Chapter 179 Turnaround

The commentator noticed Bayern Munich's push forward and found it strange, since Magath had clearly said before the match that defense would be the priority. However, after seeing Fiorentina's performance in the second half, they quickly understood. With so many opportunities, stubbornly sticking to defense and watching them disappear one by one in the backfield was definitely not something a coach should do, nor was it something the players would accept. Perhaps even if Magath hadn't given such instructions, Bayern's players would have changed their tactics themselves.

After Bayern pushed forward, Fiorentina's situation didn't improve at all. They still made frequent mistakes, and the players seemed out of sorts. Even the ESPN commentators were saying that only Frey was playing, while everyone else was sleepwalking, including Zhang Jun, the captain. But what they couldn't understand was why Sabato wasn't making any substitutions, even though some players were clearly underperforming. He just looked anxious on the sidelines, which didn't fit his coaching style at all.

Watching Anke's excited expression, Zhang Jun just clenched his fists tightly. He felt very frustrated because he couldn't use his strength and had to watch Anke's smug face. Ah! Sabato's crazy, idiotic tactics! Angelo, when will the time be right? The brothers are all holding back, just waiting for your command to mess up Bayern!

Sabato's tactics directly resulted in Zhang Jun, as a forward, having only two shots on goal in the second half, one of which was saved by Anke, and the other missed. Without having to participate in the team's defense, he was practically invisible, and the TV cameras rarely focused on him.

People were almost forgetting about him.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Anke, was also having an easy time, but he was definitely not invisible. The TV cameras frequently focused on him, because he always managed to put on all sorts of improvised performances after every Bayern attack, making it impossible for people to ignore him.

Time passed quickly under Bayern Munich's repeated attacks. When Fiorentina had time to catch their breath, they realized that there were only fifteen minutes left in the match, and they had surprisingly not conceded a goal under Bayern's onslaught. No wonder the commentators were saying it was Frey's outstanding performance. As the Bundesliga champions, Bayern's attacking power was definitely not weak. The fact that Fiorentina, who had always been considered strong in attack and weak in defense, could withstand their attacks was truly a remarkable achievement.

Sabato, with his legs crossed, said to Di Livio, "Okay, Angelo, let them attack. Tell them to keep attacking non-stop until we score a goal! In Bayern's current state, they can't defend against our attacks."

Di Livio stepped forward.

When he stood up, Zhang Jun and many Fiorentina players noticed and all looked towards the coach's bench.

A gesture that would determine Fiorentina's fate...

Di Livio clasped his hands together and then pushed them forward vigorously.

A bright light shone in the eyes of all the Fiorentina players. They had been waiting so hard!

※※※

Schweinsteiger was dribbling the ball uninhibitedly in his own half, thinking that Fiorentina was in bad shape and posed no threat to him. But this time, he was completely wrong.

He had just dribbled the ball into the center circle when Van Persie brought him down with a fierce tackle, and the ball fell to a Fiorentina player. More importantly, the referee didn't even call a foul!

Schweinsteiger was still sitting on the ground, raising his hand to protest to the referee, but Fiorentina had already launched a quick counterattack.

Van Persie passed the ball to Joaquin, who easily broke through Bayern's full-back with his speed and skill, and then crossed the ball. Zhang Jun, who was following up in the middle, fearlessly headed the ball in front of Lucio. His powerful header forced Anke to make a brilliant save.

Anke jumped up and punched the ball over the crossbar.

Zhang Jun shook his head. He already realized that scoring against Anke's goal was not as easy as it was during team training. He would have to pay a considerable price. Regular shots didn't seem to be very effective against Anke...

Magath didn't take this attack to heart. He thought it was just Fiorentina's last gasp. Even a trapped beast would struggle a few times.

Fiorentina prepared to take a corner kick. Based on previous experience, Anke and the Bayern team thought they would directly loft the ball into the box, looking for Ujfalusi and Kehl, their two tallest players. However, Bayern's 1.89-meter Lucio and 1.91-meter Ismail were not just for show, and with Anke's wide range and control as a goalkeeper, Fiorentina's corner kicks had not posed any substantial threat to Bayern's goal so far.

Anke thought so too, so he had already raised his hands, signaling that he would catch the ball himself.

But to everyone's surprise, Joaquin, who had been taking the corner kicks, didn't run over. Instead, Zhang Jun, who should have been staying in front of the goal to restrain the enemy and compete for headers, ran towards the corner flag. Zhang Jun had never taken a corner kick before, whether for the club or the national team. What did it mean that he was suddenly taking a corner kick now?

Zhang Jun ignored the surprised looks of others. He ran to the corner flag, then bent down and repositioned the ball. Then, he kicked away the microphone next to his foot and took two steps back to prepare for his run-up.

Before taking the corner kick, he raised his right hand to signal to everyone, "I'm going to kick it!"

Then, he ran up, kicked the ball, and it flew towards the penalty area.

When Anke saw the ball spinning towards the goal, he knew that this corner kick was no different from all the previous ones. He jumped lightly, preparing to come out and grab the ball.

But just as he ran out a couple of steps, he suddenly realized that something was wrong!

The ball was indeed flying towards the goal, but only at the beginning. It was an out-swinging corner, and the arc was quite large. It veered away from the near post and went straight towards the outside of the penalty area. Anke finally understood why they had Zhang Jun take this corner kick, because only his technique could guarantee that the ball would have such a large and precise arc... Yes, precise. Because Anke could see through the gaps in the crowd that Xiang Tao, who had been guarding outside, was rushing up and winding up his left leg!

"Damn it!" Anke cursed, and then saw the ball fly towards him through the gaps in the crowd. While praying that no one would stick out a foot in the middle, he lunged towards the direction of the ball's flight.

Although Xiang Tao's shot was powerful, it wasn't too difficult for Anke, who had been subjected to Yang Pan's inhuman training since he was a child, to save it without fumbling. Moreover, the angle of the shot wasn't tricky, so Anke firmly caught the ball and didn't give any Fiorentina players a chance to score on the rebound.

Anke jumped up from the ground. He thought that Fiorentina had just pushed everyone forward for the corner kick, so their defense must be very vulnerable. This was a great opportunity for Bayern to counterattack, and he couldn't waste it. So, without even carefully observing the situation in the frontcourt, he hurriedly threw the ball out with his hand.

Podolski looked back at the ball as he ran forward, but when he reached the landing point, the ball was headed back by Bonera, who was guarding the back.

In contrast to Bayern's pressing, Fiorentina showed no intention of retreating. They simply paid attention to staying parallel to Bayern's last line of defense to avoid being offside. Their intention was clear: attack, they must strive to score.

Suddenly, all the spectators felt this change in Fiorentina. A completely opposite momentum from the previous thirty minutes, a momentum of must score, must win.

Mascherano received the ball headed by Bonera and passed it to Duff. Duff didn't dribble, but passed it back to Mascherano, who was moving up. The two of them executed a one-two. Ballack had to come up to defend Mascherano. Just as he pounced, Mascherano very timely passed the ball to Krøldrup.

Krøldrup, temporarily free from Ballack, was like a dragon entering the water... or perhaps a loach entering the water would be a more apt description. He dribbled the ball and twisted his body, dodging Hargreaves's charge, then immediately cut back in the opposite direction and twisted his body again, barely dodging Karimi's tackle. These two twists were very fluid, as if he had no bones in his body. When someone bumped into him, he didn't resist at all, but used the momentum to dodge away. Like a willow branch, swaying in the wind.

Zhang Jun had been holding back for thirty minutes, and so had Krøldrup.

To vent this frustration, he didn't even choose to pass the ball to a teammate, but instead dribbled, broke through, and shot himself.

Zhang Jun and Van Persie ran in two different directions, making Bayern's defenders think that Krøldrup would pass the ball to the two forwards, so they followed them and were pulled away.

Krøldrup found a gap he could break through in the movement of the crowd. He lightly tapped the ball and squeezed through with the side of his body.

Anke was shocked. How could he let Krøldrup enter the penalty area? Wasn't that suicide? This kid's technique was far superior to Zhang Jun's. Who knew what kind of shot he would come up with!

He quickly moved his feet to block Krøldrup's shooting angle. Fortunately, Krøldrup hadn't broken in from the center of the penalty area. Otherwise, facing such a large goal and shooting angle, Anke really wouldn't have known how to block it.

Realizing his mistake, Ismaël immediately abandoned Van Persie and lunged at Krøldrup, wanting to reach the designated position before Krøldrup shot and make the blocking action he should make. The rest was up to Anke...

Ismaël roared and executed a sliding tackle – of course, he wasn't going for Krøldrup, or it would definitely be a penalty. He slid in front of Krøldrup, hoping to stretch out his body as much as possible in this posture to block Krøldrup's ground shot, while also raising his tackling leg high to defend against a half-high shot.

But Krøldrup didn't shoot. He cut again, easily shaking past Ismaël, and directly faced Anke.

Damn it! He couldn't concede a goal at this time! Anke suddenly accelerated and charged out. He was no longer just blocking the angle, but was planning to directly take the ball from Krøldrup's feet.

Krøldrup had underestimated Anke's explosiveness and sprint speed. After all, goalkeepers were generally thought to be not fast enough. But Anke covered the five-meter distance in a flash. This was far beyond Krøldrup's expectations. But Krøldrup was Krøldrup after all. In terms of small techniques, perhaps the only person in the world who could make him submit was Ronaldinho, who was at the height of his career in Barcelona and the Brazilian national team. In a hurry, he still used his right foot to gently scoop the ball up. The ball jumped up, bypassing Anke, who had already fallen to the ground, and flew towards the empty goal!

The Fiorentina fans had already started cheering impatiently. After being depressed for so long, were they finally going to score again?!

But their cheers quickly turned into sighs. Ballack, who had just let Krøldrup get away, quickly returned to defend and kicked the ball off the line with one foot almost on the goal line, making up for his earlier mistake.

Krøldrup, who didn't score, didn't seem too disappointed. He just coldly looked at Anke, who was still in shock, and then turned and ran away.

But the Fiorentina fans were extremely disappointed. They had endured for thirty minutes, and finally had such a great opportunity, but they didn't score.

However, in the eyes of the Bayern Munich players, they saw something different from the ordinary spectators. They found it strange why Fiorentina had suddenly gained momentum. This was a complete reversal of the first half. They were attacking desperately, and their offensive was so fierce that the Bayern players didn't even have a chance to counterattack. They were completely under pressure.

Could it be that they had been awakened by Bayern's previous offensive?

Even Magath began to doubt the decisions he had been observing and making all along. Could it be that Fiorentina had never really been out of form, and that everything before was just to trick him into pushing the team out to attack?

Thinking of this, he looked at Sabato, who was still sitting on the coach's bench with his legs crossed, and couldn't help but shudder.

※※※

The following match was gradually confirming the thoughts of everyone in Bayern. Bayern's offensive was in full swing, and they couldn't retract the whole team's formation and mindset to defend for a while. Fiorentina seized this time difference and made good use of several counterattack opportunities, posing a considerable threat to Anke's goal.

The most direct aspect of Fiorentina's change was that their inexplicable mistakes suddenly decreased. The team's coordination was like a precisely calibrated clock. Originally, they could put on a great show and make their opponents run around in circles, so their teamwork must have been excellent.

Another direct manifestation was that Anke began to feel breathless, his breathing became heavier, and even somewhat uncoordinated, and his sweat increased – he was tired. Not just physically tired, but the immense pressure generated by facing a powerful offensive caused his body to react accordingly.

Damn it! When did Fiorentina become so strong? Damn it, was there no end to their attack? Anke almost wanted to shout like the sidekick in *Kung Fu*, "Do you have any sense of public morality? Don't you want people to rest? I have to go to work tomorrow!"

Anke used the top of his glove to wipe the sweat from the corner of his forehead to prevent it from running into his eyes. At the same time, he didn't change his defensive posture at all. Now he had to be careful of Fiorentina's shots that could pop up from anywhere.

Zhang Jun, Van Persie, Krøldrup, Joaquin, Duff, Mascherano... Even full-backs like Xiang Tao were coming up to bully him. Was there no justice?!

"Defense! Defense! Don't let anyone get past! Watch them, don't let them in!" Anke shouted, but he knew that it wouldn't be very effective. Fiorentina's attack had a crazy momentum. When the match was nearing its end and everyone's stamina was low, this momentum was often decisive. Or rather, Fiorentina had been playing the fool in front of Bayern for thirty minutes, just accumulating a lot of stamina. Now it was time for them to release it all. So everyone attacked with all their might, rushing forward one after another like crazy.

You could save the first shot, but if the ball wasn't firmly under Bayern's control, then in less than a minute, the second round of shots would come – it was endless...

Magath increasingly felt that something was wrong. He began to stand on the sidelines and stare intently at the situation on the field, hoping to see Fiorentina's true purpose. If it was really what he had thought, then even if he didn't win this match, he would have the team pull back and defend until the end of the match.

After Fiorentina launched another round of frantic attacks, Magath felt that things were not good. He turned his head to look at Sabato, who was sitting on the coach's bench with his legs crossed, and his heart pounded wildly.

He felt that he had been tricked.

"Ballack!!!" Magath suddenly rushed to the sidelines and shouted inside. He was calling the name of the team's captain. As long as Ballack turned his face towards him, he could inform the captain to switch to a defensive strategy.

But Ballack didn't turn his face towards him, because he was currently facing a very strong opponent. He had focused all his attention on Krøldrup, who was dribbling the ball.

Krøldrup dribbled the ball slowly. He looked at Joaquin on the right, seemingly intending to pass the ball to Joaquin and let him move up from behind. In a normal match, except for that thirty minutes of "abnormal" state, Joaquin's speed and technique had posed a great threat to Bayern's left-wing defense.

Ballack seemed to sense this too. He moved his body slightly to the right, trying to cut off Krøldrup's passing route.

But Krøldrup sneered and made a passing motion – his body faced the passing direction, and his right foot made a feinting kick. Ballack's body swayed, but ultimately he didn't follow, otherwise he would have been tricked by such a simple move by Krøldrup.

What Krøldrup did next was unexpected. He thought Krøldrup would stop and find another way. So he continued to stand guard.

Krøldrup didn't honestly retract his right foot, but instead kicked the ball from behind him to his left side, while quickly turning around, running from Ballack's view to the left wing!

Ballack quickly chased after him, but due to the distance, he had already been squeezed behind Krøldrup and couldn't do anything.

Xiang Tao was also moving forward in the direction Krøldrup was running. He saw Krøldrup gesturing to him. After just a glance, and seeing Ballack behind Krøldrup, Xiang Tao understood. He changed his mind and ran towards Krøldrup, seemingly to meet up with Krøldrup.

Ballack had been watching Xiang Tao's movements. Originally, Xiang Tao should have continued to run forward, but suddenly turning towards the middle, it was impossible not to suspect his motives.

What was he going to do? Meet up with Krøldrup or just a feint? Ballack's mind was working quickly, calculating all sorts of possibilities.

The two were quickly approaching, and just as they passed each other, Krøldrup flicked the ball with his heel to Xiang Tao, who was running in the other direction.

Sure enough, he was meeting up!

Ballack looked back and stopped habitually. He planned to turn around and pressure Xiang Tao. He was the closest to this Fiorentina player who had the ball now. As the captain, he couldn't allow himself to ignore it. So, without hesitation, Ballack turned around again and lunged at Xiang Tao.

But Krøldrup, who had passed the ball, didn't care about the situation behind him. He continued to run forward.

Duff had tied down Bayern's right full-back. He was now unmarked.

Just when everyone thought that Xiang Tao would be entangled by Ballack, Xiang Tao made an unexpected move – he, like Krøldrup just now, didn't even look and directly flicked the ball back to Krøldrup with his heel!

Earlier, Krøldrup had intertwined the index and middle fingers of his right hand, that was what he meant. He would flick the ball to Xiang Tao with his heel first, tricking Ballack, and then after he regained his freedom, he would have Xiang Tao immediately flick it back to him with his heel. A crossed heel pass.

This cooperation caused the stands in the Stadio Artemio Franchi to boil again, and all the Fiorentina fans were applauding and cheering loudly for the skills performed by the two Chinese players.

The Bayern players were immediately attracted to Krøldrup, but didn't notice that Van Persie and Zhang Jun had rushed into Bayern's penalty area, ready to meet Krøldrup's pass.

Krøldrup didn't disappoint them. After receiving the ball from Xiang Tao, in order to buy time, he didn't take another step or two, but instead directly crossed the ball from the left wing to the far post in front of the goal.

Bayern's goal was immediately filled with activity. Defenders, forwards, and the goalkeeper were all squeezed into that small goal area.

The ball flew high, and this height made it impossible for goalkeeper Anke to directly catch the ball as it passed in front of his goal. He could only look up at the ball while moving towards the far post.

After reaching its highest point, the ball suddenly dropped, approaching the far post at a very fast speed. Van Persie had already moved up from behind. He was familiar with Krøldrup's passing, so he chose to go around the outside of the crowd, then jumped high... a header! He jumped a full head higher than Schweinsteiger, who was defending him, so there was no fault to be found in the force and accuracy of the header.

This shot was perfect – at least that's what it looked like to others. But Anke saw it differently. He wasn't willing to give up easily. For a goalkeeper, conceding a goal was the greatest shame. Anke always thought so, so when he lunged towards the near post, he slammed on the brakes and jumped desperately, his right hand waving high... He hit the ball!

The ball was diverted by his touch, changing its original flight path, which was heading towards the goal, and turning into a path parallel to the goal line.

"A great save!!!"

At the moment Van Persie headed the ball, Zhang Jun also instinctively ran towards the center of the goal. He knew that Anke wouldn't let the ball go in so easily, so he would have a chance to score on the rebound. But he also didn't seem to expect Anke to deflect the ball so strangely, it just so happened to be flying parallel to the goal towards the sideline... This made the speedy Zhang Jun very embarrassed... He had overshot it, and just happened to be standing in front of the ball, almost on the goal line.

This surprised Zhang Jun very much, but seeing the ball about to fly past him, he wasn't willing to give up just like that. For a forward, missing a chance to score was simply a sin, especially since this opportunity might reverse the situation of the entire match.

Without even thinking about how he could get the ball into the empty goal in front of him, he lunged forward and performed a front flip! Then he raised his right foot high and his heel hit the ball!

Like a windmill dunk in basketball, Zhang Jun's heel slammed the ball into the goal with the weight of his body!

※※※

The entire stadium was silent for about two seconds, and then suddenly erupted with volcanic force. Even the Bayern fans had to stand up and applaud this goal, not to mention the Fiorentina fans who were already in a state of frenzy.

Di Livio covered his head with his hands, looked at the field, and had an unbelievable expression on his face: "God... is that a shot that a human being can make?"

Sabato was just left grinning from ear to ear.

Zhang Jun lay down in Bayern's goal. He looked up at the vast night sky and punched his fists towards the sky. His teammates were already screaming and rushing towards him. Van Persie was the first to rush over, falling to the ground and hugging him: "How did you do that? How did you do that?!" he shouted frantically.

"Anke's save was great, but even greater was this goal! I've been commentating on the Champions League for fifteen years, and this is the first time I've seen a goal like this!! He clearly overshot it, but he was still able to complete this incredible goal in such a short time! What a terrifying reaction! Fiorentina lead Bayern Munich 2-1 at home!!!"

Magath sat on the coach's bench, somewhat dejected. This goal was too wonderful, and he had to admit it. In this way, he was not only successfully tricked by Sabato, but it also greatly affected the morale of his team.

We lost this match... Magath sighed in his heart.

The commotion in the stadium stands continued even after the match had restarted. Magath had already taken advantage of the Fiorentina team's wild celebration of their goal to pull Ballack aside and tell this captain what he meant: "Withdraw, defend. We're only one goal behind, which isn't too bad of a failure. Fiorentina is currently full of momentum, and we can only avoid their edge. Being able to avoid conceding another goal is a victory, anyway, we still have an away goal."

Magath was a very practical coach. He didn't care whether Bayern, as the Bundesliga champion, being played in Fiorentina's home stadium and suffering a defeat would have a bad impact on the face of German football. He only knew that he couldn't concede another goal, otherwise everything would be over.

The rest of the match was just like Magath lamented, it was already considered over. Fiorentina continued to bombard, while Bayern defended their goal to the death, not giving Fiorentina any chances, and Fiorentina couldn't do anything about it. Time passed quickly amidst their siege. Just when Zhang Jun wanted to continue tormenting the damn Anke, the referee had already blown the final whistle.

Fiorentina had narrowly defeated Bayern Munich in their home stadium.

After the match, while celebrating Fiorentina's victory, many media outlets also expressed that they couldn't understand the second half of this match. Fiorentina's performance was too sudden, making them not know how to explain it to their readers. At the post-match press conference, a reporter also raised this question, but Sabato casually gave an excuse to dismiss it. The head coach didn't say anything, so the players naturally wouldn't say anything either. It was never mentioned to the outside world again after that.

It wasn't until Zhang Jun retired and published his autobiography that the situation at the time was disclosed to the outside world for the first time. As a result, Sabato's reputation as a "madman" and "rogue" became even more pronounced, but unfortunately Sabato was no longer coaching at that time.

These are all later stories, so let's not mention them for now.

Zhang Jun's goal was named the Goal of the Week, and even after May 15th, it also won the Best Goal of the Champions League season. No one disputed the selection of this goal, and some Western media even exaggeratedly said "This is not a goal from Earth."

UEFA named this goal the "Windmill Goal." However, many Chinese media still believed that it was an upgraded and strengthened version of Dragon Soars, representing Zhang Jun's amazing progress in grasping opportunities and applying shooting techniques at will. Every one of Zhang Jun's goals was unrepeatable, because he often didn't do it intentionally. On the contrary, it was the most appropriate reaction he made himself based on the situation at the time. If you want to recreate that kind of goal, in addition to having amazing explosive power, reaction ability, and excellent technique, awareness, body balance, and coordination ability, you also need the right time and the ability to perfectly recreate the scene at the time. But the football field is ever-changing, who will give you the effort to try to imitate someone else's shot over and over again? Perhaps even Zhang Jun himself cannot replicate his own goal, which has nothing to do with ability, it is purely due to environmental factors.

Every ball is unique, just like collectibles, they all have unique numbers. In other words, every ball is a valuable collectible, an irreplaceable miracle.

So when a crazy Zhang Jun fan almost collected all the videos of Zhang Jun's incredible goals in his professional career, he also became a news figure.

※※※

April 13th was the date for the second leg. Before that, Fiorentina still had to play an Italian Serie A match. Their opponent was not strong, which was perfect for Sabato to use to adjust the players' condition and give the key players some rest time. But then their schedule wouldn't be easy. After playing Bayern in the Champions League, they would then face AC Milan at home in the league. After playing AC Milan, they would immediately go to Turin to challenge Juventus, and then return to Fiorentina to face Roma. Three consecutive rounds against very strong opponents, the first two of which were the most direct enemies on their road to the championship.

It was no exaggeration that this stretch of matches was called a "Devil's Schedule" by the Italian media.

What Sabato was worried about was that if they wanted to go further in the Champions League, they would definitely have to face a tough battle at Bayern's home ground. Then, would the team, exhausted by Bayern, still be able to defeat AC Milan three days later? Although it was their home ground, he felt somewhat uncertain. Even if they beat Milan, would they still be able to continue to win against Juventus? Even if they won both, but if they lost to Roma, they would be caught up by the two teams again.

It was really a headache!

Sabato thought so in his heart and told Di Livio so. But he didn't reveal his thoughts to the players. They just needed to play well. He would take care of all the worries.

But even if Sabato didn't say it, Zhang Jun still understood the severity of the current situation. And he believed that he wasn't the only one who understood, all the other teammates were clear about it too. It was just that in front of others, everyone didn't say it. After all, it was a sensitive period, and people who played football were more or less superstitious. They believed that all the bad things that were said would come true, so wouldn't saying their worries now be the same as the bad things coming true?

Therefore, the team's mood didn't seem high these days during training, even though they had just brilliantly won against the steady Bayern Munich, and had even played them well. But when they thought about the "Devil's Schedule" they would face after that, who would be in the mood to laugh?

Zhang Jun also frowned every day when he got home, and didn't want to move after lying on the sofa.

Sophie naturally knew what Zhang Jun was worried about, but with this kind of thing, before the match, no matter what she said, there would be no change.

It was the same today. Zhang Jun still didn't show any joy after returning. Sophie had no choice but to sit next to him, then looked at Zhang Jun, who was silent with his eyes closed, and sighed quietly.

This time it was Zhang Jun's turn to open his eyes, then smiled: "Why are you sighing too?"

Sophie pouted: "I don't know what to eat for dinner."

Zhang Jun sat up and reached out to hug Sophie, "What's in the fridge?"

"What else can there be? It's all those things. Pasta, potatoes, carrots, beef, chicken, cabbage, tomatoes, eggs..." Sophie really knew her fridge like the back of her hand, listing those names one by one without stumbling.

Because Zhang Jun was a professional athlete, pork, his favorite food in China, was almost impossible to find in the refrigerator. Also because of his identity, there were many taboos when it came to eating, so the dishes were monotonous and there weren't many flavors. Sophie had a headache every day just thinking about how to make the food more attractive. Unfortunately, he hadn't been in a good mood recently, and hadn't eaten well at all, frowning as he had done in Volendam, completing the task.

Although Sophie wasn't a full-time housewife, she still hoped that the person she was cooking for would express joy when eating the food she had worked so hard to make with her own hands, instead of frowning as if the food was extremely unpalatable.

She was understanding and knew that Zhang Jun didn't really think her cooking was bad, but that he had something on his mind and wasn't focused on eating at all. So she didn't complain either.

But today Zhang Jun was still like this, which made her a little unbearable, so she sighed in front of Zhang Jun.

Zhang Jun hugged Sophie and stood up: "I'll cook today, you take a break."

"No." Sophie shook her head, not letting Zhang Jun do it.

"It's okay, you're also very tired. Let me help you cook a meal once in a while?" Zhang Jun thought he said it very gently and would definitely be able to make Sophie give up insisting on her own opinion.

But Sophie still shook her head: "No, I'm afraid to let you do it."

Zhang Jun found it strange. Sophie knew his cooking skills, so she shouldn't say something like that.

Seeing Zhang Jun looking at her strangely, Sophie chuckled: "I see that you haven't been in a good mood recently, and you're a little absent-minded. I'm afraid that you'll burn the food later, then we'll only be able to eat out today."

So that's how it was! Zhang Jun understood that this girl was worried about him. Zhang Jun was very touched. Recently, the schedule had been tight and there had been many matches. He had been flying around all day and had ignored Sophie, who had been waiting for him at home. But Sophie was thinking about him all the time.

Zhang Jun thought for a while, then said to Sophie: "I think going out to eat is also a good idea. How long has it been since we went out to eat together?"

Sophie tilted her head and thought for a while: "It should have been before your second time participating in the quarter-finals in China."

"It's almost been half a month in the blink of an eye. Okay, let's go out to eat, let's go to the restaurant we often go to. I'll go change my clothes." Zhang Jun let go of Sophie and went to his bedroom to change.

Sophie also turned around and went back to her bedroom to change. She was currently wearing a loose long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of jeans with some grease stains on them, which were really inconvenient for going out to see people.

When Zhang Jun casually changed into casual clothes and appeared in the living room, he didn't see Sophie. He guessed that she must have gone upstairs to change. Girls... Zhang Jun shook his head, even if Sophie didn't care about dressing up, she was still a girl after all, and some habits couldn't be changed, haha.

Sophie skipped down from upstairs, but Zhang Jun was stunned. Her hair, which had just been put up, although casual, looked very elegant with Sophie's beautiful face. She wore a dark plaid shirt, paired with a dark red long skirt, and a pair of white high heels. She also carried a small handbag. Sophie playfully performed a medieval lady's salute in front of Zhang Jun, then smiled at Zhang Jun and said, "Let's go."

Zhang Jun shook his head lightly: "We're just going out to eat... you're dressed like you're going on a date."

Sophie took Zhang Jun's arm: "Hehe, it's supposed to be a date. Eating together is also a date!"

Zhang Jun thought about it, and it was true. He and Sophie really had very little time to go out on dates. It was rare to go out for a day like last time, so even eating a simple meal together was a rare date.

When they arrived at the familiar restaurant, because they were regulars, they had their own fixed seats. The two of them sat in a seat by the window, where no one would disturb them, and quietly enjoyed their dinner.

Zhang Jun and Sophie's date wasn't like those between other men and women. They didn't talk loudly or tell jokes to make each other happy during the meal. They just ate quietly, then occasionally looked up and smiled at each other as they ate. Everyone had their own way of expressing love, and Zhang Jun and Sophie's way was to smile, or hold each other's hands. Maybe it seemed a little childish, but it was pure and innocent.

This was an upscale restaurant, and the people who could eat inside were necessarily guests with status and good manners, so no one disturbed them throughout the entire meal.

The meal didn't take long, less than half an hour, and the two of them paid and left the restaurant.

Just as they came out, they saw Xiang Tao and Krøldrup walking towards them side by side – or rather, towards the restaurant behind them. Because neither of them had a female companion at home, they were very casual in their lifestyle. Occasionally, Zhang Jun would invite the two of them to eat at his house, but not often. Other times, they would either take care of it themselves or, like today, agree to come to this restaurant to eat, because it wasn't too far from their homes, so it was naturally their first choice.

"You two are here again? Always being a male pair like this, aren't you afraid people will say you're gay?" Zhang Jun's mood, who was on a date with Sophie, had become cheerful, and he couldn't help but want to joke with