Super Wingstorm

The late-May mornings were growing warmer.

Yang Yang, dressed in a short-sleeved training kit, juggled a ball with his feet as he ran swiftly along the Oudekerk Lakefront.

He had woken up very early today. Without waking anyone else, he’d slipped out alone, juggling the ball as he went.

He felt he needed some time alone.

After a long, deep sleep, breathing in the fresh morning air, he felt wonderfully refreshed and full of energy, with no hint of dejection whatsoever.

He had been on the phone with Su Ye for a long time last night.

It was the first time he and Su Ye had chatted like that. He never expected they’d have so much to talk about: from simmering chicken soup to cooking in general, to the renovations on his apartment, then to the Yihe Garden, and finally, to her upcoming college entrance exams…

Su Ye envied Yang Yang for already having an acceptance letter from Erasmus University, one of the top business schools in the Netherlands and a renowned institution in Europe. The university also went by another name, the Rotterdam School of Management, and was famous for its business administration program.

Yang Yang, in turn, encouraged Su Ye to keep working hard and try to get into the Central Academy of Drama to fulfill her dream.

Yang Yang couldn’t remember exactly how long they had talked, only that they kept going until his phone died and they both finally went to sleep.

After another session in the Super Training ground and drinking a pot of Old Ice’s chicken soup, Yang Yang had headed out early for his run.

After running three laps along the lakeside path, Yang Yang arrived at the corner breakfast shop, just as he did every day.

The owner, spotting him from a distance, already had his breakfast prepared.

“Breakfast is on me today,” the owner said with a smile.

“Why?” Yang Yang asked, surprised. ‘What’s the special occasion?’

The owner just smiled without a word, but Yang Yang knew exactly what he meant. He reached into his pocket, pulled out his money, and placed it on the counter.

“Today is just a normal day, nothing special. If you want to treat me, do it in two weeks,” Yang Yang said with a confident smile.

The owner was a little surprised to see him acting this way. He had expected Yang Yang to look utterly dejected.

“Oh, right.” As he was about to leave, Yang Yang suddenly remembered something. “Boss, make sure you save the papers from the next few days. Your scrapbook will be even more valuable later on.”

And with that, Yang Yang was gone.

The breakfast shop owner watched his retreating figure, feeling both surprised and impressed.

‘I can’t believe it,’ he thought. ‘The entire Netherlands has already conceded the Top Scorer title to Kuyt, yet Yang Yang is still this confident. That kind of spirit, that ambition… it really makes you root for him.’

“Then you’d better give it your all! I’ll have your celebration breakfast ready in two weeks!” the owner shouted after his retreating figure.

Without turning back, Yang Yang raised a hand to show he’d heard.

……

……

When he got home with his breakfast, Yang Yang was surprised to find Vermaelen, Maxwell, Maicon, and the others waiting for him.

“What’s everyone doing here?” Yang Yang asked with a smile as he walked in. “Just a heads-up, I only bought two breakfasts, so there’s none for you.”

The guys all exchanged puzzled glances.

At a time like this, who cared about breakfast?

The point was, Yang Yang had snuck out on his own early this morning, which had them all on edge. And now that he was back, he was acting so… abnormally. Wasn’t that a little strange?

‘Was he so crushed that he was looking for an excuse to escape it all?’

“Yang, I tried calling your phone, but I couldn’t get through,” Vermaelen asked with concern.

“It’s charging. It died last night,” Yang Yang replied, his words muffled as he sat at the dining table and started eating his breakfast.

Everyone gathered around him.

“Are you okay?” Maxwell asked, concerned.

“I’m fine. Can eat, can drink, everything’s normal,” Yang Yang replied.

But the more he acted this way, the more worried they became. How could he possibly be normal?

He had fought tooth and nail for that Top Scorer title for a whole year. Even if he hadn’t aimed for it initially, he must have been thinking about it more recently, right?

After enduring so much for so long, only to have it all come to nothing in the end—anyone would be devastated, right?

Yet the more normally he acted, the more abnormal he seemed.

“Be honest with us. We’re brothers. If you’re pissed off, just let it out. If you want to yell, yell. If you want to hit someone…” Maxwell turned, spotted Niklas Bendtner, and immediately dragged him over. “…then hit him!”

Niklas Bendtner was indignant. ‘Why do they always take it out on me?’

But upon seeing the threatening glares from his teammates, he immediately started nodding vigorously. “Right, hit me! As long as it helps you vent, just hit me. I’m thick-skinned anyway. I can take it!”

Inside, however, he was wailing. ‘The young guys always get bullied, no matter where you are!’

“Alright, alright, stop it. I’m perfectly fine. Why would I need to yell at or hit anyone?” Yang Yang said with a laugh, waving his hand dismissively.

His laugh only made his teammates more suspicious.

Judging from his words and actions, he really didn’t seem to be angry.

But that defied logic. He should have been angry—furious, even. That would have been the reasonable reaction.

“You’re not angry?” Vermaelen asked.

“A little,” Yang Yang replied calmly.

“Then what about the Top Scorer race…”

“It’s not over yet, is it?” Yang Yang retorted with a smile.

As soon as they heard that, everyone understood what Yang Yang was getting at.

Perhaps he really had been a bit angry last night, a bit down, a bit resentful. But now, he was clearly more focused on playing the last two games well. He wouldn’t give up until the final second—that was Yang Yang’s unwavering belief.

“I know you’re all worried about me, and I’m grateful,” Yang Yang said, looking earnestly at his group of teammates. Every single one of them was a brother-in-arms who had fought and sweated alongside him.

“I want to say this: while the Top Scorer title is a personal honor, it doesn’t just belong to me. It also belongs to everyone who has silently supported me—the rest of our teammates, the coaching staff, and everyone at the club.”

“A three-goal gap is huge. It’s big enough to be crushing, big enough that everyone thinks I should be in despair. But I’m not. Because I know that if I give up now, I’d be letting down all the support you’ve given me over the past year.”

As he spoke, Yang Yang got up from the table and walked over to stand before his teammates.

“So, for these last two matches, no matter the final result, I’m going to give my absolute best. I will fight to the very last second. I want everyone to know that even if I lose, I’ll go down standing tall. I have not been beaten.”

“And I believe that as long as I keep pushing, keep fighting, I still have a chance.”

Hearing this, his teammates couldn’t help but feel deeply inspired.

That was just the kind of person Yang Yang was. He didn’t possess the arrogant talent of a Van der Vaart or the wild flamboyance of an Ibrahimovic. He was just diligent, relying on a never-say-die attitude and sheer determination that made everyone around him instinctively respect and trust him.

……

……

Yang Yang walked into De Toekomst to the astonishment of practically everyone he saw.

From the coaching team down to the support staff, even the security guard at the entrance found Yang Yang’s high spirits strange.

Clearly, anyone who had read this morning’s papers would have expected Yang Yang to be utterly disappointed.

Nearly every newspaper in the Netherlands had written him off. Looking through the three major papers, only Van Gaal was still cheering Yang Yang on. He believed that now that Kuyt felt victory was assured, his mentality would inevitably slacken. Once that intensity is gone, it’s hard to regain, so it was very possible he wouldn’t score in the final two matches.

Therefore, the Alkmaar manager believed the key for Yang Yang was to play well in the upcoming matchday 33 away game against Rosendal. As long as he could perform well, the already-relegated team would likely collapse.

“I believe in Yang Yang. Under immense pressure, in a desperate situation, he can definitely pull through!”

Dutch National Team head coach Van Basten also encouraged Yang Yang to persevere and not give up, but at the same time, he remarked that even if he lost in the end, Yang Yang was still the most outstanding player in the Eredivisie this season.

Even people at De Toekomst felt that Yang Yang’s chances of winning were now minuscule.

Two league matches left, three goals behind, and Kuyt was fit and healthy, perfectly capable of scoring again. Under these circumstances, catching up, let alone overtaking him, would be incredibly difficult.

That was why they were all so surprised to see Yang Yang looking so confident and full of vigor.

This was hardly the demeanor of a defeated man.

Yang Yang even seemed to be in a good mood, greeting people along the way just as he always did, which only puzzled them more.

So when Winston Bogard arrived at De Toekomst earlier than usual, a coach immediately pulled him aside to tell him about Yang Yang’s unusual behavior.

But to their surprise, after hearing the story, Winston Bogard didn’t think Yang Yang was just putting on a brave face. Instead, he nodded and said, “The race for Top Scorer has only just begun. And it’s getting more and more interesting.”

Walking into the gym, he saw Yang Yang was already there by himself, doing stretching warm-ups.

“Looks like I don’t need to say anything.”

“No need,” Yang Yang replied.

“So, what’s the plan?” Winston Bogard asked.

A fiery glint flashed in Yang Yang’s eyes. “For the next three matches, I need to be in peak condition.”

Ajax’s last two league matches were away against Rosendal and home against Groningen, but sandwiched between them was a trip to Portugal for the UEFA Cup final. This undoubtedly made Yang Yang’s chase much more difficult.

More importantly, as was customary, the final two rounds of the Eredivisie would kick off at the same time.

So, even though Ajax had to play in the UEFA Cup final, the Dutch Football Association would not make any scheduling accommodations.

From the fifteenth to the twenty-second, in a short span of eight days, the team had to travel to Rosendal on the southern border of the Netherlands for an away match, return to Amsterdam, then travel more than two thousand kilometers south to Lisbon for the UEFA Cup, and finally return to Amsterdam to play Groningen. The round trips would cover more than five thousand kilometers.

It was indeed a formidable challenge.

But when Winston Bogard heard this, he just laughed excitedly.

Yang Yang had been working on his physical strength with him for over half a year, and Bogard knew his physical condition like the back of his hand.

“I’ll go talk to Kluivert right away. We’ll do everything we can to help you!”