Xu Tongboa's Inspection

After the brief New Year's Day respite, Qi Ce returned to Chongming Island as planned.

In his previous life, negotiations about entering high school lasted three to five days upon returning from the match his future was solely dictated by his mother back then. but things are different now.

For these next six months, at least, He can fully immerse himself in football. This is the victory he's carved out for himself.

Practicing in the virtual stadium over the past couple of days has had a tangible impact on reality. He tirelessly worked for Ten 10 hours, also assessing his attributes. His ball stopping and technical skills have shown slight improvement. As an avid Football Manager player, Qi Ce knows that this signifies growth.

Juggling the ball is also a form of training. The task was completed as scheduled, earning him ten skill fragments. The system promptly unlocked a new feature—a skill.

Glancing hastily, his excitement is tempered upon seeing the multitude of skills available for synthesis: precise shot, instant acceleration, and many more. It's like a treasure trove at first sight.

However, upon closer inspection of the number of skill fragments required, Qi Ce's excitement deflates. Each skill demands hundreds of fragments, and some even exceed a thousand. It's clear this will be a gradual process.

With a skill comes a skill bar. Three additional slots appear in Qi Ce's personal attribute panel, specifically designated for skills, a plus (+) sign indicates that the skills can be incremented.

In simple terms, Qi Ce can only equip three skills at a time, even though he can learn an unlimited number of skills.

He simply celebrated New Year's Day at the base, then returned to his routine training and learning. Most of the base's schedule consisted of morning classes and afternoon practice sessions. Mornings typically involved standard academic subjects. At Qi Ce's age, he's facing the third year of senior high school entrance exams.

Attempting another test, his performance isn't stellar. With only half a year remaining before the senior high school entrance exam, he can barely scrape by in language, math, English, and physical tests. Other subjects have faded into obscurity after over a decade of neglect during his social career.

To keep pace with his studies in the remaining six months, he must focus most of his energy on training.

In the afternoon, on the training field, Coach Wang Lienyuan's booming voice echoed, urging the young players to run and commit themselves to training.

The field was alive with the coach's commands, the players' communication, and the rhythmic thud of insteps meeting footballs. It's a daily scene at the training base, one that Qi Ce was once a part of, decades ago.

Though it's tough and monotonous, Qi Ce perseveres because he loves football. As long as he's on the field, whether in games or drills, he feels at home. Why else would he choose the football industry?

Seeing this scene again today, Qi Ce couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

Coach Wang supervised the training, but his attention was focused on one player—Qi Ce.

That morning, Wang Lienyuan received a call from Chairman Xu and Bao, instructing him to keep an eye on a player named Qi Ce. As the de facto "homeroom teacher" of these players, Wang Lienyuan was familiar with Qi Ce.

In his memory, Qi Ce was a small player with a good attitude, fast speed, but rough skills. His basics were lacking, and his adaptability was subpar. Wang Lienyuan wasn't particularly optimistic about his prospects.

Wang didn't understand why Xu and Bao suddenly singled out this player for attention, but he obliged, knowing it came from higher up.

As a senior youth coach at the football base, Wang Lienyuan has nurtured numerous talented players. Currently, he has players selected for the East Asian training team, including Sun Kai, a promising defender.

Sun Kai, seemed to be Wang Lienyuan's next candidate for the first team, the East Asian lineup.

Of course, Qi Ce was oblivious to the coach's clandestine observation. The players were engaged in basic passing drills. Qi Ce and a group of five or six others were practicing quick passing and receiving.

Between the age of (15 - 16), the players skills were still developing, but disparities were emerging among those who had trained for five to six years or even longer. The more talented ones were more consistent and made fewer mistakes.

Mistakes in the execution of basic skills were normal at this stage of development. Even adult teams made errors during training, let alone these youngsters.

For Qi Ce, the training wasn't too challenging or intense anymore. His improved attributes set him apart from the other players.

Coach Wang continued to shout instructions, his expression unchanged but inwardly quite surprised. Indeed, Qi Ce had made significant progress. This reserved young player used to be cautious and hesitant in his movements, lacking confidence in his basic skills, making him unsuitable for professional football at this stage.

But upon returning from the New Year's Day holiday, he had made strides.

What had he done?

Wang didn't dwell on it. After all, at this age, everyone progresses differently. He would continue to observe.

On weekends, the training base hosted its customary scrimmage. The training jerseys worn by the Tongbao base children were unique, often imitating the kits of the world's top teams.

Qi Ce's team wore Manchester United Jersey, while the opposition wore Real Madrid ones.

This scrimmage marked Qi Ce's first match since returning to the base. Xu Tongbao(the base owner (or whareva)), who had been occupied with social engagements in the past few days, had also returned to the training base.

In the past few days, Xu Tongbao had been absent from the base, occupied with matters concerning Shanghai East Asia. The head coach of East Asia, Claude Ruiz, a Frenchman who also taught at the base, was about to step down. A transition to a local coaching team system was underway, with Xu Ganbao as head coach and Shanghai football star Jiang Bingyao as executive head coach.

Xu Tongbao wouldn't have specifically returned today if it weren't for his former subordinate Jun Bian calling to congratulate him on another young talent emerging at the base.

Upon arriving at the training base, the game was already in the second half. Coach Wang Lienyuan, stationed on the sidelines, was jotting down notes in a small book. Spotting Xu, he called out to him.

"Coach, how's the kid I mentioned last time?"

"Making great progress," replied Wang Lienyuan , handing him a booklet containing player evaluations and observations. The changes in Qi Ce were evident from the data alone.

After skimming through it, Xu returned the booklet and silently observed the teenagers on the field.

Qi Ce played effortlessly and confidently.

In front of these teenagers—barely more than children—Qi Ce, with an ability rating of 92, was a standout player. Despite his technical disadvantage compared to elite players, he easily outclassed his peers.

"Qi Ce!"

Hearing his name called, Qi Ce prepared to receive the ball. A teammate's pass flew towards him from the flank, slightly off-target. Qi Ce adjusted his position expertly, evading defenders, and chested the ball down smoothly, setting himself up for a volley.

With a swift strike, the ball sailed past the goalkeeper's fingertips into the net.

"This is great, much better than before, and that shot was beautiful," remarked the Coach.

By halftime, Qi Ce had already scored four goals, and he netted another in the second half.

Observing from the sidelines, Xu Tongbao noticed something else. Qi Ce's teammates struggled to keep up with his pace and intelligence on the field. Despite numerous scoring opportunities, he was often overlooked or faced tight defenses. Instead of forcing plays, Qi Ce intelligently controlled the game's tempo, creating space for his teammates.

As Xu Tongbao observed Qi Ce's exceptional performance on the field, he couldn't shake the feeling of uncertainty gnawing at him. While Qi Ce's skills aligned perfectly with his football philosophy of solid defense and strategic passing, Xu couldn't ignore the harsh reality of professional football. One or two standout performances didn't guarantee long-term success in the unforgiving world of competitive sports. As the final whistle blew, signaling the end of the game, Xu Tongbao's mind raced with questions and doubts about the young talent's future.