Chapter 1 A Small Disturbance

When Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, accompanied by their agent Hua Fang, appeared on the set for the commercial shoot, they immediately caused a small commotion. Men and women alike scrambled to catch a glimpse of the "hope of Chinese soccer" and the "new idol of Chinese soccer," eagerly seeking autographs and photo opportunities. However, this excitement was quickly quashed by the head of the production crew, Wu Wei.

"What's all the noise? Get back to work!" he shouted at his subordinates with a stern face.

Zhang Jun and Yang Pan also straightened their expressions, thinking that they should be serious and professional for their first meeting.

The crowd dispersed reluctantly, and Wu Wei approached them, shaking their hands. "Hello, I'm Wu Wei, the director of this commercial."

"Director Wu, hello!" the two replied respectfully. They were likely intimidated by Wu Wei's earlier display of authority, realizing that even big stars had to listen to the director here. But then, Wu Wei stood between them, made a "v" sign with his fingers, and called out to his assistant, "Xiao Chen, quick! Take a picture of us!"

A chorus of boos erupted.

***

"…Basically, that's it. You've all seen the basic concept for the commercial. I'll have Xiao Chen give you each a copy so you can take a good look at it and think about it carefully. Now, let's take a look at our female lead, Xiao Chen."

The assistant, Chen Lin, responded and brought in a girl. She was wearing a white dress, specially made for her by the art and costume departments at Wu Wei's request. Dressed like this, she looked as pure as an angel.

Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's eyes lit up.

"Su Fei was discovered here at this university. We believe she's the best choice for the female lead," Chen Lin introduced to the two soccer stars. Su Fei smiled slightly at the crowd—actually, she smiled at Zhang Jun and Yang Pan. Wu Wei was captivated by Su Fei's smile, a smile as radiant as the sun and as gentle as the spring breeze. Such a smile could only exist in heaven; how often could one see it on Earth?

"Let's all get to know each other. Speaking of which, all three of you are alumni! Haha, you'll have to work well together for the next three days!" Wu Wei laughed. He didn't know the relationship between the three of them, but cooperation would be no problem at all. According to the concept, one of the two soccer stars would be in a romantic relationship with Su Fei, a mingling of reality and fiction within a sixty-second commercial. Life was truly amazing!

***

Today's plan mainly involved the two soccer stars doing some test shots and rehearsals. Regarding their costumes and styling, Wu Wei adopted a natural approach: ordinary t-shirts and bright smiles, combined with the scenery of the verdant campus and a slice-of-life design, would give consumers a boy-next-door feeling. That was the kind of approachability they wanted.

Wu Wei had read the script written before, and he didn't think it was necessary to make an ordinary sports drink into something involving going to heaven and earth, or scaling walls and roofs. There were too many commercials like that; consumers would want to change the channel as soon as they saw it. How would you get consumers to remember and buy your product?

***

"I challenge you one-on-one, I get drenched in sweat, and in the end, I defeat you, winning Su Fei's kiss and affection. Hmm, not a bad concept," Yang Pan said as he lay on the bed reading the commercial script.

"Wrong. It should be me challenging you one-on-one, I get drenched in sweat, and in the end, I beat you, also winning Su Fei's affection and kiss," Zhang Jun protested.

"Hehe, you and Su Fei are already a couple in real life, so don't compete with me in the commercial, okay?" Yang Pan said with a smile.

"No way! I don't want a single thing that isn't mine, and what's mine, I won't give to anyone!"

"Hey, hey, it was just a joke, no need to get so worked up! Hehe, but seriously, this commercial is written… it's practically tailor-made for you and Su Fei."

Zhang Jun smiled. "But I can't act too intimately with Su Fei yet; those reporters are too sharp!" He pointed downwards, to the hotel lobby on the tenth floor below, where more than a dozen reporters were gathered, some sports reporters, some entertainment reporters. They were all here for Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, and if he wasn't careful, Su Fei's identity might be exposed, which was definitely not something Zhang Jun wanted to see.

"Sigh! You guys really have it tough!" Yang Pan sighed.

Zhang Jun didn't say anything. Being a celebrity meant being exposed to the cameras every day, and the constant praise gradually turned into pressure. If he performed well, people would praise him; if he performed poorly, the same people would start criticizing him. He could handle that pressure, but what really tired Zhang Jun was that he had so little time to spend with Su Fei, and even when they were together, they couldn't act like a couple. For example, during the filming of this commercial, he always had to maintain a certain distance from Su Fei in front of the numerous reporters on set, even appearing somewhat indifferent. And Su Fei understood, never taking the initiative to approach him. The two of them could only communicate more with their eyes, and even then, they couldn't make eye contact for too long, because that, too, would reveal their secret.

On the other hand, when filming the commercial, he could unleash the emotions he had been suppressing in his heart without any reservations, acting affectionately with Su Fei. It even made many people disbelieve that Zhang Jun couldn't act at all, because he played the emotions between a couple "too perfectly! Too appropriately!"

At that moment, Zhang Jun really couldn't tell what was real and what was illusory.

***

In the final scene of the commercial, the victor, Zhang Jun, would receive a shy kiss from Su Fei after drinking the product. This scene was reshot several times, but their performance was always lacking. It should be said that the two of them were still a little inhibited about kissing in front of so many people, even if it was just Su Fei kissing Zhang Jun on the cheek, it always made them blush.

The assistant director, Chen Lin, had to repeatedly emphasize that they should put aside all distracting thoughts, put aside all distracting thoughts. It still didn't work very well. Yang Pan, on the other hand, said with a smile, "Don't think so much, just think of yourselves as a couple!"

That seemed to have an effect. In the next take, Su Fei and Zhang Jun entered the scene before Wu Wei even called action. When Su Fei heard Yang Pan's words, she thought of how she and Zhang Jun were separated by thousands of miles, only able to maintain their longing through phone calls, that kind of hardship… If it wasn't for Zhang Jun's promise, "I will marry you," she felt it would have been too hard!

"Action!"

Wu Wei watched Su Fei close her eyes and kiss Zhang Jun with a shy and affectionate expression through the monitor, and a sour feeling suddenly welled up in his heart. He realized that he was actually jealous of the characters in the play.

After Su Fei finished kissing Zhang Jun, she didn't hear the director shout "Okay" for a long time, and she stood there blankly, not knowing what to do. The others also continued working out of habit, until Chen Lin gently nudged Wu Wei, who was staring blankly at the monitor. "Director Wu?"

Wu Wei finally reacted. "Okay, okay, stop!"

Everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief that this scene, which had taken countless takes, had finally passed when Wu Wei spoke again, "Lighting, camera, let's do it one more time!" Then he said to Chen Lin, "I don't think this highlights the product enough, and it's not very memorable. Tell Yang Pan to take the product and put it between them unexpectedly when Su Fei and Zhang Jun are about to kiss, so Su Fei kisses the bottle instead. Let's see how that looks."

Yang Pan did as he was told, and without Su Fei and Zhang Jun knowing in advance, he gave them a big surprise. "Okay!" Wu Wei was finally satisfied. It was difficult to get people who couldn't act to make a surprised expression, so this could only be done in one take. If it was repeated, it wouldn't achieve the unexpected effect he wanted.

When he shouted "Okay," Wu Wei knew clearly that it wasn't so much the director's experience that allowed him to improvise this scene, but rather that his jealousy of Zhang Jun had inspired him. He realized that he had unknowingly fallen in love with the white-clad girl who smiled so charmingly.

***

When Su Fei watched movies in the past, she only knew that the stars appeared dazzlingly on the screen, talking and laughing freely. But she never imagined how much hard work and sweat it took to create such an effect. Fortunately, it was just a sixty-second commercial. If it was a movie that lasted an hour and a half, Su Fei didn't know what she would look like after filming it.

Dragging her tired body, Su Fei returned to the hotel accompanied by her mother. Reporters were interviewing Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, who had returned a little earlier than her. She was a supporting actress, and the reporters only asked her questions like, "What's it like to work with soccer stars?" and "Are you a soccer fan?" Therefore, Su Fei didn't have to be afraid of being besieged by reporters. She was only famous because she was associated with Zhang Jun and Yang Pan. When she was alone, reporters rarely bothered her, so she could swagger past Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, who were being interviewed.

However, this time she saw a familiar face in the lobby.

"Mr. Huang Deren?"

"Hehe, just call me Brother Ren, no need to be so polite!" Huang Deren said, beaming.

"Okay, Brother Ren. What are you doing here?"

"I've always been in Hefei. I heard you were filming, so I came to see you. We haven't seen each other in a long time, and we're from the same city, after all."

"Yes, yes." Su Fei was a little happy to finally meet a familiar face who wasn't a reporter. "What is Brother Ren doing these days?"

"Not busy with anything, haven't found a job, just drifting along every day!"

"Has Brother Ren found a girlfriend?"

"Ha! I don't even have a job, it's hard enough to support myself, how can I find a girlfriend!" Huang Deren winked at Su Fei. "How about you, are you happy with Zhang Jun?" he asked in a low voice.

Su Fei blushed. Huang Deren laughed. "I won't disturb your rest! It's been a long day, I'm leaving. Anyway, you're studying in Hefei, I'll come see you when I have time in the future. You're a commercial star now, you won't forget me by then, will you?"

"Brother Ren, I have a very good memory," Su Fei said with a smile.

"Ha! Just kidding! I'm leaving, goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Brother Ren!"

Huang Deren walked out of the bustling hotel lobby, leaving all the noise behind him. His classmate Li Yan was now on television, already a well-known reporter. If there was an annual top ten sports reporters award, just discovering and creating the Zhang Jun and Yang Pan sensation in the country would be enough to put him at the top of the list.

And what about himself? Since graduating from school, he hadn't found any proper work, always working for a while and then playing for a while, just getting by day by day. Yeah, he didn't even have a girlfriend, and he was almost thirty!

Looking at the newspaper stand on the side of the road, he murmured, "Maybe I really should find a job…"

***

Two days later, the commercial, which cost two million to produce (not including the endorsement fees for Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, just the production costs), was finally finished. The remaining work was left to the post-production team in Hong Kong. Su Fei would return to Luoyang to continue her summer vacation, while Zhang Jun and Yang Pan had to rush to the Maojiawan Training Base in Chengdu, Sichuan. They would go there to participate in a week of national Olympic team training, and then they would return to Luoyang to pack their things, say goodbye to their relatives and friends, and return to the Netherlands. From the Netherlands, they would fly to Italy, by which time Hua Fang would have probably finalized their transfers. They would go there for the final signing and physical examinations.

A summer passed by in a flurry of activity, and they would usher in their first season in the "Little World Cup."

***

Reporters chased them from Luoyang to Beijing, then from Beijing to Hefei, and from Hefei to Chengdu, from Shuangliu Airport via the Chengya Expressway, all the way to Pujiang. They conveyed this message to the people: "Zhang Jun and Yang Pan are here!"

At the Maojiawan Training Base, the Chinese Olympic team, led by Qiu Suhui, moved from the sweltering heat of Beijing to this place to conduct their second training session before their match against the Syrian Olympic team.

Originally, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan didn't need to come to the Olympic team, but Qiu Suhui still wanted them to come and get to know everyone. Being famous wasn't conducive to their integration into the team. Only by integrating into the team and letting everyone truly understand them could they form a tacit understanding in future matches. Tacit understanding wasn't something that could be trained; it was cultivated by living together.

Closed training had a thousand reasons to be bad, but it had one great benefit. It allowed a group of people who were originally very unfamiliar with each other to quickly become acquainted, thereby forming effective team and individual understanding.

***

"I'm telling you, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan are coming! Are you ready? Ask them for autographs then! Haha!"

"Tch! Everyone on Earth knows that, and you're still acting so mysterious! You just found out? They're already in Coach Qiu's office right now."

"No way? That fast? Oh no, oh no, I have to go find my camera quickly!"

***

Qiu Suhui welcomed his two beloved disciples, who had been apart for more than half a year, with a hug in his office. "You've both gotten a lot stronger!"

"Hehe! Zhang Jun and Yang Pan reporting for duty, Coach Qiu!"

"Come on, I've reserved the number 11 and number 7 jerseys for you on the Olympic team."

The three of them sat down, and Qiu Suhui first asked about the teacher's condition, "How is the old man?"

"He's fine, he was very excited about winning the Dutch Cup. And Sesses (Kozel) has agreed to extend his contract for another year, the team's condition is all good."

"Speaking of the Dutch Cup, what were your thoughts on winning the championship?"

"Leaving the team is definitely certain, but winning a trophy for the team before leaving can be considered a way to repay the coach!" Yang Pan said, and Zhang Jun nodded in agreement.

"You are finally about to embark on the path of world-class soccer stars. The Italian league is very harsh on offensive players, and success is not easy. Pay more attention, and by the way, how is your physical condition?"

"All good, no problems!"

"Very good, hehe! I'm relieved that you're healthy. You'll be here for a week, I won't arrange any high-intensity training, you mainly need to have more contact with your teammates and cultivate an understanding. You won't have much time to come back in the future, and there will be fewer opportunities to train with your teammates. So take this opportunity to familiarize yourselves with everyone; it will be very helpful for your future matches."

"Yes."

"Go meet your teammates in the afternoon training session, and then go back and rest. You've been doing interviews and filming commercials these days; you must be tired, right?"

"No need, Coach," Zhang Jun said. "We're fine, we've been resting for more than a month, our feet are itching."

"Haha! Good, I respect your opinions!" Qiu Suhui was in a good mood with the arrival of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan. It was very pleasant to meet acquaintances from the Netherlands, and he wasn't worried at all about Zhang Jun and Yang Pan integrating into the team, because as the first two people to understand his training methods and tactical ideas, they would quickly find a familiar feeling in the Olympic team.

***

In the afternoon, the sky over Maojiawan turned cloudy, and a breeze blew, bringing wisps of fresh air to the training base, which had been stuffy for several days. Did this mean that the arrival of Zhang and Yang also brought wisps of fresh air to the Olympic team?

Zhang Jun and Yang Pan no longer needed introductions. The players on the Olympic team were sure to be familiar with their stories. They were the best of their peers in China. Of course, Kaka, who had already joined the Brazilian national team, was an exception. He had completed the dreams of countless Chinese players in just two years, like a rocket.

Zhang Jun and Yang Pan didn't put on airs because of their rapid fame, as many people had feared—actually, their concerns were justified; young players in China with just a little bit of fame would often turn their backs on people and forget who they were—they still smiled shyly at the group of unfamiliar teammates, and it could be seen from small actions like scratching their heads that they were still kids, they hadn't changed.

Qiu Suhui's introduction wasn't the kind of formal introduction like introducing a guest. Maybe you're a star in your club, or maybe you can't even make the bench on your local team, but everyone is the same on the Olympic team. If you don't perform well, no matter how famous you are, you'll have to sit on the bench, and if you perform well, even if you're completely unknown, I'll dare to start you.

***

In a small scrimmage held the next day, Qiu Suhui wanted to see how well Zhang Jun and Yang Pan meshed with the team, and also take a close look at how much Zhang and Yang's skill had improved since he last saw them.

In fact, such intra-team matches were often held. Qiu Suhui had invented a training method. In addition to normal technical and tactical training, how to keep everyone enthusiastic during long periods of closed training was a problem that troubled many coaches. But Qiu Suhui had done it. He divided the thirty-five players into three teams of eleven players each, and every weekend he would hold a league between the three teams. One of the teams had to play two matches in two days, but because the matches were only sixty minutes long, it wouldn't put too much strain on their physical fitness. The league was held in stages, and after each stage, there would be a points ranking, and the team that won the championship would receive a reward—an extra day of vacation.

In order to allow more players to cooperate with each other, Qiu Suhui also stipulated that the three teams had to conduct "player transfers" between the "truce periods" between each stage of the league. Of course, these transfers didn't involve money. As long as both parties reached an agreement and signed a contract, and submitted it to the "League Committee"—Qiu Suhui—for the record within the specified time, the transfer would take effect.

Qiu Suhui would also have corresponding rewards for those who received individual and team honors in each stage. For example, the "season's top scorer" would receive a small bronze shooting boot—the "Golden Boot Award," and the "season's best player" would receive a "Golden Ball Award." The awards ceremony would be held in the base's cafeteria, allowing the award-winning players to feel the honor of being respected and recognized in a relaxed and humorous atmosphere, and also to motivate others.

After each round of the league, the latest battle reports and standings would appear in a conspicuous position in the dormitory lobby.

In the monotonous closed training, this method, which combined competitiveness and fun, allowed the teammates to improve unconsciously in a playful mood. Initially, team leader Zhu Qiang had objections to Qiu Suhui's arrangement of so many matches, believing that it would easily lead to injuries.

But Qiu Suhui replied, "The ultimate purpose of all training methods is only one, which is the match. Arranging matches regularly in training can allow us to understand the training results and progress of the players in a timely manner, and it is also conducive to us summarizing and organizing these situations into rules that can be analyzed and studied. Do you think this is just a 'game' for them to have fun?"

This method was invented by Qiu Suhui when he was teaching at a youth soccer school in the Netherlands. Because the results proved the feasibility and effectiveness of this method, he used it on the Olympic team. From the training situation in the past two months, it had already achieved good results. Through the "league," he discovered the advantages and disadvantages of each player and formulated corresponding training plans based on them.

Returning to the match itself. Yang Pan was in the position of right midfielder. Zhang Jun played his best position as a forward. The two of them had temporarily joined a team, and the captain of this team was none other than their junior high school teammate, center-back Liu Peng.

Their opponents were a team led by Li Suisheng and composed mainly of several former Olympic team members. They were still using a three-center-back formation: Zhang Feng, Li Suisheng, and Xiang Tao. Xiang Tao and Li Suisheng's fighting had actually created an understanding between them. The White team they were on was the team with the most goals scored by defenders.

Currently, in the points standings for the second stage of the league, the Red team led by Liu Peng was temporarily in first place with eighteen points, having played one more match, while the White team and the Blue team were tied for second and third place with fourteen points each, having played one less match. Because the Red team had Liu Peng and Sima Hongxin, they had the fewest goals conceded, and the White team had the second fewest goals conceded. But today, the White team's defense suffered its most devastating defeat.

Yang Pan had just used his signature long shot to blast open Feng Lin's goal when Zhang Jun gave all the Olympic teammates a good lesson.

Yang Pan passed the ball to Lin Feng, and this attacking midfielder from Guangdong immediately passed the ball to Zhang Jun. He always had a habit of passing the ball to this Dutch Silver Boot winner as soon as possible. His reputation was there, and if he passed the ball slowly and caused Zhang Jun to lose a good scoring opportunity, then his teammates would definitely complain about him, and he himself wouldn't forgive himself.

Xiang Tao stuck to Zhang Jun when he received the ball, it was a one-on-one duel!

Zhang Jun swung his right leg, and Xiang Tao thought that Zhang Jun would shoot directly, so he quickly stretched out his leg to block, but Zhang Jun swung his right foot back, using his heel to knock the ball from behind his supporting foot to the left side of his body, and at the same time using the momentum to turn around, and then swinging his left foot to shoot powerfully!

The Cruyff Turn! The ball went in!

"Good shot! Beautiful!"

"Wow! Xiang Tao! Didn't you say you were invincible in one-on-one duels? How come you're all useless this time? Haha!"

Cheers erupted from the sidelines, and Qiu Suhui was delighted to see that Zhang Jun's movements were even smoother and more natural. If it could be said that there would no longer be any sensational effect when he used it again, it was also because this move invented by Johan Cruyff had perfectly integrated into Zhang Jun's body.

Zhang Jun smiled and pulled Xiang Tao, who had fallen to the ground, up, patted him on the shoulder, and ran back to the center circle. Xiang Tao stood there alone, with his hands on his hips, shaking his head helplessly. The two best defenders in the Dutch league had been defeated by Zhang Jun, so he had nothing to be frustrated about. He and Zhang Jun were not on the same level at all! But why was he still a little unwilling?

In this match, the Red team ultimately won by a large margin. Qiu Suhui saw that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's condition was well maintained. It was just like they said, their feet were itching. But on the other hand, he also saw that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's cooperation was excellent, but they lacked an understanding with their other teammates.

The Olympic team still had time, but Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's time was running out. Qiu Suhui decided not to recall Zhang Jun and Yang Pan for the match against Syria. Relying on these domestic players should be enough.

Zhang Jun and Yang Pan should focus on adjusting their condition. Their primary goal was to gain a foothold in the highly competitive Italian Serie A. If they could do that, it would not only be a fortunate thing for the two of them, but also a fortunate thing for Chinese soccer.