Chapter 7: Midlife Wellness? No, This Is Counterproductive!
[The veteran never dies—you have scored your first goal in the warm-up match since coming out of retirement.]
[You have received a reward: Bone Density Growth Capsule ×1.]
Hearing the system’s voice in his mind, Tang Ye moved his thoughts.
[Middle-aged players need supplements to play football. Using Bone Density Growth Capsule...]
[Actual age: 16 years 4 months; Bone mass quality: 17 years 4 months; Bone age: 16 years 3 months.]
[Physical confrontation: 40 → 52.]
What is this?
Tang Ye frowned. This Bone Density Growth Capsule had directly boosted his bone mass quality by a whole year.
Actual age: 16 years 4 months, but bone mass quality: 17 years 4 months?
Brother, this isn’t just middle-aged health care.
This is forcing growth unnaturally!
Wait a minute!
Tang Ye suddenly sensed something amiss. Seizing the moment while celebrating his goal and hugging his teammates, he compared his height with Zaka.
His bone mass had increased by a year, but his height hadn’t suddenly shot up, which made Tang Ye breathe a sigh of relief.
If others found out he was secretly cheating, that would be bad!
“Beep, beep-beep—!!!”
The match ended, and the name “Tom Cat” echoed through the Utrecht Youth Sports Stadium.
Although it was a fluke, as long as Tang Ye could pull off such an outside-foot strike every game, the fans had nothing to complain about.
That was truly impressive!
...
“Here comes Mungo! Utrecht’s second team defeated Sparta Rotterdam 3–0, Tang Ye with 1 goal and 1 assist!”
Seeing the headline on the Dongqiudi app, Chinese fans felt somewhat dazed.
At this time last year, the Dongqiudi team was filled with news about Tang Ye, hailed as a genius teenager debuting in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Yet, within two months, both the club and domestic fans had labeled him a slacker.
A whole year later, the same kind of news topped the headlines again.
So, should they believe Tang Ye now?
Happy Bean Player: I believe!
After the match, the second-team players returned to their base just ten minutes away by car. They needed to receive massages from the team’s masseur. Once done, they could go home to rest.
[Ding! The old steed still aspires to gallop a thousand miles. Scoring in the warm-up match, fans marvel at how at 37 you still maintain such keen instincts. You are now just one step away from your official comeback.]
[Mission: Appear on the official matchday squad to announce your return as the king of the twilight years!]
[Reward: Brazilian Treasure Chest (rewards vary by league level).]
[Reward tiers: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Superstar, Legendary.]
---
Rewards vary by league level. Tang Ye noticed this time the system’s reward was somewhat special.
According to the system, if Tang Ye appeared on Utrecht second team’s matchday squad in the Dutch Eerste Divisie, he would receive an Intermediate Treasure Chest!
Of course, thanks to this mechanism, he had a fallback plan: even if he played in the lower Dutch reserve league, he could still get a Beginner Treasure Chest.
“Tang!”
Zaka called out, “Tang, are you listening to me?”
“Ah? Oh, sorry, what’s up?”
Walking back to the dorm, Tang Ye came back to his senses and saw Zaka looking at him.
“Do you think you’ve grown taller?”
Zaka gestured in front of Tang Ye: “I remember you only reached my nose before, but now you’re almost at my eyes.”
“Really?”
Tang Ye looked down, trying to figure out if he really had grown taller as Zaka said.
Unfortunately, without a concrete reference, Tang Ye couldn’t tell by himself.
“Trust me, you really have grown.”
Zaka said confidently, then asked, “Can you teach me how to grow taller? I want to get taller too.”
As a winger, Zaka really hoped to be taller so he could have a longer stride, enough to shake off defenders!
“You want to know why I grew taller?”
Tang Ye didn’t want to argue about whether he had grown taller, so he decided to accept it.
“Why?”
“Because I sleep more. At our age, sleep is the most important thing!”
“Okay, then I’m going to sleep!”
Zaka followed through and turned off the lights as soon as he got back to his room. Of course, Tang Ye did the same; he was used to going to bed every day at 9 p.m.
[Middle-aged players returning from retirement should demand strict self-discipline.]
[Random daily task: 5 km jog.]
[Reward: Comeback Points ×3.]
“What is this?”
Hearing the familiar system voice, Tang Ye showed a disdainful expression.
A daily task—this was clearly a hint for extra training.
Three comeback points were tempting, but Tang Ye wasn’t the type to be easily tempted.
Sleep was more important!
...
[Random daily task: 200 bodyweight squats.]
[Reward: Comeback Points ×3.]
The next morning, Tang Ye found his daily task had changed again. Sure enough, it was different every day.
However, Tang Ye didn’t care. After a quick wash-up, he went to the canteen to eat.
While eating, he learned from teammates that the first team was working to integrate a new lineup before the season, so all second-team players were needed to serve as training partners.
Though called training partners, it was actually an 11-on-11 scrimmage against the first team.
This was Tang Ye’s favorite training session because he could sit on the bench the whole morning—an absolute treat!
Arriving at the first team’s training ground with teammates, Tang Ye obediently sat on the bench. Unexpectedly, first team coach Ten Hag walked directly over to him.
“Tang, you’re on!”
“Huh?”
Tang Ye didn’t rush to stand. He glanced at Mertens beside Ten Hag and, after a nod from Mertens, Tang Ye finally put on the yellow vest.
“Beep!”
Assistant coach Van der Gaag blew the whistle, officially starting the scrimmage between the second and first teams.
Utrecht’s first team loved crossing from the wings after reaching the byline—a team adept at using the field’s width to create chances.
Considering this, Mertens intentionally shifted their usual 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 to limit the first team’s wing advances.
It did limit them, but after all, it was the first team. Their players’ impact was incomparable to the seconds. Within just three minutes, the first team had already fired two shots with one on target, leaving the second team’s goalkeeper stunned.
“Phew…”
Ten Hag sighed and saw this wasn’t working, so he asked Van der Gaag to stop the match.
“Substitutions! Swap two players!”
After calling it out, Van der Gaag looked at Ten Hag.
“Which two?”
“Send Milner and Tang over. Yes, the Chinese kid. Swap him in.”
“This… Eric!”
Mertens approached, hearing the commotion.
“The first team’s pressing is too strong; we can’t get the ball out. You guys can play without a striker—one less player and we can play better.”
“No problem, bringing Tang over is the same.”
Playing with one less player would make simulating a real match impossible, and Ten Hag was particular about that.
“Why is it the same with Tang?”
“Because he never presses.”
!!!
That actually makes some sense!
...