The connections between people are truly a wonderful thing!
Take, for example, the way Jurgen Kramny saw Wang Shuo at that very moment.
Despite being an outsider to the sport, Heidel's 17-year transformation of Mainz had instilled a culture of tolerance and openness in the team.
As long as it helped the team, they were more than willing to embrace change.
Plus, thanks to Thomas Essien, Kramny wasn't just free of prejudice toward Wang Shuo; he was actually pleased with this development.
As one of Germany's smallest clubs, Mainz had endured decades of ridicule from the bigger teams.
Club legends who had long played for Mainz, like Kramny and Klopp, were filled with a spirit of defiance against the establishment.
They were a group of players without immense natural talent, hailing from small cities and small clubs. They had clawed their way up from obscurity, as if emerging from the depths of the Black Forest. Striving to reach the top was the true story of their lives.
What's more, their former mentor, Wolfgang Frank, had instilled in them a profound footballing philosophy.
"The final 5% is what truly sets you apart."
This kept them, and the Mainz players they coached, on a path of relentlessly pursuing perfection and always giving their all.
As a foreign player on trial, Wang Shuo's decision to go all out from the very beginning to prove himself would have been a sure-fire way to make enemies at any other club.
Even on this Mainz U19 squad, there were more than a few players who were resentful and wanted to challenge him.
Any other German head coach would have surely thought the Chinese kid was too individualistic and lacked team spirit.
But in Kramny's eyes, this wasn't a bad thing at all. On the contrary, he was secretly pleased.
He had long felt that the young players on the Mainz U19 team were too complacent and didn't compete hard enough with each other.
Take the Mexican talent Pedro Lina, for example.
The kid came from the Bayern youth academy and was once touted as a huge prospect, but he never lived up to the hype.
In the summer of '07, after Pedro Lina was released by Bayern, Mainz went to great lengths to sign him.
And the result?
He acted like he was on vacation.
Kramny had long been hoping his players would become more competitive.
"Thomas, he's pushing himself so hard. Can his stamina keep up?" Kramny asked with a chuckle.
Thomas Essien was worried Wang Shuo was overdoing it.
Especially since he had already lapped the other players.
It made Thomas Essien want to shout from the sidelines, telling him to pace himself.
But when he heard Kramny's words, which held no hint of blame and instead a trace of admiration, he immediately broke into a smile.
"Don't worry, Jurgen. The kid's got great stamina."
He said that, but in truth, he wasn't entirely sure himself.
'Knowing Wang Shuo, if he goes this hard just on the warm-up laps, how is he going to last the whole training session?'
...
To Thomas Essien's and Kramny's surprise, things didn't go as they expected.
After finishing the warm-up laps far ahead of the pack, Wang Shuo seemed a little tired, but not overly so.
In contrast, the Mainz U19 players running behind him had initially been determined to keep up, but they couldn't. They ended up completely exhausted and gasping for breath.
Wang Shuo had trialed with many teams, and he had to admit, the skill level of the Mainz players was comparatively low.
In every subsequent training drill, Wang Shuo gave it his all, striving to be the best.
This was exactly what Kramny loved to see.
Boosted by the Passive Skill, [Breathing], which enhanced his stamina and endurance, Wang Shuo's all-out performance during training was truly eye-catching.
This was especially true in the final drill of the session: an eight-on-eight scrimmage.
Excluding the two goalkeepers, there were exactly 24 players including Wang Shuo. They were divided into three teams that would rotate in and out of the match.
And it was on a full-sized pitch.
Kramny's training regimens were already demanding. The Mainz U19 players weren't full professionals yet, so the drills took a significant toll on them.
As soon as the scrimmage started, Wang Shuo's advantage in stamina became even more apparent.
While the others were starting to gas out, Wang Shuo was still sprinting all over the pitch.
This instantly made him the most noticeable player on the field.
As a forward, he didn't just stay up front to attack. He also actively tracked back to defend—it seemed like he was everywhere at once.
This had Kramny nodding in approval on the sidelines.
Judging from Wang Shuo's passing, receiving, and link-up play, his chemistry with his teammates was lacking, leading to quite a few errors. However, his overall performance showed that his fundamentals were solid.
For the Mainz U19 team, that was more than enough.
Besides, Wang Shuo could just run and run!
Kramny especially admired his diligent, give-it-your-all attitude.
In the final phase of the scrimmage, when everyone was exhausted, a quick counter-attack began after a turnover. The ball was passed to seventeen-year-old Andre Schürrle.
Schürrle had been promoted from the younger academy teams by Kramny, and his defining trait was his incredible speed.
Furthermore, Schürrle's team had just been rotated in, giving them a stamina advantage.
Wang Shuo's team had won the first match, so they had to play a second one back-to-back, draining their stamina even further.
Like a sharp scalpel, Schürrle instantly sliced through the defensive line, charging forward with the ball at full tilt.
No one could keep up with him.
But just as the onlookers on the sidelines began to applaud Schürrle, Wang Shuo, in his yellow bib, gave relentless chase and rapidly caught up to him from behind.
This shocked everyone, including Kramny!
"He still has that kind of speed at this stage?"
Schürrle was arguably one of the fastest players at Mainz, from the first team all the way down to the youth academy.
But Wang Shuo?
After playing two scrimmages back-to-back and burning so much energy, he could still catch Schürrle.
Kramny's eyes, in particular, lit up with excitement.
As a former professional player himself, he easily reached a conclusion.
'He must be faster than Schürrle!'
'And his stamina must be better, too!'
'We've struck gold!'
Schürrle clearly hadn't expected Wang Shuo to catch him.
Under pressure from Wang Shuo's tight marking inside the box, the young player missed his best chance to shoot. He could only manage a rushed attempt, which the goalkeeper blocked.
Schürrle clapped his hands in frustration, clearly disappointed with the outcome.
His gaze toward Wang Shuo was filled with resentment.
This pestersome Chinese guy had ruined his chance to score in a simple training scrimmage.
Wang Shuo, however, paid no mind to Schürrle's hostility. He simply turned and jogged back upfield to prepare for the next attack.
...
"Wang, we did it!"
The moment the scrimmage ended, a sweat-drenched Wang Shuo walked off the pitch and was immediately greeted by an enthusiastic hug from Thomas Essien.
The German agent was clearly overjoyed.
"We did it?"
"We did it!" Thomas Essien shouted, laughing.
"Jurgen just told me himself! He wants you to stay with Mainz and continue training with the team."
"If you can keep up today's performance for the next two weeks, he's willing to sign you to play for Mainz in the U19 league!"
Wang Shuo's mind went blank. He could hardly believe it.
Although it wasn't a guarantee that he could stay at Mainz, it was, at the very least, an excellent start.
Wang Shuo was nearly dizzy with the sudden joy.
Thomas Essien, however, immediately thought about the visa situation.
"No, wait. I have to talk to Kramny right away. We can't wait the full two weeks. We have to leave time to sort out the visa."
"One more week of observation, at most."
"If your visa runs out and you have to go back to China, by the time you manage to get another visa for Germany, the season will be over."
After muttering to himself for a moment, Thomas Essien clapped Wang Shuo firmly on both shoulders. "Wang, hurry up and shower, get changed. Then we need to call Gao and give him the good news. He'll be thrilled."
"I'm going to go talk to Kramny again. We're running out of time!"
Wang Shuo smiled and nodded, a huge sigh of relief washing over him.
Watching Thomas Essien's retreating figure as he hurried away, Wang Shuo's heart filled with gratitude.
Because of his friendship with Gao Huairen, forged over several years working together at Borussia Mönchengladbach when Gao was playing in Germany, and because of Gao's request, Thomas Essien had truly given his all for Wang Shuo.
In the German football scene, Thomas Essien was hardly a big-shot agent with connections everywhere.
But to Wang Shuo, he was the absolute best!
...
Although it was only a two-week trial, for Wang Shuo, who had faced one rejection after another since arriving in Germany, this was a massive breakthrough.
When they called Principal Gao back home, he was overjoyed, but he repeatedly urged Wang Shuo to keep working hard.
"Win over Kramny within a week!"
Filled with high hopes for the future, Wang Shuo naturally agreed without a moment's hesitation.
In Gao Huairen's plans for the students of his football school, Wang Shuo was the trailblazer.
If he could just fire the opening shot and gain a foothold in the European football scene, then more and more players from Huairun Football School would be sent to Europe for trials and opportunities to play abroad.
This was the new path for Chinese football that Gao Huairen had spent ten years building his academy to forge.
Wang Shuo was well aware of the weight on his shoulders.
After today's training session, he realized just how much the [Breathing] Passive Skill had helped him.
'If only I had activated the [Ball God System] sooner, would I have faced so many rejections?'
Now, with newfound confidence and this incredible opportunity, Wang Shuo was determined to give it his all, even if it was just for the U19 youth team of a 2nd Bundesliga club.
In the training sessions over the next few days, he continued to give nothing less than his absolute best, pushing himself to the limit every time.
Building on his experience from the first day of the trial, he became more familiar with the drills, the coach's expectations, and his teammates. As a result, Wang Shuo's performance in training grew more and more impressive.
This convinced Kramny that Wang Shuo's stunning performance on the first day of his trial wasn't a fluke, solidifying his belief in the young player's potential.
'The other German teams really misjudged him!'
Wang Shuo was completely focused on his trial, pouring all his energy into performing well. Outside of training, he had little contact with anyone else on the team.
There were, however, two teammates who caught his attention.
One was fellow seventeen-year-old Andre Schürrle. The other was Kim Jeonghoon, a South Korean forward who was also from Asia.
The former was the pride of the academy, while the latter was at Mainz on a sponsorship from a South Korean corporation, currently fighting for playing time with the U19s.
Wang Shuo took notice of them because everyone else had noticed it too: both players were, consciously or not, fiercely competing with him.
During training, they both pushed themselves to the limit, determined to go head-to-head with Wang Shuo.
Head coach Kramny certainly noticed this as well, but he deliberately placed them on a different team from Wang Shuo during scrimmages.
This only added to the tense, competitive atmosphere on the U19 training pitch.
He had arrived at Mainz for his trial on the 16th. On the afternoon of the 21st, after the training session concluded, Wang Shuo was summoned to Kramny's office.
To his surprise, Thomas Essien was there as well, his face breaking into a wide grin the moment he saw Wang Shuo.
Wang Shuo froze for a second, then a wave of ecstasy washed over him.
'I passed the trial!'
At almost the exact same moment, another message from the [Ball God System] appeared in his mind.
"Congratulations, Wang Shuo, on your successful trial and for joining a European club."
"You have received a reward package: one Passive Skill Card. Enter the system to draw?"