Chapter 85 Hua Fang

Now, going to the reader service department in the school every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to buy the latest issue of *Sports Weekly* has become a fixed and indispensable part of Sophie's life. Because Zhang Jun and Yang Pan came from U University, their performance in the Netherlands naturally touched the hearts of U University students. Therefore, as the most detailed report on the two, the manuscripts sent back by Li Yan and Wang Hua in each issue occupy two pages; as the first reporter in the country to conduct exclusive interviews with Zhang and Yang, Li Yan has gained the trust of the two as friends; the most gossipy sports newspaper, it is said that Li Yan even has photos of the two sleeping. *Sports Weekly* is always snapped up as soon as it arrives on campus.

In order not to miss the three weekly appointments with Zhang Jun, Sophie always arrives early at the reader service department behind the cafeteria to wait.

Sophie took the new newspaper, her eyes focused on Zhang Jun's photo on the newspaper, and she saw the red bracelet at a glance. It was a talisman she had woven for him herself, sent to him for Zhang Jun's birthday, and told him in the letter to wear it to avoid injury.

Yesterday, she received a call from Zhang Jun, and she knew what was written in the newspaper without even looking at it. She just wanted to see Zhang Jun's photo, to see Zhang Jun sweating, to see his excited smile. As long as Zhang Jun keeps scoring goals like this, she will be able to see him in newspapers and news reports.

The Cowherd and Weaver Girl separated by thousands of miles use this way to fight against the barriers of time and space and maintain their longing.

Hua Yang stood somewhat blankly on the streets of Amsterdam, with a delicate Louis Vuitton suitcase beside her feet. Looking at the people coming and going on the street, the endless stream of traffic, she didn't know where to go. For the first time, she had a feeling of being abandoned. The day before yesterday, she was still in Hong Kong, but today she was standing on the streets of Europe.

The sun was bright, the breeze was gentle, there were few clouds, the sky was blue, the Netherlands, Amsterdam...

After a long time, Hua Yang picked up her suitcase and wandered aimlessly. No direction, no goal, just keep walking down this road. When she felt tired, she realized that she had reached the front of Amsterdam Central Station. There were many people here, bustling and noisy, and everyone was just a passerby. There was a bus stop in front of the train station. She walked over and looked at the signs on the bus stop: 110, destination, Volendam.

There happened to be a 110 bus parked by the platform. Hua Yang looked at the bus, then at the bus stop sign, and finally picked up her suitcase and stepped on.

The bus seemed to be waiting for her. Seeing her get on, the door slowly closed and drove away.

Life is like a journey without station announcements or station signs. No one knows when the next stop will arrive, what its name is, or what kind of scenery it has. You only see countless things flashing past from the window, and you miss them before you have time to take a closer look. When you get to the station and look back, you can't see anything clearly except for the vast sky and earth. Some scenery is very beautiful, but you didn't grasp it and missed it. What a pity.

Hua Yang leaned her head against the car window, blankly looking at the fleeting scenery outside the window, until the scenery in front of her no longer receded. Only then did she come back to her senses and found that she was the only one left in the carriage.

"Miss, this is the last stop," the driver said to her politely in English.

This is a scenic, tranquil and peaceful town, with Dutch-style boats docked by the river, and flowing clouds in the blue sky drifting over the red rooftops. A place that can make people feel happy, Hua Yang's wandering and frustrated heart felt a little better.

Since she's here, why not enjoy it?

Hua Yang bought a copy of the local English newspaper, but unexpectedly the headline on the front page was a football news: "Volendam Defeats Heerenveen 2:1 at Home..." Below was a photo of the game, a player wearing an orange-yellow jersey was dribbling past a player, and behind him, an opposing player was sitting on the ground.

In Hong Kong, football is a very popular sport, and Hua Yang also knows some football-related knowledge. She read the full text carefully and found that two Chinese players helped the home team defeat the powerful visiting team in the game.

There are actually two compatriots in the local football club. Hua Yang was a little interested and decided to go and take a look.

During today's training session, Adriannse was a little absent-minded. Zhang Jun and Yang Pan have been in good form recently and have been playing steadily. They are the number one contributors to the team's rising performance. But the better Zhang Jun and Yang Pan performed, the greater the worry and pressure in his heart. Just now, Hoorns finally took the initiative to propose signing a new contract with Zhang Jun and Yang Pan. However, the conditions offered were not high, at least there was still a gap between the players' salaries and those of other Dutch clubs, although this was already the decision Hoorns, that cheapskate, made through gritted teeth.

Now, the only advantage is that the two of them don't have professional agents yet. The club should be able to coax the two inexperienced kids into signing the contract. Although he felt a little unwilling, Adriannse knew that letting the two stay was for the good of the club and for his own good. Therefore, sometimes he needs to use unscrupulous means.

"Hey, Li Yan, we read your article *How Can Jiao Dragons be Confined to a Pond*, it's well written. But why do you think the two will leave Volendam after a year?" A colleague, seeing that there was nothing good to see on the training field, turned to chat with Li Yan, who was on the side.

"If Zhang Jun and Yang Pan continue to develop at this rate, they will receive transfer invitations from European giants in less than a year. Isn't that obvious? Young stars in the Dutch league will eventually take this path," Li Yan replied.

"That's right, but the problem is, we heard that Volendam intends to offer the two a new contract, and the benefits will be improved..."

"No matter how high it is, can it compare to the Dutch Big Three led by Ajax? Can it compare to the European giants?" Li Yan was a little disdainful. "After Hiddink learned that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan had trained in the Eindhoven youth team for a period of time, he almost strangled the poor youth team coach to death. I heard that he has been wanting to find a good partner for Kezman."

"Indeed, compared to those teams, that little bit of treatment is nothing. But the real problem is that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan don't have agents now. Do you think two twenty-year-old kids can deal with the businessman Hoorns?"

Hua Yang, who was watching the training on the side, was moved by the reporter's words. After nearly ten years of hard work in the business world, she has developed the ability to never let go of any information. In her opinion, those things that outsiders think are useless may become a hen that lays golden eggs in the future.

Through the extensive reports in the newspapers, she has roughly understood the potential value of the two Chinese teenagers. As the reporter said, European giants will compete to send them invitations in the future, and their future is limitless. But at this time, they don't even have an agent! It's like two glittering gems that have fallen on the ground but no one picks them up. God!

In an instant, Hua Yang found a goal in her life and swept away the haze in her heart just now. Life is like a journey without station announcements or station signs. No one knows when the next stop will arrive, what its name is, or what kind of scenery it has. Hua Yang thought her journey had come to an end, "Miss, this is the last stop," just like the driver said to her. But she didn't expect that when she got off the bus, she found that the outside was suddenly bright, a place with singing birds and fragrant flowers and beautiful scenery appeared in front of her, and she saw the light again!

Life is indeed full of drama...

Li Yan was still arguing with the reporter, while Hua Yang had quietly left. She knew what to do. She likes those two inexperienced kids the most, hehe!

Zhang Jun and Yang Pan looked at the beautiful woman in front of them with some surprise, "Are you saying that you want to be our agent?"

Hua Yang nodded.

"But how can you make us believe you? You haven't even told me your name..."

Hua Yang smiled very kindly: "My name is Hua Fang, I'm from Hong Kong. I have a Harvard MBA and have very rich business experience. I have briefly worked as an agent... Most importantly, we are all Chinese. Compatriots won't harm compatriots, will they?"

Zhang Jun only felt that the woman who called herself "Hua Fang" had a very approachable smile. Her smile was different from Sophie's. Sophie's smile was as clear as the blue sky and white clouds, as bright as the sun, and very pure. And Miss Hua Fang's smile was very mature, with a kind of mature gentleness that made people feel very warm. Zhang Jun couldn't say which was better.

"Well, I think we need to discuss it. After all, finding an agent is a big deal. So, can we give you an answer tomorrow morning after training?" Yang Pan said to Hua Yang.

"Okay, I'll wait for your answer at the training ground tomorrow morning," Hua Yang said goodbye with a smile.

After Hua Yang left, the two returned to the restaurant to continue their unfinished dinner.

Yang Pan pulled out a chair and sat down: "Zhang Jun, do you think she's trustworthy? She suddenly ran over and said she wanted to be our agent, spoke fluent Mandarin, but said she was from Hong Kong and had a Harvard MBA... There are so many people looking for us to be their agents these days!"

Zhang Jun shook his head: "Those things she said can be faked, but I was particularly impressed by her smile. I think people with that kind of smile shouldn't be bad people."

Yang Pan thought for a while while holding the fork: "Although what you said sounds like a line from a manga... But I still believe your intuition! Hehe, your intuition has never let me down."

"That's right, when have I ever wasted your cross?"

"Hey! You'll be brilliant if I give you a little sunshine, and you'll flood if I give you a little flood!" Yang Pan knocked Zhang Jun's head with the handle of the fork.

"Ha! Stop it, let's eat, it's getting cold!" Zhang Jun touched his head and buried himself in eating.

Yang Pan looked at the noodles in his plate: "So, we'll agree to her tomorrow noon?"

"Um..." Zhang Jun replied with noodles in his mouth.

Hua Yang opened the Lv travel suitcase, took out all the things inside, and then put them back one by one.

Clothes, passport, she only has these things. Looking at the interlayer in the suitcase, she reached in and took out a worn envelope. The envelope was upside down, and a photo slipped out of the envelope. Hua Yang looked at the photo on the ground in surprise, and then hurriedly picked it up as if awakened.

This is a yellowed photo, and the original color is gradually fading away. Hua Yang looked at the photo in her hand. Grandma has been dead for three years, and her smile has faded like this photo.

...

"Grandma, I'm the eldest lady, why do I still have to do this kind of thing as folding the quilt?"

"Yangyang, do you think a person who can't even fold their own quilt can manage a company well?"

...

In her memory, grandma always had a stern face. In today's terms, she was very cool and fierce to Hua Yang. She hated grandma when she was a child, but now she knows who is really good to her.

"Grandma, I will start a new life tomorrow. Please don't call me Yangyang anymore, my name is Hua Fang."

After the morning training, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan found Hua Yang, oh no, it should be Hua Fang now.

"Miss Hua Fang, we discussed it last night. You're right, we are all Chinese. We have no doubts about you, you can be our agent," Yang Pan said to Hua Fang.

"That's great!" Hua Fang showed her smile that impressed Zhang Jun, "I will prepare a contract tomorrow. You can sign it if you have no objections, and our relationship will have legal effect."

The reporters found that Zhang Jun and Yang Pan did not leave after training, but were talking to a beautiful woman on the sidelines.

"Wow! The players have just become famous, and there are already scandals!" A reporter raised his camera, skillfully adjusted the focus, and then pressed the shutter, "Click! Click!" He took more than a dozen photos.

Seeing this, the other reporters naturally didn't want to be left behind, and they all pressed the shutter non-stop.

Only Li Yan and Wang Hua didn't move. "A bunch of idiots, it's a loss to the Hong Kong entertainment industry that you didn't go to the Hong Kong paparazzi!" Of course, he only dared to say this in his heart, otherwise it would definitely cause disputes between various newspapers and the sports world.

Wang Hua looked at Li Yan. Li Yan knew the truth about "Zhang Jun and Yang Pan having a close conversation with a mysterious beauty after training." As long as he made a phone call, Zhang Jun would tell him everything, so there was no need to join in the fun here. He stretched and deliberately said loudly: "Let's go, Wang Hua! The training is over, and there's no news to dig up! Let's call it a day!"

Adriannse handed over the morning training to Sterl, and he and Hoorns were sorting out the contract, anticipating the questions the two Chinese teenagers might ask, and then studying the answers to ensure nothing went wrong. Then Adriannse estimated that the training was about to end, so he hurried to the training ground to call the two to sign the contract. But he found an oriental woman standing next to Zhang Yang, and the three were chatting happily.

Although he didn't know what they were talking about, Adriannse suddenly had a bad feeling. He walked closer to the three and said in Dutch: "Zhang, Yang, the new contract is ready, go and take a look, and then sign it." He saw Zhang Jun say something to the woman next to him in Chinese, and then the woman immediately turned her face and smiled at him.

"Mr. Adriannse, I am Hua Fang, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's new agent." Fluent and standard English, coupled with a proper smile, "Now my clients have fully entrusted me to handle the signing of the new contract with the club, please contact me directly if you have any questions."

When he heard "new agent", Adriannse's heart skipped a beat. The thing he least wanted to encounter happened. Judging from the woman who called herself Hua Fang's dress and demeanor, she must be a shrewd and capable person. That contract...

"Sir?"

Adriannse came back to his senses and found that Hua Fang was still looking at him with a smile. "Uh, okay. Well, Miss Hua Fang, please come with me." No matter what, he could only bite the bullet at this point. "Zhang, Yang, you two come too."

When he saw Hua Fang following behind Adriannse, Hoorns looked at Adriannse with a puzzled expression.

The coach had to explain to the boss that this beautiful woman was Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's new agent, and that she was fully responsible for the signing of the new contract.

Hearing this, Hoorns' facial expression immediately changed, showing great disappointment.

Hua Fang had been observing the chubby club owner ever since she came in. When she heard Adriannse's introduction, his disappointment was beyond words. A low-level opponent, Hua Fang gave Hoorns this evaluation in her heart. No wonder his hotel is only a bit famous in a small town like Volendam.

Disappointment is disappointment, the contract has been placed on the table, and Hoorns has no choice but to bite the bullet like Adriannse.

Hua Fang took the contract and looked at it very carefully. In fact, she only glanced at the contract and understood it all. She had seen too many contracts like this. The purpose of her doing this was to increase the time of silence in the room, put pressure on the other party, and pave the way for her next performance.

After a long time, Hua Fang raised her head, her beautiful face was a little disappointed, and she said to Hoorns in English: "Sir, how should I put it? I am a little disappointed that the treatment offered by the club is completely inconsistent with the performance of my two clients. A weekly salary of 1,400 euros is considered to be in the middle and lower reaches of the entire Dutch league, but I think Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's performance can already be among the top of the league, right? Moreover, there is no goal bonus and no assist bonus. Furthermore, the contract period is as long as five years!" Hua Fang raised her voice a little, "I think this is also a very unreasonable point."

"Miss Hua, you should know that Volendam is a small club, and we don't have a strong financial foundation. Therefore, in terms of treatment, this is the best we can offer. The weekly salary of Butler, the team's number one star, is only 2,400 euros. If Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's salary is too high, it will cause dissatisfaction among other young players in the team," Hoorns defended.

"But, as far as I know, the highest-paid young player in the team is not Zhang Jun and Yang Pan, but Kozel, who is on loan from Ajax, with a weekly salary of 2,300 euros, right?" All of these things that Hua Fang said were temporarily asked of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan on the way here. She couldn't fight unprepared, could she? Sharpening the gun before the battle, it's still effective.

Hoorns initially thought that the other party was just a woman and wouldn't be very powerful, but he didn't expect that every question she asked with a smile made him sweat. "Uh, that's true, that's true. But..."

"But, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan are Chinese, right? Chinese and Dutch people can't enjoy the same treatment, right? Sir, I think you have a tendency of racial discrimination..."

"No! No! Miss, you misunderstood! I don't mean that!" Being labeled with the hat of "racial discrimination" was not what Hoorns wanted.

"Then what do you mean, sir?" Hua Fang pressed him step by step.

"Well, I mean, can we all give in to each other?" Hoorns' fighting spirit had begun to fade.

"Give in? How to give in? This is related to the vital interests of my clients." Hua Fang raised her eyebrows, her heroism was compelling.

"Uh, weren't you dissatisfied with the contract period just now? We can shorten the contract period, but the weekly salary... we really can't do anything about it." Hoorns shrugged and spread his hands.

Hua Fang cursed in her heart: Idiot! He doesn't have a clear understanding of Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's strength yet. If I were you, I would rather increase the weekly salary and try to find a way to extend the time the two stay in the team. But it's good now, which is exactly what she wants. Hua Fang turned her head and asked Zhang and Yang in Chinese: "He agreed to shorten the contract period, but the weekly salary can't be increased anymore. What do you think?"

Zhang Jun looked at Yang Pan, and they both understood each other's inner thoughts: their goal is the top European league.

The two nodded to Hua Fang, "The weekly salary is not important, the contract period should be shortened."

Hua Fang smiled at the two of them, then turned her head back and said to Hoorns: "Sir, my clients have agreed to your proposal, but there are still conditions. We require that it be stated in this contract that the contract period is two years, that is, from December 25, 2002 to December 25, 2004. During these two years, starting from the next season, if any team in the top five European leagues approaches my clients, the club is not allowed to stop them, and they must not ask for liquidated damages."

Hoorns' mind "buzzed". A two-year contract, the two can leave whenever they want, are they treating this place as a park? And they can't ask for liquidated damages! He worked so hard to cultivate him... did he work hard for nothing? Give away the star he worked so hard to cultivate with both hands?

"No! No! This is not possible!" Hoorns was a little excited. It is said that fat people have a wide heart and a big body, but this fat man seems to be a special case. "A two-year contract period is too short, at least three years! In addition, the last one is completely unreasonable!"

Seeing the boss get angry, Zhang Jun was still a little scared in his heart, but Hua Fang always looked at the other party with a smile. After the fat man finished spitting, she slowly said: "Very good, you're right. Then we can refuse to sign the contract now, and then I will go back and contact the Dutch league and even the clubs in the top five leagues. I think with Zhang Jun and Yang Pan's strength, it shouldn't be a problem to find a bigger club, and I know that the liquidated damages that the club set when it signed the contract with the two clients were not high, right? Eindhoven and Ajax should still be able to afford these liquidated damages, right?"

Hua Fang said these words with a smile from beginning to end, and at a moderate speed. That tone was not like refusing someone, but like casually chatting. But Hoorns was uneasy, and this woman hit the nail on the head in every sentence.

Adriannse had not spoken all the time, sitting on the sidelines watching the fight. This woman is indeed very powerful, it seems that Hoorns has no choice. Although he is older than her, it is best not to be an enemy of her.

After a period of silence, Hoorns stood up very painfully: "Okay, I agree to your request."

On the way back to the apartment, Zhang Jun asked Hua Fang: "Well, they won't regret it when they sign the contract tomorrow, will they?"

Hua Fang smiled slightly: "They dare not, because they have no choice. If they don't agree, you can leave immediately, but the winter break is coming soon. I saw in the newspaper that many clubs are already paying attention to you. After Christmas, that fat man won't see you anymore. If he agrees, at least you will stay in Volendam until the end of this season, and it is possible to win a title for the team!"

"Title?" Zhang and Yang looked at each other and then laughed.

"What's wrong, did I say something wrong?" Hua Fang didn't understand.

"Miss, do you know anything about football?" Yang Pan asked Hua Fang while covering his stomach, "Volendam is a small team that has to struggle to stay in the league, so what are you talking about titles? Haha!"

"Yeah, yeah! I was scared by the way you were talking in front of the negotiating table just now..."

Hua Fang also smiled: "Haha! Why not? Football is round, what can't happen? Why is the championship always a matter for those few teams?"

Zhang Jun and Yang Pan stopped laughing, and they looked at each other. Are kings, dukes, generals, and ministers born with a silver spoon in their mouth? Who would have thought that Zhang Jun would score a goal as soon as he came on the field? Who would have thought that he would stage a hat trick in the second game? Who would have thought that Volendam would actually reach the top eight in the cup? Football is really round...