Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Since he had met Sophia on the street, Twain’s outing today naturally gained a purpose: he would introduce Dunn to Sophia and invite them to dinner.
I really didn’t expect to meet you here, Mr. Twain.
Sitting at the dinner table while waiting for their food, Sophia spoke with barely concealed excitement.
Me neither, ma’am.
Compared to Sophia, Twain was obviously more restrained as he replied with a smile,
I’ve been busy with too many things with too little time. I’m sorry I haven’t visited you.
Don’t be sorry, Mr. Twain. I’ve heard from George. He always tells me about what’s going within the team now.
Sitting next to them, Wood gave a cough and Sophia laughed. Twain laughed too when he saw Wood looking uncomfortable. He finally had caught a hidden side of Wood!
This is Dunn, my Chinese friend.
Twain introduced Dunn to Sophia.
He’s… well, a little shy.
Dunn did not mind Twain’s comment about him. He just nodded politely at Sophia.
Hello, ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.
Hello, Mr. Dunn. Glad to meet you, too.
Sophia returned.
Twain had been secretly observing Dunn’s expression after seeing Sophia, and was disappointed with his response. Seeing how indifferent Dunn was to this beautiful woman, Tang En wondered if he was playing for the other team.
Then Twain and Sophia were conversing happily while Wood and Dunn sat in silence next to them.
The two of them talked about a wide range of topics, starting with their daily lives. Later, when Twain saw how quiet Wood was, he tried to pull him into the conversation by leading the topic of conversation towards the team. Sure enough, Wood had to join the conversation because his mother would always ask him,
Is that true, George?
Then Twain also pulled Dunn into the conversation by beginning with his trip to China in the summer and then talking about the China as a whole. Dunn had no choice but to be part of the conversation. No matter how reticent he normally was, he could not ignore the queries of a lady.
From hearing Dunn answer Sophia’s questions, Twain could tell that he had really made an effort to understand the unfamiliar country while he was in China. It seemed that he truly intended to live in China for the rest of his life and be the Chinese Tang En.
But who could predict fate?
If Tang En himself had not missed his parents in China and made that trip, perhaps their futures would not have intersected at all. And he, as Tony Twain, would continue to be a professional football manager, maybe accomplishing great things, maybe not. And he, Dunn, would have had a warm home and would have peacefully become an ordinary Chinese man, busying himself with his daily livelihood.
When he thought about it, it didn’t seem too bad.
But Tang En had changed Dunn’s life; he had changed it twice. If he had not run into Dunn, nothing would have changed. But as it happened, they did meet after all.
Watching Dunn, unable to refuse Sophia’s request, using a knife and fork to demonstrate to her the use of chopsticks, Tang En thought that the way they were now was not too nice…
After lunch, despite some reluctance, Sophia had to say goodbye to Twain. After all, she was still in recovery and needed to pay attention to her health. Because of her excitement in meeting Twain, her breathing had quickened a little.
After saying goodbye to Twain, Sophia turned to Dunn and smiled at him.
I’ve always felt that Mr. Twain must be very lonely living alone. But now, with Mr. Dunn around… you two both like football so much, you must have endless things to talk when you’re together.
Dunn did not know how to respond to this. He looked at Twain and saw that Twain was just smiling and looking at Sophia, so he nodded and said,
Actually, most of the time, he’s the one doing the talking.
Sophia covered her lips and giggled lightly.
Mr. Twain must have bottled up a lot when he lived alone.
Twain coughed and scratched his head,
That’s right, I often talk to myself. It irritates him.
And then, he pointed to Dunn.
It’s okay, after listening to him for a long time, it’s no different from listening to rap. I just treat it like it’s background noise and tune it out.
Dunn’s earnest answer made Sophia laugh heartily with her head lowered. Both shoulders trembled, and her beautiful face was flushed.
Mr. Twain, Mr. Dunn, I should get going. George?
When Wood heard his mother’s words, he said goodbye to the two men standing in front of him. He did not say much. He just waved his hand.
Bye.
After seeing the mother and son walking in the distance, Tang En looked back Dunn and said with some surprise,
I didn’t know you were capable of cracking jokes.
Listening to you talk all the time, I think any blockhead would have already gotten the hang of it by now.
Isn’t this nice!
Twain shrugged.
You have potential for dry humor! Rap? It’s a good analogy, but I actually prefer British rock. Do you like the band Queen? I’m a fan…
Tang En was jabbering on again.
Right.
Dunn extended his hand to Tang En.
I forgot to congratulate you. I watched that game at the stadium, it was very exciting. The tactics, I mean.
Glancing at Dunn’s outstretched hand, Tang En smiled and shook it.
Thank you.
※※※
Three days later, Dunn continued his work on the youth team, which was something he was already familiar with, and Twain led the Forest First Team and flew to the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic, to challenge their opponent in the UEFA Europa League qualifying match. This was a decisive game because the Forest team had already won 3:0 in the previous home game. As long as they did not concede four goals in this game, they would enter the UEFA Europa League official tournament.
The Forest team did not have any doubts about winning this game. They felt that even if it was an away game, winning would not be a problem.
They were the Nottingham Forest team that had just beat Chelsea! And what sort of team was FC Baník Ostrava? Could it compare to Chelsea? Could it compare to Arsenal?
With opinions like these, the Forest team was hammered by its opponent at the start of the game. They were behind by a goal.
The opposing striker, who the Forest players could not even name, kicked a long-range shot and struck into the goal that Darren Ward was defending within five minutes of the game’s start.
Having conceded a goal so quickly, the Forest players did not react in time. They were completely stupefied and played terribly in the first half of the game. As a result, in the last moments of the first half, Ostrava seized another opportunity and scored another goal. The initial three-goal difference which had made Nottingham Forest so full of confidence had suddenly turned into a one-goal difference!
They had played amazingly in the last game, but played so terribly in this game that it was infuriating. With mostly young players, the Forest team could be very unstable.
