Chapter One: The Downfall of the Cowherd

  July 12, 2014, Brazil World Cup final at dawn.

  Rio de Janeiro, capital of Brazil, favela Zero Point Bar.

  It should have been a vibrant and extraordinary eve of the final, but here it was eerily quiet, in stark contrast to the football feast.

  No wonder, although this place is also part of Brazil, rich people don't come here to consume, poor people at this time have already hidden in their quilts watching that broken TV, those who haven't left are all drunk dead on the big streets outside.

  "Hao Nan, there's a guest. Are you going to see them or not?" The voice was somewhat abrupt, and the sound of a quacking duck suddenly rose up, with a hint of excitement.

  "Alright, it's not open yet tonight, how can I not accept? As long as it's not the first mother pig, I'll acknowledge anything!"

  Responding to this was a young man sitting across the bar, with black long hair and yellow skin, his face handsome, and a hint of excitement flashing in his melancholy eyes.

  He wasn't even this excited when he was counting a thick stack of banknotes just now, but as soon as he heard this, he got energized.

  No way, the whole night, just collecting soccer betting fees from those gamblers, he collected from 50 to 60 people, and the total was less than 500 riyals, not even enough for him to spend a night with a woman...

  Fifty or sixty people sounds like a lot, but if each person only bets ten or twenty reais, it's just a few hundred reais. It can be imagined how poor the people living in this area are, even when they gamble, they only bet one or two reais.

  According to Chan Ho-nam's meaning, it is not even enough to fill the gaps between teeth, and it is not even enough to buy a tonic in a pharmacy.

  "Hmm...I really don't know, the data shows that it's a high-level VIP, and the price is not cheap, 500 riyals for an overnight stay." The bartender had also been waiting all night, this broken bar didn't have many people coming and going, usually just earning some spare change from poor people's drinks. If it weren't for its connection to the big hotel, it would probably have gone bankrupt already.

  What is meant by "hanging up" is naturally a door-to-door service. Of course, this kind of door-to-door service is not a young lady, but a cowherd...

  The difference between a young lady and a gigolo is that beautiful girls are everywhere in Brazil, but to find top-notch gigolos? Big hotels have to cooperate with small shops like 58 doors. Heroes don't ask about their origins, after all, among the common people, there are only gigolos. And Zero Point Bar is obviously one of the suppliers.

  Despite that, the requirements of a cowboy are also extremely high. Physical health is fundamental, and secondly, it's the cowboy code: to be called to battle, to win battles, to win repeatedly, to grow stronger with each battle, only then can one be considered a true cowboy...

  "Overnight?! Brother, are you trying to kill me?! This high-end place is just for rich pigs, if I die in bed, will you support my family?! The key point is that these rich women love playing rough, they must play tongue-in-cheek and other stuff, once or twice is fine, but every time... Wow... I'm going to vomit."

  Chen Haonan casually tossed the thick stack of tickets to the bartender, then took out a suit from behind the counter, along with a dark red mask.

  Trees need bark, people need makeup, doing this line of work naturally requires dressing up a bit, although it doesn't sound dignified, but looking dignified is a must, so a suit is necessary, as for the mask, it's naturally to cover one's ears and eyes...

  Every line has its own rules, and the Cowherd is no exception, protecting ** is equally important.

  "So are you going to take it or not? 500 riyals is enough for you and your family to eat for half a month!"

  "Haven't you seen me putting on clothes? I'm receiving... wait a minute, is it a boy or girl?"

  "Girl..."

  Chen Haonan sat at the bar all night, not getting a single order, and even counting his meager capital was pointless. Just when he was about to give up and go home in despair, he heard some good news from the part-time madam - the bartender. He couldn't help but get excited, although he felt uneasy about those high-class women. But thinking about the 500 riyal income, and his own bitter life, he agreed to take on the job.

  One Brazilian real is roughly equivalent to three Chinese yuan, and it's easy to imagine how rich his earnings will be tonight. Poor people don't know how to get along with money, let alone a sixteen-year-old boy.

  Like him, the bartender was also happy. He had business and the bartender naturally had a commission. A 20% commission, that's 100 riyals. In fact, Chen Haonan only got 400 riyals in his hand.

  "Help me put a thousand riyals on Germany to win, I'll buy dinner if Germany wins. And tonight, anyone who puts money on Brazil to win in the store will get it all back from me!"

  After handing over the address book, Chan Ho-nam dropped his last sentence.

  He said Germany won, referring to tomorrow night's Brazil vs. Germany, the final of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

  In Brazil's home stadium, Chen Haonan unexpectedly bet on Germany winning the game.

  "Be careful or you'll even lose your son, and by then you'll have become a monthly payment yourself..." The bartender reminded him with concern from behind.

  As soon as Chan Ho-nam stepped out of the door, a young woman sat down in the seat he had just occupied. It was clear that she had overheard his conversation with the bartender earlier.

  "Is that handsome young man just now doing the red sock line?"

  The bartender was pleased with himself tonight, finally having a decent income. Who would have thought that there were still customers coming in? He didn't even lift his head as he replied:

  "Hmm, you have a keen eye for this. You must be quite knowledgeable about it. Are you looking to make a purchase? It's a great value."

  The young woman tucked a stray lock of black hair behind her ear, revealing a smooth oval face and slightly parted cherry lips. "First, bring me a cup."

  The bartender took the money from her slender fingers and only then looked up at her, with a start.

  Isn't it? So young and beautiful, yet interested in Chen Haonan? It seems that the world has changed. Middle-aged women would normally flock to him, but even elegant and refined beauties like you are also... How can this be? You don't look like someone from a poor family around here either. Could it be that you're unaware of the going rate, your hormones are out of balance, and you specifically came here to find a man?

  Out of habit as a semi-professional pimp, he half-believed and half-doubted that the woman in front of him was connected to those middle-aged women, but he only thought about it for a moment before dismissing it.

  The girl in front of me is a typical oriental beauty, about 10 years old, with a round face like a goose egg, black eyes, skin as white as snow, and eyebrows that are like a painting. She's an absolute stunner, exuding the aura of youth, it's simply impossible.

  "Isn't this guy asking for trouble? Everyone thinks Brazil will win, why does he think Germany can take the championship? This is Brazil's home turf! Has he gone crazy?"

  The beauty sipped her wine cup, drank it in one gulp, and still unsatisfied, handed the wine cup back to the bartender.

  I thought the beauty was coming for Chen Haonan's good looks, but it turned out to be about football again. The bartender couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "This is not necessarily true, I've seen Haonan gamble for so many years, and he rarely loses, especially in such an important match, he must have made the right bet. Of course, I still want to bet on Brazil winning, who made me a Brazilian? Who would believe his so-called inspiration! If Brazil loses, I'll skin him alive!"

  The bartender poured wine while slowly saying, his words full of expectation and trust for Brazil.

  "It's really ridiculous, a cowherd buying football is so powerful, why does he do cowherding? It's nonsense." Obviously the beauty thought the bartender was talking nonsense and didn't believe his words at all, with a face full of disdain.

  "You don't know his amazing skills, it's just that everyone has an off day sometimes." The bartender also had a disdainful expression, sticking to his own thoughts, "Didn't you see him drop a bundle of money for me earlier? Just one bundle, only a few hundred yuan, can he get rich from gambling? He doesn't dare to gamble big, just small bets to pass the time. If he wasn't carrying such a heavy burden, how could he be so down on his luck..."

  "What's the phrase?"

  "This is a long story, Haonan is an unlucky kid, grew up in a poor neighborhood, somehow got involved with a girl, last year the girl brought a crying baby to his face, said it was his, Haonan didn't even do a DNA test, just took the child in, and acknowledged him as his own. But that's not the worst part, at the beginning of the year, his adoptive father who raised him suddenly fell seriously ill, lying in the hospital on the verge of death, Haonan had no choice but to take up this oily profession... he's only 16 years old this year..."

  The wine keeper started his old habit again, as long as there were customers who mentioned Chen Haonan's related information, he would first tell the story of Chen Haonan's miserable experience, in his opinion, this could win the sympathy of the buyer and might even get a more generous reward. Apparently, he was introducing it out of habit this time again.

  "This handsome kid is so talented, what a pity..." As he spoke with emotion, the bartender poured himself a glass of wine and downed it in one gulp. Then his triangular eyes sneaked another glance at the young woman, his eyebrows slightly rising, thinking to himself that Hao Nan was probably going to get lucky this time, this kind of girl wouldn't even need to be paid, she'd pay him instead...

  It's a painful thing for a flower to be inserted with a lot of cow dung every day, but one day it was inserted by another flower...

  Sixteen years old! At that age, I was still in high school and had a crush on someone. Who would have thought that others are so miserable? At sixteen, he's already become a father and has to sell himself to raise his child and parents. Sigh... why do people live such different lives? As a rich second-generation kid, I'm indeed blessed...

  "Looking at his appearance, he should be a Chinese descendant! He has no other way to go, and he must do this?" They are all yellow-skinned, so the beauty naturally has an innate good impression of Chen Haonan.

  "Hey, this is Brazil, the slum kids don't read or write, unless they go into drug trafficking, what other way out do they have? In my opinion, if I were young again, I'd also do it. Besides, he doesn't do that, and really can't make ends meet, just the milk powder money is already a burden, let alone supporting his adoptive father. This kid does have a hobby though, playing soccer isn't bad, riding a unicycle, probably even Robinho himself would admit defeat. But in this country of Brazil, there are as many soccer players as dogs, what's more, he's Chinese? Actually it wasn't that miserable, he used to be a somebody!"

  Now that the conversation has started, the bartender is not stingy with a few more sentences: "Actually, when he was young, his skills were truly unmatched, and in the slums, he was a famous little player who had even won the Brazilian National League Youth Championship and Best Player award!"

  "Huh? And then?" The bartender's words seemed to have piqued the young woman's interest, and she couldn't help but ask further, her expression seemingly very curious...

  Later, of course, he was invincible in the slums, think about it, on this barren land, how many heavenly stars were born, even alien Ronaldo struggled out from here, to be able to conquer a world here, you can imagine how awesome he is?" The bartender spoke with great pride, as if he was talking about a legend, not just a football player. Of course, he didn't need to explain who Ronaldo was, after all, in Brazil, who doesn't know football?

  "What's next?" The young woman became more and more excited, asking continuously.

  Coughing, the bartender coughed once and didn't continue speaking, his two eyes staring at the empty cup in the woman's hand.

  The young woman smiled and then ordered another glass of wine.

  The bartender cleared his throat and continued talking with a smile on his face:

  "When he was 15, the youth team upgraded to the junior team, his speed of 100 meters was still 18 seconds. You know that the speed requirements for the youth and junior teams are two completely different concepts. This 18 seconds in the junior team is like a rabbit racing with a turtle, what kind of football can you play with this speed? Although his technique is very strong, how many Brazilians have strong techniques? Without speed, he can only play bedroom sports..."

  The bartender said this with a deep sense of sympathy, and also took pride in the Brazilians. His words were quite blunt: "Hao Nan chose this profession, actually the income is not bad at all. Isn't there an ancient Chinese saying 'laugh at poverty, not at prostitution'?"

  "Is there such a strange thing? Then he's really miserable, more miserable than Messi, the current number one star in football... No, when Messi had dwarfism and was covered by Barcelona, he was still miserable. Logically speaking, athletes' motor nerves are so developed, even if they're slow, they can still play a position, but how can he play with this speed? In short, his leg explosion force is almost zero?"

  The bartender was surprised after hearing the beautiful woman say that, his expression was like saying "You also understand football?" "Okay! I didn't expect your analysis to be so insightful! That's right, the kid's calf explosion is very poor, medically speaking it's muscle atrophy, but it seems not to be..."

  "You've never eaten pork, but you must have seen a pig run, right!" The beautiful woman secretly despised the bartender in her heart, thinking to herself that she knew more about football than this lecherous bartender. But she continued: "How did he get in touch with him? Looking at his hasty departure tonight, he should be booked for tonight. I'll book him for tomorrow night!"

  After waiting for so long, the bartender finally got the message he wanted. Regardless of whether this beauty was curious about Chen Haonan or really wanted to spend a night with Chen Haonan, she had made her move. As long as she had made her move, that was all that mattered...as long as there was money to be made...

  "Uh... it's 1,000 riyals for an overnight stay, but you're a beauty, I'll give you a discount of 800 riyals... " The bartender said this with a very lewd expression, and didn't forget to raise the price by 500, calling it a discount.

  "What's wrong with you! Do you think I'm an outsider? The price here is at most 300 riyals, don't try to cheat me!" Unexpectedly, the beauty raised an eyebrow and directly rejected the bartender, as if she were a regular customer.

  Uh... didn't expect you to be someone who understands the market?! The bartender was startled, but didn't want to back down: "Beautiful woman, don't you see what kind of market it is now? During the World Cup final! How many people have needs?! The London Olympics used up 300,000 condoms in one night, let alone the Brazil World Cup! Look at my store, it's not bad, this is a franchise of the top hotel in the capital... Of course, if you want something like me, I'll give you ten reais, but I don't guarantee the quality...

  The wine conservator's boasting has reached the sky, anyway, whatever he says is not entirely false, indeed, in this line of work in Brazil, there are many buyers but no goods.

  "Four hundred riyals, do you want it or not." The beauty wouldn't fall for that, but due to professional needs, she really took an interest in Chen Haonan and finally added another hundred riyals.

  "Sold!" The bartender saw the good and collected, he didn't want to wait until this time tomorrow night to sell Chen Haonan again... Chen Haonan was on his way to the hotel, he wanted to know that the bartender had rented him out again, I don't know whether to be happy or depressed, this body is tossed around every night, really don't know if it's good luck or bad luck...

  What kind of world is this? The bartender swayed the 400 riyal in his hand, standing in front of the bar for a long time without speaking. Until now, he still didn't understand why such a beautiful woman would come to find a cowherd.

  "Chief Editor, I just found some great material at a bar in Pingmin Cave, it's absolutely top-notch content!" The beautiful woman had barely stepped out of the Zero Point Bar when she eagerly pulled out her phone and called the Chief Editor of Sports Weekly in Brazil. After hanging up the phone, she looked embarrassed, realizing it was already dawn. The Chief Editor's scolding words made her stick out her tongue...

  The arduous struggle of Chinese football teenagers in the Football Kingdom? The magnificent years of a Chinese genius teenager in the Football Kingdom? A draft that seems to be about to take shape, and it's going to be a long one. Of course, that will have to wait until after I finish interviewing Chen Haonan tonight...