Midnight
-----
Ajax's preparation training began after the winter break.
The captain, Van Der Vaart, who won the European Golden Boy Award, was more active than before, as if he was silently declaring his role as a leader.
Qin Xiong did not feel uncomfortable training a strong team day by day.
And he became a "coach" after training every day, supervising Snede's additional training with Heitinga.
This was Snede's request.
It gave Qin Xiong the opportunity to "bully" Snede with Heitinga.
January 21st, 2004.
Four days later, Ajax would play against Nijmegen at home.
Today's training was the same as usual, nothing special.
However, Qin Xiong seemed absent-minded during training, not even in the mood to chat with his teammates.
Especially at the beginning of the afternoon training, Comain noticed Qin Xiong's strange state. He specifically called Qin Xiong in front of him and asked if he was feeling unwell.
Comain's importance to Qin Xiong was obvious to all. In the second half of the season, the health and condition of all Ajax's main players was the top priority in the head coach's mind.
Qin Xiong did not slack off. He completed the training tasks arranged by the coaching team as usual.
It was just that he seemed melancholic and lonely.
In the face of Comain's concern, Qin Xiong did not tell the truth. He just shook his head to show that he had no problem.
Yes, even if there was a problem, it would only be for a short day today.
Maybe no one in Ajax knew or cared that today was China's New Year's Eve, the eve of the Chinese New Year.
Due to the time difference, when the afternoon training started, in China, it should be the time when every family gathered together to eat New Year's Eve dinner and watch the Spring Festival Gala together.
In the past few years in Qin Xiong's hometown, every Spring Festival, Jiangcheng's youth football family would organize a lively New Year's Eve dinner. A group of children would gather together to watch the Spring Festival Gala, eat and drink to their heart's content and joy.
In the past, he might not have felt that it was special, especially since it was the same every year. It had become a habit and there was no surprise. Besides, Qin Xiong did not have many friends over there.
But in the end, it was a special festival, and there was a group of people celebrating together, so the atmosphere was still there.
When this kind of festival that had lost its surprises came again, Qin Xiong, who was far away in Europe, felt an irrepressible sense of loneliness.
After training, the other teammates left one after another. Qin Xiong also returned to the locker room to change into casual clothes. He carried his shoulder bag and returned to the training ground.
Snede was still doing extra training, running with weights.
Heitinga stood to the side with his arms crossed in front of his chest, pretending to be imposing as he supervised him. Qin Xiong walked over to greet him and said, "I'll be leaving first today."
Snede caught up with Qin Xiong and pushed his shoulder. With a serious expression, he said, "Hey, did you get into trouble? If you have something to say, we'll help you solve it. "
Under the prosperity of Amsterdam, monstrous crimes were also hidden. For someone like Qin Xiong, who had left his hometown to come here, there was a small probability that he would run into trouble.
Qin Xiong shook his head and said to him, "I'm fine. You continue with your training. I'll supervise you again tomorrow. Don't worry, it's really fine. "
Qin Xiong smiled at Snede and waved at Heitinga again. He walked out of the club.
By the time he walked back to Ward Street, the sky was already dark.
Qin Xiong returned to his apartment and lay on his back on the big bed.
His phone suddenly rang. Qin Xiong picked it up and saw that it was a number from Germany.
He thought of a person, an old friend who would only contact him via email once a month.
After picking up the phone and hearing the voice on the other side, Qin Xiong's guess was right.
"Brother Yi, what's the matter?"
Liu Yi, a China player who played for Nürnberg in Germany, had the same background as Qin Xiong. They both came from Jiangcheng's youth football family.
"Qin Xiong, today is New Year's Eve. Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year. I want to ask you how you're going to spend the Spring Festival."
"The team has to train. Spend it as usual."
"Well, Pengfei just called me. He wants us to get together in Europe and spend the holiday with each other."
Zhang Pengfei, who had the same background as them, now played for Marítimo in Portugal.
Qin Xiong was surprised after hearing this. "He's in Portugal. That's very far from us."
"He said that as long as we decide to spend the holiday together, he will ask for leave from the club."
Germany and the Netherlands shared a border. The distance was very close and the transportation was convenient.
But from Portugal to the Netherlands or Germany, they had to cross half of Europe.
Qin Xiong thought about it and said, "Forget it. We came to Europe to play football. Work is the most important thing. Don't ask for leave from the club for the holiday. Let him stay in Portugal. If we want to get together, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."
"Well, okay, that's what I meant too. But you also know Pengfei's character. He likes to mess around. By the way, are you coming back next month? "
"Probably not. Next month, there's a European match."
"Well, that's understandable. Good luck, I should go back. The situation in the Nuremberg league is good. As long as we don't screw up, we may compete in the Bundesliga next season. Alihan called me and asked me to come back next month to represent the national team in the qualifiers."
"Okay, good luck to you too!"
After hanging up the phone, Qin Xiong got up to open the door. He had heard someone knocking on the door just now.
Freddy entered the room and closed the door. When he saw Qin Xiong lying back on the bed, he frowned and asked, "What's wrong? You don't want to go? "
This morning, they had said that they would go to Chinatown in the evening. The overseas Chinese would also hold a New Year's Eve celebration.
Qin Xiong lay on the bed and said lightly, "It feels very strange. I don't know a Chinese person, but I insist on participating in their activities. It feels really strange."
Freddy sighed. Drifting outside was like this.
He understood Qin Xiong's feelings very well.
In the past, he had gone to China alone because of the generous remuneration offered by the Tang Group. During the important holidays, he was still alone. Later, when there were more foreigners and everyone was familiar with each other, he felt a little better during the holidays.
Just then, there was another knock on the door.
Qin Xiong straightened up and looked at Freddy. Even the landlord, Luttmanson, rarely knocked on the door. There were no guests in his apartment at all.
Who was outside the door?
Qin Xiong went to open the door. When he saw Sylvia and George standing outside, he was very surprised and asked, "Why are you here?"
Sylvia was holding George's hand, and in her other hand was a three-layer thermal lunch box.
The two siblings walked into the room with smiles on their faces. They looked at each other and then smiled at Qin Xiong. "Happy New Year!"
Qin Xiong was stunned.
The two siblings spoke in a very awkward but warm Mandarin.
Sylvia let go of George's hand and lowered her head to cover her mouth as she smiled. She seemed to know that her Chinese was strange and was a little embarrassed.
When she raised her head again, she put the thermal lunch box in her other hand on the table in the room. She turned around and smiled at Qin Xiong. "At Christmas, you said that China's New Year's Eve ends during the winter break, so I did some research. I also asked some Chinese classmates and confirmed that today is similar to our Christmas Eve. It's a very important holiday, so George and I are here to celebrate with you. Oh, I heard that China has the custom of eating dumplings on New Year's Eve, so I tried to make some myself. If it doesn't taste good, please don't laugh at my cooking."
Qin Xiong was dumbfounded and stood rooted to the ground.
His whole heart seemed to have melted at this moment.
Looking at the pretty Sylvia and the cute George who was grinning at him, Qin Xiong seemed to have a thousand words stuck in his throat. He didn't know what to say.
Freddy looked at the situation in the room, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. Then, he left silently.
Qin Xiong suddenly felt awkward because his apartment was too small and there were no furnishings. There was only one chair.
So he could only sit on the edge of the bed and put the chair in front of him. George sat there and swung his legs happily, urging Qin Xiong to try the dumplings made by his sister.
The dumplings brought by Sylvia looked good. Qin Xiong ate them without caring about the taste. He was filled with gratitude.
However, Sylvia didn't bring chopsticks. She used a fork … It didn't affect him much.
"Let me have a taste. Sister doesn't allow me to eat when she's done."
Qin Xiong held a plate in his left hand and a fork in his right hand. He fed George a dumpling. George's expression was strange as she ate. She probably wasn't used to it.
Sylvia stood in front of the table in the room with her back facing the bed. She casually picked up the sketchbook on Qin Xiong's table and flipped through it. Suddenly, her face turned red.
Because there were too many sketches of her in the sketchbook.
She didn't dare to turn around.
Qin Xiong ate the dumplings and happily introduced to George how the Chinese celebrated the Spring Festival.
The loneliness that lasted for a long time during the day dissipated in an instant.
Maybe this New Year's Eve wasn't lively at all, and he didn't eat and drink to satisfy his appetite.
But he was very happy.
Was there a touching feeling that could be remembered for life?
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