Chapter Twenty-Seven: Preparing for the Future Star

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Yang Fan crawled off the track, collapsing onto the ground like a pile of wet mud.

He Chaoyue walked over, handed him a bottle of chilled energy drink, and nodded. "You've improved! You kept up for two sets!"

"Old Wei is a beast!" Yang Fan grumbled, glaring at Wei Lai, who was still running back and forth on the track.

"In terms of pure physical fitness, I’ve truly never seen anyone better than him," He Chaoyue agreed.

"It’s not just the stamina!" Yang Fan took a long gulp of his drink, wiped his mouth, and continued, "His cardiovascular endurance is the real key here! My lungs feel like they're about to explode and my legs are so sore I can barely lift them, but that guy acts like it’s nothing!"

As a full-back—specifically an attacking full-back—Yang Fan needed to sprint up and down the pitch constantly. Because of this, he had always taken a certain amount of pride in his own fitness. But that confidence had been completely shattered by Wei Lai. He had never seen anyone who could run like that.

"He should go join a mar-a-thon!" Yang Fan ground his teeth, unsure if he was feeling helpless toward Wei Lai or just frustrated with himself.

The two chatted idly while Wei Lai continued his training. After a while, Yang Fan finally felt like he had come back to life. He watched the sweat-drenched Wei Lai, particularly those eyes that burned with unwavering focus, and felt a deep sense of bewilderment.

"Old He, how does that guy keep going with such monotonous training?" He paused, rubbing his chin, feeling that "keep going" wasn't quite the right word; Wei Lai seemed to be *enjoying* the training.

Does anyone actually love training that much? Yang Fan had met his fair share of training fanatics. To look no further, He Chaoyue, sitting right next to him, was one. He was a genius, certainly, but he also possessed an extraordinary work ethic, which was what had forged him into the super-talent he was today. Yet, even He Chaoyue’s training volume was only a fraction of Wei Lai’s.

"He has a goal," He Chaoyue said softly.

"A goal?" Yang Fan turned his head. "Who doesn't have a goal?"

He Chaoyue turned to him. "What is your goal?"

"What else could it be? Perform well in the youth academy, try my best to pass the first-team trials next year, and then get some minutes in the Chinese Super League! At the very worst, I'll go to the reserve team to play in the second division and get some experience. For Weili Football School, that’s our path upward!" Yang Fan said casually.

Traditional youth training systems always had very clear, intuitive career paths. If you performed well enough, you’d go straight to the first team and become a professional player. This was the ultimate aspiration for many young players at the Weili Football School.

He Chaoyue continued, "What about a detailed goal? For instance, what are you going to accomplish this week? What standards do you want to hit this year?"

"Huh?" Yang Fan scratched his head. "Just play well, I guess!"

He Chaoyue smiled. "That is exactly what I admire about Wei Lai."

"What do you mean?"

"He has granular goals." He Chaoyue narrowed his eyes. "He experiments with pitch coverage during matches, but in training, he focuses on foot frequency and fundamental drills. What do you think that means?"

Yang Fan blinked. "I don't get it."

He Chaoyue sighed. "Let me put it another way. What do you think is Wei Lai's strongest asset?"

"His defense!" Yang Fan stated bluntly. "You’ve seen his defensive ability; even you have a hard time when he sticks to you like glue."

He Chaoyue nodded. Wei Lai's defensive prowess was indeed a headache even for him.

"But he's still training his foot frequency and fundamentals," He Chaoyue exhaled. "That means he isn't satisfied with just that. Foot frequency and basics are the foundation for dribbling. Later, he’ll probably practice passing, offensive awareness, and so on... He doesn't want to be just a piece of the puzzle."

"He wants to be the core."

"And the most critical part is... he is exploring that path, one step at a time."

Yang Fan grinned. "Being a teammate with a guy like that is a hell of a lot of pressure!"

He Chaoyue nodded with a smile. "But the rate of improvement is just as massive."

Yang Fan nodded in agreement.

Just then, Wei Lai jogged over, his feet still moving in a rhythmic jog in place. He looked at the two of them and said, "Done resting? Want to do another set?"

"Get lost!" Yang Fan laughed and cursed. "I’m not a beast like you, go away!"

Wei Lai shrugged and jogged off, with He Chaoyue immediately following him.

Yang Fan called out, "Go easy, Old He! Don't end up looking like a wilted piece of kelp like last time!"

He Chaoyue turned back and gave him the middle finger.

...

The next day, the U15-B coach, Zhao Xiaotang, announced preparations for the "Future Star Cup."

"There are 32 teams participating in this year's Future Star Cup. Besides us, the Hongyuan Football School from Shanghai, the Guangfa Youth Academy from Guangdong, and this year's national middle school league champions, Bohai Bay No. 3 Middle School, will all be attending."

Hearing Zhao Xiaotang’s words, Guo Fan grinned. "Good grief! The only one missing is Tengfei Football School; otherwise, all four traditional youth powerhouses would be here!"

"Bohai Bay No. 3 is pretty strong, right? They did win the national championship!"

"They're definitely strong. They took down the Madu No. 1 Middle School led by Pei Le in the finals!"

"But Guangfa is still the biggest threat, right? After all, they have that guy, Chen Shaojie!"

"Didn't Chen Shaojie go to play as a guest player abroad?"

"The tournament was canceled, so he ran back to play in the Future Star Cup!"

"Damn!"

Seeing the group whispering among themselves, Zhao Xiaotang barked, "Quiet!"

The room immediately fell silent.

Zhao Xiaotang continued, "The starting players must prepare, but the substitutes cannot afford to be careless either. Always be ready to step onto the pitch and show your quality. This tournament will determine the starting lineup for the next cycle. It all depends on whether you can seize your chance!"

Hearing this, the substitutes were suddenly full of drive, while the starters felt the pressure and wore grave expressions. It wasn't just external competition; there was internal competition as well.

"Take today to rest, pack your bags, and we head to Shanghai tomorrow for the tournament!"

"Dismissed!"

Following the coach's command, the team finished their day of training, all full of anticipation for the upcoming competition.

Wei Lai was also in high spirits. After all, this was his first official tournament since his return. Compared to his previous life, he had made significant progress. However, he wasn't entirely sure of the extent of that improvement and was eager to test it in a formal match.

In the dormitory, Wei Lai and the others were packing their luggage.

"Hongyuan, Guangfa, and Bohai Bay No. 3 are all coming. With us, that makes four seeded teams. It’s highly likely we’ll be the ones meeting in the semifinals."

Three top-tier traditional youth academies plus the school football champions—they essentially guaranteed the semifinal spots. After all, these tournaments were seeded to place the top teams in different groups. Through the group stages, one team from each group would emerge to the Round of 16, then the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finally, the winners would reach the final.

It wasn't that the independent youth teams were bad; there were some excellent ones among them. But, on the whole, the gap was still significant. Because of this, domestic youth tournaments often featured lopsided, exaggerated scores.

Upsets happened, of course. Back then, the Green Lion Cubs had made a stunning debut, going all the way as a dark horse to overcome the traditional academies. But that was an isolated case and couldn't be used as a standard.

Looking at the current rosters, the three traditional youth academies and the school football champion held a massive, gap-widening lead in overall strength.