He Scored Again!

"Something happened?" Su Dong was startled and hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

"You don't know?" The driver was confused instead.

"Tell me quickly." Su Dong urged him anxiously.

"They have two sons and two daughters, four children in total. The eldest boy is named Hugo. He played football too, but later became a painter's apprentice. Then, instead of doing his job properly, he started hanging around with all sorts of troublemakers from the village. Not long ago, the police arrested him for causing trouble while high on drugs."

"Drugs?" Su Dong was utterly shocked.

Back home, this was an extremely serious matter—something that could even ruin a person's reputation and life.

Seeing Su Dong's reaction, the driver was surprised instead.

Wasn't it just drug use?

Was there really a need to react so strongly?

"Don't worry. It's all right now. I heard that Ronaldo came back and forcibly sent his brother to a rehabilitation center."

Even so, Su Dong still felt shaken.

Having grown up back home, he had always been taught to stay away from drugs.

As far as he was concerned, addicts were people he absolutely had to keep his distance from.

"But to be honest, things aren't exactly optimistic."

"Why not?"

"Go ask anyone around here—who doesn't know Falcao Village? Everyone here is an immigrant. These houses are government-built social housing, rented to them at extremely low prices. Most of the villagers work in the tourist district, but some do nothing all day and cause trouble everywhere. Hugo is always hanging around with those people. Who knows when he'll get involved with drugs again?"

At that, the driver reminded Su Dong with a solemn expression.

"Alcohol and drugs are very common in Falcao Village. You can see drunks and addicts at any time. So once you enter the village, go straight to their house. Don't wander around."

The driver was only kindly warning him.

Su Dong nodded blankly, still deeply shocked by the matter.

This should have been the reason Rony had taken a week off not long ago and disappeared without a trace.

Even if he and Jose Semedo had racked their brains, they never would have guessed that it was because Rony's brother had been taking drugs.

It seemed to be common in Madeira Island. Judging from the driver's tone, as long as no trouble was caused, drug use itself apparently wasn't considered a major issue.

But to Su Dong, who had grown up back home, it was truly shocking.

Then he thought of Rony, and suddenly felt that everyone had their own hardships.

No wonder Rony had been so frugal, saving his fifty euros of monthly pocket money to buy his family a Sony PlayStation.

Ultimately, he had only wanted to give his brother something to occupy his time, preventing him from sinking further into drugs.

As a minor celebrity in Funchal, Rony's family was the subject of plenty of gossip there.

It turned out that his father had once fought in Portugal's war in Africa. Although he returned safely, he developed postwar trauma and had spent all these years numbing himself with alcohol.

"They say he was even late to Ronaldo's baptism—his own son's baptism—because he had gone off to drink."

There were also stories about Rony's mother. Apparently, she had been sent to an orphanage as a child, where she suffered constant abuse. Later, she finally met Aveiro, the man she loved, only for her husband to be sent to the battlefield at a young age. After returning, he too spent his days numbing himself with alcohol.

One could say that she had raised all four children by herself.

Rony's eldest sister and brother had barely received any education. His second sister had gone to school, but not for very long.

It was no exaggeration to describe their family as destitute.

Then again, nearly every family living in Falcao Village was destitute.

And Su Dong could sense that Rony carried almost all of his family's hopes.

If he failed to become a professional footballer, his parents and siblings would end up like everyone else in Falcao Village, trapped forever in that miserable fate.

If he had not come here and heard all this from the taxi driver, Su Dong truly would never have known that Rony, who had always presented himself as proud and confident, was hiding such a background.

Perhaps his pride and confidence were merely a disguise he put on. He never allowed anyone to see his true heart.

That was probably another way of protecting himself.

When Su Dong arrived at Falcao Village by taxi, the driver stopped at the entrance.

As soon as he got out, a beautiful woman around twenty years old stared at him for a moment before approaching and asking if he was Su Dong.

Su Dong hurriedly nodded. Only after asking did he learn that she was Rony's second older sister.

The two of them took the luggage from the trunk and followed the narrow village road to Rony's home.

It was a two-story house identical to all the others around it. It was probably, as the driver had said, one of the social housing units built by the government.

The moment he entered, a strong smell of alcohol hit him in the face.

In the living room, Rony's father was already dead drunk so early in the morning.

Soon afterward, Su Dong met Rony's mother and brother. The latter was emaciated, looking exactly like the addicts Su Dong had seen on television.

Su Dong did not stay long at Rony's house. He had taken leave to come out, after all, and declined the family's hospitality before returning to the entrance to catch a ride back to the hotel.

All along the way, he kept thinking about Rony's family.

Everyone had a reason they had no choice but to succeed.

Jose Semedo had one. Rony had one. Su Dong had one too.

Su Dong still clearly remembered how, when his father had decided to spend everything the family owned to send him abroad, many people around them had mocked him. They thought he was delusional, that China could never produce a football genius—much less someone like Su Dong.

But his father had believed in him and had been willing to give everything for him.

Su Dong had never told anyone that he aspired to become a professional footballer because he wanted, one day, to return to his hometown and stand before his father, telling him in person that his decision back then had been wise.

That way, his father could hold his head high in front of his relatives and friends.

Of course, by now, Su Dong wanted more.

He yearned to win the cheers and applause of an entire stadium like Jardel.

He knew he was still a long way from that goal, but he was willing to work for it and give it a try.

He hoped to move forward like Rony, tempering himself through hardship instead of ending up like the broken Jose Semedo.

With that thought, Su Dong's gaze grew even more resolute.

The match against Maritimo's Second Team was held on the training base's pitch and did not attract many fans.

The stands were sparsely populated, with perhaps only three or four hundred people at most.

The match itself was fiercely contested.

Maritimo's Second Team were playing at home. From the very beginning, they displayed an aggressive attitude and were indeed slightly stronger. Not long after kickoff, they capitalized on a defensive mistake by Sporting Portugal and scored.

After that, Sporting Portugal barely managed to steady themselves and desperately held their defensive line together.

Maritimo's Second Team continued to dominate the match, repeatedly creating chances and trying to score again.

This time, Pereira did not bring Su Dong on at halftime. Instead, he waited until the sixtieth minute of the second half. He replaced a player with Su Dong but did not take off the team's center forward, switching to a two-striker formation instead.

Although he came on late, Su Dong remained highly active after entering the match.

The center forward stayed up front while Su Dong frequently dropped back to link up and drifted wide. He covered a large area, avoiding direct physical battles with the opposing defenders, which was not his strength.

His teammates were clearly more familiar with Su Dong now. Whether passing to him or receiving his passes, they showed better understanding.

Especially Canelas.

When the match reached the seventy-third minute, the score was still 0–1.

Su Dong once again ran back from the front. After receiving a pass from a teammate, he laid it off to Canelas, who had moved into space.

As he passed, Su Dong, with his back to goal, extended his left hand and pointed toward the right side of the pitch.

Canelas understood immediately. He turned and dribbled to the right, where he saw a gap in Maritimo's left-side defense. Baru was already poised to attack it.

Sporting Portugal's midfielder did not hesitate. He played the ball diagonally to the right. Baru sprinted at full speed, burst through the defensive line, caught up with the ball on the right side of the penalty area, and crossed it into the box.

The center forward, Sami, tried to rush in for the first ball but collided with the opposing center-back. Neither of them managed to reach it.

The ball wobbled toward the middle.

Su Dong, who had just dropped back to support the play, turned and sprinted. When he saw Sami attacking the near post, he immediately changed direction and charged toward the center, ready to pounce on the second ball.

Sure enough, the ball dropped toward the middle, and Su Dong arrived at exactly the right moment. As it fell, he unleashed a furious right-footed shot and drove it straight into the lower-left corner of the opposing goal.

Goal!

The referee's whistle confirmed it!

Su Dong spun around in excitement and raced out of the penalty area, sprinting all the way toward the touchline.

Playing away from home, there were no cheers from his own fans—not even jeers from the opposing supporters. But that did nothing to dampen Su Dong's excitement, because this was his second official match.

He had scored again!

"Yes!"

Head coach Pereira clenched his fist excitedly.

Su Dong's movement had been truly intelligent. Instead of fighting Sami for position, he had chosen to attack the second ball. Unexpectedly, both players at the near post had missed it.

That was certainly luck, but wasn't it also a sign of ability?

"Two matches in a row," Pereira said with a somewhat wry smile, shaking his head.

Su Dong's performances were increasingly surprising them. It was certainly a pleasant surprise, but it also meant that the day they lost Su Dong was drawing closer.

Apparently, scouting Su Dong had already been added to the schedule of Belenenses' scouting department.

Sporting Portugal's players also rushed over one after another to celebrate the goal with Su Dong.

Scoring in two consecutive matches was no easy feat, especially for a sixteen-year-old player.

"That was brilliant!" Matello ran over, hugged Su Dong, and praised him with a laugh.

"Keep it up and try to score another," the captain encouraged him.

Su Dong smiled and nodded.

But Maritimo's Second Team reacted quickly and gave Su Dong no further chances to shine.

In the end, Sporting Portugal drew 1–1 away to Maritimo's Second Team.

Su Dong had scored in two consecutive rounds.

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