Disqualified

In the end, Su Dong decided to sign with Jorge Mendes.

It was not a difficult decision, because Mendes seemed to care a great deal about Su Dong.

Two days after their first meeting, the Portuguese man came to see him again with his partner, Jorge Manuel, and produced a player development plan for the next three years.

In the plan, Mendes sketched out a path of development for Su Dong. First, during the Winter Break or next summer's transfer window, he would successfully join a Portuguese Super League team. The condition was that the other side had to promise him playing opportunities with the reserve team, as well as prospects with the first team.

"As far as I know, Benfica, Belenenses, and Maritimo are all watching you right now. Sporting Lisbon has also heard the news, but none of that matters. They haven't truly made any decisions yet. They're only paying attention."

"Every year, there are many players they watch like this, but very few who actually join them."

"So right now, the most important thing for you is to stay focused. Don't let any of them affect you. Keep working hard, keep improving your ability. As long as you perform well enough, they'll come running to you one by one."

Mendes promised that he would do everything he could to get him playing in the Portuguese Super League within two years, and to help him establish himself there within three.

Of course, the prerequisite was that Su Dong could maintain his current momentum of development.

If Su Dong himself failed to live up to expectations, then no matter how capable his agent was, it would be useless.

"Even if I managed to get you into Portuguese Super League giants like Benfica, Sporting Lisbon, or Porto, if you don't have the ability, you still won't get to play. Before long, you'll be cleared out."

Mendes's plan and ideas successfully convinced Su Dong, and so the two sides signed the contract.

After the signing, the first thing Mendes did was go to see Sporting Portugal head coach Gorba.

Gorba was very surprised that Su Dong had signed with a new agent, but he also felt it was normal.

Right now, Su Dong was the most-watched young player on the team. Having an agent help handle all sorts of matters so the player could focus on football was also a good thing.

More importantly, Mendes had not come to demand a pay raise. Instead, he hoped Su Dong would be given more playing time.

Whether in terms of the ability he had shown or Su Dong's influence within the team, asking to play as a starter was only natural.

Moreover, this was also in Sporting Portugal's interests.

So Gorba agreed almost on the spot and promised that he would continue to fully support Su Dong.

Mendes, in turn, promised that if he managed to move Su Dong to a Portuguese Super League team, Sporting Portugal would certainly benefit.

The second thing he did, after meeting Gorba, was to get the contact information for the scammer agent who had tricked Su Dong into coming to Lisbon. He made a phone call, sent over a fax signed by Su Dong, and formally terminated the agency contract.

In theory, only now could Su Dong truly be considered to have signed with Mendes.

Ever since that scammer had tricked Su Dong into coming to Lisbon, he had paid him no attention at all. He had originally expected Su Dong to stay in Lisbon for two months, then slink back home in disgrace. He had never imagined that Su Dong would actually make it.

Especially after receiving the fax, he went to Sporting Portugal to learn more about the situation. When he found out that Portuguese Super League teams were currently watching Su Dong, he immediately realized that he had missed a golden opportunity.

Having a player who could play for a Portuguese Super League team—everyone knew what that meant.

So the scammer immediately went to the rented apartment to look for Su Dong, hoping to use the contract they had signed back in China to keep Su Dong under him again. But in the end, the rented apartment was already empty.

With Mendes's help, Su Dong had long since rented a new apartment near Marquis of Pombal Square, one that was good and inexpensive.

Afterward, the other man intercepted Su Dong after a Sporting Portugal training session and tried to win him back, but Su Dong had no intention of paying him any attention. Even the teammates around him, and even Gorba, all stood on Su Dong's side.

Everyone knew this man was a scammer.

After that, Su Dong completely put the matter aside and threw himself fully into training and matches.

In the fifth round, away against the weak Lagoa, Su Dong started for Sporting Portugal for the first time, playing as the team's lone center forward. In the match, he once again scored twice, netting two goals in succession.

This time, his heroic performance was mainly because the opponent was simply too weak.

The entire Sporting Portugal team was supporting Su Dong, while the opponent was too weak to defend their goal at all.

In the end, Sporting Portugal claimed a clean three-nil away victory.

Su Dong finally got to experience the thrill of farming weaklings.

Another calm and uneventful week passed, and in the sixth round, they hosted Monsaraz at home.

This was a newly promoted team this season, and its overall strength was even weaker than Lagoa's. With Sporting Portugal playing at home as well, they performed with extraordinary ferocity. Su Dong, starting again, scored two goals once more and also contributed an assist.

Across two consecutive rounds, he scored four goals. Anyone could see that the speed of Su Dong's improvement was astonishing. By now, he had basically secured his position as Sporting Portugal's top scorer.

But just after this match ended, Su Dong received a call from his parents back home.

He had been suspended.

"Suspended? Why?"

Su Dong was extremely surprised by the news.

"We don't know either. When the Football Association called us, they only informed us, saying that your overseas transfer violated regulations. The Football Association decided to hand down a long-term suspension and demanded that you return home immediately."

His father spoke worriedly over the phone.

They had been honest, law-abiding people their whole lives. Now that something like this had happened, how could they not be worried?

"That's impossible," Su Dong refused at once.

Things were going so well for him here. He had finally seized his chance, using Sporting Portugal as a platform, and he was playing better and better. And now, at this crucial moment, they wanted him to go back?

God knew when he would ever be able to leave again after going back.

The first person Su Dong thought of was that swindler. He had people inside the Football Association. This had to be his doing!

Once he thought of that, Su Dong had nothing left to hide. He immediately told his parents everything about that swindler, from beginning to end, while also explaining his current situation in Portugal.

"Right now is the critical moment. In the match that just ended, there were scouts from Benfica, Belenenses, Maritimo, and Sporting Lisbon sitting in the stands. They all came to watch me."

As Su Dong spoke to this point, his tone became extremely firm. "If they want to suspend me, then let them. But asking me to go back now? Impossible."

After working so hard for so long, he had finally opened up a path. If he went back now, wouldn't all his efforts go to waste?

Besides, when that swindler had been cheating them out of money, it had not been against the rules, but now it suddenly was?

After understanding the situation, Su Dong's parents basically grasped what was going on. They knew they had been deceived before, and they also knew the other party was deliberately taking revenge, using this opportunity to force Su Dong to compromise.

Although they were still worried, they were also unwilling to make their son give up the future he had fought so hard to win.

After hanging up with his parents, Su Dong thought for a moment, then called Mendes and explained the situation to him.

"If it's a suspension, at most it'll probably just stop you from playing for the national team. But there shouldn't be any issue with your registration at Sporting Portugal, and it won't affect your subsequent transfer."

But Mendes still felt a little uneasy. "How about this? Tomorrow I'll go straight to the Portuguese Football Federation and find out what's going on. If there are any procedures that need to be completed, I'll help you get them done as soon as possible. As long as things are settled on this end, FIFA shouldn't be a big problem, though it may affect your participation in national team matches."

At Su Dong's age, he could actually play for the Under-17 National Team and the National Youth Team.

But at this point, Su Dong had no choice.

Aside from the people involved, Su Dong's suspension did not attract the slightest attention back home.

At present, all of China was immersed in the passion of fighting for a place in the Korea-Japan World Cup. There were simply no media outlets or fans who would pay attention to a youngster struggling in a distant, obscure Portuguese semi-professional league.

Only Su Dong himself knew that he had been suspended.

For how long?

He did not know.

Fortunately, after Mendes used various channels to look into the matter, he told Su Dong with absolute certainty that this domestic suspension would not affect his upcoming matches or transfer.

Once that was clear, Su Dong also adjusted his mood, threw the suspension to the back of his mind, and devoted himself entirely to training and matches.

After turning grief and anger into strength, Su Dong trained even harder. In particular, after a whole month of grueling practice in October, his technique and physique were already close to their full potential, which made his performances in Sporting Portugal's matches even more outstanding.

After scoring braces in two consecutive rounds, Su Dong took a break for one round, but soon scored three goals across the next two rounds.

And this time, at last, a club could not resist taking the lead in extending an olive branch to him.

In the city of Lisbon, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, both top giants of the Primeira Liga, were sworn enemies.

Interestingly, the straight-line distance between the two clubs' home stadiums was only two kilometers.

But even more interestingly, most of the home and away schedules for the two Lisbon clubs this season were actually the same.

In other words, in this season's Primeira Liga, it was common to see the grand occasion of both teams playing at home at the same time.

Just like in the eleventh round of the league, both teams were at home.

Benfica hosted Leiria, while Sporting Lisbon hosted Braga.

On a night like this, tens of thousands of fans gathered in the two stadiums at the same time. The lights blazed, the roar of the crowd thundered to the skies, as if they were the two eyes of a giant dragon. Just thinking about it felt fresh and exhilarating.

Su Dong rode in Mendes's car to Estádio da Luz, and accompanied by his agent and Jorge Manuel, headed toward Estádio da Luz.

This was an invitation Benfica had sent him two days earlier, hoping he could come to the stadium to watch a match.

After getting out of the car and standing in the parking lot, he gazed at the brightly lit Estádio da Luz in the distance and watched fans pouring in from all directions. He felt utterly awestruck.

This was the closest he had been so far to a Primeira Liga team.

"If I could play in a stadium like this, it would definitely feel amazing!" Su Dong said, full of anticipation.

Mendes and Manuel looked at each other and smiled.

"Then keep working hard. I'll definitely help you make that wish come true."