Godfather Of Champions

The ultimate rule of the natural world was as follows: no matter what humanity desired, the Earth would still rotate everyday and orbiting around the sun. Hence, despite Twain’s headache, Shania would still be here.

“How did you find the time to come over?” Twain drove her from London back to the home in Nottingham, a broad grin stretched across his face.

“To promote the movie in London.” Twain set her luggage down while she looked around downstairs. “It’s just one day, then I’m going to Italy after.”

In the absence of a woman, the house had become messy again; a bachelor’s life was just too tragic. In the past, she had a job too, but she would regularly clean the place when she had time off. After all, no woman would want to live in a dumpster. She wrinkled her brow as she took a deep breath, as if she had smelled something foul.

Her focus was everywhere, but she saw the few film magazines on the table. She was on the cover. Her face relaxed and the corners of her mouth started to rise.

Footsteps sounded from the top of the staircase. Once Twain came down, he immediately saw Shania reading the magazines but he did not sit down. He was quite embarrassed too, because the sofa was indeed too messy. He did not want the big star to just be lounging on a dirty and messy sofa.

“I’m really sorry. I wanted to tidy up yesterday, but in the end I was so busy I became drowsy,” Twain apologised as he frantically tidied up the room.

Shania did not walk forward to help, she only stood at her spot to watch Uncle Tony being busy. “Are you very busy?”

“Yes, I am.” Twain carried a pile of books and walked in front of the bookcase, slotting them back into their respective places according to their index.

“Did you miss me, Uncle Tony?”

Before Twain’s birthday, everytime Shania asked this, Twain would giggle and reply like Feng Gong, “I missed you so much I could die!”

But now…

He hesitated, but continued slotting the books. “Yes, I missed you.”

“Liar,” Shania pouted. “You sound so insincere. You didn’t call or text, You’ve forgotten about our chat, haven’t you?”

Twain felt his heart tighten. What was meant to happen truly was meant to be. He stood rooted to the ground, unable to decide whether the book in hand should be placed back on the shelf.

“I think we’re drifting, Uncle Tony.”

“You’re in America, I’m in England.” Twain threw out an excuse clumsily.

“No, since that incident, I’ve felt like that. Are you angry at me?”

“No, why would I…”

“You think I’m too capricious right? My dad used to reprimand me like this frequently, saying I was too playful as a girl, making things tough for them. I know I was being unreasonable. You have your life, you are you, and I am me. However…, nevermind, I should stop talking about this. I only came back to see you, Uncle Tony. Don’t look so startled, alright? The more polite you try to be, the more it feels like you’re trying to distance yourself from me.”

Twain turned to look at Shania who was behind him, smiling. “Silly girl, I was afraid you’d scold me for being so careless when I lived alone. Look at this, my house is too messy.”

As long as Shania did not bring up that matter, he could relax.He was too afraid Shania would ask him directly, “I love you, do you love me?”

If it came to that, he would not know what to answer. Twain could not reject her bluntly. There was no reason why, he just could not do it. He did not hate Shania, but did this type of “like” equal to “love”? He still did not know. What exactly was love? He was older than Shania by a whole 22 years, and this gap was hindering him from understanding his true feelings inside him. Developing feelings for a girl who was younger than him his junior, was this “love” or just a platonic “liking”? Even if it was “love”, was it “love” between young couples, or “love” from an older person to a younger one?

Physical age gap aside, he was also emotionally older than Shania by a whole 14 years. He knew this world had no lack of old couples. Yang Zhenning even married a young lady who had a master’s degree. Though they had intense quarrels back in China, both of them still continued to live together. However, that was them. It is a whole new feeling putting it on himself, no matter how small the matter, it was still an issue to one’s self.

Thinking of this problem gave him have a headache. He was not an expert when it came to women. Though he was very thoughtful and confident, he was still relatively dull when it came to understanding women. He did not know what Shania thought of this; he just wanted to clear up how exactly he should think about this.

This girl, whose beauty was comparable to an angel’s, had a lot of potential in Hollywood, a superstar with large fame in both the modelling and the fashion world. They had already known each other for five years. When they were alone together, he had never thought of her the way the public did. In his eyes, Shania was still a person who had been brave enough to leave her house when she had not even turned 14, someone who went to the faraway England, a mischievous girl who met him on the streets then. Twain liked a girl like this, he definitely did, but did he love her??

“What do you want to eat tonight, Shania?” Twain decided to temporarily forget about the unspoken words and troubles that were plaguing his mind, because it was late and it was time for dinner. Although he was a bachelor, he was still somewhat confident in his culinary skills. At the end of the day, he was still a man from Sichuan; how could he not know how to make a few common dishes? However, Shania turned and vivaciously ran into the kitchen first.

“You clear the living room first, alright? Let me make dinner. I learnt a few new dishes in the States!” Right after entering the kitchen, she peeked out, staring at the helpless Twain, “You’re not allowed to say it’s bad!”

※※※

After dinner, Twain went into the kitchen to do the dishes and clean the dining table. Shania went upstairs to fetch her Chinchilla doll, and sat on the sofa with the legs crossed as she watched the television. Just like any ordinary night, she did not pester Twain to go shopping, to nightclubs, or play around.

Twain finished the dishes and dried his hands as he stood at the entrance to the kitchen. As he looked at Shania who was sitting on the couch, a sort of misperception started to flesh out in his head. This was just like a regular family. No socialising, no flashing lights. The time after diner was for a family to enjoy in peace.

“I didn’t think you’d be able to make it. You coming actually makes me really happy.” Twain sat beside Shania and said softly, “Besides, your cooking skills are getting better.”

Shania beamed. “I’ll take that as the truth!”

Twain opened his arms, his face innocent and sincere, “I only speak the truth. I’m the most honest person; I have never lied.”

Shania covered her mouth as she chuckled. As her laughter died down, she tilted her head back and leaned on Twain’s shoulders. Twain tensed for a moment before relaxing. He did not struggle, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.

“Uncle Tony, do you hate me?”

“No, why would you ask this?”

“Hehe, then that’s great…” She adjusted her posture, like a cat curling into itself, and snuggled into Twain. Twain’s hands hovered for a while before he gently settled them onto Shania’s shoulders.

※※※

On the dawn of the second day, while the sky was still pitch black, Shania hurriedly rushed back to London to participate in the promotional activities for the movie. It was Mr Fascal who fetched her; Twain had not even been out of bed yet.

After he got up, he discovered a warm breakfast coupled with a paper slip. “Remember you still owe me an answer, Uncle Tony.”

Beckham had already applied for leave yesterday in order to participate in this event. At the promotional activities in England, they had to get the most popular superstar. On account of their friendship, Twain agreed. He was not interested in these types of activities. Shania had even invited him to go together with her yesterday night but he rejected her. Beckham was a soccer player so missing some training was nothing much, but he was the head coach, so how could he leave his position?

In the blink of an eye, it was already December. The league schedule started to clutter, so he had to give a 120% worth of attention to deal with various issues.

After finishing breakfast Shania prepared for him, he carefully kept the slip in his wallet and walked out of the house. Just as he stepped out of the house…

“Snap!”

A blur of white flashed before his eyes and it almost knocked him to the ground. After he could see properly again, all he saw was a somewhat familiar car driving down to the end of the street, drifting out of his sight.

“F*ck…” he cursed. “What the h*ll is going on?”

Just as Dunn opened the door to walk out, he heard what Twain said, and looked at him filled with confusion. “What happened?”

“How would I know?” Twain answered sourly.

※※※

Soon, Twain and Dull both knew what happened. Other than the both of them, everyone on the Wilform training ground, the whole of Nottingham, and the whole of England knew what happened.

The promotion team for Shania and Tom Cruise just left, and an explosive news just appeared on a star gossip tabloid, which the newspapers quickly spread to even more media companies.

One of the main characters was undoubtedly Tony Twain who had been quite popular recently and even had someone writing a book to evaluate him. As for the other main character, everyone was definitely not unfamiliar with her. It was Judy Shania Jordana, an international supermodel who officially recently left London. Everyone was definitely not strangers to the content of the news — the huge reveal of the relationship between Shania and Tony Twain!

It was the same news publishers and reporters behind this, but the main reason that this was completely different from the previous time, and why it attracted the attention of mass media so rapidly was because, this time, Lisa Aria had gotten hold of the most critical evidence which convinced the media and the audience that everything she said was true.

Photographs. The four photographs were displayed on the top of the title, and they were sequenced much like a four-panel comic.

In the first one, Twain and Shania were returning home and both were at the door. He was carrying the luggage while searching for the keys while Shania was beside him and holding his arm, seemingly intimate.

The second was taken when both were entering the house. Shania turned to close the door, the angle rendering her face visible. Even with the shades, her tall built and other distinct facial features made it hard to believe this tall girl was not the world-renowned model Judy Shania Jordana.

One look at the third picture made it obvious it was taken at dawn, under the dim light when the streetlights were still bright. Shania was walking out of Twain’s house without her shades, and everyone could properly recognise her face.

The fourth was of her getting into a car and driving away.

These four suggestive pictures clearly explained all the happenings. From the timestamp on the bottom right corner of the pictures, these four pictures were taken over the course of the whole night. Hence, when Lisa Aria had vowed in her articles saying, “After Shania entered Tony Twain’s housing, she was staying over there for a whole night.”, there were no doubts to this.

But what did staying over entail?

In the past, though everyone knew Twain and Shania had a good relationship, both only admitted they were friends, so no one thought too much about it. On top of that, the age gap was so big that no one would assume they were a couple.

Even if staying over at Twain’s house was not a big deal to the both of them, it was definitely not the first time. But to the media and the audience this was big news, because they did not know about this before the expose!

Lisa Aria staged a beautiful come back. In the past, people had mocked her for being a small reporter from the village who wanted to become famous so desperately she would make up lies and fabricate news. Now, no one was saying that. Seeing how these four pictures were personally taken by her, the public opinion was an uproar.

In the past, any conjectures the media had about Tony Twain’s personal life were just that. There were even rumours that he was gay. However, no one would have thought a soccer coach who get together with a supermodel…

This rumour should have been one involving a soccer superstar instead. Professional soccer has developed for more than a hundred years, and there was an uncountable number of soccer players who had become superstars due to their high income and dated various superstar girls, living a life of luxury. But has anyone ever heard of a soccer coach getting together with a hot female superstar? Of all the great head coaches who had achieved numerous stellar results and left behind great legacies,, how many of them had rumours during their careers? There was not even one.

Tony Twain did it! No matter what measures he took, or what sweet nothings he said, it was a pixie who was 22 years younger than him, and a dream girl in the eyes of several fans’ who followed this middle-aged uncle into his house and stayed throughout the whole night. The dreams of male teenager shattered. The hearts of middle-aged women were also shattered.

※※※

Just seeing her name was enough to anger Twain. He called her and the first thing he said was, “Are you deliberately going against me, Lisa Aria?!”

“All I wanted to do was to prove I’m not a liar, Mr Tony Twain.” Aria was not intimidated by him.

“How did you know Shania was coming to my place?” Twain could not be bothered to care about these details recorded by the other party. He immediately asked the question he wanted to know most.

“They were going to be promoting the movie here in London, so I knew she would definitely swing by Nottingham.”

“You’re actually quite smart, aren’t you?” Twain grinded his teeth. Aria analysed something so trivial and spun it into a paragraph.

“Because I’m a woman, I understand the mind of a woman too, Mr Twain.”

“But you don’t understand me!” Twain roared, and then hung up.

In reality, when he was called this time, his tone was not as firm as it was the last time. He knew about Shania’s intentions; if she saw this article, she might not be mad and might even feel happy about this. The one who was mad was him. This was as good as pushing him down the road of no return.

Thinking back how the article hinted on Shania not leaving throughout the night and staying over at his own house for an entire night. Regarding about what they did, it was only them both who knew…

Twain thought the audience definitely thought that he hooked up with Shania. But the problem was nothing happened between Shania and him. Although Shania confessed to him, and he did not agree to accepting these feelings, but their relationships still continued as per the past. How could he tell others about this relationship and the story behind it? Who would understand him?

※※※

“Since the reporter, Lisa Aria, caught Twain and Judy Shania Judana returning to his house together, where Shania did not leave throughout the night, Tony Twain stood in front of the media and explained this incident for the first time today.”

It cut to the vibrant outdoors.. Tony Twain’s house entrance was already swarming with reporters from various places; they were all very concerned with the personal life of this famous tempered coach who was famous in the Premier League. Everyone wanted to hear him personally admitting his relationship with Shania.Once he admitted it, this forgotten relationship would be officially established.

Twain stood in front of this bunch of excited reporters, looking at the microphones which were almost stuffed into his mouth, and coughed. The live scene quietened immediately.

“I have nothing much to say, Lisa Aria’s every word can be believed. Shania and I are friends, but our relationship is not what you all are thinking of.” Twain was still stubborn as a mule.

“But it’s clear from her picture that you and Shania went home together…” Some of the reporters were unhappy, rebutting him with evidence, clearly wanting Twain to clear up everything.

Lisa Aria was also in the crowd. She raised her hand to attract the attention of everyone. “I can guarantee, on my dignity, all of these photographs are real and are definitely not fabricated or edited via Photoshop!”

Twain stared at this woman who was trying to making a promise to everyone. His peaceful and quiet life was totally destroyed by this woman. He thought that it was definitely due to his act of bribing her initially which hurt this woman who had strong self-esteem, so all of this is for her revenge!

This was too much. This was worse than when Twain gave Carl Spicer ten thousand plus books to sign on live scene!

“Your photograph is definitely not fake, Ms Lisa Aria.” Twain stared at her coldly and said, “But that is not Judy Shania Jordana. That is just my newly ordered inflatable doll.”

Once the word was out, everyone was shocked!Even Lisa Aria did not think that Twain would actually used this type of means to cover up his relationship with Shania. She screamed, “I clearly saw her walked in and out, how can the inflatable doll walk by its own!

Twain smiled, “Like I said, it’s the latest model. What’s so impressive about it walking? It can cook, too. With the press of a button, it will cook me anything I want. Ah, the wonders of technology”

Suddenly, everyone thought they were too stupid…

※※※

The entrances of Twain’s house and the Wilform training grounds were filled with reporters who rushed from various places around the world. When they huddled to discuss, they buzzed like a group of flies.

After Twain’s speech on “inflatable doll”, the people who were surrounding the Wilford training grounds retreated first, only those who did not give up continued to camp at Twain’s housing entrance. They wanted to mimic Lisa Aria’s one-night stakeout in the car during the winter’s harsh winds, seeing if they could dig out some more breaking news.

Twain did not entertain them, he would wave to greet them when he entered and left the house, shouting in a Chinese accent, “Hi my fellow partners! You all worked hard!” Nowadays he would allow them to shrink their necks and snivels during the winter winds to camp for their “exclusive groundbreaking gossips”.

As long as his heart was at peace, these reporters blocking the entrance to his house posed no problem to him. In fact, he even wanted to thank them. Now that there were so many more reporters here, the security at Branford Garden street was a lot better and there were virtually no thieves or pickpockets.

Twain made a text on his column to remind the Nottingham police to quickly present a medal to these heroes who persevered in protecting the citizens’ property openly complimented them. After this move, the reporters who had no idea of how long they had to wait beat a hasty retreat.

In another face-off against the media, Tony Twain was clearly victorious. But his “backyard” started a little fire — he received a short protest from Shania:

“I am not an inflatable doll who knows how to cook, Uncle Tony! If you speak carelessly again, be careful I fly back to hit you!”