"It's livelier than I thought." This was the first thing Tang En said when he arrived in Volendam.
Indeed, he thought it was a quiet fishing village with few people and the usual sounds of chickens crowing and dogs barking could be heard very clearly.
The small fishing village was not bad, but it was already a tourist village. There were usually many tourists from all over the world here. Those who traveled to Amsterdam would also choose to tour the small town, which was a 30-minute drive from the Dutch capital, because it was a famous wedding location in Europe.
Kerslake heard Tang En say this and thought he was dissatisfied. He did not expect him to say, "It's not bad like this. A lively town. Those kids don't have to run to Amsterdam to relieve their boredom at night."
The team members in the car also looked curiously at the unfamiliar town outside the car.
When they went around the outside of the town, they saw several floats, all of which were the newlyweds preparing to take their wedding photos.
"What a romantic town." Ribéry whistled.
Of course, the Forest team would not stay in the town of Volendam. Their target was a professional team here — FC Volendam.
Although FC Volendam was still struggling in the Eerste Divisie, their training facilities were very complete and there was no problem with group training.
When the team could see the sparkling lake IJssel in the distance from the car, they were already close to the gates of FC Volendam's training base.
The car drove straight through a row of lush trees. From behind the trees, the red pointed single-story house was hidden. That was where they were staying.
"We're here." Captain Albertini stood up and called for his teammates to get ready to get off the car.
When the car stopped, Tang En, Dunn, and Kerslake got off first. There were already FC Volendam officials waiting below the car.
After a simple welcome and some small talk, the people from FC Volendam brought the team to their residence. Someone would help them carry their luggage, and they only needed to bring their small bags with them.
The weather in the Netherlands was good today. The sun shone brightly, and Tang En was in a good mood. He joked with the other party. "I wonder if your club has two Chinese players who have played for it before?"
The other party was stunned, not understanding what Tang En was saying.
Tang En did not expect to get an answer. He laughed. "Just kidding. The conditions here … are not bad. " He looked around the training ground. What he said was a little exaggerated. In fact, it was not "very good". After all, it was not the Knowing Destiny Club, and its financial situation was not good.
The person in charge of negotiating with them about renting the training ground this time was Allan Adams. He seized the advantage of the other party's poor financial situation and fought for the greatest benefit for the Forest team — to get things done with the least amount of money.
Twain had to admit that he was not cut out to do business. He was easily swayed by his emotions. For example, Volendam. If he were to negotiate with the other party, he might feel a sense of familiarity from seeing this name in a web novel and not bargain at all.
While Tang En was chatting happily with the host and guest of the other party, Kerslake was acting as the "bad guy" at the entrance of the players' dormitory.
"Hurry up! You have half an hour to rest and tidy up. After that, you will train. It will be over before dinner! "His loud voice rang out in the unfamiliar training ground.
Coming along with Nottingham Red Forest was, of course, the media in charge of reporting on the Forest team — Nottingham Evening Post reporter Pierce Brosnan's tracking team. There were only two people, one in charge of interviews, and the other in charge of taking photos.
As for the other English media … they had all stayed in town. Unlike Nottingham Forest's "official external media," Nottingham Evening Post, these paparazzi were not qualified to travel with the Forest team. And with a large number of reporters following to report on Nottingham Forest's summer training, this small club, which had been silent for more than a decade in European football, was also going to be lively.
"I thought they would rest like this today, or participate in some social activities … Aren't they tired?" The photojournalist in charge of taking photos, Mark Wise, grumbled as he set up his camera.
"How tired can flying from England to the Netherlands be?" Brosnan stood beside him with his arms crossed, observing everything that was happening here.
This was one of the reasons why the Forest team could rise in such a short period of time. He had seen how Tony Twain went from a nobody to a famous European manager, and he was already used to it.
Half an hour later, the team had already changed into their training uniforms in the locker room and reappeared on the training ground. The bus drove away, along with the club's personnel from Volendam. The people who were still here were all from Nottingham Forest.
Twain stood under the afternoon sun and put on his sunglasses. The assistant manager, Kerslake, whistled and roared. The members of the coaching staff performed their duties, and the players ran on the field under the sun, dripping with sweat … Everything was no different from their training base in Nottingham's Wilford.
※ ※ ※
The training life in the small town was very peaceful. Although Volendam was a bustling tourist attraction, the liveliness could not affect the training ground in the eastern suburbs of the town.
The training ground surrounded by the lush forest and iJssel Lake was like a paradise … Of course, that was not right, because there would not be that many reporters in a paradise …
As the runner-up in last season's Champions League and Premier League, they indeed had the qualities to attract a lot of media. Of course, this was one of the reasons. Another reason was their manager, Tony Twain. "This is a person who will become the focus of attention no matter where he goes." — The general consensus of the media.
Everyone knew that as long as they followed Twain, they would not have to worry about the news.
But this time, they were disappointed.
Nottingham Forest's training in Volendam was as usual as any other team. Other than the daily training, paying attention to the condition and injuries of certain players, as well as the two instructional friendly matches against the "host" Volendam, there was nothing else to report … Of course, this kind of news was not what most of the media who came along wanted to get.
Twain was naturally well aware of this.
"With so many media outlets, do you really think they're all here to closely observe the conditions of Van der Vaart, Edwin van der Sar, Petrov, and the other newly joined players, or to report the Forest team's preparation situation at the first instance?" Twain said to his assistant manager, Dunn. "Son of a b * tch, the imperialists just won't give up on destroying us …" He said this sentence in Mandarin.
"David!" He called out loudly. When the latter turned his gaze to him, he waved his hand toward the outside of the training ground. "Tell those reporters that it's time to film!"
Kerslake nodded and strode toward the barbed wire fence with a straight face.
※ ※ ※
"So much attention from the media. It's just a pre-season training …" Lennon looked at the media that had surrounded the training ground. He was familiar with most of them. They were from England …
Beside him, Gareth Bale nodded in agreement. In his memory, he would not see so many media outlets even in Wilford, Nottingham. Of course, what he did not know was that in Wilford, Twain was the king. Therefore, many of the media outlets that he disliked were directly blocked outside the main entrance. They could not even get close to the training ground. It was different here. There were many things that he could not control.
"We're a strong team now. We're a big star player. Naturally, we'll attract more media attention." Ashley Young shrugged with an expression that said, "I've been there." He entered the team half a year earlier than Lennon and had been the main right midfielder ever since. In front of Lennon, he indeed had the qualifications to be an "old man."
Ashley Young stretched. "Training, matches, returning to the dormitory to play video games … These days are too boring … Ha …"
"But this is what Boss wants us to do," Bale retorted.
Ashley Young looked at the still childish Bale and chuckled. "Little monkey, you're still young. There are some things you don't understand … Do you want to go see heaven?"
Lennon patted Bale on the shoulder 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 been seen through, Ashley Young scratched his head awkwardly. "Ah, since I'm already here, it would be a pity not to go and take a look." He looked at the manager, Twain, in the distance, and then came over to laugh. "Anyway, Boss won't know. He's always in the room studying videos with the China assistant manager every night … It's too boring!"
"But this is …" Bale still wanted to bring up Twain, but Ashley Young immediately covered his mouth.
"It's not a big deal to just take a look. We've already stayed in this godforsaken place for 11 days. The Amsterdam Tournament is in two days. After the tournament, we'll go back home … In the end, what did we do in the Netherlands? After you go back, your friends ask you, 'Hey, Allen, Gareth, did you do anything fun in Amsterdam?' Are you going to say, 'No, we stayed in a f * cking primeval forest for more than ten days'? "
"I went out to buy a lot of wooden clogs the night before yesterday … Ouch!"
This time, Ashley Young, who was exasperated at Bale's failure to live up to his expectations, knocked him on the head.
"Everyone who comes to the Netherlands wants to buy those clichéd things. You guys can bring them out? They're even sold in England … Even though they're imitations. Alright, if you want to go, then go and see something truly unique. Other than Amsterdam in the Netherlands, is there any other place that has that? "
Lennon thought about it. "It seems like there really isn't … Leeds has it too, but they won't come out so openly …"
"That's it, that's a unique feature! It's a country's culture. Do you guys know about culture? "Ashley Young patiently guided his two teammates. "The Netherlands' open culture … is really enviable! We're not really going to do anything. We're just going to visit and look around. The invitational tournament is about to start. Do you think I would dare to mess around? "
"Don't worry …" Seeing that Bale was still frowning and hesitating, he continued, "We won't let the boss know. We promise to be back before eleven o 'clock. It's so close to Amsterdam from here. It's only thirty minutes by bus. We'll just say we're going to play in town. No one will care … How about it, how about it? We'll go after dinner! "
Ashley Young originally wanted to do this kind of thing alone, but van der Vaart's words reminded him that who knew what would happen in that kind of place at night? It was better to bring two more people so that everyone could look out for each other when they moved together. But this matter could not be made known to more people. Who knew if someone would snitch on them to the boss?
To be honest, Lennon and Bale were both curious young people who were also full of longing for 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 also tempted.
Anyway, if they really came back before eleven o 'clock, the boss would certainly not know. These days, when everyone went to play in town at night, he did not ask. Just as Ashley Young said, they were just going to take a look. It was not like they were really going to do anything. There should be no problem … right?
"Okay, I'll go!" Lennon made up his mind and then looked at Bale.
Bale and Lennon were good friends when they were in the youth team. Later, they were transferred to the First Team one after the other, and their friendship continued from the youth team to the senior team. If Lennon wanted to go, Bale would also go, even if he was still a little afraid of Tony.
Under Lennon's and Ashley Young's gazes, Bale finally nodded.
Ashley Young smiled. "Listen, this is a little secret between the three of us. No one can tell. If they ask, just say we're going to play in town. Do you understand? "
"Yes!" The two of them nodded heavily. Even if Ashley Young did not remind them, they also knew that this matter could not be said. If it was said, it would be over …
Although the boss could usually joke around with everyone and be impolite, when he was angry, he would immediately become a very scary person.
Kerslake walked out again and blew the whistle in his mouth. "Break time is over, lads!"
Ashley Young winked at Lennon and Bale, then turned and ran back to the training ground.
※ ※ ※
After the day's training ended, Tony called Dunn and Kerslake to take a walk by Ijssel Lake and discuss the various plans for the new season. Before they left, he did not forget to remind the team members who were preparing to go out after dinner not to play too late.
After the coaches left, Ashley Young called Lennon and Bale out of the training base's main gate and ran to the "heaven" in their hearts under the setting sun …
Forty-five minutes later, three young people dressed in casual clothes appeared on the streets of the red-light district.
The sky had already darkened, and the canal was brightly lit. Under the neon lights, sexy naked bodies were reflected in the human flesh display windows, dazzling the eyes of the three young people.
"Handsome, come in and take a look!"
The prostitutes flirted with the people walking past the shop doors, soliciting business. There was even no lack of women among the "sightseeing" crowd.
"When we passed by here during the day, it was cold and quiet. Now it's actually so lively …" Ashley Young sighed.
"This … is really …" Bale looked at the prostitutes openly soliciting customers, as well as the police patrolling the streets. He really did not know what to say. He had completely lost his ability to think and speak.
Lennon, on the other hand, stared fixedly at the prostitutes in the window without saying a word.
"One euro, two minutes!" A sign placed at the door of a shop attracted the gazes of the three people. The people who walked out of the shop more or less had a satisfied look on their faces.
"What is this?" Bale's curiosity was piqued, and he asked.
Lennon shook his head.
"Who cares, let's go in and take a look! It's only one euro, so cheap! "Ashley Young pulled them in.
This was a small "hall" with a cylindrical building in the middle. There were many small doors around the pillar, which could at most accommodate a person who was not fat. Beside the doors, there was a slot similar to a coin slot. Ashley Young was suddenly enlightened. "A good show, do you want to watch?"
"Yes!" The two young men nodded resolutely.
Two minutes later …
Ashley Young looked at his two satisfied teammates and pursed his lips. "How disappointing. It takes more than ten seconds to raise a leg, thirty seconds to fix a position, the turntable stage is as slow as a snail … I'm watching my back for three-quarters of the time! Hey, you guys are so useless! Let's go! Let's go somewhere else! "
He pulled the two of them away from the erotic performance shop that was still filled with people.
"Why are there so many people lining up here?" Bale asked, pointing at a shop in front.
There was a long line there. Men of all skin colors, appearances, and ages were anxiously waiting.
Ashley Young glanced at the window with the curtains drawn.
"Oh, the girl inside is receiving customers. There are so many people lining up … It means that she's pretty, has a good body, and does good work. Business is good!"
Lennon and Belton looked at him with admiration, because he knew everything …
Ashley Young looked at the two of them, then looked at the shops in front of him that were shorter than a man's length. He suddenly clutched his stomach. "Ouch, my stomach hurts. I have to go …" He pointed at the WC sign at the corner of the street. "Wait for me here, don't go away!"
The two boys nodded obediently. "Okay, we'll wait for you."
Ashley Young clutched his stomach and ran away, disappearing at the corner of the street.
Bale leaned on Lennon nervously. He could feel the difference in the latter's body. Bale turned his head and saw that Lennon's gaze was fixated on a three-point girl behind a window in front of him, looking at her with great interest.
More neon lights lit up. The other side of the canal was also brightly lit. The night sky in Amsterdam gradually darkened … (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. QIDIAN. com. There are more chapters. Support the author, support the original reading!)
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