Godfather Of Champions

The Forest Team, who returned to Nottingham, did not go back into preparatory mode again. Tang En kindly gave the team two days off. In the span of two days, they did not have to train and the players could do whatever they wanted. Even if someone among them wanted to engage with a prostitute, Tang En couldn’t care less.

Originally, the two days of vacation were not part of their plan. But the matter with Ashley Young and the rest had reminded Tang En of something. 20 days of focused training could allow his players to put their minds completely to prepare for the new season. Other than training every day, it was even more training. While the benefit of doing this was greatly increasing the tacit levels of understanding within the team—something they had already tested in the Amsterdam Tournament—the side effect was that it made the players’ moods terrible. Especially because Tang En enforced a rule of no-contact with their wives and girlfriends during the training period, a lack of a sex life was too difficult to bear for this group of men filled with youthful vigor.

That was why Ashley Young did not care about Tang En’s repeated warnings and took the risk of running out to search for some excitement.

Everything had a cause and effect. From this matter, Tang En remembered that he should allow the players to relax at suitable times.

As such, on the day they returned to Nottingham, Tang En announced the decision to tremendous cheers from the whole team.

“Be careful,” Tang En reminded. “Two days from now, I hope to see a group of energetic players, not pitiful bugs that were wrung dry.”

Loud guffaws erupted inside the coach.

After they sent off all the players at the gates of the club’s training grounds, only Tang En and Dunn were left.

“Two days of vacation… what should we do?” Tang En raised his hand to look at his watch. It was 4:21 in the afternoon.

“Let’s head home,” was Dunn’s answer.

“Oh, god…” Tang En rolled his eyes. “Are we going to watch match and training recordings for two days? Haven’t you watched enough of them in the Netherlands?”

“What else can we do?”

Tang En rolled his eyes again but truly could not think up anything else to do. They were not like the players who had wives, girlfriends, or lovers. In the two days, their schedules would surely be arranged very substantially. What about themselves? Surely, they couldn’t partner up to find prostitutes together, right?

He himself had just criticized his players for visiting prostitutes. If he was caught by the media again, his words would mean nothing to his players.

So, that sort of thing must not be done.

After thinking about it, Tang En sighed in despair. “Let’s go home.”

At that point, his phone started ringing in his pocket.

Upon seeing the identity of the person calling, Tang En appeared extremely happy.

“Shania!”

Dunn glanced at him when he heard Tang En’s voice suddenly rising.

“Yes, I’m back. You… What, you’re in London?! Didn’t you go to Italy and France to develop your career on that side? Why did you return? Oh, a commercial… sure, sure. I’ll definitely go. When is it? Tomorrow? No problem. Funny, I was just fretting over what to do for my two days of leave.”

Although the call had ended, the smile on Tang En’s face was still hanging there.

Dunn took a glimpse at him and said, “Tomorrow, you’ll go to London. I’ll stay at home.”

“Let’s go together!” Tang En invited him enthusiastically.

Dunn knew in his heart that the trip would mean nothing if he went too.

“No. I’ll help you to prepare the information you’ll need in the new season. You have fun.” He turned and walked to the gates.

Behind, Tang En lowered his head to look at his cell phone before hurriedly chasing after him.

“You’re really not going? Shania hasn’t seen you in a long while…”

“It’s not me she wants to see. And, I’m really busy.”

“What a pity…”

The next day, Tang En took Landy’s cab to the hotel in London where Shania was residing.

Meeting up with a famous model in Europe, Tang En naturally took some precautions; he wore a pair of dark sunglasses and dressed casually to avoid attention.

Tang En had only knocked on Shania’s room door, and the girl came leaping out to hug him. “Uncle Tony!”

“Woah!” Tang En jumped. He was sorely afraid that there would be paparazzi outside snapping pictures of the scene. He hastily hugged Shania to him and rushed in before kicking the door shut.

“Alright, alright… You’re still like a kid.” Tang En patted Shania’s back, signaling for her to come down.

“In your eyes, aren’t I one?” Shania asked coyly, not wanting to come down.

“You’re now a famous model in Europe… no, a world-famous model…”

Realizing that Uncle Tony suddenly went quiet, Shania then noticed he had an awkward expression. She smiled secretly to herself and jumped off, finally letting off the tremendously awkward Tang En off the hook.

“Uh… you’re the only one staying in this room?” Tang En looked around the spacious guest room. Other than the bedroom, there was even a living room. It was a suite.

“Should I still be sharing a room with someone else?” Shania sat on the sofa cross-legged.

Tang En nodded his head in sudden realization. The current Shania had already ascended into the ranks of international models. Naturally, the treatment she received correspondingly rose with her status.

“Where’s your agent?”

The doorbell rang from the back.

“He’s here.” Shania pointed at the door.

Tang En went over to open it.

“Mr. Tony, hello!” Agent Fasal was not at all surprised at his appearance here.

“Ah, hello, Mr. Fascal.” His attitude made Tang En a little embarrassed. As the person who stayed most frequently by Shania’s side, Fascal had an in-depth understanding of their relationship. And his understanding may not be the same as their own.

“Shania has been insisting to call you since her return to London. She very much hoped for you to be here.”

“Uh. Coincidentally, my team has given me two days off.” Tang En scratched his head. It was truly a coincidence.

“Hey, you two, stop chatting at the door!” Shania’s voice sounded from inside the suite.

The two laughed and turned to walk in.

“Shania, are you ready?” Fascal asked.

“Yes.” Shania nodded. “There’s nothing much to prepare really, it’s just a print ad…” Then, she smiled at Tang En. “Uncle Tony, you have to come with us, then. I’ll introduce you to someone. I guarantee you’ll be very happy to know him.”

“Oh? Who is it?”

“It’s a secret!”

Shania acted mysteriously, refusing to reveal the answer. Fascal also only smiled at Tang En. It seemed like he had to go there himself to know the answer.

Following that, Fascal explained the write-up to Shania, about what she needed to pay attention to during the shoot, and what she had to do.

This had nothing to do with Tang En. He looked curiously at the stack of documents in Fascal’s hands. There was the same logo on all of them.

Gilette.

The studio they were shooting the advertisement at was very close to Shania’s hotel. Driving over took only 10 minutes.

As they sat in the moving silver car, Shania asked Tang En how he had arrived. He answered that he came by a cab and Shania rolled her eyes at him. “Your annual salary is three million pounds. Can’t you buy yourself a car?”

“It’s 2.75 million.” Tang En corrected the error in the figures.

“Even if it’s 2.75 million, you should still be able to afford a car, right?”

Tang En laughed with a shrug. “My workplace is a 20-minute walk from where I stay. I also hardly go out to other places. If I’m going out for a competition, there’s the team coach and airplane… I really can’t see the necessity of buying a car.”

Shania widened her big eyes and looked at Tang En. “Are you living in the middle ages, Uncle Tony?”

Her words stunned Tang En. When he had first arrived here, he had once groused that the former owner of this body must be someone who lived completely in the middle ages; he knew nothing other than deeply researching football.

He had not thought that he would be regarded that way by someone else… could he really be living a boring life?

Shania continued rebuking him. “No matter what, you’re already a successful manager now. Are you still living in the rental apartment?”

Tang En shrugged. “At least there’s a benefit. It’s harder for reporters to find my residence.”

“If they really want to find it, what can’t they dig up? Look at you, you only buy two sets of clothing through a year and the four seasons. One set is for wearing to matches, and the other for wearing at home.”

“Uh…” Tang En scratched his head. He did not care about the need to dress up. To him, having two sets of clothing was enough for him to deal with numerous situations. One set of formal wear was to be worn when they were playing matches outside, while he dressed more casually at home. “Men are not like women, needing many sets of clothes…”

“That’s for the average person. You’re a public figure now, so you’ve got to be aware of your image.” At this, Shania sighed. “You might as well let my friend design an image for you.”

Tang En hastily shook his head. “Don’t. I’m only a football manager, not some movie star.”

Hearing him say that, Shania pursed her lips but did not continue nagging.

Although Tang En did not care about his clothes, buying a car and moving into a new place did move Tang En. He began seriously considering those two matters in his heart.

As they chatted, they arrived at their destination. Under the instructions of the staff, the car parked in a special carpark and avoided the massive congregation of reporters and fans at the gates.

“So many reporters and… football fans?” Tang En was taken aback. It was normal to have this many reporters around, but why was there a flood of football fans here as well?

Shania beamed. “Yes, yes. It’s very lively.”

Tang En cast a suspicious look at her and then opened the car door, slipping out. Agent Fascal was about to open the doors for Shania when he was stopped by Tang En. He routed over to personally open the doors for her.

“Please, little princess.”

Shania laughed gaily as she stepped out from the car.

She had just gotten out when the staff on the other side came to fetch her. Without any greetings, with work being number one, Shania was directly ushered into the dressing room to get ready for the advertisement shooting.

“In a while, I’ll introduce you…” Shania was dragged off even before she finished her words.

“How busy.” Tang En whistled.

Fascal laughed beside him. “Shania is a very busy person now, Mr. Tony. Why don’t I find you a place to rest?”

“Ah, thank you, but it’s okay.” Tang En waved his hands. “I’ll just look around here. It’s rather interesting watching you all shoot an advertisement.”

He had also done a print ad before. But his was not followed with so much interest by the media as this one was. The shooting location was also not as lively. Tang En liked this sort of lively scenes; it was novel and interesting to him. After all, his own profession was a football manager. He did not usually get to interact with the many other fields. Taking the opportunity now, he wanted to widen his own perspectives. It was good to enrich himself.

As a result, he was led to the studio by Mr. Fascal. All the staff were busy, and no one took notice of an additional stranger popping in. After bringing Tang En into the studio, Fascal went off looking for the person-in-charge for the product and advertisement shooting.

There were no reporters within the studio. All of them had been locked outside. Naturally, there were also no fans around. Everyone was busy with their own matters, and Tang En continued his observations uninterrupted.

He saw the familiar logo again: Gilette.

“Excuse me…” A sharp voice sounded from behind. “Could I get past, please?”

Only then did Tang En notice that he was standing in the middle of the corridor. Everywhere else around was filled with shooting equipment and only where he stood had enough space for someone to pass by. He hurriedly turned sideways to give way as he apologized, “I’m sorry, I… eh?”

The lighting in the studio was dimmer, except for the main stage where all the light was focused. Tang En was stunned when he clearly saw who the man standing before him was.

What made him feel even stranger was a similar reaction from the other man when they saw him.

“David… Beckham?”

“Tony Twain?”

It was not unusual for either of them to know each other. At the end of last year, Tang En was invited to a prize ceremony where the English FA was giving out a variety of annual awards because he won the Domestic Manager of the Year Award. David Beckham was also present there. In fact, it was Beckham who gave the award to Tang En. Later, during the banquet, the two even greeted each other. In a way, they had the fate of meeting at least once.

Unexpectedly, they met each other again in a changed setting, at the scene of an advertisement shooting.

Tang En turned to look at the logo. He suddenly recalled that Beckham was Gillette’s global spokesperson. He also knew who the person Shania so mysteriously wanted to introduce him to was.

“I understand…” Tang En scratched his head as he said to Beckham, “You’re here to shoot an ad.”

“I’m very curious as to why you would be here?” While Tang En already understood the situation, Beckham was still confused.

“Uh… A friend of mine is also here to shoot the ad.” Tang En pointed at the dressing room.

Right on cue, Shania walked out from the dressing room after she finished putting on her make-up. She immediately saw the two men standing together.

Beckham looked over to where Tang En was looking and saw Shania walking out. He laughed. “So, that’s your friend. She previously mentioned introducing a friend to me today.”

“What a coincidence. She said the same thing to me.”

The two exchanged a glance and smiled, understanding.

Shania ran over and pouted, a little disappointed. “You guys are already chatting? I was still thinking of introducing both of you.”

Beckham pointed to Tang En with a smile as he explained to Shania, “Actually, I know Mr. Tony from before.”

“It’s at some award ceremony at the end of last year.” Tang En nodded along.

Shania was even more disappointed now. She rolled her eyes and ran back into the dressing room. “I’m going to freshen my make-up!”

Looking at the girl’s back, Tang En shook his head helplessly.

“I didn’t expect you to be friends with Shania.”

Tang En laughed wryly. “It’s a long story… I’ll tell it to you when I get the chance. I’m just afraid you won’t believe it and think I’m spinning stories.”

Tang En was more than happy to take the opportunity to become friends with Beckham. The Chinese greatly valued networking; this was something Tang En understood. Not only in China; it was the same in any nation. In the football circle, having more friends was always a good thing.

“Why would I?” Beckham shrugged. “Mr. Twain, your success is already the greatest legend. What else won’t I dare to believe?”

This lad knew how to compliment people well. Tang En admitted that his words made him feel very comfortable.

“It’s nothing… call me Tony. Mister this and that, I get the uncomfortable hearing it. I’m only that formal when I’m quarreling with reporters.”

Upon hearing Tang En’s words, Beckham laughed. Everyone knew about the relationship between Tang En and reporters. “Then, feel free to call me David as well.”

Although he was delighted that he could get to know Beckham in this way, Tang En was still curious about Beckham and Shania’s relationship. Of course, Beckham could tell. He pointed to the dressing room. “Shania and my wife are good friends. They got to know each other from a fashion show in Milan.”

Tang En could only continually exclaim in his heart: What a small world. Truly small.