Chapter 1 Zhang Jun's Crazy Performance

"Zhang Jun's crazy performance, a hat-trick dominating Europe..." Huang Deren looked at the manuscript written by his colleague. It was nothing more than copying well-known news from the internet, making some minor changes, and then changing the reporter's name to become "Our newspaper's report from the Netherlands."

Kid, that's not how news reports are written! The newspaper he worked for was newly established and didn't have much fame yet, but the boss had ambitious goals, saying he wanted to turn it into the largest newspaper in the Anhui region, surpassing the *Xin'an Evening News*, and radiating to the Nanjing and Shanghai areas.

But looking at the current soccer coverage, it was so perfunctory. It was ten Sun Wukong somersaults away from the boss's goal.

Huang Deren lit a cigarette for himself, it seemed it was time for her to make her appearance.

"Huh? You're going to Luoyang on a business trip?"

"Yes."

"Okay, go ahead. Just get your expenses reimbursed when you come back."

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Su Fei received a call from Huang Deren, saying that he was in Luoyang on a business trip and wanted to see her.

"Brother Ren has finally found a job? That's great!" As soon as Su Fei finished speaking, she suddenly realized that saying that seemed to imply that it was unusual for Huang Deren to find a job, and she quickly stuck out her tongue apologetically.

Huang Deren, wearing sunglasses, smiled and said, "I'm going to find a wife, so naturally I have to work harder! Haha! I'm here to see you and find a free tour guide."

"No problem... Huh? Isn't Brother Ren on a business trip?"

"Haha! Even on a business trip, I can't be working all day, right? It's always good to take some time out to have fun. Luoyang is an ancient city, and there are so many famous places to visit. It would be a pity not to see them!"

"Is that so? Then, Brother Ren, would you like to go to the Longmen Grottoes first, or the White Horse Temple? Although the Shaolin Temple is in Zhengzhou, it's closer from Luoyang..."

"Whatever." Huang Deren's mind wasn't on playing at all. He only said that to get closer to Su Fei, to see if he could find out some big news. So far, he only knew that Su Fei was Zhang Jun's girlfriend, and that they had attended the same university and graduated from the same high school. Other than that, he had neither photos nor written information. To just shout in the newspaper that "Su Fei is Zhang Jun's girlfriend!" would definitely be seen as crazy, after all, most people still believed that Hua Fang was Zhang Jun's girlfriend.

"But there's no place called 'Whatever' on the map, Brother Ren," Su Fei said with a smile.

"Ah, oh! Then let's go to..." He suddenly thought of Zhang Jun's Long Teng, "Let's go to Long Teng."

"Where?"

"Longmen, let's go to Longmen!" Huang Deren smiled at Su Fei.

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The Longmen Grottoes are one of the three famous treasure houses of stone carving art in China, located on the banks of the Yi River, 12 kilometers south of Luoyang. Here, the eastern and western mountains face each other, and the Yi River flows eastward, resembling a gate tower when viewed from afar, hence the name Yique (Yi Que). After more than 400 years of excavation from the Northern Wei to the Northern Song Dynasties, there are still more than 2,100 caves and niches, more than 100,000 statues, and more than 3,600 inscriptions and tablets. The sheer number of these items ranks first among the major grottoes in the country. Their broad scale, profound meaning, and exquisite carvings are a dazzling treasure in the world's treasure house of sculptural art.

The Longmen Grottoes are located 12 kilometers south of Luoyang and are known as one of the three great treasure houses of ancient Chinese art.

The Longmen Grottoes began to be carved around the time when Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang (494 AD). The rulers of the Northern Wei Dynasty firmly believed in Buddhism, so they spared no effort in carving caves and statues. After that, the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, and Sui dynasties continued to construct the grottoes. During the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the Longmen Grottoes ushered in the second peak of excavation due to Princess Taiping and Wu Zetian's support for Buddhism. After more than 400 years of painstaking efforts by these dynasties, it is now a large-scale grotto complex with 1,352 grottoes, 750 niches, 100,000 statues, 3,600 inscriptions and steles, and more than 40 pagodas. The statues in the grottoes are rich in content and exquisitely shaped, providing a wealth of valuable materials for the study of ancient Chinese history, Buddhism, painting, sculpture, clothing, music, dance, calligraphy, and architecture. Among them, the "Longmen Twenty Pieces" are the essence of Wei stele calligraphy, and the "Stele of the Buddhist Shrine of Yique" written by the famous Tang Dynasty calligrapher Chu Suiliang is a model of early Tang regular script art.

The most representative of the Longmen Grottoes are the Guyang Cave, Binyang Cave, Lotus Flower Cave, and Yaofang Cave built during the Northern Wei Dynasty, as well as the Qianxi Temple, Kanjing Temple, Wanfo Cave, Fengxian Temple, and Dawanwufo Cave built during the Tang Dynasty. The grottoes carved during the Northern Wei Dynasty are all concentrated in the West Hill, while the grottoes carved during the Tang Dynasty are scattered in the West Hill and the East Hill.

...The above is an introduction to the World Cultural Heritage Site, the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang. You are welcome to visit if you have the opportunity... Well, but if you ask Huang Deren, who just returned from the Longmen Grottoes, what his impression is, all he can tell you is a series of ellipses. The biggest gain was that roll of photos, one of which was a group photo of him and Su Fei in front of the Lushena Buddha. Soon after, this precious photo would be captioned in small print: "Our reporter's photo with the female lead."

After returning from the Longmen Grottoes, Huang Deren officially began his work in Luoyang. He spent every day in the Luoyang City Library, where there were all kinds of newspapers and magazines published from the founding of the country to the present. There was bound to be something he wanted from 1998 to 2001.

He went to the library early every morning, and ate a few pieces of bread for lunch and dinner, and drank two bottles of mineral water, until the library closed in the evening before he returned to the hotel.

"Brother Ren, you must work hard! Find a beautiful girlfriend in the future, hee hee!" When they returned from the Longmen Grottoes, Su Fei encouraged Huang Deren in this way.

Yes, yes, work hard, for the future.

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Among the materials he had been flipping through for so long, what Huang Deren was most interested in were those photos taken when Zhang Jun was in his second year of high school, and the special article "Su Fei's World" written by someone named "Chen Huafeng." The former was a photo of Zhang Jun and Su Fei embracing by the soccer field in the rain, and this set of photos was enough to prove that Zhang Jun and Su Fei were a couple. The latter proved how important Su Fei was to Zhang Jun's soccer career.

With these two things, he had enough to refute anyone who doubted his article's point of view. Not to mention the large and small game reports and other photos. It was really strange why those reporters hadn't thought of the Luoyang Library.

Huang Deren suddenly had the feeling of obtaining a legendary martial arts manual.

With the manual in hand, the world is mine, wahahaha!

...

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"Hey, where are we going to hang out tonight?"

"Hang out? All you know is how to have fun! I'm going to the study hall to study tonight."

"Tsk! You're going to see pretty girls, aren't you?"

"Really? You still have the energy after being so tired?"

"Just kidding! Don't listen to his nonsense..."

"Oh? Oh?! Oh!!"

A group of people walked out of the training field, making a fuss. Another day of training was over. Although school hadn't started yet, the finals of the University Soccer League, which had been postponed due to SARS, would be held at Sichuan SC University in September, so the soccer team, which had just returned from South Korea, directly started intensive training. Their goal was to win the national championship.

But one person's goal was not there.

"Li Yongle, take a break. Sometimes being too desperate is bad for you," Bai Hongfei reminded his disciple from the sidelines. Li Yongle had just recovered from his foot injury and shouldn't be pushing himself so hard.

"I know, Coach. But I've fallen behind a lot because of my foot injury, so I have to make up for it now." Li Yongle didn't mean to take a break.

"Fallen behind? Our training schedule isn't tight, is it?" Bai Hongfei was a little strange.

"It's not this training, it's..." Li Yongle hesitated slightly, "...it's my own training plan."

Bai Hongfei was stunned for a moment. His own training plan? So he had been following his own plan to practice. How many college players had such awareness? No wonder he was able to win the best player award in the North Division of the University League. A person with such drive would definitely not have a goal as simple as finding a way to release extra energy during his four years of college, right?

"You... are working so hard, do you have any specific goals?"

Li Yongle thought of Zhang Jun, who had once again performed a hat-trick in the League Cup. The term "national hero" was brought up again. "I want to surpass someone..."

"Have you ever thought about participating in professional leagues?"

Li Yongle was stunned, and then he thought of the email sent by Volendam. It had expired now, but he still kept the email in his box. It was a certificate, a certificate that his strength was recognized by professional soccer. "I haven't thought that much about it. Right now, I just want to help the school win a championship trophy."

Bai Hongfei looked at Li Yongle, and then at the setting sun in the distance. "Don't just focus on soccer, it would be a pity to give up the good college life. After all, you may not be able to live such a peaceful life in the future." He turned to leave, "You just recovered from your foot injury, don't push yourself too hard. I'm counting on you to bring back the national championship trophy!"

The hazy sunset, the elongated shadows, the empty soccer field, a figure with a long pass, the soccer ball flying from near the center circle, hitting the right goalpost in the distance, making a crisp sound.

※※※

"Get up! Hurry up! Damn it, how are you going to stop the opponent's rebound like that?" A figure roared at the person lying on the ground. "You dropped it yourself, you have to take responsibility!" He kicked the soccer ball hard, hitting the person on the ground hard.

"Get up, An! Did you hear me, no sleeping! You have no right to rest without my permission!"

"Show your spirit! An, think about the beauties! Think about the money! Think about the honor! Think about everything you can get after success! Why did you agree to accept my training in the first place? Not because you like soccer, right? Think about your original intention! And then stand up and continue training!"

"If you can't hold on, just say so, I can let you go right away! Otherwise, don't play dead in front of me!"

...

※※※

Yang Pan's long shot in the run, although it went over the crossbar, made the opposing goalkeeper break out in a cold sweat, because the Chinese player wearing the number 7 jersey had amazing shooting power.

A burst of sighs erupted from outside the field. This was an ordinary preseason warm-up match, Bologna against Serie B side Napoli. Many die-hard fans from both sides came to the scene to cheer for their respective teams, and of course, there were also Chinese reporters.

Yang Pan was substituted in at the beginning of the second half, and announced his presence with such a powerful long shot as soon as he came on the field. After more than half a month of getting acquainted, he and his teammates could already play some combinations relatively smoothly. Of course, the one he had the most chemistry with was the old captain, Signori. He was also the one who received the most crosses from Yang Pan in normal training.

Yang Pan also knew that his position was right winger, so assisting was more important than shooting. So he would unhesitatingly break through and cross whenever he had the opportunity. His sharp breakthroughs on the right wing allowed the Italians to see the style of the Dutch Super League assist king from last season.

"Hey, Yang Pan, I scored two goals in the first league game, and the team won too!"

"Hey, Yang Pan, I got a hat-trick in the League Cup!"

"Yang Pan, we won the second league game again, and I scored a goal. Volendam is actually ranked first now!"

"We won the first round of the Dutch Cup too, Yang Pan!"

...

Facing an opposing defender, Yang Pan leaned his body forward, creating the illusion of breaking through forward. The opposing defender was fooled and turned around. Yang Pan immediately used his right foot to cut the ball inside, and then prepared to cut inside!

But the opponent was unwilling to be passed and quickly circled around, trying to intercept on the inside line. But Yang Pan didn't expect him to hook the ball back to the right side with his left foot! The opposing defender didn't want to give up, but Yang Pan made a move that completely gave him a death sentence. He put the hooked ball forward with his right foot!

Yang Pan accelerated! He swept past the defender like a gust of wind, breaking through to the bottom line!

Another defender was pulled over. Yang Pan didn't give him a chance to press forward and crossed directly!

Signori in the center jumped high and headed the ball powerfully in front of everyone!

The soccer ball went past the goalkeeper's hand and into the goal. Goal!

※※※

The Honghe training base in Kunming was very familiar to the National Olympic team. In a sense, they were selected for the National Olympic team because of their performance on this land. They entered the National Olympic team from Honghe, and from Honghe, they marched towards Athens.

An ordinary training base was thus given a certain symbolic meaning.

Chen Wei was very satisfied with the National Olympic team he was seeing now. They were high-spirited and the atmosphere was harmonious. They didn't seem listless because of the two months of closed training.

"How did you do it? Little Qiu, how do you keep them looking so energetic? You know, when the National Olympic team used to have closed training sessions, some people complained that the closed training was stifling humanity."

"It's very simple, always keep their interest in soccer," Qiu Suhui replied. "Actually, closed training is only suitable for the current stage, it's really not good for too long. The league should be the best place for them to grow, but the current league..." Qiu Suhui sighed, he found that he was sighing more and more often after returning to China. "The national team should never be a place to cultivate players, it should be a place to take the best players in a country and let them use their talents to the fullest. But I still have to use a few months of closed training to cultivate them like youth players, which is really contradictory, isn't it?" Qiu Suhui looked at the players training hard on the field and smiled bitterly.

Qiu Suhui was asking himself, and also asking Chen Wei, but what could Chen Wei answer? He was just an official in charge of youth soccer. So who should this question be asked to? Should he ask Yang Weiguang, who was in charge of the league? But what could he do? Even if he went directly to ask Luo Wenqiang, it probably wouldn't be of any use, right?

After a moment of silence, Chen Wei said to Qiu Suhui, "Do a good job! I'm optimistic about you, and I'm also optimistic about these kids. Do it according to your ideas, I'll support you if anything happens." This was probably the only thing he could do, right?

※※※

Zhang Jun spread his arms to maintain his balance, his head slightly tilted, his left foot below, his right foot above, the soccer ball just reaching his waist. This was a picture on a huge billboard. This outdoor billboard was erected next to the Veronica Stadium almost overnight, causing many pedestrians and cars passing by to slow down and look up to admire it.

The erection of this billboard also showed the world that Zhang Jun had officially signed with the world-renowned sports brand Nike. This four-year contract was Hua Fang's masterpiece. After Zhang Jun was sentenced to death by Milan, signing such a long contract required courage and determination from Nike, and it was Hua Fang's smiling face that gave them the determination. In addition, Zhang Jun had been in great form recently, and another sports giant, Adidas, was also pursuing Zhang Jun, so Nike signed this contract with Zhang Jun in order to prevent its opponent from taking the lead. From now on, Zhang Jun would receive 2 million euros in advertising revenue from Nike every year. This alone would be enough for his parents to live a worry-free life even if they stopped working.

Yang Pan in Italy also signed a five-year contract with Nike. Nike actually had more faith in Yang Pan. As one high-ranking person said: "Having faith in Zhang Jun is more like a short-term investment. It's risky, but the profit is generous. Yang Pan, on the other hand, is a key object that Nike wants to support. He's a long-term investment. Although the vitality may not be much at one time, it's definitely stable, a steady stream."

But the Volendam fans gave this billboard a completely new meaning. As long as Zhang Jun performs well and there is Scorpio, Volendam will have no problems. It can't get any worse than that. Because, Zhang Jun protects Volendam.

※※※

Zhang Jun protects Volendam...

In the third league game, Volendam challenged NEC Nijmegen away from home. Just twenty minutes into the game, Louis Link deliberately committed a handball foul in the penalty area and was given a penalty kick, and he himself was directly sent off with a red card!

This penalty made the Volendam players very excited. They surrounded the referee to appeal. Giving a penalty kick was fine, but why did he have to show a red card?

Louis Link rushed to the referee and roared at him, but the referee closed his eyes and waved his hand, telling him to leave the field quickly.

In the end, Louis Link grabbed Zhang Jun by the side when he left the field. "Please equalize the score!"

"I'll do that even if you don't tell me to," Zhang Jun patted him on the shoulder.

The opponent scored the penalty kick and took a 1-0 lead at home. When the opponent was taking the penalty kick, Zhang Jun didn't stand outside the penalty area to prepare to rush in to clear the ball, he stood in the center circle waiting to kick off.

With one less player and playing away from home, Volendam faced a very difficult situation. They wanted to equalize the score, but most of the time they seemed powerless. If they encountered this kind of situation last season, they would just lose. Anyway, there was nothing they could do about losing. But this season, they had won their first two games in a row. Who would be willing to easily give up the opportunity to continue winning after such a good start?

In the first half, Zhang Jun had a shot that tricked the goalkeeper, but a powerful shot was blocked by the goalpost, causing many spectators to exclaim.

Hena also had a powerful header, but it was too straight and was directly confiscated by the goalkeeper. Apart from these two shots, Volendam, with one less player, had few scoring opportunities.

During the half-time break, Louis Link was very guilty. In any case, his reckless behavior had put his teammates in a difficult situation, but no one blamed him. If there was a mistake, everyone would carry it together, and this was what teammates were for.

Zhang Jun patted the guilty Louis Link: "Don't take it to heart, we can equalize the score."

At the start of the second half, the home team once again launched a tidal wave of attacks on Volendam, hoping to score again and establish a victory.

This time, even Zhang Jun, who rarely returned to defend, returned to his own half to participate in the defense. There was already one less person on the field, so it wouldn't make sense for him not to return to defend.

Yang Pan was working hard alone in Bologna, Su Fei was working hard alone at school, Coach Qiu and the National Olympic teammates were working hard in China, and he believed that Li Yongle must also be working hard non-stop every day. And also Kaka, he was working hard in Milan.

Everyone was working hard, so he couldn't slack off, right?

Westerloper used a hand throw from the backcourt to launch an attack. At this time, there were twenty minutes left in the game. Volendam had just withstood an opponent's attack and the goalkeeper launched a quick counterattack. "Cess, Zhang is in front!"

Koze turned his body and let the ball pass, and then faced the direction of the attack. Zhang Jun was indeed in front. Koze didn't hesitate at all and directly launched a long pass forward!

As soon as Zhang Jun saw Koze passing the ball, he immediately moved forward at high speed! His starting speed allowed him to get rid of an opposing defender all at once, but the second defender quickly made up for it. The ball fell, Zhang Jun took it with his right foot, and then shot powerfully with his left foot! The defender couldn't tackle in time and didn't touch the soccer ball at all!

A twenty-meter long shot!

The soccer ball smashed on the crossbar and went into the goal... Goal!

"goooooooAL!!!" Zhang Jun roared and ran to the sideline, while taking off his jersey and throwing it hard at the billboard, You can't win the game even with one more person!

Volendam, with one less player, equalized the score in the seventieth minute in a very unfavorable situation with a beautiful quick counterattack by Zhang Jun!

Adriaanse punched the air excitedly and roared. He was also under a lot of pressure. Everyone wanted to maintain the undefeated record.

In the subsequent game, Zhang Jun and Hena took turns counterattacking in the front, making the Nijmegen goalkeeper nervous for a while. And Nijmegen, because they were afraid of Volendam's quick counterattacks, didn't dare to attack with all their strength.

Until the last minute, Zhang Jun didn't give up on winning the game. He received Winn's pass in the penalty area and shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper and hit the top of the crossbar and flew out of the baseline.

In the end, Volendam, with one less player, drew with Nijmegen away from home and extended their unbeaten record. And because Ajax and Eindhoven behind them unexpectedly lost, Volendam continued to lead the Dutch Super League with a one-point advantage. Volendam is first!

As expected, Zhang Jun protects Volendam...