Who wouldn't like a young man like this?

Across the ocean, it was already 11:28 p.m. Beijing time.

Click...

A faint sound of a door closing rang out. Chen Shouqing, wearing a pair of baggy shorts and bare from the waist up, crept out of the bedroom with his arms tucked in.

He had only just reached the living room when he saw Chen Xiaolong making the exact same movements, about to turn on the TV.

"You little brat! Don't you have school tomorrow?"

Chen Xiaolong jolted at the voice that had appeared out of nowhere. He patted his chest. "Dad, do you make no sound when you walk? You scared me to death!"

Chen Shouqing glanced back at the bedroom, then glared at his son. "Tomorrow's Monday. It's this late and you're not sleeping, but still want to watch TV?"

Chen Xiaolong immediately put on a pleading face. "Dad, I'll only watch for a little while. Today is my brother's first match. I don't want to miss it."

"Your brother only made the matchday squad. Whether he can get on the pitch is still hard to say!" Chen Shouqing turned on the TV and lowered the volume, afraid of waking his wife.

Duan Xuan's voice came from the television. Chen Shouqing sat down on the sofa. "Then we'll watch for a bit. If your brother still hasn't come on by halftime, you go back to sleep. Otherwise you won't be able to get up tomorrow."

Chen Xiaolong instantly beamed. He hurried over to switch on the electric fan beside them, then poured Chen Shouqing a glass of water.

It was August now, and the weather back home was already unbearably hot.

In the living room, the faint glow of the TV flickered. Chen Shouqing and his son stared at the screen without blinking, wanting to find Chen Anno's figure in the picture.

Borussia Dortmund, Westfalenstadion.

With a whistle from the referee on duty, Peter Sippel, the match between the two sides officially began.

Because Borussia Dortmund had won big away to FC Augsburg in the previous round, everyone thought that returning home to face a newly promoted side would be easy for them.

But once the real match began, Eintracht Braunschweig's stubborn defense left Borussia Dortmund feeling as if there was nowhere to bite down.

Perhaps having learned from Markus Weinzierl's lesson in the last match, Eintracht Braunschweig's head coach took a very humble stance in this game.

They looked like they would rather die than leave this away match without holding on to a point.

To be honest, Borussia Dortmund's strengths had always been defensive counterattacks and high pressing. When it came to positional play against a packed defense, they were not especially good at it.

So even though they controlled the overwhelming majority of possession, it was always difficult for them to create a real threat to Eintracht Braunschweig's goal.

With no better option, Borussia Dortmund could only keep sending high balls into the box.

Unfortunately, although Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, as the center forward, was tall enough, his strengths were speed and dribbling. In aerial duels, his advantage was not particularly obvious.

Klopp had been standing on the touchline since just past the twentieth minute of the match, and he had not returned once.

Clearly, when faced with this situation where they had the upper hand but could not score, he could not think of any particularly good solution for the moment.

Chen Anno sat on the substitutes' bench, his eyes fixed on the pitch. Watching the team sink into the mire, he also grew a little anxious, wishing he could go on immediately and fight alongside his teammates.

Mm... he had to admit, the seats on Borussia Dortmund's bench were actually pretty comfortable. Apparently, when winter came, these chairs could even be heated.

Chen Anno shifted his backside. Marco Reus's pass was kicked back into midfield once again. Eintracht Braunschweig's defense really was tenacious.

He turned to look at Kehl beside him. "Captain, do you think we can win today?"

Kehl frowned. "It shouldn't be a big problem. Defending like this consumes a lot of stamina. As long as we maintain this kind of pressure, we should get a chance to score in the second half."

However, Kehl's tone when he said this was not very confident, but Chen Anno still nodded. He trusted his teammates.

The cheers of more than eighty thousand fans in the stands had never stopped. While the team was trapped in the defensive mire, they worked hard to build up the home atmosphere, wanting to use their momentum to put pressure on Eintracht Braunschweig.

Especially over at the South Stand. Even Chen Anno could not help glancing over from time to time. These fans seemed as if they did not know what tiredness was.

After the high balls failed to produce results, Borussia Dortmund began trying some long shots from outside the penalty area.

In the 32nd minute of the match.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan received Marco Reus's layoff in front of the box and blasted it first time!

The ball was like a cannon shell fired from the barrel, flying at top speed toward Eintracht Braunschweig's goal.

Eintracht Braunschweig goalkeeper Daniel Davari reacted extremely quickly, launching himself across to parry the ball away!

Henrikh Mkhitaryan held his head in both hands, his face full of disbelief!

The instant he struck the ball, he had thought it was certain to go in. He never expected it to be saved.

Eintracht Braunschweig's back line was simply growing more confident the longer they played. Even their goalkeeper was performing beyond his usual level.

The match continued, and Borussia Dortmund still controlled the situation.

Even Mats Hummels had already pushed up near midfield. The match had turned into an attacking drill in Eintracht Braunschweig's half for Borussia Dortmund.

The match quickly reached the 43rd minute.

At this moment, Borussia Dortmund once again won a corner.

Both sides knew very well that when positional play had still failed to break the deadlock, set pieces were an excellent way to score.

So all of Borussia Dortmund's tall players poured into the penalty area, while Eintracht Braunschweig also became fully alert.

The cramped penalty area was packed with people everywhere. From where Chen Anno sat on the bench, all he could see was a dense forest of legs.

The two sides shoved and jostled inside the box, with little movements nonstop. The referee even stopped play twice before things improved slightly.

At the sound of the whistle, Marco Reus took the corner. It dropped toward the far post in the penalty area, right where Mats Hummels was.

Hummels leaped high, overpowering the defender to get the first touch. His header carried tremendous force and flew straight toward the upper-left corner of the goal.

Seeing that header, Chen Anno and his teammates on the bench all rose to their feet.

Clang!

With a crisp sound, the ball slammed hard against the crossbar.

But the danger was not over. The ball bounced back, and the penalty area instantly descended into chaos!

There were simply too many people. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's follow-up shot struck a defender, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan's rebound attempt was blocked as well.

Only when the ball was kicked out over the sideline again by an Eintracht Braunschweig player did the attack finally come to an end.

A wave of sighs erupted throughout the Westfalenstadion.

"Verfluch!!" Klopp gritted his teeth in anger.

By the time the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, the score on the pitch was still 0–0. Neither side had managed to score.

Klopp walked toward the locker room without saying a word. Anyone could see that this passionate head coach was in anything but a good mood.

"Anno! Warm up. You're going on as soon as the second half starts!" Klopp, who had already left, suddenly returned to the bench.

To Chen Anno, that voice was simply music from heaven!

"No problem, sir!" Chen Anno immediately lifted his head and straightened his chest.

Kehl smiled and patted Chen Anno on the shoulder. "Come on, warm up with me!"

This veteran, who had already served Dortmund for a full eleven seasons, admired Chen Anno greatly.

He was exceptionally talented, diligent and eager to learn, and also very humble, never getting into disputes with anyone.

Most importantly, his personality was smoother than many veteran players'. He had only been at the club for half a month, yet from the coaching staff to his teammates, from the front desk at the training base to the security guards, he could actually chat with all of them and even call everyone by name with ease.

Who wouldn't like a young man like that?