i want to be king

Chapter 95 The Tool Man Pepe

He is a man with a story!

Su Dong looked at Pepe silently, thinking to himself.

After getting along, he felt that Pepe off the court is actually a very good peer.

At least, his character is far less obnoxious than he makes out on the court.

"Can you tell me about your hometown?" Su Dong broke the silence and asked softly.

"my hometown?"

Pepe looked at Su Dong strangely, wondering why he was interested in his hometown.

"Yes, I am interested in everything from the football kingdom." Su Dong said with great interest.

Pepe shook his head and said with a wry smile: "My hometown is not as interesting as football. It is the most economically backward region in Brazil. It is in the northeast. It is called Maceio. By the way, Rivaldo, who plays for Barcelona, ​​​​is also from here."

After a pause, Pepe seemed to start looking for his own memories in his mind, but soon, he smiled wryly again.

"Actually, to tell you the truth, I don't know much about it."

"Why?" Su Dong was very surprised.

"I left my hometown when I was 12 and went south to play in Sao Paulo's Corinthians."

12 years old again.

Su Dong couldn't help turning his head and glanced at the tent behind him. Ronnie inside also left Madeira at the age of 12 and went to Lisbon to receive youth training from the Green Lions.

This seems to be an age node in the youth training system.

"In my memory, Maceio, like other Brazilian cities, has charming beaches, where there are many five-star hotels, and there are many hot girls in bikinis on the beach."

When it came to this, Pepe changed the subject, "But those don't belong to us."

"It's like the top and bottom of Madeira Island. Can you understand the difference?" Pepe asked with concern.

Su Dong shook his head, he still couldn't understand it.

"The mountains of Madeira are full of villages like Falcao. They are like slums. Although there are houses built by the government, the residents drink alcohol and even take drugs. They are okay. In the slums of my hometown Maceio, there are many gangsters. They fight all day long. As far as I can remember, gunshots can be heard almost every day."

Su Dong couldn't imagine that kind of childhood, but he absolutely believed that it must be a nightmare that he would never let go of in his life.

"You know, in Brazil, studying is actually a very luxury. We children like to play football, and we are only allowed to play football at home. I often skip classes, climb over the fence and leave school, and go to the street to play football with children who are five or six years older than me. To compete with them, I have to make myself stronger."

"At the beginning, I played in the community team. They taught me how to play and how to play. Gradually, I performed well. When I was 12 years old, a team from Corinthians in Sao Paulo in the south took a fancy to me."

"You may not know, but this is a very honorable event on our side. My little friends even celebrated with drums and gongs, because they felt that I might become the first professional player beside them, and I might even be selected for the national team in the future and become a superstar."

When Su Dong heard this, he had a vague feeling that it should be like a situation where a child from a domestic family was admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University, and the whole village sent him to school with drums and gongs.

"In Corinthians, I found that I was not outstanding at all. They had countless children like me from all over Brazil. We played football and competed together. Compared with them, I was really ordinary."

At this time, Pepe changed the subject again, and smiled a little proudly: "But you know what? Su, we people in Maceio in the northeast have a characteristic, that is, we can endure hardships and stand hard work. There is a saying in our hometown that only those who endure hardships and stand hard work can be favored by the God of Destiny."

"My parents have always taught me this way since I was a child, and I have integrated it into my blood, so I am very hardworking, practicing non-stop every day, resting when I am tired, and continuing to practice when I am rested, day and night."

Su Dong has also experienced such days, and is even experiencing them now, so he understands.

"Last summer, Maritimo's scouts were in Brazil to select players. They had no money, and they only had one requirement for the players, that is, young, cheap, preferably without transfer fees, and the salary subsidies they gave were pitifully small, but they could promise to give them a hope, a hope of playing in Portugal."

"Deco, who is currently playing for Porto, is the big brother in our Corinthians youth academy. He also came to the Portuguese Super League in the same way. Every year, there are many players who come out this way. Some are very good, like Deco, and some are not good. They went back soon."

Pepe talked about these past events, as if she was talking about a very natural thing, isn't it survival of the fittest and survival of the fittest?
But in Su Dong's ears, this was somewhat too cruel.

"I happened to have no contract with Corinthians at the time, and they thought I was still in good health, so I came to Maritimo, followed them to train seriously, and learned how to play in European football."

"I don't have extraordinary skills, and I'm not as good as Deco. I'm stupid and my brain is slow. My only advantage is my strong body. So they told me that if I want to stay, I must play to my strengths and let everyone see my strengths. Therefore, I have to do my best every game, because I don't know that after this game, there will be no next game."

When Su Dong heard this, he suddenly felt that he might have misunderstood Pepe.

Of course, it's not that Pepe on the court is not annoying, but that Pepe off the court is the real Pepe.

On the court, he is just a tool for struggling to survive and gain a foothold.

"Where's your family?" Su Dong asked.

Pepe smiled, "Actually, I'm better than Ronnie. My father doesn't drink heavily, and no one in my family takes drugs, but our family is very poor. They are waiting for me to send money back every month, so I have to stay because I don't know. If I am forced to return to Brazil, how will my family and I continue to live?"

At the end, Pepe looked worried and sad.

He doesn't have a skill, he can only play football.

If he can't play football, what else can he do?
"Maritimo still didn't inform you to renew the contract?" Su Dong asked with concern.

This is why Pepe wants to come out to work part-time.

Pepe shook her head, "I heard that they are considering whether it is possible to sell us?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's very simple. I came here for free last year, and the salary they gave me was pitifully low. If I were to sell me now, even if the transfer fee might only be a few hundred thousand euros, they took all the money for nothing."

Su Dong understood, "Then what if it can't be sold?"

Pepe smiled bitterly, "Then let's renew the contract. At that time, I can only accept how much they want to pay, otherwise what else can I do? Here, at least there are still games to play. After playing well and becoming famous, you will have bargaining chips, right?"

This is the most realistic professional football.

There is no kindness, no tenderness, just calculations of various interests.

"Actually, you don't have to feel sorry for me, really." Pepe smiled freely, "Most of the people who came out with me only stayed for two months, and the longest was only half a year. I was considered lucky. Not only did I stay, but I also played a few games."

Su Dong was also amused by him, if that's the case, then Pepe is indeed lucky.

Suddenly, Pepe took a deep breath, stood up, walked forward, came to the guardrail of the viewing platform, looked at Funchal in the south, and roared as if exhausting all her strength.

The echo echoed for a long time.

"Don't worry, Sue, we Maceio people have never been so easily defeated. I will continue to persevere until the day I succeed, because I always know that playing football is not only about my love of football, but also to make my family no longer poor!"

Su Dong came to his side, listening to his sonorous and powerful voice, he seemed to be speaking to Su Dong, but also seemed to be speaking to himself, to encourage himself.

"Believe me, Pepe, you are a player with great strength and potential, and you will definitely succeed."

Su Dong's words are not false.

He has competed with Pepe on the court and also practiced in private. It is hard to judge his strength, but from the feedback of the Road to King system, the system rewards Su Dong and Pepe with 500 points for each matchup, which is quite high.

Based on this, it can be predicted that Pepe's strength and potential are definitely not simple.

After hearing this, Pepe turned around to look at Su Dong, grinned and laughed, "You too, Su, you and Ronnie are both younger than me, but you have already played in Sporting Lisbon and performed well. You have more prospects than me. More importantly, you work harder than me and work harder than me. You will surely succeed!"

"Then in the future, if we are all successful, please invite us to go back to your hometown, live in those five-star hotels, meet those hot beauties on the beach, and eat the best food in Brazil." Su Dong suggested.

"No problem." Pepe readily agreed, "However, I guess you will succeed one step earlier than me, so let's go to China first."

Su Dong laughed and nodded.

He felt luckier than Ronnie and Pepe.

At least he can study in China, and he doesn't live in that kind of slum that fights all day long, and there are no such messy things in his childhood, which makes him feel warm.

For the first time, he felt proud and proud of his motherland from the bottom of his heart!

…………

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In the early morning of the next day, the three watched the sunrise at the highest peak, and had breakfast at a nearby hotel before going down the mountain the same way.

At Santana, the three of them headed west along the north coast, south from San Vicente, and into the mountains again.

When they arrived at Tabua, it was still a little early, so the three of them did not take the car, and continued to walk eastward in eleven rounds.

By the time they returned to Funchal, Nuno Cruz had also returned from Lisbon.

After hearing the experience of the three, the personal trainer was speechless again and again.

"What three lunatics!"

(End of this chapter)