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

【Veterans never die—you’ve scored your first goal in a friendly match after returning from retirement】

【You’ve received a reward: Bone Density Growth Capsule ×1】

Hearing the system’s voice in his mind, Tang Ye activated his will.

【Middle-aged players need health supplements to play football—use the Bone Density Growth Capsule…】

【Actual age: 16 years 4 months; Bone mass: 17 years 4 months; Bone age: 16 years 3 months】

【Physical confrontation: 40→52】

What the hell?

Tang Ye frowned—the Bone Density Growth Capsule had directly boosted his bone mass by a full year.

An actual age of 16 years 4 months, but bone mass at 17 years 4 months?

Buddy, this isn’t middle-aged health care.

This is pulling up seedlings to help them grow!

Wait!

Tang Ye suddenly realized something was off, and took the chance of hugging teammates after scoring to compare heights with Zaka.

His bone mass had increased by a year, but his height hadn’t suddenly shot up—Tang Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

If anyone found out he was cheating, it’d be trouble!

“Beep, beeeeeep—!!!”

At the final whistle, the Utrecht Youth Sports Arena echoed with Tom’s name.

Even if it was luck, as long as Tang Ye could luck into one of these outside-foot shots every match, the fans wouldn’t complain.

That’s seriously impressive!

…

【Here Comes the Lucky Shot! Utrecht B Team Wins 3-0 Against Rotterdam Spartans—Tang Ye Scores One, Assists One!】

【Too Tight Shorts or Just Showing Off? Tang Ye Scores While Wearing Utrecht Fan-Style Shorts, Hand in Pocket】

Looking at the top news on Dongqiu Di app, Chinese fans felt dazed.

This time last year, Dongqiu Di was flooded with news about Tang Ye—calling him a prodigy who’d arrived in the Dutch second division—but within two months, both the club and domestic fans had labeled him a fraud.

Exactly one year later, the same headline appeared again.

So should they believe Tang Ye now?

Happy Bean player: I believe him!

After the match, the B team players returned to their base, only ten minutes’ drive from the stadium, where they needed to receive massages from the team’s masseur before heading home to rest.

【Ding, the old steed still dreams of a thousand miles—you’ve scored in a friendly, and fans marvel that at 37, you still possess such sharp instincts; you’re now one step away from a full comeback】

【Quest: Appear on the official matchday squad list and announce the return of the aging king to the fans!】

【Reward: Brazil Chest (reward varies by league tier)】

【Reward tiers: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Star, Legend】

The reward varies by league tier—Tang Ye noticed this quest’s reward was unusual.

According to the system, if Tang Ye appeared on Utrecht B Team’s Eerste Divisie roster, he’d receive an Intermediate Chest!

Of course, thanks to this mechanism, Tang Ye had a backup plan—even if he joined the lower-tier Dutch reserve league, he’d still get a Basic Chest.

“Tang!”

Zaka called out: “Tang, are you even listening to me?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry, what?”

Walking back to the dorm, Tang Ye snapped out of his thoughts and realized Zaka was staring at him.

“Don’t you feel like you’ve gotten taller?”

Zaka held his hand up in front of Tang Ye: “I remember you used to be just at my nose level—you’re almost up to my eyes now.”

“Really?”

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

Unfortunately, without a clear reference point, he couldn’t tell by himself.

“Trust me—you’ve definitely grown taller.”

Zaka spoke with absolute certainty, then asked Tang Ye: “Can you teach me how to grow taller? I want to get taller too.”

As a winger, Zaka truly wished to be taller—it would give him a longer stride, enough to leave defenders behind!

“You want to know why I’ve grown taller?”

Tang Ye had no intention of dwelling on whether he’d grown—he simply accepted the claim.

“Why?”

“Because I sleep a lot. At our age, sleep is exactly what we need most!”

“Alright, I’m going to bed right now!”

Zaka kept his word—he turned off the lights the moment he entered his room. Tang Ye did the same—he always slept at 9 p.m.

【Retired middle-aged players must enforce strict self-discipline after returning】

【Random daily task: 5km slow jog】

【Reward: Comeback Points ×3】

What the hell?

Hearing the system’s familiar voice, Tang Ye sneered.

Daily tasks—this was clearly meant to force him to train harder.

Three Comeback Points were tempting, but Tang Ye wasn’t the type to be easily swayed.

…

【Random daily task: 200 bodyweight squats】

【Reward: Comeback Points ×3】

The next morning, Tang Ye woke up to find his task had changed—sure enough, these things were different every day.

But Tang Ye ignored it entirely—he simply washed up and went to the cafeteria for breakfast.

At the cafeteria, Tang Ye learned from his teammates that the first team was adjusting their new formation before the season started, so all B team players were required to train as sparring partners today.

“Sparring partners” meant an 11-vs-11 scrimmage.

It was Tang Ye’s favorite training session—he could sit on the bench all morning, absolutely perfect!

Arriving at the first team’s training ground, Tang Ye naturally sat on the bench as usual—until the first team’s head coach, Ten Hag, walked straight over to him: “Tang, get on!”

“Huh?”

Tang Ye didn’t stand up immediately—he glanced at Marent beside Ten Hag, and only after Marent nodded did he put on the yellow vest.

“Beep!”

Assistant coach Fan Degah blew the whistle—the scrimmage between B team and first team began.

Utrecht’s first team loved crossing from the flanks—they were a team that thrived on exploiting width.

Knowing this, Marent adjusted their 4-3-3 into a 4-4-2 to limit the first team’s wide attacks.

The limitation worked—but the first team was still the first team; their players’ physical impact was nothing like the B team’s. Within three minutes, they’d taken two shots, one on target, leaving the B team’s goalkeeper stunned.

“Huh…”

Ten Hag sighed—he knew this wasn’t working, and signaled Fan Degah to stop the match.

“Switch! Switch!”

“Swap two players!”

After shouting, Fan Degah turned to Ten Hag: “Which two?”

“Send Milner and Tang over—yes, that Chinese kid—get him over.”

“This… Eric!”

Marent walked over: “Their pressing is too intense—we can’t pass out. If you drop the striker, we’ll have more space to play.”

“It’s fine—bringing Tang over works too.”

Losing a player meant losing realistic match simulation—Ten Hag was particular about this.

“Bringing Tang over works too? Why?”

“Because he never presses.”

!!!

That actually made sense!

…

(End of Chapter)