Rony's two goals against Loretano greatly improved Su Dong's standing at Sporting Portugal.
Although the club had valued him before, after that match, everyone became fully aware of his potential and future.
At sixteen, to produce such a performance, along with the rate of improvement he had shown over the past period, Su Dong's future was definitely something to look forward to. A player like him probably would not remain at Sporting Portugal for long.
Not only were people like Matello friendly toward Su Dong, even the starting forwards he had pushed down the pecking order did not resist him.
For one thing, Su Dong now had the full support of the team. For another, they all felt that Su Dong would not stay for long.
Since that was the case, why make an enemy of him?
The Portuguese Second Division had little influence. It could even be said that once a team left its home ground, hardly anyone paid attention.
After scoring twice, Su Dong had been excited for an entire night, but he soon returned to normal.
He still followed the same routine as before. He got up after four every morning, began with physical training, then went to Edward VII Park Stadium to train with Rony until the afternoon. After that, he returned to the club for training and then did an additional hour with Matello.
Unlike before, there were now two more people helping with his training.
One was Canelas, a midfielder from Benfica's youth academy who had sent Su Dong a through ball against Loretano.
The twenty-one-year-old had excellent passing and plenty of ideas, as well as good footwork. However, he was on the short side and physically weak, which put him at a considerable disadvantage in senior-team matches.
Although they had not known each other before, after playing one match together, he became friends with Su Dong.
The other was Baru, the right winger who had also supplied Su Dong with a brilliant pass.
The twenty-four-year-old had African ancestry and had come through Belenenses' youth academy. His fundamentals were solid, though he was not especially outstanding. His greatest advantage was his speed, and he was also very good in physical clashes, which made him highly dangerous in lower-division teams.
Canelas and Baru were both full-time players at Sporting Portugal, showing that the club recognized their abilities.
With two more people helping him train, the training exercises also became more varied. It was said that head coach Gorba had arranged it personally.
All of this clearly showed everyone that the club had begun cultivating Su Dong as its number-one rising star, with the ultimate goal of earning a transfer fee from him.
Su Dong did not resist this.
It might look as though the players were being treated as commodities, but wasn't it a win-win situation?
Besides, when the time came for him to transfer, Su Dong's opinion would still be taken into consideration.
After all, he had only signed a youth contract.
Amid his fulfilling routine, another week quickly passed.
The Portuguese Second Division entered its third round.
This time, Sporting Portugal would once again play away. Their opponents were no pushover: Maritimo's Second Team.
As one of the stronger teams in the Portuguese Super League, Maritimo's Second Team was not weak. In the Portuguese Second Division South Group, it had consistently ranked in the upper half of mid-table, slightly higher than Sporting Portugal.
Unlike the away match in the first round, this time they would be traveling beyond the European mainland to the Madeira Islands.
The Madeira Islands lay west of the African continent, neighboring Spain's Canary Islands. Both were famous tourist destinations. Flights left Lisbon for the Madeira Islands every day, and the journey took a little over two hours.
Although it was entirely possible to fly there and back on the day of the match, that would be far too rushed. Therefore, teams usually arrived in the Madeira Islands a day early, stayed overnight to recover, and returned that same evening after the match.
Sporting Portugal did the same this time.
When head coach Pereira announced the matchday squad, Su Dong was selected without surprise.
Although Pereira later told him that he would still be a substitute for this match, Su Dong was nonetheless delighted.
Being selected for the squad consecutively already proved everything.
On the evening before the match, after finishing training, Su Dong returned to his dormitory to pack his luggage. That was when he received a call from Rony.
"Why are you here?"
Su Dong hurried downstairs and saw Rony standing at the intersection below with several large and small bags in his hands. He quickly went over to him.
"The thought of not being able to see you tomorrow made me want to come visit." Rony wore an anguished expression.
"Aren't you going to invite me upstairs?"
Su Dong hesitated for a moment, but still invited his guest upstairs.
The place where he lived was called an apartment, but it was actually just a single room—and an old, run-down one at that. Not only were the facilities outdated, they were severely lacking, and the stairwell and corridors were pitch-black.
The moment Rony entered, his brows knitted tightly and never relaxed.
Rony often complained to Su Dong about the conditions he had once endured while living at Gate Ten of Alvalade Stadium, describing how terrible they had been and mentioning the four-person room. But compared with Su Dong's current place, his old lodgings at the home ground were not merely a three-star hotel—they could practically qualify as five-star.
Su Dong had never mentioned his living conditions, and Rony had never asked. He had only come today because he had something to do, following the address Su Dong had once revealed. He had not expected to find Su Dong living in such a terrible place.
Apart from being cheap, this place probably had no merits at all.
"My former agent rented it for me." Su Dong noticed Rony's expression and explained.
"I don't have high demands when it comes to where I live. As long as I can focus on playing football, it's enough, so I never thought about changing."
Rony nodded repeatedly. That truly was Su Dong's personality.
Once inside, they saw floor mats laid across the room, an iron bar hanging in the passageway, and several sandbags in the corner. Su Dong had bought all of them with Rony before, for physical training.
While Rony was not paying attention, Su Dong turned around and exchanged two bottles of Bull from the system, casually handing one to Rony.
"Tell me, what did you need me for?" Su Dong asked with a smile.
Rony knew that Su Dong would soon have to report to the team for their gathering, so he did not delay any longer.
"Didn't you tell me this morning that you'd made the squad and were going to the Madeira Islands for a match?"
"Yeah." Su Dong had told him that that morning.
"Then you probably don't know that Maritimo's Second Team plays its home matches right in front of my house."
"What?" Su Dong was somewhat surprised.
How could it be right in front of Rony's house?
"When I joined Andorinha at nine, our training ground was only a few hundred meters north of the Maritimo Training Center. My house was on the small hill west of the Maritimo Training Center, far from the tourist district where visitors gathered."
Su Dong nodded, but quickly thought of another question. "But I remember you used to be in Nacional's youth academy."
"Exactly." Rony nodded with a broad grin. "I had practically joined Maritimo already. I'd even bought their jersey, but they didn't value me. They were absent during the negotiations, which angered us, so we went to Nacional dozens of kilometers away. That was why I could only train three times a week."
Only then did Su Dong understand. So that was what had happened.
"Then the people at Maritimo must be regretting it terribly."
Rony shrugged, completely unconcerned.
Although he had yet to emerge, Maritimo could hardly avoid regretting missing out on a player like him.
But who could they blame?
"Are you asking me to take these things for you?" Su Dong looked at the bags in Rony's hands.
Rony nodded and handed them over. "These are some gifts I bought for my family, along with a Sony PlayStation. I'd originally planned to take some time off and deliver them myself, but since you're going there now, could you take them back for me?"
"Of course." Su Dong nodded without hesitation.
This was the first time Rony had asked him for help. No matter what, he could not refuse.
Besides, as far as he knew, Funchal, where Maritimo was based, was very small. The team's accommodations were probably not far from Rony's home, and a taxi would get him there.
"Thanks," Rony said.
Su Dong hurriedly told him not to be so polite.
Rony sat for a while longer, seeming as though he wanted to say something but ultimately saying nothing. He only mentioned that he would call home that evening, then wrote an address for Su Dong and told him that the taxi driver would know the place if he gave him the address.
After putting the address away, Su Dong saw Rony downstairs and then returned to finish packing.
At 7:30 that evening, Sporting Portugal took TAP Air Portugal from Lisbon Airport, catching the last flight—and also the cheapest discounted flight—to the Madeira Islands.
The Madeira Islands were known as the islands of eternal spring.
As the name suggested, spring lasted there all year round. Temperatures never exceeded thirty-three degrees Celsius, with warm winters and cool summers, making the islands ideal for vacations.
Every year, countless tourists traveled south from the European mainland to visit the Madeira Islands.
Sporting Portugal arrived late at night and went straight from the airport to the hotel. Naturally, it was not an upscale hotel, merely one located close to the match venue.
The next day brought another fine morning, with a cloudless blue sky.
Su Dong got up early as usual and exercised for a while using the hotel's basic fitness equipment. After breakfast with the entire team, he found head coach Pereira and captain Matello and asked for a short leave.
Although the coaching staff forbade players from going out without reason, they did not make things difficult when they heard that Su Dong was delivering something to a friend. They merely reminded him to stay safe and, most importantly, to remember the coach's and captain's phone numbers and contact them immediately if anything happened.
Following the coach and captain's reminders, Su Dong got into the taxi arranged by the hotel.
As soon as he got in, Su Dong handed the driver the address Rony had written.
"Falcao Village? I know the place. It's right next to Santo António Cemetery." The driver recognized it as soon as he saw the address.
The taxi drove out of the hotel and headed north.
Since the hotel had called the taxi, Su Dong was not worried about his safety. He merely asked the driver to wait for him and take him back after he delivered the things.
"You're probably delivering something for Ronaldo, right?" the driver asked nosily while driving.
"How did you know?" Su Dong asked, somewhat surprised.
"He's a minor celebrity around here. His name is the same as Ronaldo's, and he plays football well. A reporter even came all the way from Lisbon to cover and interview him before. A lot of people here know him."
Su Dong smiled faintly, not surprised by that.
"However, something happened to his family recently."
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