Chapter 125 Farewell and Departure

Sophie received a call from An Ke, asking her to come to Dawn High School, saying he had something for her. As for what it was, An Ke didn't say. "You'll know when you get here."

Sophie found An Ke in the stands of Dawn Stadium, sitting alone on the concrete seats, looking at the teachers' apartment building across the way. Originally, there were similar stands on the opposite side, but they had been demolished when the school built apartments for the teachers. "I want to buy an apartment there," An Ke said, pointing to the apartment building opposite. "I can see people playing football here anytime, and if my feet get itchy, I can go down and play. Then buy Zhang Jun, Yang Pan, Ren Yudi, and them each an apartment, all as neighbors… oh, and Kaka too. Play football during the day, play cards at night. Doing nothing, how great would that be! But…" An Ke drooped his head, dejectedly saying, "Those are just dreams, I still have to work to support myself in Germany, where would I get the money to buy an apartment? I really envy Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, and Kaka, they're all football stars now, they've all made money…"

"Aren't you planning to become a professional player?" Sophie, who had been listening, finally spoke.

"I'm not." An Ke shook his head, then took out several envelopes from his bag. "These are from Zhang Jun and Yang Pan to your parents, and this one…" He took out an envelope from an inner pocket, which looked no different from the others, "is a New Year's card from Zhang Jun to you. Pretty old-fashioned, right? Hehe, don't worry, I didn't peek."

An Ke smiled, and Sophie blushed.

"I originally planned to come back and see everyone, but that stinky brat Ren Yudi played hide-and-seek with me and moved his whole family away! I wasted a trip. Old Liang also went back to his hometown for the Spring Festival. I haven't seen him in a long time, I wonder how he's doing. This Spring Festival is so boring. I'll go back in a couple of days, if I stay at home any longer, I'll have to listen to my mom's nagging!"

"I'll see you off," Sophie said, putting the envelopes into her small bag one by one.

"No, no!" An Ke waved his hands quickly. "I said before, when I leave, no one is allowed to see me off!"

Especially you, Sophie. What if I get infected by the atmosphere of farewell and do something I shouldn't, my brothers would eat me alive if they found out?

"Then tell me your address there, I'll send you something."

"What is it?"

"You'll know when the time comes, hehe!" Sophie said with a smile.

The two sat on the cold concrete stands, chatting about the past, the present, and the future, until the sun set.

An Ke patted his butt and stood up, stamping his numb legs: "I should go back."

Sophie also stood up, standing on the step above him, gesturing with her hand: "An Ke has grown taller again, I'm still shorter than you even like this."

"Hehe, I think you all need to look up to me!" An Ke puffed out his chest.

"Tch--" Sophie opened her arms, looking at An Ke.

"What?"

"Give me a hug," Sophie said.

"Hugging… hugging you! Are you kid… are you kidding me? I…"

Sophie took the initiative to hug him, "Just consider it as me seeing you off. An Ke, it must be hard for you to be alone in Germany…"

An Ke was in tears in his heart: "Wuwu! I'm so touched! Sophie is getting more and more mature!"

You big pervert…

"Sophie, it's snowing in the Netherlands, what about Luoyang?"

"It's not snowing, I really envy you. It's been a long time since I've seen a good heavy snowfall in Luoyang!"

"Hehe!"

"Don't be silly, doesn't the snow affect you guys more? Your matches…"

"Whether it snows or not, we have to win. The cup is a knockout system, losing one match means losing a whole year!"

"It's a pity I can't see the match."

It's a pity I can't see the match…

Zhang Jun looked at the heavy snow. The snow had stopped yesterday, and the workers spent a whole day clearing the field. But today, just before the match, it started snowing again. Veronika is a small stadium without geothermal heating, so snow can easily accumulate on the field.

The match was indeed difficult. The weather was bad, and they were facing a strong team. But like he told Sophie on the phone, losing one match in the cup meant losing a whole year, so he had to win no matter what. Not to prove anything, but because he didn't want to taste failure.

Seeing Zhang Jun staring blankly at the snow, Kozer thought he was worried about the weather, so he patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, we're at home, and the other team is a technical team, I don't think they'll feel much better than us, in this snow…"

"We must win…"

"What?"

Zhang Jun turned his head to look at Kozer and smiled: "We must win this match!" Then he ran off to warm up, standing there and spacing out made him feel a little cold.

Adrianse was still loudly arranging tactics in the locker room. People who didn't understand Dutch would think he was scolding one of the players.

"The weather conditions for this match are terrible, I hope everyone is careful. Pay attention to protecting yourselves, after all, our goal is still to stay in the league! The cup is a knockout tournament, there's no point in fighting for these matches one by one. Reaching the top eight is already a very good result for us. Don't be misled by the comments from the outside world, they don't understand anything!"

Volendam's fans braved the snow to come and cheer for the team. They wouldn't think as much about the future as Adrianse did. They only knew that the team had entered the top eight of the Dutch Cup, which was indeed a great achievement for a newly promoted team. But they still expected the team to continue to bring them joy.

Breda's coach Cate looked at the sky and frowned: "Damn weather!" A snowflake flew into his eyes.

"We don't need to worry about anything, the other team is far behind us in terms of strength. Besides, their physical condition isn't very good. The last match against Feyenoord almost exhausted everyone's energy. Even if the weather is bad, we can still win," the assistant coach said from the side.

"I hope so…" Cate muttered. The team was doing well in the league, having risen to third place after three consecutive wins, pushing Feyenoord, who lost their last match, out of the top three. He naturally wanted to prove himself in the cup as well.

After a huge uproar, the match began. At the start, both teams were cautious because of the weather. After testing each other for ten minutes, Breda gradually gained the upper hand. Being third in the league wasn't just luck. They frequently took long shots outside the penalty area, causing Westerloup a lot of trouble.

"As expected, there's a gap in strength… How could Breda capsize on this small team?" Cate finally felt relieved after observing for twenty-five minutes. Based on the current situation on the field, it was only a matter of time before Breda scored.

Of course, the home team wasn't completely without opportunities. They also had several beautiful counter-attacking opportunities, but Zhang Jun, who received the ball, would always slip on the field, giving up possession, which was a real shame.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier. When the ball went out of bounds, the fourth official replaced the white football with a red one, making it easier to distinguish in the vast white snow.

Yang Pan's speed advantage was completely useless on this slippery field. Many times, he ran faster than the ball. Often, the football would bounce twice behind him and stop, while he himself couldn't stop and slid a long way before stopping.

This was indeed a difficult match, the coach was right. It was too uneconomical to give it your all in this match… Yang Pan didn't dare to dribble the ball, so he had to pass the football diagonally forward into the penalty area when the opponent's defender didn't press up. Zhang Jun was rushing towards that spot, which was the blind spot between the opponent's two center backs!

Breda's goalkeeper came out!

Zhang Jun was rushing very fast, but even if he got the ball, it would be difficult to handle. The field was too slippery, he didn't dare to make any moves. Plus, plus he ran past it…

Zhang Jun shouted "Damn!" in his heart, turned to look at the ball, and his feet suddenly went into chaos, stumbling.

Some fans sighed, lamenting the loss of another hard-earned attacking opportunity.

If Zhang Jun couldn't get this ball, it would definitely be the goalkeeper's.

Zhang Jun fell forward, flailing his arms to try to maintain his balance, but to no avail. He fell! His left leg swung up, and his heel touched the high ball from Yang Pan. The football changed direction, flying up and over the goalkeeper's head, and then, under everyone's gaze, it fell into the empty net behind the goalkeeper in a very elegant parabola…

Goal!

"gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooAL!!! Zhang Jun!!!"

The snowflakes in the sky seemed to be disturbed by the roars in the stadium, blurring Adrianse's eyes. The match he wanted to give up was snatched back by Zhang Jun's incredible goal in the seventieth minute. Why was he always so unexpected, even the way he scored was like that?

Zhang Jun just wanted to get up, but he was pinned down by a group of ecstatic teammates.

1:0! Volendam led their opponent Breda in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Cup! This goal was scored by Zhang Jun in the seventieth minute with an incredible move!

"Ula! Zhang Jun!!" The fans could only express their love for this young Chinese striker with loud cheers.

Cate turned and punched the roof of the coach's box. He fell down and still managed to hook the ball in with his heel, was that luck? He had emphasized before the match that the defensive line should pay attention to that Chinese number 21. Did his several falls make the defenders relax?

The match restarted, and Breda stepped up their attack, but Volendam became more and more courageous with the support of the home fans. Maybe it was because of Zhang Jun's goal that they felt that even God was on their side today. Immediately afterwards, Yang Pan also had a long shot that slid past the post, making the opposing goalkeeper break out in a cold sweat.

Zhang Jun gave it his all in the match, which could be seen from his clothes, which had no clean spots left on them after he was substituted.

When Adrianse replaced Zhang Jun with Ochou in the eightieth minute, the entire stadium stood up and applauded Zhang Jun, thanking him for bringing such a beautiful goal to the team, and also thanking his fighting spirit.

Zhang Jun, wearing a thick coat, sat on the bench, gasping for breath. Because of the field, he had exerted almost twice as much energy as usual in this match, and felt very tired. But he still scored a very beautiful goal, which made him extremely excited. As a striker, he could only find that sense of existence by constantly scoring goals on the field, right?

In fact, when Adrianse substituted Zhang Jun, it meant that the home team had given up attacking, they wanted to maintain this one-goal lead until the end of the match.

Breda naturally refused to be eliminated like this, and they launched a near-frantic counterattack in the remaining time. But the weather was fair to both sides, the muddy and slippery field increased the difficulty of defending, but it didn't make it any easier for the attackers either.

The remaining match was spent in constant unforced errors from both sides. When the referee blew the final whistle, the entire stadium erupted! Volendam, as a promoted team, made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Dutch Cup!

Zhang Jun, the hero of the win, the only goal scorer, once again became the topic of discussion. His heel goal was once again rated as the best goal of the week by the Dutch media, and some even compared his goal with Van der Vaart's heel goal for Ajax not long ago, and both were named "Scorpion Kick." However, the Chinese media gave it the name "Dragon Tail Swing," they generally believed that the word "scorpion" wasn't very elegant.

Li Yan received the relevant reports sent back by Wang Hua and read them carefully several times. Although he was still staying in China, he was still responsible for all reports related to Zhang Jun and Yang Pan. He had even suggested that the agency send a reporter to continue to follow up on Li Yongle, who was still in college. "Don't look at him now, he's just appearing as a friend of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan in interviews, but he will definitely become famous in the future. At that time, we will have already established a good relationship with him, and it will be easy to get first-hand news." This was what he said to the boss, and the next day the agency assigned a reporter in Beijing to keep an eye on Li Yongle and send some articles back from time to time. They didn't necessarily have to be published, the main thing was to see how the reporter's work was progressing. They weren't looking for his news to increase the circulation of the newspaper now, they just wanted to lay a good foundation for cooperation.

Now the domestic reports about Zhang Jun and them were actually very similar, not very readable. How to highlight yourself in news reports? How to attract attention? Li Yan thought a lot, but still didn't gain anything. Today, after reading the various reports sent back by Wang Hua from the Netherlands, as well as the Dutch reactions, an idea suddenly popped up.

Zhang Jun had excellent performances in two consecutive matches, had the best goal, and was rated as the best player of the match. It could be said that when he stepped onto the professional field, he hardly encountered any difficulties--if the defeat against Ajax could be considered a setback--it was so smooth that it was almost unreasonable.

Where there is a high tide, there must be a trough, this is the law of nature, and no one can change it.

Looking at the exceptionally excited face in the photo, should he remind him? It would also be good to pour some cold water on the many domestic media? Blindly praising him was not good for him, who was only twenty years old, especially since his mind was not mature enough.

Having made up his mind, Li Yan lit a cigarette and wrote furiously on paper.

Two hours later, he threw down his pen, let out a long sigh, and the ashtray next to the manuscript paper was already filled with cigarette butts covered in ash. Every time he wrote about Zhang Jun, it was always so enjoyable, in one go. When he wrote about domestic football in the past, he only had this feeling when exposing certain fixed matches and black whistles, but unfortunately, although there were many fixed matches and black whistles in China, there were not many that could be written about. Most of the time, he was as depressed as a woman in difficult labor.

The next day, when this manuscript was given to the deputy editor-in-chief for review, he decided to publish it in the "titAn Observation" column on the second page of the sports section without changing a single word. "When everyone is caught up in an almost crazy star-making movement, it is necessary for us to pour a bucket of cold water and treat each of their professional matches with a calm attitude. When everyone feels disappointed and sinks, it is equally necessary for us to light a fire for Chinese football and let them see hope, see the Gemini shining in the distant Dutch night sky… This passage is well written! Little Li, you've made significant progress after going to the Netherlands!" The deputy editor-in-chief in charge of the review said approvingly to Li Yan.

"That's thanks to your training! You won't have such a deep feeling for Chinese football without going deep to interview Chinese football."

"I'm afraid that feeling is also very complicated, right?" The deputy editor-in-chief glanced at Li Yan meaningfully.

Li Yan was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "When you step into this door full of hope and anticipation, you are doused with a bucket of cold water. When you are soaked, and others are ridiculing you, you see the starlight of hope… I think that's how I feel."

"Good, the starlight of hope! I just hope this starlight doesn't become a shooting star. The emotions are sincere, the logic is clear, and every word is precious, I have nothing to change. Take it to Old Wei, and publish it in 'titAn Observation'."

The bucket of cold water that Li Yan called "Beware of the Star-Making Movement Trap" was still too small, not enough to extinguish the prairie fire that had rapidly burned in the Chinese football circle. The fans talked about Zhang Jun being able to become the Dutch Super League top scorer all day long, as if scoring goals was as easy as chopping melons and vegetables. Whether Yang Pan could become the assist king, as if all the other Dutch players were idiots. Whether the two could join a top club with the help of their beautiful agent, completing the leap from ugly duckling to beautiful swan. The market determines everything, and the media, in order to cater to the readers, also offered the fans all kinds of analytical articles, all kinds of gossip articles…

"Damn! Gossip articles, huh? I have a basket full of gossip!" Li Yan slammed the newspaper he bought from the newsstand on the table, this loud shout "shook the world," causing other colleagues in the office to look at him one after another. Who told him to see another so-called report on the latest developments in the romance between Zhang Jun and Hua Fang? "《Metropolitan Entertainment News》! Damn it, what are you entertainment newspapers doing getting involved!" If it were before, he would have at most smiled and dismissed such reports. But since meeting Sophie and hearing the love story between Zhang Jun and her, he especially hated reporters who dug into other people's privacy for no reason. What a sweet young couple, you have to break them up to feel comfortable, right? Zhang Jun later told him that he didn't want to pursue anyone's legal responsibility, after all, ignorance is bliss. The problem is, is there any reason or qualification to make wild guesses if you don't know anything? Football players attract people with their legs, not their damn genitals!

Because of the success of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan in the Netherlands, football now seemed to have become fashionable in China. If you didn't care about football, someone would despise you, if you didn't express some opinions about football, you were ignorant. The originally masculine sport had been stirred up into something neither male nor female by some vulgar reports. What did they take football for? A prostitute posing and flirting?

Li Yan knew that this situation was abnormal. When those who didn't understand football at all and had nothing to do with football got involved, this false prosperity was just like the bubble economy of the past, beautiful and incomparably brilliant, but a gentle touch would leave a ground full of sewage, and nothing else would remain.

But what really made Li Yan feel afraid was that this prosperity was precisely what he had stirred up with his own hands. At that time, he only considered the sales of the newspaper and his own promotion and salary increase, but he didn't seem to consider the opposite effect, extremes breed reverses! He was really blinded by fame and fortune.

How could he remedy it? He only had two hands and a pen, and the words he said were like a small boat in the mad tide of Chinese football, and would disappear with a wave.

In early March 2003, when an infectious disease that would shock China and the world in the future was still being concealed and transmitted in a certain place in the south, there was also an undercurrent in Chinese football surging restlessly under people's madness.

Perhaps more than just Li Yan saw through it, but driven by interests, they still pretended not to see it and continued to drive this undercurrent.

This, was the most tragic thing.