Chapter 16 Unique Welcome Ceremony

“Hi, Tyne fans, I’m here to say hello to you. I’m very happy to be a member of this glorious team. However, as the season is in progress, in order not to affect the team’s normal preparations, I have proposed to the club not to hold any ceremony, but to say hello to dear Tyne fans through this video…”

Tang Lin stood in the supermarket, with cabinets of fruits and vegetables in front of him, but he raised his head and looked at a large screen in the distance.

What was being played was a video of Wang Lie greeting the Tyne fans, and also a video of the Tyne Club officially announcing Wang Lie’s joining.

Video official announcement.

Is it so shameless?

Tang Lin is not a football fan, but he has heard about the difficulties Wang Lie is facing now.

Now that he had seen Wang Lie’s video, he couldn’t help but believe the rumors on the Internet.

I’m really at my wit’s end…

Although he didn’t like football, Tang Lin felt mixed emotions when he saw the face in the video smiling hard at the Tyne fans.

He lowered his head and started picking vegetables and fruits from the shelf in front of him again.

However, many local people gathered under the big screen in the supermarket.

Some of them even took out their mobile phones to take photos and videos.

Tang Lin could vaguely hear exclamations and questions.

It seems that not all of Tyne’s fans welcome Wang Lie’s arrival…

※※※

Tang Lin opened the door with the vegetables and fruits he had bought, and saw the landlord, Mr. Jon Berg, sitting in the living room, waving the newspaper in his hand at him:
“Don, look! Your compatriots are coming to Newcastle!”

“Is that Wang Lie?” Tang Lin asked while changing his shoes.

“Yes, that’s him!” Berg was very excited. “Now you can come with me to watch Tyne’s game, right?”

Tang Lin changed his shoes, put the dishes back in the kitchen, and then came out and said, “Mr. Berg, didn’t I say it? I’m not interested in football itself, not in Tyne…”

Jon Berg, with a head full of white hair, said with some regret: “Well… I thought you would be interested in ‘China Wang’, because you see, you already knew who was coming before I even told you…”

Tang Lin shook his head and smiled, “Wang Lie’s influence is beyond the circle. Even if I don’t watch football, I must know him. Even if I am not Chinese, I will have heard of his name. But this does not mean that I am interested in him. I have to watch his games…”

“That’s such a pity…” Berg muttered as he slowly stood up from the sofa and walked towards the door.

Tang Lin asked him curiously: “Are you going out?”

Berg waved his hand: “Don’t worry, I’ll go to the miner’s bar.”

“You’re drinking again. Didn’t the doctor tell you to drink less?”

Berg spread his hands in grievance: “What can I do? With such big news, I can only talk to my old friends in the bar. It’s normal to have a drink while chatting, right?”

Tang Lin shook his head helplessly: “Then you can only drink one glass.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back before dinner.”

While the two were talking, Berg had already moved to the door. He took down the woolen hat with the Tyne logo printed on it from the hanger, then took down the scarf with the same Tyne logo printed on it, and finally the down jacket with a huge Tyne logo printed on the back.

After getting dressed, he waved goodbye to Tang Lin: “Thank you for your hard work, Tang.”

Tang Lin smiled and shook his head: “You’re welcome, Mr. Berg. You even waived my rent, which saved me a lot of money. We call this ‘helping each other’.”

“Ha! Yes, help each other! Haha!”

Jon Berg laughed as he opened the door and walked out, and it was obvious that he was in a good mood.

Tang Lin didn’t understand football and didn’t like football, but he had heard of Wang Lie’s reputation, so he guessed that this should be good news for a veteran and fanatical Tyne fan like Mr. Berg.

But he still had some doubts in his heart, but in order not to ruin Mr. Berg’s good mood, he did not ask directly:

If he remembered correctly, Wang Lie should be quite old now? He remembered that he had heard this name when he was a child. Now he was 23 years old, why was Wang Lie still playing?

Although he doesn’t watch football, he knows the basic laws of physics. At such an old age, can he really still play? Even if such an old veteran comes to Tain, what help can he bring to this relegation team?

Tang Lin knew that the Tyne Club had a wealthy owner from the Middle East who was not short of money.

Could it be that Wang Lie is living here in his old age?

Finally, he would make some money, so he wouldn’t have to worry about retirement… But hasn’t Wang Lie made enough money in all these years? His annual income is enough for an ordinary person to live for several lifetimes, right?

Tang Lin really couldn’t figure it out. He was not interested in football and lacked enough information to help him analyze and draw conclusions.

So he shook his head, stopped thinking about the question, and prepared to go back to his room to review his homework.

As a graduate student at Newcastle University, he is under great study pressure.

Therefore, he was very grateful to Mr. Jon Berg for letting him live there for free without charging rent. This not only greatly reduced his financial pressure, but also saved him time to work outside, so he could devote more time and energy to study.

Tang Lin still finds it incredible when he thinks about it now – it was just a chance encounter at the bus station, and he got on the wrong bus but he actually met the “noble man” of his study abroad career.

At that time, he just thought that the old man looked very tired carrying so many things by himself.

Out of the most simple Chinese value of “respecting the old and loving the young”, he took the initiative to offer help, and the fate of the two was thus sealed.

He was invited to Mr. Berg’s home, the small building where he lives now.

He talked a lot with Mr. Berg and had dinner together – in fact, he didn’t plan to have dinner at first. But when he was about to say goodbye, he saw Mr. Berg opening the refrigerator to find some leaves and salad dressing for dinner. He realized that Mr. Berg’s ability to take care of himself was worrying, so he offered to cook some Chinese dishes for Mr. Berg.

It was after that dinner that Mr. Berg formally proposed that Tang Lin move in with him and that he would waive rent for him and not charge him a penny.

This proposal was very tempting to Tang Lin, but he was embarrassed to take advantage of Mr. Berg, so he offered to share the housework and help Mr. Berg cook.

Mr. Berg naturally agreed readily, as he really needed a companion as he lived alone.

Despite the huge age difference between the two people, they get along very well.

There was only one thing – Mr. Berg always wanted him to like football, and he would invite him to watch Tyne’s games every now and then… At first Tang Lin felt distressed. After all, every time he refused, he felt a little guilty when he saw the old man’s disappointed expression.

But later on, he and Mr. Berg seemed to have gotten used to it. Mr. Berg would tempt him to watch the game, and he would refuse. It seemed that the two sides had formed some kind of tacit understanding and had no psychological burden.

Tang Lin opened the book in front of him, set the alarm, put on headphones, and began to review his homework.

※※※

Jon Berg walked to the door of the bar and had just pushed the heavy door open a crack when an excited voice squeezed out from the crack:

“…We already have enough troubles! Why do we need a ‘super troublemaker’? An old guy who will be 38 soon, and may explode at any time. Others are afraid to get involved, but we took the initiative to sign him. Will Foster must be full of water in his brain!”

When he finished speaking, Berg had already pushed the door and walked into the bar. He saw a figure with one foot on a chair, holding a beer glass in one hand and waving his other arm vigorously.

His beard was shiny, and it was unclear whether it was the remaining wine or the saliva that had just been sprayed out.

So Berg shouted, “I don’t know if Will Foster has water in his head, but I’m sure yours is full of water, Robbie Dixie! It’s even overflowing and running down your beard!”

His words attracted the attention of everyone present, including Robbie Dixie, and everyone turned their heads to look over.

After seeing it was him, Dixie laughed loudly and said, “I thought you wouldn’t come today, old man! Do you still believe that the 38-year-old king can bring us anything positive?”

“He’s thirty-seven. He’s not even thirty-eight yet,” Berg corrected Dixie.

Dixie defended herself, “I’m only a few days away from turning thirty-eight…”

“February 17th. That’s his birthday. Twenty-seven days left, almost a month.”

Dixie didn’t want to argue with Berg about the numbers. He waved his hand and said, “Whatever. Even if he is 37 years old, what positive things can a 37-year-old Wang bring to the team?”

To his surprise, Berg shook his head and said, “I don’t know. But I believe McNeill, he did a good job after taking over Tyne, and he asked the club to bring in Wang.”

“I admit that McNeill did a good job, but he was not always right. He was Wang’s teammate at Sofia United, and I think his impression of Wang is still stuck at that time – if it was Wang who came to our Tyne at that time, I would be willing to kneel in front of him and kiss his shoes, but now… McNeill’s memory obviously needs to be updated!”

The two people started arguing.

Others around were watching the fun, and one even said to his companion with a smile: “Guess who will give in first this time?”

Everyone was used to seeing these two men arguing in the miners’ bar.

Jon Berg and Robbie Dixie have been friends for many years. They have been down the well together, but this does not mean that they always agree on all issues. They often have disagreements.

When no one can convince anyone else, they will ask the people in the bar to be witnesses, and agree that the loser will buy everyone a drink.

“…Wang is already 38 years old. We have all seen how he performed in the past half season at Sofia. I don’t believe that McNeill’s coaching team doesn’t know why they bought him? To be a mascot?”

Berg retorted: “What performance? Wang didn’t get any decent chances at Sofia United, what performance could he have? But even so, he still scored a goal, and it was into our Tyne goal. Have you forgotten, Robbie? If it weren’t for his goal, we should have retreated unscathed at the Redstone Stadium in the first half of the season.”

Some people in the crowd also agreed: “Yes, we should at least get one point!”

“Jon is right. Wang just lacks a head coach who trusts him and more playing opportunities…”

Robbie Dixie disagreed: “It was obviously our own fault that we lost the ball in the last minute. Those mercenaries didn’t want to play in the last five minutes of the game and they just wanted to go back to the locker room… Why did McNeil take over the team temporarily? It’s because we played like shit!”

“You mentioned ‘mercenaries’, Robbie. I think McNeill chose Wang because he hoped that he could use his strong competitive spirit to change the ‘mercenary’ mentality of our team. If Wang was on our side in that game, I don’t believe they would have relaxed at the last moment of the game. You know, Wang is known for his competitiveness, and what we lack now is the competitive spirit!”

Berg obviously admired Wang Lie’s competitive spirit.

Dixie did not deny this, but he raised a reasonable question:

“No one denies Wang’s spiritual attributes, Jon. But do you really think he can change the style of this team? If it was the 31-year-old Wang, I believe he could. But now he can’t even show a convincing enough performance, how can he change others? Just by talking nonsense? Jon, you don’t really believe that some people in our team can change just by listening to Wang Lie’s polite words, right?”

Berg did not respond immediately to this, but remained silent for a moment.

While he was silent, someone in the bar started shouting, “That’s right! Robbie is right! I absolutely don’t believe that Sonny Dean can change! We used to have high hopes for him! Now he is completely finished! Maybe one day I can see him here drunk!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. How could Sonny Dean come to drink in this crappy bar of ours? He always goes to high-end nightclubs! The glamorous world of London is waiting for him next…”

“Ryan, I heard you say this is a ‘crappy bar’!” The voice came from Theo Collins, the owner of the Miner’s Bar, who had been watching the fun from behind the bar.

“Ah that’s not what I meant, Mr. Collins… I mean, I mean we don’t have those hot chicks in hot clothes here!”

The jokes from everyone seemed to dilute the atmosphere of the previous confrontation. Berg said to Dixie:
“You’re right, Robbie. Empty words alone won’t change those ‘mercenaries’, otherwise they wouldn’t be what they are now. But I still believe that Wang can bring changes to this team, but I can’t produce any evidence to prove my point. Let’s just wait and see. It’s only half a season anyway. We’ll naturally be able to draw a conclusion by the end of the season.”

Robbie Dixie agreed: “That’s right, football problems can’t be solved with words. We still have to go back to the football field. I don’t have high expectations for this team. As long as they can successfully avoid relegation in the end, I think Wang will be useful to the team.”

Someone nearby started to make a noise: “Robbie, your standards are too low! McNeill is leading the team well now. Even without Wang, we should be able to stay in the league!”

Dixie changed the standard: “Then let’s be in the top ten of the league. Being in the top ten of the league can at least prove that Wang is useful, right?” When he said this, he was not looking at the person who was making trouble, but at Jon Berg.

Berg also thinks this standard is not strict.

If it is just about avoiding relegation, he thinks it should be achievable with the current head coach McNeill’s good training.

But it’s not easy to get into the top ten of the league.

He was also very curious about how much role Wang Lie could play in this team.

So he nodded in agreement: “I have no objection.”

As if he was afraid that he would go back on his word, Robbie Dixie raised his arms before he could finish his words and announced impatiently:
“Listen up guys! If we’re not in the top ten at the end of the league, let Jon buy all of us a drink! And if we’re in the top ten, I’ll buy all of you a drink!”

His words immediately received a warm response from everyone. Some cheered, some whistled, some applauded, and some clapped the table. The miners’ bar was extremely lively.

“Great! Praise Robbie and Jon!”

“Best partners!”

“No problem! No one can deny it!”

“Ooooooh!”

“This is what I’ve been waiting for! This is what I’ve been waiting for! Hahaha!”

“I told you that we should skip the previous steps and just go straight to the point! That’s right! That’s right! Let’s make a bet!”

While everyone was making a fuss, Theo Collins, the owner behind the bar, turned around and wrote on a blackboard on the wall with chalk:

“Top ten in the league. Jon YES, Robbie NO. One drink for everyone.”

There are some text above this new information, all of which are records of bets made by everyone in the miners’ bar.

Some people bet on whether the team can successfully avoid relegation at the end of the season, some bet on whether Sonny Dean will score at least ten goals this season, and some bet on when the Brazilian genius Vitini will leave the team, how long it will take McNeil to be fired… and so on.

The bets were varied, just like at a British betting shop, but money was not involved and the stakes were always a drink.

After seeing the boss Collins write the content of their bet on the blackboard, Robbie Dixie said to Jon Berg in a tone of confidence: “I will definitely win, Jon. Even ‘China Wang’ can’t change those ‘mercenaries’!”

On the wall next to the blackboard, there was a large TV, on which was playing a video of Tyne officially announcing Wang Lie’s joining.

In the video, Wang Lie, who was already wearing the Tyne blue home jersey, pointed to the Tyne team logo on his chest and said:
“…I can’t wait to meet you all on the court. I believe that day won’t take too long. I will do my best to bring victory to Tyne. I promise you…”

※※※

“Official announcement! Official announcement! ‘CHINA WANG’ is coming to our place! This is great news!”

As soon as Vitini entered the locker room, he shouted to his teammates in an excited tone.

Then Sonny Dean poured cold water on him:
“How can this be considered good news? Wang Du is already 38 years old, what can he do? He couldn’t prove himself in Sofia United, so is his performance going to improve after coming to Tyne? Don’t dream! He’s not a savior, and he can’t help us avoid relegation…”

Dean was obviously not the only one who had this idea. When Dean said this, many people in the locker room nodded in agreement.

Even the team captain Elliot Goetz said: “We really can’t expect Wang’s arrival to change the team’s performance. Football is a team sport, and we still have to rely on our own efforts…”

The captain’s words were fairly objective, but Sonny Dean’s words were not so nice: “I think Wang is just a fire-fighting player that our head coach found. He found Wang because Peter was injured, and Wang has no place in Sofia United, and he was unwilling to leave the Premier League like this, so…”

He spread his hands and what he said further sounded a bit harsh, but everyone understood.

It simply means that Wang Lie, who is not wanted by other Premier League teams, is regarded as a treasure by Tyne…

Vitini frowned, looking a little unhappy. He retorted bluntly: “Don’t forget how we lost to Sofia United away from home in the eleventh round! The almost 38-year-old old guy came off the bench and scored the winning goal against us. Where were you before that? What if we could score a goal?”

Dean was also very unhappy when Vitini hit him in the face. He said to Vitini with a dark face: “Aren’t you on the court? What qualifications do you have to criticize me? Oh, the league nine rounds ago is too far away. You may not remember how we lost the last round? You are just a ‘juggler’ who only knows how to dribble the ball…”

“Juggler” is an insulting nickname given to Vitini by hostile fans and some media, because this young Brazilian player is particularly good at dribbling and likes to dribble. His kicking movements are very fancy and sometimes seem too showy, which arouses dissatisfaction among opposing players and fans.

As for the media, they used this nickname to criticize Vitini for being too sticky to the ball and keen to show off himself, but his fancy performance did not help the team’s offense.

Vitini hates this nickname very much. He once got so angry when an opponent called him that during a game that he confronted the opponent, resulting in his second yellow card and being sent off after accumulating red cards.

So when he heard Sonny Dean mocking him like that, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He threw his sports bag to the ground and rushed up to fight with Dean.

When he was about to rush to Dean, he was stopped by Dean’s teammates: “Hey! Hey! Calm down, Vitini! Calm down!”

Dean took advantage of the situation and continued to yell at Vitini who was stopped: “Come on! Boy! Come on! Come this way!”

He moved his face closer.

Then he was pushed away by the captain Goetz: “What are you doing?! Dean! How can you insult your teammates?!”

Then he turned around and shouted to his teammates who were blocking Vitini, “Hold him tight!”

Vitini was hugged around the waist by a teammate, and another teammate stood in front of him, pressing hard on his shoulders. He was like a wild horse firmly bound by reins, with his front legs raised high, but unable to move forward even a single step.

He could only point at Dean and roar: “What qualifications do you have to criticize me? The season hasn’t even ended yet and you’ve already signed a contract with Kensington. Are you so eager to leave the team that nurtured you?!”

Sonny Dean’s contract expires on June 30 this year, and neither he nor the Tyne Club intends to renew it. According to the regulations, he can contact other teams in the first six months of his contract, even to sign a contract. When his contract with Tyne expires, he will automatically become a player of the new club.

There is nothing wrong with doing this according to the rules, but when the team is still fighting for relegation, a key player of the team announced that he had found a new club, which not only destroyed the atmosphere in the locker room, but also hurt the fans.

So when the news media revealed that Dean had signed with London giants Kensington, it immediately triggered a huge amount of protests and accusations. There were even angry Tyne fans who collected signatures online, calling on McNeill to relegate Dean to the reserve team and not give him a chance to play until his contract expires. They didn’t want to see him in the first team.

Dean was not embarrassed at all by the past being brought up. Instead, he continued to jeer at Vitini, “Ha! Don’t say your dad isn’t actively looking for a new club for you! Do you really want to stay here?! What qualifications do you have to criticize me?!”

Last summer, there were rumors that Vitini was going to transfer away. At that time, there were many teams pursuing him, but he did not leave because the Tyne club was determined not to let him go.

“When will your contract with the club expire? You are so loyal, why don’t you ask the club to renew it? You can even play here until you retire! Be your loyal subject, ha!”

Vitini was almost driven to lose his mind by Dean’s sarcasm, and his teammates who were trying to stop him had to work harder to lock down this mad black panther.

“Even if I have to leave, I will still do my best for this team! As long as I am on the field, I will definitely work the hardest. I deserve every penny the club gives me! And what about you? You drunkard! You have the highest salary in the team, but what have you contributed?! You have contributed the most gossip and negative news in the team!”

“Enough! Enough! Shut up! Say less!” Captain Gotz roared at the top of his lungs.

But he could not put an end to the internal strife. Both sides of the conflict were furious and no one was willing to give him, the captain, face.

Even though some people tried to stop the fight, it had little effect. It just prevented the two from fighting each other with fists, but it did not stop them from spraying each other across the crowd.

There was chaos in the locker room.

Central defender Hugo Guenduzzi, who was sitting on the other side, looked at the chaotic scene in front of him. He had no intention of going over to help mediate the fight. Instead, he teased in a joking tone, “Okay, okay. Wang hasn’t even arrived yet, but the locker room has already become uneasy. Tsk tsk…”

Then he turned around and asked his central defender partner Matej Katic who was sitting next to him: “By the way, have you ever played against Wang in La Liga?”

Katic nodded: “Yeah, but only for three seasons.”

“Have you ever had a fight with him like this?”

“We didn’t fight directly, but we did curse each other.” Katic said honestly, “You know, I had a bad temper when I was young, and Wang was not a pushover, so…”

Jacob Barnabas, the right-back who was listening nearby, changed his expression: “That’s it… When the king meets you again…”

Katic shook his head repeatedly: “Not really, right? We were just playing for different teams at the time – he was in Barcelona, ​​I was in Madrid FC, you know how deep the feud between these two teams is. Besides, so many years have passed…”

Barnabas said, “But I heard that the king is a man who holds a grudge. Are you sure he doesn’t still hold a grudge against you?”

Katic was stunned, with a look of obvious hesitation on his face. He was obviously not sure whether Wang Lie would pick a fight with him again because of the conflict that year.

Looking at the chaotic scene of the conflict, Gunduzzi sighed: “God bless us, I hope we can finish this season smoothly and safely…”

In the corner of the locker room, there were also people who turned a blind eye to the fierce conflict happening right in front of them.

The team’s attacking midfielder, Matisse van Ginkel, whispered to the center forward Peter Olivier beside him: “If Wang asked you for the No. 9 jersey, would you give it to him?”

Olivier shook his head: “How can I give it to him? According to the regulations, the number cannot be changed during the entire season after registration. Even if I want to give it to him, I can’t…”

Van Ginkel then asked: “What about next season?”

Olivier was silent for a moment, then he said, “If he asks me for it, I’ll give it to him.”

Then he smiled bitterly: “Can I still refuse a top star?”

Van Ginkel: “He doesn’t count now…”

“I don’t want to cause unnecessary controversy. It’s just a number.”

Van Ginkel snorted, “I don’t like this practice anyway, even if he is China Wang!”

In another corner, Tyne’s players were also whispering:
“Have you read Wang’s farewell letter to the fans of Sofia? The Sofia officials have broken down. Tsk tsk! No wonder the media said that Wang always had a falling out with his former club and was unhappy every time he left…”

“Haha, I saw it! To be honest, I felt pretty good. I don’t like Sofia United at all. They are always so arrogant and look down on everyone. It’s really not easy to see them break through the defense!”

“Hey, you guys think, when the king leaves Tain in the future, it won’t be on bad terms, right?”

……

Dean and Vitini, who were in the middle of the locker room, were still spitting at each other and exposing each other’s shortcomings despite being stopped by their teammates.

Captain Goetz roared in vain, unable to change anything.

The players who did not try to stop the fight sat in their seats, watching everything in front of them numbly, or whispering with their mouths covered, and some even started to make trouble…

The outside world says that they are a group of mercenaries who only care about money, rather than a real team.

It seems that what he said is true.

Just when the situation was getting too chaotic to handle, the tightly closed locker room door was suddenly pushed open.

A figure carrying a bag appeared at the door.

Everyone in the locker room, whether it was Vitini and Dean who were in conflict, or captain Goetz who was trying to stop the fight, and the people who were sitting and watching the show, all cast their eyes on this uninvited guest.

Wang Lie first looked at the scene in surprise, then the corners of his slightly opened mouth gradually curled up:

“It’s so lively, is this your unique welcome ceremony?”

※※※

PS, this book has been decided to be put on the shelves on September 1st. I know that everyone has been working hard to follow the updates during this period, but there is really no other way. I dare not update more now because there will be a wave of updates before and after the release. So now I can only ask everyone to be patient and wait a little longer!
(End of this chapter)