[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills":3,"chapter-the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-152":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},483988,734,"Chapter 152 - 52: Mid-season Champions! A Blunder with the Golden Boy Award? Tell Me, Is There Anything He Can’t Do?","the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-152",152,"\u003Cp>\"Even though he’s only 18, I believe nothing can stop him from continuing to grow and improve!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the news reached home, the entire internet erupted, even though it was the middle of the night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The domestic media had been following the story closely ever since Wang Shuo made the 40-man shortlist for the European Golden Boy Award in October.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Wang Shuo’s performances grew more and more outstanding and Mainz held a firm grip on first place, an increasing number of people began to wonder: could Wang Shuo make history?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, the answer was in!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shuo had won it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>DEE-DEE-DEE...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Huairen’s snoring was cut short by the sound of a classic Nokia ringtone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Utterly exhausted, he stuck a hand out from under his warm covers, fumbled for the phone on his nightstand, and pressed the answer button without even opening his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fatty Liu, I already told you, I’m broke right now. You can call and wake me up in the middle of the night every single day, but I still won’t have any money.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Or how about this? See if anyone’s buying human flesh. You can chop me up and sell me for parts.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Or get someone to appraise me, see what I’m worth. I’m good with whatever. Alright?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, he hung up and buried his head back under the covers to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a moment later, the phone rang again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, Gao Huairen pried his bleary eyes open, his vision still a blur, and answered the call.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What now? Are you ever going to stop?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Coach Gao, it’s me, Jiang Pengju. I’m not calling about a debt.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Xiao Jiang?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Huairen was a little surprised. He quickly brought the Nokia closer, squinting to get a better look at the screen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was really him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Have the debt collectors been showing up at your door again?\" Jiang Pengju asked from the other end of the line, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When it came to Gao Huairen, he was truly poor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since the day he founded the Huairun Football School, he hadn’t had a moment of peace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was either dealing with debt collectors or on his way to deal with debt collectors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after so many years of scraping by and borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, hadn’t he always managed to pull through?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the eyes of many, Coach Gao was completely shameless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite being so heavily criticized, he still had the gall to appear on television and in newspapers, making paid appearances at various events.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’He’s gone mad for money!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the eyes of those who knew the real story, Coach Gao’s situation was truly tragic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d had countless easier ways to make money. Countless times, the money had been placed right in front of him, but he had stubbornly refused to take it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had single-handedly pushed himself into this desperate situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some called him stupid. Others cursed him for being self-righteous. Still others accused him of being a hypocrite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, there were also those who respected him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Pengju was one of the latter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So what’s the big project this time?\" Jiang Pengju asked, fishing for details.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Huairen gave a wry laugh. \"Over the past six months or so, we’ve had a lot of players recommended to us, and many teams want to partner with us. There’s just so much to do.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But you know how it is. The school’s dorms are in terrible shape, and there isn’t enough space. So, I thought, why not try to scrape something together and build a new dormitory to improve the players’ living conditions?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Pengju burst out laughing on the other end of the line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d already guessed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was just like Gao Huairen. He either did nothing at all, or he went all in, giving his players the absolute best.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He might seem like a penny-pincher—he was still driving that old Volkswagen Bora—but when it came to football and his players, he’d always been incredibly generous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It went without saying: he must have begged everyone he knew, roped in a contractor, scrounged up the building materials, and got the dormitory built, only to find himself with no money to pay for it, forcing him to stall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’How many times has this happened now?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes, when the companies absolutely couldn’t get their money, they’d just drag him to an event to make an appearance, billing him as the former head coach of the national team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the result, needless to say, was another round of public criticism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Jiang Pengju laughed, his heart suddenly grew heavy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He himself had been selected for a national team training camp back when Gao Huairen was the coach.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’As for whether there was any foul play in the player selection, did he not know the truth?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he never ended up playing an official match for the national team, he knew what went on behind the scenes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there were many things he couldn’t talk about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he did, there would be no turning back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"By the way, why did you call me so late?\" Gao Huairen suddenly remembered to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn’t sure why, but he’d been feeling drowsy all the time lately. His blood pressure was also constantly fluctuating, never stable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doctor said such symptoms were common for someone his age, especially with his high blood pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Right, here’s the thing. I just got word—Wang Shuo won the European Golden Boy Award!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What? He won?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Huairen shot upright in bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For real?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Absolutely. The news is already out in Germany.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Why didn’t you say so sooner?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I...\" Jiang Pengju felt wronged. ’I was trying to, but you didn’t give me a chance!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Huairen, on the other end, paid him no mind, completely dumbfounded by the sudden, wonderful news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He just bellowed into the phone, \"That kid did it! He’s made us all proud!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All thoughts of sleep had vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Shuo never expected that his first photo after winning the European Golden Boy Award would be so difficult to take.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Accompanied by Strutz, Heidel, and Klopp, he met Massimo Frankie, the editor-in-chief of Torino Sports Daily, who had made a special trip just to see him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The square-faced, middle-aged Italian had also brought along a translator fluent in German and a photographer from the paper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The purpose of their trip was simple: to deliver an official invitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were inviting Wang Shuo to Turin to accept the award.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They also needed to take a photo of him holding the Golden Boy Award trophy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Torino Sports Daily would feature the photo in their newspaper and on their website, as well as forward it to all their media partners around the world.\u003C\u002Fp>",1129,"2026-05-30T11:12:32.829Z","2026-06-01T04:31:05.348Z",1,"novelbin.me","aa8f75f213ec0f2600d5a50ef85a3319d053a3b411105d1a97fd66fe8c024964","the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-153","the-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-chapter-151",400,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-god-of-football-starts-with-passive-skills-cover.jpg"]