Chapter 17 Farewell

The touching farewell scenes were still vivid in his mind as Zhang Junren found himself at the national team's training base.

His situation in the national team hadn't improved much despite his transfer to AC Milan. Arie Haan still didn't like him, and he wasn't keen on actively seeking the coach's favor, preferring to prove himself with his performance in training.

The media mocked Arie Haan for "not even valuing an AC Milan striker." Some even worried that Arie Haan's stubbornness might prevent China from reaching the World Cup, despite having the most promising players in its history.

Qiu Suhui was now mainly responsible for training and no longer offered any opinions on team selection. Arie Haan would rather consult with his Dutch assistant, De Jong, than pay attention to Qiu Suhui, because Qiu was Chen Wei's man.

In the past, the two had a decent relationship. One was Dutch, and the other was practically half-Dutch, having lived in the Netherlands for many years. Arie Haan had even suggested Qiu Suhui's entry into the national team to the Football Association.

But now, everything had changed with Chen Wei's rise to power.

It was no secret that Chen Wei disliked Arie Haan, so the Football Association's silence on the Zhang Jun incident could be seen as an expression of their dissatisfaction. Chen Wei dared to do this because he believed someone was better than Arie Haan. This person was familiar with everything Chinese, including football. He understood advanced European football theories, had rich and successful coaching experience, and had good football connections in Europe. He was good at uncovering players' potential, could get along with those around him, and was young and open-minded. More importantly, his personal relationship with Chen Wei was extraordinary; they were of similar age and addressed each other as brothers in private. This person was Qiu Suhui, Chen Wei's direct protégé, whom he had nurtured. Qiu Suhui could be said to have been indispensable to Chen Wei's becoming the head of the Football Association.

And Chen Wei had promised Qiu Suhui that he would definitely become the coach of the Chinese national team.

Now, they just needed to find an excuse to fire Arie Haan.

It could be said that the "Zhang Jun incident" was accidental and not part of Chen Wei's plan. But it was a good trigger. If Arie Haan didn't handle it well, it could have serious consequences.

Sure enough, the stubborn, straight-talking old Dutchman directly banished the highly popular Zhang Jun to the bench.

If it hadn't been for Zhang Jun and Li Dayu in the match against Japan, he would have been fired on the plane back to China. Chinese fans would never tolerate the humiliation of losing twice in a row to Japan.

The Football Association had originally intended to exploit this sentiment among Chinese fans, but Zhang Jun didn't play any tricks. Otherwise, he could have played passively, citing the wrong position, too little time, and a strong opponent as reasons. Then Arie Haan could have "resigned in disgrace."

Yang Pan, who saw through the Football Association's plan, later felt very sorry for Zhang Jun.

But Zhang Jun just smiled in response to Yang Pan's "accusation." Even if the coach had let him down, he wouldn't take the entire national team hostage to get revenge.

"One should be kind, Yang Pan," Zhang Jun said, quoting a classic line from the movie *Cell Phone* as an explanation.

Yang Pan curled his lip, deeply disagreeing. If you're kind to others, but they're not kind to you, what can you do? Suffer in silence? Sometimes, you need to play some tricks to achieve your goals. Anyway, this goal can only be good for the Chinese team. Of course, Yang Pan only said these things in his heart; he wouldn't tell Zhang Jun. After all, they had different personalities and different principles and methods of doing things. There was no need to force others to accept his ways.

At the same time, even though Zhang Jun couldn't get a game in the national team, Yang Pan couldn't stand up for him, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to protect himself, let alone stick his neck out.

※※※

The Chinese team gathered domestically, then flew to Bahrain for their first match of the second round, which was an away game against Bahrain.

Zhang Jun was now missing Sophie and his parents. As soon as the season ended, he had flown directly to the national team without going home. The cold treatment he received in the national team made him miss his warm home and Sophie's understanding smile even more.

Not only did the coach dislike him, but some of the forwards who were in direct competition with him also didn't like him, especially Li Yiming. Because when the outside world commented on the strained relationship between Zhang Jun and the head coach, they always criticized Li Yiming as well. Many fans even believed that Li Yiming was purely "occupying a latrine without shitting" in the national team.

This hurt the pride of this Shenzhen star striker. He had been in the football scene for so many years, yet he couldn't compare to a novice kid?

He couldn't retaliate against all the fans, so he had to vent his anger on Zhang Jun, never giving him a friendly look and always finding fault with him. He believed that Zhang Jun had stolen his position. In reality, Zhang Jun was just a substitute, and his position in the coach's mind was even lower than his. His current situation was entirely his own doing. Who told him to be so uncompetitive? But narrow-minded people will always look for reasons in others instead of reflecting on themselves.

Zhang Jun had risen rapidly in the past two years, and some authoritative media had already given him the title of "China's number one striker," which also aroused the dissatisfaction of many "big shots" in the national team.

Why should he get all the attention? Why should all the praise go to him alone? Most importantly, why did good commercial contracts always find him first?

Zhang Jun only had a few friends in the current national team, almost all of whom were players who played abroad.

This time, Arie Haan didn't recall youth team players like Li Yongle. An Ke was in the team, but the starting goalkeeper of Dortmund, the third-best rookie in the Bundesliga this season, and the best rookie goalkeeper was just a substitute in the national team.

Wang Hui, Li Yi, Shao Jiayi, and Zhang Jun had a good relationship. They all played abroad, so they had more to talk about.

※※※

Wang Hui was looking through photos of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan from their time in the Netherlands in their room. He and Zhang Jun shared the same plight, so he would often drop by for a visit. As a senior player in the national team, he always helped these newcomers who had just arrived. Wang Hui was well-liked in the national team. If it weren't for his care, these young people, who were inexperienced but famous, would probably have already left.

"Tsk, tsk! Compared to you guys, I don't think there's anything worth mentioning about my little adventures in England. It's so boring!" Wang Hui said with a sigh, looking at the photos of Zhang and Yang holding the Dutch Cup.

"Haha, you're the most successful player playing abroad!" Zhang Jun said with a smile.

"You're mocking me," Wang Hui said with a shake of his head and a smile. "You're about to go to AC Milan, so don't be so petty with a small guy like me, okay?"

Zhang Jun laughed loudly as well. They always joked around when they were together. Wang Hui wasn't like his good friend Hao Haidong, who always seemed to put pressure on people—even though Hao Haidong himself liked to joke around with people he knew well—Wang Hui's personality was more outgoing and humorous, and Zhang Jun didn't feel any pressure when he was with him.

"Damn it!" Yang Pan said, pushing open the door and swearing without rhyme or reason. Zhang Jun smiled and said, "Lost to An Ke at billiards again?"

"Need you ask?" Yang Pan said with a dark face. "I haven't beaten him since high school."

"Then why do you always play with him? Isn't that just humiliating yourself?"

"Ah! It's just boring anyway!" Yang Pan said, lying down on the soft bed and striking a comfortable "big" character pose.

Wang Hui looked at the two people in front of him and thought of his own group of brothers. Back then, seven or eight of them had grown up together and entered a professional youth team to receive training together. But due to various reasons, only he had persisted in playing football and made a name for himself. He really envied Zhang Jun and his friends, who were all developing directly abroad and wouldn't have their careers affected by those petty matters at home.

If we had been born a few years later, we would probably be much better off now, wouldn't we? Wang Hui suddenly felt that it wasn't worth it for his brothers who had given up football.

"By the way, I went out for a walk today, and the temperature in Manama is really high!" Yang Pan said from the bed. "I wanted to go shopping, but I gave up after walking only a hundred meters, so I had to accompany An Ke to play billiards."

"That's for sure. The summers in Middle Eastern countries are very hot, basically above forty degrees," Wang Hui replied. "We've played a lot of games in these places, but we still can't get used to it every time."

"Didn't they say that the games were scheduled to be played in the evening because of the weather? So there shouldn't be any problems," Zhang Jun said. This was his first time fighting in West Asia, and he wasn't very familiar with the climate here.

"No problems?" Yang Pan snorted. He remembered the previous away game against Kuwait. "You'll know if there are any problems when the time comes."

Wang Hui heard the hidden meaning in Yang Pan's words, and his face turned slightly red. He felt a little uncomfortable. Although he believed that he had been worthy of every minute he played, he still felt that he was losing face in front of these two youngsters on behalf of the players of his generation.

Zhang Jun was puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Yang Pan didn't want to embarrass Wang Hui too much, so he just sighed cryptically. "Some things, the weather is just an excuse."

"Wow, judging from your tone, are we going to lose?" Zhang Jun exclaimed.

"Pah! Pah! Crow's beak, don't say that!"

※※※

Yang Pan felt that it was a waste of talent for Zhang Jun not to buy football lottery tickets. Because "as he had predicted," the Chinese team lost 0-1 to Bahrain in the away game.

Zhang Jun didn't play in this game, and Yang Pan was also replaced by Wang Hui with ten minutes left in the game. At that time, the score was still 0-0. Arie Haan wanted to hold on to this point, but Bahrain's top scorer, Ala'a Hubail, gave the Chinese team a fatal blow two minutes before the end of the game.

He shook off the reckless Chinese captain, then took a low shot, and the ball rolled into the goal along the post. Liu Fei couldn't reach it and could only watch the ball with a sigh.

Zhang Jun couldn't understand from the sidelines why the Chinese team had collectively shown symptoms of fatigue from the very beginning of the game. The only ones who looked like players on the field were Yang Pan, Shao Jiayi, and Li Yi.

Although the weather was hot and humid, it wasn't suffocating. But look at those players who were usually so energetic. One by one, they couldn't even lift their legs, and they would stop the ball three meters away. Was this a national team that had been professionalized for ten years? It wasn't even as good as Bahrain, a semi-professional team.

In fact, there were many things that Zhang Jun couldn't understand.

※※※

As soon as the game ended, Chen Wei jumped up excitedly in the Football Association's meeting room, but of course, he showed a completely opposite expression—a furious one.

"That old Dutchman! Zhang Jun didn't play, Wang Hui was only brought on at the end, and the players didn't put in any effort! What is he doing? What are they doing?!"

Realizing his gaffe, Chen Wei calmed down and said slowly to the vice presidents present, "I think none of you have any objections to removing Arie Haan from his position as head coach, right?"

The vice presidents looked at each other, but who could have any objections? Chen Wei had long wanted to get rid of this cheap import that Luo Wenqiang had signed, but he had been struggling to find a suitable excuse. Now that the opportunity had come, how could he let it go?

In this way, Chen Wei's work to clear out the remnants of the Luo Wenqiang era was almost complete. According to him, Chinese football was really going to completely bid farewell to the Luo Wenqiang era and usher in a brand-new future. Years later, when people mentioned this period of history, he hoped that it would be called the "Chen Wei era."

※※※

Two days later, the Chinese Football Association officially announced the dismissal of the Dutchman Arie Haan from his position as head coach of the national team. His Dutch assistant, De Jong, was also fired. Qiu Suhui took over as the head coach of the Chinese national team.

This wasn't too surprising of a piece of news. Many people knew that Chen Wei wanted to get rid of Arie Haan and that Qiu Suhui would replace him. In addition, Arie Haan was stubbornly inflexible and not as lovable as his predecessor, Milu. So, let him go. Not many people would sympathize with him. However, some media cautiously expressed their concerns: at the most critical moment of the qualifiers, suddenly changing the head coach, would it have any adverse effects on future games? After all, it was a major taboo in military affairs to change generals before a battle.

But they hadn't thought that if Chen Wei had had this intention long ago, how could he not have had Qiu Suhui prepare to take over the team?

The reason for Arie Haan's dismissal was simple: losing to Bahrain in the away game. As a result, Bahrain had two wins and two losses in four games, with six points, while the Chinese team had two wins, one draw, and one loss in four games, with seven points. With two rounds left, it had to be said that the situation was critical.

The Football Association didn't say that the reason for the dismissal was also the conflict between Arie Haan and Zhang Jun, which was for the purpose of protecting Zhang Jun and avoiding focusing attention on him.

This was almost impossible given the past style of the Football Association. At that time, whenever something went wrong with the Football Association, they couldn't wait to push all the responsibility onto others: clubs, players, coaches, referees, and even fans. In short, it had nothing to do with them.

Arie Haan, who had been fired, naturally protested on his own behalf when he was interviewed. He calculated for the reporter that he had only lost two games in international A-level events since he took over the Chinese team. One was the Asian Cup final, and the other was the match against Bahrain. He had turned the Chinese team into the fastest-improving team in 2004. Such brilliant results were actually dismissed because of a loss in a World Cup qualifier. No matter which country you went to, it was unreasonable for the Football Association to do this.

Moreover, he had brought many improvements and changes to Chinese football. Chinese football was generally in a state of continuous progress and rising momentum. To sum it up in one sentence: he felt it was unfair. Even if the fact that he was fired was unchangeable, he wouldn't feel like a failure.

When a reporter asked him about the issues between him, Zhang Jun, and Wang Hui, he put on the appearance of an elder and advised Zhang Jun that if he didn't change his lazy habit of not tracking back to defend, he wouldn't achieve much.

When Yang Pan saw these words, he told Zhang Jun very seriously to treat his "advice" as fart, otherwise he would be the one who "won't achieve much."

Arie Haan's complaints had no effect. In the end, he still took the liquidated damages given to him by the Football Association and boarded a flight to Amsterdam with his assistant, De Jong, on a night when no one was paying attention.

When he left, only three reporters were present, a far cry from the "grand occasion" when he first arrived in China full of ambition.

Qiu Suhui, the translator, was busy preparing for the national team at the time, so he naturally didn't have time to see him off at the airport. He was so busy that he even forgot to make a farewell call.

Arie Haan was gone, and the era of Qiu Suhui had arrived. What changes would the national team undergo under his leadership? Everyone was watching.

※※※

Qiu Suhui got the position of head coach of the national team as he wished, but at the same time, he also took on greater and heavier responsibilities. In the remaining two rounds of the competition, he had to ensure that the Chinese team could qualify from Group B. He couldn't afford to lose to either North Korea or Japan.

But Qiu Suhui had been prepared for this long ago. Ever since he chose to become a coach, he was destined to have pressure follow him for the rest of his life.

First of all, he made some adjustments to the national team's personnel, recruiting two young players, Liu Peng and Li Suisheng. He didn't intend to let them play. After all, for the sake of the team's unity and stability, the defense line led by the captain couldn't be touched yet, but his intention in recruiting these two was also very clear: whoever doesn't work hard, there are people waiting to take their place. At the same time, he was preparing for his major surgery after the qualifiers.

In midfield, Zhao Pengyu was added as a substitute.

No new players were added to the front line.

It could be seen that he was vigorously promoting those people from the national youth team, so that players with potential could receive more attention and greater importance. Some media analyzed that this was very normal. Any coach would want to cultivate his own power base, which would make his work easier in the future. However, this was bound to cause a certain degree of panic among the existing players.

This was the effect that Qiu Suhui wanted. He used this move to convey the following message to those "big shots": there are many people in the national youth team with potential and strength. If you still want to rely on your seniority and have a lot of tricks up your sleeves, then I'm sorry, get out of here as soon as possible. I have a lot of people waiting to be arranged here.

Subsequently, Qiu Suhui promoted Zhang Jun to the starting lineup. As the main striker, he would partner with the thirty-five-year-old Hao Haidong.

Li Yiming was naturally disgruntled, but what could he do? He was just a player. Did he dare to compete with the Chinese Football Association behind Qiu Suhui?

Moreover, Qiu Suhui's substitution this time had received almost overwhelming support. Li Dayu didn't even say anything. Why should this "main substitute" take the lead?

The subsequent match against North Korea proved the correctness of this substitution. Under the pressure of not being able to lose another game, the Chinese team won 3-1 against their opponent in the away game.

The Chinese team had the best possible start to this game. They scored a goal in just four minutes of the opening. At that time, Yang Pan made a strong cross on the right, and Zhang Jun followed up in the middle, but he didn't head the ball, because the North Korean defender in front of him headed the ball into his own goal in a panic under his interference.

Own goal!

The scene was chaotic at the time. Liu Hongmin and Wang Jianxiang, who were commentating on the game, thought that Zhang Jun had scored a goal, and they shouted excitedly, "This is Zhang Jun's first goal for the national team!" Then they began to praise Zhang Jun for his high efficiency. As long as he was given trust, he would repay it with goals.

But soon the TV replay made the two of them feel embarrassed for a while: it wasn't Zhang Jun who scored the goal at all.

The two of them reacted quickly and said that Yang Pan's pass was good, but Zhang Jun's follow-up in the middle was even more indispensable. If it weren't for his threat, the opponent wouldn't have made a mistake in a hurry and headed in an own goal. In short, Zhang Jun was indeed extraordinary.

But the tenacity of the North Koreans was no less than that of the country south of the 38th parallel. They used a corner kick to equalize the score before the end of the first half.

This goal once again exposed the Chinese team's current weakness in heading the ball on the defensive end. Two center backs, one 1.84 meters tall and the other 1.83 meters tall, coupled with unreasonable use of technology. Defending high balls always made people worry. The "Chinese Header Team" could only scare Southeast Asian teams, and now they couldn't even scare West Asians.

During the half-time break, Qiu Suhui didn't make any adjustments on the defensive end, but just asked to increase the offensive intensity. Now, the Chinese team was not competing with North Korea on defense, but on who could score more goals. Qiu Suhui knew that with the current lineup, the Chinese team's defense was obviously weaker than its offense. He didn't have time to focus on defense, so he could only try to maximize his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, and use offense to make up for it.

In the second half, it was still Zhang Jun who successfully broke through in the middle after a strong breakthrough, but he didn't choose to split the ball to the wings, but passed it to Hao Haidong. This was unexpected, and the North Korean defenders were all fooled, but Hao Haidong, this old Jianghu, was experienced and appeared in the right place, and then pushed the ball accurately into the near corner, helping the Chinese team take the lead again 2-1.

Hao Haidong thanked Zhang Jun for his selfless assist and high-fived him in celebration.

Then Yang Pan assisted Hao Haidong again to score a header, and the Chinese team won 3-1 against North Korea in the away game.

On the other side, Japan defeated Bahrain, and has remained undefeated to this day, firmly occupying the top spot in the group. The Chinese team is in second place with ten points. Since Bahrain still only has six points, the Chinese team and the Japanese team have qualified in advance.

The Chinese team has reached the World Cup finals for the second time in a row! This once again made the obsessed Chinese fans go crazy. They took to the streets to celebrate, with the five-star red flag, firecrackers, and laughter. Everything was like a replica of the 2001 top ten competition. No, people are much more rational now than they were then. They wouldn't attribute the qualification to the good luck of the draw, because we have a group of promising players, a truly capable head coach, and a pragmatic and enterprising Football Association leadership team. It was only natural that we were able to qualify for the German World Cup.

After the game, the Chinese team didn't hold a big celebration, after all, it was in someone else's territory. They just celebrated in the locker room. Everyone was still saving their energy and would have a good celebration at their home stadium after the final match against Japan on August 17.

※※※

Two months later, on August 17, the Chinese people, who had been itching to try for a long time, welcomed the Japanese team to their home stadium.

For the quarter-finals, the Chinese Football Association still chose the stadium that hosted the 2001 top ten competition—Shenyang Wulihe Stadium. On the one hand, they wanted to continue the good luck of 2001; on the other hand, Chen Wei also wanted to make a commemoration: if it hadn't been for the strike that happened here last year, many problems in Chinese football wouldn't have been exposed and widely recognized by many people, and he wouldn't have come to power so smoothly.

This game was still highly anticipated even though both teams had already qualified. Both the Chinese and Japanese teams sent out their strongest lineups.

The Japanese team wanted to maintain their undefeated record against the Chinese team, while the Chinese team wanted to take revenge. The scene was very lively in the crazy shouts of the home fans. Some of the moves seemed to be aimed at people.

This forced both head coaches to replace many of their main players in the second half. After all, they didn't want to injure important players for the sake of one game, which would affect the World Cup. That wouldn't be worth it.

Zhang Jun was replaced by Qiu Suhui after playing for sixty minutes, because he was the most fouled person on the Chinese team. As the spearhead, he and Hao Haidong were given special attention, but his reputation was not small internationally. The Japanese had always been afraid of the strong, so they would naturally take care of the most powerful one first.

Zhang Jun was knocked down by them ten times in sixty minutes, an average of once every six minutes. What a terrible frequency that was. Moreover, the Japanese team had a lot of tricks up their sleeves. Many of their moves were difficult to defend against, so you would suffer a loss and not even be able to say anything.

As a result, when Zhang Jun was replaced in the sixtieth minute, he didn't score a goal, but the Chinese team was indeed leading the Japanese team 1-0. The goal was scored from a penalty kick, which was precisely because the Japanese defender's brain was on fire. He tripped Zhang Jun in the penalty area, and Shao Jiayi easily put the penalty kick in. At that time, the crazy cheers from Wulihe Stadium could probably be heard ten miles away.

Unfortunately, just as Qiu Suhui was replacing Shao Jiayi to give Zhao Pengyu a chance, the Chinese team's defense made another low-level mistake. The captain missed a man on defense, allowing Japanese striker Yoshito Okubo to easily head the ball.

Liu Fei had no way to deal with the close-range header, standing still and turning his head to watch the ball drill into the upper corner of the goal.

This goal immediately silenced the Wulihe Stadium, which had been happily noisy, and then boos quickly sounded. It was hard to say whether they were booing the elated Japanese team or the Chinese team's terrible defense.

This goal made Qiu Suhui very angry. He shouted and jumped up and down below, looking furious and very disappointed with the Chinese team's defense. In reality, he wasn't as angry as he showed. As a coach, he knew very well the true strength of the Japanese team. It wouldn't be easy for the Chinese team to defeat them in their current state, and maybe they would have to pay some price. Anyway, both sides had already qualified, so a draw was also an acceptable good result.

But the act he had just put on was to let everyone see through the TV broadcast that he was very dissatisfied with the defense. Coach Qiu was very angry, and the consequences would be serious. He was building momentum and paving the way for the major surgery in the future. He could even imagine what the newspapers to be published tomorrow would say: "Qiu Suhui is dissatisfied with the defense, and the Chinese team narrowly draws with Japan."

Because of this goal, Yang Pan was also able to stay on the field. Qiu Suhui replaced the older Hao Haidong. He now needed Yang Pan to contain the Japanese team's forces alone. In the remaining ten minutes, the Japanese and Chinese teams had their own attacks and defenses, but no one scored a goal. This final qualifier ended in a draw amidst the boos of the fans.

For Chinese fans, they would feel extremely regretful. But for Qiu Suhui, now was not the time to compete with Japan. He had to put all his energy into reorganizing the national team. After he completed the reorganization, eliminated some parasites, introduced fresh blood, and gave this team some time to train together, he would have the confidence to compete with Japan in Asia and compete for the dominance of Asia after the German World Cup.

Although they were forced to a draw by the Japanese team at home, this wouldn't affect everyone's good mood. After all, China had reached the World Cup finals for the second time in a row, which was definitely a major event in Chinese sports in 2005.

It was also undoubtedly a glorious report card for Chen Wei's Football Association.

Qiu Suhui also used practical actions to prove his ability and establish authority in front of everyone.

Everyone was happy.

※※※

The national team had achieved great success, and the players naturally benefited from it, with commercial contracts flying into their hands one after another. Zhang Jun and Yang Pan received the most contracts, and even An Ke, a substitute who hadn't played a single game, received several.

Among these contracts, the most noteworthy were not the world-class contracts to endorse Gillette razors or Mercedes-Benz, but a public welfare contract that didn't charge a penny: the two were appointed as spokespersons for the China Youth Development Foundation. The foundation believed that the two healthy and positive images would definitely play a role in imitating the growth of young people. The two were also very interested in this unpaid work and readily agreed.

Chen Wei was also a flexible-minded person. After hearing this news, he immediately expressed to the foundation that the Football Association was also willing to cooperate with the Youth Development Foundation and become a sponsor of the foundation, on the condition that the foundation help them jointly promote the "Youth Campus Football Promotion Plan" that the Football Association was about to implement.

Such a plan, which was greatly beneficial to the physical and mental health of young people, coupled with the Chinese team's entry into the World Cup finals, greatly increased the public's goodwill toward football. The foundation naturally had no objections.

Zhang Jun, Yang Pan, and the Chinese Football Association had greatly improved their image in the public eye. Good things came in pairs.

※※※

On the fourth day after the match against Japan, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan finished handling various commercial activities and rushed to attend several celebration parties. Before they had time to rest properly at home with their families, they had to say goodbye and board a flight to Milan. After being separated for two years, the two gathered together again, plus Kaka, who was already waiting at AC Milan. What kind of great career would the three of them create together? Could they reproduce the style of the Dutch Three Musketeers back then?

At present, all of these are still unknown.

Zhang Jun didn't think so much about it. He was still thinking about his parents' smiling faces and Sophie's lonely eyes.

There were too many activities of all kinds this summer, and he still didn't have time to be with his parents and Sophie. This time of separation, when they meet again, I'm afraid it will be another year.

Sophie graduated smoothly from school. Having obtained her degree certificate, she should now start looking for a job. He had already told Li Yan to see if he could arrange for Sophie to work as a photojournalist at some newspaper. Li Yan agreed that it was no problem, so he was relieved.

As for his parents, he sometimes felt that he owed them more and more. It was true that his son was promising, famous, and made a lot of money, but the opportunities to chat with them were becoming fewer and fewer. Watching them force a smile to send him off, he asked himself in his heart: would this be considered unfilial?

But soon, he would use another idea to get himself out of trouble.

Anyway, he was still young. If he didn't take advantage of this time to do something, make a name for himself, and realize his dream, would he wait until he was old?

As for the relationship with his parents, he would come back once a year and make a phone call often. It would be fine. He would accompany them well after he retired.

There was still plenty of time! The night was long enough to light up the street lamps one by one. ...Yawn!

Zhang Jun realized that he had to get over his jet lag now, so he put on his eye mask and gradually fell asleep in anticipation of AC Milan.