Just like that, Tang Long joined the first team of Inter Milan.
He discovered that his teammates had different reactions to his arrival.
The one who welcomed him the most was Bonazzoli.
Although Tang Long declined to hop the fence with him to the nightclub that day.
But ultimately, Bonazzoli was a young player of a similar age to him, and the two shared quite a few common topics.
This rising star forward in Italy's youth national team was extremely bored in the dormitory at the base.
On those nights when he wasn't hitting the clubs—after all, his youth team contract worth 50,000 euros post-tax a year couldn't support nightly clubbing—Bonazzoli would run to Tang Long's room to chat.
"Tang, you're so weird! What are you doing sitting here like a wooden man, hmm, Tang, can you hear me talking?"
"Tang, are game videos that fascinating? I'm not like you. Besides training and matches, I don't want to think about football-related things for even a minute!"
"Tang, can you tell me why Mancini chose you? A contract worth 400,000 euros a year, my goodness, if I had 400,000 euros, I'd definitely rent a place in Milan and move out, hitting on 10 girls in one night!"
Aside from the carefree Bonazzoli.
Inter's third goalkeeper Berni was also very welcoming to Tang Long!
Seated next to Tang Long on the Inter team bus, Berni spent his career mostly in Italy's lower leagues.
Fortunately, he was a product of Inter's youth training, the club purely bought him back for European War registration, to count him toward the youth training quota.
His strong point was waving towels, a bright scene on the substitute bench!
He waved hard and fiercely, with the sound whistling like a tiger's roar, causing the others around him to turn sideways, fearing they'd get swatted by his towel!
This profession also made many Inter fans envious.
Who wouldn't want to earn 500,000 euros a year and watch games free every week from the bench?
It's practically a dream job!
Uncle Berni had another crucial responsibility, managing the locker room's music style.
He followed a rock route, with a bald head and a big beard, often blasting loud American rock music, dum-dum-chick-dum-dum-chick~
Causing dust in the locker room to fall down.
According to him, it's to get the teammates hyped and excited before the match!
"Haha, Tang! Getting to the first team so quickly, I must've underestimated you before. You're bound to become a big star in the future!"
"If you want extra shooting practice after training, just call me, I'll be your goalkeeper accomplice!"
Besides Bonazzoli and Berni.
The Japanese player Yuto Nagatomo also extended a warm welcome to Tang Long!
Starting from a high school team back home, he entered the J League, then less than half a year at the weaker Serie A team Cesena, caught Inter's attention, and transferred for 450,000 euros in January 2011.
In three years at Inter, Yuto Nagatomo worked diligently, humbly learning, using his super sturdy stamina to make up for his physical disadvantages, gradually becoming the main right-winger for Inter.
On Tang Long's first day in the first team, Yuto Nagatomo even bowed deeply to him!
"Tang, thank you for the wonderful pass in the game against Genoa, although they all say you got lucky, the shot turned into a pass, but I know without your contribution, it's impossible for me to assist Icardi with that killer goal!"
Although Yuto Nagatomo spoke very politely.
His bow was a solid 90 degrees, body almost parallel to the ground.
Tang Long was a bit shocked at first, thinking this guy was too enthusiastic towards him!
But he soon realized, this Yuto Nagatomo bows at all times every day...
Even scoring a simple goal in training, he'd bow deeply to the assister.
He'd also bow to the field manager, lawn mower, gate watcher.
Even when making a phone call, he'd nod and bow slightly.
"Arigato, arigato!"
Aside from these three.
Inter's captain Ranocchia was quite dutiful, often asking if Tang Long needed help.
Most of the others kept an indifferent working relationship.
Apart from communication during training, rarely speaking of anything else.
Which is understandable, as in Europe where football is highly commercialized, football is just a job for many players.
It's work, relationships with colleagues are neither lukewarm nor disagreeable, completely understandable.
However, Tang Long noticed that in Inter's locker room, a few people seemed to show hostility towards him!
They'd never talk to him.
When walking towards him, they'd deliberately avoid eye contact.
Especially that Colombian, Gualin, who'd even deliberately make big tackles on him during training, causing other Inter players to stare.
"Gualin tackled you in training? This guy is a troublemaker; he was unhappy with the former coach, Mazzari, now Mancini is here, probably to set him straight."
On a street in Milan, outside an open-air cafe, the bright sunshine reflected in the coffee, sparkling with an unusual luster.
Tang Long and Berni sat relaxed on the chairs chatting.
A white pigeon flapped its wings, landed on the table, with tiny green bean-like eyes, staring at the bread crumbs on the plate.
Berni waved his hand, shooed the pigeon away, "Gualin is like this pigeon, he's watching you because you took his thing."
"I can understand, being substituted in the last match must've been a humiliation," Tang Long said, "but besides Gualin, Medel, Little Juan, Jonathan seem to have issues with me too."
Berni smiled meaningfully, sipping a coffee.
He pointed at the coffee cup, speaking to Tang Long:
"The coffee is exquisite, I love coffee, but coffees from different places have different flavors."
Berni looked around, making sure no one was paying attention to them, then leaned in closer to Tang Long, showing four fingers.
"You're new here, unaware of locker room dynamics, let me tell you a bit."
Berni narrated with eloquence.
Inside Inter, there were four major cliques.
The most powerful was the Argentine clique.
Since Moratti's era, Inter maintained a tradition of collecting Argentine players.
This season, there were Icardi, Palacio, Oswaldo, Campaniello, Caliso five Argentinians in the team.
Next was the Italian local gang.
Captain Ranocchia, Dambrosio, Andreolli three members.
Inter's former South players also clung together, forming the Former South Gang.
Members include Handanovic, Kovacic, Mavic, Korshin four players.
Lastly, led by Gualin was the South American gang.
"Let me tell you, Tang, although Argentina is also in South America, their group stands alone, not fully integrated with the South American gang.
Inter's South American gang comprises mainly of Colombian Gualin, Chilean Medel, Brazilian defender Little Juan, Brazilian wing Jonathan four players.
Though Gualin is quite brash, having played for many years, he's not foolish.
He knows your arrival is Mancini's deliberate attempt at dealing with him, therefore, Gualin will bring his South American gang together to be hostile against you!"