Soccer: If they're using these kinds of cheats, what's the point of training?

[Forward's overall rating: 80.19]

[Shooting: 70 / Positioning: 69.63 / Heading: 81.75 / Body: 99.38]

It looks good, but it's not enough.

Although Ligue 1 is considered the "weakest of the top five leagues," the defenders are quite physically strong. His heading rating of 81.75 is sufficient against defenders from mid-to-lower-tier Ligue 1 teams, but it might not be enough against the defenses of Champions League-level teams.

More Qi and Blood points are needed.

他看了眼系统里的气血点余额——从12月24日到1月3日，这十来天他几乎没闲着。可惜并不是每天都能采满9点的，他总共积攒了……

Current Qi and Blood Points: 87

87 points.

Should all the effort be put into heading? Or should it be distributed across positioning and shooting?

Zhang Kuang thought for a moment. He needed to have his ultimate weapon. Because he had taken the Dragon Tiger Pill, his body was definitely top-notch in the five major leagues.

Since it's so durable, let's first get the running position to 75 points, and then light up the [Cristiano Ronaldo Header Card].

His positioning score is currently 69.63, with a total of 8 sub-categories. To increase his positioning score to 75, he would need to add a total of 43 health points.

Add it, don't hesitate, positioning is too important.

I got +7 to all of the following: [Attack Awareness], [Reaction], [Forward Run Awareness], [Positioning and Possession], and [Shooter's Instinct]. Then I got +8 to [Offside Prediction]. I didn't get any points for the remaining [One-Touch Shot] and [Unconventional Shot].

In this way, the [Positioning] score returned to 75 points. The remaining 44 health points were then added to the [Cristiano Ronaldo Heading Skill Card]. After the 44 health points were added, the [Cristiano Ronaldo Heading Skill Card] was activated, and the [Heading] score skyrocketed to 87.5 points.

His scores for the four sub-categories of "Forward" are: Shooting 70, Positioning 75, Heading 87.5, and Physicality 99.38, for a total rating of 82.97.

It took me more than ten days to push the score up to 2.78 points. Well, I'm in for a lot of work.

"bite--"

My phone rang. It was a message from Aisha.

"Zhang, we're getting ready to go back to Paris. We'll arrive tomorrow night. We miss you."

Zhang Kuang's lips curled up, and he replied:

"Perfect timing, I also have some good news to tell you."

"What good news?"

"I'm sure I'm going to sign. Auxerre."

"Then we'll come back tomorrow to celebrate."

"Okay, thank you for taking me in all this time. I might be moving out soon, but I'll come over often. I'll cook you a big meal tomorrow night."

"Oh my god, this news is terrible."

"..."

---

On January 4, the contract details were finalized.

周薪8000欧元，签约两年半（2009年12月到2012年6月），包含2010年6月生效的300万欧元解约金条款。

Goal Bonus: (Bonus starts after 10 goals) €2000 per goal.

Assist bonus: (The bonus is activated after more than 10 assists) 1000 euros per assist.

Relegation bonuses, European competition bonuses, and championship bonuses are calculated separately.

The total price isn't high, but for an 18-year-old Chinese player with zero professional competition experience, it's already a very good professional contract.

In the Auxerre office, after the contract was fully reviewed and approved by both parties' lawyers, both sides nodded in agreement.

"Sign it." Jonathan handed him the pen, a smile in his eyes.

Zhang Kuang took the pen and signed his name on the last page of the contract.

"Arrogant"—two Chinese characters, signed with a flourish, carrying a composure beyond his years.

At 1 PM on January 4th, Auxerre's official website released a brief announcement:

[Auxerre Football Club is pleased to announce the official signing of Chinese striker Zhang Kuang, who will wear the number 33 jersey. The contract runs until June 2012. Zhang Kuang will represent Auxerre in their upcoming matches. We wish him great success.]

The announcement was accompanied by a photo of Zhang Kuang on the training field—Zhang Kuang was wearing a No. 33 jersey and smiling. He was tall and the sunlight shone on his profile, making his features stand out.

Within an hour of the announcement being released, Auxerre's official website saw a fivefold increase in visits.

It's not because of his arrogance that he's famous, but because the phrase "Chinese player" hasn't appeared in French football for a long time.

Who was the last Chinese player to play in Ligue 1?

Most French fans would have to think about it to remember.

However, in China, this news was quickly reposted.

"Another Chinese player has gone abroad to play? And in Ligue 1?"

"Auxerre? Never heard of them, what team is that?"

"18 years old? Signed a two-and-a-half-year contract? Who is this?"

"..."

There were only voices of doubt, because no one knew this player, Zhang Kuang.

It wasn't until someone found a notice from the Chinese Football Association from a month and a half ago that everyone realized this was a player who had been called up to the national youth team, but had been expelled and suspended.

In just one or two months, he became a Ligue 1 player?

"What exactly is going on? A player expelled from the national youth team has signed with a French Ligue 1 title contender? Can anyone tell me the truth?"

"..."

Zhang Kuang certainly didn't have time to read the news in China; he simply called Wu Guohua to share the good news and that was it.

Wu Guohua was quite moved. He never expected that such a small training institution could produce players for the top five European leagues. It was truly... a bit unbelievable.

-

January 8, Auxerre, Beirut Stadium training center.

Zhang Kuang drove a Porsche Cayman to the team, got out of the car, and stood in front of the training base gate with a backpack on his back.

The winter wind blew across the fields, carrying the scent of earth. The air was cold, but clean.

He took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and went inside.

……

The team members had all met him before, and everyone was happy to see Zhang Kuang arrive, because they desperately needed his offensive abilities.

In 80, 29-year-old captain Benoît Pedretti welcomed the arrogant player in the locker room on behalf of the team. Benoît was the team's midfield playmaker and was known as the "French Pirlo". As captain, he was the leader in the locker room and also the metronome on the field.

Next, he got to know the team members in more detail, from the goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, and forwards, a total of 29 people, plus himself, making 30.

After getting to know the team members, the next step was training.

In the first training session this morning, Zhang Kuang, as the striker for Team B, scored two goals against the home team again. This time, the home team put up a super defensive effort against Zhang Kuang, after all, Auxerre is a team known for its defense in Ligue 1. However, they still managed to score two goals, one a header and the other a powerful shot from the edge of the box.

Assistant coach Stéphane Eric was excited: "Jan Zhang's headers are even better, and his positioning is also very intelligent. I feel he has improved again. His headers are a bit like Ronaldo's, and his positioning has some of Inzaghi's characteristics, very unpredictable."

Jean Fernandez nodded in satisfaction: "That's right, he's improved again. Eighteen is definitely the age for improvement; he has huge potential. It's a pity we can't keep him in a small team like ours. He must train very hard, right? He's a really excellent kid."

"Hmm, should we let him train with Team A next? With the support of Carmel and Walter, Zhang will have more opportunities."

"Well, don't rush, there are still about ten days until the next game."

---

The next ten days or so passed quickly, but Auxerre's teammates and coaching staff had a strange feeling about the guy, who preferred to drive four or five hours a day rather than live in Auxerre.

Another point is that while he was incredibly arrogant and explosive during team matches and training, he was perfunctory and unmotivated during actual training, as if he was just going through the motions.

This left the coaching staff and players with a strange feeling. Perhaps this is the power of a talented player? Can they score goals on the field even if they just casually go through a training session?

"Let's decide the starting lineup for tomorrow's match against Boulogne (some people call it Boulogne, you can translate it however you like, as long as everyone knows it's this club)? Should we pair Yellen with Daniel? Or should we start Zhang?" Assistant coach Stefano asked Fernandez.

"Start in the first game?" Fernandez hesitated.

"Zhang's performance was there, while Daniel, although he played a lot, was basically just helping Yellen and didn't contribute much."

"Hmm? Does that mean he should play as a shadow striker or a forward?"

"I don't think we need to fix it. Zhang is good at positioning, so it's better to let the two of them have more freedom."

"Okay, fine, let's do it this way."