Chapter 4

Qin Xiong excelled in all training sessions, which was also the reason why others disliked training with him, as they always felt inferior to him in every aspect.

Today was endurance training. In the gym, the other young men who were training with Qin Xiong had already left the treadmills and were sitting on the side, looking at Qin Xiong, who was still running steadily and breathing evenly, with numb eyes. They were not particularly surprised, as this had become a common sight.

After 30 minutes, the others had rested enough, but Qin Xiong was still running. The others began the next round of training.

Another 30 minutes passed, and those who had rested once were exhausted again, but Qin Xiong was still running. However, he was starting to show signs of fatigue, and his pace was slowing down.

At this moment, Freddie appeared in front of him, and with a slightly mocking tone, he loudly asked, "Who dreams of football?"

Qin Xiong's pace immediately quickened, matching the treadmill's rhythm. With a determined expression, he loudly replied, "It's me!"

"Who wants to play in Europe?"

"It's me!"

"Who wants to become a world-class star?"

"It's me! It's me!"

Qin Xiong's powerful and almost wild shouts echoed throughout the gym. He wiped the sweat from his face and then sped up again!

No one was willing to watch Qin Xiong anymore, as if he belonged to a different world.

When Freddie first asked these simple questions to motivate Qin Xiong during training, many people secretly mocked him, thinking the foreigner was a bit silly. However, over the years, these simple questions had consistently pushed Qin Xiong to his limits, helping him break through, again and again!

Yes, Qin Xiong's dream was football. Perhaps it wasn't a voluntary choice, but he had been trained in this direction since he was adopted!

Apart from football, he had nothing!

He had to be the best and seize the only thing he could have in life.

A clear and straightforward goal, moving forward unwaveringly!

Others would ask, "Why don't you want to go out and play with us?"

Outside, there might be romantic encounters, a chance to fall in love, an opportunity to watch a visually stunning movie, or a carefree day at the amusement park.

But Qin Xiong would disdainfully counter, "Yes, you can do that. As long as you relax your mind, you can enjoy happiness, but then what? Blend in with the crowd? Accomplish nothing?"

Liu Yi and Zhang Pengfei, who had entered the German and Portuguese football leagues, did not possess Qin Xiong's remarkable resilience, but they were also exemplary in self-discipline. The sweat they shed during training was no less than Qin Xiong's!

Because of this, they saw the dawn of success, but to truly make it in the football world, it was still early.

Freddie, who had always supervised Qin Xiong's training, suddenly frowned. Today's endurance training, Qin Xiong had once again pushed beyond his limits. This was normal, as Qin Xiong's physical condition was in its prime, and continuous improvement was not hard to accept. However, the extent of his improvement was a bad omen, indicating that Qin Xiong was overexerting himself!

No matter what kind of training, there were no shortcuts; it had to be done step by step.

Freddie immediately shouted at Qin Xiong, "Qin, stop, stop, slow down, stop, listen to me! Listen to me! Stop! If you continue, you will hurt yourself!"

Qin Xiong did not respond, continuing to run like a machine. Freddie had to step forward and slow down the treadmill, and then Qin Xiong followed the slower speed and stopped.

He got off the treadmill and went to the rest area to replenish his water and recover.

In the afternoon, there was more training, again endurance training, conducted in a format similar to a match.

Each match lasted 40 minutes, and there were four matches.

Some could only last for three matches, which was the minimum requirement.

But for Qin Xiong, completing all four matches was no problem.

By evening, as the fourth match was nearing its end, he seemed disinterested.

Competing against peers no longer sparked any interest in him. With his physical strength, speed, and ball control skills, he could dominate in matches against his peers!

However, his greatest strength had no place in these matches!

His opponents were easily defeated, and his teammates couldn't keep up with his pace, which made him feel somewhat disheartened.

Because of this, he knew he had to leave and could no longer be "trapped" here!

He had to step onto the professional stage!

Realizing that every day spent here would have a negative impact on his future, Qin Xiong's recent mood had been very bad. He felt like a wild animal trapped in a cage, desperately needing to break free and gallop on a stage suitable for him!

Before this, several Chinese clubs had extended offers to him, with good conditions and benefits. However, due to the level of the Chinese league and the frequent scandals in recent years, Qin Xiong did not want to start his career domestically.

Football is a global sport, but it is also dominated by the strong!

While FIFA has 208 member states, only seven countries have won the World Cup. Successful countries in football belong to a select few.

And in each era, only a handful of players achieve success in football.

World-class, top-tier, second-tier, third-tier, and non-tier...

This is a pyramid!

Qin Xiong clearly understood that the higher the starting point, the greater the possibility of reaching the peak!

He couldn't imagine how long it would take to climb to the top if he started in the Chinese league, especially since he had not yet reached his peak. He needed to improve and grow in a better competitive environment. The experience and skill improvement he could gain by staying in the Chinese league for one or two years would be severely limited.

He wanted to seek opportunities in European football, but he had no money and nothing to his name.

After today's training, Qin Xiong returned to his apartment, took a shower, and changed into a clean outfit, a black tracksuit.

When Freddie waited for him at the entrance, he glanced at his tracksuit, hesitated, but ultimately said nothing. He called a taxi, and the two of them got in to attend Tang Tian's birthday banquet.

The Tang Group was a well-known private enterprise in the province, not particularly large in scale, but with a total asset value of nearly 1 billion RMB, mainly engaged in real industries. Tang Tian was the founder and current chairman of the Tang Group.

The Jiangcheng Youth Football Home was founded by Tang Tian. He was like a philanthropist, yet he would decisively abandon any orphan who misbehaved or went astray. He was like a caring father, showing extra care to diligent and talented children. Liu Yi and Zhang Pengfei were both adopted by Tang Tian.

Perhaps due to Qin Xiong's somewhat introverted personality, Tang Tian had never mentioned adopting him. Although Qin Xiong was grateful to the Tang Group, he had never thought about building a closer relationship with them.

Tang Tian's hometown was in a remote town in Jiangcheng. Whenever he returned to his hometown, he would take care of his neighbors. Today, the birthday banquet was grand, with countless neighbors coming to congratulate him.

Freddie and Qin Xiong stood outside, feeling a bit out of place. The scene was very lively, and the town had its unique dialect, which Freddie, despite his fluent Mandarin, could not understand, nor could Qin Xiong.

After a while, someone finally noticed the two men standing outside.

A young man in a suit and glasses, looking quite refined, walked up to Freddie and Qin Xiong with a smile. "Qin Xiong, hahaha, it's been two years, and you seem to have grown taller. How tall are you now? Do you remember me?"

Qin Xiong looked at the young man in front of him and nodded. "I remember, Tang Le."

Tang Le, Tang Tian's youngest son, was about four years older than Qin Xiong.

Tang Le stood next to Qin Xiong and compared their heights. He was clearly half a head shorter than Qin Xiong. "Two years ago, we were about the same height, but now, you're half a head taller than me."

"Um, I'm 1.88 meters now."

Tang Le pushed Freddie and Qin Xiong from behind, laughing. "Don't stand at the door. Come, let my father see you. The past year, he was happiest watching you play against South Korea and Japan."

Inside the courtyard, tables were set up for the banquet, and the guests were numerous. At the head table, Qin Xiong immediately saw today's birthday celebrant, Tang Tian.