[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back":3,"chapter-football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-6":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Football: At 16, Let Me Retire and Come Back?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2299976,4499,"Chapter 6: He Has His Hands in His Pockets","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-6",6,"\u003Cp>Snap!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After high-fiving his teammate, Tang Ye ran toward the field, feeling pressure—rare for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Tang Ye’s pressure wasn’t because he worried about performing poorly; it was because he was being subbed on too early.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Based on his training experience, if he played in the first half, the second half would be exhausting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Breathless exhaustion—this was torture for Tang Ye!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Move! Don’t walk!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Tang Ye jogged toward his central midfield position, Merent’s voice came from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I know, I know!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying that, Tang Ye sprinted toward the opposing ball carrier to prove himself, leaving Merent with a look of satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, players like this need to be yelled at more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, there are no naturally disciplined players—when coaches yell at players often enough, disciplined players appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tang Ye is on—he had a stunning performance in the last friendly, but since he played so little time, most fans probably only remember that outside-of-the-foot pass.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Today Tang Ye is playing the entire first half—so much playing time, we should see more of his strengths.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though that was true, after Tang Ye came on, Wang Chao quietly switched to the back-end and placed a bet on a draw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That way he’d avoid losing too much money!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the first few minutes on the pitch, Tang Ye’s pressing was very aggressive—even nearly stealing the ball once—but after five minutes, he suddenly stopped running.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The camera zoomed in on Tang Ye, the number 99 from the reserve team, hands on his hips, strolling across the field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lazy pig, move!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merent shouted—and just before he yelled, Tang Ye dropped back to receive the ball from Amrabat, then surged forward with it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye didn’t run fast, giving Rotterdam Spartans’ defenders their chance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Utrecht weren’t fools—seeing a defender charge toward Tang Ye, Zaka immediately dropped back, signaling for Tang Ye to pass to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If someone wanted to take that awful ball, Tang Ye never refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Snap!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He passed to Zaka, then switched from jogging to walking, slowly advancing toward the front, observing as he went.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Running was exhausting, but watching with his eyes was easy—Tang Ye loved this kind of easy work!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While strolling, Tang Ye spotted an open gap ahead, so he dodged the opposing defender and suddenly accelerated toward it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!!!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pass it, pass it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merent urged—Zaka reacted quickly, sending a direct through-ball with the inside of his foot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On camera, Tang Ye controlled the ball—he was less than five meters from the arc, but Utrecht had no tall enough striker to occupy the penalty area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Give it to me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Caron on the right wing reached out for the ball; Tang Ye glanced right, instantly assessing the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn’t a good passing moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So he looked left—and decisively whipped the ball with his outside foot!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tang Ye, outside-of-the-foot pass to the flank—again with the outside foot!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Chao had just shouted that, but immediately realized something was wrong—Tang Ye’s pass didn’t go to any left-winger; instead, it curved in a “C” shape toward the left baseline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fuck, shit, it’s out of bounds!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Chao cried out in frustration—clearly, his decision to bet on a draw after Tang Ye came on was flawless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, as the ball neared the left post, almost out of bounds, a player sprinted out from the left side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Utrecht’s left-back Trupe!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud! Trupe headed it in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What… the fuck?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dude, are you serious with that pass?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The livestream had only ambient sound—Wang Chao said nothing. Not because he was buffering, but because he genuinely didn’t speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The camera cut to Trupe, the Curaçaoan defender, who immediately charged toward Tang Ye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the fuck was that pass, what the fuck was that pass!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy fuck, 2-0! Utrecht 2-0 Rotterdam Spartans!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beep! Beep-beep!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The referee blew the whistle for halftime, and both teams slowly walked toward the tunnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the leading side, Utrecht players wore smiles—except Tang Ye.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was already struggling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over a thousand Utrecht fans chanted Tang Ye’s name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For these Dutch fans, the character “Tang” was hard to pronounce, so they used an English substitute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, Tang, your fans are waving—why aren’t you reacting?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zaka slapped Tang Ye on the back, reminding his teammate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What should I do now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye rubbed his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wave! Wave at them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, okay, okay.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tang Ye took a few breaths, then raised his right hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wowww!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump-thump-thump-thump!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No tickets were needed for Utrecht’s reserve match—the spectators were all diehard fans from Utrecht or nearby cities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all Utrecht first-team supporters, thrilled to see such talent emerge from the reserves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I guarantee it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A bearded man in the stands pounded his chest: “I guarantee this Asian kid will join the first team before he turns eighteen! Utrecht needs midfielders like this!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second half began; at halftime, Tang Ye asked Merent to be subbed off—and, unsurprisingly, got cursed out by his “great” coach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the second half, Tang Ye kept strolling—but since that pass in the first half, Rotterdam Spartans had doubled their marking on him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So even though Tang Ye was just walking, Rotterdam Spartans had to assign a player to track him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was brutal!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the 70th minute, Tang Ye was breathing heavily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fatigue in the first half was mental; the fatigue now was physical—this was real exhaustion!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While catching his breath, Tang Ye suddenly brightened—he spotted another gap, this time inside the penalty area.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instinct told him this was a scoring chance, so he clapped his hands, slipped them into his pockets, and strolled casually toward the opponent’s penalty box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tang Ye, what’s going on? Walking straight into the box?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, is he walking or running? Looks like walking—his hands are in his pockets.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wow, Tang Ye isn’t wearing regular shorts—he’s got pockets!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Forget it, Amrabat, send a through-ball!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tang Ye, facing the defender, control it, pull it down—defender fooled! Tang Ye, shoot!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Goal!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Holy shit, Tang Ye scores! 3-0! 79th minute! 3-0! 3-0!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Amazing!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Tang Ye, you’re my fucking dad, even more than my real dad】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Tonight’s foot bath is on Tang Gongzi!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Merent, legendary coach!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Give a penalty… Holy shit, direct goal, Tang Ye】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【Chinese help Chinese! Goal from Tang Ye! 3-0 win!】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1046,"2026-06-20T06:50:08.245Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d689564311b87ca7c5ef1ccbafc93837900be6df6686a0efb85e351ad2cedc82","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-7","football-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-chapter-5",918,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffootball-at-16-let-me-retire-and-come-back-cover.jpg"]