"Bang!" Chen Hero slammed his fist on the public telephone in front of him. There was even a faint fist mark on the metal casing...

"Damn it!" he cursed.

His father, Chen Tao, sat on the curb, staring blankly at the traffic on the road.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn—" Chen Hero continuously punched the telephone, spewing out a torrent of swear words.

"Hero..." his father, sitting on the curb, spoke.

"What?" Chen Hero responded in a very bad tone.

"Isn't damaging public property going to cost money?"

Chen Hero was speechless.

He stopped venting his anger on the public telephone, then walked over and squatted next to his father.

"What can we do? We can't find him now... that damn liar!" Chen Hero cursed, unwilling to give up.

Just three minutes ago, they discovered they had been conned.

They had been cheated by an Italian con man who claimed to be a Udinese scout, and they had lost a whole thousand euros!

That was no small amount.

The reason was that the con man claimed he could get Chen Hero a tryout with Udinese, but he needed a little "introduction fee"...

Before that, Chen Hero had just been rejected by Atalanta for a tryout opportunity, and his father, in desperation, actually believed such a con man.

When they realized what had happened, they tried calling the phone number the con man had left, only to find it was a dead number!

That was when they knew they had been scammed.

A thousand euros was ten thousand RMB, which was not a small sum.

Moreover, the money was borrowed...

Hearing his son say this, Chen Tao sighed. It was all his fault for being so anxious... but how could he not be anxious? They had been in Europe for more than half a month, supposedly to find opportunities for his son to play football, but they were turned away everywhere, and subjected to ridicule and scorn. To him, it was as if a drowning man suddenly grabbed a straw, desperately trying to swim ashore...

So he believed the con man's words and gave him a thousand euros as an introduction fee.

"Hero, do you think your dad is useless?" Chen Tao suddenly said after being silent for a long time.

Chen Hero knew what his father was thinking, and at this moment he was afraid that his father would have such thoughts, so he quickly shook his head and denied it: "How is that possible? I have never had such thoughts. In fact, I am very grateful to you for bringing me to Europe, Dad..."

Chen Hero thought again of what his father had said to him back then.

Three months ago, "quasi-professional player" Chen Hero was released by his professional club, a month and five days before his eighteenth birthday.

The reason for his release was not that he was not strong enough. In this Chinese Jia League team, he could often play in the youth team.

The reason for his release was that he had a fight with a teammate during training—a teammate who was in direct competition with him used a dirty tackle during training, trying to cripple Chen Hero. Enraged, Chen Hero retaliated with a flying kick to the opponent's chest. The poor guy fell to the ground and couldn't get up—anyone who was kicked in the chest by a guy who was 1.92 meters tall and weighed 93 kilograms would probably not feel good...

But that wasn't the end of it. After Chen Hero kicked the opponent to the ground, he straddled him and started punching him, beating the bastard who used dirty tricks directly into the hospital.

At the age of eighteen, they were about to face the crossroads of whether or not they could enter the first team. In order to get an opportunity, many people would do anything to eliminate their competitors. Using dirty tackles to cripple people in training was simply a well-known tactic, not new at all. From ten years ago, there was never a shortage of such dramas in Chinese football clubs. A player who was originally extremely talented and had a bright future was permanently forced to leave professional football and leave in dismay because he was seriously injured by an opponent in the team's competition... Chen Hero's teammate obviously wanted to follow the example of his predecessors.

Unfortunately, he chose the wrong target...

This serious conflict not only left the opponent in the hospital for a month, but also completely deprived Chen Hero of the opportunity to enter a professional team and become a professional player—he was released by the club.

The club manager's words still echoed in his ears: "We don't need a football hooligan who is disorganized, undisciplined, and dares to beat his teammates!"

A local newspaper also reported on this conflict, which was called "the most serious and appalling violent incident in the club's history." In the pen of the reporter, who had obviously received a red envelope from the club, Chen Hero was described as a "habitual offender" with a loose sense of discipline and an improper lifestyle: "...It is reported that this player has not had this kind of conflict with his teammates for the first time... He is not only tense with his teammates, but also has repeatedly argued with opposing players in the game... He received ten yellow cards and two red cards last season... He is the most undisciplined player in the team... The club responded to the Football Association's call to resolutely eliminate its own tumors and purify the atmosphere of the domestic league..."

At that time, Chen Hero tore the newspaper to shreds.

Chen Hero, the only son of the Chen family, showed great interest in football from an early age, and he did have the talent to play football, at least his physical condition was very outstanding. He started growing taller at a very young age, a head taller than his peers.

Since his son liked playing football so much, as a father, Chen Tao sent his son to play football, from professional football schools to the youth teams and youth teams of professional football clubs, Chen Hero had come all the way like this. If everything went smoothly, this summer he would sign a professional contract with the club, be officially transferred to the first team, and become a professional player.

Although the club was only a China League One team, it was still professional. Now he could show his strength in the China League One, and then transfer to a Chinese Super League team... to become a superstar. This was the professional route planning map Chen Hero had made for himself.

Who would have thought that a dirty tackle from a teammate and his impulsive temper would completely change his life.

Since Chen Hero had received football training since he was a child, his childhood and youth were completely tied to football. He didn't know anything except playing football, and his simple cultural lessons didn't give him the ability to go to university.

After being released by the team, Chen Hero was very depressed for a time, and played games crazily at home.

Even he himself didn't know where the future was, or what it would be like.

He couldn't do anything except play football, and now he had been released by the club, what else could he do?

He had always been the pride of the family, and his father had high hopes for him, as can be seen from his name—he was named Hero and was expected to do great things.

Who would have thought that such a thing would happen.

After he was released, his father was angry and didn't speak to him for a whole week.

From sending him to play football at the age of six to the twelve years of hard work and more than 500,000 yuan spent, it was all in vain. In order to allow his son to continue playing football and be able to play in the team, Chen Tao had done all kinds of business in the past ten years to give money to the coach. The money he earned was basically all spent on his son.

Until now, the family of three still lived in an old residential building in the old city, which was built in the 1980s and was no more than five stories high. There was not a penny of savings in the bank account.

It was finally coming to fruition. His son was able to sign a contract to become a professional player, and he would be able to earn money himself. If he was lucky, he might even make a lot of money... Now everything was gone.

Chen Hero once thought that his father was completely disappointed in him, and he even had the idea of giving up on himself.

At this moment, one day his father suddenly found him and asked him very seriously, "Do you still want to play football?"

Chen Hero was still immersed in his decadent life at the time. Because he had been staying up late playing games, his face was haggard and his eyes were dull. When he heard his father's question, he didn't even react.

He looked at his father, opened his mouth, but didn't make a sound.

His father did not show impatience or anger because of his son's current appearance. He just repeated his question, "Do you still want to play football?"

Chen Hero glanced at his computer screen. On it, he, as an MT (main tank), should have led the guild raid to Black Temple. The pink-haired gnome warrior "HeroIKillU," who was tanking High Warlord Naj'entus, lost control after his master lost control, so he could only attack automatically, so High Warlord Naj'entus, who lost aggro, turned around and spewed at the rogue, and began to kill into the crowd and massacre.

The team channel in the lower left corner of the screen was spamming questions about what was wrong with Hero.

He looked away and looked at his father, then nodded: "Yes."

"Really want to?"

"Of course I want to!" Chen Hero came back to his senses. He realized that his father was talking to him about a very important issue, not asking nonsense. "What else can I do besides playing football? What else can I do?" Chen Hero said somewhat sadly. Since being expelled from the club, he felt that the twelve years of youth and time he had worked hard for were like shit in the toilet, mercilessly flushed away. What was left for him? Empty guts.

His father nodded: "Okay, let's go to Europe!"

Chen Hero was dumbfounded. He thought he had misheard, so he stared at his father, the kind of stare that was very rude.

His father suddenly lowered his voice and leaned in a little: "I borrowed some money from someone, let's go to Europe. There's no future in playing football in China. The overall environment of Chinese football is rotten. Let's go to Europe!"

"Europe? Dad, do you have connections over there? I haven't heard you mention it..."

"No. We'll go door to door." His father said decisively, and Chen Hero's heart skipped a beat. Go door to door?

"We're not salesmen doing promotions in the community, Dad..." Chen Hero felt that his father was too crazy.

"We're going to do promotions door-to-door, selling you to those European clubs."

"Uh..." Chen Hero was frightened. He didn't know what to say.

His father asked, "Didn't you say you wanted to play football?"

"Yes..."

"I've thought about it for a long time, and I think this is the only chance, Hero. If you want to go, come with me. We'll just tell your mother that we're taking you to Europe to watch the World Cup and relax. If you don't go, I'll return the money to others."

Chen Hero turned his head to look at the computer screen again. The picture on it had turned gray and white, his character was lying on the ground, and a window popped up in the center of the screen: "Release spirit?"

The lower left corner of the screen was still spamming, asking concernedly what was wrong with Hero.

Chen Hero said to his father, "Let me say goodbye to them."

After saying that, he turned back and typed on the keyboard:

"Sorry, I have to Afk for a while..." (away from keyboard)

"???"

"What's wrong, Hero?"

"What happened?"

Another burst of typing: "I'm going to pursue my dream."

In this way, he and his father packed their bags and ran out...

Even now, Chen Hero still felt it was too crazy. He had always thought that his taciturn, honest father would never do such a bold thing.

Who would have thought that in order to let him play football again, he would go crazy too!

So Chen Hero would never say anything bad about his father.

When they first arrived in Europe, Chen Hero was very excited. Anyone who played football would want to develop in Europe. Just like basketball players want to go to the NBA basketball league in the United States, football players also want to come to Europe to play in the five major European leagues and become a respected and well-paid star.

But this "self-promotion" trip did not go smoothly - being able to play in the youth team of a China League One team does not mean that you can play in a European professional team. Moreover, part of the reason for playing in the China League One youth team was because they were willing to give the coach money...

Along the way, they went to Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy, but no team could look up to him. Even those second-rate teams in second-rate leagues that used to be second-rate to Chen Hero looked down on Chen Hero.

In addition to his excellent physical fitness, the things he learned in China were not appreciated by these Europeans.

Some teams didn't give Chen Hero a chance to try out at all. They were very disgusted with this kind of strange behavior of coming to their door for self-promotion. In addition, Chen Hero's Chinese nationality also brought some trouble for him to join these teams - who would be willing to waste a non-EU quota on a mediocre player?

They had been abroad for half a month, the World Cup was long over, and they hadn't watched a single game. They rushed from one place to another non-stop, working tirelessly to knock on the door of European professional football.

No matter how much they were ridiculed, scorned, and humiliated, they did not back down.

Chen Tao had already made up his mind - no matter what, he would spend all the money he had on him. Before the money was spent, he and his son would continue to wander in Europe, looking for opportunities.

They had originally planned to go to Spain and Portugal after leaving Italy.

Who would have thought that at this time, they would be swindled out of a thousand euros. This immediately made their financial budget very tight...

"...It's all my fault... If I hadn't believed that person so easily, it wouldn't have..." Chen Tao was still nagging and blaming himself.

Chen Hero suddenly interrupted his father.

"Dad, let's go to Russia!"

Chen Tao raised his head and looked at him strangely: "Russia? Is it one of the five major European leagues?"

Chen Hero shook his head: "No. I just think we don't need to waste time and money going to Spain, Portugal, or anything like that." After this tour, Chen Hero had seen the top level of European football. He measured his own strength and felt that continuing to go to Spain and Portugal would probably be hopeless. And the level of Russian football is relatively low compared to the mainstream in Europe, so trying his luck there might be rewarding?

He didn't care about the fact that the level of the Russian league was lower than that of the main European leagues. As long as he could play professional football, he would be willing to run naked in the snow and ice!