Seven-time champion

Chapter 18: A One-Man Show Desperate to equalize, the Vocational High School team bombarded Meijiang Middle School’s goal for over ten minutes, but in the end, they failed to score a single goal. Not only that, but their all-out push in the final stages actually gave Meijiang Middle School more opportunities to counterattack. In the 91st minute of stoppage time, a Meijiang Middle School defender cleared the ball with a long kick; after traveling several dozen meters, it landed right at Lu Wenbin’s feet. Lu Wenbin sprinted over thirty meters with the ball, dribbled past the Vocational High School’s last defender, and delicately lobbed the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper into the net. Lu Wenbin scored his fifth goal of the match and Meijiang Middle School’s sixth. With that goal, Vocational High School’s hopes were completely dashed. The Vocational High School players on the field were dejected and had lost all will to continue playing. Seeing this, the referee blew the final whistle without even completing the full three minutes of stoppage time. When the referee blew the final whistle, the spectators lining the sidelines erupted in thunderous applause. Meijiang Middle School crushed Meitan Vocational High School 6-3. Lu Wenbin put on a sensational performance with five goals and one assist, single-handedly orchestrating all six of Meijiang Middle School’s goals. Many ordinary citizens who had previously doubted Meijiang High School’s chances had now become fans of Lu Wenbin and supporters of the Meijiang High School team. “This guy named Lu Wenbin is absolutely amazing—five goals and an assist in a single game. He’s not just a high school student; he’s playing at a professional level!” “Yeah, watching him score goal after goal is such a thrill!” “Do you think he’ll actually become a professional player?” “Who knows? Meitan hasn’t produced a single pro player yet! But if we could really get a soccer star from here, that’d be great.” “He’s still in high school—how could he become a pro? To be a pro, you’d have to train at a sports school or a pro club from a young age, right?” “It’s hard to say. If Meijiang High School makes it to the national high school league finals, there might be scouts from pro clubs watching the game. If Lu Wenbin puts on a stellar performance, it’s not impossible for him to go from high schooler to pro player.” “That’s way too hard. Vocational high schools have never even made it to the provincial finals, let alone the national finals. Given Meijiang High’s current strength, it would be incredibly difficult to defeat all those strong opponents and advance to the national finals!” “Our only hope is Lu Wenbin. Unless he performs even better than he did today, there’s no way to make up for Meijiang High’s overall lack of strength.” “That’s right, Lu Wenbin is the only one we can count on. But no matter what, I’m really rooting for him. Even if he doesn’t become a pro, his performance today was fantastic. I’ll go find him later and take a picture with him!” “Let’s go together! Just in case he really does become a famous pro player someday, we’ll have something to brag about then, hehe!” On the field, Lu Wenbin and his teammates were celebrating wildly with Nie Yingkun, Han Dapeng, and others who had rushed onto the field, while the Vocational High School players hung their heads in defeat; some had even collapsed onto the grass, weeping. When they were drawn against Vocational High School, everyone thought Meijiang Middle School was doomed—it was a given that Vocational High and First Middle School would make it to the finals. However, Meijiang Middle School ultimately secured a resounding 6-3 victory over Vocational High thanks to Lu Wenbin’s five goals and one assist in a single match, marching proudly into the finals. This score could not be attributed to luck in the slightest; it only demonstrated that Meijiang Middle School was far superior to Vocational High School. The most important figure, without a doubt, was Lu Wenbin. Consequently, during the celebration, Lu Wenbin was tossed into the air by his teammates. His shouts of joy while in midair were particularly jubilant. After the celebration, as expected, quite a few citizens and students gathered around to praise Lu Wenbin’s performance. Some even pulled out their phones to take selfies with him. Such treatment thoroughly satisfied the vanity of Lu Wenbin, who had always idolized Ronaldo and dreamed of becoming a superstar. Naturally, it also strengthened his resolve to pursue a career as a professional player and become a global superstar. This school soccer match had an audience of no more than a thousand people, and in the end, only a few asked Lu Wenbin for photos—a far cry from the grand scene of a superstar’s entrance he had imagined. To live that kind of life, he would have to defeat First High School in the final, then advance through the municipal and provincial tournaments to reach the grand stage of the National High School League Finals and make a name for himself across the country. After the match, Principal Cai Yusen found a restaurant and ordered several tables of fine dishes to treat the school team’s coach and players. Today’s match gave Cai Yusen a glimpse of the possibility that Meijiang Middle School could win its first county-level championship and advance to the city-level competition. He was particularly impressed with Lu Wenbin. If the school team were to perform well at the municipal level, it would undoubtedly bring great prestige to Meijiang High School and to Cai Yusen himself. Therefore, during the meal, Cai Yusen made a point of clinking glasses with Lu Wenbin, who was holding a drink, encouraging him to keep up the good work and lead Meijiang High School to a decisive victory over No. 1 High School in the final the day after tomorrow. Since the match was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, none of the school team members went home. After all, while some players lived in the city, others came from towns and mountain villages, making the round trip inconvenient. Consequently, after the first day’s matches concluded, all players returned to the school dormitory to prepare for the final the day after tomorrow. The system awarded 2 points for an assist, 4 points for a goal, and 10 points for a win in this match against the vocational high school—just like the friendly match against the distillery’s amateur team. Lu Wenbin scored 5 goals and added 1 assist, totaling 21 experience points. Combined with his original 27 points, Lu Wenbin’s level progress now stands at Level 2, 48/50—just 2 experience points short of leveling up. In the upcoming final, as long as he records an assist, Lu Wenbin will level up and receive skill points to allocate toward enhancing his abilities. On October 2, Meitan No. 2 High School faced off against Meitan Vocational High School in the third-place playoff. The Meijiang Middle School players did not attend the match; instead, they trained at school to prepare for the final. At the First High School soccer field, although there weren’t many spectators, the Vocational High School players took out their frustration from losing to Meijiang High School on the Second High School team. In the end, the final score was 5-1. Of course, the winners were the Vocational High School team. After the third-place match between Second High School and Vocational High School, the championship match between Meijiang High School and Meitan First High School was scheduled for October 3. The championship may not carry much prestige, but it is still a title. Moreover, the winner will qualify to compete at the city level. When that time comes, Meijiang Middle School and Meitan No. 1 Middle School are bound to face off in a fierce battle, one that will certainly be far more intense than the third-place match.