Super Wingstorm

"Sorry, we’re not open yet. Please come back later."

Seeing a few young Dutch men push open the door, Shen Yuzhu quickly walked over and apologized warmly.

It was still more than two hours until lunchtime, and the kitchen in the back wasn’t ready yet.

After entering, the group looked around, as if curious and also searching for something. The one in the lead looked at Shen Yuzhu politely and asked, "Excuse me, is Yang Yang here?"

"Yang Yang?" Shen Yuzhu paused, taken aback.

In her year in the Netherlands, this was the first time anyone had ever come looking for Yang Yang. ’Who are these people? What do they want with him?’

As his older cousin, she was a little worried.

"Yes, Yang Yang from the Almere Youth Team. Does he live here?" the man repeated.

Just then, Shen Ming and his wife heard the commotion and came out from the back kitchen. They looked warily at the well-built young men and asked Shen Yuzhu in Chinese, "What’s going on?"

"They’re looking for Yang Yang."

"Excuse me, you’re looking for Yang Yang? What is it about?" This time, Shen Ming asked the young man in the lead in Dutch.

"Hello, I’m the captain of the Almere Youth Team, Henk Demyer. We’re looking for Yang Yang, but this was the only contact information he left at the club, so..."

’So they were his teammates from Almere.’

The three of them all breathed a sigh of relief, laughing at themselves for being so suspicious.

But it was no wonder. The Netherlands wasn’t exactly peaceful, and fights among young people were common. Plus, Yang Yang was Chinese, so they were genuinely worried he might have accidentally provoked some bad seeds.

"Yes, Yang Yang lives here, but he’s not in right now," Shen Yuzhu replied fluently in Dutch.

"He’s not in?" Henk Demyer was a bit surprised. Both the team and school were on summer break.

"He’s probably at the skate park," Shen Ming said, glancing at the clock on the wall and then at his daughter. "Yuzhu, take them there. And while you’re at it, have them stay for lunch."

Most people in Almere worked in Amsterdam, so the restaurant wasn’t busy during lunchtime. It was rare for teammates to come looking for Yang Yang, so Shen Ming naturally wanted to play the part of a good host on his nephew’s behalf.

Shen Yuzhu immediately agreed. She beckoned for Henk Demyer and the others to follow her out of the restaurant. They headed north, and not far from there, they entered the skate park through an entrance next to the Amminiga Villa District.

As they neared the skating area, they could faintly hear a muffled thudding sound.

Henk Demyer and the others had been playing football for years, so they easily recognized it as the sound of a ball.

’Could it be that Yang Yang practices here?’

Reaching the main area, they stood on a tree-lined path and saw Yang Yang from a distance. He was about twenty meters away from a graffiti-covered wall, kicking the ball against it again and again. With a THUD, the ball would rebound, he would trap it, and then kick it again.

The graffiti wall, already a bit mottled, had become even more dilapidated after more than a month of his abuse. It was pitted and uneven, with brick and mortar exposed in many places.

Yang Yang was completely focused on his training, not noticing the people approaching from behind. He was already drenched in sweat.

One kick after another, the ball flew out, rebounding off the wall time and time again.

It was such a simple, almost tedious, routine, yet Yang Yang practiced with meticulous care, putting his all into every single kick.

The muffled thuds of the ball hitting the wall seemed to strike a chord in the hearts of Henk Demyer and the others, filling them with a mix of admiration, awe, and a little shame.

’So this is how Yang Yang fought for first place.’

"How long has he been training here?" Henk Demyer asked in a low voice.

"For over a month now, I think. I’m not exactly sure. I just know that besides eating, sleeping, school, and team practice, he spends almost all his time here, never daring to slack off for a moment," Shen Yuzhu said softly.

Ever since she first came to the skate park and saw Yang Yang train, she had felt a special tenderness for her little cousin.

’He’s definitely a person with great ambition!’

Although they didn’t know for exactly how long, one look at the dilapidated graffiti wall was enough for them to imagine the sheer effort Yang Yang put into his training here. It made them feel ashamed of their previous doubts about him.

They had thought Yang Yang was already working hard enough at school and on the training ground, but they never would have imagined that, in a place where they couldn’t see him, he was working ten, even a hundred times harder.

If Henk Demyer and the others had been skeptical about Yang Yang taking first place before, they were starting to be convinced now. After all, this achievement was the result of his own blood and sweat.

Finally, Yang Yang stopped, panting for breath, and only then did he suddenly notice the group behind him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Yang Yang asked, completely surprised.

Shen Yuzhu, holding a towel in one hand and a water bottle in the other, walked over and handed both to Yang Yang. "They said they’re your teammates. They came to the restaurant looking for you, so I brought them here."

Yang Yang first wiped his sweat, then twisted open the cap and took a few gulps of water. He understood immediately.

’The summer amateur tournament must be set.’

Now that she had brought them to him, Shen Yuzhu had to get back to help at the restaurant. She just told Yang Yang to have his teammates stay for lunch, saying that his uncle, Shen Ming, had already started preparing.

In reality, there was nothing special to prepare; they would just whip up a few of the restaurant’s signature dishes.

They had only watched from a distance before, but after getting a closer look at the graffiti wall, Henk Demyer and the others couldn’t help but be even more impressed.

’This is the ultimate proof of Yang Yang’s hard work.’

"So? What did you guys need?" Yang Yang asked, drinking his water.

"Didn’t I tell you before? We signed up. The schedule has been drafted, too."

"When does it start?" Yang Yang asked.

He had been busy with final exams recently and hadn’t played a match in two weeks. He felt a bit listless.

It was strange. He never felt this way before he started playing matches, but ever since he began, he just didn’t feel right whenever he stopped.

’Good, now I have matches to play again.’

"It starts next Wednesday. One match every five days," said Henk Demyer.

They were participating in an amateur tournament for players under eighteen. The intensity wasn’t high, so a match every five days was perfectly manageable.

"Guess who our first opponent is?" Nick leaned in from the side, asking with an excited grin.

"Who?"

"AS80."

Seeing Yang Yang furrow his brow, Henk Demyer knew he definitely wouldn’t know, so he explained, "AS80 is a club to the east of Almere. Most of the players they’re fielding in this tournament are from Omni-Bass."

It dawned on Yang Yang. ’That’s right, isn’t AS80 the amateur team that partners with Omni-Bass?’

Apparently, the team was a long-established club with deep roots in Almere. Their youth academy was quite good; a year or two ago, one of their players had even entered the Ajax youth academy. If it weren’t for Almere’s rise in recent years, they would have been the undisputed number one team in Almere City.

"This is our chance for revenge," Yang Yang said, rubbing his hands together, eager for a fight.

The match against Omni-Bass had really annoyed him. It was his first-ever match, and he had lost.

But times had changed. The Yang Yang of today was not the same person he was over a month ago. The Omni-Bass defenders couldn’t stop him back then, and they certainly wouldn’t be able to now.

Seeing Yang Yang’s fighting spirit ignite, Henk Demyer, Nick, and the others couldn’t help but nod. This guy was a fighter, too.

Anyone who steps onto a football pitch wants to win; no one wants to team up with someone who lacks ambition. Yang Yang’s reaction to hearing about Omni-Bass wasn’t fear, but a burning desire to compete. This resonated with them, and they gradually came to accept him even more.

"But we can’t be careless," Nick reminded them. "Besides the Omni-Bass players, there will also be a few age-eligible players from their first team. They’re strong. Even though it’s just an amateur league, we need to watch out for them and take them seriously."

Almere would have first-team players as well, but they were mostly guys who couldn’t get playing time on the main squad and were using the summer amateur games to stay in form.

"The first team has been dismissed for the break. Starting the day after tomorrow, those of us participating in the amateur tournament will start training together. I’ve discussed it with the coaching staff, and the training and matches will still be held at the club’s training ground."

John Reep was very supportive of the youth team and some first-team players participating in the amateur tournament. The entire club did its best to accommodate them, but they certainly couldn’t let them use the main stadium—the maintenance costs for a single match were significant. Nor could they assign a dedicated coach. Everything had to be organized by the players themselves.

Of course, both John Reep and Dick Van Puer had repeatedly said they would come and help out when they had time.

With the youth team as the core, everyone already trained together regularly, so their chemistry was definitely not a problem. The only new factor was the few first-team players who had joined, but that wasn’t a major issue either. They just needed a little time to gel.

However, the situation for Almere’s first team was less than ideal.

In the final, decisive match for promotion to the Eerste Divisie, the team suffered a setback at home and failed to advance. John Reep’s lineup and tactics faced some criticism, and the performance of many players was also condemned by the fans. Morale throughout the team was low.

It was understandable. For the past year, everyone had ambitiously dreamed of the Eerste Divisie, only to have it all come crashing down overnight. Anyone would feel a sense of loss, let alone the players who had fought and bled on the pitch for an entire year.

"This failure to get promoted has hit the team hard. There are also problems with contract renewals for several players, and they’ll likely leave this summer. Our hopes for promotion next season..." As the team captain, Henk Demyer was naturally better informed.

Almere’s first team had performed very well this season. Several players had attracted the interest of professional Eerste Divisie clubs, especially a few of the newly promoted teams. Combined with the failure to get promoted, the players were undoubtedly dejected, and an exodus seemed unavoidable.

If their strength was severely diminished this summer, their hopes for promotion next season would be greatly weakened.

Of course, it all depended on how John Reep and the management handled things. If they could reinvest the money from player sales back into the transfer market, there might still be hope.

Besides, this exodus was actually a good opportunity for players like Yang Yang who were about to enter the first team.

If they could achieve something in the summer amateur tournament and perform well in the preseason training camp, they might just have a chance to become starters in the new season.