Strong Men's Inferiority, Weak Men's Confidence

The higher Su Dong climbed in his career, the more he felt that the number of friends he could truly open up to was dwindling.

Take Aimar, for example. They had not been in touch for a long time.

That was true not only with Su Dong, but with Messi as well.

It was a very strange and special feeling. As David Silva put it, Aimar felt somewhat ashamed of himself.

When they had first become friends, his standing in European football had been higher than Su Dong's, while Messi had been nowhere near his level—a little fanboy who might need his help at any moment.

But gradually, Aimar realized that not only had Su Dong surpassed him, even Messi had overtaken him. It made him feel terrible, and he did not know how he should continue interacting with them.

There were many such cases. It happened not only to Su Dong or Messi, but to everyone.

Whether actively or passively, Su Dong's circle of friends was gradually shrinking. In particular, many of his former teammates who had once fought alongside him had retired, and some had even become head coaches. Most of them were no longer in contact with him.

So whenever Su Dong ran into an old teammate, he felt a special sense of familiarity.

But he never deliberately tried to ingratiate himself with them. He would simply walk over and say that it had been a long time, then go over again after the match to exchange a few words and say goodbye.

"You look even more confident than you did back then!" Mohamed Sissoko praised him sincerely.

"Do I?" Su Dong asked with a smile, but he quickly shook his head. "Actually, I'm still the same as I was back then. I'm a little inferior."