Volume One: Our Own League 169: The Competition Begins Early in the Morning

Yangtong Mingxiong did not lead the training session himself; instead, he stood at the edge of the pitch to observe.

Standing alongside him was the unfamiliar middle-aged man who had been by Principal Wang’s side yesterday. Xu He had guessed yesterday that this man might be Yangtong Mingxiong’s assistant, but from the looks of it now, that was clearly not the case.

The man was dressed in casual wear, forming a stark contrast to the athletic gear worn by Yangtong Mingxiong and his coaching staff.

Moreover, the sportswear worn by Yangtong Mingxiong and his group all bore the emblem of Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School, while the casual attire of this stranger distinctly lacked any such badge.

More importantly, there was almost zero communication between the two men.

Even when Yangtong Mingxiong was discussing matters with his coaching staff, this stranger simply stood off to the side without intervening. It was blatantly obvious that the middle-aged man did not fit in with them at all.

Xu He’s mind was flooded with questions: Just who was this strange middle-aged man?

Could he be a trusted confidant of Principal Wang, sent here specifically to oversee their work?

Xu He could not for the life of him figure out who this man might be.

However, he did not dwell on the matter for long, as their training had already commenced.

The training methods were, in truth, identical to Mu Yang’s, with virtually no differences. The only distinction was that Xu Dongsheng explained things in much greater detail, focusing heavily on various nuances that Mu Yang’s sessions had previously lacked.

Yet, the core training routines remained entirely the same.

This reinforced Xu He’s conviction that Mu Yang must have undergone professional training in the past, or at the very least, had frequently observed professional teams in training. Otherwise, how could he possibly know so much?

The training began, as usual, with drills without the ball.

Xu Dongsheng took charge personally, leading everyone in a jog.

After jogging four laps around the sports field, everyone’s body was warmed up. Then, Xu Dongsheng led them through wrist and ankle rotations to thoroughly heat up their entire systems.

Following that, Xu Dongsheng guided them through ball-free shuttle runs, acceleration bursts, directional changes without the ball, lateral jumps, and criss-cross stepping grid drills.

This series of ball-free exercises felt wonderfully novel to the members of the Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School varsity team. It seemed to be the first time most of them had ever done such training, leaving them both excited and flustered. In the eyes of Ke Dongnan and the other two, this was absolute bumpkin behavior, and their faces were plastered with utter disdain.

However, Xu He and his group executed these drills with remarkable familiarity and impressive efficiency, lagging only slightly behind the trio at most.

To be honest, this caught Xu Dongsheng completely by surprise.

Xu Dongsheng could not help casting a few extra glances at Xu He and his peers. Wondering where they could have possibly learned such training methods, he quickly redirected his attention to closely monitor their performance. Once he paid closer attention, he grew certain that Xu He and the others had indeed undergone professional training.

Although the level of professionalism was quite low, it was at least far better than those who had experienced nothing of the sort, saving him a tremendous amount of effort.

Xu Dongsheng frowned slightly, thinking to himself: "Could it be that Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School hired professional football coaches in the past?"

He felt it necessary to bring this matter to Yangtong Mingxiong’s attention.

Ke Dongnan and the other two also cast skeptical glances at Xu He’s group, never expecting these country bumpkins to possess knowledge of such professional training regimens. They were quite surprised.

Naturally, they still looked down upon Xu He and the others, consumed as they were by their own arrogance.

Throughout the training, Xu He worked extraordinarily hard, putting every ounce of strength he had into the drills. He fully showcased his capabilities, proving himself not a whit inferior—and perhaps even superior—to the three guys hailing from professional club youth academies.

This served as a tremendous morale booster for the students of Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School.

The members of the school team now looked at the trio with thinly veiled contempt, fixing them with sarcastic glares and subjecting them to harsh humiliation.

The faces of the three outsiders turned ashen. When had they ever been subjected to such treatment?

They were always the ones looking down on others; no one had ever dared to treat them with contempt. Furious, they glared at Xu He, their eyes flashing with wrath.

The black player strode right up to Xu He, fixing him with a piercing glare from his dark eyes and threatening, "Kid, don’t celebrate too soon. I'll make you pay for this later."

Next came Ke Dongnan, who leaned in to look down at Xu He with scorn, sneering, "You're still miles away from our level, kid. What on earth are you so smug about?"

Finally, Shan Xiongying approached, casting a sidelong glance at Xu He and letting out a cold scoff. "Humph! With your amateurish standard, you aren't even worthy of carrying my shoes. I'll show you what true professional standards look like in a moment. Kid, you've still got a long way to go!"

Arrogant! Those three guys were simply too arrogant!

They completely refused to take Xu He seriously, and their condescending attitude was painfully obvious.

Xu He stared back at the trio with visible hostility. Those three were thoroughly obnoxious, overwhelmingly arrogant, and so conceited they practically had their noses in the clouds. If he didn't put them in their place, he wouldn't be able to swallow his pride, and the stifled anger in his chest would never find an outlet.

Xu He clenched his fists tightly, fixing his gaze fixedly on the backs of the departing trio, his mind burning with fighting spirit.

Xu Dongsheng took in the entire scene, but he chose not to intervene. This was precisely why they had decided to bring these three players to the Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School varsity team in the first place—to stimulate the local members, motivate them, and drive them to train harder.

Right now, the "catfish effect" brought by Ke Dongnan and his companions was operating at absolute maximum capacity.

As long as they didn't resort to physical blows, anything else was acceptable.

Moreover, Xu Dongsheng firmly believed they wouldn't start a fight. After all, their team rules explicitly prohibited brawling and fighting, and even more strictly forbade anything that compromised team unity.

Anyone caught violating these rules would be summarily expelled.

Clearly, none of these youngsters wanted to get kicked off the team.

At that moment, Xu Dongsheng walked right up to Xu He and inquired, "Xu He, have you guys experienced similar professional football training before? You all looked remarkably proficient!"

As he spoke, Xu Dongsheng cast a glance toward Zhu Ge, Zhong Haokun, Li Jie, and the others standing nearby.

Xu He had no intention of hiding anything and replied directly, "Yes, we've gone through similar training, though we didn't know whether it counted as professional football training or not."

Indeed, prior to this, Xu He and his friends had no idea that these routines constituted professional football training.

Even if the contents were incomplete, they were undeniably professional.

Xu Dongsheng nodded slightly. As expected.

To be frank, hearing this came as a pleasant surprise to Xu Dongsheng. He had assumed that the players of Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School had zero exposure to professional training, which meant his workload would be immense, requiring him to teach everything from scratch—a process that would be terribly time-consuming and exhausting.

However, discovering that Xu He and his friends had already experienced such training was a truly welcome bonus.

The other players from Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School turned their gazes toward Xu He’s group, their eyes filled with curiosity. They thought to themselves, "No wonder Xu He and the others are so good; they've actually had professional training!"

Ke Dongnan and his two cohorts also stared at Xu He’s group, their eyes still dripping with contempt. So what if you've had professional training? You're still this lousy. They still looked down on them, deeming Xu He and the others too incompetent to ever be worthy of being their teammates.

Xu Dongsheng continued his inquiry, "Then where did you undergo this professional training?"

Without a second thought about concealing the truth, Xu He answered, "Right here at our school. We’ve always practiced this way!"

A jolt of shock went through Xu Dongsheng’s heart. Had Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School truly hired professional football coaches in the past?

He immediately pressed on, "Who was the coach your school hired previously? Before we arrived, had your school team been disbanded?"

Xu He shook his head slightly and said, "I wouldn't know about that. We're only first-year freshmen; we really aren't clued into those matters."

Xu Dongsheng was utterly baffled. What kind of situation was this?

He asked, "You don't know? Then who were you training with? Who taught you to train like this?"

Xu Dongsheng was genuinely bewildered. Wasn't it a professional coach? Could it have been a physical education teacher from Jinguancheng Seventeenth High School? Did the school have a P.E. teacher who majored in football?

Xu He explained, "It was taught to us by a teammate. He serves as our team's vice-captain and concurrent head coach. He usually arranges all our training sessions, and these routines are part of our team's daily practice—completely different from the training methods of any other team in our school."

At this point, the classmates who had participated in the freshman football league experienced a sudden flash of realization.

As for Xu Dongsheng, he was utterly stunned, his eyes widened in disbelief. Were students nowadays really this formidable?

He hastily asked, "Your team?"

Xu He replied promptly, "The Class 10 Freshman Football Team. Our team participated in the freshman football league."

Xu Dongsheng understood now. So that was how it was.

He quickly followed up, "Then who is this vice-captain of yours? He should be on our school team as well, right? Is it Zhu Ge? Or Lin Xuefeng?"

Clearly, Xu Dongsheng had done his homework.

Xu He, Zhu Ge, and the others all shook their heads in unison, saying, "Neither of them. Our vice-captain didn't participate in the varsity team tryouts, and he isn't on the school team right now."

This came as a massive surprise to Xu Dongsheng. Why wouldn't this fellow join the varsity team?

Since he had already played for his class team, how could he possibly lack interest in the school team? Did he really have zero desire to play in the national tournament?

Xu Dongsheng immediately demanded, "Why? Why didn't he participate in the varsity tryouts?"

Xu He desperately wanted to know the answer to that question himself. He had been searching for the answer lately, but unfortunately, he still hadn't found it, nor had he even managed to catch a glimpse of Mu Yang.

Xu He shook his head and said, "I have no idea either. He originally came to the sports field with us to take charge of the varsity tryouts. But halfway through, he suddenly gave up and left. We have no idea why."

Xu Dongsheng furrowed his brow deeply. What was the reason behind this?

To tell the truth, his interest in this individual who understood professional football training was piqued to the maximum. He desperately wanted to meet the fellow and see if there was any way to rope him into the varsity squad.

Xu Dongsheng asked without delay, "Where is he now? What class is he in?"

Xu He answered immediately, "He's in Class 10, but we don't know where he is right now either. We've been looking for him too!"

Xu Dongsheng grew even more puzzled. Was this guy really that enigmatic?

Unable to make head or tail of it, he figured he would have to go ask Principal Wang about this. He waved his hand and commanded, "Alright, everyone, let's start the ball-work drills!"

During the subsequent ball drills, Xu He performed exceptionally well. Whether it was dribbling with directional changes, weaving through cones, passing and receiving, or executing sudden forward bursts with the ball to break through, his performance was stellar—not a whit behind the three guys from the professional club youth academy.

This stirred a flicker of underlying anger in the trio, and they resolved to teach Xu He a harsh lesson during the upcoming training match, making him understand the vast chasm that separated him from professional youth academy players.