Uncle

I opened my eyes to a new day.

Yang Yang lay on his single bed as sunlight filtered through the thin curtains of the window beside him, bringing light to the dim room.

Almere had ultimately lost yesterday's match, but Yang Yang had won.

A spectacular goal had earned him everyone's approval.

The final score was three to one. With Almere's players powerless to resist, Ajax had scored three goals in the second half. However, none of them had much to do with Babel, and two had even come after he was substituted.

Tom De Mul, Amrabat, and Maduro each scored once, showcasing the strength of Ajax's players.

Although he still felt somewhat unwilling to accept the final result, Yang Yang also knew that there was a huge gap in strength between Almere and Ajax. Holding out through the first half and stealing a goal had already been more than enough to surprise people.

Perhaps because there had been so many fans in attendance, the Ajax youth development executives, including Van Basten, had already left the stadium before the match was over, once the outcome had essentially been decided. This left many Almere players bitterly regretful after the match, while only Yang Yang grinned from ear to ear.

Luckily, he had been unable to wait until before the match and had run over to meet Van Basten. They had shaken hands and taken a photo together.

Ajax scout Fred Arroyo had said that once the photo was developed, he would have Van Basten sign it before bringing it to Yang Yang. Yang Yang was extremely excited and decided that he would have it properly framed and hung on the wall.

After returning home, taking a shower, and getting into bed, he entered the Super Training Ground to review the match with Old Bing.

This had been his routine over the past two or three months. Every review had benefited him immensely, and he firmly believed that this slow accumulation would bring tremendous advantages to his football career.

One of the main focuses of last night's review had been analyzing Yang Yang's sequence of changes of direction and ball pulls when he dribbled past Vermaelen. Yang Yang himself felt that he had done quite well, but Old Bing was still not particularly satisfied. He believed that this successful play had involved a fair amount of coincidence.

"That Belgian possesses at least the defensive ability of a mid-table Dutch Second Division player, or even a lower-tier Eredivisie player. You managed to get past him partly because you caught him off guard, and partly because of that tiny bit of luck."

Old Bing's words still shocked Yang Yang whenever he thought back on them.

Amateur matches were competitions that only players under eighteen could participate in. Thomas Vermaelen should have been around seventeen or eighteen, yet he already possessed the defensive ability of a mid-table Dutch Second Division player, or even a lower-tier Eredivisie player. That guy had an incredibly bright future.

But when he thought back over the match, Yang Yang had to admit that it had indeed been difficult to gain an advantage against Vermaelen. The guy was not tall, nor was he powerfully built, but he was incredibly troublesome to deal with. He had explosive acceleration, a flexible body, and outstanding ability in physical battles. Being marked by him was an absolute nightmare.

Yet when he thought about it again, Yang Yang could not help feeling a small sense of accomplishment.

Scoring a goal against a player like that was something worth being proud of, wasn't it?

But more than anything, it inspired his fighting spirit.

Vermaelen did not look much older than him, yet his ability was so much greater. This forced Yang Yang to remind himself once again that he had to keep working hard and improve his strength as quickly as possible.

The Ajax Talent Day selection event was drawing closer and closer.

"Starting today, add one more training exercise besides your daily routine," Old Bing said calmly.

"Really? That's great!" Yang Yang asked delightedly.

Adding another exercise meant that Old Bing had acknowledged his progress.

Of course, he still had to continue training against the wall. It was just that he had become increasingly proficient, so the same exercises now took far less time than they had at the beginning. Adding a few new exercises would not require much more time.

Besides, Yang Yang had been improving all along.

"Bring the marker discs. Starting today, add extra practice on the most basic movements with both feet: tapping, pulling, pushing, flicking, and hooking."

The Yang Yang of today was no longer the same as he had been a few months earlier. Not only had he gained a great deal through practice, he had also competed against opponents in real matches. He had even faced a defender like Vermaelen, who possessed upper-mid-level Dutch Second Division ability, so his understanding had naturally deepened.

He knew very well that any technical movement that appeared complicated and cumbersome was, when broken down, merely a combination of some extremely basic movements. Take Ronaldo's successive changes of direction and ball pulls, for example. If each movement were separated, one would discover that they were actually very simple. The Pendulum Dribble was the same.

Old Bing had Yang Yang practice these basic taps, pulls, pushes, flicks, and hooks with marker discs in order to further improve Yang Yang's mastery of [Ronaldo's Breakthrough] and its practical application in matches, allowing it to unleash even greater power.

"Sure." Yang Yang agreed without hesitation. "When can you raise the level of the defenders who train against me by another step?"

Over the past month, Yang Yang felt that he had improved considerably, but the defenders training against him had remained at Level Three. This left him somewhat dissatisfied, especially after seeing Vermaelen's ability.

"Not yet," Old Bing rejected him bluntly.

Yang Yang helplessly curled his lips, but he believed that the day would come soon.

"Huh? Why are you up so early again today?"

When Yang Yang went downstairs to eat breakfast, he happened to run into his uncle, who was about to go out to buy groceries.

"I'm going to practice football in the park after breakfast," Yang Yang replied with a grin.

"Working hard at practice is a good thing, but don't overdo it. You're still growing, and you played a match just last night. Why don't you stay home and get some proper rest today? I'll make you a good meal at noon." Uncle Shen Ming chuckled.

Yang Yang was now like the living signboard of Shen's Chinese Restaurant. Not only did the Almere Youth Team players like coming over, many local residents also came because of his reputation. Business at the restaurant was far livelier than before, and even the usually quiet lunch hours had become busy. Shen Ming was delighted.

What made him happiest was his nephew's progress. Not only had he earned Almere's recognition, even teams like Eindhoven and Ajax had taken a liking to him. Perhaps one day he would truly become a professional player in the Eredivisie, and then his uncle would benefit from his success as well.

Shen Ming now treated this nephew even better than he would his own daughter. He was already considering hiring a few more people so that Yang Yang could focus on football and no longer need to help out at the restaurant.

"Don't worry, Uncle. I know my own body. After sleeping soundly, all the fatigue from last night has vanished. I'm full of energy now and just want to let it all out." Yang Yang grinned as he joked.

"Full of energy? Let it all out?" Shen Ming immediately gave his nephew a careful look. There even seemed to be signs of whiskers growing on his upper lip and chin. "Looks like you've grown up. It's time for some nourishment."

"Huh?" Yang Yang did not understand. What did he mean?

"I'll make you a carefully prepared dish of stewed bull penis with old duck later, our Shen family restaurant's secret nourishing specialty."

Bull... penis... stewed with old duck... What the hell?

Yang Yang felt enlightened despite not understanding a thing, yet he also got goosebumps all over. Why did he feel that he could not quite understand what his uncle was saying today?

"Ahem. You're almost seventeen, eighteen by Chinese reckoning. You should also consider getting a girlfriend. You can't spend all day thinking only about football practice and matches. They say that Heaven has the Heavenly Father and earth has the Uncle Father. Your parents aren't by your side, so your uncle has to worry about this for you."

Yang Yang smiled bitterly. Hadn't this gone completely off track?

They had been talking about football practice just moments ago, then somehow moved on to that nourishing specialty, and now they were discussing girlfriends...

Uncle, your train of thought changes way too fast. I can't keep up.

The best of the Thirty-Six Stratagems was to flee. Uncle, take your time. I'm leaving first.

With that, Yang Yang ran off as if his life depended on it, leaving Uncle Shen Ming behind, shaking his head and sighing.

Young people these days... Ahem...

Still, he had played the entire match last night and gotten up early to train this morning. As far as working hard was concerned, his nephew truly had nothing to criticize. He had never slacked off over the past few months, come rain or shine.

If a child like this still could not make it in football, Shen Ming could only say that Heaven was unfair.

While Yang Yang was training against the wall and with marker discs at the Skate Park, more than twenty kilometers away, Ajax's training base, De Toekomst, in Amsterdam's Southeast New Town was finally welcoming its new Technical Director.

Louis van Gaal, the famous Dutch coach known throughout European football, had officially decided to return.

This was Van Gaal's first return in the role of Technical Director, and the entire training base attached great importance to it.

Club chairman Michael van Praag personally accompanied him, along with Head Coach Ronald Koeman, youth team coach Van Basten, the two youth development assistants Luther Carroll and Patrick Radru, and Chief Scout Tony Bruins Slot, among others.

All of De Toekomst's core management had arrived to welcome him. After exchanging pleasantries at the entrance, they ushered the chairman and the new Technical Director into the conference room, where Ajax's first senior football meeting of the new season began.

The meeting's main topic was Ajax's transfer progress. Van der Meide and Chivu had both decided to leave, bringing Ajax thirty million euros in income. That was a huge sum even in the Eredivisie.

However, Ajax had no way to use that money to sign reinforcements, because many young First Team players were eagerly awaiting contract renewals and pay raises. That was the price Ajax had to pay to retain its players.

As for new signings, Ajax had so far finalized only the French center-back Julian Escudé. Since his contract with Rennes had already expired, Ajax did not need to pay any transfer fee for him.

In return, however, the player's salary was much higher than what he had earned at Rennes. That was the price Ajax had to pay to recruit him.

The twenty-three-year-old French center-back could be considered a professional winner. Four years earlier, he had broken out after spending a season in Ligue 2 with Cannes, then joined Rennes on a free transfer. In his first season, he had helped Rennes earn promotion from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1. After playing three seasons in Ligue 1, he had now joined Ajax, a European powerhouse in the Eredivisie, on another free transfer.

In just a few short years, he had climbed one step at a time, and every step had been remarkably steady.

Ajax had complete confidence in a player like that, because Escudé knew exactly what he wanted. He would give his all in every match for Ajax and train extremely hard every time.

Put plainly, Ajax was merely another stepping stone in his continued rise.

His next step would be one of the Four Major Leagues. That was certain. But which team he could join would depend on his performance at Ajax.

On that point, the interests of the team and the player were aligned.

After finishing the discussion about Escudé, Van Gaal suddenly realized that the next topic concerned someone he knew.

Yang Yang.