Chapter 614: The Dark Horse Prince

After he tore off the January page in the calendar, Twain learned a new update. The news made him very angry, but he could not express it in person.

Evan Doughty approached him and informed him that on February 4th and 5th, he would lose his most trusted assistant manager for two days.

“Is that The Football Kid talent show again, isn’t it?” He grunted. He actually wanted to swear the moment Evan told him about it, but when he planned to do so, he thought of Mourinho, and quickly calmed down.

He was not as arrogant as Mourinho. He was very much aware of who the club belonged to. He did not want to be considered “insubordinate” by Evan, which would not benefit him at all. He did not want to own the entire club; it would not do him any good. It would give him a headache instead.

Therefore, he just grunted to express his displeasure.

Evan smiled. “No one is more suited to be there for the finals of the show than Dunn. Because he’s…”

Twain nodded. “Yes, I know. He’s from China and also an assistant manager of this team. He’s popular in China and the audience will be delighted to see a familiar face appear in such an occasion. It is a way to woo the Chinese audience and market.”

“I’ve always said that Tony Twain is a very smart man,” Evan said with a grin. He did not mind that Twain interrupted him.

This was what Twain liked about Evan more than Abramovich. He was not as wealthy as the Russian, but because of this, he was a little smarter.

Twain knew that with a temperament like his, he was more amenable to coaxing and not coercion. Mourinho was the same. He could not get angry at Evan’s grinning face, but if he encountered such a hardline boss like Abramovich, Twain would push back hard against the other man to the end. At the most, they would separate. In this day and age, who would be afraid anymore?

“Flattery is useless on me, Evan…” Twain waved feebly. He was upset about it, but not to the point where he would turn his back on the club owner for it. “I think Allan is a little too shortsighted with this. Some things are too rushed… I’m afraid he’ll suffer later.”

“I’ll convey your worry to him, Tony. Let’s talk about this matter. In fact, that talent show can be counted as a success so far. The ratings are very high, and the social impact is also good.” Evan brought up the data from China, but Twain doubted how much weight there was to it. He cautiously agreed. “Also, you don’t have to worry about this taking too much time. Allan will go to China with Dunn. Dunn’s job is very simple, and he will return once it’s finished. Allan will be in charge of the other things. It’s just two days of events that won’t delay too much.” He patted Twain on the shoulder.

Twain shrugged and helplessly said, “all right. It would still happen even if I didn’t agree.”

“Thank you for your understanding and support, Tony. Finally, I would like to congratulate you for becoming the best coach in the world.” Evan held out his hand.

Twain patted him on the hand. “You said it last year.”

“It doesn’t hurt to say it one more time.”

Evan went back with satisfaction, and Twain sighed helplessly. He had no choice since he worked for other people. But Twain still insisted on the idea of not being a boss. He knew he was not cut out for it.

※※※

On February 2nd, Nottingham Forest had a minor victory of 1:0 over West Ham United at home. Since Manchester United was forced into an away draw by Tottenham Hotspur, the gap between the Forest team and Manchester United narrowed while Arsenal, who won its game, took the opportunity to overtake and return to the top of the league.

Halfway through the league tournament, the battle for the league title was becoming hotter.

Dunn packed light and set off again on a flight back to China. The initial climax of the show had intended Allan to be the hidden boss. However, Allan decided to let Dunn, whom the Chinese people found more acceptable and familiar, to complete the glorious task.

Setting aside Twain as a factor, the choice that he made was really good.

Although he was an assistant manager, Dunn already had a group of fans in China. They liked and chased after Dunn. They paid attention to him and gathered all the news about him. It might be the result of the warped environment in Chinese football — it did not make sense to worship the players, so they might as well worship the coaches.

Anyway, Dunn was someone who could give mental comfort to the vast number of Chinese fans abroad. With so many players in a slump overseas, only Dunn was still strong enough to appear in the technical area at the sidelines of the Premier League games every week.Therefore, from the standpoint of wooing the Chinese audience and market, Dunn was indeed the perfect candidate for the trip to China.

His job was really simple. On the day of the recording of the grand finale, he only needed to appear at the last minute of the show and announce a result that was unexpected to everyone, and that would be the end.

When Twain sent Dunn off, he repeatedly urged him, “come back when you’re done. Don’t be late by two days like the last time and not come back. You should know that punishment for being late does not just apply only to the players…”

Dunn nodded. “Tang Jing will not be going this time.”

“That’s good.” Twain snorted and added, “come back early.”

※※※

“9527” Chen Jian had a farewell dinner party with the friends he had been together with for over three months.

Because the fainting incident made him famous on the show, many viewers were very fond of the resilient lad, but it also made the number his new nickname. His mates often said it to make fun of him. It was only one of his nicknames. The Englishman, Kenny Sansom liked to call him the “Smiler” because his smile left a deep impression on Sansom. Not only that, the teenager always had a smile on his face, which was also very popular among the television audience.

He sat with his fellow contestants for drinks and dinner. It was the last dinner they would have together.

Of course, there were already fewer than thirteen people sitting next to Chen Jian.

The finals training camp was very cruel. Because the British directed the training camp, the selection criteria was only based on football and not who was more handsome or who could do hip hop or other boring stunts.

The British coaching staff had developed a number of training subjects for the Chinese teenagers. Their assessment was to complete the sporting events. Each sporting event was scored separately, and a comprehensive evaluation would be taken.

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It ensured the intensity of the competition, so that the program had more suspense, making it more attractive to the audience.

For example, some people could obtain high marks on the skill segment, but lost points in their stamina. Some people were in top form physically, but less skilled. Some people were good at scoring goals while the others liked to assist their teammates or defend. Everyone had things they were good and not good at. If the coaches did not announce their results, no one would know if they had won the final game.

In three months, they had sent away seven people, and today they were going to “send away” four more.

The eliminated people would not leave immediately. The seven contestants who were previously eliminated would be invited back to the final episode of the recording.

Kenny Sansom announced the names of the three lucky contestants who reached the finals on the training ground before the meal.

They were Wang Yang and Song Hui, as well as Chen Jian.

Once again, he made it to the end.

In fact, after the start of the training camp, Chen Jian was “the hot ticket” slated to be eliminated. He was the only one with no professional training among the fourteen contestants. He was purely an amateur. The most brilliant part of his resume was that he had won the Sichuan Guangyuan All High School Football Cup title in his high school football team.

But the amateur player was able to go all the way to the grand finale and become one of the top three, as well as have the chance to get one of the two tickets to the United Kingdom.

What was his secret? It was very simple and comprised of just three words. “Practice makes perfect.”

He practiced hard on the areas he was not as good at and doubled the time the others practiced. He wracked his brains on how to improve his results in the events he was inferior in and maintain his own advantage in the events he was good at. For example, his skills and awareness were not as good as the professionally trained contestants, but his stamina and physical fitness were good, and he was fast. He was always in first place every time the training camp organized fitness and speed tests. The score of that event greatly contributed in his achievement in the final top three.

At the same time, his achievements in the areas he was not good at were steadily improving. Everyone at the training camp saw his progress. Kenny Sansom particularly liked the kid, who was focused and worked hard.

On top of that, Chen Jian started practicing his English. The people around him did not understand. His answer was “I have to be tested on English in university anyway. If I’m not selected, I will have to worry about English papers.”

His mentality was optimistic and good.

He was underestimated every time, but every time he became one of the contestants who stayed in Changsha. Until then, he had the worst result out of the three people, but he continued to stay. This was a victory.

Wang Yang and Song Hui were the two contestants with the highest odds. Their selection was not a surprise from the beginning. Chen Jian was really a dark horse. With his tanned skin, he also had the nickname “the Dark Horse Prince.”

A tall man stood across the table with a beer mug in his hand. “No matter who among the three of you can go to England, I have nothing to say. We’ve all been brothers these three months.” The person, the seventh contestant from Dalian, spoke Mandarin with a Northeastern accent. He was Zhao Rui. “Since we’re all brothers, I, Zhao Rui, will be happy to see any of you go to England. Whoever goes goes on behalf of our Chinese people. But I have add one more thing…” He looked at the smiling Chen Jian in the crowd.

“9527.” That was the most widely accepted of Chen Jian’s nicknames. “I’m impressed!” Zhao Rui gave a thumbs up. “I may not necessarily lose in terms of skills and standards.” Zhao Rui was qualified to say that. He came from Dalian Shide youth team, which was a very good team. He was almost on par with Song Hui and Wang Yang. His elimination was really just a little bad luck. On the day of the most critical assessment, he caught a cold and ran a high fever, so his performance was a mess. He hid in the bathroom to cry after. After that, he came out with reddened eyes and said, “it’s just an elimination. What’s the big deal?”

“But I’m blown away! 9527! I really admire you! You’re the man! Truly!” Zhao Rui had a little bit to drink, so he was in an exuberant mood. “Damn it… just because I had a cold and fever, I was eliminated whereas you could still pass the audition assessment. Ten thousand people! And they can’t hold a candle to your fever and diarrhea… Just on this, I really admire you!”

Chen Jian smiled from start to finish. He did not know how to cope with such an enthusiastic friend. Furthermore, that kind of open praise embarrassed him a little. He was aware of the extent of his own abilities.

“Forget it! I’ll stop talking nonsense. Come have a toast…cheers!”

Chen Jian stood up. He clinked his glass against Zhao Rui’s and drained the full mug of beer. He won another round of praise from Zhao Rui, who exclaimed, “good! Honest! And straight! I like!” He also knocked back his drink.

Some of the other people congratulated and toasted the three finalists in turn. Chen Jian drank a lot and was a little dazed. Even if he had not been forced to drink so much, he would still be stunned.

I actually got into the final three and have a chance to compete for one of those two spots. Am I dreaming? My standard… My standard has not even reached such a strong level. Although I do work harder than others, to be able to… go to England… Can I really do that? Will I embarrass the Chinese people if I go?

The draft was still a talent show, after all. The commercial nature could not be discounted. Even if he could finally go to England, the English football clubs did not expect to pick a genius out of it. Therefore, the biggest possibility was that they finished the contracts and let the two lucky Chinese winners train there for a year before they returned to where they came from. At best, they could experience what real professional football was, broaden their horizons, and enrich their life experiences. Could they really expect to play professional football based on it? Hey, buddies, wake up. Stop dreaming.

Everyone sitting there hoped to become famous and fulfill their dream of playing professional football. Even an amateur contestant like Chen Jian had the idea, not to mention those who came from professional teams.

But when such an opportunity was in front of them, they were a little afraid. They were afraid that their standards could not keep up with other people’s demands and return a year later with their tails between their legs.

“Hey, what are you daydreaming about? 9527! Let’s have a toast! You lucky son of a gun, so lucky…” Someone came up to clink his glass again.

That was also a way of putting it. Some people speculated why the obviously weak Chen Jian could stay every time and hold on to the end to get the ticket to the finals. Perhaps there was an inside story?

It was a pity that there was no inside story. Luck did have quite a part in it. The audience who supported the other contestants thought Chen Jian’s luck was too good. The last competition to decide who would be in the top three relied a lot on luck: a penalty shootout!

The vast majority of people would agree that the winner determined by the penalty shootout, relied not on their skills and awareness or anything else, but merely on luck. The viewers thought so, and naturally some of the fellow contestants also thought so.

Chen Jian did not care aboutthe prattle. He raised his glass and clinked the other person’s glass.

Everyone drank to their hearts’ content. Song Hui, Wang Yang, and Chen Jian drank because they broke into the finals. While a few other people might have been trying to drown their sorrows, or perhaps they were truly happy for them, or maybe… there were other options, and they did not matter.

When the show aired the next day, there would be no more assessment. They did not have to worry if they had a hangover.

It was a farewell party. After today, and when the recording of the program was over tomorrow, all the answers and surprises would be revealed.

Life should be enjoyed to the fullest when times are good, let’s get drunk!