Chapter 1 A Farewell to the Hero, a Tribute to the Hero!

Zenit St. Petersburg's official club didn't hold any farewell ceremony for Chen Hero before the match against Spartak Nalchik, even though Chen Hero was probably the most prolific goalscorer in Zenit's history.

But who told him to have such a mediocre relationship with the club's higher-ups?

Sasania was a prime example. He didn't like that arrogant, annoying guy at all. How could he possibly arrange a farewell ceremony for him?

If the Zenit club officials wouldn't do it, then the fans would.

Preparations for this event had begun as early as after they won the UEFA Cup. At each stadium entrance, several fans in uniform were handing out t-shirts and cardboard sheets, telling other fans to put on the t-shirt when entering and then hold up the cardboard in their hands.

The cardboard was shaped like a jersey, with the Zenit jersey design on the front, including the team logo and sponsor. On the back were Chen Hero's number and name: 99, Hero.

The commemorative t-shirt had the phrase "Forever Northern Bear" on the front, and Chen Hero's tattoo on the back. The fans had copied this tattoo onto the shirt.

One could imagine that when all Zenit fans put on this t-shirt, held up the cardboard, and waved them, the scene would be quite spectacular.

In addition to these eye-catching things, there were even more attention-grabbing items in the stands—two huge blue banners. The first featured Chen Hero roaring with his upper body naked. The fans had frozen the moment of him celebrating after scoring on this banner.

The second was a giant bear standing up and roaring.

These two banners were originally facing each other on the north and south stands, but now they were moving little by little towards the west stand, where the most die-hard Zenit fans were gathered, amidst the cheers of the crowd. They would eventually meet on that stand. Every time Chen Hero shot, every time he jumped high to compete for a header, he could see those two giant banners, and himself on those banners.

Besides these eye-catching things, there were countless slogans, flags, portraits, and posters. Each one expressed the fans' love and reluctance towards Chen Hero.

There were many slogans to persuade him to stay, even though they knew it was in vain, but they just wanted to express their true feelings.

There were also many slogans wishing him all the best in Naples, thanking him for everything he had brought to Zenit, and… expressing love for him, from both men and women.

"The theme of today's game is—farewell to the hero, tribute to the hero!" Sergei Yevski said emotionally. He didn't even know if he could maintain this passionate state after Chen Hero left. Seeing that big guy's domineering goals and arrogant celebrations, his adrenaline would surge, instantly reaching its peak, and then his passion and inspiration would burst forth. This state was truly wonderful. After Chen Hero left, who could stimulate him to climax again and again?

"The fans have already abandoned their previous misunderstandings, dislikes, and opposition to Hero."

Just like lovers, although they occasionally quarrel, after one night, they are as close as glue and sweet as honey. Chen Hero used one goal after another, his very professional attitude, and his sincere feelings to move those fans, making them retract their middle fingers, stop booing, and instead cheer for him from the bottom of their hearts.

This ending was truly wonderful.

Previously, the media had worried that there would still be discordant boos from fans in this last game, ruining the atmosphere of this farewell game.

Now it seemed that they no longer needed to worry.

There couldn't be a better last game than this!

In such a game, play to your heart's content, score to your heart's content! Hero! Didn't you say you would use goals to prove your love for Zenit? Then love even more, and remember to bring all your deep affection with this farewell kiss!

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Inside Zenit St. Petersburg's locker room, Advocaat looked around and finally focused his gaze on Chen Hero.

"This is just an ordinary game in the thirty-game league season. I don't want you to be disturbed by too many off-field factors. The team's victory is still the first priority," he said, looking at Chen Hero.

Some players muttered in their hearts. Didn't the coach like Chen Hero a lot? Why would he say such things at this time? Wasn't this like pouring cold water on him?

Advocaat continued to look at Chen Hero. He didn't see any changes in expression on this kid's face. When did he learn to hide his true feelings under this skin? Was it because the final farewell had made him silent too?

"So, in order to ensure the team's goals, I hope you, no, I require you… to score as many goals as you can!"

Someone laughed. The coach was playing a trick here! Scoring as many goals as possible was equivalent to saying that Chen Hero should score more goals and strive to lock in the league's top scorer in just eleven league rounds?

The coach still liked Hero after all…

A smile also appeared on Chen Hero's face.

Advocaat didn't know that the reason why Chen Hero wasn't surprised or disappointed at first was because he had already known that to ensure the team's victory, they would have to score more goals, and if they were to score more goals, how could he have fewer opportunities?

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When Zenit's players came out, the stadium announcer began to announce the names of the home team's starting players one by one.

This time, the stadium announcer deliberately left Chen Hero's name to the end. After he had announced the names of all the starting players, he paused.

Suddenly, loud cheers rang out in the stadium, because everyone knew that that name was about to appear.

"Finally… let us welcome—"

The stadium announcer's voice was drowned out by the huge shouts before he could finish speaking.

"H——E——R——O!!!"

The shouts were like a gale, blowing from the Baltic Sea, to the stadium by the Neva River, ruffling everyone's clothes and hair, blowing the posters and slogans in their hands, making the huge banners flutter, and making everyone squint their eyes.

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Although Advocaat had said before the game that this was just an ordinary league game, and he had said the same in an interview with reporters. But Spartak Nalchik certainly didn't believe that this game would really be an ordinary league game.

As long as Chen Hero was there, it could never be ordinary!

Of course, Spartak Nalchik was not willing to become the backdrop for Zenit and Chen Hero in this game. Who would want to be mentioned in the future as the unlucky guy who picked up the ball from the goal countless times in a striker's farewell game?

So this game was an atypical league game that was not ordinary at all. Spartak Nalchik knew that Chen Hero really wanted to score, so their task was not to win the game at all, but… to contain Chen Hero, not to let him score. They didn't care whether this was related to the glory of Russian football. They just didn't want to be an accompaniment.

It could be seen that they were working very hard to do this. The tactics, personnel configuration, and formation… were all set up around the core goal of preventing Chen Hero from scoring.

For the first thirty-four minutes, they were successful.

They didn't let Chen Hero score a goal, nor did they let Zenit score a goal.

So every time they had possession of the ball, there would be a loud boo from the stands. Zenit fans were very dissatisfied with them, thinking that they were very ignorant of current affairs. This game was obviously our way of sending off Chen Hero, how could you come and disrupt it?

Just like Brian Kobe in Jordan's last All-Star game, he very "disrespectfully" killed Jordan with a lore, winning the game…

Chen Hero also worked very hard in these thirty-four minutes, but unfortunately, every time he faced at least two opponents, who tried everything to stop him, even if it meant fouling.

He would be trapped in a heavy encirclement in the penalty area, and when he pulled to the outside of the penalty area, everyone knew that he was going to shoot from a distance, so the defensive midfielder and center-back would continue to entangle him, not giving him a chance to kick and shoot easily.

What if he played back-to-goal? One person couldn't hold him, so two people would do, right?

In short, no matter what strategy Chen Hero adopted, he would encounter the opponent's relentless entanglement.

In fact, a double-team wasn't anything. Players with good foot skills could also use their foot skills to take the ball out even when facing three people's pressing.

Chen Hero obviously didn't have such ability now. His desire to strengthen his foot skills was even stronger.

Although Chen Hero encountered the opponent's strict defense, even desperate and unscrupulous defense, Zenit's players stubbornly passed the ball to him again and again.

This was indeed an atypical league game… The away team completely disregarded the outcome of the game and focused on preventing Chen Hero from scoring. And the home team completely disregarded the team's performance and tried every means to let Chen Hero score.

They were not without opportunities to break the goal. They could have passed the ball to other teammates who were in better positions, but they didn't do so.

For them, this game had only one task, which was to help Chen Hero lock in the league's top scorer. They wanted to create an almost impossible miracle—becoming the top scorer in eleven league rounds!

Of course, Chen Hero knew what his teammates were thinking. He didn't pretend to be polite and pass the ball back to them. Every time the ball reached his feet, unless there was really no chance, he would definitely end this attack with a shot.

If he had been so "selfish" before, the fans would definitely have expressed their dissatisfaction with boos, and the commentators would have relentlessly criticized the player's behavior.

But now, besides cheers, you would never hear any other sounds. Even if Chen Hero kicked the ball into the stands, he would only get applause and cheers from the fans. The commentators, whether it was Sergei Yevski or Petrov, all defaulted to Zenit's approach.

This game could not be regarded with general or ordinary common sense.

Because this was not an ordinary league game.

This was Chen Hero's game. The other twenty-one players, the coaching staff on both sides, the fans, and the commentators were all part of this stage, but the only protagonist performing on the stage was Chen Hero.

The fans just wanted to see Chen Hero score. If it wasn't Chen Hero who scored, even if they scored ten goals, they wouldn't be satisfied.

All of Zenit's efforts were to let Chen Hero score, for which they gave up more scoring opportunities.

The only goal of the entire Spartak Nalchik team was to prevent Chen Hero from scoring. They spared no expense and used every means.

The commentator's mouth only had Chen Hero's name.

"Chen Hero shoots!"

"Chen Hero's header!"

"Hero, he jumped up!"

"Ahhhhh, almost! Almost, just a little bit! What a pity, Hero!"

And what about our protagonist?

He stared at Spartak Nalchik's goal. He was very hungry. One goal couldn't satisfy him, and two goals probably wouldn't work either. Due to Spartak Nalchik's tenacious resistance, he had wasted thirty-four minutes. He would get it back double in the next game!

This futile obstruction will only make the giant bear angrier, and it is absolutely impossible for him to let it go!

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P.S. I have to go out for most of the day today for my wife's classmate's wedding. When we got married, they all came to help, so now that she's getting married, we can't not go.

So this chapter is automatically updated.

If there are any monthly ticket updates, please wait for me to return home from the wedding…