Chapter 7: Middle-Aged Health Care? No, This Is Pulling Up Seedlings to Help Them Grow!

【Veterans never die. You have scored your first goal in a warm-up match since coming out of retirement.】

【You have received a reward: Bone Density Increase Capsule x1.】

Hearing the system's voice in his mind, Tang Ye focused his thoughts.

【Middle-aged players need health supplements when playing football. Using Bone Density Increase Capsule...】

【Real Age: 16 years 4 months; Bone Quality: 17 years 4 months; Bone Age: 16 years 3 months.】

【Physical Confrontation: 40 → 52.】

What the hell?

Tang Ye frowned; this Bone Density Increase Capsule had directly boosted his bone quality by a full year.

A real age of 16 years and 4 months, but bone quality equivalent to 17 years and 4 months?

Brother, this isn't middle-aged health maintenance.

This is pulling up seedlings to help them grow!

Wait!

Tang Ye suddenly realized something was off; taking advantage of the goal celebration while hugging his teammates, he compared heights with Zaka.

His bone quality had increased by a year, yet his height hadn't suddenly surged, which made Tang Ye breathe a sigh of relief.

It would be bad if others found out he was secretly using cheats!

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

The match ended, and the name "Tom Cat" echoed across the Utrecht Youth Stadium.

Even if it was a lucky guess, as long as Tang Ye could pull off an outside-of-the-foot shot like that in every game, the fans would have nothing to complain about.

This was truly awesome!

"Tom Cat Has Arrived! Utrecht II Defeats Rotterdam Spartans 3-0, Tang Ye with 1 Goal and 1 Assist!"

"Were the Player-Edition Shorts Too Tight, or Was He Just Showing Off? Tang Ye Scores with Hands in Pockets While Wearing Utrecht Fan-Edition Shorts Against Rotterdam Spartans."

Looking at the pinned news on the Dongqiu Di app, Chinese fans felt a sense of disorientation.

Around this time last year, Dongqiu Di was filled with news about Tang Ye, hailed as a teenage genius landing in the Eerste Divisie, yet within two months, both the club and domestic fans had labeled him a slacker.

A full year later, similar news had once again made the headlines.

So, should they believe in Tang Ye this time?

Happy Bean Player: I believe!

After the match, the second-team players returned to their base, only a ten-minute drive from the stadium, where they would receive massages from the team physiotherapist before heading home to rest.

【Ding. An old warhorse in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand li. Having scored in a warm-up match, fans marvel that at 37, you still possess such keen instinct. You are now just one step away from an official comeback.】

【Mission: Appear on the official match roster to announce to the fans the return of the twilight king!】

【Reward: Brazil Chest (rewards vary according to league level).】

【Reward Tiers: Junior, Intermediate, Advanced, Superstar, Legendary.】

Since the rewards varied by league level, Tang Ye noticed that the reward for this mission was somewhat special.

According to the system's description, if Tang Ye could make the roster for Utrecht II's Eerste Divisie match, he would receive an Intermediate Chest!

Of course, due to this mechanism, Tang Ye had a backup plan; even if he played in the league one tier below the Eerste Divisie, namely the Reserve League, he would still receive a Junior Chest.

"Tang!"

Zaka called out, "Tang, are you listening to me?"

"Huh? Oh, oh, sorry, what's up?"

Walking back to the dormitory, Tang Ye snapped out of his daze to find Zaka staring at him.

"Don't you feel like you've gotten taller?"

Zaka gestured in front of Tang Ye, "I remember you only reached my nose before, but now you're almost up to my eyes."

"Really?"

Tang Ye looked down at the ground, trying to figure out if he had really grown taller as Zaka claimed.

Unfortunately, without a specific reference point, Tang Ye couldn't tell by looking at himself.

"Believe me, you really have grown taller."

Zaka stated with absolute certainty, then asked Tang a question, "Can you teach me how to grow taller? I want to grow taller too."

As a winger, Zaka genuinely hoped to become taller, as that would grant him a larger stride, enough to leave defenders behind!

"You want to know why I can grow taller?"

Tang Ye decided not to dwell too much on whether he had actually grown taller and simply accepted the situation.

"Why?"

"Because I sleep more; at our age, sleep is exactly what we need most!"

"Alright, then I'll go to sleep right away!"

True to his word, Zaka turned off the lights the moment he entered his room; Tang Ye, across from him, did the same, as he was accustomed to sleeping at 9 PM every day.

【Retired middle-aged players making a comeback should hold themselves to strict self-discipline.】

【Random Daily Mission: 5km Jog.】

【Reward: Counterattack Points x3.】

"What the hell?"

Hearing the system's familiar voice, Tang Ye wore an expression of disdain.

A daily mission; this clearly meant the system wanted Tang Ye to do extra training.

Three Counterattack Points were certainly tempting, but Tang Ye was obviously not the type of person to be easily swayed by temptation.

……

【Random Daily Mission: 200 Bodyweight Squats】

【Reward: Counterattack Points ×3】

The next morning, as soon as he woke up, Tang Ye discovered his mission had changed; indeed, this thing was different every single day.

However, Tang Ye didn't care at all; after a quick wash, he headed straight to the cafeteria for breakfast.

While eating in the cafeteria, Tang Ye learned from his teammates that the first team needed to gel their new lineup before the season started, so today everyone from their second team had to go serve as sparring partners for the first team.

Though called sparring partners, it essentially meant playing an 11-versus-11 scrimmage against the first team.

This was Tang Ye's favorite training activity, because whenever this happened, he could sit on the substitutes' bench for the entire morning—it simply couldn't get any better!

Arriving at the first team's training ground with his teammates, Tang Ye very conscientiously took a seat on the substitutes' bench today, only to have Ten Hag, the first team's head coach, walk straight toward him: "Tang, get up there!"

"Hm?"

Tang Ye didn't rush to stand; instead, he glanced at Meulent beside Ten Hag, and only after receiving Meulent's nod of approval did Tang Ye finally pull on the yellow bib.

"Peep!"

At the whistle blown by assistant coach Fan Fan Dejiahe, the scrimmage between the second team and the first team officially began.

The Utrecht first team greatly favored crossing from the wings after driving down the line; this was a squad adept at utilizing the pitch's width to create opportunities.

Taking this into account, Meulent deliberately adjusted their original 4-3-3 formation to a 4-4-2, with the sole aim of restricting the first team's wing play down the line.

The restriction did work, to be sure, but they were, after all, the first team; the players' explosive power was something the second-teamers couldn't possibly match—just three minutes into the training match, the first team had already completed two shots, one on target, leaving the second team's goalkeeper completely stunned.

"Phew..."

Ten Hag sighed, feeling this wouldn't do, so he instructed Fan Fan Dejiahe to blow the whistle and stop the match.

"Switch, switch!"

"Swap two players!"

After shouting this, Fan Fan Dejiahe turned to Ten Hag beside him: "Which two players should we swap?"

"Send Milner and Tang over; yes, that Chinese kid, swap him over."

"This... Erik!"

Hearing the commotion, Meulent walked over: "The first team's pressing ability is simply too strong; we can't play the ball out. If you go without a striker, with one fewer player, we'll be able to get it moving."

"No need; bringing Tang over will achieve the same result."

Having one fewer player would prevent them from simulating real match conditions; Ten Hag was quite particular about this aspect.

"Bringing Tang over will achieve the same result? Why?"

"Because he never presses."

!!!

That actually made some sense!

……

(End of Chapter)