Volume One: Our Own League Chapter 20: Xu He’s Starting Position Is About to Be Taken

Whoosh! Instinctively, the entire team’s gaze fell upon Xu He, leaving him feeling a bit embarrassed. Yet, his heart suddenly began to race.

Another forward had joined the team.

Was this a sign that the coaches were dissatisfied with the current lineup in this position? After all, the league was about to begin, and to parachute in a new striker at this moment was, to say the least, thought-provoking.

Sensing the concern and sympathy in his teammates’ eyes, Xu He’s lips curled slightly upward. He was grateful for their care. When he had first joined the team, these same teammates had eyed him with hostility, seeing him as someone who had gotten in through connections. But after training together these past days, their prejudices had long faded, and Xu He was now accepted as one of their own.

Xu He smiled back at them.

Despite the waves stirring in his heart at the arrival of this new “forward,” Xu He was filled with confidence. He firmly believed he could secure a starting position and felt no fear—on the contrary, he was motivated to work even harder, to push himself further.

Deep down, Xu He hoped the newcomer would be strong, so he could truly feel the pressure.

Xu He fixed his eyes on the newcomer, Yang Xin, and silently thought, “I hope you won’t disappoint me. This hard-won starting spot—I won’t give it up so easily.”

Seeing that his teammates had not reacted and were still staring at him, Xu He quickly clapped his hands enthusiastically. “Welcome, welcome! Let’s give a warm welcome to our new teammate joining the family!”

Clap, clap, clap!

With Xu He taking the lead, the other players snapped out of their daze and joined in, applauding to welcome the newcomer.

Grateful, Yang Xin nodded to Xu He.

Xu He responded with another smile.

Standing beside Xu He, Li Jie frowned slightly and leaned in, clapping half-heartedly as he whispered, “He’s your rival for the position—how can you welcome him like that?”

Xu He replied, “What else should I do? Chase him away?”

Li Jie shook his head immediately. “Of course not!”

Xu He smiled. “Exactly.”

Li Jie’s brows furrowed further. “Don’t you feel even a bit uneasy? Aren’t you worried at all?”

Xu He turned and looked him in the eye, replying with utter seriousness, “I have confidence in my abilities. I won’t lose to anyone. Even if someone is better than me now, I’ll surpass him in the future.”

Li Jie was stunned by the conviction in Xu He’s gaze.

For a moment, he was speechless. Then, recovering, he gave Xu He a thumbs up, admiration plain in his voice. “You’re something else!”

With that, Li Jie glanced over at the newcomer, Yang Xin.

Truth be told, Yang Xin cut a truly intimidating figure.

He was simply too tall.

The average height of the first-year students was about 160 centimeters, but Yang Xin stood more than a head above everyone else—he must be well over 180 centimeters.

Now that everyone had welcomed him, Zhu Ge turned to Yang Xin. “Alright, go ahead and introduce yourself.”

With his towering stature, Yang Xin showed no stage fright. He stepped forward and introduced himself with confidence: “Hello, everyone. My name is Yang Xin. I’m 192 centimeters tall, weigh 70 kilograms, a local of Jinguancheng, about to enter Class Eleven of the first year, and my position is forward.”

At this, Li Jie’s eyes widened in shock.

He was from Class Eleven?

Wasn’t that the same class as Xu He and himself?

Why had they never seen this guy before?

Neither of them recalled seeing Yang Xin in class that day, either. Was he invisible? Or were their eyes playing tricks on them?

Li Jie was so baffled that he reached out to tug at Xu He’s sleeve, urgently whispering, “Xu, this guy says he’s in our class—have you seen him before?”

He waited a long time, but Xu He didn’t respond. Li Jie turned to look at him, nearly at a loss for words.

He was so concerned about Yang Xin purely for Xu He’s sake, yet Xu He wasn’t paying any attention at all. His eyes were elsewhere, focused on the sidelines, not Yang Xin.

Li Jie gave a wry smile. He cared more than the person actually involved!

Annoyed, Li Jie said, “Are you even listening to me?”

It was only after Li Jie nudged him that Xu He pulled his gaze back, looking at Li Jie in confusion. “Huh? What did you say?”

Li Jie was exasperated—Xu He clearly hadn’t heard a word.

Li Jie couldn’t tell if Xu He was just too unconcerned or genuinely confident about outshining the newcomer.

Rolling his eyes, Li Jie asked, “What are you looking at?”

At that, Xu He chuckled softly. “I’m watching someone interesting.”

“Who?” Li Jie asked, puzzled.

Xu He jerked his chin toward the side of the field. “Him.”

Li Jie followed his gaze and saw a small, slight figure in a white number 47 national team jersey stumbling through a dribbling drill nearby.

“He looks perfectly ordinary. What’s so interesting about him?” Li Jie asked.

Xu He replied, “Haven’t you noticed? Every time we train, that kid is always there, always wearing that same white number 47 jersey.”

Li Jie thought back and realized Xu He was right—the kid was always around during their practices.

“What’s up with him?” Li Jie asked.

Xu He explained, “According to Li Liying, the boy’s name is Lu Yiming, from Class Ten. He wanted to join our soccer team at first, but he doesn’t actually know how to play, so he was rejected. Even after that, he’s kept coming to train with us.”

Li Jie nodded, murmuring, “Something’s not quite right with this kid.”

Before Xu He could reply, Li Jie continued, “He is rather interesting.”

Xu He suddenly said, “Do you think he’s trying to prove himself—working hard to get better so he can eventually join us?”

Li Jie thought for a moment. “That’s probably it…”

“But wait,” he added. “You should be worrying about yourself right now! Your hard-earned starting spot might not be so secure anymore!”

“What’s wrong?” Xu He asked.

Rolling his eyes, Li Jie said, “You really don’t care about your competition, do you? Yang Xin is 192 centimeters tall and claims to be from our class—have you ever seen him?”

Xu He was surprised too and shook his head at once.

If someone so distinctive really was in their class, he would have remembered.

Both were left full of questions, but there was no time to dwell on it as training was about to begin.

With the league approaching, Mu Yang’s training regimen had grown even stricter and more intense. Clearly, after that match with Class Six, Mu Yang was taking things much more seriously.

“Train hard—our goal is the championship!” Mu Yang declared coolly.

It was clear he had his sights set firmly on the title.

Xu He felt the same.

He had joined this league with the championship in mind.

So during practice, Xu He was especially active, putting his all into every drill, whether with or without the ball.

Yet, he was not the standout of today’s session.

The most dazzling performance came from the new arrival, Yang Xin. His coordination with Lin Xuefeng on the flank was flawless—Lin always managed to cross the ball onto Yang Xin’s head, and Yang Xin would use his height to easily head the ball into the net.

In the final scrimmage, Yang Xin scored a hat-trick in just twenty minutes and even delivered an assist.

At this, everyone was secretly worried for Xu He.

Li Jie sidled up to him and teased, “Still so blindly confident, are you?”

To be honest, Xu He was impressed by Yang Xin’s display.

The guy was genuinely talented, making the most of his height—he was a formidable rival.

But Xu He was not afraid.

He replied to Li Jie, “He is strong and puts a lot of pressure on me, but I won’t lose to him. I refuse!”

After practice, Xu He dragged Li Jie to stay and train even longer.

He threw himself into the extra drills with tireless effort, sharpening his finishing skills.

He knew exactly what he needed to improve.

As long as he worked hard, he could succeed.

That evening, the two trained late—night was nearly falling when they left.

Li Jie could sense the pressure Xu He was under, but Xu He never showed a hint of fear or hesitation. That was what Li Jie admired most about him, and he believed his best friend would not lose to Yang Xin. Even if Xu He was behind for now, it wouldn’t be long before he caught up.

Xu He had what it took.

Keep fighting, Xu He!

Li Jie asked, “Aren’t you worried Yang Xin will take your starting spot?”

Xu He shot him a look. “I’m confident I can defend my place.”

Seeing Xu He’s determined expression, Li Jie admired him even more. He patted Xu He on the shoulder and said, “I believe in you.”

Xu He gave him a grateful look. “Actually, that’s not even what’s bothering me. I’m worried about something else.”

“What is it? Tomorrow’s math test?”

Sure enough, his best friend hit the nail on the head.

Xu He nodded. “Yes! My mom said if I don’t do well this time, I’ll have to go to math tutoring, and I won’t have time for soccer anymore. I’d lose my spot on the team, just when I finally earned a starting position!”

Li Jie reassured him, “Don’t worry, your math is fine. You’ve been working hard lately—you’ll do well, as long as you don’t stress yourself out too much!”

Truly, no one understood him better than his best friend.

Li Jie was right—Xu He did just fine on the math test.

The next day, Xu He performed well as expected.

When the results came out on Monday, he had scored 105 points—a solid grade—putting his mind at ease and allowing him to look forward to the league even more.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, would mark the official start of the very first first-year soccer league at Jinguancheng No. 17 Middle School.