[Overall striker rating: 80.19] [Shooting: 70/Off-the-ball movement: 69.63/Heading: 81.75/Physicality: 99.38]
It looked good, but it still wasn't enough.
Although Ligue 1 was known as the "weakest of the big five leagues," its defenders were no pushovers in physical contests. His heading rating of 81.75 was enough against defenders from mid- and lower-table Ligue 1 teams, but it might not be enough against the defensive lines of UEFA Champions League-caliber teams.
He needed more Qi and Blood Points.
He glanced at his Qi and Blood Points balance in the system-from December 24 to January 3, he had barely had a moment to spare over those ten-odd days. Unfortunately, he couldn't collect the full nine points every day. In total, he had accumulated...
[Current Qi and Blood Points: 87]
Eighty-seven points.
Should I put them all into heading? Or spread them across off-the-ball movement and shooting?
Zhang Kuang thought it over. He needed a lethal weapon of his own. Thanks to the Dragon-Tiger Pill he had taken, his physicality was unquestionably first-rate even in the big five leagues.
Since I can take a beating, I'll raise off-the-ball movement to 75 first, then use the rest to activate the [Cristiano Ronaldo Heading Card].
His [Off-the-ball movement] was only 69.63 at present, with eight subcategories in total. Raising it to 75 would cost a total of 43 Qi and Blood Points.
Do it. No more hesitation. Off-the-ball movement is too important.
He added seven each to [Attacking awareness], [Reactions], [Forward-run awareness], [Positioning to attack the ball], and [Striker's instinct], then eight to [Beating the offside trap]. He added nothing to the remaining [First-time touch] and [Unorthodox shooting].
That brought [Off-the-ball movement] back to 75. He then put the remaining 44 Qi and Blood Points into the [Cristiano Ronaldo Heading Skill Card]. Once those 44 points went in, the [Cristiano Ronaldo Heading Skill Card] lit up, and his [Heading] rating soared to 87.5.
The four subcategory ratings under [Striker] were now [Shooting] 70, [Off-the-ball movement] 75, [Heading] 87.5, and [Physicality] 99.38, for an overall rating of 82.97.
More than ten days of hard work had only pushed his rating up by 2.78 points. Well, there was plenty more work ahead.
"Ding-"
His phone chimed. It was a message from Aisha.
"Zhang, we're getting ready to head back to Paris. We'll arrive tomorrow evening. I miss you."
The corners of Zhang Kuang's mouth lifted, and he replied:
"Perfect timing. I've got good news for you too."
"What good news?"
"It's confirmed-I'm signing with Auxerre."
"Then we'll celebrate when we get back tomorrow."
"Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for letting me stay all this time. I'll probably be moving out, but I'll visit often. Tomorrow night, I'll cook you a feast myself."
"Oh my God, that's not good news at all."
"..."
On January 4, the contract details were finalized.
A weekly wage of €8,000, a two-and-a-half-year contract running from December 2009 to June 2012, and a €3 million release clause that would take effect in June 2010.
Goal bonus: €2,000 per goal, with the bonus kicking in after he exceeded ten goals.
Assist bonus: €1,000 per assist, with the bonus kicking in after he exceeded ten assists.
Bonuses for avoiding relegation, qualifying for European competition, winning titles, and so on would be calculated separately.
The total value wasn't high, but for an eighteen-year-old Chinese player with zero professional match experience, it was already a very good professional contract.
In Auxerre's office, after both sides' lawyers had checked the entire contract, both parties nodded.
"Go ahead and sign." Jonathan handed him the pen, a smile in his eyes.
Zhang Kuang took the pen and signed his name on the last page of the contract.
Zhang Kuang-two Chinese characters, written with dragons flying and phoenixes dancing, carrying a composure someone his age shouldn't have possessed.
At two in the afternoon on January 4, Auxerre's official website published a brief announcement:
[Auxerre Football Club is delighted to announce that Chinese striker Zhang Kuang has officially joined the team and will wear the number 33 shirt. The two parties have signed a contract running until June 2012. Zhang Kuang will represent Auxerre in the team's upcoming matches. We wish him dazzling success.]
Beneath the announcement was a photograph of Zhang Kuang on the training ground-he stood smiling in the number 33 shirt, tall and well-built, sunlight falling across the sharply defined contours of his face.
Within an hour of the announcement, traffic to Auxerre's official website increased fivefold.
Not because Zhang Kuang was particularly famous, but because the words "Chinese player" hadn't appeared in French football for a very long time.
The last Chinese player to play in Ligue 1 had been... who?
Most French fans had to think for a moment before they could remember.
In China, however, the news was quickly reposted.
"Another Chinese player is heading overseas? To Ligue 1, no less?"
"Auxerre? Never heard of them. What team is that?"
"Eighteen? Signed for two and a half years straight away? Who is this guy?"
"..."
The reactions were all bewildered, because nobody knew a player named Zhang Kuang.
Only when someone dug up a Football Association announcement from a month and a half earlier did everyone discover that he had actually been called up to the National Youth Team-and then expelled and banned?
Just a month or two later, he had become a Ligue 1 player?
"What exactly is going on here? A player kicked out of the National Youth Team has signed for a Ligue 1 title contender? Can someone tell me what really happened?"
"..."
Of course, Zhang Kuang had no time to read any of this news from back home. He simply called Wu Guohua, shared the good news, and left it at that.
Wu Guohua was filled with emotion. Who would have thought a little training institution like theirs could produce a player for one of the big five leagues? It really was... a little hard to take in.
January 8, Auxerre, Berrou Stadium Training Center.
Zhang Kuang drove a Porsche Cayman to the club. After getting out, he stood in front of the training base's main entrance with a backpack on his shoulders.
The winter wind blew in from the fields, carrying the scent of earth. The air was cold, but clean.
He took a deep breath, pushed open the gate, and walked inside.
He had met all his teammates last time. Everyone was happy to see him arrive, because they badly needed his attacking ability.
The captain, Benoît Pedretti, born in 1980 and now twenty-nine, welcomed Zhang Kuang on behalf of the team in the dressing room. Benoît was the team's midfield playmaker, hailed as "France's Pirlo." As captain, he was the dressing-room leader as well as the metronome on the pitch.
Next, he got to know the squad in greater detail this time, from the goalkeepers and defenders to the midfielders and forwards. There were twenty-nine in total, thirty including him.
Once he had met the players, training came next.
In the morning's first team session, Zhang Kuang played as the B team's striker and once again put two goals past the first team. This time, the first team had defended against him with everything they had-Auxerre was, after all, renowned in Ligue 1 for its defending. Yet Zhang Kuang still scored twice: one header and one thunderbolt from the edge of the penalty arc.
Assistant coach Stéphane Éric was excited. "Jean, Zhang's heading has gotten even better, and his movement is very clever too. It feels like he's improved again. His heading is a little like Cristiano Ronaldo's now, and his movement has something of Inzaghi about it. Very elusive."
Jean Fernandez nodded in satisfaction. "That's right, he's improved again. Eighteen really is an age for rapid improvement. He has enormous potential, but unfortunately, a small club like ours won't be able to keep him. He must work very hard in training normally, right? What an outstanding kid."
"Yes. Should we have him train with the A team next? With support from Kamel and Walter, Zhang would have more opportunities."
"Yes, but there's no rush. We've still got ten-odd days before the next match."
The next ten-odd days passed quickly, but Auxerre's players and coaching staff all found Zhang Kuang rather strange. The guy would rather spend four or five hours driving every day than live in Auxerre.
Another thing was that Zhang Kuang's performances in training matches were explosive, yet during drills he merely went through the motions, showing no enthusiasm at all. It felt as though he was just running out the clock.
That left both the coaches and the players with a feeling they couldn't quite describe. Was this perhaps what made gifted players so formidable? They could just go through the motions in training and still score at will on the pitch?
"Jean, how are we setting up the starting lineup against Boulogne tomorrow? Some people also call them Boulogne; either translation is fine, as long as everyone knows which club it is. Are we sticking with Jelen and Daniel, or starting Zhang?" assistant coach Stéphane asked Fernandez.
"Start him in his very first match?" Fernandez hesitated.
"Zhang's performances speak for themselves. And although Daniel has been playing regularly, he basically just helps support Jelen. He doesn't contribute much."
"Hmm? Then should we play him as a second striker or a striker?"
"Well, I don't think we need to fix his position. Zhang is good at finding space. Giving the two of them a little more freedom would actually be better."
"Hmm, all right. Let's do that."