Chapter 1: Distant city

, The fastest update of the latest chapters of Fox in the restricted zone!
There are no lights in the room, only the skylight outside through the tulle in front of the window.
The room was quiet, until the phone's alarm clock rang, the silence was broken.
A hand stretched out from the quilt on the bed, touched the phone on the bedside table, took a look, turned off the alarm clock, and put it back on the bedside table.
Everything is quiet again.
It's just that this silence lasted only about ten seconds, and the rubbing sound of the quilt completely ended.
A figure sat up from the bed, and most of his body was plunged into darkness. At the height of his head, there was a faint starburst. It was the glimmer of light outside the room reflecting in his pupil.
Then he turned his head to look at the sky behind the thin layer of gauze, the light outside brightened half of his face, his face was still confused, he seemed to say "Where is this?"
Just then there was a voice outside the camera: "OK."
Immediately after the bright lights in the room, it was bright.
The director of the CCTV camera crew gave a thumbs up to the person on the bed: "Yes, Hu Lai. Pick up the phone and turn off the alarm clock, then put it down and continue to sleep. The details are true. I thought you were going to get up directly."
Hu Lai scratched his head, the hair that had been slept a little more messed up: "Doesn't that look fake? Who can wake up with an alarm clock?"
The director laughed: "Oh, I think you can be an actor if you don't play football. This acting, this understanding... I have no idea!"
Hu Lai shook his head: "I really didn't expect that the documentary would also be performed..."
"Some scenes are recurring. After all, we can't put the machine on your bedside and shoot you all night, right? If you want to film you, you can only make up after you wake up," the director explained.
Just ten minutes ago, after Hu Lai got up to wash, he sent a WeChat message to Yong Jun to inform him.
Soon the crew of the film crew rushed into his room carrying the machine, and asked him to lie back on the bed to take such a scene. Hu Lai woke up in the early morning in Leeds for the first time.
"Then let's take a picture of me for washing?" Hu Lai asked actively.
"Okay. Ready to start!"
The director gave an order, the lights in the room were turned off again, and the room was back to the dim state before.
Hu Lai lifted the quilt and jumped out of the bed.
The camera lens pointed at his feet, only the part below the calf, followed his feet from the window to the bathroom of the hotel room.
The sound of water sounded.
※※※
The phone alarm clock suddenly rang in the room, and one hand stretched out from the bed to grab it. After turning off the alarm clock, a carp jumped out of the bed.
He jumped out of bed and rushed to the door, opened the door, and knocked on the doors of the other two rooms one by one:
"Get up! Get up!"
"Brothers, get up!!"
Then he rushed back to his room to get dressed.
Before he got dressed, the doors of the other two rooms were opened one after the other, revealing two sleepy heads, and said in a very bitter tone to the room where the door opened: "Wang Haoxi, why are you crazy..."
"Yes, what time is this?"
Wang Haoxi put on himself in a sweater, while walking outside: "Did I say you were sleepy? Forgot what are we going to do today? Hu Lai! Hu Lai's joining ceremony!"
Two of his roommates reluctantly said: "Does Hu Lai's joining ceremony need to start at 7 o'clock in the morning?"
"We have to go early to take a good position!" Wang Haoxi jumped excitedly.
The two roommates looked at each other, reluctantly retracted their heads, and closed the door again.
When they all changed their clothes and came out, Wang Haoxi was stepping on the armrest of the sofa and taking off the Chinese flag hanging on the wall.
"Why stand in the front row? In addition to making it easy to find Hu Lai for an autograph, there is also that he must see this!"
Wang Haoxi shook the national flag he had taken off, spread it flat on the wooden floor, folded it and put it in his backpack.
※※※
Hu Lai and Yong Jun, who had already had breakfast in the hotel, walked to the black Buick commercial car parked outside, surrounded by a half circle of photographers, shooting with different equipment, and someone in charge of putting the microphone above Hu Lai’s head To radio.
Yong Jun said to Hu Lai as he walked: "The results of yesterday's physical examination report came out. There is no problem at all. The last obstacle to signing the contract is gone."
Hu Lai is still a bit regretful: "I didn't even say that I was'strong as a cow'? Isn't every player getting such an evaluation in physical examination?"
Yong Jun was speechless: "What do you think? Your figure is completely indifferent to cattle..."
While they were talking, the two walked out of the hotel door and greeted Matt Dawn standing next to the business car: "Good morning, Hu. Did you sleep well last night?"
Hu Lai shook hands with him: "It's good, I don't pick a bed."
Matt laughed and said: "I will write an email to the sports rangers, suggesting that they increase your adaptability to more than fifteen in the data update in March. In my previous archive, you have been homesick... "
Hu Lai laughed, and then thought of his parents in China and the shared villa that was always lively.
Every day, no matter how hard or tiring the training is, as long as I go back to the house with my friends, it seems to be a happy time. I quarrel with Huan and the others, bully Morikawa who is in the second stage, and use games to decide who is responsible. Simple Housework, who is responsible for paying the utility bills this month...
Now all of this is gone. There are only him and Uncle Yong in the distant strange country and unfamiliar city, but Uncle Yong obviously can't accompany him to play together, and he can't even stay here with him all the time.
So in the end, you have to face it alone.
His smile disappeared from his face.
Really homesick...
Matt saw the change in Hu Lai's expression and wondered if his jokes had a counterproductive effect. He quickly asked, "Are you all right, Hu?"
After recovering, Hu Lai re-managed the expression on his face and smiled and said to Matt: "No problem, Matt. I do feel a little homesick, because I have my parents and many friends in my hometown."
"Parents can't help it." Matt spread his hands, "but I think you will have friends here soon. Let's get in the car."
Hu Lai smiled at Matt and got into the car with Yong Jun.
Then a photographer in the crew followed up with a portable SLR camera and sat in the car to continue shooting.
Matt opened the door of the co-pilot, sat in and closed the door: "Then let's go to the Flanders Stadium!"
※※※
Hu Lai, who turned his head and looked out of the car window, appeared on the surveillance screen of the camera. He was intently looking at the street scene outside.
Although it didn't rain, the sky was still gloomy, very characteristic of the British winter.
But to be honest, as the day when Chinese football goes to sea again, this weather may not give the audience a good impression.
It will make people feel involuntarily low and think of some bad things.
But there is no way, most of the British winter is like this, it is not easy to wait for a sunny day in the British winter.
Black Buick commercial vehicles are driving on the highway. They have entered the city of Leeds, but they still haven't seen too many high-rise buildings.
Matt Dawn sitting in the co-pilot, as Houlay's guide in Leeds, introduced: "Although Leeds is the third largest city in the UK, it is still very different from the scale of Jincheng."
Hu Lai nodded, not paying much attention to this question.
Is a city big, what does it mean for players?
The club owner may consider the relationship between the size of a city and the size of the football market, and then the relationship with income, but he is a player and only needs to train to play.
No matter how big the city is, the scope of his activities will be so big.
Jincheng’s self-media various propaganda said that Jincheng is the vanguard of China’s new first-tier cities. How prosperous the city is, where a new park has been opened today, and a certain international brand will enter Jincheng’s high-end shopping mall tomorrow... Hu Lai is all okay.
He played in Jincheng for two and a half years, most of the time in Liucheng District where the team’s training base is located. He has only been to the city center a few times, and I don’t know which way the park door opens. He has never visited the high-end international big names... He has never visited any of the charming new landmarks mentioned in the press release.
Hu Lai, who was still looking curiously at the street scene outside the car, suddenly saw a small gray two-story building.
Hu Lai, a small building of this style, has seen a lot of them along the way. They are the houses that can be seen everywhere in Leeds.
But the difference between this small building and other small buildings around it is that a huge human head is painted on the wall facing the corner.
It was an old man who looked energetic, and although his hair was gray, he watched the people and cars on the street sharply.
"Who is that?" Hu Lai asked curiously.
"Ah..." Matt Dawn was a little embarrassed, but he still introduced this person to Hu Lai. "Lauren Gurry, he used to be the head coach of Leeds City. In Leeds City for 13 years, he is Leeds City's longest-term head coach. He led Leeds City to successfully promote in the 2022-2023 season. This is the first time Leeds City has participated in the Premier League and helped the team relegation successfully in the first season of promotion..."
"No wonder he will be painted on the wall." Hu Lai nodded and understood.
"Yes, he has a high status in the hearts of Leeds City fans." Matt also said. There is nothing bad to admit, he can be an employee of the Premier League team, and I also want to thank this old man for leading Leeds to the Super League two seasons ago...
After speaking, he added: "Hu, I believe that one day you will be painted on the exterior wall of their house by the fans of Leeds City..."
"Thank you Matt, that's too far away, I'm only here for the first day..."
"No, not far away. In the future, we will definitely be able to write our name in the history book of this city." Matt Dawn said with his fist clenched, not knowing that he was drawing cakes for Hu Lai. Still cheering for myself. After all, his good friend Tony Clark's current situation with the team is not optimistic.
"Yeah." Hu Lai perfunctorily continued to observe this strange city.
He cares more about the present than the future-what is the city where he will live and work?
On the exterior walls of houses facing the street, he can often see all kinds of graffiti. There are many elements of Leeds City Football Club in these graffiti, such as the abbreviation of Leeds City Football Club "LCFC", and the Leeds City team logo-in yellow In the middle of the V-shaped shield is an abstract fist, as if it is striking in the heart. At the same time it looks a bit like the White Rose, a symbol of West Yorkshire where Leeds is located. Above the coat of arms is the name of the Leeds City Club: "LEEDSCITY", and on the ribbon below the coat of arms is the club's sports item: "FOOTBALLCLUB", and at the bottom is the time when the club was established "1928"
The city is full of traces of football, and the shadow of the Leeds City Football Club is everywhere.
He also saw some teenagers on the street playing football in Leeds yellow jerseys.
A child was holding a football on the side of the road and looked curiously at the business car passing by him, wondering if he saw Hu Lai in the window.
This is the cultural atmosphere of the origin of modern football in Britain.
Although Leeds City is not a traditional giant with a shining record, it is not a down-and-coming hero that has left a strong and colorful history in English football.
Established in 1928, they are not long in the history of English football. After the establishment of England's nationwide league system, it has only won the third-level league championship once, and there is not a single championship with sufficient weight. There are only two seasons in the history of England's top league competition-the last two seasons.
In the history of England's top league, Leeds is a real nameless, no one cares about them except their own fans.
They do not have a large number of overseas fans, nor do they have too many glorious pasts to talk about, but the people here still love and support this team. Because this is their hometown team, carrying the emotions and memories of generations of people in this city and this region.
These emotions have nothing to do with memories and the team's performance. It's just that every afternoon when it rains or doesn't rain, they come to the stadium stands with their family and friends to cheer for the hometown team and shout for ninety minutes.
Enjoy the joy of victory with the team, or chew the bitterness of defeat. The carnival of upgrading, the sadness of relegation, cheering for victory, crying for defeat, these emotions have repeatedly appeared in the team for nearly a hundred years, and are closely related to the lives and lives of everyone in this city~EbookFREE.me ~ Melt into one.
Mentioning a certain time, they would say: "Ah... I remember that the team was relegated that year. It played really badly, and there were few good games. My girlfriend and I broke up at that time. , Hell..."
"When I was 30, I had my first child and the team was successfully upgraded. We finally got it. I still remember George. The goal he scored in the key upgrade game is really the most I have ever seen in my life. beautiful!"
...
And a lot of such memories.
Football is not a facade project to decorate their political achievements, nor is it a tool for businessmen to rack their brains to make money for cash. It is like air, permeating every corner of the city, and like blood, in every part of the city. Flowing inside the human body.
One cannot be without air or without flowing blood.
So there cannot be football here.
※※※
PS, two more updates!