Godfather Of Champions

The worsening global economy, the construction works on the new stadium that were ceased due to a lack of funds, problems with the players’ fitness, signs of an imminent increase in injuries amongst the players and unstable team results. All these different factors came together to weigh down as an immense pressure on Twain.

At the same time, they also opened his eyes to the fact that he could not pin his hopes on the club to splash the cash and buy players during the winter break, and that he had to learn to make use of his local resources more to strengthen the team’s capabilities.

The youth team was definitely an area that he should pay attention to. However, it was not enough to just pay attention to it just by sitting in the office and looking at data and reports as he had always done so far. He had to go down and see the youth team for himself. This was a way to make a statement on his stance. It did not matter if he all he did was to stand by the side of the pitch with his sunglasses on and space out. To the youth players, what they will see is hope. The sight of him will bring them encouragement.

This act of his would also be a signal to Evan Doughty. I know you don’t have money to buy players, but the youth team is the foundation for the team’s survival. You can scrimp however you want elsewhere, just not here.

The only thing he had not done to get his message across to Doughty was to paint the words ‘you can scrimp, but not on the kids’ on the walls of the youth team’s training ground.

He decided to make a trip down to North Wilford with his two assistant managers Kerslake and Dunn after the first team’s training session to check on the kids’ progress. He wanted to see how far the talent of those young geniuses that the scouts have brought back from all over the world have developed.

※※※

As Britain embraced winter, it also embraced the rainy season.

London was called the ‘City of Mist’ during the days of the Industrial Revolution due to how it was engulfed in industrial gases and smoke. But now, instead of industrial gases and smoke, it was shrouded in fog.

Nottingham was no different. The incessant cold rain had already lasted for four days, and there were still no signs that the weather would clear up or stop raining according to the weather reports.

Even though Twain was brought up in Sichuan where there would also be frequent cold rain during winter, he still disliked weather like this. The constant rain made people feel as though both their clothing and body have gone moldy. His body exuded an unbearable stench of mold and his clothes were always damp. It felt terribly uncomfortable when his clothes clung to his body.

“I hate weather like this.” Twain grumbled under his breath as he walked under a black umbrella. He was on the way to North Wilford with Dunn and Kerslake. “Looking at a sky like this only makes people feel depressed.”

He tilted his umbrella to the side a little and looked up at the sky. The raindrops went pitter-patter as they hit him on his face, in his mouth, in his eyes and rolled down his neck into his collar.

Kerslake furrowed his brows. The team’s performance has been very unstable recently. A weather like this would certainly make people feel ‘disoriented’.

He did not believe that they would be able to find suitable players for the team from the youth team during this winter break. He could not be any more familiar with the training of Nottingham Forest’s youths. The team may have been constantly scouting for young, gifted players from overseas in recent times, but all those players are still far from ready to play in the league… The earliest they might be ready would be January of next year.

As for Dunn, he already had someone in mind. When Twain suddenly mentioned that he wanted to take a look at the youth team yesterday, the first person that came to his mind was not any of those hardworking kids in the youth team. Rather, it was Chen Jian.

He could not help but worry about him every single time he heard news about him from the youth team.

Can he hold on? Can he realize his dream?

The three of them arrived at North Wilford, each deep in thought.

The rain and bad weather did not deter the youth team from carrying out their training sessions outdoors. A small-scale practice match had been arranged in place of the usual training session to make it easier for the first team managers to discern the players’ true abilities.

The youth team’s training ground was hidden by a forest and usually looks to be of a better condition than the first team’s training ground. However, all they could see today was a stretch of muddy field due to the bad weather.

The skies above were dark enough to mislead people into thinking that time had fast forwarded and that evening had already dawned. The forest to the north of the training grounds came across as a black, hazy shape amidst the fog, and it added an even darker shade to the training grounds.

The youth players were changing their clothes in the dressing room. They ran out timidly after the manager’s exhortations.

Chen Jian was one of them. He had only found out a minute before that he was actually playing as a member for the yellow team in this intra-team match.

The youth players had been grouped into red and yellow teams for the practice match, and they would each wear a jersey corresponding to the color of their teams.

In the first team, the yellow jersey was typically worn by the starting players, but over here in the youth team, the colors meant nothing. They were only used to allow everyone to differentiate who were their allies and foes.

It has been more than seven months since Chen Jian came to Nottingham Forest, but he had never once represented Nottingham Forest to participate in a youth game.

It was not that he was ineligible, but rather he had only been building on his foundation for this entire time. He had only started training with his team mates two months ago and still lacks coordination with them.

He did get a chance to feature in intra-team games from time to time, but he was nothing more than an accessory for the most part. He would play the game and get substituted after a while.

Regardless of how well he might have played in those games, his performances would never be taken into account by the youth team managers.

It was quite cumbersome to be an ‘accessory’. No one truly believed that an amateur chosen from a talent show would really make it through the year and ultimately get to stay at Nottingham Forest Football Club.

Thus, it did not matter how hard Chen Jian tried. Nobody other than Greenwood paid much attention to him, because Greenwood knew that assistant manager Dunn was exceptionally concerned about him. As someone who had worked with Dunn in the youth team before, he was willing to help Dunn keep an eye on his Chinese compatriot.

Since this was a game that would allow the first team managers to scout players who could be brought over to the reserve team, he believed that he naturally did not have a part to play since he would just be taking up a spot in the team. Therefore, he was quite surprised to hear Greenwood call his name.

Chen Jian might have been surprised, but he did not act as though he had just been given a once in a lifetime chance. All he did was to smile and nod his head as an acknowledgement, before he calmly went to change his clothes. He then ran out of the dressing room that was situated at the second floor and ran out onto the training grounds and into the rain.

As he passed by the side of the field, he saw Greenwood conversing with three men under black umbrellas. He was only able to make out the men’s features from under the umbrellas after he had run past them, and that was when he recognized who each of them were.

One of them was the Chinese assistant manager Dunn, whom he was the most familiar with. In his eyes, Dunn was a man who was always gentle and busy. He was already the assistant manager in a team like Nottingham Forest despite the fact that he had yet to turn 30. It was quite the feat.

Seeing him fills Chen Jian with strength. It did not matter that Dunn was a manager and he was a player. Dunn was his top role model on his journey to achieve his dreams.

The tall man standing next to Dunn, who did not speak much and was wearing a black shirt and a frown on his face was the king of this football team, their boss Tony Twain.

Nottingham Forest has had a bad run of results recently, and they were also struggling to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

After enjoying success for three years, the pressure riding on Twain now must be immense…

Behind the two of them was a man who kept looking about. He was the other assistant manager Kerslake. It has been said that he became the manager of the youth team after Twain made his departure. Manager Greenwood even worked under him at one point.

He has since been promoted to become the first team’s assistant manager… But people at the top also have their troubles. The team is performing badly, so his days as an assistant manager must not be good either.

Chen Jian ran past all three managers and started to do warm-ups with his other team mates under the guidance of their youth team managers.

The temperature was low in the winter and it was also raining. This made it even more vital for him to do his warm-ups properly. It would be a complete shame if he were to get injured during match like this.

※※※

Dunn discussed the recent state of the youth team’s training with Greenwood so as to obtain first-hand information and advice. After their discussion, all four of them turned around to watch the young players as they went about with their warm-ups on the field.

Out of them, only the youth team manager Greenwood was wearing a knitted hat to conceal his deeply cherished, almost bald head. The other three all had umbrellas over their heads.

Greenwood’s entire body had become drenched in the rain as a result, but he did not care about such trifles. He was not a first team manager who had come to observe the players. He was in charge of this place. He was not in the position to be leisurely strolling around holding onto an umbrella. There were times where he had to get on the pitch to demonstrate a particular movement, or get in a player’s face when the player made a mistake.

Given his role, was it appropriate for him to be holding onto an umbrella?

He squinted his eyes in an attempt to keep the raindrops from sliding into his eyes. He waved his hands towards the field and shouted, “That’s enough. Let’s begin!”

Players from both teams stood in the field as they were told. The practice match kicked off the moment the referee-cum-manager blew the whistle.

Twain was fully aware that it would be almost impossible to find a player from the youth team whom he could bring into the first team. Nonetheless, he had to appear in this training ground to motivate the youths and to give them the peace of mind to remain in Wilford.

The truth was that the ones who were taking everything into consideration and doing the scouting were his two assistant managers. He was just there to find players who interest him.

It was particularly demanding for players to play in the fairly heavy rain and their ball handling techniques were constantly put to the test. Players slipping and falling on all fours became a frequent sight on the pitch.

Greenwood felt a little awkward. Twain had been too random with his visit. Or rather, he had chosen a poor time to come and visit. It was impossible for the players to demonstrate their best form and abilities in a match like this.

The first team managers would surely lose their patience and simply condemn the youths for their performances if all they could watch were several minutes of ‘football in the mud’.

Greenwood wanted to let the first team managers see the abilities of the youth team players, so he had specially transferred their two gifted players John Bostock and Nicolás Millán from the U16 team to the U18 team to let them participate in today’s practice match. Both players have yet to reach 18 years of age, but they have been training in the U17 team all this while.

They were players that Twain wanted to pay close attention to as well. He was interested in seeing how far the two geniuses had progressed after a year of training in the Forest team.

What he saw from them was satisfactory. The two of them might still be young, but they were able to perform exceptionally well against numerous team mates who were older than them by a year or two. They were each the core player for both the red and yellow teams respectively. Neither looked estranged from the team and they were both able to coordinate well with their team mates. It was clear that Greenwood had often utilized them in the U18 matches.

The poor condition of the training grounds and the bad weather did impact their performances slightly, but Twain was confident that if they were to keep developing as they were now, he would have to bring both of them into the first team in the coming season, so as to provide them with more chances and a better stage to shine on.

After confirming that both players’ performances were up to his standards, Twain began scanning through the pitch aimlessly to search for another player to focus on. The way he looked around could easily lead others to the misperception that he was being inattentive.

Besides the sounds of players’ shouts, the sounds of water splashing as the players ran, tackled and shot for goal and the sounds of the whistle going off repeatedly, there were no other sounds that could be picked up on the field.

Everyone was focused on the match and on leaving the best impression possible in front of Tony Twain.

※※※

Chen Jian was well aware that he was nothing more than an ‘accessory’ in today’s match once again, but once the match started, he invested his whole mind and body into the game. He ran around and tackled the ball industriously, and tried his hardest to fortify the defense. They were tasks that were delegated to him by Manager Greenwood as the right back for his team.

He was not trying hard so as to catch the eye of the first team managers. He was trying hard because it was a match.

However, to Greenwood, Chen Jian’s performance was terrible. The pitch was slippery due to the rain and as a result, there was no power behind some of his movements. Chen Jian also looked extremely clumsy due to the fact that he was wearing soccer boots with short cleats that provided very poor traction as he ran. The right flank that he defended was always easily broken through by the opposition, which led to the red team primarily attacking down the right as the match progressed.

John Bostock also found the Chinese to be someone he could take advantage of, so he started to bring the ball towards the right as well.

The yellow team had just gotten a chance to counterattack, but the red team pushed them back and made it difficult for them to move forward. The young players became irritated at the fact that they were being held back and started acting out a little. Their actions allowed Bostock to earn a penalty. He stepped up to the plate to take the penalty and the red team led by 1-0 afterwards.

Greenwood, who was standing by the pitch, applauded and praised Bostock loudly after he scored the penalty. His gestures upset the yellow team who was trailing by a goal.

Discord began to brew in the yellow team. The goal from earlier had not been scored because the red team had broken through from Chen Jian’s side, but the looks that everyone sent Chen Jian were looks of animosity. Everyone got along well with him usually, but that was only because he did not pose a threat to them. However, if they were to become unable to perform as a result of Chen Jian’s terrible performance, then he would surely be resented by his team mates. Who would treat a guy who was only going to stay in the team for a year kindly at such a time?

If you make a mistake, the ones with a better temper would only send a look your way, but the ones who were more hot-headed would most likely charge at you directly and admonish you.

Chen Jian stood at the right flank. He was not an idiot. He knew the meaning behind the gazes.

He tried his best to not let himself think about the looks of contempt from his team mates, and continued carrying out his duties at the right flank.

He continued to defend and continued to be the target for the opposition’s attacks. He felt like an idiot every time he fell to the ground after losing his balance and climbed back up.

The words ‘at wits’ end’ could be used to describe the predicament that he found himself in. He could not stop an entire team’s attacks all by himself. He lacked support from his team mates. His poor performance from before had caused all his team mates to lose trust in him.

Raise a hand and ask for support?

Nobody would listen to him anyway.

He felt aggrieved, but could only keep on dealing with the red team’s relentless breakthroughs by himself.

One-on-one, one-on-two, one-on-three…

The red team’s dogged efforts finally paid off in the end. Bostock easily ran past Chen Jian, who was already about to drop dead by then. He passed the ball into the middle and provided an assist to his team mate who went on to score the second goal.

The yellow team was behind by two goals.

Unlike the previous time when they had conceded a goal however, no one looked at Chen Jian this time round. They were completely treating him like air. A center back playing for his team ran up and stood beside him, clearly unhappy about the shoddy defending he did previously and wanted to take over the role as right back himself.

Chen Jian looked at his team mate, then turned his head to look at his managers at the side. He wanted to see if this arrangement had been done at Manager Greenwood’s wishes. He did not see Manager Greenwood make any special gesture, but what he saw was Tony Twain looking around, seemingly distracted.

Twain’s actions angered Chen Jian instantly.

Regardless of how he performed, the ball had been rolling around him this entire time. Even if his managers were not pleased with his performance, they would at the very least stare at him and shake their heads, or they would look away when they realized that he was looking their way.

What’s up with that?

All he was doing was to lift his head and look around. Was he watching the match or was he watching the forest in the distance?

So he was actually nothing more than a bundle of air to all these British!

Look at how he was covered in mud from top-down now. If he were to fall to the ground, he would just blend right in and nobody would look surprised if they were to accidentally step over him.

Chen Jian looked down at his miserable state and felt humiliation for the first time.

That’s right, I’m from a country whose abilities in football trails behind many other countries. I’m just a celebrity who came from a commercial talent show. I know my place and I never expected any of you to revere me and treat me like a star. But at the very least…You all should at the very least look my way! I am a grown-up who’s alive and stands at 183 cm tall and weighs 70 kg.

He was broken through time and time again. He faced numerous opponents all by himself. He was toyed with. He ran. He jumped. He fell….

He was a human who could move!

Are you foreigners all so f*cking blind that you can’t see me?

At that moment, Chen Jian suddenly desperately wanted Greenwood to run up to him angrily and scold the living daylights out of him. Because that meant that he was being paid attention to. It meant that he still belonged on the pitch.

I don’t expect praise from you lot anymore. I only wish that you don’t ignore my presence, that you don’t pretend I’m not here, and that you don’t close an eye to all the effort that I’ve put in!

Why have I worked so hard for every single day? What did I hope to gain by working hard in a foreign land all by myself?

All of you are chasing after your dreams, and I’m the same!

I don’t want to get promoted to the first team of Nottingham Forest. I just want to become a true professional footballer!

It has been seven months. Other than being praised once before, all I have gotten were criticisms and rebukes. None of my hard work was rewarded or acknowledged in any way.

No matter how badly I performed, it will just be that I worked hard to all of you right? What right does any of you have to so easily deny my every drop of sweat and hard work that I have put in over the seven months?

Chen Jian saw that Dunn, who was standing next to Twain, was looking at him. Dunn then sighed and lowered his eyes, clearly disappointed at his performance. That was good.

A fire set off within Chen Jian and he galvanized into action instantly. He walked to the side of the pitch and walked in front of Greenwood. He then said in English to the youth team manager, “Please substitute me, Manager Greenwood.”

Everyone was shocked at his words. Greenwood did not understand what compelled Chen Jian to do this. He was never one who stirred trouble and was never one who got angry at anyone else. The Chen from China who had always kept a smile on his face was standing before him with his lips tightly pressed together, his eyes wide open and brimming with fury.

Greenwood had yet to answer him, but Chen Jian had already gone past him and was headed for the dressing room.

“Stop right there.” Someone pulled him back.

Chen Jian turned around to stare at the person who was pulling him. The person was none other than the ‘distracted’ Tony Twain who was looking all around just now.

Tony Twain was not wearing his trademark sunglasses due to the dark skies overhead, and it allowed Chen Jian to see the manager’s eyes clearly.

They were a little cold.

“Who allowed you to leave?” He asked coldly.

“Tony…” Dunn was a little surprised and called out to him.

Chen Jian did not respond to Twain’s question. He had no idea why the first team manager would hold onto him suddenly and not let him go.

“I’m asking again, who allowed you to leave?” Twain repeated his question in a cold voice as he stared straight ahead at Chen Jian. His gaze felt colder than his voice.

Greenwood could not bear to let Chen Jian get berated by the King of Nottingham Forest. He was well aware what sort of person Tony Twain was. His acrimonious words could make even the toughest of kids cry. He wanted to help Chen Jian out, and was about to wave his hands and call for the substitute player from the side when he was stopped by Twain’s outstretched umbrella.

“Get back on the pitch. The match has not ended and the manager has not substituted you.” Twain said with a dark face as he enunciated his every word slowly.

Chen Jian still did not understand why the first team manager would suddenly butt his nose into the affairs of someone like him who was only training in Forest’s youth team.

He turned his gaze towards Greenwood. To him, only the youth team manager Greenwood had the right to give him instructions.

Greenwood forced a smile and waved his hands. “Get back onto the pitch, Chen. The match has yet to end. I haven’t substituted you yet.”

Twain released his grip. Chen Jian glanced at Twain before walking back onto the pitch with a face that suggested he did not feel like relenting.

The players stared quizzically at Chen Jian who made his way back onto the pitch. They still did not understand what had just happened.

The center-back who had wanted to take over the role as right-back was asked to return to his initial position by Greenwood.

The match restarted after that.

※※※

Chen Jian’s performance after the match restarted was as terrible as ever. To be precise, it was even more terrible than before. His emotions had undoubtedly taken a hit after the events from earlier. How could someone like him whose mental state was in turmoil play a good match?

Twain had finally stopped looking around after the incident. He was only staring at Chen Jian under his black umbrella.

Chen Jian was broken through by the opponents’ two-versus-one pass when he tried to defend against Bostock. He lost his balance as he turned around and he slipped. He fell onto the ground on both knees. Both his hands were stuck in the mud. He kept his head low and never got back onto his feet.

He felt extremely dejected. He was looked down on and chided by others because he was incapable. Because he performed terribly.

Reality was so cruel.

He realized that his dream was starting to distance itself from him. Maybe it was never waiting for him at the end of his journey in the first place. Everything was just his fantasy. He was just pulling the wool over his own eyes.

He suddenly felt like bawling his eyes out. He wanted to cry for the dream that he has kept in the depths of his heart and chased after relentlessly for all these years. He wanted to cry for the 10 years of time that he had lost by being passionate about soccer. He wanted to cry at his stupidity for choosing to give up his studies to come to Britain to pursue his dream.

What was hard work without talent? How could an amateur football fan dream of becoming a professional footballer? Stop kidding yourself! If it was that easy to succeed, there won’t be so many people relying on those imaginary things to fulfil their desires!

So what if you are resilient? So what if you never give up till the end? Your attitude can determine everything?

Bullsh*t!

It has been seven months. I worked so hard for seven months and what have I gotten in return?

Endless criticisms and looks of distrust and displeasure from those around him!

Forget it, let’s go back. Leave behind all your unrealistic thoughts. Study hard and make progress every day.

He clenched both his hands and grabbed onto two fistfuls of mud tightly.

But… But… I really can’t accept this…

※※※

Dunn was discreetly shaking his head at Chen Jian’s terrible performance when he saw a wobbling umbrella by his feet.

He then heard Kerslake’s shout of surprise.

“Tony!”

When he raised his head, he saw Tony Twain’s back as he took big strides onto the pitch. The umbrella he was holding onto had been tossed onto the floor. It was flipped over and had already collected a little rainwater.

The referee-cum-manager saw Tony Twain walk onto the pitch. He blew his whistle to suspend the game in a hurry before running towards Twain. All the players got out of Twain’s way as he advanced. They all wanted to hide from their dark-faced boss.

Twain trudged forward under the rain. Puddles of muddied water splashed and dirtied his pants as he walked.

He made his way straight towards Chen Jian who was still crouching in the muddied water. Chen Jian did not notice his approach. He continued to kneel there with his head lowered.

A voice rang out above his head.

“Get up.”

Chen Jian did not respond.

“Get up!”

Chen Jian raised his head at the second shout and stared blankly at Tony Twain who stood before him.

Twain knotted his brows together at the sight of a dazed face that was devoid of life and radiance. He quite preferred the face that turned to glare at him earlier than the one he was seeing before him now.

He bent over and grabbed Chen Jian’s collar with both hands abruptly. Then, he pushed Chen Jian over onto his back with force.

“I told you to f*cking get up! What are you doing kneeling here? Are you trying to do a kowtow to someone? Me? I don’t give a damn about a loser asking for mercy!” Twain opened his mouth and began to give Chen Jian a dressing-down after he had pushed him over onto the ground.

Chen Jian was dumbfounded. Tony Twain was speaking fluent Chinese.

Twain spoke in Chinese once during the very first time the two had met, but ever since then, he had insisted on using English to converse with him, even if it was easier for him to speak in Chinese than to translate his words.

Chen Jian understood that the reason why Tony Twain did what he did was to remind him that they were in Britain, and to tell him not to take it easy knowing that he had a manager who could speak in Chinese with him. It was important for him to learn to speak in English so that he could truly get used to life and football here.

But now, Twain was using Chinese that could not sound any more fluent and any more authentic to castigate him.

“Look at you and the miserable, sh*tty state you are in! You really look like you are a patch of f*cking mud by lying there. Utter mud! Grass can’t grow where you are lying now! What are you doing? What are you doing staring at me? Are you upset? If you are then get on your feet and punch me!”

Twain noticed that there were two areas on Chen Jian’s mud-stained face that were clean. They extended from the corners of his eyes all the way to the wing of his nose.

“What’s this? Did you cry? Tsk tsk. Look at you! All you did was play a bad game of football, and you are all snot and tears. Do you think this is some kindergarten’s football match?”

Dunn was shocked to hear Twain mock and swear at Chen Jian in Chinese.

It was not just him. Everyone by the side of the field were stunned to see Tony Twain lose his temper, even if they could not understand whatever was coming out of Twain’s mouth.

“What’s wrong, Mr. Mud? Did you decide to cry your way back home since you just played one bad game? Are you going to go back to China to continue your studies earnestly and find a job upon graduation, and then be satisfied playing occasional amateur soccer once you are lugging a big belly about? Then when you are old you will brag to your grandson about how his grandpa once trained for a year in the youth team of Nottingham Forest, who was the European Champion! What if your grandson asks you what happened after a year? What are you going to say? You are going to tell him, ‘Ah, your grandpa performed badly in a match and gave up trying and then came back to China crying… What do you think your dear grandson will say to you?”

Twain pointed at Chen Jian who stared at him dazedly and chided, adding a pause between his every word, “You. Are. A. Wimp! A. Cowardly. Scaredy. Cat! You are never going to be able to raise your head before your grandson till the day you die, just like a man who can’t get it up. Get this right, you are an impotent man, not a man who has premature ejaculation, because you are a man who can’t f*cking raise your head so you don’t even have the right to have premature ejaculation!”

Dunn thought that Twain’s admonitions were all over the place. What exactly was he scolding about…

Why was Twain so infuriated? All Chen Jian did was to perform slightly badly. How did that rub him off the wrong way? Didn’t he not rate Chen Jian’s performance all this while?

“So? Have you finally realized that you have been daydreaming all along after experiencing for yourself how cruel reality can be? Let me tell you. This isn’t even f*cking professional football! This is just a f*cking youth game! And an intra-team one to boot! Did you think that all dreams were easily achievable? Did you think that as long as you got fired up like some stupid main character then your dreams will just strip itself and let you f*ck it? You need to f*cking pay even if the other person is a prostitute! There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world! That little hard work of yours means nothing! It means nothing!” Twain pointed at the youth players all around him, who stood there completely stunned.

“How many of them here have not been training for 10 years? How many of them do you think can be successful on the professional stage and make their appearances in Nottingham Forest’s first team? Who do you think you are? You are not the protagonist of some novel or comic. You are not a genius. You are just an ordinary man! Hundreds of people who are just like you die every second in this world!”

“One year!” Twain held up his middle finger. “You f*cking want to become a professional footballer after one year? How can such a good thing exist in this world! You can talk about your dreams all you want, but let’s see you try! Do you remember what I asked you when you first came here? You said you will never give up… Look at your cowardly state right now. Do you have the face to say those same words to me again right now? Do you dare to say, ‘I will not give up, sir’ to me again?”

The rain got heavier. It had drenched Twain from top to toe, but he did not feel anything about it. All he did was to stare at Chen Jian with eyes that looked as though fire could erupt from them.

“Very well. I want to congratulate you for not being that stupid little kid who only knew how to superficially chase after his dreams anymore. You have matured, you now know that reality is cruel! You have decided to beg for mercy in the face of the cruel reality. I won’t stop you if you want to walk away now. The match is not over, but your match is, boy! You have lost and have been disqualified! When you are ready to go back to China crying, don’t forget to give me a call. I will buy the plane tickets for you and will even give you a complimentary packet of tissue.”

Twain finally caught a breath after going on for so long and he inhaled deeply.

Following that, he bent over once again and looked squarely at Chen Jian. His face was right before Chen Jian’s.

“Before you leave, I have one last question to ask you. Tell me, what’s your name, you failure.”

Seeing that Chen Jian did not respond to him, he repeated his question. “Answer me. What’s your name, you failure!”

Chen Jian answered, with trembling lips,” Chen… Chen Jian.” It was unclear if the trembling was because he was frightened, or if it was due to the cold weather.

“Very good! Chen Jian, Chen Jian… Your mother gave birth to you, your father gave you this name. Chen’s your surname, and which Chinese character is it for your ‘Jian’? It’s not the character that can be found in the word that means ‘rape’, not the one that is found in the word that means ‘indistinguishable’ and not the one that is used for the word that means ‘get a bargain’. It is also not the character that is found in the word that means ‘depraved’ or the one that is used in the word that means ‘blade’. The Chinese character that is used in your name ‘Jian’ can be found in the words that mean ‘strong’ and ‘resolute’! Remember this well. This is your name, Chen Jian!”

After finishing those words, Twain straightened his back and turned to leave. He no longer cared about the youth team’s practice match, and did not bother seeing what expression Chen Jian had on him while lying in a pool of muddied water. He did not stop to pick up his black umbrella off the floor. He walked straight out of the field and out the door.

Dunn saw Twain walk straight out of the training grounds. He quickly apologized to Greenwood before chasing after Twain while holding an umbrella over his head.

※※※

Everyone on the pitch was stupefied. This included Chen Jian. He remained in the same posture after he was pushed over by Twain. He looked spaced out and could not believe the scene that had just unfolded before him earlier.

He felt like giving up, then he suddenly got chastised by the first team manager… And it went on for several minutes?

What… What exactly happened?

※※※

Dunn shared half of his umbrella with Twain and sheltered him from the rain above his head. He had left in a hurry earlier and had forgotten to pick up the umbrella that Twain had tossed to the ground.

“Why?” Dunn asked.

“I can’t bear to see these scaredy-cats being all cowardly before me. If you want to cry then do it while hiding in your home! Doing it here is indecent!” Twain’s voice as he spoke still sounded stiff. He was truly angry.

“Just because of this?”

“And also to relieve some pent up stress after what happened these few days.” Twain turned around to look at Dunn. “It’s true. Scold people when you have time on your hands. It’s good for your health.”

Dunn smiled. “And?”

Twain was not in a hurry to answer Dunn’s question. He fumbled around his coat pocket for a pack of cigarettes and was about to light one when he realized, to his annoyance, that the entire pack of cigarettes was wet from the rain and none of the cigarettes could be lit up. He crushed the entire pack of cigarettes with his hands and discarded it into a rubbish bin by the road. He patted his other pockets and gave up once he realized that he had run out of cigarettes.

“Honestly, it was nothing. He has a dream, and has already gotten so far. But the reality was also right in front of him. All I told him was that there were two roads before him right now. The rest is up to him. As for what he chooses, that has nothing to do with me. But, if he really wants to go, I will definitely pay for his airline tickets and the packet of tissues like I said I will. I have never gone back on my word.”

“But there is clearly only one road.” Dunn did not agree with Twain’s opinion. “The dreams have reached a dead end.”

Twain smiled. “No, to me, there are actually two roads. One road leads to reality,” he pointed at Wilford Lane. It was a straight stretch of road and one could see the end.

“The other leads to dreams and it is a…” He pointed at the wall surrounding the training grounds and continued, “… Dead end.”

“What difference is there?”

“To some people there might not be a difference, but to some others, there is a difference. You are right, the dreams have reached a dead end. Some people will choose to stop, then turn around and walk back towards the road to reality. What about the others? They will choose to push at the wall!” He pushed at the wall near him.

“It might be more tiring than to walk back to the road that leads to reality, and it might also be more challenging… And there is also a risk that they will get hit on the head by bricks that fall over. But how can dreams be so easily attained? It’s very easy to give in to destiny or reality. But you have to risk your life… If you want to push down a wall.”

Twain stood by the road and mumbled under his breath as he stared at the wall.

Dunn stood beside him, and held up an umbrella to shelter Twain from the rain.