Chapter 35: Fifteen Percent of the Weekly Salary: Tang Ye, Still Unable to Make His Debut

On the second day of the holiday, Tang Ye arrived at a local Chinese restaurant in the town of Utrecht called WenChow (Wenzhou Little Eatery).

This was the place Boer had invited him to; knowing Tang Ye was Chinese, Boer had specifically chosen a Chinese restaurant for their lunch venue.

"Oh, Mr. Tang... Tang, hello!"

Seeing Tang Ye approaching, Boer immediately extended his hand.

He had wanted to address Tang Ye as "Mr.," but with more than thirty years separating their ages, Boer abandoned that idea.

"I almost thought I wouldn't get to see you."

Smiling, Boer gestured for Tang Ye to sit down across from him.

The previous afternoon had been a heart-pounding experience for him.

He had come within a hair's breadth of losing 8,000 euros down the drain.

After Tang Ye sat down, Boer called over the waiter and asked Tang Ye to order.

With the news constantly reporting on the cafeteria incident, Boer had assumed Tang Ye was someone very particular about food, but that was not the case.

Glancing at the thick menu, Tang Ye ordered only a portion of wontons and lean meatballs: "Boer, is that how I should address you? I'd like to learn more about agents."

Holidays were a rare commodity for Tang Ye, so he chose to get straight to the point.

Since Tang Ye got straight to the point, Boer naturally did not resist, and he quickly laid out his thoughts for Tang Ye.

Boer spoke rapidly; by the time the waiter brought the wontons, the Dutchman had already finished speaking.

Tang Ye added plenty of vinegar to his wontons, blowing on them to cool them down while pondering what Boer had just said.

The gist of it was that Boer wanted to sign an agent contract with Tang Ye.

If such a contract were signed, Boer would assist Tang Ye whenever he had transfer needs or required communication with clubs or the national team.

Moreover, if conditions were suitable, Boer would also seek endorsement contracts for Tang Ye.

In exchange, what Tang Ye needed to provide was his weekly salary.

Fifteen percent of his weekly salary.

Currently, Tang Ye's weekly salary was only 1,000 euros; multiplying that by 15% left just over 100 euros.

A weekly salary of 100 euros in exchange for doing so much work made it seem as though Boer was the one losing out.

But Boer was gambling.

This was because the compensation he received under the agent contract was based on a percentage of Tang Ye's weekly salary.

With Tang Ye's current weekly salary at only 1,000 euros, taking 15% would definitely mean a loss for Boer.

However, if Tang Ye's weekly salary reached 6,500 euros, Boer could earn 1,000 euros in agent commissions per week from this single player alone.

Boer felt this approach was appropriate; it was his instinct as a professional football agent.

Tang Ye and Boer ate the wontons together, thinking continuously.

His current monthly salary was 4,000 euros, and his living expenses were 20,000 euros, totaling 24,000 euros.

If he signed this agent contract with Boer, he would have to pay Boer 600 euros every month.

This meant his monthly net income would drop to 23,400 euros!

Tang Ye, who was already not wealthy, now faced even greater hardship!

Even so, after hearing Zaka's advice yesterday and now hearing Boer himself elaborate at length today, Tang Ye also felt it was necessary for him to find an agent.

Amrabat had an agent; it was with the agent's help that he secured a weekly salary of 3,200 euros!

"Sir, I need some time to consider."

Tang Ye gave his response.

Personally, he felt the contract was quite suitable, but before Tang Ye went abroad, Tang Tang Zhengxiong had specifically instructed him that if he were to sign any contract, he must contact the family first.

Tang Ye remembered these words, so he was in no rush.

"Of course, you can consider it carefully. Would you like to order anything else?"

Smiling, Boer pushed the menu back toward Tang Ye.

Based on Boer's many years of experience as an agent.

This contract was most likely already secured!

On September 29, the first-team players began gradually resuming training.

Thanks to the goal scored against Cambuur and the accumulation from daily training, Tang Ye's Counterattack Points had now reached 33.

Feeling suddenly rich, Tang Ye opened the shop to see how many Counterattack Points were required to unlock purchasing privileges for the next item.

【40 Points】

"I f***ing hell!!!"

Tang Ye blurted it out directly.

This system.

It was definitely toxic!

There was no help for it; Tang Ye could only focus on maximizing the training points he currently had.

After previous matches, Tang Ye had also realized that the core method for earning Counterattack Points was not daily tasks.

It was matches.

One goal yielded 10 Counterattack Points, and scoring twice granted an additional bonus of 10 points!

Scoring twice in a single match was worth ten days of bitter cultivation!

Contribution in matches was the true core!

Influenced by this mindset, Tang Ye turned his attention to Cristiano Ronaldo's broccoli.

From now on, whenever his Counterattack Point balance exceeded 30, he would purchase the broccoli once.

Buying broccoli once to train the skills of his De Bruyne growth template.

The second time buying broccoli, he focused on ball feel training and ball control.

Alternating between these two types of training, Tang Ye didn't know if his distribution of broccoli time was scientific, but he felt there was nothing wrong with his approach.

Then there was the contract with Boer; in the end, Tang Ye did sign a contract with him.

However, following his family's advice, Tang Ye negotiated with Boer.

Before his weekly wage reached 10,000 euros, Boer's commission was 15% of the weekly wage, but if Tang Ye's weekly wage reached 10,000 euros or more, this agent contract would automatically become void.

Boer accepted Tang Ye's request without the slightest hesitation.

Actually, as long as Tang Ye's weekly wage reached 3,000 euros, Boer was already making a profit.

As for 10,000 euros, considering the overall low salary level of the Eredivisie, Boer would not want to pin his hopes on Tang Ye.

The players in La Liga and the Premier League were the real big fish!

……

Time continued to move forward; on October 3rd and October 17th, Utrecht played Eredivisie matches against SBV Excelsior and Roda JC respectively.

One draw and one victory; in both matches, Tang Ye came on right at the start of the second half.

In the match against SBV Excelsior, Tang Ye didn't have much of an impact, but in the 9th round of the Eredivisie against Roda JC, he recorded one goal and one assist.

Utrecht's situation was currently excellent, yet a question lingered in Tang Ye's mind.

That was, when would he finally get a starting spot in the Eredivisie?

It had been nearly a month since he received the mission to obtain that Portuguese Reward Chest.

Tang Ye played as a substitute in every match, but he just couldn't f***ing get into the starting lineup!

Actually, Tang Ye felt his performance was already sufficient, and he had even proactively asked Ten Hag about his chances of starting.

The Dutchman's exact words were: "It is not yet the time."

Tang Ye felt terrible; he thought Ten Hag was simply too conservative.

Shortly after, he stumbled upon a video about himself on his notebook.

The video came from YouTube; it was made by a famous Utrecht fan influencer, who analyzed in the video the reasons why Tang Ye performed excellently yet still couldn't secure a starting position.

So far, no 16-year-old player had ever started a match in the Eredivisie; Ten Hag was too conservative, he dared not break this record!

……

(End of Chapter)