Chapter 25: Old Ma’s Medicine Ball and the Moral Trial of the Electric Baton Kid?

"Right! Klaas, as soon as Lin drops back to receive, you and Raul immediately move toward the center!"

"In this situation, our overall formation must stay outside the center circle!"

"Hao, you can move up appropriately!"

"Baum! You stay back!"

"................."

On the training pitch of the Schalke 04 first team, Magath was patiently explaining the tasks required for the new formation to each member of Team A.

It was only after Magath announced that Schalke would be playing a 4-3-3 formation before training began that Lin Hao gave up his idea of going to buy a stun baton later.

No wonder Huntelaar, who had previously looked at him with a guarded expression, had suddenly taken the initiative to greet him.

So... Magath was actually thinking about getting him a "concubine"!

"Alright! Continue!"

Magath's voice rang out.

Team A's new formation trials resumed.

Just as Magath had said, when Lin Hao dropped back to receive, Huntelaar immediately moved toward the center, while Raul observed the positioning of Team B's defense and made various runs forward.

Surprisingly, with two players in the front court, Lin Hao was pleasantly surprised to find that his options had increased significantly!

With a sharp cut of his left foot, after Raul drew the attention of Team B’s center-back, Lin Hao boldly sent the ball into the penalty area toward Huntelaar, who had already switched into sprint mode.

With his speed, physicality, explosive power, and shooting technique all in their prime, Huntelaar easily squeezed past the other Team B center-back and blasted the ball home.

"Yes! Beautiful!!!"

Magath applauded from the sidelines.

Huntelaar, having scored his third goal of the scrimmage, walked over to Lin Hao with a... well... a somewhat awkward smile on his face and gave him a high-five!

"Lin, remember the gathering tonight! Oh... I invited Hao as well, by the way!"

Not only did he high-five him, but Huntelaar also sneaked a whisper into Lin Hao's ear...

Hiss!!!

It’s over!

That sneaky feeling immediately made Lin Hao think of something troublesome.

In his memory, Huntelaar was a Dutch model harvester; his current girlfriend, Doutzen Kroes, was a Victoria's Secret Angel!

Lin Hao was a very upright person, and he had been training very seriously lately. How could he let such messy thoughts disrupt his training plan?

After weighing the pros and cons, Lin Hao finally made up his mind, put his arm around Huntelaar, and said!

"Um... does the gathering require formal attire?"

...........................

Magath was a very... very stubborn man.

Once he decided to do something, he was the type to dive in headfirst, and no one could dissuade him.

The new formation required stamina above all else; Magath had been clear about that from the start.

So, after the morning training session, Magath finally bared his vicious fangs.

The entire team of 28, including the "Golden Buddha" Raul, had originally planned to head to the locker room for a shower after the scrimmage.

Unexpectedly, staff members drove a small truck onto the side of the training pitch.

"Oh! My God! No!"

Upon seeing the truck and those green balls on it—which still gave many of them nightmares—Neuer, the captain who had suffered the most, was the first to cry out.

It wasn't just Neuer; Metzelder, Rakitic...

"Has the old man gone mad? We have a match on the weekend!"

"God, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight!"

"Damn it, I'm the fourth-string goalkeeper! I haven't played in two years; is this trying to kill me?"

"Uh... Boss, I have a stomachache..."

All the veterans of Schalke 04 looked on in despair.

Of course, the three newcomers—Raul, Lin Hao, and Huntelaar—didn't react much.

"Medicine balls, also known as weighted balls!"

"The origin of the medicine ball can be traced back 3,000 years, when Persian wrestlers used them to exercise their bodies."

"Raul, Huntelaar, and Lin! This is your first time encountering medicine balls, so your training load will be reduced to half of the others!"

They hadn't thought much of it, and since Magath had said their workload would be halved, Raul even smiled and talked to Lin Hao about having dinner together later.

However...

Soon, the three newcomers realized why even Neuer had cried out to God!

"Raul, how many is that? Keep going! Everyone else is doing eight sets of shuttles; are you already unable to move after just three?"

"Lin! Faster! This is the seventh one!"

.................................

Long before Lin Hao was promoted to the first team, he knew that Magath was the world's most infamous coach for his insane physical training.

But during this period, perhaps because the team was in a recovery phase, Lin Hao had felt that Magath wasn't all that bad.

However, after an afternoon of medicine ball training, Lin Hao finally understood what it meant to be so tired that you couldn't get "anything" up.

Even with the halved workload, Lin Hao was aching all over.

As for Brother Raul, who had been talking about dinner?

He had already begged the team doctor to take him for physiotherapy as soon as training ended!

Dinner?

Under Magath’s special care, Brother Raul even felt like he was about to meet his maker.

"Lin! It's all set up... hiss..."

In the locker room!

After washing up, Lin Hao ran into Huntelaar, who was also wearing a pained expression.

"Klaas, how about..."

"Don't! Lin, Klaas is being very kind. He’s new here and doesn't know many people; how can we refuse him? We are all teammates; we should help each other!"

Lin Hao, who was aching all over and just wanted to refuse, was surprised to see Hao Junmin—who had trained twice as much as him—dragging his broken body over to say this firmly.

"Brother Hao..."

Damn...

Looking at Brother Hao's look, as if refusing would be a betrayal to the nation and the people, Lin Hao could only helplessly agree.

Because Huntelaar had previously said it was just a small gathering of friends, Lin Hao and Hao Junmin went straight to the villa Huntelaar rented in Gelsenkirchen in casual wear.

After all, he was a multi-million-euro star; Huntelaar's living conditions were incomparable to those of Lin Hao and Hao Junmin.

Private pool, independent gym, private small pitch, private cinema...

After the tour, Lin Hao couldn't help but think about whether he should rent a villa like this once he earned more money.

Of course, what Lin Hao wanted wasn't the luxury; he had his eye on that private small pitch.

All he thought about now was continuing to grind training points so he could reach the 85-rated star level as soon as possible.

However...

No matter how ambitious his plans were, they all vanished the moment Huntelaar's girlfriend, Doutzen Kroes, and her two female colleagues appeared.

There was no helping it!

Who could have guessed that Doutzen Kroes would bring...