Chapter 1 When Chinese Youths Show Their Might in the Netherlands!

When Li Yan looked at the survey data sent from China by Yan Wei in front of his computer, he was shocked. He saw a name that was now rapidly rising to prominence—Kaka, Kaka of the Brazilian national team, Kaka of Sao Paulo. He was actually Zhang Jun's high school teammate! Heavens! Li Yan sighed in his heart. What a team that must have been! He also discovered some very interesting information, but a newspaper could only contain so much. He planned to write about it in more detail in the subsequent *Football Weekly*, which he estimated would cause another earthquake in Chinese football. Li Yan laughed. Why did he feel like a conspirator?

Monday, seven o'clock in the morning, copies of *Titan Sports*, still smelling of ink, were already on newsstands in various provincial capitals.

"Boss, give me a copy of *Titan Sports*." A person pointed to *Titan Sports* on the newsstand while rummaging for money in his pocket.

"You're early. The newspaper just arrived, and you're already here. Haha, here you go."

The man put the change the owner gave him into his pocket, then glanced at the front page news of *Titan Sports*.

"Ah--"

…

Beijing.

Qi Wei had just arrived at the station when he saw his colleagues fighting over a newspaper. He went over and asked, "What's the big deal? Let me see? Oh, it's *Titan Sports*. What's the fuss? Just buy your own copy."

"Buy? Qi Wei, if you can buy one, I'll be impressed!" A colleague turned his head and retorted, then immediately focused his attention back on the newspaper.

"What is it? Is *Titan Sports* made of gold?"

"It's not gold, but it's worth more than gold."

Qi Wei turned his head and saw Wang Jianxiang walking in, also holding a copy of *Titan Sports*. "I wasn't planning to buy one, but then I saw this." Jianxiang handed the newspaper to Qi Wei.

"Chinese Youths Show Their Might in the Netherlands!" A huge red headline, below which was a set of pictures, were photos of two unfamiliar faces in a game. Qi Wei had never seen the orange-yellow jerseys they were wearing, but he recognized their opponents' jerseys as those of Eindhoven. He didn't recognize their opponents in the other picture either.

"This is?" Qi Wei looked at Jianxiang.

"The newspaper is yours. Read it carefully. There's more inside." Wang Jianxiang waved his hand and walked towards his office.

"Reported by our reporter Li Yan, and special reporter Wang Hua from Volendam, Netherlands: Just as Chinese fans are rejoicing that there are now three Chinese players in the English Premier League at the same time, in the Netherlands, in an unknown small club Volendam (fCvolendam), two young Chinese players have already become city heroes. Zhang Jun and Yang Pan..."

…

Henan, Luoyang.

This was the second class that Liang Ke had taught, but he still hadn't remembered the names of these students. Perhaps the first class had left too deep an impression. Liang Ke shook his head. He had discovered another student burying his head under his desk during the early morning reading, not sure what he was looking at, but it certainly wasn't reading English. He quietly walked over, then suddenly stretched out his hand. With a "whoosh," he pulled a newspaper out from inside the desk.

"Not reading English during early reading, what newspaper are you looking at?" Liang Ke was a little angry. He glanced at the newspaper, "*Titan Sports*? Hmm, Chinese Youths Show Their Might..." He didn't read any further. The student who was waiting for the head teacher's reprimand didn't hear the teacher's voice. He curiously looked up, only to find that Liang Ke was no longer there.

"Hey, where did the old class head go?" He nudged the classmate next to him.

"He took the newspaper and went out, reading as he walked, haha! So funny!" The classmate was obviously trying hard to hold back his laughter.

"Next time I'll bring a porno magazine, and see if he looks at it..." The two whispered to each other.

Liang Ke stood at the door of the office. The door was closed, and he didn't want to take out his key to open the door, because that would waste time, waste his time reading the newspaper.

"...The two young players participated in the National High School Football League when they were in high school, and led their school to win the national championship for two consecutive years. They should be considered the first batch of successful professional players cultivated in China's middle school league..."

…

Beijing.

Li Yongle, as always, did his morning exercise. Usually, he would run laps in the school's stadium, but this time he decided to run outside the school, for a change of scenery.

The air in Beijing in the morning was better than at other times, and there were a lot of people exercising early. Li Yongle put on his MP3 and started his daily routine to the rhythm of the music.

The goal of his school this year was the national championship, but his goal was even higher than that. The small national competition was no longer what he was pursuing. In that distant Europa, his goal was there.

He passed a newsstand and found that the usually deserted newsstand was surrounded by people. Curiosity made him squeeze through. With his height, it was easy for him to squeeze into the crowd. Red title, this was the tradition of *Titan Sports*. Looking at the front page:

"Chinese Youths Show Their Might in the Netherlands!"

A familiar smiling face appeared in his eyes…

"...Now they have started their professional football career in the Netherlands, thousands of miles away. Volendam's coach, Adriaanse, introduced Zhang Jun and Yang Pan as two very hardworking players. They started training in the youth team. The youth team coach, Rice, praised the two young players, believing that their future was limitless. Given time, we will definitely see them on the highest level of European competitions..."

Li Yongle stood there in the crowd, looking at the newspaper in front of him, looking at the person in the newspaper.

…

Anhui, Hefei.

Sophie held a copy of *Titan Sports* that still smelled of ink, looking at the picture on it. This was the first time she had seen Zhang Jun since he left. His face was darker, and his body seemed to be stronger. She could see it from the muscles on his legs. Sophie looked at the photo in the classroom for a full half hour, not hearing a single word the teacher said on the platform.

"...Zhang Jun scored the equalizing goal in his first professional league game, and immediately became the hero of the city. And the second game was an even more perfect performance by the two Chinese players. Yang Pan scored two goals and assisted three times (awarding a penalty counts as an assist), while Zhang Jun staged the first hat trick by a Chinese player playing abroad..."

Sophie's eyes stayed on the four words "hat trick" for a long time, unable to move away. To everyone else, this hat trick could make them excited, could make them proud of the Chinese players... but for Sophie, only she could read the code inside, the code of the hat trick. A promise, a birthday promise.

"I will dedicate this birthday gift to you every year on your birthday."

Sophie seemed to see Zhang Jun's blessing after scoring the goal: "Happy birthday, Sophie!"

Sophie buried her head. She didn't want people to see her crying. Her uneasy heart, which had been restless for days, could finally be at peace. Zhang Jun still remembered her birthday, and even though he was in the Netherlands, thousands of miles away, his heart was still with her.

In ten days, she should prepare a birthday gift for Zhang Jun too. Maybe his birthday would have already passed by the time she sent it, but as long as he understood her heart.

Sophie smiled sweetly as she thought about it.

"This question, Sophie, you answer it... Sophie? Sophie? Sophie! Forget it, we'll change to someone else."

It was conceivable what a sensation Li Yan's feature would cause when it was transmitted back to China. Because Adriaanse had always blocked news from the media, the domestic media almost thought that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan had fallen from the sky like "Lin Daiyu." Before they could figure out the situation, the first hat trick by a Chinese player playing abroad was staged in the Netherlands. Even the powerful CCTV5 could only use a soccer ball to replace the goal footage in the midday sports news, and the announcer almost read the news from this issue of *Titan Sports*. At this time, CCTV5 was urgently negotiating with the Dutch side to purchase the footage of the two players' goals. They were trying to release it in the 18:30 sports news to satisfy the demands of the national audience - during this period, CCTV5's phones were about to be blown up, all inquiries about why there was no goal footage.

Just when domestic sports media could only report this "earth-shattering news" in the form of a one-sentence news item or a match report, Li Yan's *Titan Sports* used two broadsheet pages to make a special report on Zhang Jun and Yang Pan. In the name of "Li Yan, front-line reporter from Volendam, Netherlands, special reporter Wang Hua," they detailed their participation in the two games, their training process in the youth team, their lightning signings, their days in Volendam, as well as personal interviews, and their experiences from junior high school, high school, to university, all of which were presented to the readers in detail.

It was conceivable what kind of reaction this issue of *Titan Sports* would cause among readers and colleagues when competitors were suffering from a lack of news material. The calls to the head office all day long - all requests for additional printing, or directly publishing a special edition of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan - were enough to show this.

"Hello? Yan Wei? What's going on? I've been calling for a long time and the line is busy. It should be evening in China now, right? Why is it still busy? What? It's all my fault... No way?" Li Yan looked at Wang Hua beside him and smiled. "It's not that exaggerated, right? Hey, you're complaining about working overtime, you should be thanking me. This month's bonus is going up again! Haha! You should be laughing, not crying! Okay, okay, I'm not kidding anymore, let's get down to business, what's the boss's reaction? Hmm, very happy? That's good, ha! Don't worry, to be honest, I rushed these manuscripts out overnight! Damn, if I don't work hard, all your bonuses will be gone! ... I didn't expect it either. He only played in two games in the Dutch league and cup, and he was able to stage a hat trick... Yes, yes, that kid is a genius! My vision is still... That's right! Your brother Li has read countless people in his life, when have I ever misjudged someone? Task? What task? Ah? *Football Weekly* wants to do a detailed plan? Even more detailed than this? No problem, give me a week, and I'll even find out if they like to grind their teeth or talk in their sleep at night, haha! Just kidding, don't really tell the boss that! I have another thing to ask you, go to Beijing and help me check on someone, go interview him, Li Yongle, this is the person you found, but it's not detailed enough, go check him again carefully, let me tell you, if you do it well, we'll be famous. Also, tell the editor-in-chief to contact the reporter in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to interview Kaka, just say you're a reporter doing a Zhang Jun special, and I'll send the specific planning content to the editor-in-chief. Okay, there's nothing else, I'm hanging up, it's an international call! Hmm, remember, I'll bring you autographed photos of the stars when I get back."

Wang Hua looked at Li Yan happily hang up the phone. "You're very happy, I haven't seen you like this in a long time."

Li Yan lay on the bed in the hotel and stretched out a big stretch. "That's right! I've been reporting on the domestic league for three years, and I've never written such sensational news reports. Our company's phones have been ringing off the hook, all asking for more printing! The people in the company are rushing to work overtime, you know? Any report about those two little guys that I send back now will be as popular as gold and diamonds!" Li Yan said excitedly, his face shining with a magical light. He stared blankly at the ceiling, as if he had already seen his future life path turning here.

While the whole country was still going crazy for the two suddenly appearing Chinese players playing abroad, the two people involved had already started a new day of training. Qiu Suhui took advantage of the break between training to call Zhang Jun and Yang Pan aside: "You have to move."

"Ah? Move?" Zhang Jun was a little surprised.

Qiu Suhui nodded: "This is the result of my discussion with the head coach. If you want to have greater development now, you must first completely solve the language problem and the problem of independent living. Living in Mr. Wang's house, you are using Chinese all the time, which is very detrimental to your proficiency in Dutch. You must know that a translator is equivalent to your crutches. On the court, if you can't throw away the crutches, then you will never be able to truly run. Sometimes, you have to use forceful methods. Also, letting you live in the club's player dormitory is also to protect you. You are celebrities now, China must be in an uproar, and you have to pay attention to your words and deeds from now on."

"Player dormitory? Then... what about Uncle Wang?" Zhang Jun asked.

"He is no longer responsible for taking care of your food and daily life. From now on, from coming to the training ground to train every day, to cooking your own meals after returning home, you have to solve it yourself. As for Mr. Wang, the club plans to hire him as the team's chef. To be honest, the food he makes is really delicious, hehe!" Qiu Suhui rubbed his nose. "And he has been cooking for you for so long, and he is very familiar with the players' diet, so there is no problem in taking on this position."

Zhang Jun breathed a sigh of relief, but Yang Pan then asked, "The club's player dormitory? Where is it?"

Qiu Suhui pointed to a row of bungalows behind the woods with red roofs vaguely visible and said, "There, out of the training ground gate, turn right, walk fifty meters, see an intersection and turn inside, and you're there. It's mainly for players from other places to live in, but not many people live there. Many people are from the local area, so there are plenty of houses. You can choose whatever you want. By the way, Koel and Ochumba live there."

The two followed Qiu Suhui's hand and looked over. In the dense woods, the houses were not very clear, and they could only see those pointed red roofs. The environment should be very good. It would be nice to live with Koel and "Happy Fruit" Ochumba, at least they would have playmates during their rest time.

"Any other questions?"

"No."

"Then go move in after training tomorrow. I have already notified Mr. Wang in advance."

Volendam shares a common feature with many places in the Netherlands, that is, they all have a "dam" at the end of their name, such as "Amsterdam," "Rotterdam"... "Dam" itself means dike, because most of the Netherlands is below sea level, so dikes need to be built in different places to prevent floods. Where there are dikes, there are naturally waterways. This "dam" also indicates the characteristics of Volendam, that is, there are many waterways. Many buildings are built next to the waterways, and you can tour a place by sitting on a boat. Volendam is a seaside city, where you can see the results of the Dutch people's land reclamation from the sea. This area has crisscrossing rivers, rows of windmills, and most of the houses are small buildings from the 19th century. The scenery is charming, and because it is close to the sea, the fishing industry is also very developed, and the folk customs are simple.

The most famous hotel in the city, "delLutine," is the property of Volendam team owner Hoerns. This hotel was built in 1799 and is an old Dutch inn—an old-fashioned house with only three floors. Although old, the business is very good. Europeans pay attention to history and tradition, and the older things are, the more they are cherished and respected. This hotel also brings a lot of money to Hoerns.

Such a place is quite suitable for Zhang Jun's personality, leisurely and relaxed.

Now, they were about to move out of the place where they had lived for more than a month and move to the training base in the suburbs. The neighbors were very reluctant, and Uncle Wang was even more reluctant, but Qiu Suhui was right. For the sake of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's future, for the sake of their greater development, they had to leave.

Hearing that the two players were leaving, the people nearby came to see them off and help, and the scene was very lively for a while.

Wang Hua looked at this scene from the side and said to Li Yan beside him: "Do you think they can become stars? When others come to see them off, they have to thank them one by one. The neighbors seem to treat them just like ordinary people, without any star temperament..."

Li Yan shook his head: "Temperament? What is temperament? Refusing fans' autograph requests? Refusing reporters' interview requests? Attacking the referee on the field? Pushing opponents? The reason why stars are called 'stars' is only because they are better than others on the football field, it doesn't mean that they can be arrogant and superior off the field. I like the way they are now, two ordinary big boys. Think about some so-called 'stars' in China, hum!"

"Hehe! This is not what a football reporter should say!"

"I am not a domestic football reporter now, just an ordinary fan who cares about Chinese football."

The last package was also put on the car, and the move was finally over. In fact, the two didn't have much stuff, but the enthusiasm of the neighbors made them stop again and again.

"Uncle Wang, we're leaving, take care!" Zhang Jun and Yang Pan went up to hug Uncle Wang and say goodbye.

"Anyway, we can meet often in the future. You can definitely see you on TV, and I will definitely go to see Volendam's games." Uncle Wang smiled, his face full of wrinkles.

"You really don't plan to come to the club to be a chef?" Yang Pan asked.

Uncle Wang shook his head: "I can't do it, it's better to concentrate on managing my small restaurant, my wife has been too tired during this time..."

"Then we will come to your place to eat often."

"Haha! If you come, I will treat you with a nutritious meal!"

The three of them laughed, covering up a trace of sorrow of parting.

As the car gradually drove away, Li Yan murmured as he looked at the back of the car: "It must be a new beginning..."

With the help of Koel and Ochumba, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan finally cleaned up the room. They finally had their own house. Looking at the tidy and bright room, Zhang Jun stretched out and said: "Okay, it's another new beginning!"