But his son's answer was completely unexpected.

"I'm actually hoping to go to Europe, Dad."

Sitting on the train to Beijing, David Carter said to his father with a smile.

John Carter still remembers his son's expression to this day. It wasn't a mischievous grin, but a smile full of longing.

As a father, John Carter could tell that his son truly wanted to go to Europe, to join that team, to challenge the youth squads of the top clubs he usually only saw on TV.

Before this, his own idea was simply to give his son a wonderful memory during the last summer vacation before the crucial college entrance exams—a chance to relax. And his wife, the boy's mother, surely just wanted to use this failed experience to dispel their son's "unrealistic" football dreams.

What neither of them expected was that their son had a clear goal from the very beginning—he wasn't here to sightsee.

Watching his son sitting all alone on that iron bench, John Carter felt a trace of unwillingness well up deep inside.

……

As the head coach of the team in this reality show, and also the final judge of the selection, Eric Grant was sitting at the judges' table, resting his chin on his hands.

He stared at the field, frowning slightly.

He wasn't deliberately trying to imitate Commander Ikari from EVA to look deep and mysterious; it was just that the current situation was giving him a headache.

The nationwide auditions for the reality show "Green Field Heir" had been going on for a month, and now it was finally coming to an end. This should have been something to celebrate.

But Eric Grant couldn't feel happy, because he hadn't seen a single candidate among the twenty-two boys on the field who was qualified to join his team.

Although the producers had told him that the audition was just a gimmick, mainly to attract widespread public attention and get more fans involved, so in the end, it was enough to symbolically pick just one person—no one really expected that person to be a genius or to actually hold their own and contribute when the time came to play in Europe...

But as a successful former professional player, Eric Grant had his own standards and principles when it came to football.

He still hoped to use this opportunity to discover some promising talent. That's also why he turned a blind eye to those who had previously trained with professional club youth teams signing up—even though the rules clearly stated that no one who had received professional or specialized football training was allowed to participate.

The reason Eric Grant did this was because he believed that only those who had been trained by professional clubs had the necessary ability. Football is a highly specialized sport, and it's very difficult for someone without professional training to compete with foreign prodigies who have been immersed in top-level training since childhood. Besides, as someone who's been through it all, he knew about the shady side of Chinese football—who knows how many talented kids had been kicked out of teams just for offending a coach or a manager?

This audition was really a chance for them.

But unfortunately, after the nationwide auditions, twenty-three people were finally selected to come to Beijing for the finals. Among these twenty-three, there were some with decent skills and ability, but for someone who could truly impress Eric Grant, someone who met his internal standards... so far, he hadn't seen a single one.

Is it really that my standards are too high?

Eric Grant asked himself.

Chapter 2: Dreaming

Just as Eric Grant was reflecting on whether his standards were too high, Little Olivia, who was sitting next to him, seemed to have already found a target.

"Hey, this Matthew Reed is pretty good—great individual skills, fast, technical, and aside from being a bit thin, I can't find any major flaws. Plus, he's still young, so he'll definitely grow taller in the future... Eric, look at how he controls the ball here, that first touch is really nice!"

Eric Grant nodded as well. Fifteen minutes into the match, it seemed that among the twenty-two players on the field, the Red Team's number nine was the most outstanding. If there really was no better choice in the end, he might just pick him.

After stopping the ball, Red Team's number nine, Matthew Reed, didn't choose to pass, but instead tried to dribble into the penalty area. This move almost cost him the ball, and in the end, he could only finish the Red Team's attack with a long shot from outside the box.

The shot sailed over the crossbar and posed no real threat to the Blue Team's goal.

Beside him, Little Olivia exclaimed, "Ah, what a pity!"

Eric Grant, on the other hand, shook his head inwardly: his technique looked good, but his game reading ability was really lacking. Just now, after controlling the ball, if he had chosen to pass to a teammate, it might have been better. But he insisted on dribbling himself, ended up in a dead end, almost lost the ball, and after being rattled, hurried a long shot that completely wasted the team's attack. If this were a professional team, the coach would have chewed him out by now.

If he ended up picking this guy, Eric Grant couldn't help but feel like it was "no great generals in Shu, so Liao Hua becomes the vanguard."

……

Matthew Reed's shot caused quite a commotion in the stands.