Chapter 69: A Pass That Benefits the People, Can That Be Called Luck

Upon learning that the little pig his family had raised was being lured away by another family using cabbage, Ten Hag grew somewhat anxious and immediately dialed Tang Ye's phone.

"Come to my house right now; I've already sent the address to your phone, get over here immediately!"

Ten Hag's authority still held sway; less than an hour into the evening party, Tang Ye hurried back and knocked on Ten Hag's door.

"Damn it, come in!"

Ten Hag yanked Tang Ye in from outside the door, then shut it behind him.

Walking further inside, Tang Ye discovered that everyone in the room was staring at him.

He then turned to look at Ten Hag: "Mr. Erik, what's happening?"

"Come, let me ask you, why didn't you attend today's party?"

Ten Hag pulled Tang Ye aside, staring straight at him, with the word "fury" plainly written across his face.

"Uh, my agent wanted to discuss something with me..."

Tang Ye answered truthfully.

"Damn it, just as I thought!"

Gritting his teeth, Ten Hag demanded: "So which club is it?"

Tang Ye scratched his hair, not quite understanding why Ten Hag was so angry, but he still answered Ten Hag's question: "Feyenoord."

Feyenoord, one of the Big Three!

Ten Hag sucked in a sharp breath; the thing he feared most had indeed happened!

Other clubs might be manageable, but if it was a traditional Eredivisie powerhouse like Feyenoord, he found it somewhat difficult to handle.

Given Tang Ye's current treatment at Utrecht, Feyenoord could very easily offer three times, or even five times, that amount!

In other words, Utrecht simply possessed no bargaining chips to keep Tang Ye!

"What terms did they offer you?"

Ten Hag asked, and the first-team players in the room immediately gathered around, creating a somewhat oppressive atmosphere.

"Uh... a weekly wage of 7,000 euros, a goal bonus of 20,000 euros, and for assists... assists seem to be 10,000 euros each, I'm not entirely sure, but it should be 10,000 euros."

Counting on his fingers, Tang Ye relayed everything he had heard from the Feyenoord staff to Ten Hag.

Damn it!

Just as he had anticipated, Feyenoord had offered Tang Ye extremely generous terms.

A weekly wage of 7,000 euros, along with a series of goal bonuses; these were things Utrecht could accept if it gritted its teeth.

The problem was that Tang Ye's contract included a release clause.

If he wanted to join Feyenoord, Utrecht would have absolutely no way to keep him!

That damn agent; just thinking about that British man made Ten Hag angry.

If it hadn't been for Paul back then, Utrecht would absolutely never have signed a release clause with Tang Ye!

"Phew..."

Ten Hag placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, his eyes slightly red: "Regardless, before the winter window opens, I am still your coach, and we are still friends, okay?"

Huh?

Tang Ye took a step back: "What, what's wrong, Mr. Erik... I didn't say I was leaving, I'm not leaving."

"Hmm?"

Ten Hag froze on the spot: "You're not leaving? Why?"

Ten Hag didn't quite understand the meaning of Tang Ye's words.

Triple the salary, plus generous bonuses.

If Ten Hag were making the choice, he would have run off long ago!

What was so great about staying at Utrecht!

"I definitely cannot leave."

Tang Ye explained: "The league is only half over, and I'm still a starter; if I suddenly leave, we'll be short a midfielder, and lacking a midfielder is really tough, Utrecht might lose matches."

"If we lose matches, we won't get points, Mr. Erik; we still have a goal this season to finish in the top four, and if we fail to achieve that goal, everyone will be unhappy."

Tang Ye began his analysis: "My friends are all here; if I go to Feyenoord, I won't know anyone, and I'll feel really bad."

"I..."

Ten Hag and Fan Fan Dejiahe exchanged a glance, then turned back: "I... uh, it's nothing, sorry."

"What's wrong?"

Tang Ye was somewhat bewildered because Ten Hag had suddenly hugged him.

"Mr. Erik?"

Patting Tang Ye's back, Ten Hag's eyes grew even redder: "You are a qualified player; indeed, we should achieve our goal, we must still reach the top four!"

Ten Hag pulled back, pointing a finger at Tang Ye's nose: "I've made my decision; I'm going to restore the heating in your dormitory!"

"Come, look here, I bought you a new controller!"

Ten Hag picked up the gift box belonging to Tang Ye that was sitting on the dining table, and the latter opened the box right in front of Ten Hag.

"How is it?"

"Uh..."

Tang Ye rubbed his head and said somewhat embarrassedly: "My mom already bought me one of these..."

"What!?"

"Wait, are you sure it's the same one? This is the latest model!"

Reposted by Dongqiu Di: Utrecht signed a new contract with Tang Ye before the winter window opened; under the new contract, Tang Ye will receive a weekly wage of 7,000 euros, the contract lasts for 5 years, and the original release clause has been removed.

Tang Ye and Utrecht's contract modification sparked a wave of discussion on Check Dongqiu Di, though everyone generally considered the move quite reasonable.

Setting aside attitude, speed, stamina, defensive technique, and running ability, my Tang Tang Qiuwang's strength is simply impeccable.

For such a top-tier player, isn't a salary increase only to be expected?

Time arrived at January 2016, and the European football winter transfer window officially opened.

On the first day of the winter window, the Tenghahe Sect began his performance, securing Frenkie de Jong from Ajax for 9 million euros.

Eredivisie teams generally dislike making signings during the winter window, and Utrecht was no exception; Frenkie de Jong was Utrecht's only winter signing, valued at 9 million euros!

"Eric, so do we now possess the hard strength to secure a top-four finish in the league?"

Immediately after the transfer was completed, owner Verhoef sought out Tenghahe.

Verhoef was now somewhat anxious.

A top-four finish in the Eredivisie meant Utrecht might qualify for the Europa League next season, and even participating in the Champions League was not entirely impossible!

Tenghahe shook his head.

"What does this mean? Eric, I have carried out transfers according to your demands!"

Seeing Tenghahe shake his head, Verhoef became directly agitated.

"Mr. Paul, please do not rush; my meaning is that a top-four finish cannot be forced, but rest assured, I will certainly make efforts. Originally, my confidence in securing a top-four league finish was only 90%, but after Frenkie's transfer, this probability has increased!"

Oh?

Verhoef's eyes lit up: "Then how much confidence do you have now?"

"99%!"

……

The day after completing the de Jong transfer, Tenghahe received the December Best Head Coach trophy awarded by the Royal Dutch Football Association.

This was the second Eredivisie Monthly Best Head Coach trophy of Tenghahe's coaching career.

And up to the present moment, Tenghahe had been coaching Utrecht for merely five months!

December 17, during the pre-match interview segment before Utrecht's away game against Groningen.

"Two times, two times as Monthly Best Head Coach."

Tenghahe held up two fingers: "This season, no coach has more trophies than I do; I do not understand why anyone would still question my signings."

Halfway through his speech, Tenghahe placed his hand on the left side of his chest: "I feel my inner self has been hurt; do you understand that feeling? I am clearly making sacrifices for the team, yet in the end, you say I am harming the team."

"Five months, two Monthly Best awards; pray tell, am I harming the team?"

Having spoken, Tenghahe directly left the press room.

He truly could not understand why this group of ridiculously stupid reporters would question his signings!

Or rather, what qualification did they have to question!

……

"Ahem, brothers, welcome back; European matches were scarce these past few weeks, but things have returned to normal now. Rest assured, the matches I stream for you are carefully selected, the kind that are easier to bet on."

With Chinese New Year approaching, Wang Chao's tone of speech became considerably more confident.

Previously, when he was a small streamer on the Happy Beans website, he would always be questioned about this and that by relatives upon returning home.

But this year, that would not happen!

Under the great leadership of Tang Tang Qiuwang, he, Wang Chao, was no longer a small streamer!

He now spoke with a confidence unique to successful people!

"Today! Groningen versus Utrecht, Tang Ye remains in the starting lineup!"

"In this match, Utrecht will definitely win; as for the scoreline, I personally believe Utrecht can lead by two goals."

"Let me first introduce the home team's player roster: Groningen (4-3-3)."

Goalkeeper: Pat.

Defenders: Hatteboer, Rijnen, Maduro, Peyne.

Midfielders: Dzemaili, Kappelhof, Tibbling.

Forwards: Rusnak, Sorloth, Lin Sen.

"As for the away team, the main carry is number 99, Tang Ye!"

"The other players are unimportant, so I will not introduce them here."

"Match start!"

【Damn, finally a Utrecht match; gotta earn a bit more before the New Year, otherwise there won't be money to celebrate.】

【Let me tell you a ghost story: Chinese New Year's Eve is almost here; how much savings do you have in your pocket right now?】

【Savings of 300 yuan, but I'm not afraid, because with Utrecht playing, I'll conservatively earn 20,000 before the New Year.】

!

【Awesome.】

【Pass to Tang Ye, pass to Tang Ye! Are these Utrecht defenders idiots? Passing this ball to Tang Ye—my brother Meng would directly kick it straight to the striker's feet!】

【A pass beneficial to the people; can that be called a blind kick?】

In the 11th minute of the match, Tang Ye, strolling on the left flank, received a pass from Koom.

Dribbling forward, he faced Dzemaili's defense!

Tang Ye knew he had a two-hundred-percent chance of not getting past Dzemaili, so he quickly sought help from a teammate.

Pass to Haller, then run forward!

Haller passed the ball back!

The one-two combination was executed; Tang Ye displayed his super strong running ability to the haters in the live stream room.

Looking up to observe!

The full-back Hatbaur is running toward him!

Holy crap!

Hatbaur's beard is very long, looking somewhat fierce; Tang Ye was extremely afraid, so he quickly turned around.

After a simple observation, he immediately played a long pass to the right flank where Di Di Bala was making an overlapping run.

"Di Di Bala starts pressing the opponent's defensive line!"

"Okay, very nice, this attack also comes from Mengge's exquisite pass."

"Played into the center for Yosten!"

"Yosten shoots!"

Smack!

The center-back Rienen suddenly dropped to the ground, directly blocking Yosten's pushed shot.

Utrecht's attack was brutally terminated; at this moment, Tang Ye inexplicably found himself positioned underneath the ball again.

Head it!

"Xuuuu——!!"

Boos erupted from the stands.

Tang Ye's header missed completely!

Damn it!

Cursing under his breath, Tang Ye quickly created space, settled the ball on the ground, and then lofted it into the penalty area.

"Nasser!"

Called by name, Di Di Bala rushed out and flicked a header.

The quality of this header was countless times better than Tang Ye's earlier attempt.

"Goooooo——aaaaa——lllllll!!!"

"Here we go, brothers! Utrecht leads by one goal!"

"The scorer... oh wait, no, the assister is..."

"Tang Ye!"

"Wuhu!"

【French High-Level Chest Upgrade Progress: 1/5】

It's here!

He had obtained this French High-Level Chest back in mid-December, but it coincided with Christmas, so he never had the chance to upgrade it until now.

The long-overdue league assist has finally arrived!

"Beautiful!"

Di Di Bala sprinted toward the sideline, with Tang Ye following closely behind.

Tang Ye could feel that his match condition today was quite good.

If possible, maybe he could rack up another assist in this match?

The match continued; holding a one-goal lead thanks to their 4-3-3 formation, Utrecht persisted with three forwards, aiming to score even more goals.

The 28th minute!

"To me! To me!"

Tang Ye reached out to Rieuwe demanding the ball, but Rieuwe didn't pass, so Tang Ye shouted again: "Trust me, bro!"

His teammates didn't trust his ball control, but Tang Ye remained very confident in his own ball-handling abilities!

Smack!

Rieuwe passed the ball over; Tang Ye ran over excitedly ready to receive it, only for Sorloth to appear out of nowhere and directly steal the ball from Tang Ye.

Holy crap!

Tang Ye sensed great danger and felt compelled to sprint back.

Sorloth's physique was extremely robust; Tang Ye couldn't outmuscle him, so he could only simply jostle for position against Sorloth.

Lin Sen ran up from the left flank; Sorloth split the pass out to the wing, but Tang Ye blocked the passing lane, forcing Sorloth to choose shooting directly.

Goal!

Sorloth's shot!

A foul committed by Tang Ye!

"Oh damn..."

Watching Sorloth's shot hit the back of the net, Rieuwe shrugged his hands at Tang Ye, who felt somewhat awkward: "My fault, my fault!"

"Look before you pass!"

"Don't listen to that kid's lies."

Ten Hag instructed the players on the field.

Tang Ye always felt he could control the ball, but in reality, he often failed to keep possession.

But it didn't matter; Tang Ye immediately began his phase of atonement.

Koom played a long pass from the left baseline to the front; the dropping-back Yosten jumped up and headed the ball back.

Tang Ye was very sharp; knowing Yosten would jump to cushion the ball, he had already waited in front of him.

Control the ball!

Perfect!

"Don't let him pass!"

The defender Maduro shouted loudly, but it was already too late.

Tang Ye was currently unmarked, and in this state, he was at his most terrifying.

Because no one knew what kind of pass his next kick would blindly produce!

Slap!

"Tang Ye, flick it with the outside of your foot!"

"The ball speed is fast; let's see the quality of this kick!"

Tang Ye's right-footed cleats scraped across the turf, sending the ball soaring upward, brushing past Joosten's right arm.

???

"Pass it to me!"

Joosten spread his hands toward Tang Ye.

From his perspective, Tang Ye's pass was aimed directly at the left sideline.

But there were no Utrecht players on the left sideline right now!

……

PS: Future update times will be at 10 AM.

(End of Chapter)