Super Wingstorm

As Yang Yang returned to his room and entered the Super Training ground to review his less-than-ten-minute performance against Bruges with Old Ice, the editorial department of the Dutch Telegraaf in Amsterdam to the north was in complete chaos.

”Is this all you have?”

Editor-in-Chief Dick slammed an A4 sheet of paper down on his desk, making the assistants standing before him flinch. The sound was so loud that everyone in the editorial department heard it loud and clear.

He clearly had no intention of hiding his anger.

”We have less than five hours until we go to print, and this paltry amount of material is all you could find? Tell me, how am I supposed to write a report? What are you going to give the readers of Amsterdam, of the entire country, to read?”

His roars echoed throughout the editorial department, and everyone felt the wrath of the devilish editor-in-chief.

”We really did our best, but we couldn’t find anything. It’s like he just appeared out of thin air,” the assistant in the middle explained, sounding quite dejected.

”Appeared out of thin air?” Editor-in-Chief Dick scoffed and shook his head. ”No, nobody will believe that. He’s the hero of last night’s crucial battle, the decisive figure who got Ajax into the Champions League round of sixteen. It’s not just the passionate Ajax fans; even fans of other teams will be curious. Who is he? Where did he come from? What has he done?”

”But what’s the answer you’ve given me? He’s Chinese, seventeen years old, played for the Almere Youth Team, participated in a summer amateur tournament, and played under Van Basten. But none of this is a secret! You can find it all on the official Ajax website. We’ll report this, and so will every other paper. You expect me to fob off our readers with this?”

Having questioned his subordinates until they were speechless, the editor-in-chief seemed to have calmed down a bit.

In truth, he couldn’t really blame his staff for their incompetence. The main problem was that Ajax had been a bit underhanded this time, suddenly fielding such an unknown young player.

Yang Yang had performed well on the Ajax Second Team before, but those were youth team matches that nobody paid much attention to. Plus, with the head coach, Van Basten, being so high-profile, Yang Yang remained relatively unknown. No newspaper had much information on him.

But who could have imagined that overnight, he would become the hero who saved Ajax?

As one of the three major newspapers in the Netherlands, the Telegraph’s circulation was a massive 700,000, far exceeding the 300,000 of the People’s Daily and the Common Daily. The main reason for this was that the Telegraph was sufficiently down-to-earth and could always quickly capture what its readers wanted.

Dick knew very well that after such an important match, after Yang Yang had burst onto the scene, all readers—whether they were Ajax fans or not—would want to learn more about this player.

But even for the Telegraph, a paper renowned for its pervasive intelligence network, the information they had on Yang Yang couldn’t even fill a single A4 page. How could Dick not be furious?

”We have to dig up some information, and fast. If we try to placate the fans with this, our editorial department’s phone lines will be flooded with complaints tomorrow. Contact our people in Almere immediately and see if they can get more intel. Also, reach out to our contacts inside Ajax and try to get some insider information.”

Dick gave his orders. Although the others felt helpless, they all agreed it was the best way to salvage the situation.

Just then, someone knocked on the open office door. Everyone, including the editor-in-chief, looked over.

”Chief, there’s a man here to see you. He calls himself Michel van der Steeg, the editor-in-chief of a website called Super Football.”

”Super Football?” Dick frowned. ”What’s their deal?”

Everyone present was also clueless; they had clearly never heard the name and all shook their heads.

”I’m not seeing him. Tell him I’m busy,” Dick refused. He was already swamped; when would he have time to deal with some random person?

”But… he says he has an exclusive inside story on Yang Yang. If we’re not interested, he’ll contact the Common Daily and the People’s Daily. He said he’s sure the other two would be very interested.”

”What?” Dick immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

”Quick, show him into my office.”

......

......

”Is it going to snow?”

Early in the morning, standing at his front door and gazing at the roof of Ibrahimovic’s house across the way, Yang Yang let out a soft breath.

He was from southern China and had never seen snow year-round. He had experienced it once last winter in Almere, and the novelty of it filled a void in his heart.

Before he knew it, this was already his second year in the Netherlands.

”Train in the dead of winter, and train in the dog days of summer.” This was the standard Yang Yang set for himself. Even after winter began, he still persisted with his morning exercises every day. He just made sure to do the necessary preparations, like dressing warmly and warming up, before heading out.

After stepping outside, a gust of cold wind hit his face, instantly making him feel invigorated.

As usual, Yang Yang started juggling a ball as he left his house. He headed out of Oude Kerk to the east, circled Oude Kerk Lake, and finally returned to the small town. But unlike other times, after winter set in, the whole world seemed to become deserted.

Running through the empty countryside woodlands, it was so quiet that the only sounds were his panting from the run and the soft thuds of the ball. The feeling was quite magical.

Yang Yang could clearly feel the progress he had made over the past six months.

At first, he had to consciously control his rhythm and pace. But gradually, he no longer needed to do so deliberately. Every step felt instinctive, and with every touch of the ball, he could clearly feel its trajectory, as if he had grown an invisible pair of hands that held the ball tightly.

Unconsciously, he continuously increased his running and juggling speed. He was always challenging his own limits, which meant he returned to town panting for breath every time, but his expression was always one of extreme excitement.

Just like always, he stopped by to buy two breakfast sets on his way, but the breakfast shop owner looked at him very differently today.

”Did you really practice your ball skills against a graffiti wall in a skate park?” the owner asked with a grin.

”Huh?” Yang Yang didn’t understand.

”I mean, back when you were in Almere.”

The owner casually picked up a newspaper. It was the Dutch Telegraaf, the daily with the largest circulation in the Netherlands. The front-page headline was about Ajax’s miracle comeback against the Belgian team, Bruges, to enter the Champions League knockout stage.

The photo on the paper was of the entire Ajax team embracing tightly, celebrating their advancement. The front-page commentary on the match also highlighted Yang Yang, stating that the young Chinese player had completely broken the deadlock on the field after coming on, helping Ajax miraculously turn the tables on Bruges with two assists.

But what the owner was pointing to was another article below the photo, which was a feature specifically about Yang Yang.

”Can I take a look?” Yang Yang asked.

The owner immediately handed the newspaper over.

”Thanks.”

Yang Yang read it carefully and found the report to be very detailed. It basically covered his situation in China and in Almere with perfect clarity. It even included comments from his coaches and teammates in Almere. Clearly, a lot of painstaking investigation had gone into it.

’Amazing. They leave no stone unturned,’ Yang Yang thought with a wry smile.

He had always been a nobody that no one cared about, but he never expected that after just one night, these newspapers could dig up so much information.

Then, as he glanced at the byline, his heart skipped a beat. Michel van der Steeg.

He remembered this person. He’d met him after his first match for the Ajax Second Team. The man had claimed to be the editor-in-chief of Super Football. Later, his uncle, Shen Ming, had even mentioned on the phone that this guy had gone to Almere to do interviews for a feature story on him.

’So that’s what happened,’ Yang Yang now understood.

Handing the newspaper back to the shop owner, Yang Yang said his thanks, picked up the two breakfast sets, and left.

The owner had adamantly refused to take his money, but in the end, Yang Yang forced him to accept it. Before he left, the owner didn’t forget to encourage Yang Yang to keep working hard, play well, and win more championships for Ajax.

This was the first time Yang Yang felt the special status that came with being an Ajax player.

’Perhaps, in the hearts of these fans, the Ajax jersey carries all their hopes.’

Passing the newsstand on the town’s street corner, Yang Yang bought three different newspapers in one go. He rolled them up, tucked them under his arm, and continued juggling the ball as he jogged home.

Vermaelen was already up. Seeing that Yang Yang had gone out for his morning exercise despite the severe morning cold, he felt both admiring and ashamed. At the same time, he was also very grateful, because Yang Yang brought him back breakfast every day.

Vermaelen was surprised to see Yang Yang bring back three newspapers and casually picked one up to read.

Yang Yang soon discovered something interesting. Van der Sma’s materials had clearly only been provided to the Telegraph. The Common Daily and the People’s Daily didn’t have these details; their articles were basically just generic reports.

In comparison, the content in the Telegraph was clearly more in-depth.

”It seems the Netherlands’ number one newspaper lives up to its reputation,” Yang Yang praised with a smile.

”They just wrote one article about you. No need to praise them so much, right?” Vermaelen made no effort to hide his jealousy.

The Belgian was too frustrated. He had joined Ajax earlier than Yang Yang, made it to the first team earlier than Yang Yang, and was named to the 18-man squad earlier than Yang Yang. But in the end, not only did Yang Yang make his debut on the Champions League stage, but it was also in the most crucial group stage match.

More importantly, he had provided two assists in less than ten minutes and became famous overnight. How was he, the senior player, supposed to feel about that?

”Alright, alright, don’t get too hung up on it. The team is short-staffed right now, so you’ll get your chance sooner or later. The most important thing is to train hard and get yourself in top condition. That way, when an opportunity comes, you can grab it. Otherwise, even if you get to play, you won’t be able to convince Koman, right?”

Vermaelen nodded repeatedly. What Yang Yang said was undoubtedly true.

Opportunities would definitely come. The key was whether or not he could seize them.

”By the way, are you still going to school this morning?” Vermaelen asked with concern.

Yang Yang thought for a moment and shook his head. ”Not today. This morning’s recovery training session is very important. I have to be there.”

The training session on the morning after a match was mainly for recovery and adjustment, which was crucial for a team competing on two fronts.

Although Yang Yang didn’t know how Koman would use him, he knew he had to work hard to maintain his condition.

As for his studies, he was confident he could handle them.