In that interview, I asked Hulay a question: "In your football career so far, which goal is the most impressive or the most meaningful to you?"
I've asked this question to almost every forward I've ever interviewed.
This is actually a very formulaic question, and the answers from most players are indeed very formulaic. Most people will choose their goal in a certain final, and then lean back slightly on the back of the sofa or chair. With an expression that recalled the glorious moment, he said in an excited or calm tone: "That was really the most important goal in my life. Yes, because it brought us a championship."
None of the answers have ever surprised me. I even got the answer as soon as I asked the question. I knew which goal they were going to pick because I knew them inside and out.
The meaning of this question is not to let readers and viewers really understand a player's heart, but to give these stars an opportunity to relive the highlight moments of their careers in front of the media. This is the interviewer and the interviewee The tacit understanding between them is also a small reward for these celebrities to still accept the interview honestly in the face of the interviewer's aggressive questions.
If you ask this question, both the host and the guest will be happy.
I know that Hulay has scored many goals, and some of them are very important and very beautiful. His answer should be among them. I already have some alternatives in my mind, and I swear on my professionalism, his final answer should be It's in this.
But what I didn't expect was that the answer Hu Lai finally gave was completely beyond my expectation.
He told me that for him, the most important, most meaningful, and most impressive goal was not among the 761 career goals he had scored, but a goal that had not been scored at all. A goal that counts. It wasn't even a goal in the game, it was a goal in training.
This answer surprised me, and I quickly asked: "A goal in training? I can't understand why you said that."
I still remember Hu Lai's answer and the vivid expression on his face when he said this. I have seen expressions like this on the faces of players who were recalling the highlights of their careers, but they said The goals that come out are often the key goals in important games. Only Hulay, this efficient goal machine, did not choose any of the 761 goals he has scored before the end of his career. Either way, instead of choosing the alternatives I remembered, I chose a goal from training.
This goal seemed to be the glorious moment in his life.
He said: "Because that goal opened the door to a new world for me."
Lemon Rainey is a famous sports journalist who writes for world-class media such as Football Illustrated.
The excerpt is from the Hu Lai chapter of the book Archer, which won the "Vichy Sports Book Award".
The Dongchuan Middle School stadium, which used to be very noisy, has now fallen into an eerie silence.
Almost everyone's eyes widened and their mouths opened wide, as if they had seen something incredible and unbelievable.
No need to act as if.
They just saw something incredible and unbelievable.
Hu Lai, that rookie who everyone knows can do nothing but Hu Lai. In the special training just now, he used a very, very shocking upside-down golden hook to face the joint defense of the school team's two main center backs.
He shot the football into the goal guarded by the main goalkeeper of the school team.
If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it would be like rushing into the police station and telling the police that you were kidnapped by a mermaid. It would only make people laugh.
Li Zhiqun, who was holding his tongue against his teeth, was so frightened by this scene that he couldn't hold back, and a loud whistle came out of his mouth.
This seemed to be a horn to wake up everyone present. Suddenly more whistles came from the stands and the sidelines. The boys put their hands in their mouths and whistled desperately, using this way to express their support for Hu Lai.
The explosive emotion of this goal.
The girls cheered and screamed to the sky.
Everyone came to life, and there were thunderous cheers around the stadium.
"Holy shit!!"
"What did I see?! What did I see?! Barb?! Did I read that right?!"
"Awesome!"
"This Hu Lai is so awesome!"
Li Qingqing clapped her hands hard, with the brightest smile on her face.
Song Jiajia was beside her, turning her head and looking around, looking at the excited boys and girls with some confusion. Each of them had an excited expression on their face.
These same people once laughed at Hu Lai and appreciated Hu Lai's "performance" with curiosity.
But now they all seem to have become Hu Lai's fans.
It was as if they were not here to watch Hu Lai's jokes, but had been waiting for two days, waiting for this moment, waiting for Hu Lai to jump in the air and score a goal with an overhead kick.
He had told Hu Lai before that making a fool of himself and being laughed at could be regarded as a man of the hour. After all, if people like them want to attract the attention of the public, isn't this the only way?
But now his deskmate, without making a fool of himself or being laughed at, has actually become a man of the hour!
They cheered for him, screaming and applauding him.
As his deskmate, Song Jiajia is very uncomfortable with the current situation.
His eyes moved around in circles, taking in the carnival scene, and finally fell on Li Qingqing who was right next to him. There was no joy on his face, only confusion and surprise. He couldn't quite understand what he saw.
He thought maybe Li Qingqing could explain all this to himself.
The tall girl applauded like the others around her, and turned to smile at him: "Classmate Song Jiajia, it seems that your deskmate will not go to eat chicken with you."
Amidst the huge cheers and applause, Hu Lai did not get up and rushed to the stands to celebrate and accept this honor that truly belonged to him.
He lay sprawled on the ground, his chest heaving violently, and he was panting like an ox.
He actually didn't confirm whether he really scored the goal, but when he heard the cheers, he knew that he succeeded!
He passed the coach's devilish training with a world wave.
the most important is
he!
finally!
Can be obtained!
Opportunity to appear!
He slowly raised his arms, spread his fingers, and raised them to the sky, as if he was pushing open a door with great force.
The door was closed tightly and heavy, and it took all the strength of the body to push it open.
Finally, when his arm was fully extended, the fingers that had blocked his vision were retracted and clenched into fists, making his eyes suddenly clear.
At this moment, in his field of vision, the clouds all over the sky were burning, and golden light swept across from the direction of sunset.
Someone in the cheering crowd noticed the wonder in the sky and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Wow! What a beautiful fire cloud!"
Amidst the exclamations, Luo Kai raised his head and stared blankly at the burned-red sky.
Hu Lixin just rode outside the gate of the community where he works. He did not rush in to hand over his shift. Instead, he parked the electric scooter on the side of the road, propped it up with his feet, held the faucet of the scooter with both hands, and looked up at the sky.
The orange-red glow spurted from behind the row of towering mountains on the horizon in front of him, running all the way to the eastern sky behind him.
It was like wildfire, sweeping across the sky, leaving only churning red wherever it swept.
No matter what they were doing before, the colleagues standing at the door of the security room, the owners outside the gate of the community, the car caboose in the roadside parking lot, and the people in the shops facing the street all raised their heads to appreciate this rare beauty and made continuous noises.
Marvel.
Everyone took out their mobile phones one after another, pointed at the clouds in the sky, and pressed the camera button.
Under this red sky, the originally tough lines on Hu Lixin's face became much softer.
Xie Lan looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, then used the remote control to pause the TV series being played on the TV, got up and walked to the kitchen.
Based on past experience, my son should be home soon.
It's just the right time for her to start cooking now, so she doesn't have to worry about the food getting cold. Although it can be reheated, some dishes won't taste good after being cooked a few times.
Xie Lan walked into the kitchen and immediately saw the red sky reflected in the small window next to the kitchen.
She leaned up and looked out. Through the anti-theft fence stained with kitchen oil, she was attracted by the scenery outside this old residential building.
She looked across the roof of the residential building opposite, where clothes and blankets were hanging to dry, extending into the distance. In the orange-red sky, beneath the rose gold clouds, a flock of pigeons suddenly rose up. They flew up from the back of the building opposite.
After hovering in the glow for a while, they all flew towards the western sky, with countless long shadows behind them.
It's like the planes pulling smoke in the festive sky, except they pull out shadows facing the sunset.
Seeing this scene, Xie Lan suddenly felt better, as if something good had happened.
She hummed and looked away, walked to the stove, and turned on the ignition knob of the gas stove.
There was a soft pop sound, red and yellow flames rose up, and then quickly turned into blue flames.
Xie Lan's eyes reflected flames, and the corners of her mouth were raised. She sat down on the pot with oil. After the oil was slightly hot, she poured the bean paste she had prepared into the pot.
Amidst the popping sound, a rich fragrance spread in the small kitchen, and then floated out of the small window next to her and flew into the fiery red sky.
, so what, so far, the new world I described before has opened the door to Hu Lai, and Hu Lai has officially entered.
I know there will definitely be a lot of people complaining about the slow pace and slow progress. It’s almost fifty chapters now and Hu Lai hasn’t even played an official game.
But this was originally in my plan. I didn't intend to let the rhythm at the beginning of the story run all the way and transition to the professional league part like a wild horse.
For me, the high school football and life scenes are very important. That’s why I have to write slowly, try to write well, and write what I want to express.
When I was chatting with Squid at this year's Qidian annual meeting, when talking about the new book, I said that I had hesitated whether to quickly get past the campus part in a dozen chapters and directly enter the professional league like the previous novels. But I thought twice about it.
, I still don’t decide to do this, because I am writing the story of a young man who loves football and grows into a superstar step by step. So, as the birthplace of his legend and the starting line where a journey of a thousand miles begins, how can I pass over it perfunctorily?
I told Cui Zu that I would write the campus part seriously, and I would write it in a long and colorful way to describe the world and the people I want to describe. Hu Lai, who loves football to the point of paranoia, does not want his son to play football to the point of paranoia.
Her father Hu Lixin, her mother Xie Lan who carefully maintains a balance between her son and her husband, and Li Qingqing who is helpful, kind and cute but also extremely talented and capable, clearly say they don’t like Hu Lai playing football but they play every training match.
Fatty Song Song Jiajia is also absent, as well as coach Li Ziqiang, who is not very popular at the moment, genius Luo Kai and those characters who have not yet appeared.
It also includes the description of Huo Shaoyun, including the details of Hu Lixin standing outside the security booth to salute the owners, including snail noodles, and the setting up of Hu Lai’s secret training base.
These people and details are the important cornerstones that support this new world. I am describing a world out of thin air. I want everyone to treat Hu Lai as a real person in the future when he becomes famous, and go back to discover what makes this person.
What impact does his past experience have on his current life? How did a high school boy who loves football gradually grow into a world-class superstar through national high school football competitions and domestic leagues?
Then when everyone sees these details and stories now, they will believe that he is a real person, his success is traceable, and his story is so legendary but credible.
He is not the kind of person who pops out of a rock, with no past life or afterlife. He suddenly bursts out like a rocket with tens of thousands of words and a dozen chapters, as if he was born out of nowhere. Everyone wanted to explore his past, but the author didn't write it.
His past in the world is shrouded in thick fog, making it difficult to see clearly and unclearly.
Such people are not innocent, comrades!
I said in the preface that I knew it would be a risk to choose to write about an imaginary football world like this, and the results might not be very good, so I also gave up my obsession with results, or at least I didn’t put them first.
, unlike before, I always thought about creating conflicts in the first few chapters, leaving suspense, and attracting readers.
This time I just want to write a good story and create a good world, so even if the pace is slow at the beginning, I will insist on writing like this. As I said in the preface, I will just write as I please.
At least I am very happy with what I have written so far. Although I still write slowly, that is because I have carefully considered every word and sentence and tried my best.
When I wrote this chapter, I had a strong sense of accomplishment. It took me half a day to write nearly 3,000 words, but when I finished the chapter, I was very happy, as if I was standing by the window, looking outside.
The red and golden Huo Shaoyun was in a happy mood and wanted to hum a song.
It's as if I've traveled from the computer into this world of my own making.
This is what is called creative passion, right?
I hope everyone can feel my enthusiasm through my words, and I hope you like it.