion.

Initially, they had simply planned to stroll through the city, but caught up in the festive atmosphere, they decided to make the most of it. Passing by a cinema, they saw that "My Sassy Girl" was showing. Long Bisheng wasn't usually a fan of romantic movies, but Ning Xi enjoyed them and dragged him along.

This was, perhaps, the happiest period Long Bisheng had experienced since joining the Yun Jia Tianyu Football School. He had a clear goal, a mentor's guidance, sincere friendships, and, for the first time in his life, a female friend!

Sometimes, when he was with Ning Xi, he couldn't help but think of Tian Xiaoxia from "Ordinary World." In his eyes, Ning Xi was like Tian Xiaoxia, lighting up Sun Shaoping's life; she, too, brought a touch of extraordinary color to his own.

Like Tian Xiaoxia, Ning Xi was lively and kind, fond of reading and music. Curiously, for a girl of her age, she wasn't interested in pop songs or female singers. Instead, she preferred listening to Luo Dayou, Zhao Chuan, Zhang Yusheng... She said she had grown up hearing her father play those songs and had come to love them herself.

During breaks in training, Long Bisheng would listen to Ning Xi softly hum songs by Luo Dayou and others, her voice tinged with a slight rasp. It brought calm to his heart, and often he would drift into thought, letting the low, melodious music lull him into a rare moment of tranquility.

Together, they could talk about football and music; Ning Xi taught him classic old songs, and he taught her clear, lilting folk ballads from the northwest.

But that wasn't the only thing that pleased him. Before the term ended, Ding Yu had another private conversation with him, pointing out the right path for his training.

In that talk, Ding Yu explained that for a target striker, long dribbles weren't his strong suit. Besides his heading ability, he needed to focus on shielding the ball with his back to goal and turning to break through. Near the opponent's penalty area, a strong, tall striker could use his body to shield the ball, then turn and break into the box, or shoot suddenly after turning—these were the most practical attacking moves for a player in his position.

"Master these two skills, and you won't be at a loss when attacking—whether in the air or on the ground, you'll be able to play to your strengths." Long Bisheng remembered Ding Yu's words well. "You can practice other things too, but make these your priorities. Li Jie is an excellent training partner. If you can still turn and break or shoot against him, few in your age group nationwide will be able to stop your tank-like charges... Remember, your body is your greatest asset."

After that conversation, Li Jie soon found himself once again the unfortunate victim of Long Bisheng's relentless training. After the winter break, Long Bisheng dragged him out for extra practice more and more, dedicating most of his spare time to these sessions. Only a small portion was spent training with Ning Xi in the pine grove.

If that were all, Li Jie wouldn't have minded. For the past two years, he'd partnered with Long Bisheng for drills, though back then, they had to gather nearly the whole dorm—Dai Guangming orchestrating from behind, Zhou Wei and Zhang Yi crossing from the flanks, Wu Bufan in goal, Hu Gandang assisting on defense—to create a proper training scenario. Getting all six together at once was difficult, and if Zhou Wei or Zhang Yi got lazy, Long Bisheng could only sigh in frustration.

But now, the post-up training didn't require as much cooperation from others. Moreover, Ding Yu had given Li Jie strict instructions: whenever Long Bisheng wanted extra practice, unless Li Jie was exhausted, he wasn't allowed to refuse.

At first, Li Jie actually enjoyed outmuscling the much bigger Long Bisheng in physical duels, especially when the girls from class watched—what a chance to show off his manly charm!

Though Long Bisheng was bulkier and clearly stronger, it was well known that defenders have the advantage when marking a striker with his back to goal: one pushes forward, the other pushes back, and the one pushing back can't use his full strength.

But to Li Jie's surprise, Long Bisheng improved at an astonishing speed!

In aerial duels, it had taken Long Bisheng more than a year just to catch up to Li Jie's level; his progress had been slow. But this time, in less than a month, he was already able to hold his own, sometimes winning, sometimes losing. There were still plenty of times when Li Jie shoved him off balance from behind or poked the ball away as he turned, but just as often, Long Bisheng managed to use his body to turn, pin Li Jie behind him, and break into the box or take a direct shot!

"A-Long, you've really figured it out!" Li Jie exclaimed after one training session when Long Bisheng used his strength to beat Li Jie's defense and scored past Wu Bufan in goal.

"Heh heh..." Long Bisheng laughed honestly, a genuine smile spreading across his face. He loved these duels—they allowed him to play to his strengths.

For months, he'd been frustrated by his lack of ground-based attacking ability. He had learned plenty of tricky dribbling moves, but couldn't use them in matches. Ding Yu's advice had opened a new door for him; he poured all his pent-up energy into training. To call it a cathartic release would be an understatement.

Ding Yu watched Long Bisheng's rapid progress with quiet satisfaction, convinced his judgment had been right. In this time, Long Bisheng's skills at shielding the ball, turning, breaking through, and linking play had all grown rapidly. Combined with his heading ability, Long Bisheng was becoming a proper tactical center-forward. And he was not yet thirteen. In the next four or five years, he could gain experience in all sorts of matches and further sharpen his strengths. In the next two years, Ding Yu planned to help him develop his running with the ball and his first-touch passing.

The ability to link play could be honed through match experience. As for running with the ball, Long Bisheng's biggest weakness was his lack of speed. But in Ding Yu's eyes, this was no real problem—football isn't a hundred-meter sprint, and effective bursts are usually over thirty meters or less. With Long Bisheng's long legs and running ability, improving his short-distance speed wouldn't be too difficult.

What Ding Yu didn't know was that, aside from his basic and specialized training, Long Bisheng had never given up practicing those highly technical dribbling moves—training in the pine grove had become his favorite pastime, precisely because someone was always there with him. Even though these moves took up much of his time and energy, and progress was slow, he never tired of it.

Such hard work would not be in vain. Perhaps, when the moves honed in the pine grove could one day be used seamlessly in matches, it would cause a sensation—who could say for sure it wouldn't?