Chapter 18: Awaken, Young One (Everyone, give the character cards some likes!)

"Andoya! You... you came late, and you deliberately kicked the football at me? I'm going to tell Coach Maxa!" Ronaldo, with a face full of grievance, got up from the ground, speaking without any sign of fear.

But what he didn't know was... as he spoke, he subconsciously took a half step back.

It was evident that this wasn't the first time he had been picked on by the likes of Andoya.

He seemed to have suffered for it before.

"Great, a little African lad worth fifteen hundred US dollars, go ahead and tell the coach. Maybe he'll make us run five or ten laps. But before that, you're going to get a beating," said Andoya, no shorter than Cristiano, with an air of superiority.

Away from the football field, he had more influence than Ronaldo.

And after that statement, Ronaldo bowed his head.

The term "African country bumpkin" was his greatest weakness.

He had come from Madeira Island to Lisbon.

From the peripheries to the capital, from a small town to the big city.

In the past month, he had witnessed the prosperity of Lisbon and seen the cool hairstyles and trendy clothes of other children here.

Many things here made him feel ashamed.

Beyond hard work, he didn't know what else he could do.

But the harder he worked, the less he could get along with his "teammates" of the same age.

Because they thought he was showing off.

They felt he was overdoing it.

Why should you, Ronaldo, practice shooting goals when everyone else is resting?

Doesn't that just make the rest of us look lazy?

Deng Kai was stunned.

Because he had never seen such a "cowardly" Ronaldo.

The Ronaldo he knew never gave up, was always determined!

Deng Kai was sure that sooner or later, Ronaldo would find a way to deal with it and forcefully retaliate against those who had hurt him out of jealousy or an inexplicable sense of superiority.

But Deng Kai couldn't wait.

He wanted to teach Ronaldo that method right now.

"Andoya, is it?" Deng Kai stepped forward between the two groups around Cristiano and Andoya, rubbing his ears, "I don't know what problems you've had with Chris before, but before you deal with your issue, shouldn't you first say sorry to me?"

Andoya frowned, his face full of question marks.

Deng Kai pointed to his ear and said, "Didn't you notice that your damned football almost hit me just now?"

"It flew past my ear, grazing it, and caused me emotional harm, understand?"

"I think either your parents or Coach Maxa must have warned you, not to play football beside roads with car traffic, and certainly not to kick people with the ball, right?"

Andoya?

The others??

Ronaldo???!

"You? Are you standing up for him? Have you become friends? Ha-ha, what a rarity!" Andoya was initially surprised, then burst into laughter with his friends: "You want me to apologize to you? Are you sure, shorty?"

"Guys, did you hear that? This four-footer wants me to apologize to him! Hahaha!"

"It's hilarious!"

"Are all Asians this funny?"

"Do you really think you're a midfield genius?"

"You had a chance to show off yesterday just because I was off the field. If I were there, I could freeze you out in minutes! There's no one in Asia who knows football, let alone in China."

Laughter filled the air.

Only Ronaldo and Deng Kai weren't laughing.

Ronaldo looked at Deng Kai, moved and sympathetic.

He didn't expect Deng Kai to stand up for him.

He knew all too well how it felt to be ridiculed by a crowd, the courage it took to face it.

However, Deng Kai's reaction was once again quite different from what Ronaldo had anticipated.

Deng Kai wasn't distressed, didn't hang his head in inferiority, but pursed his lips and nodded slightly: "Good, now I can declare that you have successfully angered me."

"I hate being called 'Shorty'!"

"Very, very, very much!"

Having said that, Deng Kai turned and looked at Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Have you ever noticed, when you face someone weaker than you, you become aggressive? But when you face someone stronger, you become timid, fearful of them?"

"That's not the mindset of a true man. You're nowhere near as brave, steadfast, and proud as you pretend to be."

"I know the reasons, because you're from Madeira Island, because of your African bloodline, and so on."

"But today, I want to tell you how I deal with things like that."

"I, Deng Kai, at one meter forty, of Asian descent. But I've never felt inferior because of it!"

"And what's more troublesome for you is that I'm Chinese. My homeland, China, might seem like a worse place to you, yet I've always been proud of my heritage!"

"If my skin color and heritage can't bring me glory, then I hope, I can be the testament to my skin color and heritage."

"China can also produce good footballers. Asians can also be kings of football!"

"Now, you have a chance to prove that you're not inferior, not cowardly, and not someone who looks down on others... Do you dare to join me and take on them?"

Deng Kai spoke with an oath.

Everyone around him was petrified, including Ronaldo.

A loud conspiracy?

This...

Andoya felt he had encountered two freaks.

The next Quaresma, my ass. The Football prodigy Caesar, my ass.

One from an African village, one from a Chinese village.

Truly a perfect match.

"So, you want to fight with us?" Andoya walked toward Deng Kai, his knuckles cracking loudly.

Deng Kai bent down to pick up the football that had just knocked down Ronaldo and, after a deep breath, he gave a fierce kick.

Bang!

An amazing instep drive!

Being too close, Andoya had no time to dodge, and the football violently smashed into his face.

Direct headshot!

"Fuck your wildness! I'll teach you not to apologize! I'll show you arrogance, I'll punish you for bullying, I'll show you what it means to belittle China!" Deng Kai spewed out his indignation and dashed to Andoya, raining kicks down on his head.

He was just the right height to land those kicks.

Andoya immediately fell to the ground, curling up, overwhelmed by immense pain.

Deng Kai showed no mercy, performing a flying mount on Andoya's face, unleashing a barrage of attacks.

But soon, Andoya's companions reacted and started pulling and beating on Deng Kai.

Still, even so, Deng Kai clung fiercely to the still howling Andoya, refusing to let go.

"Chris, what the fuck are you spacing out for... Come over here and take them on... Do it!" Deng Kai refused to give in, smashing his fists into Andoya's face, "I hate it the most when people call me short, I hate it when people call me short, I hate..."

The scene in front of him stirred something in Ronaldo's heart.

A never-before-felt agitation made his blood boil.

Deng Kai kicking the football at Andoya etched itself in Ronaldo's mind.

He swore, it was the coolest shot he had ever seen!

At that moment, the beast inside Ronaldo, suppressed and bound by Lisbon's towering buildings over and over, was finally summoned.

The beast!

Unleashed!

"Fuck! Don't hit him, hit me if you dare! I told you to stop hitting him!" Ronaldo's eyes reddened as he charged into the crowd, shoving the boys attacking Deng Kai aside like a god descending from heaven, while knocking down the bad boys around him with his fists and shouting, "I hate it the most when people say I'm just a country bumpkin!"

"I hate it the most when people say you're worthy of the name Ronaldo"

"I hate it the most when people tell me to pass the ball..."

Under the glow of the setting sun, the silhouettes of two boys fighting back-to-back were exceptionally beautiful.

From that moment on, they became close comrades-in-arms.