Chapter 19: Do You Want to Skip Homework?

Is Tang Ye really as amazing as you say? Damn, awesome, the Ball King, the Ball King!

Watching Tang Ye’s matches can earn money—Mom, you don’t have to worry about me not finding a job after graduation anymore.

College student, playing Happy Beans since college—you’ve made it for life, guy upstairs.

What kind of talk is that? I’ve been a Tang Ye fan since I started university—we’re already ahead of you.

This is someone who’s going to make big money!

Any more? Any more goals?

“Is this the result of training? Should I play according to what we practiced?”

Tang Ye asked Ten Hag, who immediately denied it without hesitation.

“No, training is training, matches are matches—training makes you stronger, but during a match you still have to follow your own instincts!”

Ten Hag said seriously.

Although Tang Ye always strolls, Ten Hag could tell.

Tang Ye only unleashes his full creativity when he’s strolling!

The match continues!

“The score has been suddenly leveled—Vitesse is in deep trouble now!”

“Two forwards substituted at once—Vitesse is going for a counterattack.”

“Nathan, press forward and coordinate with your teammates!”

After 60 minutes of relentless attacking, exhausting every tactic, the opponent’s midfielder played a long pass that directly equalized the score.

Vitesse’s players and coach are now in agony.

They must erase the deficit!

“Switch positions!”

Ten Hag shouted, and Ramseyer sprinted to the right flank, leaving the central attacking midfield position open for Tang Ye.

Now the three midfielders, from left to right, are Amrabat, Tang Ye, and Ramseyer—with Tang Ye as the sole attacking midfielder positioned furthest forward.

At the 76th minute, Nakambaa’s mistake was seized by Stried, and this Utrecht defender sent the ball straight to Amrabat.

Amrabat, start observing!

Oligny rushed in to press—Amrabat, playing it safe, passed to Lechert, who was ready to receive on the right.

Lechert passed the ball to Barazite.

This is a Utrecht counterattack!

“Barazite, moving at incredible speed!”

“Tang Ye should be running forward to occupy the arc right now.”

“Tang Ye is walking!”

“The Ball King is still walking!”

“Ball King, what are you trying to do!”

Wang Chao shouted with great passion—he’d been ready to condemn Tang Ye for passive play—but Barazite burst down the flank, dribbling past two defenders, instantly drawing every spectator’s attention.

Barazite reached the byline!

He launched a long pass to the left flank, where Nganoni surged forward, collected the ball, and began looking for a pass to Ale.

Ale received the ball in the box, but Kashyaka immediately locked his position—he couldn’t even turn.

Under these circumstances, Ale could only pass back—but as he looked up, he suddenly noticed Tang Ye standing right in front of him.

“Hey, pass it to me?”

Tang Ye reached out to Ale, who didn’t hesitate and kicked the ball straight to Tang Ye’s feet.

“You actually passed it?”

Tang Ye was pleased, used his body to shield the Wester defender, and struck the ball powerfully toward goal.

He didn’t even take time to control it!

“Tang Ye? Wtf! Goal!”

“What the hell!”

“GOOOOOO——AAAAAAA——LLLLLLL!!!”

Goal by Tang Ye in the 78th minute!

【At 37, you scored your first goal in the Eredivisie in just three matches—your haters panicked and deleted their accounts.】

【Reverse Point Store unlocked!】

【Bonus reward for goal: Reverse Points ×10】

Tang Ye stood motionless in the box, his attention entirely on the system’s voice in his mind.

At that moment, Ale and Barazite rushed over, hugging Tang Ye tightly—Ale even rubbed his hair repeatedly.

“Tang, how the hell did you get here, haha!”

The camera cut to Vitesse’s bench, where the Dutchman chewing gum now looked grim.

So far, Tang Ye has played only 45 minutes in the Eredivisie.

In 45 minutes, he scored one goal.

Round it off.

That’s a two-goal-per-game striker!

…

The referee blew the final whistle—the home team Utrecht, by a 2–1 scoreline, had edged out Vitesse.

Although the season started poorly, Utrecht now had a three-match winning streak.

Players gradually returned to the locker room; Ten Hag and Fan De stood outside whispering.

“I plan to give the players two days off—so they can feel the joy of victory.”

“Fine, you’re the coach—I fully support it.”

Fan De nodded, but what Ten Hag really wanted to ask wasn’t that.

“I mean, give the players time off—but Tang Ye stays behind for extra training.”

“Huh?”

Fan De was stunned: “That’s unfair! All players get time off, but Tang Ye doesn’t—he’s the hero who won today!”

“Wait!”

Fan De suddenly realized something, staring at Ten Hag: “You want to accelerate Tang’s development? But you said yourself—two or three years to turn him into our starting midfielder. Just a few days ago, you remember? Are you going back on your word?”

Assistant coach Fan De had risen through the U15 youth academy—he knew better than anyone the damage of forcing growth.

“I know what you mean, but the plan has changed!”

Ten Hag’s expression turned serious: “Did you see his movement? His positioning? His vision?”

“You said it was training’s result.”

“Training my ass—that’s pure talent!”

Ten Hag nearly shouted: “We must unleash his potential—intensify physical training and tactical awareness. In six months, we can start him!”

Hss—

Fan De took a deep breath.

This guy Erik…

“But what if he refuses to train?” Fan De pointed out a critical issue.

“That’s a minor problem.”

Ten Hag smiled.

Tang Ye is a lazy pig, true.

But a lazy pig isn’t completely motionless.

With enough external pressure, even a lazy pig can run fast!

…

That night, Tang Ye received a call from his mother, Zhang Qing, and told his family the good news about his two-day break.

It was worth celebrating—but a sudden knock at the door brought pressure.

Only two people would knock at this hour.

Zaka had gone home.

The only remaining possibility was Ten Hag!

“Good evening!”

Ten Hag walked in with a smile, as if he owned the place.

Familiar desk. Familiar alien laptop.

This time, Tang Ye had learned his lesson—he turned off the computer before opening the door.

Ten Hag slowly approached the desk, making Tang Ye tense.

He’s not going to make me turn the computer back on, is he?

“Hmm.”

Ten Hag raised an eyebrow, picked up a white grid notebook from Tang Ye’s desk—and the pencil beside it.

“Write a 300-word critical essay in Dutch.”

“Huh? What?” Tang Ye froze.

"This is your Dutch homework, right? Is it difficult for you?"

Ten Hag turned to look at Tang Ye, who was sitting on the bed, looking astonished.

"How do you know about my homework?"

"That’s not the point. Just tell me whether this assignment is difficult for you."

"..."

Tang Ye shrugged and replied honestly: "A 300-word essay isn’t hard, but our teacher says we need to pick a topic and write it critically—that’s the hard part..."

Sometimes Tang Ye found it frustrating—he attended a youth academy in Utrecht in partnership with the school, so logically his homework should be easier than that of other Dutch high school students.

Yet lately, that teacher had gone mad, constantly assigning him after-school work far beyond his ability!

"It’s difficult..."

Ten Hag murmured, set down the grid notebook, and slowly walked up to Tang Ye.

He bent down.

"Tang, do you want to skip your after-school homework?"

(End of Chapter)