Chapter 61: A Brief Return Home

"Overseas Weekly"—Top-tier set-piece assist, Tang Ye records an assist in his 7th consecutive club official match!

Special edition of "China Football News"—A young talent from Guangdong emerges unexpectedly; with stunning performances in the Eredivisie, will the Chinese national team welcome a genius midfielder?

Shandong Shandong Luneng Taishan Football Club: Tang Ye is a youth trainee of our club; after graduating early from the Shandong Luneng Football School in May 2014, he joined Utrecht II in the Dutch Eerste Divisie for a transfer fee of 50,000 euros.

The Shandong Luneng Taishan Club used its official Weibo account to repost the video regarding Tang Ye's assist published by the "Overseas Weekly" column, attaching a series of introductions.

Soon, this post from Shandong Luneng Taishan captured the attention of football fans.

The big brothers from Dongqiu Di occupied the Weibo comments section immediately.

Since one cannot tell what position Tang Ye plays just by watching matches, they decided to ask Tang Ye's alma mater.

As Tang Ye's alma mater, the Shandong Luneng Football School should possess an analysis report on Tang Ye.

So many people asked that Shandong Luneng Taishan had no choice but to release part of Tang Ye's scout report.

Tang Ye (14 years, 3 months)

Player Type: Ball-playing Midfielder / Attacking Midfielder / Playmaker

Comparison Template: Liao Lisheng, Zhang Zhang Xizhe

【666, he really is a ball-playing midfielder】

【I guess when Brother Meng was playing soccer as a child, his ball control was outstanding, but after going to the Netherlands to play, he realized his ball control wasn't actually up to par, so he switched to the 'Meng' style of play】

【How dare the person above blacken my Brother Meng's name; with an average of one assist per game, are you trying to pick a fight?】

【Is the Shandong Luneng Football School this awesome?】

【Damn, if Tang Ye maintains this form, his market value must break one million euros during the winter window, right?】

【The Eredivisie market values seem to update once in December, but I feel Tang Ye's won't go that high, because sometimes you can't tell if a goal was luck or skill】

【Regardless of whether it's luck or skill, Tang Ye is currently first on the Eredivisie assist leaderboard!】

【The problem is that the player currently second on the assist leaderboard is only valued at one million euros; goal scoring in the Eredivisie is generally low, so the assist leaderboard lacks substance!】

【Isn't the Eredivisie still ten thousand times better than the Chinese Super League?】

After the match against Nijmegen ended, Tang Ye returned once again to his hometown in Guangdong.

The reason was simple: his visa was valid for only three months, and whenever it was about to expire, he had to return to China to reapply.

Although Utrecht, as a professional football club, possessed the capability to handle work visas for foreign players, the issue was that Tang Ye had signed a youth training contract, not a player contract.

Simply put, due to his age, Tang Ye and Utrecht did not have a strictly defined employer-employee relationship.

There might be other methods for Tang Ye to obtain a longer visa, but Tang Ye had no intention of studying them carefully.

Receiving a fixed five-day holiday every three months, isn't that a good thing?

"Dad, Mom."

Stepping out of the terminal, the first people Tang Ye spotted in the crowd were Tang Tang Zhengxiong and Zhang Zhang Qingqing.

Last time he returned home without prior notice, Tang Tang Zhengxiong had scolded him, so this time Tang Ye had sent his flight number to Zhang Zhang Qingqing in advance.

"Tang Ye, wow, let's go! Head home first to drop off our things."

"Wait, where is your suitcase?"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong looked Tang Ye up and down; the latter carried a backpack sponsored by Nike on his back, his hands completely empty.

"No, I don't need luggage; everything is available here, clothes can be bought temporarily."

Tang Ye said as he walked over to reunite with his parents.

"Holy crap, smart!"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong gave Tang Ye a thumbs-up and said to Zhang Zhang Qingqing beside him: "I didn't even think of that; your son really is..."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong walked in front, leading Tang Ye and Zhang Zhang Qingqing to the parking lot to find their black Bentley Bentayga.

"Oh, right!"

Just after getting into the car, Tang Ye suddenly remembered something; he placed his backpack on his thighs, rummaged inside for a moment, and finally pulled out a box of Tony's chocolate, its packaging featuring a large blue windmill.

"This is a local Dutch specialty chocolate; the taste isn't very good."

Tang Ye handed it to Tang Tang Zhengxiong, who was in the driver's seat; the latter reached out with both hands: "Here, is this for me?"

"Yes."

"Mm, good, good."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong laughed heartily; instead of starting the car immediately, he held the chocolate in his hands and examined it carefully.

Tang Ye and Zhang Zhang Qingqing exchanged glances, constantly raising their eyebrows.

How could Tang Ye have thought of bringing a gift for Tang Tang Zhengxiong on his own?

All of this was what Zhang Zhang Qingqing had told him via WeChat!

Actually, Tang Ye had originally intended to buy Tang Tang Zhengxiong a bottle of red wine, but carrying it was troublesome, and besides, Tang Tang Zhengxiong preferred cars over wine.

It was impossible for Tang Ye to transport a several-ton car to Guangdong, nor was it necessary at all; in the end, following Fan Fan Dejiahe's advice, he bought Tang Tang Zhengxiong a box of Windmill Blue Porcelain chocolate.

"Oh right, there's more!"

Tang Ye reached into his backpack again and pulled out a Miffy rabbit plush toy.

Two palm-sized little items, perfect for giving to Mom, Zhang Zhang Qingqing!

"Mm!"

Zhang Zhang Qingqing covered her mouth and took a deep breath.

She had expected Tang Ye to bring a gift for Tang Tang Zhengxiong, but she hadn't expected Tang Ye to bring one for her as well.

"Haha."

Tang Ye chuckled, exchanging a wink with Tang Tang Zhengxiong in the driver's seat.

In reality, he hadn't thought at all about bringing a gift for Zhang Zhang Qingqing; all of this had been Tang Tang Zhengxiong's idea.

Back when Tang Tang Zhengxiong was courting Zhang Zhang Qingqing, he used a Miffy rabbit plushie, but he had bought it domestically, and it wasn't an authentic one.

The one Tang Ye gifted is a genuine, purebred Dutch Miffy rabbit!

As the car drove along the road, Tang Tang Zhengxiong told Tang Ye about their plans for the next few days; since they had barely two days at home in total, they could only wander around Guangzhou, casually picking a few restaurants to eat at and the like.

"By the way, do you want to buy a house over in the Netherlands?"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong asked Tang Ye, who was sitting behind him, while driving.

"Buy a house? Why would I buy a house?"

"You're already on the first team; won't you be staying in the Netherlands for a long time?"

"Houses are very cheap over in the Netherlands; Utrecht isn't expensive either."

Just as Tang Tang Zhengxiong had said, houses in the Netherlands were indeed generally modest, at least compared to the core areas of Guangdong.

"Are houses in the Netherlands really that cheap? I know that."

Tang Ye shook his head; he truly hadn't looked into such matters.

"They are indeed quite cheap."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong nodded: "With the price of one house here, you could buy five in the Netherlands."

"You're silly!"

Zhang Zhang Qingqing scolded: "Just buy a villa! Earlier, when we sent Little Tang to Utrecht, didn't you fancy a villa there?"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't rush; those aren't the same thing. So, Tang Ye, do you want to buy a house to live in?"

"Definitely not buying one. I stay in the dorms; it's only 150 meters to walk to the training base. If I lived outside, even the closest place would be seven or eight kilometers away; commuting would be a hassle, and I'd still have to ride my bicycle there."

Tang Ye wasn't a fool; he could calculate such basic figures clearly.

Riding a bicycle several kilometers every day just to attend training—wouldn't that make him a sucker?

"Staying in the dorms for the sake of training—Tang Ye, I approve of you!"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong steered with one hand while freeing his right hand to give Tang Ye a thumbs-up.

……

(End of Chapter)