Seven months have passed since he arrived in distant Britain from China, and Chen Jian has gradually become accustomed to life in this distant country. In an environment where English is everywhere, his language has progressed very quickly, but his academic progress at the University of Nottingham has been slow.

It's not that he doesn't want to do well in school, it's that he's too tired.

In the first time, the landlord Fat John's family had become accustomed to seeing this dark-skinned Chinese young man dragging his exhausted body back home after training, and after eating, he returned to his room to practice English, and the next morning if he had training, he would go to Wilford, and if he hadn't trained, he would take a car to Nottingham University for classes.

The simple words are repeated like this. He seldom and almost never goes downtown shopping, nor does he go to any park to relax, except for the occasional time when John gets extra tickets to go to the City Stadium to watch Forest play, and a city with the legendary British hero Robin Hood is for him just three places and the road between them: "Wilford Training Base", "University of Nottingham" and "Mr. John's Home".

It has only recently improved my hard work, and I have no problem with my English listening and expression skills. He can now communicate fluently with the family at the dinner table and listen to John talk about Nottingham Forest's proud past.

His body has also adapted to the youth team's training program, showing his usual qualities in training – strength and hard work.

But he still felt very tired. Not only because the training intensity is particularly high, but also because of psychological reasons...... Since Chen Jian came to the UK, he has developed the habit of writing notes every day. His original intention was that this was a precious life experience, and he did not want this experience to fade into the journey of life with the passage of time, so he wanted to use words to record every bit of his training and study life in Nottingham.

Now looking back at the previous chronicles, with those crooked words, he will recall every day of the past seven months. In fact, he felt that even if he didn't write a diary, these seven months, and even the remaining five months in the future, would not be easily erased from his memory, too profound, too solid, as real and clear as the soreness in his body after training every day.

※※※...... "Chan! Can't you run? Can't you? "The head coach of the youth team, Greenwood, leaned down, his big open mouth almost bit Chen Jian's ear, and he yelled at Chen Jian, who was tired and fell to the ground, in English, regardless of whether Chen Jian could understand it or not. If you can't, you can go home now! No one here is going to keep you! No one here has any hope for you! You lucky ones from the business draft! Do you really think you're lucky? Stand up! Keep practicing! You've got twenty more turnaround runs with the ball! Don't delay me for dinner, this is the most ordinary youth team training! ”

Chen Jian couldn't understand what Coach Greenwood was yelling, although this coach always had such a loud voice when he trained. But he knew the English coach must be unhappy with himself – he'd never seen anyone compliment you in your ear with a hideous face.

He got up from the ground, staggered and continued to run forward with the ball, running a few steps, stumbling and falling to the ground. But this time, without waiting for Greenwood to continue rushing to play the role of "Roaring Heavenly Venerable", he got up again on his own and continued.

※※※ "Are you deficient in calcium or have you had polio since childhood?" Old! I can't stand such a little collision, what kind of football do you play? Are you a chick? You secretly stuffed sanitary napkins in your underwear, are you here for that?! Get up and keep going! What are you hiding! It's not kicking, it's war! If you can't win, give me death, and those who run away will die with me if they don't die on the battlefield! If you're so scared of getting hurt, I can recommend you to train with a ten-year-old! Are you Chinese all this virtuous? Head to head! Head to head! How many times do you want me to say it?! Front!! ”

Chen Jian could already hear more or less clearly what the loud coach of the youth team meant by a series of muttering in his mouth. Instead of shouting a retort or throwing his hands off, he got up from the hand, then screamed at his opponent and rushed towards him, then flipped the opposing player to the ground with a foul move.

The young man who was knocked down by Chen Jian screamed exaggeratedly, and lay on the ground and didn't want to get up.

"James, if you continue to lie on the ground and pretend to be lazy, I will punish you for running ten laps with the ball!" Greenwood slammed into the muzzle of his gun this time and roared into the ear of the boy who was lying on the ground moaning. The other party immediately jumped up from the ground obediently, of course, he didn't forget to punch Chen Jian in the chest: "You should vent this energy to the head coach just now, hey!" ”

The youth team players laughed as they watched the excitement around them. Greenwood also applauded Chen Jian: "Although there is a foul, the defender must get used to using the foul to stop the opponent. Moreover, this momentum is good...... Also, don't scream next time, that's stupid. ”

The laughter was louder.

Chen Jian wrote in the diary: "...... I don't quite understand it yet, but I think Coach Greenwood must have complimented me, and this was the first time in three months that he had complimented me...... Professional football in England is really different from what I've heard about back home......"

※※※ "Chen, you have to pay attention to the position of the opposing attacking player!" You go chasing the ball, what ball are you chasing? Do you think your physical strength is really good? This isn't your soccer draft, and you can't even hold up half a game in a professional game with that little energy. Did you train here with the goal of playing professionally? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have said ......."

"Absolutely, Coach Greenwood. But George. Wood ......"

"You want to say that his physical strength is good, right? That's right, he's very, very, very good physically. But he's a monster. Are you a monster? You're George. Wood? ”

Chen Jian shook his head.

"Then listen carefully! Your body may be considered strong in your country......"

"No, it's not strong, Coach Greenwood......"

"Don't interrupt me! Well, since none of them are strong in your country, they are even less strong here. You can't always think about defending with your body, I don't know which idiot told you that defense depends on your body. In fact, the body is just a talent, but people can't always rely on talent to get by. You need to learn to observe and analyse every move of your attacking players, and then judge what they will do next, and prepare yourself in advance. It's prediction, prediction, you know? ”

"I want to ...... I know, Coach Greenwood. ”

Greenwood pointed to his head: "If you think football is a movement of the body, you're wrong, Chen. Football is a sport full of wisdom, and idiots and fools don't have much future here. You are not physically strong, but there is no rule that only strong people are qualified to be defenders and midfielders. You have to learn to defend with your brain and wit, find the next move of the attacking players and their weaknesses, and then make countermeasures against your surname. Your speed and the agility of the Orientals are your characteristics, and you have to work on it......"

Chen Jian nodded vigorously: "I know." Coach Greenwood, thank you for the teaching. ”

※※※ "Chen! I made you play with your brain, I didn't let you run a single step! Where are you stupidly standing defending what? Vegetative people can easily get past your wooden stake! ”

"Tackle! Be decisive...... You see, you put him in the restricted area. What are you going to do next? Giving the opponent a penalty? Foul? What are you afraid of? Which do you choose between a free kick or a penalty? ”

"Forward, forward! After passing the ball, don't stand still and run forward diagonally...... If you don't run how your teammates pass the ball to you, his other passing routes are blocked. Only if you plug in from behind can you create a passing path for him. Don't think that passing is something that the ball carrier thinks about, it takes the whole team around him to move and cooperate to create a passing route! Standing kicking is absolutely not allowed here! ”

"Chen, do you know what your biggest problem is? Not a thinner body than the British, and not an unsolid foundation. Those can be boosted with constant exercise and practice. Your biggest problem is here. Brain, Wisdom, Consciousness. It's football awareness! Playing on the pitch and watching from the stands are two different things. Don't think you've watched a lot of football games and you're so good at football, if you don't come down and play yourself, you'll never know what's going on! You have to learn to observe and analyze the situation on the field...... Isn't your English improving fast? Why can't you use this cleverness to develop football awareness? ”

…… Chen Jian can still remember a lot of words like this now. He found out that the praise was the only time in seven months that youth team manager Mason Greenwood had acknowledged his efforts. Other times it's all about finding fault with him, and when he thinks he's done well in that area, Greenwood can certainly find more problems elsewhere.

Many times, Chen Jian felt that he was not actually suitable for playing football...... It's just a mistake maker. Even the most basic running would be considered by Coach Greenwood to be a problem with running form, affecting speed and explosiveness...... But he's been running like that since he was a kid, and he's been running for eighteen years, and no one has said to him, "Hey, man." You're having a big problem with your running form."

He admits that he had thought a lot of messy things before he came, including what vocational training in Britain should look like, but he never imagined that it could be so demanding and unbearable. The slightest mistake and a sharp whistle and Greenwood's loud voice immediately came to his ears.

It can't be refuted, it can't be explained. Wrong is wrong, all you can say is "yes, Coach Greenwood." I won't make a mistake next time! "The reason is very simple, because he comes from China, a country where the level of football is extremely backward, and any peer in the youth team is better than him, and they all know more than him. In the sport of "football", he, a Chinese, has no right to speak.

In addition to the unimaginably intense training that has been spent in the youth team, there is also a mental test – almost any effort is ruthlessly rejected, and you should never expect to be met with an approving look from your coach after a beautiful stop with a long pass, or to be appreciated and applauded by your team-mates after a successful dribble break from an opponent...... Those scenes that appeared in football YY have not been confirmed by Chen Jian once. Why? Because coaches and teammates will think that you are doing something very ordinary, should a football player be complacent and expect praise and rewards for doing his job?

Chen Jian would never tell his parents, his fans and classmates who cared about him in China, or his landlord, John's family, about this kind of thing at the training ground. No matter what kind of treatment and difficulties he encountered, there was only one thing that remained the same, and that was to keep smiling all the time, even if it was a little reluctant to keep smiling. He doesn't want to be sad in the face of difficulties, giving people the impression that he can't cope with it.

Thanks to his always smiling blessings, his teammates have a good relationship with him, and there is no exclusion of him. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that those teammates know that this kid is just a product of the commercial draft, and it is impossible to compete with them here for a job, and he is not a competitor at all.

Sometimes, Chen Jian would call his two companions in Bolton and Everton to ask how they were doing. Whether it is Wang Yang in Bolton or Song Hui in Everton, their situation seems to be much better than their own. The training content is the same as everyone else, they have not received any special treatment but have not been abused, and after completing a training session, they will be warmly praised by the coaches, and their training intensity and training environment are simply not comparable to Chen Jian's "hell".

When they heard about what happened to Chen Jian, they were all surprised. Wang Yang even directly asked him if he offended the coach of the youth team, or that coach hated the Chinese very much?

Chen Jian was very firm and said that it was impossible.

Wang Yang pouted and said that you kid may have provoked others in some small detail, but he didn't notice it.

Chen Jian thought for a while this time, but still shook his head and said that it was impossible.

Song Hui was very concerned about Chen Jian's training, and after hearing Chen Jian's introduction, he didn't say anything for a long time, and only when Chen Jian thought that the phone was broken and planned to hang up, he said quietly: "It's completely two worlds......

Although the training is easier than Chen Jian's, and the people around them are also very kind, Wang Yang and Song Hui have basically given up their "dream" of staying in the UK after a year. After seeing the level of English football, they called the previous "dream" "white dream". They knew their level and knew that neither Bolton nor Everton were interested in either of them. The previous commercial show is only because of the Chinese market they represent.

After figuring out this, people can't raise their fighting spirit, and it is like a fool to know in advance that they have been eliminated and then work hard.

"I've learned a lot in a year. Even if you can't stay in the UK in the end...... Ah, yes, not really. I won't regret this year either. "With six months left before the one-year period, Wang Yang has already begun to give his surname to his one-year experience." Anyway, I'm here, and I'm much luckier with those who have been eliminated early and don't even have the qualifications to come here. I don't think I can ask for anything more. ”

"The gap is really too big. Before I came, I had a fantasy - maybe I was the protagonist of those online football YY? What did you find out when you came? It's worse than others...... One billion light years. The level of Chinese football is indeed backward, and that is backwardness in all aspects. It's not just the system, the players and the coaches that are lagging behind......," Song Hui shook his head and sighed, a little frustrated. "Hey, the only thing I learned was that my English had improved...... Even if I study in the UK in the future, I don't have to go to a language school first. ”

The two men behaved completely different from the ambition they had before they came, the reality was cruel, and they woke up from their dreams.

Only Chen Jian is still persisting and dreaming. He is not arrogant, nor is he fantasizing. He just felt that even if it was a game that he knew he was going to lose, he would hold on until the final whistle. It's not his style to give up early, not since he was eliminated from the first audition for "Soccer Kid".

※※※After Chen Jian completed another training program specially assigned to him by Greenwood, he returned to the locker room. The youth team players were still changing their clothes and everyone was looking excited. This made him a little curious.

A black man in the team danced and explained to him:

"Coach Greenwood said that the first team manager, the boss and the head of the team will come to the youth team tomorrow to watch the training game!"

Chen Jian knew what it meant to these people. If you perform well, you may be able to be drawn to the reserve team and qualify for official competitions. If you do well in the reserves, you can be promoted to the first team, play in the league, maybe get a place in the European Champions Cup after the winter transfer window, and then shine and become famous by a goal – all youngsters dream of that, right? will think that they will be the most special, the most prominent, the most different, the most excellent.

For the young players who have been training for many years, this is a dream moment and an opportunity to decide their own destiny.

But what does all this have to do with yourself? Chen Jian wished the enthusiastic black boy good luck in English, and then went to the shower room to rinse off his stinky sweat.

There are still five months left before his dream, and he still can't see the road ahead, and he doesn't know if the dream thing is really waiting for him in front of him. But he had to keep running, even if he stumbled and ran out of energy.

Because he really didn't know what he could do but run forward.

(To be continued)