Borussia Dortmund, Scholl siblings comprehensive middle school.
The German teacher, Mr. Svein, was explaining Goethe's autobiography, 'Poetry and Truth,' when he was interrupted by a series of snores just as he reached the most crucial part.
This time, Svein could no longer tolerate it.
"Chen, stop sleeping, Chen?"
"Oh no, I'm late! The boss is going to dock my pay!!"
"Hahahahaha—"
Waking up groggily, Chen Tao's right side of his face was numb.
His comical, sleepy appearance made the fifteen and sixteen-year-old boys and girls around him burst into laughter.
His deskmate was none other than Anna, the youngest daughter of the Heinrich.
For some reason, when Chen Tao was being laughed at by his classmates, she felt a little embarrassed by association.
Helplessly, she took out a tissue from her bag and handed it to him.
"Hurry up and wipe it."
"Thanks."
Seeing Anna, Chen Tao finally remembered that he was playing football in Dortmund!
He had just had a nightmare.
He dreamed that he wasn't playing football, worked hard for three years of high school to take the college entrance exam, played games for four years in college, and couldn't find a job after graduation.
After being rejected by countless companies during interviews, he finally found an unreliable company.
The boss was a miser who exploited his employees daily, even sending messages on WeChat in the middle of the night on weekends, demanding that Chen Tao work overtime.
This led to him working through the night, oversleeping, and being late on Monday morning.
The sense of urgency suffocated Chen Tao!
After waking up from the nightmare, Chen Tao found that he was still 15 years old and still a professional player.
The best thing was nothing more than this.
So much so that the well-intentioned teasing from his classmates around him was nothing.
Even Anna, who had always been indifferent to him, was incredibly kind, and seemed to have become much prettier.
The German teacher was a thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses.
He expressed understanding for Chen Tao's blatant sleeping in class.
"Your performance in the weekend match was good, you worked hard. But you also need to pay attention to rest and not affect your normal life."
"Thank you, Mr. Svein."
In yesterday's match between Dortmund and Frankfurt,
it was Chen Tao who came on as a substitute in the 85th minute and scored.
He received a precise long pass from Nuri Şahin, and with a spiritual flick of his right heel, unexpectedly passed the ball into the goal.
Forward Alexander Frei timely surged forward and easily put the ball in,
tying Frankfurt 2-2,
securing a valuable point at home.
Chen Tao had excellent performances in two consecutive important Bundesliga matches.
No wonder the teacher was incredibly lenient with Chen Tao, and the surrounding classmates also admired their hero.
As soon as class was over, both boys and girls surrounded Chen Tao.
"Chen, can you tell us what you were thinking when you made that pass? It was incredible!"
"Really, really cool!"
"Chen, can you play in our class's game next week?"
"Don't joke, Chen has to train with the club, who has time to participate in school games?"
"Cough, cough, you're pushing me."
"Sorry, excuse me…"
Anna's clear, cold voice made the surrounding classmates fall silent, and they quickly returned to their seats.
They were clearly all very afraid of Anna.
Chen Tao was a little puzzled.
Anna always seemed expressionless, with an aura that kept people at bay.
But after getting to know her for a while, he knew that she was very soft-hearted.
In anime terms, she was a tsundere.
Due to the professional contract signed with Arsenal, Chen Tao needed to balance playing football with high school education and ultimately obtain a legal high school graduation certificate.
Arsenal later contacted Dortmund and arranged for Chen Tao to enroll in Scholl siblings comprehensive middle school near the training base.
The Heinrich also helped.
Just a few days after Chen Tao arrived in Dortmund, they found a connection with the school board and arranged for Chen Tao to be in Anna's class.
At first, Anna wished she could hide far away, not wanting people to know that she and Chen Tao were "cohabiting."
As Chen Tao gained fame in Dortmund, with a hat-trick of assists in his Bundesliga debut,
he became a popular figure in the class, and news of him renting a room at Anna's house leaked out.
Anna gradually accepted reality and no longer avoided anything.
After the "flies" surrounding Chen Tao left, Anna packed her books, preparing to leave.
Before leaving, she briefly glanced at Chen Tao, then immediately withdrew her gaze.
"Do you need help with tonight's homework?"
"Really? That would be great."
"You really won't write it yourself? What about the exams?"
Anna's eyebrows furrowed.
"It's fine, I can handle the exams. I still have to go to the club for training tonight, please."
"I give up on you."
Anna snatched Chen Tao's exercise book, pouted, and turned to leave.
She quickly stopped and added:
"My mom is making sausages tonight, do you want me to save you some?"
"Just a little, not too much."
"Got it… And, don't be too late, come back early."
Anna hurried away, clutching her books.
It wasn't until she left the classroom that Anna leaned against the corridor wall, feeling her heart pound.
"Why did I say that extra half-sentence just now? Damn it."
Chen Tao, however, didn't notice Anna's reminder.
He was meticulously studying the diagrams from the club's tactical meeting, constantly replaying the details of the previous round in his mind.
After the match against Frankfurt, Chen Tao completely confirmed his suspicions!
His talent had truly evolved!
From coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute, he successfully dribbled past opponents 5 times in total.
His right foot indeed felt a surge of power!
Even if Chen Tao hadn't paid full attention to his teammates' positions at the time, only catching a glimpse of a teammate at the top of the penalty area out of the corner of his eye,
he didn't choose the conventional chest trap to control the ball,
but instead, with his back to the goal, he back-heeled the ball,
passing it into the penalty area in a bold and imaginative way!
This pass was outrageous enough, illogical enough, and theoretically had a success rate of less than 1%!
Such an unreasonable pass was actually received by his teammate Alexander Frei!
This brilliant goal was chosen by German Sport1 as the best goal of Bundesliga Round 13!
This morning, when he left home, Uncle Hans was still watching it repeatedly on TV.
Chen Tao, however, didn't know that while he was sweating profusely in the gym,
far away in the East, at Guangfu Yiyuan residential complex.
Chen Jianping and Ding Ru watched 'Xinwen Lianbo' (News Broadcast), then watched 'Jiaodian Fangtan' (Focus Interview) on CCTV-1 for a while.
Suddenly remembering something, Chen Jianping abruptly snatched the remote control and quickly switched to CCTV-5.
"It's almost time for the drama, why are you changing channels?"
"Our son's program!"
"Oh, right!"
Ding Ru immediately reacted.
On the screen, host Duan Xuan had a simple smile on his face:
"In the last episode of 'Tianxia Zuqiu' (Football World), we introduced the wonderful performance of Dortmund's 15-year-old overseas player Chen Tao. In this round of Bundesliga, he came on as a substitute and scored again!
Let's take a look at this episode's TOP10, Chen Tao's wonderful performance!"
Wang Tao's narration followed closely:
"…This episode's TOP10, number 1, comes from the recently renowned overseas player Chen Tao!
In the match between Dortmund and Frankfurt, facing a 1-2 deficit, Chen Tao came on as a substitute and continuously created threats.
In the 88th minute of the match, Dortmund launched an attack from their own half, and Nuri Şahin's long pass found Chen Tao.
Chen Tao's inspired back-heel flick with his right foot assisted star striker Frey to score!
This goal was full of Chen Tao's spirituality and talent, truly magnificent!
Difficulty: 5 stars,
Excitement Index: 5 stars!"
…
At 9 PM, Chen Tao, drenched in sweat, returned to the Heinrich home.
He had spent two hours in the gym and an additional two hours practicing shooting.
By the time he returned, the streetlights were already out.
The area around the training base was almost like the countryside.
There was no nightlife after dark.
Mr. and Mrs. Heinrich had ancient routines; they would clean up and go to bed early after dinner.
Upon entering, only the living room light was on.
Anna was holding a book, slumped asleep on the sofa.
In that moment, Chen Tao inexplicably had a sense of déjà vu, like a wife waiting for her husband to come home from work.
It must be said, when she was quietly asleep, she truly looked like an angel.
Her long eyelashes trembled gently, her chest rose and fell softly, and her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, forming a beautiful oil painting under the dim yellow floor lamp.
"Mmm… you're back, so late."
Anna slowly woke up, and seeing Chen Tao's figure, she felt an inexplicable sense of security.
The stranger who had initially made her feel completely uncomfortable,
had somehow become very important.
"There's sausage on the dining table, and caviar, specifically left for you. Be careful not to eat too much tonight, I'm going back to my room."
"Okay, thanks."
Her fair little feet in slippers, her slender legs ascended the stairs, stopping after only a few steps.
"Chen, good night."
Chen Tao was slightly surprised, then smiled softly.
"Anna, good night."