Chapter Ninety-Two: A Great Harvest

The match was over. The players of Yunjia Tianyu were celebrating their fourth victory, and Long Bisheng, who had opened the scoring for his team and then set up Dai Guangming for the goal that sealed the result, became the center of attention after the final whistle. His teammates all gathered around to congratulate him on his first goal and his outstanding performance.

The Hubei players looked a little dazed and saddened, but they had no real complaints about the defeat. Yunjia Tianyu had simply been superior in every respect, dominating the game with sheer strength. There was no shame in losing to an opponent like that.

"So, Song God, anything to say?" Zhouyuan glanced sidelong at Cai Guoqing, who was standing nearby. "Go on, say something. No need to be shy."

"How can you talk like that?" Dai Guangming chided Zhouyuan, then turned with a smile to Cai Guoqing. "Well then, Song God, if you have something to say, say it."

"You two really don’t go easy on people, do you?" Cai Guoqing said with a wry smile. "I don’t have much to say... Losing to Long Bisheng, I lost without complaint. He beat me with nothing but real ability. That was the first time I’ve ever been so thoroughly beaten in physical duels and aerial challenges."

With that, Cai Guoqing extended his hand to Long Bisheng. "I’m sorry. What I said before the match really wasn’t meant maliciously."

Long Bisheng smiled. He had never taken Cai Guoqing’s words before the game to heart. In his view, once you stepped onto the pitch, you were opponents. As for Cai Guoqing’s remark, there wasn’t even any foul language in it; even if it had sounded harsher, it still would not have been excessive.

"That’s more like it," Wu Bufan said with a nod from the side. "But Song God, those words of yours didn’t sound like you at all. If Guangming hadn’t held me back just now, I might have decked you."

"You don’t understand," Cai Guoqing said with a sigh. "My uncle, after seeing Long Bisheng’s performance in that match against Meixian last year, kept nagging me in front of everyone, saying he hadn’t seen a center forward like that in a long time and that at least it had given him some comfort. Then he started lecturing me about how, as his nephew, I ought to be playing center forward instead of center back. He’s been repeating that in my ear for a whole year. Wouldn’t you get angry? So I just wanted to see how good Long Bisheng really was."

Everyone burst out laughing, including the other Hubei players who had come over. When Cai Guoqing first walked up, the rest of the Hubei side had been a little nervous, afraid that his hot temper might flare and he’d end up in a conflict with the other team. The two football schools had always had a good relationship, and there was frequent movement between them. If anything went wrong and Cai Guoqing was at fault, then even if his uncle was the coach of Wuhan Elegant’s reserve team, he might not be able to protect him.

But once everyone laughed, the atmosphere on the field grew much warmer. They were all young, and they had already grown to respect one another during the match. With Dai Guangming and the others there, people who had played for both schools, they quickly fell into a lively conversation.

At the touchline, a young reporter was packing away his camera while watching the players from both sides chatting excitedly on the field. "Damn, those two clubs really are like a pair of secret lovers," he muttered. "Those kids actually get along that well."

The older reporter beside him tapped him on the head. "What nonsense are you spouting? This is what they call friendship first, competition second. Exactly the sort of thing we ought to be promoting. Hurry up and take a few photos. And over there too—Ding Yu from Yunjia Tianyu is deep in conversation with Pan Kai and Cai Sheng from Hubei! Do you have no eye for a story at all?"

After sending the young reporter off to take pictures, the older man lit a cigarette with great satisfaction. The best angle of this match had revealed itself: they were opponents on the field, friends off it. Friendship first, competition second. Harmony must begin with the young...

"Coach Cai, what brings a big star like you here to watch a kids' match today?" After the game, Ding Yu shook hands warmly with Cai Sheng. "Aren’t you neglecting your proper duties a little? I came to Beijing for a reason, and our reserve team has a coach looking after them. But you, big star, shouldn’t be doing this. Once you’re gone, the Wuhan reserves will be left leaderless. When they meet our Yunjia side in the second half of the season, won’t they get torn to pieces?"

"Look at you," Cai Sheng said, shaking his head. "You’ve practically become a king among kids, and you still can’t stop that mouth of yours."

Over the past two years, Cai Sheng’s Wuhan Elegant reserves had faced Ding Yu’s Yunjia Tianyu reserves twice every season, and not once had they won. This year, even though Ding Yu had focused much of his energy on Long Bisheng and the others and handed reserve-team duties to Li Huajun, another coach the club had been cultivating carefully, Yunjia Tianyu’s reserves still beat Wuhan Elegant’s reserves cleanly on home turf in the first half of the season.

"I’m more than happy to be a king among kids," Ding Yu said with a straight face and a smile. "There are really a few good ones in your team. How about letting a few go? I’m still short-handed over here."

"You’re dreaming!" Pan Kai said indignantly. "I wouldn’t even want to lose Dai Guangming, Zhouyuan, and Wu Bufan! If the two clubs didn’t have such a good relationship... These people are the ones I’ve gone to great lengths to bring back from everywhere, and quite a few of them aren’t even from Hubei. You want to poach them? Not a chance!"

"Then forget it," Ding Yu said with a shrug. Then he asked Cai Sheng, "Big star, I don’t think a match like this would have been enough to draw you out, would it? So what’s on your mind? Just say it. If you have a request, I usually don’t mind meeting it."

The corner of Cai Sheng’s mouth twitched, then he smiled. "It’s nothing else, really... It’s just that the tall kid on your team, Long Bisheng—young center forwards like him are becoming harder and harder to find these days. If there’s any way, could you let him come to Wuhan? Our youth squad is missing exactly that sort of striker, and I’ve learned a few things myself. I’d like him to pick up something useful. And that nephew of mine, you know what he’s like—having an uncle like me and yet he still went off to play defense. I’d like to see someone carry on a little of what I know..."

"So you came here to poach my man?" Ding Yu stared at him. "Do you really think that’s possible?"

"Come on, Old Ding, don’t shut the door so firmly," Pan Kai hurried to mediate. "The relationship between our two clubs has always been good, hasn’t it, Old Cai?"

"Yes, yes," Cai Sheng said quickly. "How about this: it’s awkward to talk business here, and we don’t often get a chance to see each other anyway. Tonight, I’ll host. Bring your players too, and let’s all have a meal together. After that, we can find a place for these boys to sing a little and relax. The three of us can have a proper talk. Those students never get much time to rest anyway, and your next match isn’t until three days from now. As for us, we leave for Wuhan tomorrow, so let them loosen up a bit, all right?"

"Eat together?" Ding Yu pressed his lips together, as if considering it. "I’ve got a lot of students—thirty-six of them, and with the two coaches that makes thirty-eight. Hmm, no, no, that’s too much of an expense for you. Beijing is expensive, and you don’t even play anymore. Better not."

"What are you talking about?" Pan Kai said hurriedly. "He’s a big star after all—and..." At that point Cai Sheng wore a bitter smile. "His income is much higher than ours. What’s a meal and a bit of singing? I know you too well. Since when have you ever turned down a banquet? Besides, even if you don’t care, don’t your students want to see a bit of the world? Come on, come on. You can’t make everyone else suffer just for yourself. I’m going to have to criticize you for that."

"All right then. For the friendship between our two clubs, we’ll go eat tonight." After thinking it over for a while, Ding Yu finally nodded as if reluctantly yielding. Pan Kai and Cai Sheng were both delighted, and Cai Sheng hurriedly said, "Then I’ll go and call our people over. Let’s use the ones here right now."

"Fine," Ding Yu said, watching as the two of them walked back toward the pitch. Then he suddenly flashed a mischievous smile and shouted after them from afar, "We’re not going to make it a big party, and we won’t go to any fancy place either... A three-star hotel is enough!"

Cai Sheng’s legs went weak, and he nearly stumbled.

Back at the guesthouse, Cai Sheng was grumbling furiously to Pan Kai. "Damn it, those people from Yunjia Tianyu are all sly as foxes... That damn Ding Yu—he ate and drank with us, sang with us, and when it came to anything substantial he played dumb and dodged every question. And at the end he even had the nerve to thank us for treating him to dinner! Damn it, he doesn’t have the slightest trace of professional ethics!"

Pan Kai gave a bitter smile. "We should have known all along this would be a waste of effort. You know, everyone in Yunjia Tianyu treats their boss, Pei Wei, as their model. And has the boss ever lost a meal to anyone? He’d be the one making a loss. Today’s dinner really cost you a lot, didn’t it? Several thousand, I’d guess? It was lucky we just found some random little restaurant. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what? You think I’d really treat him to a three-star hotel? Has my brain been flooded?" Cai Sheng cried angrily, clutching his wallet, which had already been thinned down to a pitiful scrap.

"Forget it," Pan Kai said with a sigh. "If Ding Yu won’t let go of Long Bisheng, then he must already have a plan for training him. Besides, you talked with him plenty. It won’t delay Long Bisheng’s future. Think of it as one loss teaching one gain. He got the better of you once—just take it as a lesson."

At the same time, Ding Yu, who had returned to the guesthouse with his own team, was in an exceptionally good mood. Today had been a complete harvest: they had won the match, thoroughly taken Cai Sheng’s side for a ride, and most importantly, while talking, he had pried quite a few useful ideas out of Cai Sheng about training a target man. Even if Cai Sheng was not especially strong in theory, he possessed rich experience. Once those experiences were distilled by Ding Yu and passed on to Long Bisheng, they could easily produce a qualitative leap.

A bountiful harvest indeed. Truly a bountiful harvest.

The recommendation slot is going to shift down, and next month on the first I’ll be putting the book on sale, so updates over the next few days will be a little slower. I also need to stockpile some manuscripts. Once the book goes on sale, as usual, there will be two free chapters before the paid ones begin. I also hope everyone can save next month’s monthly votes for me. After all, I ought to help the competitive category make a little name for itself, and I need to earn a bit of income too.