Chapter 1 The Sound of Football

"Peng, peng, peng."

Zhou Yi stood in front of the sofa in the living room. The coffee table that was originally in this position had been pushed aside by him, tilted to one side.

He needed space to juggle the ball, and the coffee table was in the way.

The continuous peng, peng, peng sound was the sound of his foot connecting with the football.

While juggling the ball, Zhou Yi also held the remote control in his hand, his finger on the next channel button, mechanically repeating the press, the channel content on the TV was constantly switching.

One moment it was "Take that! Demon! Eat my old Sun's staff!"

Immediately after, it jumped to "Er Kang, tell me, how can a broken me help a broken you…"

Then a bald monk roared: "Enough nonsense, Bai Suzhen! You are now violating the heavenly rules and committing evil in the human world, your sins are truly grave! Now you dare to mobilize demons to flood Jinshan Temple! Causing damage to the people and destroying families, it is truly unforgivable…"

A deep male voice sang: "The mighty river flows eastward…"

"…Swallowing wind and kissing rain, burying the setting sun without hesitation, deceiving mountains and chasing seas, treading snow without despair, plucking flowers and drinking wine, captivating the world with infatuation, relying on these two eyes and a hundred arms or a thousand hands cannot defend against…"

…

Summer holiday dramas appeared one by one, like a fleeting show.

Zhou Yi himself would occasionally quickly raise his eyes to look at the TV screen, and if he wasn't interested, he would continue to press the remote control button.

Multitasking was not difficult for him. From a young age, he learned skills such as listening to lectures while reading novels, and using his feet to move the football back and forth under the desk while doing homework.

His brain was always active, and doing only one thing felt insufficient. He even had many dreams when he slept, all kinds of bizarre dreams, good and bad, and even serial dreams, where the dreams he had every day for a week continued to develop from the dream of the previous night. So Zhou Yi felt from a young age that he was uniquely talented and extraordinary.

If it wasn't raining heavily outside, Zhou Yi certainly wouldn't be willing to juggle the ball in the living room at home. If he accidentally broke the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, he would definitely be scolded by his mother when he got home. Of course, this kind of thing only happened when Zhou Yi first started playing football. Now that he was in high school, this kind of thing almost never happened.

He longed to go to the field to play football with his friends, but the rain had been falling for several days in a row, preventing him from going out to play. If he didn't juggle the ball at home, Zhou Yi was afraid that every joint in his body would rust.

His finger was still mechanically pressing the button on the remote control, and the TV screen was still flickering frequently.

Suddenly, a scene of a teenager playing football appeared on the TV screen. At the same time, a female voice said in a broadcasting tone: "...Yesterday afternoon, North Hemisphere Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd. held a press conference in Beijing, officially announcing the launch of the first large-scale football reality show program in China…"

Zhou Yi, who was looking down at the ball, heard this and suddenly raised his head to look at the TV screen. Meanwhile, his feet were still mechanically repeating the action of juggling the ball.

"...According to the person in charge of North Hemisphere, this football reality show program, titled *Green Field Inheritors*, will gather the strongest players in our country currently in the seventeen-year-old age group to form a team, and then go to Europe to challenge the youth training camps of the giants. The confirmed challenge targets are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, AC Milan, Inter Milan…"

"...These young players are basically elite members selected from the梯队 (tī duì, echelon teams) of domestic professional football clubs. Hao Dong, a famous former striker and the number one striker in Asia, will serve as the head coach of the team… At the same time, the person in charge of North Hemisphere also revealed at the press conference that in addition to selecting talents from professional club echelon teams, this reality show program also has a major difference, which is that it reserves a spot for those ‘folk geniuses’ who did not come from professional football clubs. As long as they pass the national selection, they can also join the team and participate in the European giants' youth training camp challenge!"

"Football masters in the folk, what are you waiting for? Quickly log in to the website at the bottom of the screen or call the phone number at the bottom of the screen to sign up! Note that only those who have not received training in the梯队 (tī duì, echelon teams) of professional football clubs are eligible to sign up…"

The light radiating from Zhou Yi's eyes as he watched the TV was like a sailor who had experienced great storms suddenly seeing a new continent.

And the football had fallen from his foot at some point and rolled into the corner of the room.

※※※

When Li Cuiyun opened the door to her home carrying a non-woven bag full of groceries, she saw her son eagerly rushing up to help her with the groceries.

"Did you finish your homework?" she asked.

"Finished! Finished long ago!" Zhou Yi said, taking the eco-friendly bag of groceries from his mother and running to the kitchen.

After putting down the groceries, he came back to help his mother take her handbag to the bedroom.

When her son returned to her for the second time, she had just changed into her slippers.

"What?" Li Cuiyun asked, looking at her son's eager and flattering smile.

"Hehe… well, Mom, can we talk about something?" Zhou Yi smiled even more flatteringly.

"Just say what you want."

"I want to participate in an audition, a football audition."

"What are you thinking? You'll be a senior in high school when school starts, and you'll have the college entrance exam in another year. Study hard, what audition are you participating in?" Li Cuiyun said without even thinking, just blurting it out, it was probably a conditioned reflex.

After speaking, she walked towards the kitchen, preparing to make dinner.

Zhou Yi wasn't surprised by his mother's words, but he still wanted to try to persuade her: "The audition is during the summer vacation, it won't delay the start of school."

"Your school has tutoring in August, how won't it delay?" His mother said without turning her head, while walking into the kitchen to get busy.

"But there's a chance to play football in Europe, Mom!" As someone who loved football, European football had a natural attraction for Zhou Yi.

"That's not okay either, studying comes first." His mother firmly refused Zhou Yi.

Zhou Yi knew his mother's attitude towards him playing football, so it was useless to say more. He snorted and announced, "I'm going on a hunger strike to protest!"

His mother glanced at him, then turned her head back to continue doing her own thing, as if she didn't take Zhou Yi's words to heart at all.

Seeing that his mother was ignoring him, Zhou Yi returned to his room in a huff, then he poked his head out and shouted at the kitchen, "I'm really going on a hunger strike!"

"Oh." His mother finally responded.

※※※

When Zhou Jianliang returned home from work, his wife Li Cuiyun had just put the soup on the dining table. A simple two dishes and a soup were ready.

"Go wash your hands, it's time to eat," his wife said to Zhou Jianliang.

Before Zhou Jianliang could answer, his son's door suddenly opened, and Zhou Yi walked out from inside, a look of joy on his face when he saw his father: "Dad, you're back?"

After greeting him, he sat directly at the dining table.

"Hey, aren't you going on a hunger strike?" Li Cuiyun said, looking at him.

"Hunger strike?" Zhou Jianliang was confused, what was going on?

"That's right, I've already been on a hunger strike…" Zhou Yi turned his head to look at the clock hanging on the wall, and said seriously, “…I've already been on a hunger strike for half an hour, that's enough."

After speaking, he reached out to pick up vegetables with his chopsticks, but his mother stopped him with her hand: "Go wash your hands!"

Zhou Yi pouted and went to wash his hands. Zhou Jianliang finally had the chance to secretly ask his wife: "What's going on?"

"Your son is having another whim, he wants to participate in the audition for some football reality show…"

As soon as Zhou Jianliang heard this, he understood: "You don't agree, so he's going on a hunger strike to protest?"

"That's right. He gave up after only half an hour. He doesn't even have the perseverance to go on a hunger strike, what do you think he can do?" His mother complained.

"Cough, you can't say that, it would be a problem if he had the perseverance to go on a hunger strike…" Zhou Jianliang waved his hands repeatedly.

"Anyway, this child only has a three-minute attention span for everything. Don't you know what's piled up in his room? Basketballs, guitars, aren't those all the results of his wide range of interests in the beginning?"

"That shows that our son is smart…" Zhou Jianliang said, sitting down and picking up his chopsticks to pick up vegetables, but he was also stopped by his wife with her hand.

"Wash your hands."

Zhou Jianliang quickly chuckled dryly and went to the bathroom.

At the entrance of the bathroom, he bumped into his son who had just finished washing his hands.

"What's going on with the reality show?" he asked in a low voice.

Zhou Yi glanced at the dining room and also lowered his voice: "Dad, you must support me this time!"

"You tell me what's going on with that reality show first."

So Zhou Yi quickly and simply told his father the news he had seen on TV.

"Isn't it a scam?" Zhou Jianliang asked with some doubt after listening.

"It's the sports channel news!"

"Hmm…" After listening to his son's words, Zhou Jianliang fell into a moment of silence, then he said to Zhou Yi: "Okay, don't say anything when we're eating later. I'll talk to your mother tonight and help you convince her."

"Dad, you're the best!" Zhou Yi's voice was a little louder because he was happy, and his mother's voice immediately rang out from the dining room: "Why are you taking so long to wash your hands? What are you two doing!"

"Hey, coming, coming!" Zhou Jianliang replied loudly, while urging his son: "Hurry up!"

※※※

No one mentioned the football reality show at dinner. After dinner, his mother washed the dishes and did the housework, and his father entered the bedroom, sat down in the small study room converted from the balcony, and turned on the computer. He had to find information about the football reality show that his son was talking about. Although his son said that it was reported by the national television station, he was still worried that his son would be deceived. As a father, he had the obligation and responsibility to protect his son.

Zhou Yi locked himself in his room, not knowing what he was doing. But his parents didn't care either. Anyway, it was summer vacation now, and he had finished his summer homework, so he could play whatever he wanted.

When Li Cuiyun finished doing the housework, she entered the bedroom to bring her husband a cup of tea.

Seeing her come, Zhou Jianliang took off his glasses, signaling his wife not to leave.

"About that audition…"

As soon as Li Cuiyun heard this, she turned around to leave: "This is not okay, I don't plan to let our son develop in the direction of a professional player. Look at those people who get injured playing football…"

Zhou Jianliang quickly waved his hand: "Listen to me, listen to me."

So Li Cuiyun turned back again.

"First of all, let's not talk about whether participating in this reality show means that he must take the path of professional football. You also know how much our son likes football. I admit that he only has a three-minute attention span for everything, but only for football, for playing football, he has always persisted from a young age until now…"

"Isn't that because of you?" Li Cuiyun glared at Zhou Jianliang.

Zhou Jianliang nodded repeatedly and smiled: "Of course, of course, like father, like son…"

Seeing that his wife was about to say something, Zhou Jianliang quickly continued: "What I mean is that it's rare for our son to be so persistent and attentive to one thing, we should encourage him. Besides… anyway, it's just an audition. I just looked at it, it's a national audition, and only one person will be selected from so many people across the country. Look at the淘汰率 (táo tài lǜ, elimination rate). Even if our son participates, he may not be selected in the end. Anyway, the summer vacation has just started, and even if there are补课 (bǔ kè, make-up lessons), it will be in August. I'm thinking, why not just let him try it? Just treat it as playing. Maybe he'll be eliminated in the first round? Don't you think so?"

After Zhou Jianliang finished speaking, he kept looking at his wife.

Li Cuiyun lowered her head and fell into deep thought.

After a while, she raised her head and said: "I have to go to work every day, I don't have time…"

"I'll take time off to accompany him. I still have a ten-day annual leave that I haven't taken yet," Zhou Jianliang said quickly.

"You're using your once-a-year annual leave like this!" His wife was a little unwilling, but she still nodded. "Then let him go, how can he give up if he doesn't try?"

She finally sighed: "It's enough that you like football, but you've also made our son obsessed…"

"Isn't it good to like football? It can exercise the body, cultivate teamwork, and correctly handle failures and setbacks…"

Li Cuiyun quickly raised her hand: "Don't tell me your big principles, I'm leaving, the drama I'm following has its finale today!"

"Then I'll go tell our son?" Zhou Jianliang stood up with a smile.

"Whatever." His wife left the study without turning her head and went to the living room to watch her TV series.

※※※

Zhou Yi sat in front of the computer, still moving the football back and forth with his feet, but his mind was wandering. He was wondering how he could participate in this audition if his father failed to convince his mother.

Sneak off to sign up?

It would be fine in this city, but according to the rules, the final would be held in Beijing. If he made it to the final, how would he get to Beijing? The passbook for his new year's money over the years was in his mother's hands, and he couldn't get it out…

He clicked on QQ on the computer and opened the class group. Everyone in the class group was chatting lively, some were talking about where to go to play, and some were asking how to write their summer homework.

Seeing that everyone was there, Zhou Yi was very happy. He typed a paragraph on the keyboard and sent it to the class group:

"Classmates! Do you have dreams? Have you ever had the urge to do everything for your dreams? Can you bear to see a person fall exhausted on the road to pursuing their dreams? Do you know that sometimes, a small act of kindness can save a person's dream and life! My dream journey needs your help! Sponsor me ten yuan each! Only ten yuan! You can't eat a big meal with ten yuan, you can't buy a new phone with ten yuan, but you can save a dream with ten yuan! Ten yuan each, a trickle becomes a river, irrigating and nourishing the dry soil, and my dream can sprout and grow under your care, blooming beautiful and bright flowers!"

After he finished typing, someone in the group asked: "Zhou Yi, did you go to 1024 again?"

"Nonsense, I don't even know what website you're talking about!"

"Then how did you get infected?"

"Who's infected? I typed every single word myself!"

After Zhou Yi said this, the class group, which was originally chatting lively, suddenly fell silent, and no one spoke again.

It was as if no one was even in the group.

"Damn! A bunch of heartless people!" Zhou Yi complained on the computer.

Just then, the computer suddenly beeped, and a girl's avatar was flashing in the lower right corner of the computer.

Clicking it open, it was a female classmate in Zhou Yi's class named Zheng Lulu.

"I can sponsor you two hundred yuan." There was also a QQ default emoticon of a grinning smile behind this sentence.

Someone was actually willing to support him! And it was the "Braces Girl" Zheng Lulu, who he wasn't even familiar with – because Zheng Lulu was wearing braces, the boys in the class secretly called her that.

Just as Zhou Yi was about to reply to her, there was a coughing sound outside the door, followed by the door being pushed open.

Zhou Yi quickly slammed the lid of the laptop down, then pretended to be reading a book, turning a deaf ear to the approaching footsteps behind him.

"Your mom agreed." His father's voice sounded behind him.

"Yes!" Hearing his father say this, Zhou Yi couldn't pretend anymore. He jumped up from his chair. "Mom is the best!"

"I'm the one who convinced your mom!" Zhou Jianliang was unhappy.

"Dad is the best!" Zhou Yi quickly added.

Only then did Zhou Jianliang nod in satisfaction: "Let me ask you something, son. You won't be eliminated in the first round, will you?"

Zhou Yi raised his head and said, "What are you thinking, Dad? Your son is the main striker of the school team! And our school is the best in the city!"

He said this with pride.

"That's good, it would be too embarrassing if you were eliminated in the first round!"

"Don't worry, Dad, that kind of thing can't happen to your son!"

After sending his father away, Zhou Yi excitedly waved his fists a few times in his bedroom, then looked forward to the audition.

Until he remembered that Zheng Lulu seemed to be waiting for his reply.

So he immediately rushed back to the table, turned on the computer, and said to Zheng Lulu, whose avatar had turned gray: "Thank you, but my mom has already agreed, so I don't need your sponsorship!"

After the message was sent, Zheng Lulu's avatar lit up again: "Oh, it's okay. Congratulations! I hope you go further and faster on the road to pursuing your dreams! I hope your dreams can bloom beautiful and bright flowers!" After the words, she typed a QQ default emoticon of sticking out her tongue and winking.

But after sending this sentence, the girl on the other side of the computer sighed softly.

※※※

In the evening, the excited Zhou Yi tossed and turned in bed for a long time before falling asleep. When he closed his eyes, he couldn't help but imagine himself standing in places like the Bernabéu, Camp Nou, Allianz Arena… wearing the Chinese national team jersey, facing the players of those top teams, each of them being a famous superstar in today's football world, and he was going to challenge these superstars.

If he scored a goal in the game, how should he celebrate?

Thinking about it, Zhou Yi didn't remember when he fell asleep.

In his dream, he was in a training field surrounded by green trees, with continuous undulating mountains in the distance as a backdrop, and white snow on the top of the mountains.

There were some people with blurred faces around him, wearing red training vests like him. In front of him stood a short-haired beauty, tall, with delicate features, the only person Zhou Yi could see clearly.

She smiled and said to Zhou Yi, "Welcome to the fifAoL3 football world…"

※※※

ps, During the new book period, I hope everyone will support me a lot! Collections, recommendations, and clicks are all indispensable!

In addition, welcome everyone to join the new book group: 424533354

Three updates today! There are two more updates at 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. In the future, if there are no accidents, they will be updated at these two time periods~