Chapter 232 Farewell

After that crazy night in Manchester, Chen Hero followed his teammates on a flight back to St. Petersburg, where a grand welcome ceremony awaited them.

Martin Škrtel had already returned to Liverpool, and before he left, he didn't forget to send Chen Hero a text message.

"I'm never betting with you again, kid!"

Chen Hero saw this text message before boarding the plane and laughed happily in the departure lounge. The depression from the morning because of Sharapova was also relieved.

When the Zenit team returned to St. Petersburg, the city had already arranged a grand welcome ceremony at the airport. Fans, celebrities from all walks of life, and the media were all waiting on the tarmac.

When captain Tymoshchuk walked down the gangway holding the UEFA Cup, the long-waiting fans erupted in huge cheers, celebrities applauded, and reporters pressed the shutters of their cameras.

This was Zenit's glorious moment, their first European Cup trophy in history!

At the airport, all the players stood behind the trophy, posing for photos. Tymoshchuk and coach Advocaat each held one side of the trophy, while Chen Hero, because of his height, stood in the last row.

As the biggest contributor to the team's trophy win, he was a little far from the trophy at this moment…

But he quickly became the focus of media attention. After the group photo, the players were asked to take individual photos with the trophy.

Chen Hero naturally became the focus, and he was asked to pose the most.

Enjoying the cheers of the fans at the airport wasn't enough. The team also had to take the trophy on a parade through the streets in an open-top double-decker bus. This was a standard event for champion teams, so how could they miss it?

Wherever the bus went, countless fans crowded around, with cheers rising and falling.

The parade lasted until evening.

After the parade, the entire Zenit team was received at St. Petersburg City Hall.

Everyone thought they would be received by the mayor, but unexpectedly, the smiling face that appeared before them was that of Medvedev, the country's new president who had just been sworn in!

"I came back specifically to congratulate you, young men!" Medvedev waved. "You are the pride of Russia, the pride of St. Petersburg. I, a St. Petersburg native, am proud of you!"

The president's time was obviously very precious, so the reception was very brief. He first gave a short but enthusiastic speech, then shook hands with the players and coaches one by one, exchanging a few words.

"P-President Sir? Shouldn't, shouldn't you be… in… Moscow?" Even the usually lively Denisov stammered when he saw President Medvedev in front of them.

Chen Hero didn't show any such reaction at all. Although this was the highest-ranking person he had ever met, he wasn't a Russian citizen, so what was there to be excited about? He could understand getting excited if he met a Chinese leader.

He didn't know much about Medvedev, only that he was Zenit's number one fan and the president of Russia, nothing more.

Medvedev shook Chen Hero's hand vigorously when he greeted him.

"The people of St. Petersburg thank you, the people of Russia thank you!"

Chen Hero grinned. "You're welcome, Mr. President."

"I've heard about your nickname, 'Northern Bear.' Coincidentally, there's also a bear in my name," Medvedev said with a smile.

He was referring to the fact that the root "medved" in his name "Medvedev" means "bear" in Russian.

"So I'm Zenit's super fan, and you're Zenit's super star. But unfortunately, you, this super star, are about to leave St. Petersburg."

His tone was full of regret.

Even someone like the president felt sorry about his transfer. Shouldn't he show some respect?

Chen Hero quickly explained, "Uh, Mr. President. I want to pursue a bigger stage…"

Medvedev nodded. "I understand, I know very well. It's your personal choice, and I have no right to interfere. But I have one request."

Chen Hero nodded. "Please, Mr. President."

"When you go to Napoli, don't embarrass St. Petersburg Zenit! Remember, you're a bear from the North!"

Chen Hero thought to himself, "I thought it was something important…" He smiled, "Don't worry, Mr. President! Today I am proud to be a Zenit player, and tomorrow Zenit will be proud of me!"

He accidentally borrowed a slogan from the walls of his youth sports school.

Medvedev was very satisfied with his answer. He patted Chen Hero on the shoulder again, then released his hand and turned to the next Zenit player.

※※※

Winning the UEFA Cup was certainly a happy thing.

But it also announced that Chen Hero's departure was officially counting down.

Zenit's last game in the first half of the season was on May 18, against Spartak Nalchik. After that game, the team would go on vacation, and they wouldn't see the team play again until July 5, the twelfth round of the league, when Zenit would host Tom Tomsk at home.

But by that time, Chen Hero would no longer be on the team. The fans of St. Petersburg Zenit would no longer see the player wearing the number 99 jersey, scoring goals with arrogance and dominance, taking off his jersey after scoring to show off his muscles, making the men and women fans in the stands scream, making them love him to death and making his enemies hate him to death… the big guy.

Just two days after winning the UEFA Cup, Zenit and Tom Tomsk announced simultaneously that Zenit had signed Tom Tomsk's center forward, Pavel Pogrebnyak. Neither club revealed the transfer fee, but the media reported it to be around six million euros.

They had even found Chen Hero's successor.

Moreover… it was really a cost-effective deal. Chen Hero was sold for thirteen million, and they only spent less than half of that to buy a center forward who was also quite strong.

Now everything was ready, just waiting for Chen Hero to leave.

In this way, the eleventh round of the league, Zenit's home game against Spartak Nalchik, became Chen Hero's farewell match.

Before the game, fans had already called on people to go to the stadium to see Chen Hero off.

Although Chen Hero had angered many fans by reaching an agreement with Napoli to transfer in advance, as he scored one goal after another, as he helped Zenit win the UEFA Cup, as he beat the Zenit team logo on his chest after scoring in the UEFA Cup final… the fans' hatred and disgust for him had faded a lot, and the misunderstanding between the two sides was rapidly dissolving like summer snow.

Chen Hero's professionalism on the football field was indeed impeccable. If it weren't for his golden goals, Zenit would never have made it to the UEFA Cup final, let alone win the championship trophy, let alone be ranked first in the league now… In fact, the entire Zenit team was too focused on the UEFA Cup, and their performance in the new season's league was very average. This could be seen from the fact that Chen Hero alone accounted for almost all of the team's goals. If it weren't for Chen Hero's goals, Zenit might be ranked outside the top ten.

The fans booed him and cursed him, but he didn't say anything excessive. He just scored goals, using goals to express his emotions.

This was more effective than saying ten million words.

※※※

From the end of the UEFA Cup final to the game against Spartak Nalchik, almost all media reports and programs during this time had only two themes: one was to bid farewell and pay tribute to the most individual and highest-scoring shooter in the history of the Russian Premier League, and the other was to be concerned about whether this shooter could really fulfill his "wild words" before the season and become the top scorer. The top scorer would have to wait until the end of the season to know, but looking at his current number of goals, he might really be able to do it, as long as he continued to score goals in his last Russian Premier League game…

In other words, could he continue to score in his last game?

Could he continue his madness until his last Russian Premier League game?

What kind of back would he leave everyone when he left this country's league?

Previous disputes about him could finally stop. Because he would no longer be the core and focus of everyone's disputes… He was going to harm the Italian media!

"Whether you like him or hate him, there's one thing you can't deny, and that is that you can't ignore him at all. He will always stubbornly appear in front of you, and then look at you arrogantly, whether you love him or want to beat him, he doesn't care."

"…This guy appeared in our sight as if he fell from the sky, and then made everyone go crazy for him. In the 2006 season, he scored ten goals in only eleven league rounds. The 2007 season was the only season he played fully, scoring twenty-seven goals, breaking the record in one fell swoop and winning the top scorer. Now, this should be his last season in the Russian Premier League. Similarly, in eleven league rounds, he has scored eighteen goals, and he still has a chance in one game… Like a cycle, from eleven league rounds to eleven league rounds, his progress is obvious to all, and his arrogance is controversial. Now it's good, we finally don't have to discuss his tattoos, whether his frequent visits to nightclubs are unprofessional enough, whether his plan to lock in the top scorer in eleven league rounds is too crazy, because these will all be irrelevant to us!"

"I have to remind my Italian media colleagues that the arrival of this giant bear is the beginning of your luck and your misfortune… You'd better be prepared!"

A group of Moscow media who usually criticized him hard, took advantage of this last opportunity to seize the time to conduct the last round of hype with Chen Hero.

They published articles on their positions that even the most hardcore Hero fans would find cloying with praise and tribute.

But don't think that Chen Hero would appreciate it.

Just before the game against Spartak Nalchik, all the media that had appeared in the appendix of Chen Hero's open letter received lawyer's letters and court summonses from Chen Hero's agent team…

Chen Hero kept his word, he really sued all those media that had not apologized or made any statements!

Stop pretending to worry about your Italian colleagues, worry about yourselves first!

"Hahahaha! This is Hero!" The St. Petersburg media made such joyful laughter when they saw the Moscow media, who were trying to please Chen Hero, slapped in the face by Chen Hero instead.

Even if he was leaving, he would make you remember him firmly.

This is Hero!

The unconventional Northern Bear!

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ps, relatives and parents went to celebrate my birthday, and just came back not long ago.

Here is an extra update~~