Chen Yingxiong scored in two consecutive games, and he found that some media had begun to follow him. For example, he often saw a few familiar reporters asking him questions after training.
These reporters were the ones who had previously followed the team to away games to interview and report on the game, and they had all seen Chen Yingxiong's performance back then.
He'd scored in two consecutive games.
That should prove that he was not just lucky, but had real talent.
These reporters were professional journalists who had been covering football for many years. They were experienced and had seen countless so-called rising stars who had risen briefly, as well as those old but strong players who stayed around for a long time. They could tell what type of player Chen Yingxiong was.
He started two games in a row and scored goals, and they were both crucial goals. That wasn't all, the strength he showed in the match against Vladivostok Light Energy - he almost completely dominated the penalty zone.
The defenders and midfielders of the Vladivostok Light Energy team were like dwarfs in front of the jumping Chen Yingxiong. They had no choice but to look up and watch.
The goal scored by Arshavin was the best example of this. At that time, the two central defenders of the Light Energy team, Sheshukov and Shtanyuko, sandwiched Chen Yingxiong in the middle and double-teamed him. This defence was very tight, but what was the result? Chen Yingxiong still headed the ball despite the interference of two people.
It hadn't been just a simple header either. It had been a threatening one.
Otherwise, the goalkeeper of the Light Energy Team, Roma, would not have punched the ball out, instead of catching it. If he had held it directly, there would have been no follow-up shot by Arshavin. It was because Chen Yingxiong's header made it difficult for Roma to save the ball that he had to choose to kick the ball out, giving Arshavin the opportunity to make a shot.
Therefore, any qualified football journalist who watched this game already understood Chen Yingxiong's ability and...his significance to this Zenit team. Advocaat had just taken office and was not yet firmly established. What he needed was results and his own subordinates. For this reason, even though he was ridiculed by the media as a "Korean", he had brought in three Korean players in one go.
Chen Yingxiong was promoted to the first team and was allowed to prove himself. With such a strong centre to support him, Advocaat's work in Zenit would be much easier.
Therefore, as long as Chen Yingxiong's condition was not too bad, he would take the position of the main centre until Tekke returned from injury.
As for what would happen after Tekke recovered from his injury...he may have to face some new competition...
Therefore, in the coming period, Chen Yingxiong would be one of the focal points of the team, at least as long as he could continue to score goals. But what made the St. Petersburg media feel ashamed was that such a big person had scored two goals in front of them and performed well... But they still didn't know the origin…
Every day there would be roars in the editorial office. "Where the hell did this guy come from?!"
"I want his detailed information! Detailed information! You guys know what 'detailed' means, right?"
"Nonsense, of course, I know he's Chinese! So what? There are more than a billion Chinese! But why is he the only one playing for Zenit?"
"We have found the president of the Federation of Chinese Associations in St. Petersburg. He knows a lot about the Chinese in St. Petersburg, but even he doesn't know where this Chen Yingxiong came from... What can we do?"
…
Ruilongjuli, with its big red lanterns hanging high, seemed a little deserted. The part-time Russian college student waiters stood in the lobby bored. It was not yet lunchtime, so there were not many customers.
However, Ren Tianhua, the owner of Ruilongju, didn't care about this. He was reading the local newspaper in St. Petersburg. This was his daily pleasure.
In fact, he had seen a report about Chen Yingxiong in a local newspaper in St. Petersburg a week ago. Although the media only wrote that this person was called "Hero Chen", Ren Tianhua did not react at first. Later, he realized that "Hero" was probably the boy who'd eaten here all those weeks ago.
He went back and read the news again. It said that Chen Yingxiong started in a match in the Russian Premier League yesterday and scored the only goal of the game.
Now everyone was guessing where Chen Yingxiong came from and how he come he ended up in Zenit St. Petersburg.
Of course, Ren Tianhua didn't know the answer to these questions. He and Chen Yingxiong had only talked about them once, and he didn't ask in detail. He just chatted about family matters. As for why Chen Yingxiong came here to play football and how he got here, he didn't ask. Asking too many details in the first meeting could easily lead to misunderstandings.
However, he did not expect to see news about someone he knew in the newspaper so soon. This made Ren Tianhua interested in Chen Yingxiong, a person he had only met once.
In the beginning, it was just because there was a Chinese person among a large group of Russians. He was not a special person except that he was very enthusiastic and liked making friends.
But that was all. Chen Yingxiong never came to the restaurant to eat again. He had to entertain so many guests every day, many of whom were regular customers, and he gradually forgot about Chen Yingxiong.
Now I saw him again, I didn't expect that he would be in the newspaper.
You know, there are not many Chinese people who can be in the local Russian newspapers in St. Petersburg, especially with a positive image like this…
He began to pay attention to all the news about Chen Yingxiong.
Another weekend later, he saw an articleabout Chen Yingxiong again. From the report, it could be seen that this young man scored a goal again. Ren Tianhua was not a fan, but he still understood the basic principle - consecutive goals indicated a good level, only people with strength could score goals, otherwise, why were good strikers so famous?
He really hadn't expected that his little compatriot would perform so well.
But what he found amusing was that a week had already passed, and the media in St. Petersburg still didn't know who Chen Yingxiong was. Apart from a huge name and two goal records, he had nothing else. Very mysterious.
Ren Tianhua also had a local Chinese newspaper in St. Petersburg, the Chinese Community Newspaper, but it did not mention Chen Yingxiong at all. When it comes to sports, the Chinese were not very sensitive. Chinese newspapers were full of information about studying abroad, investment promotion, and advertisements for Chinese restaurants recruiting chefs, as well as some small articles from the Internet similar to the style of Reader's Digest, and also report on the activities of local Chinese organizations.
That was all.
Seeing this little brother scoring goals one after another, Ren Tianhua also became interested in watching Chen Yingxiong's game...
He didn't know much about football, but he could naturally gather the enthusiasm to cheer for a compatriot.
…
After the training, Denisov gathered the members of the eating, drinking and having fun group together again.
"I have found a location for the second event!" he said to the other three people.
"Where?" asked Anyukov.
"It's the Katyusha you mentioned last time."
"Hehe." Anyukov laughed. "I told you, that place is good!"
"But I have to tell you... Don't drink like last time. We are going out to have fun, not to pass out!" Denisov warned. Last time, the four of them got drunk and made fools of themselves in front of their teammates. It was really embarrassing, and no one wanted it to happen again.
"Oh, last time it was because..." Anyukov explained.
"Don't explain! Don't drink too much! Sober up! Even if you want to get a room, you have to hug a woman, not..." Denisov didn't say anything else.
Whenever he thought about it, he felt that this was a stain that would never be washed away in his life.
The other three people obviously shared the same opinion as him, so no one mentioned what happened that day.
The four of them took a shower in the locker room, changed into their clothes, and prepared to leave for Katyusha.
Except for Chen Yingxiong who was dressed too casually, the other three looked like male models. Denisov was the most exaggerated, wearing a shiny silver casual suit.
Professional players were people who paid special attention to their image, so even when they came to the training ground to participate in training, they were dressed very formally and would never come in just sportswear. If they were to be photographed by reporters... their handsome image would be completely ruined.
Only Chen Yingxiong didn't understand these rules and didn't have any fashionable clothes in the first place, so he wore a black and white plaid shirt on the upper body and a pair of dark blue slim jeans. His feet were even more casual... a pair of Converse canvas shoes.
Sitting in the back seat of Kerzakov's black Mercedes-Benz ML500 SUV, Denisov patted the back of the front seat vigorously and said, "Let's go!"
"Katyusha girls, the masters are coming!!"
The four perverts howled with excitement.
…
Anton Boris was a photographer for St. Petersburg Life, a local tabloid. He planned to come to Katyusha to relax and find a girl tonight. As a man, his needs in that area were always endless.
This street was a famous red-light district in St. Petersburg. The signs of various nightclubs along the way were dazzling. If you come to such a place for the first time, you would definitely be stunned by the scene. But who was Boris? He had been to this place countless times. On the one hand, he has his own needs, and on the other hand, he could always meet some celebrities here. As a gossip reporter, as long as he could take pictures of these celebrities, he would make money.
The street was busy as usual tonight, and the parking lots were almost full.
Boris finally found a parking space and was about to back in when he suddenly heard a sudden sound of brakes from behind him.
Boris looked back and saw a black Mercedes-Benz ML500 SUV sliding into the empty parking space he had chosen in a beautiful and arrogant manner...
"Damn it!" Boris angrily slammed the horn on the steering wheel.
But he stopped cursing immediately because he saw the person getting out of the car... He was a fan of Zenit St. Petersburg, so of course he knew all of Zenit's main players...
The driver's door opened, and Alexander Kerzakov came out, and in the passenger seat was Alexander Anyukov. The rear door opened, and Denisov came out... and the mysterious Hero who had been regarded as a shame by the entire St. Petersburg media in the past two weeks was also there!
His experience as a professional gossip reporter made him realize that he might have caught a piece of news with this parking incident!
He quickly picked up the camera from the passenger seat.
Hiding in the car, he took a lot of photos of the four Zenit players. In the camera, the four people gathered together and said a few words, then walked straight to the magnificent gate of Katyusha!
Let you take my parking space, damn! I will expose you!
Boris pressed the shutter button fiercely and cursed in his heart.