Chapter 98

Rongguang sat on the ground of the rooftop, carefully cutting along the seam between the two pieces of leather with scissors, creating an opening. Then he pulled out the inner bladder, cut it open, and put it back in.

After securing it, he scooped up sand from a plastic bag and poured it into the cut-open inner bladder.

Once the inner bladder was completely filled with sand, he began to sew up the opening. Sewing was not a challenge for a child from a poor family like Rongguang. His grandparents, himself, and his younger brother's torn clothes were all mended by him. His sewing skills were no worse than those of the girls.

After sewing the inner bladder, he started to sew the outer layer of the soccer ball.

His handiwork, of course, could not compare to machine-made ones, but it was still quite good.

After finishing the soccer ball, he stood up from the ground, stretched his legs, and tried to kick the ball.

Indeed, it was very heavy!

A light kick barely moved it at all!

Rongguang did not expect to kick the ball over ten meters right away. He stood about one meter from the wall and began to try kicking the ball.

On the first kick, the ball only rolled half a turn before stopping.

Rongguang did not get discouraged. He felt the strength and feedback from his kick.

He did not dare to use too much force. Because the ball was too heavy, a strong kick might injure his knees.

He could only gradually increase the force.

First, he used a small amount of force to get used to the weight of the ball, then gradually increased the strength of his leg muscles and the intensity of his joints.

To strengthen his leg muscles, he also bought sandbags and wore them while running every day.

Of course, strength training in the team could not be neglected.

※※※

Seeing Rongguang sweating profusely and tirelessly in the gym, the other São Paulo players were all very puzzled.

In the past, Rongguang did not put much effort into strength training; his focus was entirely on skill training. For physical training, he just met the minimum requirements.

Why was he so hardworking and proactive today?

"What has he been stimulated by?"

"Lost a game? Two consecutive losses did make him very unhappy..."

"But what does that have to do with him doing extra strength training?"

The teammates in the first team were discussing, and none of them understood what new idea this rookie had in mind.

Kaka did not join the discussion. He had just finished running and was resting on the side. His gaze fell on Rongguang.

Rongguang was sitting on a leg curl machine, exercising his thigh muscles. He sat on the bench, hooked his feet under the machine, and lifted his calves with force, making his thigh muscles bulge.

The exercise equipment was lifted by his calves.

When his calves and thighs formed a straight line, he slowly lowered them.

He repeated this process.

This exercise strengthened the thigh muscles, increasing their strength and intensity.

Kaka paid close attention to Rongguang's every move. Others might think this kid was just a rookie and couldn't understand his thoughts.

But Kaka knew very well that although this kid sometimes had some wild ideas, every action he took had a strong purpose.

His sudden, intense strength training today was definitely not a whim; there must be a reason.

What was his goal?

Kaka stared at Rongguang, and his gaze finally fell on Rongguang's thigh muscles. Every time he lifted his calves, the muscles in his thighs bulged, looking very powerful.

The muscles tightened and relaxed, tightened and relaxed. In this process, the muscle fibers grew larger, and the strength increased.

Exercising leg muscles...

Was he trying to improve his speed?

No.

He didn't need to do that.

Kaka thought of the new training program the team had recently assigned to Rongguang: long-range shooting.

Compared to shooting in front of the goal, long-range shooting required better power output.

Long-range shooting needed the strength of the thigh muscles...

Kaka suddenly understood.

This kid was trying to improve his long-range shooting ability...

He was really a troublesome opponent.

Kaka clenched his fists, ended his rest time, and chose a leg curl machine. After adjusting the intensity, he began the same exercise as Rongguang.

I won't let you catch up with me!

※※※

After finishing the day's training, Rongguang returned to the apartment in Godo's car.

Actually, Rongguang had proposed taking the bus to attend training, but Godo was not at all reassured. The security in São Paulo was not good, especially for a Chinese person with dark skin and black hair, who was more likely to encounter danger.

Godo did not want his most promising player to take any risks outside of football. So he insisted on personally driving Rongguang to and from training.

He devoted all his attention to Rongguang, hoping that Rongguang would become successful and bring a rich return on his investment.

After parking the car in the underground garage, Rongguang did not follow Godo to the elevator but chose to climb the stairs.

Godo lived on the eighth floor, but that was not his goal. His goal was the rooftop, which was the sixteenth floor. The underground garage was on the second basement level. In total, he had to climb eighteen floors. And not just once. After climbing up, he had to climb down, and repeat this three times.

Even climbing and descending fifty-four floors without any load would be an incredible feat for many people.

But to enhance the training effect, Rongguang had other preparations: carrying a load.

Rongguang put the soccer ball filled with sand in a backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Then he knelt on one knee and tied sandbags to his calves.

After completing these preparations, he looked at the entrance to the stairwell. The dim entrance seemed like a wild beast, opening its mouth to swallow anyone who entered.

The stairwell of the apartment building was generally used as an emergency exit and rarely chosen by anyone. This building was quite old, and the property management was not up to par, with infrequent maintenance and replacement of facilities. The stairwell was dimly lit, and some floors had no lighting at all.

Godo watched Rongguang's preparations after locking the car.

"Are you really going to do it three times in a row?" he asked.

"Yep," Rongguang nodded.

Godo opened his mouth but said nothing in the end. He had already seen Rongguang's abnormal physical condition. If it were an ordinary person, he would have stopped Rongguang long ago, but with Rongguang, there was nothing to stop.

"Don't focus too much on speed. Go slowly and steadily, and rest if you get tired," he could only give such a reminder.

Rongguang nodded. "Thank you, Godo. I'll start now."

Godo waved. "Good luck!"

As soon as he said that, he saw Rongguang's figure dart into the stairwell, and the sound of rapid footsteps followed.

Godo shook his head. He didn't listen to my advice at all...

※※※

Godo estimated the time and prepared dinner, but Rongguang did not return even after waiting for a long time.

He looked at his watch.

It had been an hour and a half.

Rongguang should have climbed back by now...

Did something happen?

Godo's heart suddenly started beating uncontrollably.

Many bad scenarios flashed through his mind.

He couldn't sit at home and wait any longer. He jumped up from the sofa, grabbed his keys and phone, and prepared to go out to look for Rongguang.

But as soon as he opened the door and rushed out, he almost tripped.

He barely maintained his balance and turned around to find someone lying across the doorway. Who else could it be but Rongguang?

He was snoring lightly, breathing evenly, and sleeping soundly!

Seeing Rongguang like this, Godo's initial surprise turned into helplessness, and he shook his head with a bitter smile.

This kid, sleeping on the cold cement floor, could easily catch a cold!

He bent down, picked up Rongguang, and carried him into the house.

"This kid..." he gritted his teeth. "He's heavier than before!"

※※※

After the ninth round of the championship, São Paulo had a bye, and they had no match in the tenth round.

This was due to the special format of the Brazilian National Championship.

Although they had no match, Oswaldo still organized a friendly match to keep the players in match condition.

The opponent chosen was the São Paulo youth team.

When Rongguang discovered that the starting forwards for the São Paulo youth team were Rico and Lucas Sutton, he was very surprised.

"Where's Kleber?" he asked Lucas after greeting him and Rico.

Lucas pointed to the bench and chuckled smugly.

Rongguang looked over and indeed saw Kleber sitting on the bench, looking very unhappy and unwilling.

So he waved to Kleber.

Kleber, of course, pretended not to see him and cursed Rongguang in his heart.

Rongguang had not scored in three consecutive matches, which had given Kleber hope that Rongguang would lose his starting position in the first team. But in the last league match, Rongguang, who was known for his good luck, was once again favored by Lady Luck and ended his goal drought with a beautiful long-range shot. Although the team did not win, Rongguang secured his starting position.

What made Kleber even more unhappy was actually Lucas.

After all, Rongguang was now on a different level from him. Rongguang was in the first team, while he was in the youth team, so they had no direct connection. Lucas, however, was his direct competitor in the youth team. A substitute he had never taken seriously had now pushed him to the bench!

Kleber's jealousy of Lucas was clearly more than his jealousy of Rongguang.

※※※

The purpose of this match was to keep the first-team players in match condition, so naturally, the starting lineup consisted of the main players.

Rongguang and Kaka started together again.

The youth team players on the opposite side and on the bench all felt a bit nostalgic when they saw Rongguang standing in line with Kaka.

When Rongguang said in the locker room that he would take Kaka as his goal, they all mocked and even attacked him...

Because how could a rookie who had just started learning football for a day say such things?

Taking Kaka as a goal?

It was laughable.

But... who would have thought that after eight months, this former outsider was now on par with Kaka—at least in terms of the starting position.

He and Kaka were both starting attacking midfielders for São Paulo's first team!

Could anything be more amazing than this?

Thinking about how they had once mocked Rongguang without restraint, these people felt their faces burning.