August 28.
The third round of the Premier League kicked off.
Arsenal traveled to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers.
Blackburn Rovers had won one and lost one in their first two Premier League matches of the season.
They had narrowly beaten Toffees Everton 1–0 at home on opening day, then suffered a disappointing 2–1 away defeat to Birmingham City.
Against a team that had spent years languishing in the middle of the Premier League table, Blackburn Rovers were exactly the sort of opponent Arsenal had to take all three points from.
Before the match, Wenger had already made clear to the Arsenal players that winning was a must.
Of course, none of that was the most important thing to Li Yufei.
Not after two standout performances in the league.
For the third match, Wenger had finally named Li Yufei as the starting striker.
Heaven knew how excited Li Yufei had been when he heard his name in Wenger's starting lineup!
Most importantly, the system had also come through for him, issuing a mission for his first Premier League start:
[ Ding-dong! Mission issued! ]
[ Mission Name: First League Start ]
[ Mission Details: 1. Help the team beat Blackburn Rovers by at least three goals ]
[ 2. Personally create at least two goals (goals + assists) ]
[ 3. After scoring, shout "Taylor, I love you" at the camera ]
[ Mission Rewards: Each objective grants 100 Intermediate Soft Rice Points. Complete all three objectives for an additional 100 Advanced Soft Rice Points ]
After taking a look at the mission, Li Yufei had to admit it was genuinely difficult.
After all, no team in the Premier League could guarantee it would win by three goals with ease.
Even Manchester United, the Premier League's dominant force, wouldn't dare make that promise.
The Premier League was simply too competitive. Even a team fighting relegation could dig in and take a bite out of a title contender.
The Premier League was nothing like the Bundesliga or La Liga.
The top teams in those two leagues were incredibly strong.
But the lower-ranked sides were practically made of paper.
A mid-to-lower-table La Liga team facing Real Madrid or FC Barcelona would get thrashed unless the referee helped them out.
The Bundesliga was even more one-sided. Li Yufei remembered how Hamburg, the Northern King, had been slaughtered every time they faced Bayern, the Southern King.
He could remember more than one 8–0 scoreline.
All in all, Premier League relegation battlers were in a different league from those in La Liga, the Bundesliga, or Serie A.
Besides, Blackburn Rovers had never been relegated since making it into the Premier League in 2001.
Staying in the Premier League for ten consecutive seasons was proof enough that Blackburn Rovers had some quality.
Li Yufei wasn't going to underestimate them.
Wenger felt they had to win because all Arsenal needed was a victory to take all three points.
But Li Yufei's goal was more than just winning. They had to win by three.
Both were wins, but the difficulty between them was worlds apart!
Taking a deep breath, Li Yufei walked into the players' tunnel for the first time as an Arsenal starter, ready to take the field.
Amid the hubbub around him, he did his best to empty his mind and retreat into his own world.
In that half-real, half-unreal state, Li Yufei barely noticed the time passing. Then he heard the referee's whistle, and the match began!
Inside the Sky Sports studio.
The veteran duo of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray continued their commentary for the Arsenal–Blackburn Rovers match.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're underway!"
"Blackburn Rovers, in their blue-and-white home kit, are attacking from left to right on your screen."
"Arsenal, in their yellow away kit, are attacking from right to left."
"Let's take a look at the starting lineups."
"Blackburn Rovers are using a 5-2-3 formation."
"Goalkeeper: Robinson."
"Defenders: Ryan Nelson, Phil Jones, Samba, Givet, Michel Salgado."
"Midfielders: Grella, Pedersen."
"Forwards: Diouf, Mame Diouf, Kalinic."
"Arsenal are using a 4-3-3 formation."
"Goalkeeper: Almunia."
"Defenders: Clichy, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna."
"Midfielders: Aleksandar Song, Diaby, Fabregas."
"Forwards: Arshavin, Li Yufei, Walcott."
"We can see that Li Yufei, who made a very impressive impact as a substitute in the first two matches, is starting today."
"This is the first league start of Li Yufei's career. Let's see what kind of performance he puts on for the fans."
Back to the match.
Blackburn Rovers came out fighting, as if they wanted to kill the Arsenal players.
After several inexplicable collisions, Li Yufei was left feeling dizzy.
"Hey, kid, welcome to the Premier League. Don't think we're softies like Liverpool and Blackpool. I'll make sure to give you a proper welcome today."
After another off-the-ball collision, Li Yufei nearly went tumbling to the ground.
Blackburn Rovers defender Samba, nicknamed King Kong, had just barged into Li Yufei and followed it up with a taunt.
Up against a muscle-bound bruiser who ranked among the Premier League's five strongest players, Li Yufei was struggling.
Getting hit by that black King Kong hurt like hell!
Only now did Li Yufei realize that completing the mission would be even harder than he'd imagined.
The system certainly lived up to its name. It never gave him an easy mission.
Some tasks might not seem too difficult, but once he stepped onto the pitch and the game got underway, he realized they were anything but simple!
No, I can't keep going toe-to-toe with this muscle-bound bruiser. I have to cut my losses.
More than ten minutes into the match, after several highly aggressive fouls from Samba, Li Yufei finally realized he couldn't keep playing like this.
His Iron Man buff meant he wouldn't get injured, but if he kept taking hits, he'd lose all feel for the ball—and when a chance came, he wouldn't be able to take it.
So Li Yufei began dropping back into midfield, no longer trying to wrestle with Samba up front.
When Samba saw Li Yufei back down, he couldn't help sneering to himself.
"Heh... So this is the Arsenal super-talent the media have been hyping up?"
"Turns out he's just a softie!"
But since the entire Arsenal team played like softies, Samba didn't find it surprising.
Players raised by a softie team were bound to be softies themselves, weren't they?
After Li Yufei began dropping back, Samba stopped following him.
He didn't like tracking the opposing striker around the pitch, after all.
As far as he was concerned, all he had to do was keep Li Yufei out of the danger area.
Li Yufei had counted on Samba thinking that way. Little by little, he began to find his feet again after losing his bearings at the start of the match.
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