Unconventional Center

Chapter 24: Finding His Stride

The on-field cameras turned back to Xiao Luo in the stands. Valencia’s Big BOS remained calm and composed, a faint smile on his face as he clapped gently along with the Valencia fans. This time, Chu Yang didn’t celebrate wildly, and even his teammates remained remarkably composed. “Chu, even though you tricked me, I have to say, well done!” The slender Banderas was the first to step forward, raising his hands high to give Chu Yang a hearty high-five. “You’re way too gullible. Good thing you’re not a defender, Banderas.” “Come on, you can’t expect everyone to be like you—able to dribble past defenders and shoot just with a glance.” “That’s right. You all lack a pair of sincere eyes because you all lack a heart as sincere as mine.” “You’re not being modest at all. Are you really from China?” “The real deal.” Mo Ya also stepped forward and gave Chu Yang a hard slap on the back, saying, “You jerk, Chu, why didn’t you pass the ball back?” “Pass it back so you can blast it over the bar? I have to say, you really need to work on your shooting, Cesc.” The group strolled leisurely out of Wesken’s penalty area, arms linked, looking as relaxed as could be. “No, no, no. I prefer setting up goals—that feeling is just too wonderful. A selfish guy like you would never understand,” Mo Ya said. “Seriously, you’re not really planning on scoring four goals, are you? The Wesken fans would hate you to death.” “No, a hat trick will do,” Chu Yang said earnestly. “So you’ll still have to set me up, Cesc.” One more goal would give him a hat trick in this match, and combined with the one in Deportivo La Coruña, it would be the third hat trick of his career—a minor achievement in itself, one that comes with skill rewards. Starting lineups and assists were all just superficial; for Chu Yang, the system rewards were what really mattered. Mo Ya, of course, had no idea what Chu Yang was up to, but he certainly wouldn’t mind racking up a few assists himself—and if Chu Yang wanted to score, that would be even better. “Alright, what can we do? We’re Valencia’s Lozé and Fang Dan, after all.” “Oh? Lozé and Fang Dan? Then doesn’t that make me George Lennon? Valencia’s George Lennon, Spain’s left-wing god—that sounds pretty good. But won’t Real Madrid fans drown me in a flood of insults?” Real Madrid’s front five were all among the top three in the world at their respective positions, and naturally, they were the envy of the lower-tier players. After the game resumed, Wesken clearly wanted to put up one last fight, launching an all-out offensive. Their efforts resulted in two shots on goal, but unfortunately, one sailed high over the crossbar, and the other was easily caught by Cayo. After collecting the ball, Cayo immediately sent a long pass forward. Wesken had committed too many players to the attack, leaving their backline exposed. Valencia’s defensive midfielder, Juan Leta, easily intercepted the ball and passed it to Mo Ya. Mo Ya didn’t hold onto the ball; he immediately sent a long, over-the-top pass forward. The Wesken players felt a sharp jolt of fear at the sight, instinctively scanning the field for the figure in the No. 9 jersey. Meanwhile, the spectators in the stands had a clear view of how the player from China—like a cunning fox—suddenly burst from the offside line, as if he had calculated every factor in advance, waiting only for the ball to arrive to deliver the fatal blow. Chu Yang’s acceleration wasn’t much faster than the defender marking him, but he had at least a half-second head start. Plus, having come off the bench, he had the stamina advantage, so he quickly shook off the defender and caught the falling ball. However, his poor ball control was once again laid bare; after the ball struck the instep of his foot, it rolled forward nearly a meter before he could regain control, and by the time he slowed down to stop it, the defender behind him had already caught up. Chu Yang’s power came into play once again; the defender’s tight marking failed to slow him down, and he fired the ball into the net with a simple outside-of-the-foot shot. “It’s number 9 again. This Chinese player named Yang Chu is undoubtedly Valencia’s biggest discovery this year. Since arriving at Valencia, he’s only played in two matches—both as a substitute—but he’s scored a hat trick in each one. In the last match, he helped Valencia climb to third place in the standings, and this time, he helped them hold onto that third-place spot. That’s right,the results of the other two matches are already in—Numancia and Valladolid both beat their opponents, so Valencia will have to settle for third place.” The home commentator rambled on with a sour tone, while Milk’s praise for Chu Yang bordered on that of a die-hard fan. “Chu Yang shoots! Goal! Chu has scored his third goal of the match—another hat trick. He’s only played in two matches, but he’s already scored six goals for Valencia. This is an incredible record. He’ll be Valencia’s biggest acquisition this season—no, of the past decade. Thanks to Xiao Luo for bringing Chu Yang to us. If they can lead Valencia back to La Liga this season, the people of Valencia will surely worship them as gods.” Chu Yang’s goal completely shattered Wesken’s fighting spirit. The final minutes turned into pure garbage time; aside from a few meaningless long-range shots, there was no action to speak of, and the referee blew the final whistle as soon as stoppage time began. Most of Wesken’s fans had already left the stadium after Chu Yang scored his third goal, but the Valencia fans who had traveled from afar remained in the stands, giving their players a rousing round of applause. Mei Yun and Chu Yu stood among the crowd, watching the fans cheer for Chu Yang and chant his name; pride and admiration welled up from the depths of their hearts and spread across their faces. For the first time, the thought crossed their minds that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all to let that little rascal choose to play soccer. Xiao Luo was starting to regret going up to the stands to mingle with the fans. He was swarmed by supporters demanding he promise to lead Valencia Club back to La Liga—as if they wouldn’t let him leave unless he agreed, and as if his promise alone would guarantee the team’s promotion. Meanwhile, Wesken’s security personnel showed no intention of coming to his rescue. “All right, listen to me.” Xiao Luo had no choice but to climb onto a bench and raise his hand to quiet the crowd. The fans graciously fell silent, and many pulled out their phones to frame him in the center of their screens. A Valencia TV reporter covering the team quickly signaled the cameraman to point the camera at Xiao Luo. “The team is at its peak right now. We’re confident we can defeat all our opponents. Valencia Club will definitely return to the top—without a doubt!” The fans immediately erupted into loud cheers. If Xiao Luo had a system like Chu Yang’s, he would surely have seen his approval rating skyrocketing. Chu Yang’s system didn’t track popularity ratings, but it did contain something he desperately needed. “Congratulations, Host, on earning the achievement ‘Getting into the Groove: Scoring Three Hat-Tricks (3/3)’. You have earned 1 free attribute point and one skill.”