"Aaron Mitchell! With a beautiful pass, he bypassed the attacking goalkeeper and easily sent the football into the empty goal! The ball's in! Nottingham Forest leads Lyon by 2: 0 at home. They're basically in the final! "
In the electronics section of the supermarket, the television was broadcasting live tonight's Champions League semi-final. There were not many people watching the game there because the semi-final had nothing to do with their country's team. The people who came in to shop in the supermarket only took a quick glance and left. Only one person stood in front of the television and watched the game.
When Chen Jian went out, he forgot that it was Nottingham Forest's Champions League final. He had wanted to buy some daily necessities in the supermarket, but he accidentally wandered into the electronics section and could not move.
He had not watched a Nottingham Forest game for a long time. He was in the Netherlands and only cared about the team he played for. Nottingham Forest was too far away from him.
He did not expect to run into his mother team in the supermarket today.
So, he stopped and wanted to watch the Forest team's game.
He started watching from the eleventh minute of the first half and stood there until now. The Forest team led Lyon by 2: 0. He did not intend to watch any more. Nottingham Forest was sure to advance to the final. There was no sign that Lyon could turn the tables throughout the game. There was no more suspense in the game, and there was no need to continue watching.
Chen Jian turned and left with the things he had just bought. The noise from the City Ground stadium was still playing on the television. The sound was getting farther and farther away from Chen Jian, and soon he could not hear anything.
※ ※ ※
Name: Chen Jian.
Nationality: China.
Age: 23 years old.
Field position: Midfield in the middle, defensive midfielder, right back.
Current team: FC Volendam, Netherlands.
Chen Jian was loaned to FC Volendam from Nottingham Forest two seasons ago, when FC Volendam was still in the second division.
In fact, Chen Jian was not a player that FC Volendam urgently needed. At the time, FC Volendam needed strikers and defenders, not midfielders. Chen Jian was basically forced by the Forest team to FC Volendam because FC Volendam was the Forest team's satellite club. Because Chen Jian had guested as a right back, he could be counted as barely meeting FC Volendam's needs.
Because of this, he wasn't very happy in Volendam at first, or rather, he wasn't valued at all. On the one hand, he was forced to join Volendam by his parent team. On the other hand, he was a Chinese. As a player who was not from a developed football country, his nationality was not very convincing.
Therefore, in the Eredivisie teams, he could only occasionally play for a few minutes. He played during garbage time to deal with FC Volendam's request for playing time for loanee players. Moreover, he was playing in the right-back position that he was not very good at. He didn't perform well, which strengthened the determination of those who didn't think highly of him. Even the Chinese media gradually lost interest in him. It was rare to see news about him in the Chinese media. Chen Jian, who was once a member of the "European Champions", quickly lost his halo and was no longer newsworthy.
Under such circumstances, Chen Jian spent the first half of the season. The turnaround in his fortunes came from a large number of injuries in the midfield. The manager finally remembered that he could still play in the midfield …
It was his first appearance in the starting lineup. More than two years later, Chen Jian couldn't remember the details of that game, but he still remembered that he was named the best player on the spot after the game.
He showed a brilliant intelligence in the midfield. His defense was clean and timely, and his offense was well-organized. It was rare to see a player who could keep a clear head on the field, especially in a league like the Eredivisie.
From then on, Chen Jian's position changed. He gradually became Volendam's main midfielder. At the end of the first season, he returned to Nottingham Forest, and then Volendam's transfer application was handed over. But after Tang En watched the video of his game in the Netherlands, he flatly rejected Volendam's transfer request. However, he said he could continue to loan Chen Jian to them.
Just like that, Chen Jian returned to the Netherlands before he could even check out of the apartment he rented in the Netherlands.
The second season was a season worth celebrating for Volendam. They successfully rushed to the Eredivisie through a season of hard work. Due to Chen Jian's outstanding performance, they once again made an application to the Forest team to buy Chen Jian. Tang En also refused again and said he could continue to loan Chen Jian to them.
What followed was Chen Jian's third season with the team.
After officially becoming a member of Nottingham Forest, he had not even played a game for Nottingham Forest yet. He had also never put on the Nottingham Forest jersey. It was correct to say that he had little sense of belonging to the Forest team.
He no longer cared much about the Forest team, so much so that he was not anxious about when Nottingham Forest would play in the Champions League semifinals. As the season entered its final stages, he had to consider his future again. He had signed a four-year contract with the club. Three years had passed, and there was only one year left. Where would he go after a year?
Volendam valued him and hoped he could transfer over. Just a day ago, Volendam's manager found him and asked about the Forest team. He told Chen Jian tactfully. If he was always on loan, the team would not be able to determine their tactics around him, and his position in the team would never be determined.
"… It's impossible for any team to have a player on loan as their core. You're very talented. It's been three seasons, and you're very compatible with our tactics and have a good rapport. We all like you very much, but … "
Needless to say, Chen Jian knew what he meant. The manager was right. If this situation continued, Volendam would have to abandon him. Volendam was mired in relegation this season, which had a lot to do with Chen Jian's ambiguous position.
After two seasons of hard work, Chen Jian had proven his strength and gradually become the midfield core of Volendam's small team. But this was not a good thing for Volendam because they could not make long-term plans. They could only play one season and look at the next. Could the team's results be good in this way?
He was also a little confused. What should he do?
He used to think that he would be satisfied if he could play in the professional league, but he really played and had higher aspirations. He did not want to be a short-lived shooting star. He hoped to succeed and stay in this circle. He wanted to get a stable environment, which neither Nottingham Forest nor the current Volendam could give him.
He felt that he should lay his cards on the table with Manager Tony Twain, leave Nottingham Forest, and go to a team that could give him this kind of environment? He did well at Volendam. Several Eredivisie and Belgian First Division teams had asked his agent if he was interested in a change of environment.
He was also hesitant about this matter. It was reasonable to say that Nottingham Forest was indebted to him. If it were not for Nottingham Forest, he must be working as a security guard somewhere in the country, not playing professional football and enjoying the cheers of the fans at least once a week.
But he obviously could not go on like this …
These problems troubled Chen Jian and made him a little absent-minded recently. The manager had hinted to him that he would not be in the starting lineup for the next game.
At this time, he happened to see the Forest team's game in the supermarket. The long-lost red jersey made him a little absent-minded.
These people were all his teammates, but they had already won a lot of honors. He was still drifting outside and did not know where his home was.
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The next day, Chen Jian, who went to the training base for training, was called by the manager for a private talk. It was no different from the manager's words. He still hoped that he could consider putting pressure on the club to transfer to Volendam. Although Volendam's relegation situation looked precarious this season, as long as Chen Jian was transferred over, they could have a long-term plan, and it would not be difficult to return to the First Division.
That was what the manager said, but he did not know how credible it was.
At the end of the conversation, he also gave Chen Jian a small warning: Volendam would probably not continue to loan Chen Jian next season. They would ask Nottingham Forest to loan a striker and a defender, not a midfielder. In other words, Chen Jian had to find another way out.
Chen Jian did not say anything. After hearing this, he did not express his loyalty to the manager and said a lot of things like how he loved Volendam and wanted to stay to help the team get through this difficult time.
The manager did not know what the Chinese man was thinking, so he could only let him leave. Before he left, he confirmed one thing to him. Chen Jian was not in the squad list for the weekend league.
Well, he could calm down and think about his own future.
After the training, Chen Jian received a call from his agent, Mr. Xia. Mr. Xia wanted to talk to Chen Jian about next season and his future development. His contract with the Forest team would expire in a year. Whether he wanted to renew his contract with the Forest team or change to another place, these were things that needed to be discussed between the two of them.
Chen Jian agreed.
※ ※ ※
The team advanced to the finals, and Tang En began to get busy again. He was busy sending tickets. His friends, like Gloria, and his wife's friends, like Tom Cruise. And Michael Bernard, who had decided not to come to watch the game anymore, would still send tickets. He did not intend to let Michael come, but he had to let Michael know that his favorite team had advanced to the Champions League finals again.
There was also the lovely Gavin Bernard. He would personally go to Gavin's grave to burn the tickets for him.
The remaining tickets that needed to be sent out were for the players who were out on loan. This was a tradition that Tang En implemented in order to cultivate the players' sense of honor and belonging to Nottingham Forest. In fact, this kind of thing could be done by the club's specialized department, but to express his sincerity, Tang En insisted on sending them himself. Every ticket would be accompanied by a short letter written by Tang En himself.
From these small details, it showed his concern for the players, so that it was easier to win over the hearts of the players.
He did the writing for the players after he returned home. He turned on the lamp and spread out the paper. He began to write to every wandering player, telling them that the team had always been paying attention to their performance. As long as they performed well, they would have the opportunity to play for the Forest team. Finally, he wished them good health and happiness every day. The content was basically these, just that he filled in the names of different people.
There were ten players on loan for the Forest team this season. The youngest was 17 years old, and the oldest was 23 years old.
After he finished writing a letter, he folded it and put the ticket into the envelope with the corresponding name.
When he picked up the last ticket and looked for the name on it, he saw Chen Jian's Hanyu Pinyin.
The name made his hand stop in its tracks.
He still remembered the scene when Chen Jian first came to the Forest team. At that time, as the third place in a talent show, he was rewarded with a year of training with the Forest team. He also clearly remembered when he asked Chen Jian over the phone if he wanted to abandon his current life to pursue his dreams in England, and how Chen Jian answered. He also remembered when he gave Chen Jian his first professional contract and asked him to change his nationality, how Chen Jian rejected it.
These things seemed like they happened yesterday, vivid in his mind.
Now that three years had passed, Chen Jian still had one season left on his contract with Nottingham Forest. He had to consider what Chen Jian's future should be like.
Should he renew the contract, or not renew it when it expired? Should he continue to go out on loan for training, or should he call him back to the team and start playing in the reserve team?
Although he did well in Volendam, Volendam's strength could not be compared to Nottingham Forest's strength. Therefore, his results in Volendam did not mean that he could meet Nottingham Forest's requirements. Tang En thought that the current Chen Jian still did not reach the level to enter the First Team.
He put down the ticket and began to write a letter. He did not write in English. Instead, he wrote in Mandarin. He had not used Mandarin for many years and was a little rusty. The problem of forgetting words when he picked up the pen made him dazed for a long time. In fact, the main reason was that he did not know what he should say to Chen Jian.
He was the one who gave Chen Jian hope, but he could not take care of Chen Jian for the rest of his life.
After thinking for a long time, he only wrote this sentence on a piece of A4 paper: "Foolish Old Man, how's the digging of Taihang and Wangwu Mountains?"
Then he folded the paper and stuffed it into the envelope with the ticket, and patted it gently. Only then did he extinguish the table lamp and get up to rest.
Shania lay on the bed, already ready to "make a baby." Watching Tang En take off his clothes, she casually asked, "Are you writing to those players and sending tickets?"
"Yes." Tang En nodded. "It's the first time in five years. I'm a little rusty, so I'm a little slow."
"I'm not in a hurry." Shania lay lazily on the bed and smiled at Tang En. "You don't look too happy?"
Tang En said as he took off his clothes. "I just wrote a letter to a silly boy. I thought about it for a long time, but I did not know what to say. I want to help him, but I'm afraid he won't live up to expectations. "
"You're worried about that …"
Shania suddenly knelt up from the bed and hugged Tang En from behind. "You can give him a chance. Don't you always say that? It's other people's business whether they work hard or not, but it's my business whether I give him a chance or not. "
Tang En felt the warm and soft touch behind him, and his lower body reacted.
He turned around and pushed Shania onto the bed, laughing. "What you said makes sense. So, in order to thank you …"
A room of love.
※ ※ ※
The next day, Tang En handed all the written letters to the relevant staff of the club for them to deliver. Every letter would be personally delivered by courier to the corresponding person, so it would not be lost.
For the vast majority of the players on loan, the letter in the same envelope as the ticket was just an accessory. The manager said those words that seemed very enthusiastic, but in reality, he treated everyone equally. Everyone would not be the special one.
"Dear so-and-so, I've always been paying attention to your performance in so-and-so's team. I hope you can learn something useful from this loan … Tony Twain. "
Other than the different names, the content was the same.
But to one of them, he was the special one.
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