Godfather Of Champions

“It’s livelier than I had imagined.” This was Tang En’s first statement upon reaching Volendam.

Indeed. He had thought this would be a quiet little fishing village without many people, where barking dogs or crowing chickens could be commonly heard.

He was not wrong about it being a small fishing village. But it was one that had become a tourist spot. Usually, the place was filled with numerous tourists visiting from all around the world. Those touring Amsterdam would also choose to come and look around the small town, which was a mere 30-minute ride from the Netherland’s capital; after all, it was a scenery spot in Europe famed for taking wedding pictures at.

Hearing Tang En’s words, Kerslake thought he was displeased about it, but he followed it up unexpectedly, saying, “This isn’t bad. With a lively little town, the lads needn’t run to Amsterdam for fun at night.”

The players in the coach were curious about the unfamiliar town with many cars parked outside it.

When they were driving around on the outside, they already saw several wedding cars belonging to new couples preparing to shoot wedding photos.

“What a romantic town.” Ribéry whistled.

Of course, Forest was not going to reside in the town of Volendam itself. Their destination was a professional football team here, FC Volendam.

Although FC Volendam was currently still struggling in the Eerste Divisie, they had comprehensive training facilities. Forest would not have problems with training.

By the time the team was able to see the shimmering waters of Ijsselmeer in the distance, they had already gotten close to the gates of FC Volendam’s training grounds.

The coach drove straight, passing by lush rows of trees. Behind the forest were hidden red bungalows where they would be staying.

“We’ve arrived.” Albertini stood up and called for his teammates to prepare to get off the coach.

When the coach stopped, Tang En, Dunn and Kerslake got off first. Outside, there were already officials from FC Volendam waiting for them.

After a simple welcome and exchange of greetings, FC Volendam’s personnel led the team to their residence. Their luggage would be transported by someone else, so they only needed to bring the small bags they carried around with them.

The weather in the Netherlands today was quite pleasant with a bright sun. Following that, Tang En’s mood was good. He joked with the other party, “Has your club ever had two Chinese players playing for you?”

They seemed stumped at the question, not understanding what Tang En referred to.

Tang En was not hoping to get an answer from them. He laughed aloud. “I’m joking. The conditions here… are pretty good.” He scanned his gaze across the training grounds. His words were slightly exaggerated. In truth, it was not at the level of being “pretty good.” They were not a renowned club and their financial status was not at its the best.

The person in charge of discussing the rental of the training grounds was Allan Adams. Using their poor financial situation to their advantage, he helped Forest gain the maximum possible benefit, using minimal funds to accomplish his goals.

In this aspect, Tang En had to admit that he was truly not cut out for business. It was easy for him to be overly emotional about things. For example, Volendam. If it were up to him to negotiate with them, he might have ended up without any bargaining because of the affection developed from reading the name in a certain web novel.

While Tang En was in a jovial conversation with the host, Kerslake was acting out the role of a jerk in front of the players’ dorm.

“Speed it up! You have half an hour to rest and pack before training. The training will end before dinner time!” His loud voice resounded through the air of the unfamiliar training grounds.

Tagging along with Forest, of course, was the media especially charged with writing about Forest, one of Nottingham Evening Post’s reporters, Pierce Brosnan’s follow-up team. There were only two of them. One was in charge of the interviews, and the other took photographs.

The other media groups from England had all settled into town. Unlike Nottingham’s “official external media group,” Nottingham Evening Post, the paparazzi had no right to travel alongside Forest. Following the massive number of reporters arriving to report on Nottingham Forest’s summer training, this small, unknown club in the European football scene for the last decade and more was also about to liven up.

“I’d thought they would be resting today after this, or participating in some kind of socialization… aren’t they tired?” Press photographer Mark Wiser, in charge of taking photographs, groused as he set up his camera.

“How tired can they be, flying from England to the Netherlands?” Brosnan stood beside him with crossed arms, observing everything that was taking place here.

This was one of the reasons for Forest’s abrupt rise within such a short time. He was a witness to Tony Twain’s transformation from a no-name person into a famed manager in Europe; he was already impervious to such oddities.

Half an hour later, the team appeared on the training grounds after changing into their training jerseys in the locker room. The big coach had also departed, along with FC Volendam’s personnel. The ones still left here were all Nottingham Forest’s members.

Tang En stood beneath the afternoon sun with his dark sunglasses on. The whistles and shouting from assistant manager Kerslake could be heard as members of the coaching team proceeded with their individual work. The players ran around on the field, dripping with sweat under the sun. Everything was just like it was in Nottingham’s Wilford Training Grounds; it was no different.

Their time training in the small town was very peaceful. Although the middle of Volendam town was a tremendously lively tourist attraction, the hustle and bustle was unable to affect the training area in the eastern area of the town.

The training grounds, surrounded by lush forests and IJsselmeer, were like a utopia. Of course, it was not quite accurate to say that; there would not be as many reporters in a utopia.

As the runner-up for the Champions League and the Premier League in the previous season, they encapsulated qualities that were extremely attractive to numerous media groups. This was one reason. Another reason was their main manager, Tony Twain. The consensus of the media was that he was a character with the potential of becoming the prime focus wherever he went.

Everyone knew there was no lack of news so long as they kept following Tony.

But this time, he disappointed them.

Nottingham Forest’s training in Volendam was like that of any other team. Other than their daily training, paying attention to the conditions and sickness of certain footballers, as well as the two warm-up matches with FC Volendam, their Eastern host, there was nothing else to report on. This sort of news was evidently not the kind hoped for by the majority of the media who had followed them here.

Naturally, Tang En understood that clearly.

“There are so many media groups here. You really think they are here to get up close observing Rafael van der Vaart, Edwin van der Sar, Martin Petrov and the conditions of the other newly joined players? Or to report on Forest Team’s preparatory situation at the first instance?” To his assistant manager Dunn, he said in Chinese, “F**king hell. Imperialism’s desire for my death is not yet dead.”

“David!” he shouted. When the man in question looked at him, he waved at the external area of the training grounds. “Tell those reporters their time for filming is up!”

Kerslake nodded his head and put on a face before striding over to the barbed wire wall in huge steps.

“There’s so much attention from the media. It’s just pre-season training…” Lennon looked at the media groups that had the training grounds tightly surrounded. He was familiar with most of them; they were from England.

Gareth Bale nodded in agreement from beside him. In his memories, they would not see this many reporters even in Wilford, Nottingham. Of course, what he was unaware of was that Tang En was a king in Wilford. So, several media groups he did not like were directly blocked outside the gates and had no chance of getting close to the training grounds. Over here, it was not the same. He did not have control over many things.

“We’re a strong team now, a big football star. Naturally, we’ll get more attention from the media.” Ashley Young shrugged with the expression of someone who was more experienced. Having entered the team half a year earlier than Lennon and consistently playing as a core player since his entry, he was qualified to be an old man in front of Lennon.

Ashley Young stretched. “Training, matches, and then going back to the dorms to play games… these days are so boring…”

“But this is what the Boss wants us to do,” Bale retorted.

Ashley Young looked at Bale and his naive face and chuckled. “Kid, you’re still small. There are some things you don’t understand… Do you want to take a look around heaven?”

Lennon patted Bale’s shoulders and said to Ashley Young, “Don’t treat Gareth like a three-year-old. You want to go to the red-light district, don’t you?”

Having his intentions revealed, Ashley Young scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. “Well, since we’re already here, it’s such a pity if we don’t take a look.” He looked at Tony and then wiggled over with a laugh, saying, “Anyway, Boss won’t know about it. Every evening, he analyzes recordings with the assistant manager in their room… It’s so boring!”

“But this…” Bale still wanted to bring Tang En up, but Ashley Young directly covered his mouth up.

“We’re just looking. It’s no big deal. We’ve already been in this godforsaken place for 11 days. In another two days, it’ll be the Amsterdam Tournament. After finishing that, we’ll return to England. In the end, what will we have done in the Netherlands? After you get back, and friends ask, ‘Hey, Aaron, Gareth, is there anything fun to do in Amsterdam?’ Are you guys just going to say, ‘No, we stayed 10 days in a prehistoric Forest’?”

“I went out last night and bought a lot of clogs… ouch!”

This time, Ashley Young, who could not bear the lack of progress from Bale, gave him a knock on his head.

“That’s something everyone buys when they come to the Netherlands. Even England sells them… Though they’re, of course, fakes. Alright. If we want to go, we have to go look at the things that are truly unique. Other than in Amsterdam, Netherland, is there any other place that has that?”

Lennon thought about it. “I don’t think so. Leeds has it too. But it won’t be as overt as it is here…”

“That’s it. This is unique! It’s the culture of a country. Culture, do you guys know it?” Ashley Young said, guiding his two teammates on. “Netherland’s culture of openness is admirable! We aren’t really going there to do anything, only to tour around. It’s just a look. The Amsterdam Tournament is about to begin; would I dare to do anything?

“Relax…” Seeing that Bale was still hesitant and had furrowed brows, he continued saying, “We won’t let the Boss know about this. We promise we’ll be back by 11. It’s so close to Amsterdam from here. It’s only a 30-minute ride by public transport. We’ll just say we’re going to town for some fun and no one will care. How about it? How about it? We’ll go right after dinner!”

Ashley Young had originally wanted to go and do such a thing on his own. But, van der Vaart’s words reminded him. It was hard to know what sort of thing might happen in that place when night came. It was better to take two more people with him; it’s easier to take care of each other when moving together. But they could not divulge this to the others. Who knows if anyone would tattle on them to the Boss?

In truth, Lennon and Bale were filled with curiosity. As young men who were at the same time looking forward to the idea of sex, it would be a lie to say that they were not at all interested in Amsterdam’s red-light district. Now that there was someone taking the lead and encouraging them, they were tempted.

Anyhow, they knew that if they really returned before 11, the Boss would certainly be kept in the dark. He had never asked during the few evenings everyone went visiting the town for fun. Just like Ashley Young had said, they were only going there to look. It wasn’t as if they really wanted to do anything. There shouldn’t be a problem, right?

“Alright, I’ll go!” Lennon decided and then looked at Bale.

Bale and Lennon had become good friends since their time in the Youth Team. Later, when the two had taken turns in getting transferred into the First Team, their friendship had carried over from the Youth Team into the adult team. If Lennon was going, Bale was not going to say no, even if he was still a little afraid of Tang En.

Subject to Lennon and Ashley Young’s focused gaze, Bale finally nodded.

Ashley Young smiled. “Listen, this is a little secret between the three of us. No one can say anything about it. If they ask, just say we’re going to town for fun. Got it?”

“Yes!” the two nodded repeatedly. Even without Ashley Young’s reminders, they knew that such a thing was not to be divulged. It would be the end of them if they did.

While the Boss could usually joke with everyone without caring about age differences, he immediately turned into a terrifying person whenever he got angry.

Kerslake walked out again and blew his whistle. “Rest time is over, lads!”

Ashley Young winked at Lennon and Bale, turning to run back to the training grounds.

After the day’s training ended, Tang En called Dunn and Kerslake out for a walk at Ijsselmeer, also to discuss the numerous plans they had for the new season. Before taking his leave, he did not forget to remind the players, who were ready to go out to play after dinner, not to be out too late.

Once the managers were gone, Ashley Young called on Lennon and Bale, and they left through the gates of the training grounds. In the sunset, they ran towards heaven.

45 minutes later, the three young men in casual wear appeared on the streets of the red-light district.

The sky was darkening, and the sides of the canal glowed brightly. Bodies emerged one after another from the windows under the neon lights, dazzling the eyes of the three young men.

“Handsome, come in and take a look!”

The half-naked prostitutes played with their hair flirtatiously and giggled at the people who walked past their doors, trying to solicit business. There were also no lack of females in the stream of tourists.

“It was cold and quiet when we came during the day. Now it’s so lively,” Ashley Young sighed.

“This… Really…” Bale looked at the prostitutes openly soliciting customers and the policemen patrolling the streets and was truly at a loss for words. He had completely lost his ability to think and speak.

Lennon, on the other hand, said nothing as his eyes raked over the half-naked ladies in the windows.

“One euro for two minutes!” The signboard outside a store attracted the gaze of the three. The people who walked out of the store all had, to some degree, a satisfied look on their faces.

“What is that?” Bale asked, his curiosity piqued.

Lennon shook his head.

“Oh, go on, let’s take a look first! It’s only one Euro, that’s really cheap!” Ashley Young pulled them in.

It was a single level of an average-sized hall. Right in the middle of it was a cylindrical pillar. Around the pillar were many little doors which could contain, at best, someone who was not fat. By the side of the doors were coin slots that all looked the same. It suddenly dawned on Ashley Young. “It’s a fun show; do you want to watch?”

“Yes!” The two young men firmly nodded.

Two minutes later…

Ashley Young looked at his two satisfied teammates and pursed his lips. “What a disappointment. Raising her thighs took more than 10 seconds, and setting a posture took 30. The rotating stage was as slow as a snail too… I was watching her back three-quarters of the time! Let’s go somewhere else!”

He dragged the two from the erotic show shop that still had a never-ending flow of people entering.

“Why are there so many people queuing here?” Bale asked, pointing at one of the shops in front.

There was a long queue there, with men of a variety of ages and looks waiting anxiously.

Ashley Young took a glimpse at the window with drawn curtains.

“Oh. The girl in there is entertaining a customer now. With so many people queueing, it means that she’s beautiful and does the job well. That’s why there’s such good business!”

Lennon and Bale suddenly looked at him with admiring eyes because he knew everything.

Ashley Young looked at the two and then at the stores in front with varying queues. He suddenly held his stomach. “Argh, my stomach hurts. I’ve got to go.” He pointed to the WC sign at the corner of the street. “You guys wait for me here. Don’t move!”

The two boys nodded honestly. “Okay, we’ll wait for you.”

Ashley Young held his stomach as he ran far away, disappearing into the corner of the street.

Bale leaned on Lennon somewhat nervously. He could feel the awkwardness in the latter’s body. He turned and saw Lennon’s gaze fixed on a skimpily dressed girl behind one of the windows ahead of them. He was watching her with relish.

More neon lights began lighting up. Opposite the banks of the canal, it was just as brightly lit. Amsterdam’s night had just started darkening…