Chapter 30: You Can't Prevent Others From Eating Without Paying the Price!

I declare that Aale is the top striker in the Eredivisie!

You’re just giving me Monto a free penalty, fine—I’m buying your jersey today!

Awesome, hat-trick already, even if it was a gift penalty.

Not entirely a gift—the penalty was created by Tang Ye himself; he earned it!

3-0, feels great—if we score one more, we’ll take off.

Guys, I made five hours from this match—how about you?

The Bean Warriors in the livestream were all extremely excited.

The reason is simple: those conservative fans who only bet on Utrecht have never lost.

Five straight wins of joy—they’re about to graduate beyond Bean Warrior status.

After today's promotion match ends, dozens in the livestream will likely be promoted to Bean Gods!

Clap, clap, clap!

Ten Hag clapped on the sideline.

With the team leading 3-0, Ten Hag, as head coach, was naturally pleased.

But he wasn’t as delighted as he seemed—Aale, knowing full well what he’d said to Tang Ye, gave up his second-half goal to him.

Does Eric Ten Hag not have any pride?!

At the 75th minute, the fourth official raised the board, replacing both Tang Ye and Fan De Mairel.

Tom!

Tom!

As Tang Ye slowly walked off the pitch, over a thousand away fans chanted in unison.

Fan De Mairel slapped Tang Ye on the back: “How does it feel?”

Tang Ye didn’t turn to look at Fan De Mairel—his eyes stayed fixed on the fans, speaking in halting Dutch.

“I love this feeling!”

…

Beep—beep-beep—!!

Full-time. After leading 3-0, Utrecht adopted a defensive stance and failed to score again.

Snick also failed to score—the final score remained 3-0.

Utrecht!

Utrecht!

The away fans kept cheering; Utrecht’s players on the pitch began applauding too.

The applause was for themselves—and also for the fans.

3-0, though the opponent was weak, this was Utrecht’s first clean sheet of the season!

…

Back in the locker room, Ten Hag gave a brief pep talk to the players who had taken the field—he was, in fact, somewhat uneasy.

Tang Ye was only sixteen, and based on Ten Hag’s understanding of the kid, he had no grasp of social niceties.

Ten Hag feared Tang Ye would confront him over giving up the second-half goal!

But Tang Ye didn’t approach Ten Hag—he was celebrating with his teammates.

In this 75-minute match, Tang Ye earned 30 Comeback Points (10 bonus for the brace).

Subtract the 5 Comeback Points spent on Valdi Red Bull.

Net gain: 25 points!

Aale and Barazite lifted Tang Ye off the bench and swung him like a swing in midair.

Tang Ye didn’t feel fear—he raised his right hand and shouted.

“This is it—this is how it should be!”

Ten Hag walked over to Tang Ye: “Scoring goals means celebrating, Tang. You never celebrated goals or assists before—that was wrong.”

“I know, I know!”

Tang Ye laughed: “I’m celebrating right now!”

…

After the match, Tang Ye received an 8.6 rating from the Utrecht Evening News.

His contribution of 1 goal and 1 assist overshadowed his low running distance.

With these two goals, Tang Ye was named Man of the Match.

“Where’s my trophy?”

Before stepping back onto the pitch for the interview, Tang Ye posed the question he’d been holding back.

“What trophy?”

Tang Ye spread his hands wide, mimicking a cylindrical object: “That one—the trophy every Man of the Match gets.”

“That’s for MVP. Are you MVP?”

Ten Hag gave Tang Ye a look, then recited his stats: “Running distance: 4.2km. Tackles attempted: 4, successful: 0. Aerial duels: 1, won: 0. Oh, perfect stats! Tang, you’re truly amazing.”

Ten Hag stepped forward, standing right in front of Tang Ye: “With 4.2km of running, do you know who you’re better than?”

“Someone ran less than me?”

Tang Ye’s eyes lit up: “I already felt it—I ran nonstop this match!”

“Ruit (goalkeeper) and Luist (goalkeeper) ran less—both at 3.6km.”

Ten Hag nodded, placing a hand on Tang Ye’s shoulder: “Hmm, you’re still pretty impressive.”

…

“But that shouldn’t stop me from getting the trophy, right?”

Tang Ye had never won a trophy since going abroad—today was his closest chance yet.

“You’re overthinking. There’s no MVP trophy in the Dutch Cup until the semifinals.”

Ten Hag told him a little-known fact: “If you want an MVP trophy, wait until you’re named Man of the Match in the league.”

…

Tang Ye shook his head: “Forget it then.”

“What?! Can’t you show some ambition? You should be telling me right now that you’ll become Eredivisie MVP!”

Ten Hag hated players without drive—he wanted to yell at Tang Ye, but the interview time was here; they couldn’t be late.

…

“Eric, and… Tang.”

The female reporter struggled with the pronunciation of “Tom”: “Tang, congratulations on being Man of the Match. By the way, I must remind you—you’ve broken a record today!”

Wow?

Tang Ye raised an eyebrow.

Broke a record!

Damn, so I’m this strong?!

Tang Ye rubbed his hands: “Just playing normally. Uh… what record did I break?”

The reporter smiled: “You’re the player in Dutch Cup history with the shortest average running distance per minute among non-goalkeepers—you averaged just 56 meters per minute.”

…

Tang Ye said nothing.

When the reporter strained to shout “Tang,” Tang Ye thought she was his fan.

Turns out she was a troll!

“Well, I was trying to run—it’s embarrassing. I’ll do better next time.”

Tang Ye awkwardly scratched his head.

Ten Hag pretended to be stern—he was delighted to see Tang Ye flustered.

But he stopped smiling immediately.

“Mr. Ten Hag, reporters from the Utrecht training base confirm that Tang indeed eats in the reserve team’s cafeteria.”

“A first-team player eating in the reserve team’s cafeteria… Mr. Ten Hag, doesn’t that seem inappropriate?”

The reporter turned the spotlight on Ten Hag.

Earlier, the Utrecht Evening News claimed Ten Hag barred Tang from the first-team cafeteria; Ten Hag had publicly denied it.

But these reporters weren’t amateurs—they quickly found video evidence.

It was covert footage!

From breakfast to dinner, Tang ate all three meals with a reserve player named “Zaka.”

The situation was clear: if Ten Hag didn’t explain why Tang was banished from the first-team cafeteria, he’d be flooded with fan backlash.

But Ten Hag wasn’t worried.

Because he had a solid reason!

“Tang’s lack of enthusiasm in training is why I moved him to the reserve cafeteria. It’s a penalty mechanism for uncommitted players.”

“So you’re saying Tang’s training attitude is terrible?”

“Yes. Though he earned Man of the Match today, I must admit this fact—I’ve always been strict with uncommitted players.”

“But…”

The reporter paused, then pulled out his phone: "Mr. Erik, could you please watch this video?"

Hm?

Ten Hag turned his head.

What did these paparazzi catch now?

You wouldn’t believe it until you saw it—it’s shocking.

Damn it, Tang Ye is doing push-ups secretly outside the training ground!

"You said Tang’s training attitude is lazy, but this video… how do you explain it?"

Under the female reporter’s questioning, Ten Hag was on high alert!

He turned to look at Tang Ye, who was barely holding back a laugh.

Preventing others from eating comes at a price!

…

(End of Chapter)