Fox in the Penalty Area

It is time again to conclude this volume.

Accidentally, this volume has written 1,225,000 words.

It is the volume with the most words.

I wrote from mid-January to mid-July, a full six months, half a year.

As a result, the total number of words in this book also exceeded 3.5 million words.

However, this book does not use the number of words to determine the direction of the plot and when it will end.

So 3.5 million words does not mean that the end is near, the story in my heart is only halfway through.

After all, Hu Lai and his partners are only participating in the World Cup for the first time, so how could it end quickly?

Wouldn't it be a waste of the presentation of the first three volumes?

In short, everyone should be patient, it is a long story, it is really a long story.

I try my best to write out all my thinking and what I want to say over the years in this story.

After all, for me, this is a work that I have to give myself an account of in my nearly twenty years of online football writing career. I will not be perfunctory, nor will I rush to finish the book.

Even if some people say that I am stupid and that my writing is long-winded, I still insist on it.

Because when I look back after I finish writing, I will find that it is actually not a book, but a world.

Back to volume four.

Let me first talk about a more controversial plot recently, that is, the result of the Chinese team's 3:3 draw with Brazil in the World Cup.

In fact, before writing the plot of the World Cup, I have been hesitating and worrying.

That is whether I have the courage to write a "failure" in detail.

This "failure" is not a certain game, but the entire plot - because there is no group qualifying and no refreshing final result, so for readers, this is an invalid plot, and it is naturally a failure.

It's not that I haven't written about failure before, after all, I haven't written a story about never losing.

But when I used to deal with these failure scenarios,

Usually, some update techniques or writing techniques are used to blur the failure and avoid this "thunder point".

For example, take it all in one stroke, try to expose this matter in a short space, or directly adjust the timeline, the major is half a year later, the protagonist has already encountered setbacks, and is ready to face the face.

For example, in "The Winner is King", Chang Sheng transferred from Valencia to coach Rome, but he encountered Waterloo in Rome and was kicked out after only half a year. I simply explained it directly in the form of a news review, focusing on the plot of his choice to go to Lazio to beat Rome in the face.

Because I know that readers don't like to watch the tormentor, and they also know that the tormentor is actually trying to make the protagonist come back in the face.

Now that everyone knows it, why waste pen and ink on the setback plot to confuse everyone? Anyway, setbacks are nothing more than an excuse to slap the protagonist.

Then just write the part about the backhand slap in the face. Just let the readers know the reason for the slap in the face, and you don't need to write it in detail.

In this way, the emotions are mobilized, and the results are also good.

Until now, this processing technique is also correct, it is true. business.

I think when I wrote "The Godfather of Champions", I wrote about Tony Twain's first UEFA Champions League final in detail. It was very detailed, before, during, and after the match... Then I let Nottingham Forest replace Arsenal, and repeated the 2006 UEFA Champions League The plot of the final, losing to Barcelona.

It was really cool when I wrote that, especially when Tony threw the silver medal to a little caddy at the end, I felt so good...

But when it was published, it was scolded bloody by readers.

How bad is it?

It was so miserable that I couldn't even watch the dance anymore, so I came to my book review area and sent a long comment to help me explain, to speak for me on my platform...

Then he was scolded along with me...

Although many people now say that "The Godfather of Champions" is the most classic football, but in fact until the end of the serialization, the evaluation of "The Godfather of Champions" was not as high as it is now, and it was not as good as "We Are the Champions" at the time. I remember this very well.

The death of Jr. Gavin led to the failure of the Super League. After being dismissed as the head coach of the first team, he returned to the youth team to coach, followed the inertia of history and lost to Barcelona in the Champions League final. The reunion with Tang means that there is one more person who knows the secret of the protagonist's time travel, has a heart attack and forcibly creates setbacks to suppress the protagonist, breaks with the club owner and leaves Nottingham Forest, and returns to Nottingham Forest with a shy face... In fact, there are many plots in the story. At that time, it was full of thunder, and there were constant controversies—I’m not talking about judging by the current pace of web writing, but under the aesthetic system of web writing at that time, these were things that didn’t please readers.

As for the book reviews that say I am watery, there are more...

As for "We Are the Champions", let alone, that is, everyone was still tolerant at the time. Now, Zhang Jun's character of the Virgin is probably disgusting enough to drive away many people... Not to mention that I even let Yang Pan When the Chinese team played against Japan, they deliberately lost the game, just to kill the big leaders of the Chinese Football Association at the time-think about the public opinion caused by the 1:5 loss of the Chinese football team to the Thai youth team and forcing Camacho to leave. You know how "venomous" this plot is...

So after seventeen years of writing about football and business, I know very well which things are dangerous, and it is best not to touch them. If it must be written, what techniques should be used to cover up the past and minimize the reader's discomfort.

That's why I hesitated for a long time before the World Cup plot:

How dare I write about a "failure" in detail?

According to my experience, I know that letting the Chinese team out of the World Cup group stage will definitely make readers uncomfortable-yes, this book is different from other football books at the starting point. Other football readers have asked the author not to write about the national football team. My book Everyone asked me to be more bold and flirtatious when writing about the national football team... cover my face.

This of course also shows that I have actually written the national football team in the book vividly, so that people are willing to place hope on them.

That's actually a compliment to me.

But at the same time, it also gave me tremendous pressure.

If I don't let the Chinese team qualify, will it attract bad reviews?

Of course, despite such scruples, I did not change the outline and said that I would let the Chinese team qualify for the group stage.

In my original design, the first World Cup of the Chinese team was to return home after finishing the group stage.

What I hesitated was whether I dared to, not whether I should.

Writing still needs to be written, and it must be written in detail.

Write about a doomed World Cup.

At least on the surface it seems fruitless.

But in my heart, I know that although I didn't make it to the knockout stage in this World Cup, it was not a meaningless failure.

On this point, I expressed my point of view in the chapter of Shi Wuyin's work report - if it can leave a spark for the future national football team, it is worthwhile to fail.

But how to define this "failure"?

Just like what some readers said, it is acceptable to reach the knockout round and then meet France, and lose outright and cleanly.

This is of course a failure.

It's just that I don't think this is a failure for the Chinese team in the main line of the World Cup in this book. After all, for the first time participating in the World Cup, they were able to reach the knockout stage, and they still lost to the powerful French team. How could it be considered a failure?

It was simply a "glorious victory".

In this way, readers will not feel the slightest pity emotionally.

Because it's normal to lose, you should lose.

My so-called "failure" should be regrettable. It makes people feel that it should not be like this. In fact, it should be better. It's a pity, and I'm a little breathless...

Some people will definitely ask: why do you want to do this? Isn't this against the reader?

Of course, I am not fighting against the readers. After all, "Fox in the Forbidden Area" is still a cool article in essence...

It's just that I think the "failure" in this World Cup is very important to the national team in the book and these international players.

This involves one of the themes of my book - growing up.

Everyone is growing up, Hu Lai is growing up, Hu Lai's father is growing up, Xie Lan is growing up, Wang Guangwei, Zhang Qinghuan, Chen Xingyi, Luo Kai... and many others, they are all growing up.

The small Leeds team is also growing.

The Chinese team and Chinese football are naturally growing.

In the campus chapter, I have described the reform and growth of Chinese football through the development of campus football.

But that's not enough.

Falling into the group of "national footballers", there is actually no growth-so far.

They are just a group composed of individual characters, and they have not formed a common consciousness.

But they can't be like this all the time. In the future, they are bound to grow up and change.

This positive growth is not the growth of strength, but the growth of heart.

Chen Xingyi, Zhang Qinghuan, Luo Kai, Wang Guangwei, Xia Xiaoyu...their strength is actually growing, and their hearts are also getting stronger. But this is as a "professional player" rather than as a "national player". There is a big difference between the two.

Professional players play football to make money, for their various goals and ideals. The national football is for more metaphysical things.

Some readers said that the reason for their displeasure was not that the Chinese team could not be eliminated in the group, but the way they were eliminated. It felt too easy to be satisfied, and they had no desire to win. fight?

This makes them feel that this team does not have a "champion heart" at all, and the title of that chapter is like a great irony.

I have to say that what this reader said is very correct. The Chinese team presented is indeed like this, and it is also the effect I hope to write. If you can see these things, it means that my writing is quite good and the purpose has been achieved... …laugh.

Have you noticed that this book has 3.5 million words so far, and only the protagonist Hu Lai clearly stated that his goal is to win the World Cup.

Others, even Wang Guangwei, Zhang Qinghuan, Chen Xingyi, and Luo Kai, have not shown their goals and ambitions in their international career.

In Chapter 117 of the third volume, "Hu Lai's Ambition", I used the dialogue between Hu Lai and Zhang Qinghuan and Ding Yuanhai to express this difference.

Ding Yuanhai felt that it would be fine even if he didn't make it to the World Cup this time. Anyway, with Hu Lai's ability, the next World Cup qualifiers would definitely be something to play.

But Hu Lai was anxious, because in another four years, Brother Huan would be 28 years old. At the age of 28, Brother Huan, who is in his prime, can only participate in the World Cup for the first time to accumulate experience.

Isn't this a waste?

He hopes that the Chinese team can participate in the World Cup every year, so that Brother Huan's talent will not be wasted.

His ambition frightened Ding Yuanhai, who had no lofty ambitions, and only wanted to play well in the game in front of him.

It also made Zhang Qinghuan, who used to be the number one genius in China, lose his mind-because even he couldn't imagine what would happen if the Chinese team could participate in the World Cup every time.

Because he didn't think about it at all, he didn't have this awareness. Even going to the World Cup, he is more to fulfill his father's expectations.

The old players in the Chinese team in this World Cup, such as Jiang Wanqing and Yao Huasheng, also performed very well. I spent some pen and ink describing their persistence and performance, as well as their joy when facing a draw.

For these old players, who are likely to be the only one in this World Cup, the future of Chinese football does not depend on them, so it doesn't matter whether they grow or not, and it doesn't matter what they do in the future.

Most of the national team players at this stage are actually the same as them. They don't have any ambitions in the World Cup, and they don't have the clear goal of Hu Lai saying that I want to win the World Cup.

Their thinking is actually like this - "Being able to participate once is enough for me to boast for a lifetime, what more bikes do I need?"

"The 3:3 draw with the Brazilian team is my highlight moment. What kind of bicycle do I need?"

"If I don't lose in the World Cup, I will have no regrets in my career. What kind of bicycle do I need?"

Of course, Zhang Qinghuan and Wang Guangwei will not only participate in the World Cup once, but they also lack self-awareness in this matter. They don't think that failing to qualify for the group stage this time is a failure, or they never thought about qualifying for the World Cup group at all.

Because if you think about it in that world, you will feel that the performance of the Chinese team in this World Cup is enough to make the Chinese proud.

Suppose, assuming that in the 2002 World Cup, the Chinese team drew 2:2 with Costa Rica, 1:1 with Turkey, 3:3 with Brazil, and then they were eliminated from the group... Then as fans, should we scold them for playing against Brazil? At the last moment, the way to shrink the defense and just want to keep the tie is to surrender early, or to shout "National football is awesome"?

In the end, if he didn't make it out, some people would definitely feel regretful, regrettable is definitely regrettable. But if you want to say regret and regret, it will turn into accusing these players of not being hard enough, embarrassing, and saying extreme things like some readers, thinking that the national football team force-feeds them... I think that is impossible.

So in all fairness, the thoughts and performances of these players in the book are normal - some readers said why they didn't fight when they knew they could qualify with a fight?

The problem is that the players don't think they should fight to qualify, they are content with the status quo.

Besides, objectively, the Chinese team was exhausted at that time, and it was not easy to even the score in the end. It is true that there is no energy left to attack and grab a ball-all the energy they have left can only be used to defend.

Didn't they make it to the end? They fought to the end, but they didn't squeeze themselves any further, they didn't push themselves any more.

Because at that time they were completely acceptable to the draw, and they didn't think there was anything wrong with the draw.

But were those readers' criticisms wrong?

No.

After all, we are the gods overlooking them. We have the perspective of gods, so we naturally know that they can actually go to the group to qualify.

And as readers, it's normal for us to have higher demands on these emotionally attached characters. We want them to fight till the end like fighters, we want them to have lofty goals and pursuits, we want them to represent the precious sportsmanship in football...

There's nothing wrong with that, it's reasonable, and it should be—after all, we're meant to appreciate the great heroism of the human race.

That's why everyone feels upset that the Chinese team didn't fight desperately for a qualifying spot at the last moment.

I feel like they have failed my expectations and trust.

That's how they should be, and that's how they will end up being.

but not now.

Because of growing up.

They are not perfect characters with advanced taste, lofty goals, firm beliefs, and strong execution ability as soon as they appear on the stage.

They are living people with their own selfishness, various shortcomings, and historical limitations.

In the first World Cup, they were still ignorant. They felt that it would be good to participate in the World Cup once. They felt that they could brag for a lifetime if they could draw with Brazil. I don't agree with Hu Lai's goal.

Hu Lai must know it too, so he never asks others for his goals—I have never written that Hu Lai, like a missionary, speaks out his inner ideals to everyone, and persuades people to join him for Chinese football In the future, let's fight to win the World Cup -- because that is a kind of moral kidnapping.

Their hard work on the court is not because they have a kind of self-awareness, but just because they are professional players, they have the most basic professionalism, and since they are on the court, they must play well.

That's all.

To put it bluntly, it is difficult for many players to meet such the most basic requirements in reality—not just domestic players, but players all over the world—so much so that the public opinion in the mass media will often promote and praise certain players. The "professionalism" of a certain player.

To put it bluntly, it is still the small pattern of "it's hard to participate in a World Cup, if you don't go all out, how can you be worthy of yourself".

There is no deep awareness of "I want to change the future of Chinese football".

All critical readers are right to criticize their team, because they are such a group of "lower" people.

In fact, most professional players are like this kind of people, they don't have much ambition, nor do they have too lofty ideology and morality and lofty goals.

Not to mention the players, even the managers of Chinese football in the book have not yet had such a self-awareness. Through Hong Renjie's mouth, I expressed the attitude of the Chinese Football Association: "If you can reach the World Cup finals next time, That's enough"... That is to say, the goal of the managers of Chinese football is only to be able to participate in the World Cup again.

Of course, that's right, after all, it was almost impossible for Chinese football to even participate in a World Cup. It is also impossible to ask them to suddenly burst into ambition-in fact, they are not as good as football managers in neighboring Japan. So their layout is actually small.

Therefore, both in reality and in the book, Japanese football has made great progress and has become the big brother of Asian football.

The Chinese football in the book has undergone reforms and changes, but some things are indeed not so easy to change. I don't want to write about a reform that can suddenly change the mind, and a perfect football association that is impeccable in all aspects will come out.

If some readers say "I don't think these things you said, I feel natural and completely acceptable when I watch this plot"...that's right, very good.

Because if you really integrate into the world of the book and substitute yourself as a fan in the book instead of an omniscient "God", then of course you will feel that the performance and results are very good and satisfying enough.

The reason why I didn't lay the groundwork in the World Cup plot was that their team couldn't get out of the line. After arousing readers' excitement, I haven't commented on it from the perspective of "God". In fact, it is to not interrupt this immersive reading experience.

It even includes why I wrote these three games in detail, as if it were a text version of the live broadcast of the game, and wrote some fragments that neither produced a goal nor a turning point in the game... This is all to let readers really feel like it. It's like watching a real World Cup match.

So I am very relieved to see everyone's book review area and this chapter counting points... Is it like in reality that everyone has worked hard to count points for the national football team in the top 40 games?

I think everyone can have such a reaction, which shows that I really wrote about this team, and I wrote it so that everyone is willing to accept them, and they are willing to feel both worried and looking forward to their fate in the World Cup.

The same is true of the debate and different opinions on whether to qualify for the group stage.

It now appears that it was a success.

Some people were so immersed that they couldn't accept that the Chinese team didn't fight in the end.

Some people are so immersed that with the ability of the Chinese team, they are satisfied with being able to draw with Brazil 3:3.

People from different perspectives can read their own feelings from it, all because of their different self-cognition of the world.

And this world is real, even if it exists in a book.

Let’s go back to myself and continue to talk about my various foreshadowings and metaphors:

In the book, I named the football "The Heart of a Champion" and asked He Feng to explain the meaning of the name. Is it to praise them for having a heart of a champion?

No, it's because the previous group of people didn't have the heart of a champion!

They need this heart.

So the referee gave Hu Lai the football named "Champion Heart", which also gave the Chinese team a "Champion Heart"-this is the metaphor I left in the book.

It was like a body like a walking dead, injected with soul and put into the heart. From this moment on, they really had the hope of becoming "human".

Only then will it be possible to complete transformation and...growth in the future.

Yes, grow.

Consciously and voluntarily chasing your highest ideal in the World Cup.

So even though they are now elated and celebrating after a 3:3 draw with Brazil, some readers are very upset.

But who can guarantee that one day in the future, when they recall the excitement of being able to draw with Brazil for the first time in the World Cup, they will not feel regretful and ashamed of their own elation?

Who can say that they would not be annoyed: If I had gritted my teeth and tried harder, if I had seized the time to make a breakthrough... Maybe we could have crossed the insurmountable mountain of the Brazilian team and entered a new world?

When they had this kind of awareness, the silent "champion heart" really began to beat vigorously in their chests.

In the World Cup, they have a stronger motivation to move forward and keep going.

So the title and interpretation of that chapter "Heart of a Champion" is not to praise them, but to expect and entrust them.

This brings me back to the reason why I wrote this World Cup plot in detail.

May I not know that the result of fetching water from a bamboo basket should not be published in a big way, but should be drawn quickly to avoid readers' upset?

Don't I know that after hanging up everyone's emotions before, but not letting everyone release it would be very uncomfortable?

Did I know I should use techniques that I used to work to blur out the discomfort?

Can I know that letting the Chinese team reach the knockout round, and then lose to the French team without complaint or regret, can the readers' evaluation be better? Maybe your subscription results are better?

I know, I know all.

But I still want to write about the first World Cup of this group of people in detail, even if the final group did not qualify.

Because this is a "rite of passage" for a group of people.

"The Ritual of Being a Man", not "The Ritual of Being an Adult"

If I don't write in detail, but just mention it briefly, introduce the results in the tone of a news summary, or write that the Chinese team lost 0:3 to Brazil... Then how can we let everyone see clearly the current faces of these people and see their hearts? What about "small"?

If you can't see these, how can you rejoice in their growth and transformation in the future?

Can I just mention "they grew up"?

Was He Feng's speech when Zhang Qinghuan left the stage just for Zhang Qinghuan?

of course not.

It was also given to these players.

They are not perfect people, and sometimes they are not even good people.

They have flaws, and some of them are abhorrent to everyone.

But as long as you are human, you have to have shortcomings.

The important thing is not to be allowed to have shortcomings, but how to face the flawed self and the imperfect life.

The "shortcuts" of straight roads and detours that everyone has gone through, the mistakes they have made, and the stupid things they have done have finally achieved themselves.

True maturity is not about pursuing perfection, but about facing your own shortcomings.

Verify the truth of life, realize that you are not as good as you think, and then continue to love life, love yourself, and move on.

For me, it is also one of the life insights I want to express in the book...

In fact, not only these international footballers, but every character in my book is basically the same, imperfect and has shortcomings, some of which may be annoying to readers and fatal.

For example, Li Ziqiang’s extreme selfishness as a daughter-in-law, Hu Lixin’s cowardice and arbitrariness, and Xie Lan, who also has shortcomings. Sometimes she is too selfish and doesn’t care about her husband’s feelings. If readers substitute Hu Lixin, they will feel that his wife sometimes very annoying...

Shi Wuyin also has his own selfishness, and he is not as powerful as everyone thinks—otherwise, why would he not renew his contract with the Football Association after leading the World Cup, and insist on retiring bravely? Why don't you devote yourself to Chinese football and die? Didn't he know that after he left, the performance of the Chinese team might fluctuate? He knew it all, but he still didn't renew his contract because he cherished his name. He was afraid that his fame would be lost in the evening. That's why he said to Hong Renjie, "I don't have the ability or motivation to lead the national team to go on." He has no ability to improve his ability, but he has no motivation... He has no motivation himself. How can you let him renew his contract and let him continue? Take this team?

After the reform, the Chinese Football Association will also have bureaucracy-in the plot of deciding whether to let Shi Wuyin continue to coach the national team to play in the top 12, I saw that many readers were very unhappy with the performance of the Football Association in the chapter. Well, I just hope you think so...

Even the protagonist, Hu Lai, is definitely not perfect. There are many problems, some of which are harmless, but some are actually personality defects. Hate.

When I created every character in this book, I reminded myself over and over again—don’t write them as omniscient and perfect characters, but deliberately write about their shortcomings and faults, and deliberately write about their mistakes—because I hate such characters , lifeless, inhuman. Since I hate such characters, I can't write well about such characters.

Therefore, both Shi Wuyin and Clark have times when they are stunned, when they are helpless, and when they admit defeat and surrender. They are not like the ideal sports figures who should always pursue victory and fight until the last second.

I know that in the current aesthetic environment of online literature, this old-fashioned approach is not welcome.

What everyone wants to see is that everyone will not hold back the protagonist, they are absolutely reasonable, and they can't find any faults in their behavior... To put it bluntly, why is it like this, because of the "sense of security".

Because these characters can only make readers feel safe when they do this, and reading books can be comfortable and enjoyable. The results are naturally good.

After all, everyone reads books to pursue relaxation and refreshment.

If readers don't feel safe, they're unhappy, and they won't read it.

I, too, am a reader.

But as an author, I have my own pursuits.

So I stick to this thankless way of writing.

Just because I think those characters, they should be human beings, and only when they are human can they collide with each other and have stories, affect emotions, and finally form a convincing world.

Of course, I will try my best to maintain a balance, and while insisting on myself, I will not give up the general direction of making readers happy. That's why I let the Chinese team remain unbeaten in the World Cup, and it is the only team that remains unbeaten. Otherwise, I might let the Chinese team lose to Algeria in the first game-in my original plan, I really thought so.

I also know that sticking to my own things may not always resonate, and sometimes it is out of date. If I don't want to rush to the street to my death, then I'd better use commercial techniques to express my thoughts, instead of just running out with nothing to cover up and throwing things in front of everyone. If no one reads a book, what is the meaning of my so-called life perception and thoughts?

So for me in this book, what I often struggled with during the writing process was how to write "failure", not "victory". After all, winning is very cool, as long as you keep winning and get all the honors you can get. What's so difficult about writing this?

But if you write it like this, this book will soon lose its vitality, or as the saying goes: If the rhythm is not suppressed, it will collapse.

For an old author who has written 37 million words, it is not difficult to make readers happy. The rare thing is how to keep readers interested and sticky in this book, and how to continue to find cool points from the book.

My solution in this book is to slow down the pace a bit.

Not only put the perspective on the protagonist alone, but write group portraits, so that readers can find more objects of spiritual sustenance other than the protagonist.

That's why there is a 700,000-word campus football chapter, and 2 million words are still playing around in China.

But because of this, there are characters other than Hu Lai, Zhang Qinghuan, Wang Guangwei, Chen Xingyi, Xie Lan, Li Ziqiang, Li Qingqing, Shi Wuyin...

When I shaped them like "watering" and described them before, and waited until the next chapter, until they completed their respective growth, I think readers would really feel the sense of accomplishment of "scattered stars" , and rejoice over it.

Thanks to everyone's perseverance, such a story with old-fashioned writing, old-fashioned plot, and old-fashioned core is doing well now. I was walking on thin ice, trembling, for fear that the writing would collapse, and I carefully considered every sentence in each chapter, trying to maintain a unified style of painting throughout the book.

Therefore, this book may be the most tiring book I have written in so many years. I have never been like this book, I can't wait to go out on vacation-you must know that I am a thousand-year-old otaku, and I will never go out if I can stay at home. But now, I think about going out to play from time to time...

Every day, not almost, every day, every day I write until about two o'clock in the morning, and I never finish writing before twelve o'clock in the evening.

Sometimes it's not that I haven't thought about it, don't be so strict with high standards, just order casually, just write out today's update.

But no.

Even after finishing writing, when I went to the bathroom before going to bed, I still felt that I couldn’t write like this, so I went back to the computer, opened the document, and rewrote.

In this way, I feel that this book has maintained a unified style and level so far.

So I will continue to write like this, even if the writing process is very tiring and painful, but looking at the finished product is still full of sense of accomplishment...

Of course, sticking to the original heart and original intention is actually easier to do when the grades are not good.

After all, there were no people watching at that time, and I convinced myself that "since you can't please the readers, please please yourself", anyway, one of the two ends must occupy one end, just like a stand-alone game. I actually like to play stand-alone games - WOW can let me complete stand-alone...

As the number of viewers increases and the subscription results improve, it will be more difficult to stick to the original heart and original intention.

After all, when what I want to write conflicts with the expectations of readers, I will definitely hesitate.

Worrying about not living up to everyone's expectations.

Worrying about how you'll offend your readers.

Offending readers means losing subscriptions and bad grades.

It doesn't matter if the grades are good or bad.

When the grades get better, you start to worry about gains and losses, afraid of this and that.

Of course I hope for good grades, and I still hope for better grades.

I also know how to write grades will be better.

But I chose this willful approach in the end, just like what I said in my preface.

This in itself is a willful book written by a willful man...

I managed to stick to 3.5 million words. If I give up my original idea here, it will give me a feeling that all my previous efforts have been wasted.

No matter what the final grade of this book is, I want to write it completely. This completeness not only means that it is not unfinished, but also means that I have written everything I want to write, and I have written everything that should be written.

As a book, this should be a highly completed work, not a nondescript semi-finished product that swings back and forth between insisting on oneself and pursuing achievements.

So I'm sorry, if my handling of this book makes you feel uncomfortable and don't want to read it, I also respect your choice. But I will continue to write like this.

If you want to read a particularly refreshing article, maybe I will write it in the future-I don't reject that kind of simple and crude article-but this is how this book is.

So please understand.

In short, the plot of the World Cup is like this.

As I said before when I posted the update strategy, this plot is very important to the entire book. It can be said to be a key part of the link between the past and the future.

The young people's harvest in this World Cup is definitely not as simple as increasing their knowledge and improving their level as they think.

Some influences are deep-seated and don't show up until later.

But only after I write out this part of the content in detail can they make their future changes stand.

Just like I insisted on writing campus articles at the beginning.

It's a truth.

Only when there is a way can there be a way to go.

This is true for the protagonist Hu Lai, and it is also true for other people in this book.

Of course, you don't have to worry that I will be young.

Basically, I attach so much importance to the plot of the World Cup because it is really important.

It doesn't mean that I will describe "failure" in such detail at other times.

After all, "Fox of the Forbidden Zone" is still a qualified business in essence, and the pursuit is still cool.

I don't intend to only write about this World Cup, I have already thought about all the follow-up arrangements. But in order to avoid spoilers, I won't say anything, anyway, everyone believes me. I am a YY writer who dared to write about the Chinese team winning the World Cup in 2006. After so many years, how many football books have written about the Chinese team winning the World Cup? I don't know, but "We Are the Champions" is definitely the first.

In fact, I was very bold—everyone said that what I wrote was fantasy.

It's just that I always hope that while being bold about YY, I also want to be careful about assumptions and fill in enough believable details, so that YY can finally become real and credible.

Even if it is YY, you have to seriously YY, not perfunctory.

Personally, I think that the highest level of YY is to make people who watch it truly believe that YY is real, not just a fake one.

Even if it is a high imitation, it must be faked. I wrote in "Do You Care About Me Playing Football" that Kaka is a descendant of Chinese born in Brazil. His father wanted him to experience Chinese culture. I went to school in China and met Zhang Jun and the others. After I arranged such a family and life background for this character, some readers really think that Kaka is a Chinese, and at least has Chinese blood...

※※※

Let's go back to volume four.

In fact, the fourth volume has two main lines, one is Hu Lai's performance in the club, and the other is the World Cup.

Then there are many branches in it.

Like Rocky.

I didn't write about Luo Kai's situation in Veronica in detail, but I just mentioned it once when I had an intersection with Hu Lai. On the one hand, it avoids distracting everyone's attention and slowing down the pace; on the other hand, it is naturally because Luo Kai's part is very similar to abusive texts, and out of commercial considerations, there is no need to write it in detail.

So I am still a writer who knows exactly what to write and how to write to make readers happy.

And I'm also pretty good at listening and self-correcting.

For example, the plot of Hu Lai's transfer at the end of the third volume is because after listening to the readers' feedback, it was decided to overturn the subsequent plot and rewrite it.

But I can also be stubborn sometimes.

That's because I know what to hold on to and what not to hold on to.

The treatment of Luo Kai is actually what I deleted at the end of the third volume. I originally decided to arrange for Hu Lai's overseas career-going to a wealthy team, not being reused, and then renting out. I didn’t adapt, I didn’t perform well, and I gradually found the feeling later, but it was too late, and I returned to the rich and was rented out again... At this time, Leeds City took the initiative to buy out Hu Lai, and then everyone saw The contents of the original fourth volume.

But I thought about it, and felt that if this story was placed on the protagonist, it would be a naked abuser. It is wide, but it is not necessary.

After all, this book is still cool in essence...

I do intend to slow down the pace, but this kind of slow-paced plot will not help to shape the characters, and secondly, it will not make readers have the patience to read on. Why bother? The reason why I insist on writing the World Cup plot in detail is also because it has a profound impact on the entire international football team, and it is a foreshadowing of the later plot.

So I deleted the plot that had already written tens of thousands of words, and changed it to what everyone sees now.

But I don't want everyone to think that studying abroad to play football is an easy task - why is it so easy in the book that only Qin Lin did it once many years ago?

In order to highlight the difficulty of studying abroad, since the protagonist cannot express this difficulty, then naturally he can only arrange important supporting actors to bear it.

So there was a series of arrangements for Luo Kai after he went abroad to play football...

The book also expresses this meaning through the perspective of many people-don't just look at Hu Lai's scenery in Leeds and think that studying abroad seems to be a very easy and simple thing. Also look at Luo Kai, he is the path that all ordinary Chinese talented players who are not cheating will go through-if Chinese football really has a talented player like him.

At the same time, it also echoes the lyrics in the ending song "Everyone's life is a journey" in the third volume:

"Dreams are just ahead of the road, faintly shining and fascinating; may you find it at last.

"But there are hot and cold winters in the distance, rainy nights, and muddy roads; I hope you will be safe all the way.

"May the wandering bring you enough wisdom and firm courage, and not wear away your dreams."

Studying abroad and chasing dreams is not such a straightforward thing as YY. It is often more like Luo Kai rolling in the mud repeatedly, embarrassed, and may not be able to reap a satisfactory result in the end.

It can be said that Hu Lai is the aggregate of all of our fantasies, and the carrier of all the good hopes we have given.

And Luo Kai is the cruel reality—of course, it is not as cruel and cold as the real reality. After all, this is YY, after all, it is a cool article, and there is always a trace of warmth.

It can be said that the overseas study of other characters will basically follow this principle, and it will not be too flirtatious, but it will not be completely realistic.

I'm not going to write them into the rich and famous anytime soon.

After all, the time span of this book is very long. As long as they can meet people's expectations of them in the end and make due contributions to Chinese football, then their study abroad will be considered a success.

That's the same sentence again-I consider the plot arrangement from the perspective of the whole book, not the perspective of serialization. So sometimes, if you chase serials, you will inevitably feel uncomfortable. No way, there is always a trade-off. If the writing is detailed, the speed cannot be improved. If the speed is increased, the writing will be sloppy, and there will be many places that are ignored and cannot be taken care of.

But I believe this is definitely a book worth coming back to and reading again and again after you finish reading it.

This is also a book that should leave a name in the history of online literature. When the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League conducted a telephone interview with me some time ago, I was asked to recommend myself a masterpiece that is most suitable for reading in today’s society and my favorite. I did not recommend it. "We Are the Champions" did not recommend "The Heart of a Champion", which was included in the National Library of China's electronic library, or even "The Godfather of Champions". What I recommend is this "Fox in the Restricted Zone".

I think the current "Fox in the Restricted Zone" is worthy of being recommended to the whole society as my masterpiece.

This is my goal and my ambition.

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The fifth volume is the first time for Hu Lai to participate in the European competition.

His perspective will also follow him to unfold the European football world in the book.

More new characters will appear on the stage, and they will perform grievances and hatreds with Hu Lai.

And the growth and maturity of the Chinese team continues.

All in all, still an excellent volume.

The story is still long, and the time is still long.

And let me write slowly, you read slowly.

Maybe it will be possible to interweave and synchronize the book and reality again at the World Cup next year?

After all, the time span in the book is very long, really long, definitely not "four more years" as some readers guessed...

Thank you for your support, let us continue with the fifth volume!

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