Chapter 61: A Brief Return Home

Overseas Chinese Weekly: "Top-tier set-piece assist, Tang Ye records an assist in his 7th consecutive official club match!"

Chinese Football Daily Special Edition: "A young talent from Guangdong bursts onto the scene with stunning performances in the Eredivisie. Is China about to usher in a generational midfield maestro?"

Shandong Luneng Taishan Football Club: Tang Ye is a youth academy product of our club. After graduating early from the Luneng Football School in May 2014, he joined the Jong Utrecht in the Eerste Divisie for a transfer fee of 50,000 euros.

Luneng Taishan FC used its official Weibo account to repost the video clip of Tang Ye's assist from the Overseas Chinese Weekly column, accompanied by a series of introductions.

Soon, this post from Luneng Taishan caught the attention of football fans.

The veterans on Dongqiudi seized control of the Weibo comment section immediately.

Since watching the matches alone didn't make it clear what position Tang Ye played, it was time to ask his alma mater.

As Tang Ye's alma mater, the Luneng Football School should certainly have his scouting report.

With so many people asking, Luneng Taishan had no choice but to release a portion of Tang Ye's scouting report.

Tang Ye (14 years and 3 months old)
Player Type: Ball-playing Midfielder / Attacking Midfielder / Playmaker
Template: Liao Lisheng, Zhang Xizhe

[666, so he really is a ball-playing midfielder!]
[Brother Meng probably had standout ball-control skills when he played as a kid, but after moving to the Netherlands, he realized his ball control wasn't actually that great, so he switched to just randomly launching shots and passes.]
[How dare the guy above slander my Brother Meng? One assist per game isn't enough to shut you up, huh?]
[Is the Luneng Football School really this badass?]
[Damn, if Tang Ye maintains this form, his market value will definitely break one million euros in the winter transfer window!]
[The Eredivisie seems to update market values once in December, but I feel like Tang Ye's value won't go too high, because sometimes you can't even tell if his passes are intentional or just flukes.]
[Regardless of whether they are intentional or flukes, Tang Ye is currently number one on the Eredivisie assist charts!]
[The problem is that the second place on the assist list is only valued at around 1 million euros anyway. The goal counts in the Eredivisie are generally quite low, so the assist chart doesn't hold much weight!]
[Well, isn't the Eredivisie a ten-thousand times stronger than the Chinese Super League?]
……

After the match against NEC Nijmegen, Tang Ye returned to his hometown in Guangdong once again.

The reason was simple: his visa was only valid for 3 months, and every time it was about to expire, he had to return to China to renew it.

As a professional football club, FC Utrecht certainly had the capacity to handle work visas for foreign players. The problem was that Tang Ye had signed a youth training contract, not a professional player contract.

Simply put, due to his age, Tang Ye and Utrecht were not in a strict employment relationship in the legal sense.

There might have been other ways for Tang Ye to obtain a longer-term visa, but he had no intention of researching them thoroughly.

Wasn't it great to get a fixed 5-day vacation every 3 months?

"Dad, Mom."

Emerging from the arrival terminal, Tang Ye spotted Tang Zhengxiong and Zhang Qingqing in the crowd at first glance.

The last time he came home without giving advance notice, Tang Zhengxiong gave him a lecture, so this time Tang Ye sent his flight number to Zhang Qingqing beforehand.

"Tang Ye, wow, let's go! Let's get home and drop off your things first."

"Wait, where is your suitcase?"

Tang Zhengxiong looked Tang Ye up and down; the latter was carrying a Nike backpack sponsored by the club, and his hands were completely empty.

"No, I don't need luggage. Everything is already here, and clothes can just be bought temporarily," Tang Ye said, walking over to reunite with his parents.

"Damn, smart!"

Tang Zhengxiong gave Tang Ye a thumbs-up and said to Zhang Qingqing beside him, "I didn't even think of that. Your son really is..."

Tang Zhengxiong walked in the lead, guiding Tang Ye and Zhang Qingqing to the parking lot to find their black Bentley Bentayga.

"Right!"

Just as they got into the car, Tang Ye suddenly remembered something. He placed his backpack on his lap, fumbled around inside for a moment, and finally pulled out a box of Tony's Chocolonely, featuring a large blue windmill on the packaging.

"This is local specialty chocolate from the Netherlands. It doesn't taste that great, though."

Tang Ye handed it to Tang Zhengxiong in the driver's seat. The latter reached out with both hands: "For... for me?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, nice, nice!"

Tang Zhengxiong laughed out loud and didn't rush to start the engine, instead holding the chocolate in his hands to examine it closely.

Tang Ye and Zhang Qingqing exchanged glances, raising their eyebrows repeatedly.

As if Tang Ye would have thought of bringing a gift for Tang Zhengxiong!

Zhang Qingqing had mentioned all of this over WeChat!

In fact, Tang Ye had originally wanted to buy a bottle of red wine for Tang Zhengxiong, but traveling with it was troublesome, and compared to wine, Tang Zhengxiong preferred cars.

It was impossible for Tang Ye to ship a multi-ton car all the way to Guangdong, nor was there any need to. In the end, he followed Van den Brom's suggestion and bought Tang Zhengxiong a box of blue Delft windmill chocolates.

"Oh right, there's more!"

Tang Ye reached into his backpack again and pulled out a Miffy doll.

A small plush toy the size of two palms—the perfect gift for his mother, Zhang Qingqing!

"Oh!"

Zhang Qingqing covered her mouth and took a deep breath.

She had figured Tang Ye would bring a gift for Tang Zhengxiong, but she hadn't expected him to bring one for her as well.

"Haha."

Tang Ye chuckled, exchanging a wink with Tang Zhengxiong in the driver's seat.

In truth, he had never even thought about getting Zhang Qingqing a gift; this was entirely Tang Zhengxiong's idea.

Back when Tang Zhengxiong was courting Zhang Qingqing, he had used a Miffy doll, though he had bought it domestically back then, and it wasn't an official genuine one.

The one Tang Ye gave her was an authentic, pure-bred Dutch Miffy!

As the car drove along the road, Tang Zhengxiong discussed the plans for the next few days with Tang Ye. Since they had less than two full days at home, they could only stroll around the vicinity of Guangzhou and casually find a few restaurants to have some meals.

"By the way, do you want to buy a house over there in the Netherlands?"

Tang Zhengxiong asked while driving, looking back at Tang Ye in the backseat.

"Buy a house? Why would I buy a house?"

"You're playing in the first team now, so you're going to be staying in the Netherlands for a long time."

"Houses are really cheap over there, and Utrecht isn't expensive either."

Just as Tang Zhengxiong said, housing in the Netherlands was indeed quite affordable, at least compared to core areas in Guangdong.

"Are Dutch houses really that cheap? I know that."

Tang Ye shook his head; he really hadn't looked into these things.

"They're definitely pretty cheap," Tang Zhengxiong nodded. "You could buy five houses over there for the price of selling one here."

"You're an idiot!"

Zhang Qingqing scolded, "Just buy a villa! Didn't you see a villa you liked there when we dropped little Tang off in Utrecht?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hold on, those aren't the same thing at all. So, Tang Ye, do you want to buy a house to live in?"

"Definitely not. My dorm is only a 150-meter walk to the training ground. If I lived outside, even if I bought the closest place, it would still be seven or eight kilometers away. Taking transport is a hassle, and I'd have to ride a bicycle."

Tang Ye wasn't a fool; he could still calculate basic logistics like that.

Riding a bicycle for several kilometers to training every day? That would make him a total sucker.

"Staying in the dorms for the sake of training—Tang Ye, I respect your dedication!"

Tang Zhengxiong steered with one hand, freeing up his right hand to give Tang Ye a thumbs-up.