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

Meanwhile, domestically...

The "Football Home" forum's servers have crashed three times.

The administrator "Desert Lone Smoke" had to post an announcement on the temporary page:

[Due to a surge in traffic, the forum is undergoing temporary maintenance. The estimated restoration time is undetermined. We apologize.]

The comments below the announcement continue to increase—not through forums, but through screenshots and reposts on various social media platforms.

"I always said there was hope for Chinese football!"

"A hat trick in his debut? Is this real? It's not photoshopped, right?"

"I just watched the video, the third header was absolutely terrifying! He jumped so high! The opposing defenders couldn't even hold him back!"

"...(many sarcastic remarks and doubts)"

Some even dug up the roots of Zhang's arrogance, so doubt and amazement were mixed together, but more than anything, it was a passion that had been suppressed for too long and was suddenly released.

It's been a long time since we've seen news like this from Chinese football.

Who was the last overseas player to excite football fans across the country? Sun Jihai? Shao Jiayi? Or even earlier, Yang Chen?

Those players were indeed excellent, but none of them ever scored a hat-trick in their debut.

I've never been so young.

I have never been so confident.

Never before has it been so...arrogant.

During maintenance, "Old Gunner," a super moderator of the "Football Home" forum, couldn't help but post an update: "I just checked this kid's information, and his experience is too legendary."

His mother died early, and his father raised him by doing manual labor, but his father also died in a car accident two months ago.

Expelled from the U20 training team for fighting, banned for five years, he went to France alone for trials, signed a contract, and then scored a hat-trick in his debut. This isn't a football story; it's a movie script.

This post was shared tens of thousands of times.

The comments section was surprisingly uniform in style.

I want to watch this movie.

"Who is the main character? Hu Ge or Wu Jing?"

"It has to be a newcomer; no one else can portray his story."

"Stop joking, we're telling the truth."

"I know it's true, which is why I want to watch the movie even more."

---

The next morning, Zhang Kuang was woken up by his phone vibrating.

He groggily reached for his phone on the bedside table; the screen displayed "Jonathan LeBron".

"Feed?" His voice was still sleepy.

"Zhang, are you up yet?"

"It's up now."

"Then turn on the TV, any sports channel."

Zhang Kuang rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed. Lina rolled over next to him and pulled the blanket over her head.

He found the TV remote and pressed the power button. The screen lit up, displaying a French television sports morning program.

The screen is showing his three goals from yesterday.

Header.

Aerial Slash.

The lion shakes its head.

His roar of "Siu—" after scoring was frozen on the screen, with the French subtitles next to it reading: "The Chinese storm sweeps through Ligue 1."

Zhang Kuang stared at the TV for a few seconds, then said into the phone, "I saw it."

"Not just in France," Jonathan said with a laugh. "Sports media in Italy, Germany, and Spain are all reporting on your goal. There's some in England too, but not as much, since they focus more on the Premier League there."

"Ha, that's good, Jonathan. Take it slow. As I score more goals, I'll get more attention."

"Haha, yes, especially since you're so handsome, your goals are so fierce, and your celebrations are so explosive, it's really captivating."

Zhang Kuang was completely unaware that he possessed three such obvious and attractive characteristics, but he was very pleased.

The two chatted for a while, then Zhang Kuang hung up the phone and opened his phone's browser. He searched for his own name—"Zhang Kuang"—and pressed enter.

The page took a full five seconds to load, which is almost abnormal on a 4G network in Paris.

Number of search results: 1,260,000.

Zhang Kuang stared at the number, his fingers tightening slightly.

He then opened the largest sports forum in China. The title of the pinned post was red, bold, and the font size was one size larger than the posts next to it:

[Zhang Kuang: The first player in Chinese football history to score a hat-trick in one of the top five European leagues—and he did it in just 70 minutes.]

The post already has over 3,000 replies and over 500,000 views.

Zhang Kuang scrolled through a few pages of comments, then logged out.

My fingers are trembling a little.

This isn't nervousness, it's excitement.

When he transmigrated, he never expected to make it in the football world so quickly. He thought he would at least have to play in Ligue 2 for half a season, then slowly earn opportunities and see if he could establish himself in Ligue 1.

As a result, he scored a hat trick in his debut.

The video of Zhang's arrogant goal spread quickly, and there were many comments online, including some comments from retired well-known players.

It was only afternoon when Zhang Kuang's post-match interview spread, in which he boldly declared his intention to win the Golden Boot and the Ligue 1 title. This made fans realize that Zhang Kuang was indeed very arrogant, and winning the Ligue 1 title was indeed possible, after all, they were only 4 points behind the leader.

But to win the Golden Boot? Are you crazy? The current top scorer, Mamadou Niane, has 15 goals, while Zhang Kuang has only 3, a difference of 12 goals. That's almost impossible. To score 12 goals in half a season, and even if Mamadou doesn't score any more.

"Fuck, is this an East Asian I know? Aren't East Asians usually very low-key? This East Asian is so arrogant."

"Hmm, if you knew what his name meant in Chinese, you'd understand why he's so arrogant. It's because his name is Zhang Kuang (张狂), which in French means 'arrogant' or 'insolent'."

"Wow, that's pretty wild, but he's so cool. His celebration moves were absolutely awesome."

"No, I see how fierce he is, he must be very strong. It must feel amazing to hit him like that. Ah, I want that kind of impact on me."

"Holy crap, you pervert! If you want impact, go find a cow or a horse!"

"The cattle and horses are too big, we can't handle them."

"roll……"

-

European media saw Zhang Kuang's arrogance, but domestic attention was focused on the U20 incident he mentioned. No one expected that the reason for Zhang Kuang's fight and his expulsion was the same.

"...(Online mockery and sarcasm resounded again)"

"Yes, that's possible, which is why arrogance has no say, because any reason can be valid."

"Why isn't it Zhang Kuang who's lying? You really don't trust others that much?"

"..."

During the heated discussion among netizens, Wu Guohua called Zhang Kuang.

"Coach Wu."

"How arrogant! You said to reporters that you got into a fight because you were sabotaged and that's why you were fired. This has caused a lot of chaos in the domestic public opinion. The higher-ups are furious and have issued a new announcement to clarify the matter."

Also, someone called me and asked me to tell you to stop talking nonsense, lest it ruin your chances of returning to the national team. Of course, I'm just relaying the message; how you handle it is up to you, and I'll support you whatever you do.

Zhang Kuang had already seen the announcement. After all, he wasn't very focused on training and couldn't practice dual cultivation all the time, so it was normal for him to go online occasionally.

"Coach Wu, I saw their announcement. They're still trying to cover it up, but it doesn't matter. I have no intention of returning to the national team anyway. But I can't be wronged. You know, my father died because of this. If I remain silent, it would be an admission that I'm mentally twisted and that my father died unjustly."

"Okay, fine, I got it."

After hanging up with Wu Guohua, Guo Zixu immediately registered a Weibo account called "Player Arrogance" and posted a Weibo post, tagging many news media outlets.