Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Super Training Post and the Second Blue Skill
"Ding! You’ve achieved a victory, your rating for this match is SS!"
"Rewards received: Training Cones*5, Super Training Cones*2, Energy Drinks*3, Medical Bandages*1, Blue Fragments*20!"
"Super Training Cones: No practice today, tomorrow you’re trash! Within one hour, training effectiveness increases tenfold! (Effects cannot be stacked.)"
"Ding! You’ve used Blue Fragments*20 and acquired the blue-grade player skill: Backheel Drag."
"Backheel Drag: Drag the football back so that it rolls from behind the supporting foot to the other side, with a certain probability of inducing the opponent to stretch their leg. After completing the move, a minor boost to explosive power is acquired for three seconds."
!!!
Deng Kai was shocked.
First was the shock of the Blue Fragments jackpot, which normally wouldn’t yield so many.
Second was the shock that he had finally acquired a technical move!
He was now one step closer to becoming a technical player.
Just look at those previous skills, all about hunting and tackling.
Were they trying to make him into the next Kante?
Sure, being the world’s top defensive midfielder sounds nice, but even Chelsea isn’t renewing Kante’s contract, okay?
To put it bluntly, no matter how good the defensive skills are, they can’t match the coolness of technical ball control and fancy dribbling.
Strength is temporary, but coolness is forever!
Skills with defensive effects are just freaking worthless!
Black Panther Hunt: ???
Fierce Tackle: So should I leave?
Cough cough!
The Backheel Drag is actually a pretty standard dribbling move, a bit of flair that anyone could pull off. It’s way less showy than the Rabona, Marseille Turn, or even the Chain Bike or backheel shot.
But the move itself doesn’t matter, the minor boost to explosive power for those three seconds after the move is genuinely awesome.
Dodge a tackle, then boost your speed.
What are they prepping Deng Kai for?
Pushing forward with the ball!
Breaking into the penalty area!
An attacking midfielder, anybody?!
Plus the two previous skills he had.
Deng Kai could now make himself at home in the frontline without ever going back.
Also, that Super Training Cone sounds interesting.
Ten times the training effectiveness!
That’s brutal.
He feels uneasy if he doesn’t use it right away.
"Ronaldo, come with me and train a bit more outside," Deng Kai said as he sprang to his feet.
"Didn’t we just get back?" Ronaldo said, indicating he was tired.
"Ha, I knew you couldn’t handle it. When it comes to training, you’re really no match for me," Deng Kai said, shaking his head in disdain.
"Come on! I’ll train you till you drop, let’s see who’s the boastful one!" Ronaldo couldn’t stand being provoked with such simple tactics.
Watching the two kids run off with the football, Mr. and Mrs. Deng said while clipping newspapers, "Come back early, don’t overdo the training, think about what your body can take."
After the children left, Mrs. Deng pasted the clipped articles into a notebook and smiled, "Our Chinese journalists are kind-hearted, look at how well she writes. Our son might have a chance to become a midfielder in one of the top five leagues!"
Mr. Deng also thought the journalist did a good job.
But at this very moment, this domestic correspondent stationed abroad encountered a huge problem.
That is, all the manuscripts she sent to China were rejected!
So she had no choice but to publish some opinion pieces on other platforms.
Ever since the Diamond Generation Invitational, Jiang Yunzhu had noticed Deng Kai.
However, after the invitational, Deng Kai faced a cold reception in the Transfermarkt and skepticism from stars like Jia De’er and many European football fans.
In such circumstances, publishing articles about Deng Kai was disadvantageous.
Jiang Yunzhu was waiting for a clearer situation.
On one hand, she hoped to bring sensational news back to China.
On the other hand, she also wished for Deng Kai to have a perfect debut back home.
Otherwise, it could easily create a situation where Deng Kai was disliked both at home and abroad.
As it turned out, after Deng Kai joined the Sporting Lisbon Academy, he quickly caused a stir with his discord with Andoya.
After appearing on the field, he demonstrated an unsuitability for U15 level matches.
It was only until this comeback that Jiang Yunzhu felt the timing was right, ready to let domestic fans know about the emergence of a Chinese football genius, boldly naming her article "I Came, I Saw, I Conquered!"
The headquarters rejected her manuscript.
The email from the headquarters leadership was clear, "What you’re talking about isn’t important right now. The competition between us and ’Football’ in the domestic market has reached a fever pitch."
"’Football’ has partnered with the Jianlibao team and used European football information to launch a strong counterattack. They’ve even garnered support from the football association side!"
"We’re currently in contact with a batch of outstanding young players, hoping to capture the U15 market that Jianlibao team hasn’t valued, to form a U15 team, and initiate a series of confrontations with the U15 teams of Europe’s major clubs, in order to turn the situation around."
"Wahaha is willing to fund this; the project has entered the preparation phase, and we expect to lead the young players to Europe after the New Year. Our journalists stationed in Europe should partner with the teams during this time."
"Preferably top clubs!"
This task had all of Sports Weekly’s Europe-based journalists bustling with activity.
Jiang Yunzhu flew to Italy that very day, following her colleagues in negotiating partnerships with Italian clubs, but they hadn’t even seen the faces of those top club management teams.
For the foreseeable future, they would have no choice but to abandon their original focus and invest their efforts into this matter.
...
October twenty-sixth.
A new round of the league kicked off.
Deng Kai, as the creator of the best goal in the last round, received much attention.
For the first time upon entering the pitch, he received applause from the sidelines.
His lightning long shot even made it onto last week’s "Highlights of Goals in European Leagues".
"Hey, did you hear?" Ronaldo approached, speaking in a hushed tone, "Andoya can’t play football anymore."
Deng Kai shook his head; he hadn’t been paying attention to that.
"His brother got arrested after a brawl outside the pitch, and during questioning, the police extracted a lot of details from their group, including drug use and match-fixing," Ronaldo said. "Andoya’s brother, through Andoya, had learned of the team’s internal situation and exerted influence on the outcome of the matches."
"The police believe that Andoya’s actions amounted to a crime of match-fixing using his player status for profit, and have brought a lawsuit against him."
"Under the juvenile protection law, he won’t face any punishment apart from mandatory community service hours."
"But Qatari Sports fired him."
"With such a record, no youth training team will take him in again."
"His football career is over."
After Ronaldo finished speaking, Deng Kai was stunned.
Over?
Andoya... he was only fourteen this year, and he performed well in the U15 league, even making it onto last month’s list of rising stars.
If nothing had gone wrong, he might not have made it into the top five leagues or found a foothold in the secondary leagues.
But obtaining a formal professional contract at the age of eighteen and receiving a call-up from the Portugal youth national team should have been well within his reach.
But as a result...
One wrong step leads to another.
Andoya’s mistake lay in having a bad older brother.
It really was a sigh-inducing situation!
Wait a second, older brother?
Deng Kai looked at Ronaldo and said, "That’s the tremendous impact a bad family member can have on other relatives. Ronaldo, I remember you once mentioned that your brother... "
Ronaldo’s face also changed.
Andoya was truly unlucky.
It’s not uncommon for family members to engage in gambling on football matches like his, but his brother just happened to get caught because of a brawl, just happened to have some gang background, and just happened that the Sporting Lisbon game in question had bounced back and drawn extensive media attention.
Because the incidence became more impactful, he ended up with such a fate.
The things Andoya’s brother did, Ronaldo’s brother hadn’t done much less.
As the elder brother, Ronaldo’s brother took on the responsibility of caring for his younger siblings early on.
But at the same time, he also picked up quite a few bad social habits.
Ronaldo was more famous than Andoya.
If his brother ran into trouble, his issues would be even greater.
"I..." Ronaldo didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t have any right to direct his family members on what to do.
Because he himself was just a taker.
And at least his brother was contributing and sacrificing for the family.
"Find a chance for me to meet your brother," Deng Kai said. "I’ll speak the words you find difficult to say. I believe, in the end, he will understand."
"In the future, he will also be grateful for the sacrifices and changes he made for you."
"Because it’s all worth it."
"So please play football well, and don’t let down the trust your family has in you!"
Ronaldo nodded firmly.
