Chapter 40 (1/2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Remember what I said? Don’t get cold feet!” Yuan Gang stated expressionlessly at Zhang Jun as he huffed out every word.
At the sight of the familiar face, Zhang Jun felt as if the noises around the grounds were fading and that he was returning to his middle school years.
…
“The school soccer team?” Zhang Jun said, staring at the recruitment notice on the board. The word “soccer” was enough to grab his attention. “Should we go, Yang Pan?”
Yang Pan yawned. “Whatever. If you go, I’ll go.”
“Wonderful! We’ll make a lot of great friends, right? Just like the two of us.”
“Fool…”
…
“I’m a new member, Zhang Jun from Year 1, Class 1. I’m a striker. I hope to get along with everyone in the team and become great friends!”
“I’m Yang Pan. I’m in the same class as Zhang Jun and my position is either a right midfielder or winger.”
Two more members joined two days later. Attacking midfielder, Yuan Gang and center back, Liu Peng.
When Zhang Jun first saw Yuan Gang’s face, he thought he was looking at a monkey that has escaped from the zoo. When he finally came to this realization, he rolled with laughter, clutching at his stomach. Yuan Gang stood alone and stared blankly at him, not understanding what was so funny.
“Hey! What are you laughing at?”
It took some effort for Zhang Jun to stop laughing and he apologized as he wiped the tears off his face. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose, Monkey…”
Taken by surprise, every other team member roared in laughter. Zhang Jun’s accidental utterance of “monkey” was a perfectly apt description of Yuan Gang’s facial features―his lips jutted out and his high cheekbones as well as his long, untidy hair did make him look like an ape.
As he watched the others burst out in laughter, Zhang Jun began to laugh again.
…
The jeers woke Zhang Jun up and he found that he had lost the ball. He stood rooted in front of the opposing team’s area while Kai Ta somehow advanced into Shu Guang half.
“This is the key character?” Xiao Zhang laughed, glaring at Chen Huafeng. “He did nothing when he got the ball and it was stolen from him almost immediately. He didn’t even react.”
Chen Huafeng smiled in return. “It’s normal.” He knew what was happening from his first glance at the striker. There was no mistaking that Zhang Jun was a pillar for Shu Guang and the team would be in danger if anything happened to him.
Now all Huafeng could do was pray that Zhang Jun could wake up as soon as possible. After all, a friend was a friend, and a match was a match.
…
An Ke did all he could to block Yuan Gang’s drive while Lin Xiaofang cleared the danger with a long ball.
Kaka stole the ball in front of Yu Wenjun and went on a counter. Liu Peng stopped it with a sliding tackle and Kai Ta’s left midfielder, Zhong Zhiqiang got to the ball before delivering it to Yuan Gang. The captain eluded Wang Ning with much agility. He executed an ankle break on Li Hao and passed!
Kai Ta’s striker, Zhang Yi carried the ball forward and took a shot!
An Ke hugged the ball tightly.
Yuan Gang shook his head, disappointed that the ball did not go in. Even if Zhang Jun was nullified, against an offensive formation consisting of a monster like Yang Pan, that skilled Brazilian hunk and Ren Yu De’s fancy dribbles, it would have been better to start of strong and score a goal as insurance.
…
Zhang Jun finally got to the ball. Although he behaved abnormally earlier, Kaka still trusted him enough to pass the ball to him.
Once again, Yuan Gang was there.
Yuan Gang was showing off his dribbling skills against Zhang Jun, and not one to be outdone, the striker showed off his own footwork in return.
Looking at the pair of them, Yang Pan joined in too. “Make way! Make way! Look at my dribbling! Feast your eyes upon this world class act” He brought in a new first-year recruit to be his target. “You have to be serious, no letting up!”
The other boy nodded with utmost earnesty.
However, Zhang Jun had a sudden bad feeling as he looked at Yang Pan, who was stretching his legs and twisting his waist.
Yang Pan carried the ball slowly. But as he made his approach, he suddenly prodded the ball to the left and accelerated towards the other direction before running back to the ball. The poor “live target” was left rooted where he stood.
“As expected…”
“Yeah!” Yang Pan shouted.
“Go to hell!” Yuan Gang and Liu Peng took shots at Yang Pan as one.
Zhang Jun looked at the trio of buddies over at the corner, laughing.
Yuan Gang then proceeded to take the ball off Zhang Jun quietly. He was probably soaking in his memories of the past again. Memories were such a wonderful thing…
The boos were louder this time. Everyone simply could not understand what was going on. Zhang Jun did have some degree of popularity in Kai Ta—he was an alumnus after all. Many had come to watch, expecting an exciting performance; no one expected such an unappetizing performance just 10 minutes into the game.
…
The National Middle School Soccer Championship.
“Qingdao! Qingdao!” Yang Pan whooped cheerfully. “The sun! The beach! The sea! The bikinis! The babes! I’m coming!”
“The last two are his main objectives,” Yuan Gang pointed out to his two friends as Yang Pan spread his arms like he was soaring.
…
The opening game in the Nationals was between Kai Ta and Yucai Middle School of Jinan, Shandong. They were visiting another team in the first round and anyone could guess the amount of pressure that was piling upon the debuting team.
It was pitch black in the hostel room, where the four of them were staying in, but a pair of eyes glittered amid the darkness. “Anyone not asleep yet?” Liu Peng asked softly. “Talk to me.”
Two hands were raised immediately.