At 11:30 in the morning, the originally clear weather began to turn gloomy. However, in front of Southampton High School, an unprecedented scene was unfolding.
At the school gate, there were at least three to four hundred parents, and the number was rapidly increasing. Not only parents but also many residents from nearby had taken time off work to attend today's match. Most of them were alumni of Southampton High, so they were not only there to watch their children's school football match but also to support their alma mater's team.
Football is honor! Skipping lunch, taking a day off work, or even getting caught in the rain didn't matter—what mattered was not missing this once-in-a-century home quarterfinal match of Southampton High!
The school had set the opening time for parents at 12:00 noon, but they had arrived early, lining up half an hour in advance to catch a glimpse of the Buckhorn Steelhorns team and secure a good spot to watch the game.
At the front of the line were a few parents with out-of-shape bodies and receding hairlines, wearing old Buckhorn Steelhorns jerseys that no longer fit. They were former players of the team, now fathers themselves, but their faces still radiated excitement. Football was their youth! The dreams they hadn't achieved might now be realized by the new generation of Buckhorn Steelhorns players.
Upon learning that the parents had arrived early, Southampton High had already taken security measures. Dozens of security personnel set up iron barriers on both sides of the school gate, clearing the central area to welcome the Roselle High Angels' Wings team and important guests.
The parents lined up obediently, patiently waiting. When the Buckhorn Steelhorns team, led by Coach Carter, arrived at the school gate and lined up, the parents erupted in cheers!
The scene nearly got out of control! Almost all the parents were wildly cheering:
"Buckhorn Steelhorns!"
"Wooooo!"
"My little bucks, go for it!"
"Kids, don't let your dads down!"
"Quarterfinals! Daddy wants the national quarterfinals!"
"If you make it to the quarterfinals, I'll call you Daddy!"
"Win the quarterfinals, and I'll take you to all the bars in Southampton!"
"Kids, don't hold back today, just go all out!"
The parents seemed even crazier than the players! In comparison, the Buckhorn Steelhorns team appeared more reserved.
...This football culture is so wild and so real.
Gu Ran couldn't help but think to himself that only these parents could so proudly and rightfully call the Buckhorn Steelhorns players "little bucks." In this context, "little bucks" wasn't an insult but a term of endearment and pride from their elders.
"Chris! I'm your dad! I'm your dad! I'm your dad!"
"Motherf***er!" Rusty roared angrily, "Who the hell is taking advantage of me... Oh, Dad, it's really you? You actually came to watch me play?"
Tears instantly streamed down Rusty's face! The other parents and Buckhorn Steelhorns players burst into laughter.
Gu Ran couldn't help but silently make complaints: Such crude father-son banter, yet it feels so passionate. I must be getting influenced by them...
Luckily, no one's saying anything like that to me.
Then he heard the parents continue to chatter:
"...Which one is Gu Ran?"
"Isn't it obvious? He's the only Chinese guy on the Buckhorn Steelhorns team! The one standing at the back."
"Motherf***er! He's really handsome! No wonder my daughter sleeps with his photo every night..."
"I heard the Buckhorn Steelhorns made it to the national quarterfinals all thanks to this Chinese kid!"
"Pfft, someone so handsome can play football? Probably just a pretty face with no real skills."
"I don't know about that, but my son calls him 'Chinese Daddy.'"
"Hey—Gu, kid, play well, and I'll let my daughter sleep with you!"
"Gu, if you play well, I'll even sleep with you!"
"Kid, it's no big deal. If you play well, Auntie will sleep with you too!"
Holy crap...
Southerners are too bold.
Being surrounded and discussed by so many parents, with all this talk about sleeping together, Gu Ran felt like he was experiencing social death.
...That auntie doesn't look too bad, though.
Pei pei!
My thoughts are dangerous! Pushing aunties is a no-go!
Even though my actual age is over thirty...
Then he heard Watergate shout angrily, "Mom—stop it!!!"
Gu Ran: ...
"Hey, Gu! It's me, Uncle Andrew!"
Hearing this, Gu Ran tensed up and quickly looked in the direction of the voice. Sure enough, he spotted two familiar figures in the crowd: Andrew and Sally!
Gu Ran waved at them, "Hi, Uncle Andrew, hi, Aunt Sally, long time no see!"
...We're civilized people! Please don't say anything rude, don't make me experience social death again!
Then Andrew said very politely, "Long time no see, Gu! We're here specifically to watch you play today! You're our pride! We're here to cheer you on!"
Gu Ran breathed a sigh of relief.
Then Aunt Sally shouted gruffly, "Gu, don't be polite!!!"
...As expected of my Aunt Sally.
Gu Ran covered his face, "I'll do my best..."
Sally proudly told the surrounding parents, "Gu is my daughter Sophie's boyfriend! My daughter Sophie is a future superstar, so all your daughters can step aside! Gu used to live at our house, and he loves the lamb kidney pie I make for him."
"What nonsense..."
"Yeah, is Gu really that good?"
"Are foreigners really that great? Is the foreign moon really rounder?"
"Hmph, kids don't really understand football, but we're old fans. Once the game starts, we'll see what this Chinese kid is really made of."
"I bet he's just a pretty face."
A large portion of the parents dismissed Gu Ran.
Gu Ran didn't respond to such doubts. There was no need to respond. In the future, he would become an even bigger star, and there would be more people doubting him. If he had to respond to every doubt, when would he have time to play football?
But Sally and Andrew weren't willing to let it go and kept arguing loudly with the surrounding parents.
Beep beep—
At that moment, a bus arrived and slowly stopped at the school's main entrance.
The Roselle High Angels' Wings team had finally arrived!
The door opened, and one by one, burly young men wearing Angels' Wings emblem blazers stepped off the bus with their heads held high.
Roselle High was a prestigious school, and half of the Angels' Wings team members were from Everton's youth academy, so they looked down on the Buckhorn Steelhorns team from a private school.
This arrogant attitude was something the Buckhorn Steelhorns team was used to—they'd faced even more arrogance before.
But the Buckhorn Steelhorns parents weren't about to let the Angels' Wings off easy!
The parents started booing the Angels' Wings players:
"Wings of crap! Pfft~ Wings of crap! Pfft~"
"I'm your grandpa!"
"Wooooo! Buckhorn Steelhorns will win!"
The parents hurled all sorts of curses, some too vulgar to put into words!
The number of parents at the school gate had grown to five or six hundred, and with so many people surrounding the young Angels' Wings players and hurling insults, the sheer volume alone was enough to terrify the Angels' Wings players, let alone the content of the curses.
The Angels' Wings players never expected the parents of Southampton High to be so fierce.
In truth, the parents were being relatively polite. If they were facing an adult professional team, it wouldn't have been so simple—shooting fireworks at the bus would've been a normal reaction!
The Angels' Wings players immediately stopped acting arrogantly and lined up meekly in front of the Buckhorn Steelhorns players.
At their feet, negative emotion bubbles began to drop one after another.
Half of their negative emotions came from being insulted, and the other half from being scared by the overwhelming presence.
Gu Ran felt thrilled!
Playing at home is just the best!
Gu Ran quietly focused his mind and quickly scanned—
First, he scanned Tyias Browning and Ross Barkley.
These two would eventually become stars, so there was a high chance they'd drop star-level skills.
—Tyias Browning is Jiang Guangtai, but his name is still Tyias at this point.
Among the other Angels' Wings players, Tyias was easy to spot. He didn't have a fully Eastern face, but compared to native Brits, his Eastern facial features were still noticeable.
Plus... Gu Ran wouldn't mistake the future national team center-back.
At Tyias's feet was a blue bubble.
Gu Ran focused his mind and saw: Heading +1.
...This was a ordinary skill.
For a future star, Tyias only dropping an ordinary skill was a bit disappointing.
However, defending against aerial balls was indeed Tyias's strength, so this skill was still quite practical.
Gu Ran quickly thought it over and then remotely collected the "Heading" skill.
With his jumping attribute not yet strengthened, having an extra heading-related skill was still quite useful.
Next, Gu Ran turned his attention to the Angels' Wings captain, Ross Barkley.
At Ross's feet, a full blue bubble had also formed.
Gu Ran focused his mind and saw: Five-Star Weak Foot +1.
Holy crap!
This skill is awesome!
Weak foot refers to the non-dominant foot, and a five-star weak foot means being able to perform at a five-star level with the non-dominant foot!
As a left-footed full-back, Gu Ran often had to cut inside first before using his dominant right foot to pass or shoot. But with the Five-Star Weak Foot skill, he could use his left foot to handle the ball in critical moments, completing passes or shots!
This is going to be amazing!
Ross really delivers!
Gu Ran suppressed his excitement and quickly collected the "Five-Star Weak Foot" star skill into his mind.
Of course, the +1 level wasn't that high yet, but with this star skill, he could gradually upgrade it to +9 and become a player with no obvious weak foot!
—Before the game even started, he'd already picked up a star skill and a practical skill. This is so awesome!
Gu Ran quickly scanned the bubbles at the feet of the other players and then selected three "Quick Attack and Defense Transition Training +10 Hours" white bubbles to collect.
With that, today's collection progress was down to just four more chances.
After collecting the three white bubbles, his special training results accumulated to 100 hours, automatically exchanged for 1 talent point.
The number of talent points in Gu Ran's mind had reached 7!
In this heated "welcome" atmosphere, Coach Carter and the opposing coach, Moritz, shook hands politely.
Coach Moritz was a coach from Everton's youth training camp, but at this moment, he was also being very patient, not daring to act out of line.
Coach Carter explained the arrangements for meals, rest time, training time, and match time to Coach Moritz.
Coach Moritz expressed his gratitude for Southampton High's hospitality, and then the entire team, led by the assistant drummer, entered the campus and headed to the dining hall.
Not a single Angels' Wings player dared to question whether the food at Southampton High was any good.
Aside from being afraid of getting beaten up by the parents for showing off, they must have also known the consequences of not eating at Southampton High, as the Golden Fleece team had experienced.
"Buckhorn Steelhorns—"
After the Angels' Wings players entered the campus, Coach Carter shouted, "Let's pay our respects to all the parents and friends who support the Buckhorn Steelhorns!"
"Roar roar roar!"
The Buckhorn Steelhorns team stood with their hands behind their backs and shouted, "Buckhorn Steelhorns! Fight to the end!"
All the parents at the scene cheered loudly, clapping and applauding for the players.
The entire scene was blood boiling!
"Let's eat!"
Coach Carter waved his hand, and the Buckhorn Steelhorns team headed to the dining hall in high spirits.
The game was still far from starting, but the passionate atmosphere was already at its peak!
Rusty walked while wiping tears, "My dad never comes to watch me play. He thinks I'm wasting my time playing football. He always says I won't get into college anyway, so instead of playing football, I should be working more at our family's car wash. I never thought... he'd actually close the car wash today just to come watch me play... Sniff! Today! I'm going to play my best! I'm going to show him that his son isn't a loser!"
His teammates all came over and patted Rusty on the shoulder.
"Rusty, don't cry. Look on the bright side—maybe everyone came to watch the game, so your dad's car wash had no business."
"Yeah, look on the bright side—he might have come just to laugh at you."
"I f*** you guys..."
Rusty said angrily, "What kind of friends are you guys?! Only my Gu is good to me. Gu has never made fun of me!"
Gu Ran said calmly, "Then why don't you hurry up and call me Daddy?"
Rusty: ???
"Gu! You've changed!"
"Hahaha!"
The Buckhorn Steelhorns players laughed and joked around.
Coach Carter leisurely stood with his hands behind his back, a look of contentment on his face.
When the players entered the dining hall for lunch, the huge hall was almost empty.
Aside from the newly arrived Angels' Wings team, there were only a few scattered students.
Gu Ran couldn't help but ask, "Why are there so few people? Did the school lock down the dining hall too?"
Bread explained with a smile, "Not exactly. The school wouldn't stop students from eating. It's just that the students rushed to the stadium to grab seats as soon as class ended. Compared to getting a good seat to watch the game, eating isn't that important."
Watergate also laughed, "Today, we can have a peaceful lunch. I heard the food today is several levels better than usual..."
Gu Ran packed two lunches, said goodbye to Coach Carter, and left the dining hall early, heading to the stadium's physio room.
"Annie, you must be starving, right?"
Seeing Gu Ran walk in, Annie immediately rushed over and clung tightly to him, cooing, "Gu, why did you take so long? I thought you forgot about me!"
Holy crap...
A goddess behaving in a spoiled manner is really too much!
Gu Ran put down the food, held Annie's nearly bursting skirt with both hands, and said, "How could I forget about you? After training this morning, we went to the school gate to welcome the opponents. As soon as the welcoming ceremony ended, I rushed over with lunch to eat with you."
Annie finally seemed satisfied and gave Gu Ran a kiss on the lips, "Gu, I knew it. You're so good to me."
"Come on, let's eat first." Gu Ran reluctantly put Annie down. "I've already talked to Coach Carter. He arranged a seat for you in the main stands. After lunch and a rest, I'll take you to the main stands—then I'll have to go take care of my business."
Annie nodded, "Okay."
Gu Ran opened the lunch boxes, and after a couple of bites, Annie frowned, "...This is really bad."
Gu Ran smiled dotingly, "Just bear with it. When we get home tonight, you can have whatever you want."
Annie smiled coyly, "I want to eat... that."
Gu Ran's heart skipped a beat, "Tonight, as much as you want."
Annie giggled, "You're so bad..."
After lunch, Gu Ran rested in the physio room for another half hour.
Annie sat quietly beside him, watching him with gentle eyes as he closed your eyes and relax
Once Gu Ran was rested, Annie put on her sunhat and large sunglasses and followed Gu Ran out of the physio room.
As soon as they stepped out of the player tunnel, Annie was stunned.
It wasn't even 1:00 PM yet, but the steel-framed stands of the Buckhorn Steelhorns' home stadium were already packed with students and parents!
The originally added 1,200 seats were completely full, and there were at least 1,500 people in the stands!
Moreover, more parents and alumni were still pouring into the stadium.
Those who arrived later no longer had seats in the stands, but that didn't stop them. They brought out benches and desks from the classrooms, stacking them up at the junctions of the four stands—benches, desks, and more benches on top of desks, creating three additional makeshift rows of seating.
When there were no more desks to stack, the parents started bringing ladders from home...
The total number of people in the stadium was approaching 2,000.
Not only that, but several local bands from Southampton had also arrived. Before the school's DJ could even start warming up the crowd, the local bands were already performing below the main stands.
The first song was Queen's "We Will Rock You," and the entire crowd of students and parents sang along, the atmosphere nearly reaching a boiling point.
As Annie walked with Gu Ran toward the main stands, she whispered in amazement, "Are these really all parents? Why are they even crazier than the students?"
Gu Ran smiled, "Today, they're fans first, parents second."
Annie nodded in understanding.
The security personnel in charge of the main stands immediately let them through when they saw Gu Ran.
Gu Ran said, "The first three rows of the main stands are reserved for the school board and other VIPs. Annie, you can sit in the fourth row."
"Okay." Annie obediently took a seat in the innermost spot of the fourth row in the main stands.
This spot was out of the way, so no one would pass in front of her, and no one would notice her.
Gu Ran took off his sports jacket and handed it to Annie, "It might rain later. Even though the main stands have a roof, you should still wear more to avoid getting sick."
"Mhm~" Annie happily took Gu Ran's jacket, "Gu, good luck."
Gu Ran smiled at Annie, then left the main stands to join the team on the training field.
The weather in the afternoon was getting worse, and it looked like rain was imminent.
It seemed like today's match would be a rain game.
But the students and parents in the stands were still as enthusiastic as ever, having prepared raincoats and umbrellas in advance.
As long as it wasn't hailing, they weren't going anywhere.
The number of students and parents had already exceeded 2,200, and the stands were completely full, with no room for anyone else.
More parents were still arriving, but for safety reasons, Southampton High had to close the stadium.
The latecomers would have to listen to the game from outside the stands.
By 2:00 PM, people started filling the main stands.
Scouts from various lower-tier professional clubs took their seats and began chatting:
"I never thought the Buckhorn Steelhorns would make it to the quarterfinals."
"Nah, the Buckhorn Steelhorns are nothing. Today, it's all about the Angels' Wings."
"The Angels' Wings really do have some good players, especially their captain, Ross Barkley. That kid is one of the few technically gifted midfielders we've seen in England in years."
"I'm also very optimistic about Ross. Possession-based technical play is the future, and Ross will definitely have a big market."
"Ahem, let's not dream too much. A player like Ross is way out of reach for small clubs like ours in League One or League Two."
"Yeah, he's just at Roselle High to gold plated, and then he'll quickly move up to Everton's U18 team."
"Hey, have you heard? Chelsea's Emenalo is also coming to watch this game!"
"That assistant coach? He's coming? No way!"
"What do you know? Emenalo might be Chelsea's assistant coach on paper, but he's actually a key figure in the club's recruitment. He's definitely going to become Chelsea's sporting director in the future! His power in buying and selling players might even surpass the head coach's!"
"Wow... He's really coming? I bet he's here for Ross."
"Shh—he's here!"
Emenalo, wearing a raincoat, walked up to the main stands.
All the scouts from the smaller clubs, whether they knew him or not, stood up to greet him.
Emenalo gave a slight nod, then took a seat in the first three rows.
The weather was bad, and Emenalo had had a long journey. Right now, he just wanted to get through this game, go home, take a shower, have a hot cup of coffee, and not miss the World Cup match.
...
(End of chapter)
—
Join my patreon for additional chapters!
patreon.com/FictionFan248