Chapter 1: Adventure
In November 1999, in a large park in the city of Virton in the southernmost part of Belgium, a boy with yellow skin and dark eyes was sweating profusely and bouncing a football. His technique was not very good, and he often dropped the ball, but he kept practising non-stop.
The road just after it rained was still muddy, staining the boy's shoes and legs. Passers-by around him cast surprised glances at him, but he didn't seem to notice it.
This young man is Chinese, named Wang Feng. He is just 16 years old this year. Just a few months ago, he listened to an agent and travelled all the way to Belgium, hoping to join a team and earn some money.
But that agent was very irresponsible, he could even be called a liar. After receiving 10,000 yuan from Wang Feng's family, he brought Wang Feng to a Belgian second-tier football club called Virton, and signed a half-year contract. After that, the agent disappeared with the money.
Wang Feng's family has a lot of difficulties. His father passed away when he was very young. He and his elder sister and younger sister were raised by their mother alone. He came out to work to earn money to help his mother, so he dropped out of school after graduating from junior high school.
Wang Feng liked football since he was a child. He was a member of the school football team when he was in junior high school, so he wanted to see if he could play professionally. When he was trying out for a certain domestic team, he was fooled by that unscrupulous agent. Not only him, but the whole family was immersed in the dream of going abroad to make a lot of money. His mother gritted her teeth and borrowed money from everywhere to make up for Wang Feng's introduction fee and a little living expenses.
It was only when he arrived in Belgium that Wang Feng realized that his little football skills were nothing to foreign athletes who had been trained since childhood. He could not reach the level of the second team of the Belgian second division team, even though he trained very hard with the team. He's working hard to get better, but he hasn't been acknowledged and trusted by the coaching team, and he hasn't played on the field yet.
So up to now, he has not earned a penny, and the living expenses that his mother gave him are almost completely spent. The team manager made it clear that if Wang Feng's level has not improved significantly before the winter transfer window, his contract won't be renewed. If it isn't renewed, he'll be left with no option but to go back to his country in a state of despair.
Wang Feng felt extremely ashamed every time he thought of the earnest eyes of his family members and the sad scene when they needed to raise money. So he trains hard every day, arrives first in the morning, leaves last at night, and takes his ball to practice in the park on rest days. What he lacked was not something that hard work could make up for, and he was almost hopeless now.
After stumbling and finishing 500 ball jumps, Wang Feng wiped his sweat. Suddenly, a white light hit him. He subconsciously raised his right hand to cover his face, but the light directly penetrated his arm and entered his mind. He then lost consciousness.
When he woke up again, he saw a middle-aged man squatting next to him, calling him constantly: "Wake up, are you okay, do you need me to call an ambulance?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Feng promptly seated himself and responded: "I'm fine, there's no need to call an ambulance."
No kidding, ambulances abroad are very expensive.
He asked suspiciously: "What's wrong with me?"
The middle-aged man replied: "I saw that you passed out suddenly, so I hurried over to check, are you okay?"
Wang Feng waved his hand and felt his physical condition.
'I just feel a little tired, but I won't go into a coma because of it. Could it be that I'm malnourished because I eat very sparingly recently?'
Seeing that Wang Feng was unharmed, the middle-aged man left. Wang Feng got up and patted the dirt on his body. He still planned to continue training. No matter how unsuccessful he was, at least he was trying hard.
When he bounced the ball again, the toe of his right foot touched the ball. A mysterious feeling came over him, as if telling him that the angle of contact with the ball was wrong, and the force was a bit too strong. Sure enough, the ball went sideways and feel down on the floor.
He stared blankly at the ball slowly rolling away, and was very surprised in his heart. Did he have an illusion while he was practising with the ball?
To see if he was right, he picked up the ball and continued to juggle with it. Every time he touches the football, Wang Feng can feel whether the starting force is good or bad, as if a sophisticated computer calculates the result in an instant and then feeds it back.
Gradually, Wang Feng's movements became more and more standard, and the strength and angle became more and more suitable. The ball went up and down on his toes, his movements becoming more and more coherent.
This superb footwork also attracted the attention of the surrounding tourists. They gradually gathered together, wanting to see how many moves Wang Feng could make.
It was only when Wang Feng juggled 200 times in a row that he felt his legs were a little sore, and he felt that he needed to take a break, so he stopped. At this time, the crowd burst into cheers and applause.
A man came out and asked with a smile: "Your skills are excellent, are you a professional player?"
After learning that Wang Feng was a player from Virton's youth training, he was obviously a little surprised, and praised: "It's really rare for someone to have such solid basic skills at this age."
Hearing someone say that, made him realise that his ball-juggling skills seem to have improved a lot.
The man handed Wang Feng a business card. He turned out to be Andre Diest, a scout from Genk Club in Belgium. Genk is a veteran team in the Belgian First Division.
Their current record is not good, only ranked 14th, and they are still far from the goal of the Europa League. Of course, he would not tell Wang Feng this information, but just told him that he was very optimistic about him and hoped to see him in a game.
Hearing this, Wang Feng couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart. It would be great if he could play, but he still took the business card solemnly, thanked him for his compliment, and then decided to proceed to the next training session. Diest didn't linger to watch him train; instead, he offered a smile of encouragement before taking his leave.
Next, Wang Feng plans to practice dribbling, which is also his weakest point, because he can't grasp the strength needed well and can't protect the ball. But the situation is different today. After running, every ball will bring him precise feedback about the errors he made while touching the ball. With that, he could adjust his feet very precisely.
This feeling of completely controlling the ball made Wang Feng very excited, so he ran faster and faster, and there seemed to be an invisible line between the ball and his toes, always following steadily together.
In the end, his running speed was close to that of running without the ball. Wang Feng's advantage also lies in his speed, far surpassing the rest of his teammates.
He became more and more excited, and even wanted to make a bicycle kick, but he regretted it as soon as he made the move as the stiff feeling was clearly fed back to his mind. Sure enough, his left foot tripped over his right foot, causing him to fall hard on the ground. It took him a long time to recover.
'It seems that I need to keep practising' Wang Feng thought silently.
He didn't know what happened to his body. Maybe it was related to that mysterious white light, but it didn't seem like a bad thing. It seems that his comprehension has been brought up to a higher level, and the sense of the ball that I could not grasp before seems to no longer be a problem.
It wasn't until it was completely dark that Wang Feng picked up the ball and walked slowly towards the dormitory. The dormitory provided by the club is not far from this park, so he will come to this park to practice during his rest time.
When Wang Feng walked to the bottom of the dormitory, a tall man was hugging a hot girl and kissing her. When he saw him coming, he patted the girl's thigh and told her to go back.
"Hey, Wang, are you going to practice again?" the man asked.
He was Wang Feng's roommate Renee Delvaux, Virton's backup central defender.
However, Renee is different from Wang Feng. His family is relatively well-off, so he plays football purely for fun and to pick up girls. He has never understood Wang Feng's ascetic training mode.
Wang Feng was used to seeing different girls constantly appearing around him, so he just nodded.
Renee hugged Wang Feng and said, "Brother, you can't do this, besides training, you have to relax occasionally."
He said quietly: "I heard that since our team's main winger was injured, Paul Chuck has been performing poorly. As long as you can perform at a super level in tomorrow's training camp, you will have a chance to enter the squad. "
Wang Feng couldn't help being delighted when he heard the news. Virton is a small club, and there are only two substitutes for the winger position. He and Paul, because they have not performed well before, have not been able to enter the squad. Now, for some reason, his skills have improved. It seems he will be able to fight for the position.
So he lightly punched Renee in the chest, and said with a smile: "Okay buddy, this message is too timely, I have to seize this opportunity."
Renee is a very righteous person. When his agent vanished and language posed a challenge, Rennie's attentive care facilitated his gradual adaptation to the unfamiliar environment.
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