Chapter 132: Chapter 131 My "Boyfriend" Couldn’t Possibly Be a National Team Player Series (Extra Chapter for Every 500 Votes)
From start to finish, Hathaway had always thought Deng Kai was just a football enthusiast.
"Youth academy player" sounds very professional, but in reality, football is so influential in Europe.
A significant proportion of European boys who like sports have experience in club youth academies.
And the Youth Euro, is for the youth national team players.
It’s the cream of the crop of youth academy players.
Normally, nobody would think of a friend they meet in daily life as a national team player, right?
It’s just like how you wouldn’t expect your deskmate to easily get accepted to Harvard... except for Chengdu No. 7 High School.
"This game is really exciting, the Netherlands and Portugal are both strong teams, it’s practically a final-level match!" the staff member continued to make an effort.
Because if Hathaway didn’t watch the game, Marshall wouldn’t arrange for the crew to watch it together, and everyone would miss out on free tickets.
"Portugal?" Hathaway recalled the Portugal team jersey Deng Kai wore when he went to their date.
He’s a Portugal fan!
Maybe... she could encounter him in the stands?
If she really did meet him, it would definitely be an arrangement by God.
Then she would have no more reasons to worry about whether they were suitable for each other or the issue of their age difference.
Let God decide this romance.
Hathaway made up her mind in an instant.
Coming from a middle-class background, she was generous, expressive, confident, and resolute.
She didn’t think chasing after a boy would demean her.
She just wasn’t clear yet about her feelings for Deng Kai, hoping to decide after a few more interactions with him.
But if fate could bring them together sooner, Hathaway was willing to take the risk.
"Okay. Let’s go!" Hathaway nodded.
The staff members outside the door then excitedly shouted out.
It turned out the corridor was already crowded with people.
Hathaway laughed.
If she had known that so many people wanted to watch the game, she would have agreed earlier.
She’ll treat it as a gift to the staff members.
At the same time, the staff members also laughed.
Knowledgeable and sensible, and not prone to NG, Hathaway didn’t have the annoying traits of the bad American girls, everyone liked her.
Seeing her boyfriend looking handsome playing football on the field would be their gift to her.
Yes, handsome.
The Princess Diaries crew had acknowledged Deng Kai’s looks.
If the kid could just grow a bit taller, they would approve of the match.
...
June nineteenth.
The quarterfinals of the Youth Euro kicked off.
The teams facing off were the Netherlands and Portugal.
Over thirty thousand fans attended the match.
The Princess Diaries crew, with the help of Director Marshall’s connections and financial power, got a row of excellent seats close to the field.
On the field, quite a few people wore the jerseys of the Netherlands or Portugal’s youth national teams.
Hathaway spotted the occasional Portuguese number twenty-four jersey.
Just like the one Deng Kai wore, with "D·K ceasar" written on the back.
"Ceasar" as in Caesar, the great emperor Gaius Julius Caesar.
"So he’s a fan of Caesar," Hathaway nodded.
She knew many football and basketball players liked to give themselves nicknames.
Like "Air" Jordan, and "The Worm" Rodman.
In Europe, many players even change their names to their idols’, like Benfica’s star Nuno Gomes.
This Caesar, sounded a bit chuuni, but must be an impressive player.
And Deng Kai’s liking for Caesar may be related to having the sound "Kai" in both names.
That’s a common name complex, people with "Feng" in their names tend to like LYF, and those with "Fan" tend to like WYF, ah... nevermind, better to change names, those characters are not very auspicious.
As the players of both teams entered the field, the commentator started calling out their names.
Commentator: "Rafael..."
Netherlands fans: "Van der Vaart!"
Commentator: "Wesley..."
Netherlands fans: "Sneijder!"
Commentator: "Robben..."
Netherlands fans: "Van Persie!"
Commentator: "Arjen..."
Netherlands fans: "Robben!"
But when it came to other players, the response was obviously not as enthusiastic.
The gap in fame between these players was huge.
When the commentator introduced the Portugal team, Quaresma received the loudest response.
Louder than anyone from the Netherlands side.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Viana, Hugo Almeida, none were as popular as Quaresma.
But then, there was a surprise.
When the last player, number twenty-four, made his appearance.
Commentator: "Caesar!"
Portuguese fans: "Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!"
The cheering was even comparable to that for Quaresma.
Meanwhile, the Dutch fans kept booing. They hadn’t reacted like this with Quaresma; they clearly didn’t like Caesar.
The whole scene ignited in an instant.
The atmosphere of the match was intense.
On a knife’s edge!
"Why do the Dutch fans hate him so much?" Hathaway asked, puzzled.
Her on-screen best friend, Heather Matarazzo, gave a mysterious smile.
Act!
Keep acting!
Pretending you don’t know your little boyfriend?
Matarazzo: "Of course, it’s because he’s the most handsome man on the field."
Hathaway looked puzzled.
Are you serious?
Could this Kai be more handsome than my Kai?
You obviously haven’t seen my Kaikai!
Matarazzo: "He’s the youngest player in this youth tournament, about three years younger than you. But I think age is not a problem; I’ve seen his interviews in the media, and I think he’s mentally mature enough."
"Honestly, he’s much better than those cool boys in the American entertainment and music industry. I think you’ve made the right choice."
"Besides, he is considered this year’s biggest discovery in Portuguese football youth training, led the team to victory in the Youth Champions League, and was awarded the best player of the Youth Champions League."
"He also has a promising future. You know Manchester United, right? Ferguson and Beckham are fond of him. Some say Manchester United’s triple crown this year couldn’t have been achieved without his support and guidance."
"He’s also a Chinese player, and you have a quarter Mongolian blood. It’s really incredible. You know, Mongolia was once part of the inland territories."
"The only thing that’s slightly lacking is height. But men develop late sometimes; who knows, he might grow to be over six feet tall in the future."
Hathaway felt something was off as she listened.
Is this about watching football or matchmaking?
Although you make it sound good, sorry, I’ve already got someone in mind.
"Why do you know so much about him?" Hathaway wondered if her best friend had a crush on this young player.
What a coincidence, she also liked a player younger than herself.
But Matarazzo just smiled mysteriously: "After all, he’s my best friend’s boyfriend, so of course I have to screen him. I’ve watched his information and interviews several times, and I think my BFF will be happy with him."
Hathaway nodded, but felt a twinge of disappointment.
She thought she was the only best friend Matarazzo had.
Sigh... she had been mistaken.
However, if Matarazzo’s BFF’s boyfriend was this Caesar, then couldn’t she get an autographed ball from Caesar?
If she gave Deng Kai Caesar’s autographed ball, he’d definitely be overjoyed.
The thought made Hathaway smile involuntarily.
But soon Hathaway’s smile froze on her face.
It was replaced by confusion, shock, and... delight!
