Chapter 107: Villarreal

Valérie had tutored Tang Ye in Spanish for many days, but in the end, Tang Ye gave up.

After studying hard for several days, Tang Ye understood nothing.

He had thought Valérie was a good teacher, but now it seemed she wasn’t reliable at all.

In the end, learning something still depends on yourself!

The club didn’t want language issues to trouble Tang Ye, so after communicating with him, they moved up his registration date by five days—to July 22nd.

That afternoon, Tang Ye’s family arrived in Villarreal, Spain, pushing four large and small suitcases.

“That’s about it!”

Tang Zhengxiong clapped his hands, then pushed a suitcase beside him toward Tang Ye: “Go register at the club first.”

“There are too many suitcases—I can’t carry them all.”

Tang Ye pointed to the four large suitcases around him: “Can you first come with me to the base? I’ll drop off my things, then you can leave.”

Zhang Qingqing moved to help, but Tang Zhengxiong stopped her: “What’s this? Didn’t the team say they’d send someone to pick you up? Just wait at the train station—we’re busy.”

“Busy? What are you going to do?”

Tang Ye froze for a moment.

He had thought his parents would stay in Spain for a while.

“The Rio Olympics—I’m going to watch the games, then travel around Brazil.”

Tang Zhengxiong rubbed his hands together; he was clearly a little excited.

He had gotten a ticket with an excellent seat for the Olympic 100-meter final!

“...”

Tang Ye looked at the four large suitcases beside him, expressionless.

Seeing Tang Ye’s expression, Zhang Qingqing grabbed Tang Zhengxiong’s arm to stop him.

“Hey, don’t be like that, Qingqing—we’ll come back later.”

Tang Zhengxiong simply dragged Zhang Qingqing away.

“...Fine.”

Tang Ye pushed two suitcases with one hand and stopped in front of a bank.

His phone rang—it was Aile calling.

A black Volkswagen will arrive in five minutes!

Tang Ye stood waiting when an elderly white woman walked up from his right.

“You, hello?”

Tang Ye greeted her in the Spanish he’d just learned, but for some reason, the woman said nothing—instead, she pulled at the corners of her eyes with both hands, making a “squinting” gesture.

What...

What the hell?

Tang Ye was completely baffled.

Seeing Tang Ye’s lack of reaction, the woman lost interest and shuffled off.

Wait, what?

Tang Ye tilted his head.

Are Spaniards all this weird?

Tang Ye shook his head, focusing on his surroundings.

This was his first time ever in Spain—he felt an inexplicable tension in this unfamiliar environment.

“Here, Tom!”

A Volkswagen stopped across the street; the window rolled down, revealing Aile’s familiar face.

“Come over—oh, all these things? Never mind, wait here, I’ll turn around up ahead.”

Aile drove fast in his newly bought car, zooming to the traffic light ahead and stopping smoothly right in front of Tang Ye.

Aile got out and quickly loaded Tang Ye’s suitcases into the trunk.

Two new Villarreal players appearing together on Villarreal’s streets had already drawn two or three onlookers—if they didn’t leave soon, Aile and Tang Ye might get stuck.

“Let’s go, let’s go!”

Tang Ye quickly got in and sat in the front passenger seat; Aile drove him to the base.

“Sebastian, have you learned Spanish yet?”

Tang Ye turned to look at Aile.

Though he could have said it in Spanish, he chose Dutch for greater precision.

“I’ve learned quite a bit—I came over last week; I already knew English and Dutch, so I picked it up faster.”

“What about you, Tang? Did you sign up for language classes?”

Aile answered in Spanish, but Tang Ye didn’t catch the first half—he was distracted by something else.

【At 38, you were loaned from the Eredivisie to a La Liga club—joining a top-five league at an age when most players have retired, demonstrating your passion for football and pursuit of honor.】

【Middle-aged players learn languages slower than young ones—the balance mechanism has triggered: Language University module unlocked.】

Language University?

What the hell is that?

The sudden information left Tang Ye stunned—he immediately manipulated his system in his mind.

【Language University Module: As a middle-aged man, you benefit from social welfare—you can directly spend Revival Points to boost language proficiency.】

【Dutch (Fluent): Revival Points *1282】

【English (Fluent): Revival Points *2432】

【Spanish (Fluent): Revival Points *2378】

【German (Fluent): Revival Points *2500】

【French (Fluent): Revival Points *2500】

The system was impressive—creating a “Language University” that ultimately just let you buy language skills with money.

But upon reflection:

Isn’t university just paying tuition to learn? The system simply skipped the learning step and gave you the result directly.

Damn—it was exactly the kind of learning Tang Ye wanted!

He quickly checked his account balance.

2,680 points!

【You purchased Spanish (Fluent).】

“Hey, Tang?”

Aile waved a hand in front of Tang Ye’s face; Tang Ye snapped back: “Oh? What? What’s up?”

“Didn’t you sleep on the plane? Haha, I just asked if you’ve made progress with Spanish—did you sign up for a class?”

“I didn’t sign up,” Tang Ye said. “I hired a Spanish tutor before, but she was a scammer—taught me barely any words in days.”

“You can join my class—I think my teacher’s great.”

Aile added: “But classes are in the evening—you might not have time to play games.”

“No need—I’m fine.”

Tang Ye turned to Aile and smiled: “I learned Spanish as a child.”

Huh?

Aile’s mouth hung open in disbelief: “You learned Spanish before? As a child?”

Tang Ye nodded: “Aile, remember what I told you? I love learning—the feeling of gaining real progress. You know that feeling?”

“Huh...”

Aile took a deep breath: “Learning’s tough—I couldn’t even sit still in my language class.”

“I’m not afraid of hard work.”

“!!!”

!

In the afternoon, at the base, with Aile and club staff’s help, Tang Ye put his suitcases in his room, then went to the club’s administrative building.

Click!

Click-click!

Club staff followed Tang Ye with a camera the whole time—it was common practice for teams to film a short video when a player joined.

“Hello, Tang!”

The newly appointed head coach, Escrivá, extended his hand.

When Villarreal expressed interest in Tang Ye, Escrivá wasn’t yet the team’s head coach.

But the former coach, Marcelino, had confirmed his departure, so Escrivá had already gained authority over the transfer window.

“Hello, Mr. Escrivá.”

Tang Ye extended his hand in return.

Click-click!

Escrivá led Tang Ye into the administrative building, surrounded by Villarreal staff.

Arriving at the press room on the first floor, Tang Ye and Escrivá sat on opposite sides of a table, where a thick file lay before them.

In fact, Borja had already negotiated all the details of the loan with Villarreal; Tang Ye’s signature was merely the final confirmation.

“Tang, please.”

Escribá handed Tang Ye a ballpoint pen; without hesitation, he flipped the document to the last page and signed his name beneath the team crest.

Click-click!

Click-click-click!

“Shake hands!”

The staff below reminded them; Escribá and Tang Ye shook hands again, and the staff resumed clicking away with their cameras.

“You know, this is standard procedure.”

Escribá was now slightly awkward, unsure whether Tang Ye liked such things.

“It’s fine, really. When I was at Utrecht, many Chinese reporters came specially—back then, the flashlights nearly blinded me.”

“Hahaha, so you’ve already been a star.”

Escribá laughed, but then noticed something odd: “Wow, your Spanish is very fluent. Have you been studying it for a while?”

“You could say that.”

Tang Ye decided to be vague.

“You could say that?”

Escribá raised an eyebrow: “Knowing the language helps a lot. Players with linguistic talent usually integrate into the team faster.”

The two chatted briefly, then stood up at the staff’s prompting.

The head coach Escribá took a pure yellow No. 99 jersey from a staff member: “Come on, hold this corner of the jersey—we’ll take a few more photos.”

Tang Ye and Escribá each held one end of the jersey; finally, Tang Ye put it on and went to an adjacent room for a photo session.

“These photos will be posted on the team’s media. Many newspapers will republish them too, Tang—remember to strike some nice poses.”

“Haha, is that important?”

“Yes, it’s very important!”

Escribá patted Tang Ye on the shoulder.

…

After the official portraits were done, Tang Ye returned to the press conference room, where local Spanish football journalists were already waiting.

“Tom? That’s how you’re called, right? Moving from a Dutch Eredivisie champion to Villarreal is a huge leap—the intensity gap between the Eredivisie and La Liga is significant. Are you aware of that?”

“Yes, I’m fully aware.”

Tang Ye nodded: “Before coming here, I watched many La Liga matches on TV. I think this will be a challenging place for me.”

“Do you think you’ll get a good opportunity within the team?”

The journalist asked the same question Tang Zhengxiong had.

A 17-year-old player moving from the Eredivisie to La Liga would naturally face skepticism.

“I’ll do my best to prove myself.”

The journalist turned to head coach Escribá: “Last season, Tom was reported to have disciplinary issues at Utrecht. Were you aware of this before?”

“I know. Of course I know.”

Escribá had prominent forehead wrinkles, giving him an approachable yet authoritative demeanor.

“I believe Tang will improve significantly in this regard after joining Villarreal. I’m confident I can handle the disciplinary matters.”

!?

Tang Ye took a deep breath.

He turned to look at Escribá beside him.

It seemed…

…a bit problematic?

Villarreal official: Vamos! Utrecht’s Eredivisie champion midfielder Tang Y. joins on loan, wearing jersey No. 99, for one season.

…

(End of Chapter)