Chapter 30: There Is a Price to Pay for Keeping Others From Their Meal!

"I declare Haller the number one striker in the Eredivisie!"
"Letting me have the penalty kick? Fine, I'm definitely buying your jersey today."
"Awesome, a brace! Even if the first one was a gift."
"Not entirely a gift, right? Tang Ye created that penalty himself; he deserves credit for it!"
"3-0, feels great. If we score another, we're taking off."
"Brothers, I've earned five hours of livestream time from this match. How about you guys?"

The "Bean Warriors" in the live chat were generally very excited. The reason was simple: the conservative fans who only bet on Utrecht matches hadn't lost a single time. With five joyous consecutive wins, these fans were on the verge of shedding their "Bean Warrior" status. After today's qualifying round, it was estimated that dozens of viewers in the stream would be promoted to "Bean Gods."

"Clap, clap, clap!"
Ten Hag clapped on the sidelines. Leading by three goals, the coach was naturally happy. However, he wasn't as happy as one might expect. Knowing full well what he had said to Tang Ye earlier, Haller had still handed off the second-half goal to him.

*Does my reputation as Erik ten Hag mean nothing to you!*

In the 75th minute, the fourth official held up the substitution board, replacing both Tang Ye and Van der Maarel.
"Tom!"
"Tom!"
As Tang Ye slowly walked off the pitch, the thousand-plus fans in the away section cheered in unison.
Van der Maarel patted Tang Ye on the back. "How does that feel?"
Tang Ye didn't turn to look at him; his eyes remained fixed on the fans as he spoke in broken Dutch.
"I love this feeling!"

...

"Peep, peeeeep—!!!"
The match ended. Having switched to a defensive stance after the 3-0 lead, Utrecht didn't score again. Since Sneek also failed to find the net, 3-0 remained the final score.
"Utrecht!"
"Utrecht!"
The away fans continued to cheer, and the Utrecht players on the pitch began to applaud. This applause was for themselves, and also for the fans. 3-0 might not have been against a powerhouse, but it was Utrecht's first clean sheet of the season so far.

...

Back in the locker room, Ten Hag offered some brief encouragement to the players who had performed today. While speaking, he was actually feeling a bit uneasy. Tang Ye was only 16, and based on Ten Hag's understanding of the kid, he didn't quite grasp social nuances. Ten Hag was afraid Tang Ye would confront him about the second-half goal situation.

But Tang Ye didn't approach Ten Hag; he was busy celebrating with his teammates. For a 75-minute appearance, Tang Ye had earned 30 "Counterattack Points" (including a 10-point bonus for the brace), minus the 5 points spent on Vardy's Red Bull. That was a net gain of 25 points!

Haller and Barazite hoisted Tang Ye off the bench and swung him back and forth like a swing set. Tang Ye didn't feel scared; instead, he raised his right hand and shouted.
"That's it! This is the right way!"
Ten Hag walked over to him. "You should celebrate when you score. Tang, it was wrong of you not to celebrate your previous goals and assists."
"I know, I know!" Tang Ye laughed. "I'm celebrating right now!"

...

After the match, Tang Ye received an 8.6 rating in the *Utrecht Evening News*. His one goal and one assist covered up the fact that he had covered very little ground. Thanks to those two goals, Tang Ye was also named Man of the Match.

"Where's my trophy?"
Before stepping onto the pitch for the press conference, Tang Ye threw the question he had been harboring at Ten Hag.
"What trophy?"
Tang Ye held his hands apart, forming a cylindrical shape. "You know, the trophy every Man of the Match gets."
"That's for the MVP. Do you even qualify as the MVP?"
Ten Hag rolled his eyes at Tang Ye and began reciting his match stats: "Distance covered: 4.2 km. Tackles: 4 attempts, 0 successful. Aerial duels: 1 attempt, 0 successful. Oh, what perfect stats! Tang, you really are something else."
Ten Hag stepped forward, right in front of Tang Ye. "4.2 kilometers. Do you know who you performed 'better' than?"
"There are people who ran less than me?" Tang Ye's eyes lit up. "I felt it earlier—I was running the whole time!"
"Ruiter (the goalkeeper) and Luyster (the goalkeeper) covered less distance than you; they both hit 3.6 km." Ten Hag nodded and placed a hand on Tang Ye's shoulder. "Yeah, you're quite impressive."
"..."
"But that shouldn't stop me from getting a trophy, right?" Tang Ye hadn't won a single trophy since coming abroad, and today was the closest he had come.
"Keep dreaming. There are no MVP trophies in the Dutch Cup until the quarterfinals." Ten Hag dropped a cold truth. "If you want an MVP trophy, wait until you're the best player in the league."
"..."
Tang Ye shook his head. "Forget it, then."
"What!? Can't you be a bit more ambitious? You should be telling me you're going to become the MVP of the Eredivisie!" Ten Hag hated players without drive. He wanted to give Tang Ye a piece of his mind, but it was time for the press conference, and they couldn't be late.

...

"Erik, and... Tang." The female reporter struggled with the pronunciation of "Tom." "Tang, congratulations on being named Man of the Match. By the way, I have to remind you that you broke a record today!"
*Wow?* Tang Ye raised an eyebrow. *I broke a record? Damn, am I really that good?*

Tang Ye rubbed his hands together. "Just playing my normal game. So, what record did I break?"
The female reporter smiled. "You are the player with the shortest average distance covered per minute in Dutch Cup history for a non-goalkeeper position. You averaged only 56 meters per minute."
"..."
Tang Ye didn't say a word. When the reporter had shouted "Tang" earlier, he thought she was a fan. Turns out, the woman was a hater!
"Well, I was actually trying hard to run. This is shameful, I'll do better next time." Tang Ye rubbed his head awkwardly.

Ten Hag stood by, pretending to be serious, but he was delighted to see Tang Ye get humbled. However, his smile didn't last long.
"Mr. Erik, our reporter at the Utrecht training ground says that Tang has indeed been eating at the second-team cafeteria."
"An first-team player eating in the second-team cafeteria... Mr. Erik, doesn't that seem a bit unreasonable?" The reporter pointed her spearhead at Ten Hag.
Previously, when the *Utrecht Evening News* claimed Ten Hag wouldn't let Tang Ye eat in the first-team cafeteria, Ten Hag had denied it. But these reporters weren't pushovers; they had immediately found footage. It was a candid video! From breakfast to dinner, Tang Ye had eaten all three meals with a second-team player named "Zaka."

The situation was clear: if Ten Hag didn't explain why he had exiled Tang Ye from the first-team cafeteria, he would definitely be cyberbullied by the fans. But Ten Hag wasn't panicked at all. He had a perfectly good reason!
"Tang's performance in training isn't active enough. That's why I sent him to eat with the second team. It's a disciplinary mechanism for players with a poor training attitude."
"Are you saying Tang has a terrible training attitude?"
"Yes. Even though he won Man of the Match today, I must admit this fact. I have always been very strict with players who train half-heartedly."
"But..." The reporter paused and pulled out her phone. "Mr. Erik, could you take a look at this video?"
*Huh?* Ten Hag turned his head. *What did these paparazzi catch this time?*
He didn't know until he looked, and he was truly shocked. *Damn it, Tang Ye was hiding outside the training pitch doing push-ups!*
"You said Tang's training attitude was lazy, but this video... how do you explain this?"
Under the reporter's questioning, Ten Hag felt like he was facing an enemy army. He turned to look at Tang Ye, who was holding back laughter.
*There’s a price to pay for not letting someone eat!*