Chapter 1 Yang Muge's Moment

The most eye-catching moment for Yang Muge happened when he suddenly appeared in front of Auer and tackled the ball away.

It was the first time in the match that he surprised everyone and made their eyes light up.

But afterwards, as the light faded, he was like a dark stone, lying quietly on the ground, inconspicuous, and almost impossible to find if you didn't look carefully.

But if you ignored him because of that, you'd be more likely to trip over him.

Didn't Augsburg already prove that?

Yang Muge stood on the field, and the television broadcast hadn't given him a close-up since that defense.

But he didn't care about that.

He just wanted to complete his defensive tasks; he didn't care about being in the limelight.

He was a defensive midfielder, and he always remembered what his task was.

Not to be in the limelight, but to defend.

After Auer nearly launched a successful counterattack, Schalke 04 began to pay attention to the problems in their defense, so they played more balanced, and Yang Muge wasn't needed to hold up the sky all by himself in defense.

So Yang Muge was hidden away again, or rather, he consciously hid himself.

When the whole team started to no longer neglect defense, there was no need for him to be in the limelight again.

Augsburg's counterattack was contained.

In the sixty-sixth minute, defender Christian Fuchs extended Schalke 04's lead.

Augsburg's counterattacking spirit was completely suppressed.

The game completely entered Schalke 04's rhythm.

Augsburg no longer had the ability to threaten Schalke 04's goal, and what about Yang Muge? There were no more opportunities to be in the limelight.

In the eighty-fourth minute, Yang Muge's roommate Raul completely sealed the victory for Schalke 04, 3:1. With only six minutes left in the game, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

After celebrating, Raul made a special trip to hug Yang Muge: "How about it, young man, still nervous?"

Yang Muge smiled, "I've already forgotten about being nervous."

"Haha!" Raul patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "You're a defensive midfielder, Yang. Maybe your position isn't glamorous, and there's not much spotlight, but it's very important, just keep playing like this."

Yang Muge nodded, "I will, Raul. I'll keep playing like this, and I'm not thinking about being in the limelight."

※※※

In the end, after some twists and turns at home, Schalke 04 defeated Augsburg, who were at the bottom of the league, 3:1.

The best player of the match was given to Huntelaar, who had an assist and a goal in the game.

Apart from those few defensive plays, there was nothing that would make people remember Yang Muge after the match; he was not the darling of the media and fans.

Because of this, the Chinese reporters were worried that after this match, Yang Muge would return to the bench again, or wouldn't even make the squad list.

So at the post-match press conference, the Chinese reporters only asked questions about Yang Muge, hoping to make the young man's name be remembered by head coach Stevens.

But they clearly underestimated Stevens' love for Yang Muge.

"Yang? His performance was very good, there's nothing to criticize. We didn't face much pressure in defense for most of the time, but when the threat suddenly came, he maintained good concentration and made the right reactions. I'm very satisfied with his performance."

Stevens said.

Hearing him say this, the first reaction of the Chinese reporters was not happiness, but looking at each other in surprise—because they didn't expect Stevens to give Yang Muge such a high evaluation. They originally thought that the other party would politely say a few words of praise, which would be a very good result.

Unexpectedly, Stevens also explained in detail why Yang Muge's performance was good, and in what ways it was good.

This showed that he was not being perfunctory with the Chinese reporters. It also showed that his love for Yang Muge was from the bottom of his heart.

These uneasy Chinese reporters didn't know that, in the eyes of Schalke 04 coach Stevens, he had already found the best candidate for the midfield defense.

He didn't need the kind of player who plays as a defensive midfielder but constantly rushes forward to organize the attack, or even steal the center forward's job.

He also didn't need the kind of defensive midfielder who insists on showing off his footwork in the backfield, dribbling past several people.

What he needed was someone like Yang Muge, who was conscientious and dedicated, didn't talk nonsense, but could complete all the tasks you gave him.

※※※

Yang Muge's match was over. For him, this match didn't really have any room for media hype. He didn't score a goal in the match, nor did he provide an assist. None of Schalke 04's three goals had much to do with him.

He just completed a few defensive tasks in the match, but for a defensive midfielder, isn't that a basic requirement?

Even if the media wanted to praise him, they couldn't praise him from this point.

Zhou Yi's debut and Sun Pan's debut both had gimmicks and explosive points, and media publicity and operation were easy. Zhou Yi had goals and assists, and Sun Pan relied on his own strength to help the underdog eliminate the powerful Dortmund.

What did Yang Muge have?

Schalke 04 defeating Augsburg at home was a very normal result. Yang Muge only had a few successful defenses in the match, and nothing else.

Yang Muge became a difficult problem that the reporters were scratching their heads over.

This match was the last of the Five Little Dragons to make an appearance in a professional match. Logically speaking, it was very meaningful and had to be written about in a big way.

But Yang Muge's situation made it difficult for the reporters.

He himself was also very low-key. It could be seen from the post-match interview that he was shy and introverted. He was unwilling to talk much about his performance in the match, but said that the victory was the result of the team's efforts, and he was very happy to get a chance to play…

Such an answer was too ordinary!

If it were someone else, they would probably have been promoting themselves non-stop…

These Chinese reporters also stopped Yang Muge's teammates in the mixed zone, hoping to hear more evaluations about Yang Muge from his teammates.

But most of the Schalke 04 players' evaluations were similar: "He's a good person, easy to get along with, although he doesn't talk much, he always has a smile on his face…"

And then?

Nothing.

Nothing?!

Yes, that's it!

In the end, some other additions were only obtained from Draxler's mouth.

Because Draxler was Yang Muge's friend at Schalke 04.

Some reporters with not-so-high requirements took these things and started to go back to write their稿子 (gaozi - articles).

But some reporters with high requirements felt that this information was not enough.

Although they were called the Five Little Dragons, they knew the least about Yang Muge before, and more or less ignored this person. And in fact, there really wasn't anything on Yang Muge that was worth their attention. In terms of personality, he wasn't as outstanding as Sun Pan. In terms of achievements, he was of course not as good as Zhou Yi. In terms of talent, he was not as good as He Ying, who had become famous early on. Even Guo Nu, who played in Cesena, had gimmicks—with his height of 1.78 meters, he could secure a starting center-back position in a team in Serie A, and the explosive power of his muscles was enough for the media to hype for a while.

What did Yang Muge have?

Nothing.

After thinking about it, some reporters thought of the other four of the Five Little Dragons. Zhou Yi had said that the five of them were very good friends, so could they get more details about Yang Muge from them?

So, next, Zhou Yi's phone rang.

As soon as he answered, the other party introduced himself as a reporter. Zhou Yi thought it was an interview related to himself, but he didn't expect that the questions asked were all about Yang Muge.

So after ending the call, Zhou Yi complained in the group chat: "Damn, I just got a call, it was actually to ask me about Lao Yang (Old Yang - a nickname for Yang Muge), all ten minutes of the call were asking about Lao Yang, not a single one about me! The dignified Dortmund core actually became Lao Yang's supporting cast!"

Sun Pan laughed happily in the group chat: "Hahahaha! Well done, reporter!"

Guo Nu also laughed and pounded the ground: "2333333333!"

As a result, ten minutes later, Sun Pan said in the group: "Damn it, I also got a call from a reporter, also asking about Lao Yang!"

"Hehe." Zhou Yi sneered. "Retribution comes quickly!"

Immediately afterwards, He Ying suddenly popped up in the group: "What's the situation? I got a call from a reporter, asking me about Lao Yang."

"I guess those reporters really can't find more things about Lao Yang, so they're asking us for help." Zhou Yi said.

"That's right, Lao Yang is indeed a very low-key person, so low-key that everyone is almost ignoring him…" Guo Nu agreed.

"At this time, Lao Guo (Old Guo - a nickname for Guo Nu) must be anxiously waiting for a reporter to call you, right?" Zhou Yi suddenly led the topic to Guo Nu.

Guo Nu suddenly had a bad feeling: "I'm not!"

"Look, you can still talk in the group, which means the reporter didn't call you at all. It seems that the most invisible 'invisible man' among the five of us isn't Lao Yang, it's Lao Guo!" Sure enough, Zhou Yi immediately came in for the kill.

"Damn it!" Guo Nu sent an expression of covering his face, laughing, and crying, and then said, "I can get shot even with this!"

Just after he finished speaking, he excitedly said in the group again: "My phone is ringing!"

"Lao Guo breathed a sigh of relief—finally someone remembers me…" Sun Pan said.

"Don't be too happy, Lao Guo, this call is from me." Zhou Yi said.

Guo Nu picked up the phone next to the computer and looked at it. The name in the caller ID column was really… Zhou Yi's name!

"Damn it!" He roared in the group. "Damn it, it's really you!"

"Hahahahaha!" Sun Pan laughed and pounded the ground. "Well done, Zhou Yi!"

"Pfft!" He Ying was also amused.

"Are you touched?" Zhou Yi put down his phone and typed on the computer. "See, I'm the only one in this world who's good to you, only I haven't forgotten you. Having a friend like me is really a blessing you've cultivated for eight lifetimes!"

"Get lost!" Guo Nu just finished sending this message, and then immediately said, "My phone is ringing again, it won't be you again, Zhou Yi?"

"Can't you take a look yourself? Am I such a boring person!" Zhou Yi said seriously.

"Yes!" Guo Nu answered without hesitation.

Then he stopped talking.

"Well, it looks like Lao Guo is really accepting an interview with a reporter…" Zhou Yi speculated.

Then he chatted idly with Sun Pan in the group: "I think Lao Yang (Old Yang - a nickname for Yang Muge) must treat us to a good meal to be worthy of our hard work in front of the reporters to say good things about him. I'm almost portraying Lao Yang as the savior of Chinese football…"

"Will Lao Yang feel a lot of pressure?" He Ying asked.

"We have to give him some pressure!" Zhou Yi said. "He can be low-key as a person, but he can't be too low-key when it comes to playing football. Otherwise, every time after Lao Yang's match, wouldn't the few of us become his secretaries and customer service?"

"Yes, Lao Yang should give us wages!" Sun Pan agreed. "Lao Zhou, you charge five hundred euros for a minute of interview, right? That was five thousand euros just now!"

"That's right, I forgot about that…"

Just as everyone was chatting, Guo Nu reappeared in the group: "The interview is over. I said a lot of good things about Lao Yang!"

"Well, Lao Guo, you really take half an hour for an interview, we only need ten minutes." Zhou Yi took a screenshot of the time between Guo Nu's two sentences, exactly half an hour.

So in Guo Nu's unprepared situation, he was attacked by Zhou Yi again…