Author's Note

When I wrote the three words "The End," I felt strangely empty inside.

Unlike the sense of relief I felt after finishing my previous book, when this one ended, I was filled with deep reluctance to let go. It was as though my hopes for the Chinese national team in real life had been projected onto this book's protagonist and these Chinese national team players.

But at the beginning of the year, I said I would finish the book during the World Cup.

So it was time to bring this story to a close.

Unlike my previous book, this one was never really about clubs. It was about the national team.

I made this whole plate of dumplings for the sake of that little dish of vinegar—the national team.

But this book had a rough fate. After all, it was about the Chinese national team, and everyone knew its reputation.

On top of that, when I started the book, the Chinese national team had just suffered a humiliating 0-7 defeat to the Japan team in the World Cup Qualifiers, so the book review section was immediately flooded.

Back then, I even defended the Chinese national team in a group for premium authors, arguing against everyone and trading insults with a whole crowd of people. In the end, I got kicked out of the group. Haha!

Though I probably wasn't qualified to stay there anyway, since this book's performance was nowhere near premium status.

I hadn't checked the backend in a long time. After finishing the book, I took a look—the final average subscription count was 1,255. Yeah, about 70% lower than my previous book!

Chinese football in 2024 was at rock bottom across the board. There was the crushing World Cup Qualifiers defeat, chaos throughout the league, massive numbers of