Tang Long was still wearing the damp jersey he had just trained in,
and, wearing his cleats, followed Chivu into the spacious coaching office.
This was the second time Tang Long had come to this office
since signing on as an Inter Milan youth player.
Even though five months had passed,
as soon as he stepped inside, a poster he remembered all too well from his past life immediately caught his eye—
a picture of Inter Milan winning the treble in 2010!
Right in the center, captain Zanetti
held the Big Ears Cup high above his head!
Around him stood a host of world-class stars, including Milito, Sneijder, and Eto'o.
In his previous life, Tang Long had watched the entire match on television.
Tang Long had been a fan of Ronaldo since childhood,
and he had fallen in love with Inter Milan because of Ronaldo!
The day Inter Milan won the treble in 2010
was the happiest night of Tang Long's life.
Seeing Tang Long staring at the poster,
Chivu smiled and handed him a freshly made cappuccino.
"Did you watch this match? I was at the stadium that day too, haha!"
"I was the left-back, tasked with marking Bayern's Robben."
"That bald guy was so fast. He dribbled past me several times in a row. Thank goodness we won in the end, or I would've had a pretty miserable time out there!"
Tang Long nodded, his eyes shining.
"Mr. Chivu, if one day I could represent Inter Milan and win the Champions League, that would be the most wonderful moment of my life!"
Chivu was taken aback, then patted Tang Long on the shoulder and burst out laughing.
"Hahaha, good! You've got ambition!"
"There are plenty of youth players here, but you're the first, Tang!"
"You're the first to tell me you want to win the Champions League with Inter Milan. You're really thinking far ahead!"
Chivu's laughter brought Tang Long back to reality.
Uh...
Win the Champions League with Inter Milan?
That really was thinking a little too far ahead!
He sure knew how to dream.
For now, the most important thing was to sort out the renewal of his youth contract.
"Mr. Chivu, you know..." Tang Long asked tentatively. "My youth contract expires in a month. I love Inter Milan. I've been a fan since I was a kid. Could you help me renew my contract?"
Chivu blinked,
swirled the coffee in his hand,
and shook his head at Tang Long.
"No, I can't help you renew your youth contract."
Those words made Tang Long's heart tighten.
His cheerful mood plummeted in an instant.
It seemed that even with the help of the Green Field Intelligence Engine System,
his performance on the pitch just now hadn't been enough to earn Chivu's trust!
That was understandable.
Although the AI System had accurately predicted the best passing lanes in advance,
his poor passing ability held him back;
more often than not, his feet simply couldn't keep up with his ideas.
Just as Tang Long was feeling dejected,
Chivu's next words instantly lifted him from the depths to the heights!
"Tang, I'm telling you seriously: a player like you should be moved up to train with Inter Milan's first team right away!"
"The youth league is too low-level. Your awareness of the game is already far beyond that of players your age!"
"Only by playing alongside Inter Milan's first team can you improve by leaps and bounds."
Inter Milan's first team?
Tang Long's heart tightened—
wasn't this the very dream he'd come here five months ago hoping to fulfill?
Just like his childhood idol Ronaldo,
he would lead Inter Milan across Serie A and the European stage,
and win championship trophies!
"Sign me up! I'll sign right away! Mr. Chivu, I'll sign a first-team contract with Inter Milan right now! Where's the pen?"
Tang Long could barely contain his excitement.
Chivu paused, then burst out laughing.
He gestured for Tang Long to sit down.
"I was joking!"
"I'm only a youth-team coach at Inter Milan, and an assistant coach at that."
"You have to sign with the sporting director, Ausilio, to join the first team. I don't have that authority."
"All I can do right now is renew your youth contract for a year."
Tang Long felt a little awkward.
He hadn't even realized Chivu was joking with him.
But he nodded. "Oh, I see."
He calmed himself down.
Chivu was right.
He was only an assistant coach for the youth team. How could he have the authority to sign a first-team contract?
Still, getting his youth contract renewed for another year
was already better than he could have hoped for.
It was what he had wanted to achieve from the start.
Besides, only by staying with the youth team
would he have a chance to be selected for the first team by Inter Milan manager Mancini in the future.
He'd better establish himself first!
"But there's one thing, Tang. Next weekend, Inter Milan will host Genoa."
A hint of smugness flashed in Chivu's eyes.
"It's November, and the first team has a lot of injuries. Mancini's worried he can't even put together an eighteen-man squad."
"If all goes as expected, Mancini will call up a youth-team player to fill out the squad this weekend."
"I'll put your name forward, Tang. Then you'll have a chance to sit on the bench at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza."
Tang Long's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked Chivu:
"Does that mean I might get to come on as a substitute for Inter Milan in the Serie A match this weekend?"
Chivu neither confirmed nor denied it.
"I never said that. Mancini decides the lineup and substitutions on match day."
"If the team gets ahead early by something like 3–0 or 4–0, Mancini might give a new player a chance to develop. In that case, you really would have an opportunity."
"Even if you don't get to play, showing your face to the first team and letting Mancini know you exist might not be a bad thing either, don't you think?"
"Great!" Tang Long nodded solemnly.
After signing his youth-team contract extension,
Tang Long happily hugged Chivu goodbye.
As he walked out of the office building,
Tang Long looked up at the deep blue Mediterranean sky, with the sunlight blazing brilliantly!
At last, he let out a long sigh of relief.
He could finally stay at Inter Milan!
Three days later.
Chivu kept his promise and submitted Tang Long's name to first-team manager Mancini.
Mancini didn't bother to vet him and accepted him outright. After all, it was just a youngster from the youth team to fill out the squad, and he trusted his staff.
And so Tang Long made the eighteen-man squad for Inter Milan's first team in the eleventh round of the 2014–2015 Serie A season.
An even greater challenge awaited him!
The night before the match, Tang Long had already dreamed
that he was at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, delivering a brilliant pass in front of eighty thousand spectators and assisting first-choice striker Icardi to score!
He dreamed that Icardi rushed over and swept him up in his arms:
"What a brilliant through ball! Great pass!"
Eighty thousand fans at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza cheered his dazzling performance.
"Tang! Tang! Tang!"
The fans chanted his Chinese surname!
Before you continue