10: Chapter 10 didn't say that sparring partners can't bring down the main players, right?

"I'm climbing up step by step, flying forward on the leaves at the highest point..."

The alarm hadn't gone off yet, but the phone vibrated first.

Yu Bai frowned in his sleep, groping for the buzzing phone on the nightstand. The screen's light was harsh in the dim room, displaying "Mom." He checked the time: 6:58 AM. She was spot on.

He cleared his dry throat, answered, and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Mom."

"Xiao Bai," Shen Muwan's voice came through the waves, carrying a night's worth of shock and suppressed urgency, "You're changing teams—such a big deal, why didn't you tell Mom?"

Yu Bai rolled over, staring at the familiar shadows on the ceiling, his voice still raspy from just waking up: "Mom, that's called a transfer, not changing teams."

"Fine, fine, fine, a transfer!"

Shen Muwan's tone went up half an octave, "Why didn't you tell me? I heard it from someone else! Do you still even have me as a mother in your heart?"

Yu Bai was silent for two seconds; the morning drowsiness dissipated a little. Birds started chirping outside the window.

"Do you want the truth or a lie?" he asked.

"The truth, of course!"

"Because I wasn't even sure I could stay myself."

Yu Bai's voice was calm, so calm there wasn't even a fluctuation, "The club gives contracts based on performance. If I got cut again, telling you would only mean you'd be happy for nothing and then worried for nothing, right?"

On the other end of the line, Shen Muwan seemed choked up by something; her breathing stalled.

She heard the caution beneath her son's calm tone, the caution of someone who had been knocked down repeatedly, even a trace of imperceptible exhaustion. The rejections, the trials, the cold looks she had never witnessed seemed to condense into this short sentence.

She opened her mouth, unable to find the right words for a moment. Reproach? Heartache? Neither seemed right.

"Xiao Bai..."

Her voice softened, carrying an imperceptible nasal tone, "After Mom finishes this most important project on hand, I will definitely, first thing, fly over to see you!"

"Mm," Yu Bai responded, without much emotion, "Next time, Mom. Definitely next time."

The four words "definitely next time" hit Shen Muwan like a small stone. Just as she was about to say something else, a blurry, fresh, magnetic female voice humming suddenly came through the receiver, along with the faint sound of guitar strumming.

"So this is me swallowing my pride..."

"Standing in front of you, saying I'm sorry for that night..."

The singing was close, as if right outside the window, drifting in with the cool morning breeze.

Shen Muwan was stunned: "Xiao Bai? Who is on your side? So early... singing?"

Yu Bai threw off the quilt, walked to the window barefoot, and gently pulled back a corner of the curtain. The dawn was breaking, and the leaves of the old oak tree in the backyard were still hanging with dew. Beside the long wooden table where they had the barbecue last night, The Thompson Family was already seated. Uncle David was reading the newspaper, Susan was arranging plates, and Grandma Margaret was wrapped in a shawl, quietly looking at the garden.

And Chloe was sitting on a high stool beside the table, holding her slightly worn acoustic guitar. She was wearing a loose white knit sweater and jeans, barefoot, her long golden hair draped casually, swaying slightly with her strumming. She tilted her head slightly, eyes closed, completely immersed in her own melody and lyrics, the sunlight dancing on her long, curled eyelashes.

"And I go back to December all the time..."

"It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you..."

Her singing was clean, with a slightly raspy texture, sincere and moving.

No one in The Thompson Family spoke; they just listened quietly, occasionally looking at each other and smiling. A kind of unspoken warmth and support flowed in the morning air.

Yu Bai watched for a while before saying softly into the phone: "Mom, it's a long story. This is the daughter of my host family. She's a musician."

"What?!"

Shen Muwan's voice rose sharply, with great penetration, "Host family?! Yu Bai! Have you lost your mind?! You have a house in London, a perfectly good big house, and you go to a host family?! Are you out of money or what? Huh?!"

Fortunately, Yu Bai had anticipated this and held the phone further away, otherwise, his eardrums would have really suffered.

"Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine..."

Chloe's singing happened to climb to a soft high note, carrying a faint melancholy, forming a strange contrast with the mother's frenzy on the other end of the phone.

Yu Bai rubbed his brow, but his gaze couldn't help but fall back on the girl playing and singing downstairs. The morning light gilded her with a soft fuzz.

"Mom, talk later."

He sped up his speech, "I have to go to Tottenham U21 today. First day reporting, can't be late. That's all for now, bye."

Without waiting for Shen Muwan to react, he hung up the phone decisively. The world was quiet. Only Chloe's singing and the soft guitar sound continued to drift up.

"Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine..."

The song ended, and the lingering charm slowly dissipated in the fresh air. Chloe put down the guitar, opened her eyes, and seemingly sensing something, looked up to the third floor.

She happened to meet Yu Bai's downward gaze.

She was stunned for a moment, then bloomed with a big, cloudless smile, and raised her hand to wave vigorously at him. Then, she cleared her throat, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted upstairs in extremely broken, word-by-word Chinese:

"Yu... Bai—! Time... to... eat—!"

The pronunciation was clear, but the tone was so bizarre that it made people unable to help but smile.

Yu Bai: "..."

The Thompson Family downstairs also followed Chloe's gaze and shout, looked up, saw Yu Bai at the window, and all laughed, waving at him one after another. Mrs. Susan even pointed to the sumptuous breakfast on the table.

Yu Bai could only smile awkwardly and nod, quickly pulling his head back. He quickly washed up, changed clothes, and went downstairs.

Breakfast was pleasant.

Michael kept his mouth shut for once, just eating his bacon and eggs, not looking at Yu Bai, and not mentioning last night.

Chloe finished her portion quickly, picked up the guitar again, and began to play some light, unknown original tunes, the notes jumping between the sunlight and the aroma of food.

Yu Bai ate his oatmeal quietly, listening to the music. This feeling was very wonderful, even making him feel a bit dazed. When he lived alone in the big house before, the morning was always so empty and quiet that it made people panic. He always had to turn on the stereo or TV to fill the space with various sounds. Now, this feeling of being gently wrapped in the noise of life and the presence of others made his tense nerves relax unconsciously. He liked it.

...

Tottenham training center, U21 training area.

The few U18 players who were named by Coach McKenna yesterday all arrived on time to report.

Shayon Harrison was familiar with the road, leading Yu Bai and the others inside.

Along the way, Yu Bai could clearly feel a large amount of undisguised scrutinizing gazes from the U21 players. Those gazes seemed to have weight, falling on him, especially lingering longer on his Asian face. Curiosity, suspicion, evaluation, and a trace of imperceptible... rejection?

"Just him? That Chinese guy?"

"Heard they played like crazy on the U18 side yesterday?"

"Just one game, who knows if it was luck."

"Looks really thin..."

Whispers and gazes wove into an invisible net. Yu Bai had no expression on his face, just straightened his back slightly, his jawline tightening a bit. He didn't like this feeling, like a product placed in a shop window for people to comment on.

Harrison whispered to introduce a few important figures to Yu Bai while walking, his tone carrying pride, but also a reminder.

"See that big guy? Cameron Carter-Vickers, our captain, defensive core, US international, only 17 years old!"

Yu Bai followed the gaze, a sturdy, expressionless center back was tying his shoelaces.

"That one, Miloš Veljković, Serbian, 20 years old, already a member of the Serbian national team, a proper international."

"And over there, Nabil Bentaleb, Algerian international, also 20 years old, with very delicate technique."

Yu Bai couldn't help but interrupt, whispering to confirm: "Shayon, are you sure they are senior national team internationals? Not youth teams?"

"Sure!"

Harrison nodded vigorously, his expression very certain, "I haven't spent a short time here, can't be wrong. U21 is full of hidden talents, completely two worlds from U18."

Just as they were speaking, another person came in from the entrance. He was not tall, but his steps were steady, and his face carried a kind of certainty between greenness and maturity. As soon as he came, many U21 players stopped their actions and nodded or greeted him.

"Harry."

"Morning, Harry."

Harrison nudged Yu Bai with his elbow, his voice lowered further: "This one, I don't need to introduce, right? Harry Winks. The sign of our Tottenham youth training now, the apple of Coach Ugo Ehiogu's (U21 head coach) eye. He already appeared in the Premier League last season. Heard that this season, as long as the first team midfield has injuries, he is definitely the first to fill in."

Yu Bai looked at the young man surrounded by stars, and Liam's annoying voice and Michael's nodding in agreement from last night's barbecue flashed through his mind instantly. He frowned imperceptibly. He didn't know if it was psychological, but the first time he saw this "youth training sign," he felt a bit... displeased.

...

The morning was tactical training, and the project was wing cross coordination.

The players were divided into two groups, one group was responsible for "dealing cards" and long passes near the center circle arc, and the other group received the ball on the wing, immediately crossed, and there were fixed strikers in the penalty area responsible for grabbing points and Shooting.

Yu Bai was assigned to the wing receiving group first. When it was his turn, it happened to be Harry Winks "dealing cards" from the center circle.

Winks looked at Yu Bai's running position and made a long pass. The ball speed was not slow, but the arc was a bit flat, and the landing point was obviously too far forward—with Yu Bai's starting speed, a full sprint might barely reach the first point, but it would be very awkward.

Yu Bai didn't hesitate, immediately slowed down, judged the second landing point of the ball, and used his chest to steady the ball sideways. But before he could adjust his steps to cross—

"Hey! That Japanese guy!"

From the center circle arc, Winks' dissatisfied shout came through half the field, carrying unceremonious accusation, "Grab the first point! Will the opponent wait for you to comfortably take the second point in the game? Initiative! Initiative!"

Several U21 players let out low jeers.

Yu Bai's action of preparing to cross stopped. The unhappiness that had been faintly pressing in his chest since reporting in the morning suddenly surged. He raised his eyes and glanced coldly at Winks in the center circle direction. The other party was holding his arms and looking at him too, with no expression on his face, but the pickiness in his eyes was obvious.

Yu Bai withdrew his gaze, looked at the rolling ball in front of him, and took a deep breath. The conventional cross he originally planned to send was instantly changed. He took a step, tightened the inside of his right foot, not rubbing, but like a shot, slammed it into the lower middle part of the ball!

"Bang!"

A dull sound.

The ball flew up like a cannonball out of the chamber, whistling with violent rotation, but not towards the center of the penalty area, but drawing an exaggerated outer arc, flying straight to the upper corner of the back post!

The ball speed was too fast, the arc too tricky. The striker responsible for grabbing the point didn't react at all, watching the ball graze the intersection of the crossbar and the goalpost, slamming into the net! Then bounced out.

"Whoa—!" A few sporadic, subconscious exclamations and applause sounded from the sidelines. This "like a pass, like a shot" kick, both the power and the arc were deviant.

After kicking, Yu Bai turned around and faced Winks at the center circle arc, his voice not loud, but ensuring the other party could hear clearly:

"My name is Yu Bai. From China."

Winks stared at him, his cheeks moved, and suddenly he turned his head and spat a non-existent phlegm on the ground. His face had no expression, but his eyes turned cold.

"I don't care where you are from."

His tone was stiff, with obvious displeasure.

He naturally saw that Yu Bai's kick carried anger and a show of force, but the footwork and control displayed by that ball also made him slightly startled.

Training continued. Yu Bai received a few more passes, some high quality, some average. He handled them all very well, receiving, adjusting, crossing, the movements were clean and neat, the arc and landing point were excellent, as if the little episode just now had never happened.

Until the two groups switched positions. When it was Yu Bai's turn to "deal cards" in the center circle, the person receiving on the wing happened to be Harry Winks.

Yu Bai got the ball and looked at Winks' position. He ran, swung his leg, the movement was standard.

Then, he kicked a pass almost identical to the one Winks passed to him just now—the arc was flat, the landing point was obviously too far forward, and the power was controlled just right, forcing the receiver to sprint with all his might to barely reach it.

Winks judged the landing point the moment Yu Bai kicked. A flash of annoyance at being deliberately targeted crossed his face, but his feet seemed to take root, standing in place, motionless. He just watched the ball land a few meters in front of him, bounce, roll away... rolling until it was almost close to the "fourth landing point" near the sideline, only then did he start slowly, jog over, and stop the ball.

Then, he raised his head, across half the field, looked at Yu Bai at the center circle arc, his voice raised high, ensuring everyone could hear:

"Japanese kid, see that?"

He even smiled, with a kind of condescending "pointing," "I take the fourth landing point, and no one has an opinion. Because everyone knows what my level is in the game. No one will make a fuss about one or two lapses in my training."

He paused, a trace of undisguised contempt in his smile.

"And you, are different. You don't have that qualification, understand?"

As soon as the words fell, several U21 players who usually walked close to Winks immediately let out echoing laughter and booing.

"Well said, Harry!"

"Newcomers have to be beaten!"

"Don't even know the rules!"

Yu Bai stood in the center circle, listening to those laughs and words, his face expressionless. He even followed, extremely slowly, twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing an arc that could hardly be counted as a smile.

The unhappiness and anger in his heart suddenly settled down, turning into a kind of cold, sharp excitement.

Damn it. He cursed in his heart.

Looking forward to the team confrontation later.

Although U21 assistant coach Mr. Matt Wells just said that they were just here to "practice partner" today, accompanying the U21 main lineup to practice tactics.

But... nobody said a practice partner couldn't knock the starters flat on their backs, right?

Yu Bai thought so, his fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of his training vest.