Chapter 1 The Saint Petersburg Zenit Indulgence Squad's First Activity

The Saint Petersburg Zenit indulgence squad's first activity unfolded before the preseason training even began.

Under the guise of "congratulating Chen Yingxiong on his new home," everyone threw a party at Chen Yingxiong's place. Denisov made a phone call and summoned six girls. The eleven of them partied like there was no tomorrow in Chen Yingxiong's house.

When Chen Yingxiong woke up the next day, he discovered that the house was already a complete mess. The floors, the ceilings, the walls... everywhere was covered with traces of last night's madness. Clothes were strewn all over the place, and there was even a pair of panties slung over the chandelier. He also found a bra in the microwave in the kitchen... Wine bottles were scattered on the floor, and a decorative vase was broken. His pajamas were covered in vomit, and the bathroom was simply unbearable to look at and stink...

Chen Yingxiong spent a great deal of effort cleaning up the bathroom so he could take a shower.

Just looking at the chaotic scene, one could fully imagine how crazy they had partied last night.

Chen Yingxiong had also woken up stark naked. He had drunk too much last night, but he knew that he had eventually pushed a woman down. That woman had kept trying to get him drunk at the party. As revenge, Chen Yingxiong had pinned her down underneath him...

Now, the woman was still sleeping naked on the sofa in the living room, with a look of post-coital exhaustion and enjoyment on her face.

After Chen Yingxiong cleaned up the bathroom, he took a shower and changed his clothes, feeling much refreshed. Then, he began to knock on doors one by one to wake them up.

Men and women were sleeping together in all four bedrooms, and he opened each door to take a look. Denisov and a blonde woman were sleeping in the first master bedroom. Anyukov and a dark-haired woman were sleeping in the second secondary bedroom. Kerzhakov and a redhead were in the third guest room. The fourth guest room... was Martin Škrtel and two naked women intertwined around him!

"Holy shit! A real beast!" Chen Yingxiong realized that Škrtel liked to play 3P!

He took a deep breath and then shouted, "Time to get up and pee—"

Except for Chen Yingxiong, the other four people were all sitting on the sofa with sleepy eyes, as if they hadn't recovered yet. Denisov simply leaned on Kerzhakov's shoulder, seemingly still asleep.

And the women they had called over yesterday were searching for their clothes everywhere, shuttling back and forth between the bedrooms, living room, and kitchen. It was like a treasure hunt. Every time they found something, they would exclaim. "It was here!" "Oh my god... what did you guys do last night..." "Honey, is this yours?" "Oh no, mine is leopard print..."

Finally, they all got dressed, took money from Chen Yingxiong, and said goodbye. As they left, they did not forget to give these gold masters seductive winks and flying kisses, hoping to be called again for the next party.

After all the women had left, the five men sat on the sofa in a daze. After a long while, Škrtel suddenly sighed, "Emptiness..."

Chen Yingxiong stretched out a fist and said to Škrtel, "Do you know what this gesture means, Martin?"

Škrtel looked at Chen Yingxiong's fist with a bewildered expression.

Chen Yingxiong used his other hand to continuously turn around the fist, making a cranking motion, and then a middle finger slowly stood up from the fist...

"Ah ha ha ha!" Denisov, Anyukov, and Kerzhakov all laughed.

"You fucked two by yourself, and you tell us you're feeling empty and lonely?" Chen Yingxiong said to Škrtel, flipping him off.

Martin Škrtel scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Preseason training starts tomorrow—ha!" Denisov stretched and yawned. He wasn't fully awake yet.

"Ah, Yingxiong. I just noticed... I think you're a bit fatter than before?" Škrtel quickly seized this opportunity to divert the topic. He didn't want to be jointly criticized by the other four.

"I'm not fat, I'm strong!" Chen Yingxiong showed the muscles on his arms to the four of them. During this vacation, he had successfully gained three kilograms, one kilogram more than Dekura's plan had given him. But these three kilograms were not fat, but muscle. So now he looked a little fatter than before, but he was actually stronger.

Škrtel grinned. As a center back, he often had physical confrontations with Chen Yingxiong during team training. He knew what Chen Yingxiong had felt like before. What was it like to gain another three kilograms of muscle... He suddenly felt that the defenders of those Russian Super League teams were going to be in trouble...

"Damn it, we must win the championship this season!" Anyukov said. Last season, CSKA Moscow defended their championship, and Saint Petersburg only got a UEFA Cup qualification.

"I prefer the UEFA Cup..." Chen Yingxiong said, touching his chin. "The UEFA Cup has a chance to face strong European teams. What's the point of always playing in Russia? It's more exciting to score goals in the UEFA Cup!"

"Oh, right! You haven't participated in the UEFA Cup!" Anyukov gave Chen Yingxiong a contemptuous look.

"That's right, I just realized that you're a rookie who hasn't even played half a season in the first team, Yingxiong..." Denisov said, looking at Chen Yingxiong thoughtfully.

"Damn it! You're acting like an old man!" Martin Škrtel finally found something to use to fight back. "You're a newcomer, a junior! A little brat!"

"Hehe, I've scored goals in the UEFA Cup, Yingxiong." Kerzhakov pointed to himself, quite pleased.

Faced with the ridicule of a group of bad friends, Chen Yingxiong curled his lips. "Tch, I'll score a hat trick in the UEFA Cup for you to see!"

"Keep dreaming, the UEFA Cup and the league are completely different levels!" Škrtel continued to attack Chen Yingxiong.

Chen Yingxiong stared at Škrtel. "Martin, do you dare to bet with me?"

"What bet?"

"If I score three goals in a UEFA Cup game, I win. If I don't do it in a whole season, you win, how about it?"

As soon as they heard there was a bet, a group of people who liked to stir up trouble and watch the fun got excited. "Woah woah woah! That's a good idea! Bet him, Martin!"

"Come on, come on! Let's open the betting! The odds of Yingxiong scoring a hat trick in the UEFA Cup are... one to twenty-five!"

"Protest! This is a contempt for me!" Chen Yingxiong raised his hand to protest.

"Okay... one to fifteen! One to fifteen, can't change it anymore!"

"What's the stake?" Škrtel asked.

"Katyusha [a famous club in Saint Petersburg] for food, drinks, and entertainment! All-inclusive! Treat everyone here!" Chen Yingxiong pointed around.

"Woah! I like this!"

"Do it! Bet him, Martin! Sacrifice one person for the happiness of everyone!"

Škrtel seemed hesitant. "If you could take penalty kicks... a hat trick doesn't seem too difficult..."

Chen Yingxiong shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm not interested in goals that don't require any skill like penalty kicks." In other words, he would not actively ask to take a penalty kick just to get a hat trick. He saw that Škrtel was still hesitant.

"What do you say, are you betting or not? Be a man, just be straightforward, Martin!"

"This, the qualifying rounds can't be counted..." Škrtel was not swayed and continued to bargain with Chen Yingxiong.

Chen Yingxiong got annoyed and waved his hand directly. "We'll only count the knockout stage matches of the UEFA Cup proper! Only a hat trick in the knockout stage matches counts! Can you say anything now, Martin?"

"..." This time, even Denisov and the others who were originally going to make a fuss were stunned.

Škrtel was also stunned.

Knockout stage matches? It was hard to say whether the team could even make it to the knockout stage, let alone when they got to the knockout stage, there were almost no weak teams. Those who could make it to the knockout stage were all strong teams, plus the third-place teams from each group that were eliminated from the Champions League group stage. Which one was easy to mess with?

To complete a hat trick in such a match?

Chen Yingxiong, are you crazy?

"Hey, Yingxiong..."

"Stop talking nonsense, are you betting or not?" Chen Yingxiong stood with his hands on his hips, looking at Škrtel condescendingly.

"I have to raise the odds..." Kerzhakov muttered.

"Yingxiong, do you know what the UEFA Cup knockout stage means? You know, right?" Denisov asked Chen Yingxiong.

Chen Yingxiong nodded. "Of course I know! It has to be a little difficult for the bet to be interesting."

Anyukov slapped his thigh next to him. "Bet him, Martin!"

"Yeah, bet me, Martin." Chen Yingxiong further provoked.

Škrtel seemed to have gone through a very intense ideological struggle before he raised his head. "Okay, I'll bet you! Starting from the round of sixteen, as long as you can complete a hat trick, I'll treat everyone in the indulgence squad!"

"Generous! Straightforward! A real man!" Anyukov gave Škrtel a thumbs up.

"Hehe, just wait to treat us, Martin." Chen Yingxiong grinned.

"As your roommate, I have to stand on your side, Yingxiong!" Denisov patted Chen Yingxiong on the shoulder.

Kerzhakov looked left and right. "I'll still open the betting..."

The news that Chen Yingxiong and Škrtel had made a bet quickly spread throughout the team. In just two days, the Zenit players who had returned to the team one after another all knew about this matter.

"I heard you're going to play a hat trick in the UEFA Cup? Or play in the knockout stage?" Arshavin ran over to ask Chen Yingxiong.

Chen Yingxiong nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

Arshavin patted him on the shoulder forcefully. "Ambitious! I support you!"

Chen Yingxiong was greatly moved. Even the team's top player supported him so much! What else was there to say? Of course, he had to do his best to get a hat trick!

Who knew that Arshavin would follow up with a sentence: "But I bet a hundred bucks on you, euros, don't let me down!"

Chen Yingxiong spat blood.

He knew that this must have been the work of that group of bad friends, spreading the news and then taking the opportunity to open the betting to make money.

He didn't know how many people had participated, but probably more than two-thirds of the whole team had put money into it...

Even the head coach Advocaat was not spared. He found Chen Yingxiong with a smile and expressed great expectations for his performance in the UEFA Cup. Although he didn't say it explicitly, Chen Yingxiong was not a fool, of course he knew that the head coach also had a share...

Damn, the head coach is openly gambling! This team's morals are declining!

On the other side... Anyukov, Denisov, and Kerzhakov looked at the gamblers' betting slips, tears streaming down their faces—more than two-thirds of them were optimistic about Chen Yingxiong, even though they repeatedly claimed that only the matches starting from the round of sixteen counted, and the odds had been raised several times, and now the odds of Chen Yingxiong scoring a hat trick had become one to five. But even so, as long as Chen Yingxiong completed a hat trick, they would lose miserably.

Now these three guys who planned to make a profit were conflicted—do we hope that our good friend Chen Yingxiong completes an awesome hat trick? Or... do we hope that he doesn't complete it, and then we make a fortune?

They never expected that there would be so many people in the team who were optimistic about Chen Yingxiong... and many of them were fucking starters! They could desperately help Chen Yingxiong on the court just to win money!

Only at this time did they realize how popular Chen Yingxiong, the youngest player in the first team, was in the team...

"Why is he so popular?" Kerzhakov touched his chin, unable to understand.

"Because he's handsome?" Anyukov asked.

Denisov and Kerzhakov shook their heads repeatedly. "We don't think so at all!"

In the end, everyone came to a consensus—"Because he's a likable bastard!"

Now this bastard was standing in front of them.

"I want to bet!" Chen Yingxiong said to his three friends with a serious expression. "Ten thousand euros, bet I win!"

Anyukov shouted, "That won't work!"

"Why won't it work?" Chen Yingxiong asked.

"You're one of the gamblers, how can you join in?"

"I didn't bet that I would lose."

"In short, it won't work!"

"Don't be like this, you're making money off me, but you won't let me get a share?" Chen Yingxiong argued.

The three of them felt that what Chen Yingxiong said made sense, so they discussed it together and then agreed to Chen Yingxiong's request, but at the same time they adjusted the odds to "one to one"!

No profit, no loss!

Chen Yingxiong flicked a middle finger at the three of them.

Crooks!