Volume One: Our Own League 091: Chairman Wang Is Today’s Liu Xuande

At the seventeenth middle school in Jin'guan City, in the principal's office.

Principal Wang, whose hair had already gone slightly silver, sat in his office holding a stack of documents and studying them with great care and seriousness, as though afraid he might overlook something.

Across from him sat Chai Kun, the school’s physical education teacher for the first-year students.

Chai Kun sat with respectful restraint, secretly observing the principal’s expression, trying to gauge his mood from it.

He was being far too cautious.

Principal Wang continued reading the documents intently.

Chai Kun waited in silence, not daring to make the slightest sound, fearing he might disturb the principal.

Even before he came in, he had sensed that the principal was in a rather poor mood today.

He did not want to set off this powder keg.

After quite a while, Principal Wang finished reading the materials in his hands, lifted his head, and looked at Chai Kun across from him.

“Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Chai.”

Chai Kun immediately said, “It’s no trouble at all. It’s my honor to do things for you, Principal. I’m only worried that my abilities are limited and I may not be able to offer you much help.”

In truth, he himself was not very confident in the names he had recommended this time.

He knew Principal Wang had very high standards, and the people he had put forward would likely be difficult to satisfy him. But there was nothing he could do; this was all he was capable of.

Principal Wang studied Chai Kun for a moment and knew he was not lying.

He said, “No, Teacher Chai has already helped me greatly. I’m very grateful for everything you have done for the school. You’ve done very well, and the school will certainly remember your effort and dedication.”

Chai Kun immediately said, “I still haven’t done enough. I’ll keep working hard.”

Principal Wang gave a slight nod, then signaled that Chai Kun could go on with his work. Chai Kun hurriedly stood, said goodbye to Principal Wang, and turned to leave.

After Chai Kun had gone, Principal Wang stared at the materials he had submitted and let out a sigh.

He could tell that Chai Kun had already done everything he could. But for their school, it was of almost no help.

The people Chai Kun had recommended might all be top graduates of the Capital Sports University, and among them were even master’s and doctoral students. But they were all theorists, with almost no practical experience. Letting such people lead the school team left him deeply uneasy.

After all, their school had ambitions.

Not just anyone could really carry a team like theirs.

Of course, there were a few with coaching experience among them. But their resumes were not impressive; it seemed none had ever coached independently. That made Principal Wang even more uneasy.

Naturally, some of the people Chai Kun had recommended before were indeed very good. But those people were now all doing fairly well for themselves and had no intention of coming to their school.

In short: the ones he wanted did not want him, and the ones who wanted him were not the ones he wanted.

So the matter became difficult.

Every time Principal Wang thought of the coach best suited to their school, he thought of Song Yu.

He truly believed Song Yu was the coach they should make every effort to recruit. With Song Yu, their school could march into the national tournament.

However, Coach Song Yu had already turned him down before.

Still, Principal Wang had not given up. He wanted to keep trying and see whether he could bring Song Yu over to their school.

Principal Wang glanced at the documents on the desk and made up his mind at once.

He picked up the phone and dialed Song Yu.

It took a while before the call connected.

Clearly, Song Yu was very surprised to receive Principal Wang’s call. Hadn’t they already made everything clear? Song Yu would not take over Jin'guan City Seventeenth Middle School’s team, so why was Principal Wang calling again?

Had he still not given up?

At the thought of this, Song Yu gave a wry smile.

Was this principal also going to follow the same path as Liu Xuande and visit him three times?

Song Yu gently shook his head. Even if Principal Wang wanted to be Liu Xuande, he would not be Zhuge Liang.

Song Yu said, “Principal Wang, may I ask what you mean by calling me today? If it’s to continue inviting me to coach your school’s team, then I’m afraid you should save your breath. I won’t be coaching your school team. I’m truly sorry.”

Principal Wang also gave a bitter smile. He had expected Song Yu to reject him again, but he had not expected such firmness—there was truly not a sliver of room left for him.

It seemed Song Yu had made up his mind not to take over Jin'guan City Seventeenth Middle School’s team.

Though he was deeply disappointed, Principal Wang still persisted. Of course, he did not come straight to the point, but took a roundabout route instead.

He said, “Coach Song, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not calling to invite you to coach our school team today. Although we very much hope you might honor us with your presence, since you have already made your decision, we would not presume to force the matter.”

Song Yu was somewhat surprised. Then what was Principal Wang’s purpose in calling today?

Song Yu said, “I’m truly sorry. I, Song, have failed to live up to your trust. I’m unable to help you, and I feel deeply apologetic. May I ask what this call is about, Principal Wang?”

Principal Wang promptly said, “Look at me, I was speaking and forgot the real matter altogether. My apologies. This is what old age does—please don’t laugh at me.”

Song Yu rolled his eyes on the other end of the line. He had not expected this principal to be such an actor.

Song Yu said nothing and watched quietly as Principal Wang performed.

Principal Wang said, “I’m calling you mainly to invite you to come to our school on Friday to watch the final of our first-year football league. At that time, I hope Coach Song can offer some opinions, share your guidance generously, and help these children take a few fewer detours while giving them confidence and motivation.”

A word to the wise is enough.

Song Yu already understood what Principal Wang meant. This fellow had indeed not given up; he had been waiting for him here. Rather than approaching it directly, he was now using this roundabout strategy.

But this time, it actually worked.

Song Yu really found it hard to refuse.

He gave a wry smile. “Principal Wang, you’ve truly gone to great lengths for me.”

Principal Wang said, “Coach Song, you know this too—apart from you, I hardly know anyone in your circle. Now that our first-year football league final is about to begin, if I wanted to find someone from the football world to come and support us, you were the only person I could think of. I hope you won’t refuse.”

Song Yu sighed. How could he refuse that?

Principal Wang continued, “This first-year football league is a competition organized spontaneously by the students themselves. Their passion for football is very high. I hope to help them a little, so they can love football even more, and at the same time receive some guidance and encouragement from professionals. That will benefit their future...”

Hearing this, how could Song Yu refuse?

Besides, from Principal Wang’s elegant way of putting it, the league had been organized entirely on the students’ own initiative, which piqued his interest. He also wanted to see these children who simply loved football, and even more, he wanted to see what their league was really like.

He was truly interested.

He could only smile helplessly. No matter how carefully he had guarded against it, he still had failed to block Principal Wang’s feint.

All that vigilance, and still he had been outmaneuvered.

Song Yu smiled bitterly and said, “All right. In that case, I’ll be there on Friday. I’m also very interested in the league you mentioned, organized by the students themselves. I’ll definitely come and take a look.”

At last, Principal Wang broke into a smile. After all his maneuvering, he had finally gotten Song Yu to agree.

Although he still could not say that he had managed to tie Song Yu to the helm of Jin'guan City Seventeenth Middle School’s team, at least he had brought him a step closer.

He could tell that Song Yu still paid considerable attention to youth football. Principal Wang hoped that the enthusiasm of this batch of first-year students would infect Song Yu. If that happened, then there might really be hope for Song Yu to take over their school team.

Principal Wang was somewhat excited, though he did not show it. He immediately said, “Then I’ll be waiting for you, Coach Song.”

After a few more polite words with Coach Song, he finally hung up.

After the call ended, some of the burden on Principal Wang’s mind eased. Although Song Yu still refused to take over the team, he firmly believed that one day, Song Yu would.

After hanging up with Song Yu, Principal Wang immediately called for Li Liying. He told her the news and asked the young men who would be competing in the final to perform well, to show Song Yu their strength and their love for football.

When Li Liying heard that Song Yu was coming, she was extremely happy and excited.

She was very familiar with the name Song Yu, and she knew of his past achievements. She had never imagined that Song Yu would come to their school. It was truly both unexpected and thrilling.

That afternoon, Li Liying told Zhu Ge, Xu He, and the others about it.

When the players of Class Ten’s football team heard the news, they were all stunned. They had never imagined that one day the meritorious coach of the national youth team, Song Yu, would come to watch them play. It was simply unbelievable.

Xu He was tremendously excited. To be able to display his ability before the coach of the national youth team was an exceedingly rare opportunity.

He was burning with determination, ready to give everything in this match and let the national youth team coach see his true strength.

Xu He did not notice that when he heard Song Yu would be coming to watch the final in person, a flash of light had appeared in Mu Yang’s eyes, only to be swallowed almost at once by a trace of helplessness.

Mu Yang’s mood was very complicated.

Xu He did not notice, but Zhu Ge did. Zhu Ge even reached out and patted Mu Yang on the shoulder, as though comforting him.

Only then did Xu He notice Mu Yang’s unusual state.

The cool, composed expression on Mu Yang’s face was gone. In its place was a look of utter dejection. This shocked Xu He greatly. He had no idea what had happened to Mu Yang.

Zhu Ge immediately turned to everyone and said, “I think everyone understood what was just said. This final is no longer as simple as we first imagined. This match has become extraordinarily important. I know you all want to perform well before Coach Song Yu, so I hope everyone will give one hundred percent in this game and not let Coach Song Yu look down on us.”

Clearly, Zhu Ge was also very excited and took this matter extremely seriously.

The players of Class Ten’s football team all nodded, saying they understood and would certainly work hard in this match. Zhu Ge was very satisfied with that, and he did not forget to encourage his teammates, telling them that in this match they must win and take the championship.

The players of Class Ten’s football team now had even greater expectations for the match.

Xu He clenched both fists, silently cheering himself on, hoping that he too could perform well in this game.

At that moment, Xu He thought of Lin Xuefeng.

This match was a splendid opportunity. It was a pity that Lin Xuefeng could not come back; that was surely a tremendous regret for him.

Lin Xuefeng, come back soon.