Reverse

Chapter 236 Everyone Has Changed

"...This afternoon, an unusual scene unfolded at the entrance of the hotel where the Chinese national team was staying... Five national team players—Wang Lie, Chi Zhen, Feng Qiyuan, Song You, and Fu Xiaofeng—arrived in a super-luxury van... It's not uncommon for two or three players to arrive at the national team's hotel in one car, but it's quite rare for five players from different clubs to be in the same vehicle. This has sparked a heated online discussion about the Chinese national team players' ostentatious displays..."

As the AI ​​voice read the script, five players from the Chinese national team filed out of a black luxury van in a slightly shaky video feed.

Feng Qiyuan, Song You, Fu Xiaofeng, Wang Lie, and Chi Zhen.

The flashes from the cameras were clearly visible even during the day.

In the comments section of this video, the top-voted comments are all criticizing the video creator:

"Damn clickbait! The headline says the national football team is showing off, arriving in luxury cars... Damn it, does my Lord Lie not deserve to ride in a luxury car? Fuck!"
"Is it strange that five people came to register together in a seven-seater minivan? You brain-dead blogger!"

"Why doesn't the blogger release the later videos? Wang Lie even gave an interview to reporters, saying that the car was provided to him by the Tyne Club... and not only the car was provided by the club, but even the plane back to China was arranged by the club as a private jet. That's why Wang Lie returned to China with Chi Zhen and Feng Qiyuan, and happened to run into Fu Xiaofeng and Song You at the airport, so they just happened to be together... Isn't that normal? What's there to discuss?"

"I suggest that netizens stop interfering."

"This kind of idiot trying to ride the wave of traffic doesn't understand anything, he can't even figure out how to get traffic. Doesn't he know what generates more traffic? Of course, it's the fact that Wang Lie and Chi Zhen actually arrived at the national team on the same plane! This is a major event that can leave both Wang Lie's and Chi Zhen's die-hard fans speechless! This idiot only saw the luxury car! Trying to gain followers by using clickbait headlines is a waste of time. With your brain, you should get out of bed first..."

……

The news that Wang Lie and his group of five arrived at the national team to report for duty became the most popular football-related news on the Chinese internet that very evening.

As the last netizen said, the fact that five people arrived at the national team in a super-luxury van worth 1.5 million yuan is truly the least significant part.

Given Wang Lie's status at the Tyne Club, what's wrong with the club arranging a private jet and a top-of-the-line luxury car to pick him up?

A 38-year-old player has to travel tens of thousands of kilometers back and forth. Out of concern for his physical fitness and to protect him, he is given this "special treatment," which should not be discussed at all on the internet.

If there's still debate about something like this, it just shows there are too many idiots and idle people online.

Faced with this news, all people can really do is sigh and say, "That rich dog is really wealthy!"

Instead of discussing whether Wang Lie should enjoy such treatment.

In comparison, what should be of more attention is that Wang Lie used the private jet provided by the Taien Club to transport Chi Zhen and Feng Qiyuan, and the private car provided by the Taien Club to transport Fu Xiaofeng and Song You.

Previously, Wang Lie was like a mafia player in the national team; he had a lot of fans but few friends.

He doesn't invite people to his home, and he rarely gets close to anyone.

To be honest, Wang Lie used to be very difficult to get along with.

When it comes to official business, it's fine, but when it involves personal relationships, it becomes quite a headache.

So, this kind of initiative, where he proactively invited his teammates to travel by plane and car with him to report to the national team, has never happened before.

This is the most noteworthy point – why did Wang Lie take the initiative to invite his teammates to fly and ride with him?
Another point worth noting is the relationship between Wang Lie and Chi Zhen and Fu Xiaofeng.

Anyone who follows Chinese football knows that Wang Lie's fans and Chi Zhen's fans have been fiercely arguing online and offline, so they would naturally assume that the relationship between Wang Lie and Chi Zhen is probably not good either.

As it turned out, Chi Zhen and Wang Lie were on the same plane back to China, and it was Wang Lie who took the initiative to invite Chi Zhen, who even agreed!

The implications behind this are certainly intriguing – is this a joint counterattack by the two against the chaos within the fan community? Are they proving through their actions that they have no conflict whatsoever, and that it's all the fault of the maggots and rats in the fan community?
Or is it that they're just putting on a show in front of the public to quell the fan wars and avoid the fan culture from affecting the team? In reality, it's just a case of "protesting too much," and their relationship is actually not good.
As for the private relationship between Wang Lie and Chi Zhen, we'll have to guess.

The personal relationship between Wang Lie and Fu Xiaofeng is self-evident—any fan who hasn't only started paying attention to Chinese football in the last two years basically knows about their feud.

Therefore, over the years, Fu Xiaofeng has never expressed any enthusiasm for Wang Lie, and he has been very reluctant to mention Wang Lie's name in public, so not many people have been surprised.

They really do have a personal grudge...

As a result, Fu Xiaofeng actually arrived at the national team in a car provided by Wang Lie's club. For those who know what happened between the two of them, the feeling can only be described as "shocked".

Is Fu Xiaofeng finally going to reconcile with Wang Lie?!
※※※

Liu Jinxuan saw those familiar faces again in the national team.

He was a little nervous when he met Wang Lie.

Since that national team encounter, more than two months have passed, and his left foot doesn't seem to have improved much, with only one lucky left-footed goal.

He worried that Captain Wang would criticize him for not working hard enough.

When Captain Wang saw him, he said, "You scored a goal with your left foot, not bad, a good start."

Liu Jinxuan felt ashamed, and remembering that he should never lie or act arrogantly in front of Captain Wang, he honestly said, "That was just a lucky goal, it doesn't prove anything..."

Unexpectedly, Wang Lie shook his head and disagreed with his statement:
"You're wrong, you can't think like that."

"Huh?" Liu Jinxuan was surprised.

Wang Lie told him, “You have to treat that ball as a milestone and use it to motivate yourself. You’ve already made progress from zero to one. Next, it’s about moving from one to two, two to three, three to five, five to eight… Keep setting easy-to-achieve short-term goals for yourself. Don’t underestimate these short-term goals. They may seem insignificant, but when these small goals accumulate, they eventually become a remarkable and great achievement.”

He spread his arms wide, gesturing to Liu Jinxuan to show him just how great an achievement that was.

So keep going!

After saying that, Wang Lie patted Liu Jinxuan's hand and left first.

Liu Jinxuan was surprised that Captain Wang was so easy to talk to. Not only did he not criticize him for his slow progress, but he also praised him and thoughtfully shared his experience with him...

But why go from one to two, two to three, three to five, and five to eight?

He can understand "one to two, two to three".

One begets two, two begets three, three begets all things...

Why three to five?
Shouldn't it be three to four?
How did it get to eight again from five?

Where did numbers six and seven go?
Liu Jinxuan's attention suddenly shifted to these numbers, and now his mind was full of question marks.

Just then, a voice rang out from behind him: "Xiao Liu!"

Liu Jinxuan turned around at the sound and saw Chi Zhen, Su Ju and Yue Hang walking towards him.

"Brother Zhen! Brother Su! Brother Yue!"

Liu Jinxuan very considerately greeted everyone one by one.

Chi Zhen walked up to him and asked, "Why didn't you stay in the same room with me this time?"

Liu Jinxuan was surprised: "Can I specify my roommate?"

Yue Hang, who was standing next to Chi Zhen, denied the rumors: "No, it's all random."

Liu Jinxuan was even more puzzled: "Then Brother Zhen, you..."

“He’s just teasing you!” Su Ju said.

As he spoke, Chi Zhen burst into laughter, seemingly quite pleased that he had fooled Liu Jinxuan.

Amidst his laughter, Liu Jinxuan felt somewhat bewildered.

Yue Hang noticed this and comforted him, "It's okay, don't worry about it."

After laughing, Chi Zhen asked him again, "Who do you share a room with?"

Although Liu Jinxuan found Chi Zhen's behavior strange, he still answered honestly, "Brother Yunsheng and I share a room."

Chi Zhen nodded after listening, and without saying anything else, he smiled and left.

Liu Jinxuan frowned as he watched his retreating figure.

He felt that the Zhen Ge he met this time was somewhat different from the one he met last time.

He felt that this couldn't be his imagination.

Because he had been teammates with Zhen Ge during the last national team training camp, Zhen Ge was probably the teammate he was most familiar with in the national team. That time, he always felt that Zhen Ge seemed to have something on his mind, and rarely smiled.

Even when they smile, it's a subtle and restrained smile.

Never before have I laughed so loudly as I do today.

Not to mention that when he saw me, he would take the initiative to joke and tease me!
Last time something like this happened, it was Su Ju, Brother Su, who did it...

Zhen Ge seemed to suddenly become cheerful, as if the stone that had been weighing on his heart had been lifted.

What happened to Brother Zhen in just over two months?
Liu Jinxuan had even more questions in his mind.

※※※

Yue Hang turned his head and saw Liu Jinxuan still standing there in a daze, and whispered to Su Ju, "Ah Zhen's change is really obvious, even Xiao Liu noticed it..."

Su Ju covered his mouth and whispered, "Anyone with eyes can see that, right?"

Meanwhile, Chi Zhen, who was in front of them, was greeting Vice Captain Chu Yu: "Hello, Captain Chu!"

Chu Yu replied, "Hey, you're full of energy!"

Su Ju spread his hands and made a "look" gesture.

Chu Yu continued, "It seems that private jets are really good for resting..."

Chi Zhen chuckled: "I feel like I don't even need to deal with jet lag anymore."

Chu Yu was amused by him.

Watching this scene from behind, Su Ju exclaimed, "Did Captain Wang put some medicine on his jersey? The effect of swapping jerseys is so good! I also want to swap jerseys with Captain Wang..."

Liu Jinxuan had no idea what had happened to Chi Zhen over the past two months.

The two of them, as Chi Zhen's good friends, were quite clear about it.

The change didn't actually happen in the past two months, but rather in the last two weeks.

Things changed after Chi Zhen and Wang exchanged jerseys.

As his good friends, although they were separated by vast distances and could not meet in person, they could clearly sense that Chi Zhen had become more active in their small group chat.

Liu Jinxuan felt that when he met Chi Zhen two months ago, he could sense that he was preoccupied.

However, Su Ju and Yue Hang had sensed two years ago that their friend was burdened with worries and under immense pressure.

Ever since being promoted by the national team coaching staff to replace Wang, pressure has been hanging over Chi Zhen like a dark cloud, making him smile less often, let alone laugh heartily like he is now.

"What does it have to do with the jersey? It's because Captain Wang recognized Azhen as his opponent that Azhen was able to get rid of his previous mental exhaustion and finally put his mind at ease. After all, Azhen always felt that being Captain Wang's opponent was just wishful thinking on his part... Now that he has Captain Wang's recognition, he can openly compete with Captain Wang without any worries, so of course he can relax." Yue Hang corrected Su Ju and explained to him earnestly.

Su Ju rolled his eyes at him: "Nonsense, of course I know! This isn't a joke... Sigh, you're so boring!"

※※※

After Liu Jinxuan shifted his gaze from Chi Zhen, he saw Fu Xiaofeng.

He took the initiative to go up and greet him: "Brother Xiaofeng".

Fu Xiaofeng was looking down at his phone when he heard the voice. He looked up, saw Liu Jinxuan, and smiled and nodded in greeting: "Little Liu..."

After exchanging greetings, Fu Xiaofeng refocused his attention on his phone and walked past Liu Jinxuan.

Liu Jinxuan actually wanted to chat with Xiaofeng for a few more minutes, since Xiaofeng was the first national team player he met after he was first selected for the national team.

The two of them had a pleasant chat on their way from Chongshan to the national team.

So if we're talking about the people he's most familiar with in the national team, besides his roommate Zhen, it would be Xiaofeng.

Unexpectedly, Xiaofeng simply nodded and greeted him before walking away with his head down, completely unaware of Liu Jinxuan's expectant gaze.

Watching Fu Xiaofeng's retreating figure, Liu Jinxuan withdrew his outstretched hand.

He originally wanted to call out to Xiaofeng, but in the end he decided not to make a fool of himself.

He didn't understand why Xiaofeng's attitude towards him was colder this time compared to last time...

"Don't worry about it, Xiaoliu."

Just as Liu Jinxuan was feeling confused and disappointed, another person's voice came from behind him.

He turned around and saw that the person was not someone he had seen during the last national team training camp, but he recognized him.

I've seen his matches on TV more than once.

"Brother Song."

Song You smiled and said to Liu Jinxuan, "I was injured and couldn't come last time, so this is our first meeting."

Then, looking at Fu Xiaofeng's retreating figure, he explained to Liu Jinxuan, "Old Fu didn't do that on purpose. He's been a bit troubled lately—Lille and Tyne are in the same group, and after the national team matches, he'll have to face the Kings in the Champions League. He's having a headache about how to play... Haha!"

Liu Jinxuan could tell that Xiaofeng was troubled.

But he didn't know whether Song You's later reason was true or a joke.

It seems that being in the same group as Team Leader Wang shouldn't be enough to make Xiaofeng so preoccupied—he wasn't always frowning when he was on the same team as Team Leader Wang.

But he didn't want to press the issue further.

The other party used this reason to explain themselves, but in reality, they didn't want to reveal the real reason.

Liu Jinxuan suddenly felt like sighing.

In just over two months, why did he feel that everyone he thought he knew had changed when he returned to the national team?

After he reported to the national team, he had been secretly observing and discovered that some of his teammates whom he had seen in the national team last time were not on the match roster this time.

Moreover, as far as he knew, those who didn't come were definitely not like Peng Fei, who was absent due to injury.

In the first national team match after setting the goal, it seems that some players have already fallen behind...

Coach He truly lives up to his word; the national team door will not open to someone who cannot give their all to win the championship.

Liu Jinxuan felt a sense of urgency:
You'll need to work even harder once you get back to the club!

And this season we absolutely must help the club get promoted to the Chinese Super League!

Keep it up, Liu Jinxuan!
You can't always expect others to get hurt so you can have a chance to take their place!
Song You asked Liu Jinxuan, who had suddenly fallen into a daze, "Aren't you going to the meeting?"

Liu Jinxuan snapped out of his daze: "Oh, I want to go."

"Then let's go." Song You waved his hand.

Liu Jinxuan then followed him toward the conference room.

On the first night after the Chinese national team arrived, the players were gathered together by Coach He and Team Leader Shen after dinner.

Just now, Liu Jinxuan was standing outside the conference room greeting the senior members of the national team.

Besides them, other national team players also came to the meeting room.

Whether they were already on the national team last time or were recruited this time, everyone knows why they came to this meeting and what Coach He will say to them at the meeting.

Because within the national team, that matter was actually a semi-public secret.

(End of this chapter)