In front of a street newsstand in a city in southern China, Su Wenji stopped his bicycle and rang the bell.
The middle-aged woman who was squatting under the counter of the newsstand sorting newspapers and magazines raised her head and laughed immediately when she saw that she was an old customer.
"Lao Su, are you off work?"
"Yes, as usual."
After saying that, Su Wenji took out two yuan from his pocket and put it on the window counter of the newsstand. The middle-aged woman handed over a sports newspaper that had just been delivered in the afternoon and took away the two yuan sheet.
"Lao Su, I just watched and your son scored again!"
"Really?" Su Wenji was very happy.
"Well, this round is an away game. We're playing against a team called Ma or something like that. Those Portuguese names are too confusing to understand."
The middle-aged woman shook her head in disgust, always feeling that with such an awkward name, the team deserved its lack of fame.
"Maridimo, a team from the Portuguese Super League, is currently ranked seventh and is still very strong."
"Hey, Lao Su, you even understand this. How dare your son play football in Portugal? As a father, you are already a senior fan. If there is a domestic broadcast, you will probably have to stay up late, right?" The middle-aged aunt smiled.
Ridicule.
Su Wenji also laughed, but his smile was somewhat sentimental.
"I haven't seen anyone in two years. I just make occasional phone calls, look at photos in newspapers, read news online, etc. If I can see the game on TV, let alone stay up late, I will watch it all night long.
"
By the end of the sentence, Su Wenji's voice was trembling.
Since he decided to send his son to Portugal two years ago, he has not seen him again.
Just because of this, his wife didn't know how many times she had quarrels with him.
The couple only has one child and they haven't seen each other for two years, how could they not want to?
So the couple could only learn about their son's news and condition through phone calls, newspapers, the Internet and TV.
Gradually, they also learned something. They knew that in the past two years, their son had always reported good news but not bad news. But this made them even more worried. Before, they were worried that he would not have enough food and clothing in Portugal, but now they are worried that he would not be able to play in the competition.
not good.
The mother is worried when her son travels thousands of miles.
They were all old neighbors for many years. The middle-aged aunt at the newsstand also knew about their family situation and quickly comforted them with a few words. She basically said that Su Dong was playing well in Portugal and was considered promising.
"But to be honest, Lao Su, your son plays so well, why hasn't he made it to the national team yet?"
The middle-aged aunt asked her soul, "I think if Su Dong was here and played Brazil two years ago, he would definitely win!"
New coach Ali Han's first game on the job was against Brazil at home, and the result was a zero-0 draw, which made the country jubilant.
You know, in the World Cup in Korea and Japan a few months ago, the Chinese team lost to Brazil 0-4, and now it is 0-0. This is a huge improvement, and it has also won the initial recognition of the new coach Ali Han from the media and fans.
.
Especially later, with a narrow 1-0 home win over Estonia, Alihan got off to a good start.
Domestic fans now hope that Alihan can lead this national team and once again enter the 2006 World Cup in Germany. However, Su Dong's call to be selected for the national team is extremely high, but there has never been any progress.
"Ahem, it's my fault!" Su Wenji's expression changed, he shook his head and sighed.
He didn't want to talk more about the matter, so he took the newspaper, got on his bicycle and left.
Although Su Dong told his father more than once on the phone that this matter had nothing to do with him, Su Wenji still couldn't help but blame himself, because he was the one who contacted the liar and sent Su Dong to Portugal.
Now, Su Dong cannot enter the national team. Su Wenji knows that it is mainly because of the liar who interfered with it. How can he not blame himself?
In his opinion, no matter how well Su Dong played in Europe, he is Chinese and still has to play for the national team. This is an honor!
If Su Dong fails to make the national team, he will always blame himself and feel guilty.
And every time he thinks about this, Su Wenji will think of Su Dong's comforting words to him.
"Dad, this matter is not what you thought. It has nothing to do with the liar now. The most important thing is that I want an apology, but some people have done wrong things but are unwilling to apologize. Even
Try every possible means to pretend that you are right, deceive yourself and others, and deceive others.”
Su Wenji is an honest worker. He doesn't dare to think so much or deeply. He just simply feels that if there hadn't been that liar, Su Dong should have put on the national team jersey at this time, and his whole family, and even those around him,
Everyone will be proud of him.
…
Su Dong's home is in an old residential building.
It's funny to say that in the past year, Su Wenji, in the name of his son Su Dong, bought school district housing and high-end community housing in the core areas of the city, in nearby second-tier cities, and even as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, but the couple
But he always lives here.
This is where Su Dong grew up.
The couple still go to work from nine to five every day, just like before.
As soon as he got downstairs and locked his bicycle in the corridor, he heard the sound of cooking from upstairs. Su Wenji guessed that it was his wife Yang Xiuyu preparing dinner. If Su Dong was at home before, he would be very anxious at this time.
I rushed back from school, ready to finish my meal and go back to study in the evening.
Su Wenji couldn't help but laugh when he thought of his son.
"I'm back."
Su Wenji opened the door, only to find that he had guessed wrong.
My wife was not cooking in the kitchen. A strange guest came to the house and was sitting in the living room.
"Old Su." Yang Xiuyu quickly stood up.
"Hello, Uncle Su." The guest immediately stood up and greeted with a smile, "I am a reporter from the China News Service in the Iberian Peninsula. My name is Ma Dawei. I take the liberty of visiting. Please forgive me."
"China News Agency?" Su Wenji was a little nervous.
This is not the first time he has contacted reporters. On the contrary, in the past year, reporters have often wanted to interview them, but they have always rejected them. But this Ma Dawei is obviously different. He is from the China News Service.
"Lao Su, Xiaodong asked him to bring something back." Yang Xiuyu saw the change in her husband's face and explained.
"Oh." Su Wenji immediately felt relieved, "That's really troublesome for you, Reporter Ma."
"It's okay, I just returned to China." Ma Dawei smiled.
After a while of polite greetings, Su Wenji couldn't help but ask his wife, "What did Xiaodong buy back?"
"There are a lot of them. He said that the luggage on the plane was overweight and he spent a lot of money. He knew that your watch was broken, so he made a special trip to buy you a new one. It seemed quite expensive. He also bought me a bag.
Damn, this kid just likes to spend money randomly."
As she spoke, Yang Xiuyu's eyes were red and her voice was choked with sobs.
They hadn't seen each other for two years, and she almost went crazy missing her son.
Su Wenji was also very unhappy. He also missed his son.
"I'm sorry, Reporter Ma, for making you laugh." Su Wenji awkwardly apologized to the guest.
"It's okay, Uncle Su." Ma Dawei shook his head and smiled, "Actually, apart from asking me to bring things back this time, Su Dong's most important thing is that he hopes you can go to Europe to watch him play."
"Going to Europe?" Su Wenji and Yang Xiuyu looked at each other, both feeling a little embarrassed.
Su Dong mentioned this matter to them on the phone, but they rejected it because they did not understand foreign languages and were not familiar with the place. How would they live in Europe? How would they go to watch football?
"Su Dong mentioned this matter to me. It just so happened that a few days after I came back, I was going back to Europe. We can go together. When we get to Europe, we will go directly to Portugal. Someone will arrange the itinerary, food and accommodation for us.
I will accompany you and serve as your tour guide and translator."
"How is this possible?" Su Wenji immediately objected.
He is an honest man and the last thing he wants to do is cause trouble to others.
"Don't worry, Uncle Su. In fact, this is also part of my job. I can also go to the UEFA Cup final with you to watch the game. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is the first time for us Chinese to participate in the top European club cup.
The finals will be broadcast live even in China."
After listening to Su Wenji, I couldn't help but feel excited.
He is a fan himself, otherwise he would not have allowed Su Dong to play football since he was a child. Now that he has the opportunity to go to Europe to watch the UEFA Cup final, how could he not yearn for it?
Before, he was afraid of causing trouble to Su Dong. Now that he has Ma Dawei as a translator and guide, what else does he have to worry about?
"Uncle Su, it's decided. I'll call Su Dong and tell him, and then we'll hurry up and go through the procedures to go abroad. What do you think?" Ma Dawei asked.
Su Wenji looked at his wife, and both of them nodded.
Although they knew that Su Dong would go home this summer, they still hoped to see their son one day earlier.
It's been two years. I heard that he has grown taller and stronger. I wonder if he still recognizes him?
…………
…………
Sudong received a call from China in the 29th round of the Portuguese Super League, the day after playing Maritimo in an away game.
Ma Dawei told him the good news, and Su Dong was very happy and grateful.
In the away game against Maritimo, Sudong passed and shot. Sporting Lisbon defeated Maritimo 3-0 in the away game and continued to maintain the pressure on Porto.
On the phone, Su Dong hoped that Ma Dawei would pay more attention to help his parents come to Europe, because he would then devote himself to the game and help Sporting Lisbon catch up with Porto in the final rounds.
But Su Dong said that he would let his agent Mendes arrange everything in Europe. As long as they arrive in Europe, Mendes will arrange a dedicated person to take care of everything.
Ma Dawei readily agreed, hoping that Su Dong could focus on the game.
"Don't worry, leave all other matters to me. I will definitely help you send your parents to Portugal."
After hanging up the phone, Su Dong breathed a sigh of relief and had some expectations.
He hasn't seen his parents in two years and really misses them.
Not only is he going to bring his parents, but Ronnie is also going to bring his parents and family from Madeira to watch his games in Spain. Pepe is even going to bring his family from Brazil.
That's the UEFA Cup final!
When the time comes, Sporting Lisbon will even charter a plane to fly relatives of club players to Seville and arrange food and accommodation. This is the practice for almost all teams participating in the cup finals.
But before that, Su Dong was more concerned about the Portuguese Super League!
