Chapter 114 The Napoli Invitation

While Chen Yingxiong was working up a sweat in the training instance, his phone rang.

He was used to receiving calls during his training sessions. With practiced ease, he exited the instance, and in the blink of an eye, he was in his bedroom.

It was his agent, De Coura.

As he answered the phone, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu—hadn't he experienced this exact scenario yesterday? Why did it feel so familiar?

But… it didn't matter. He shrugged it off.

"What's up, Mr. Aurora?"

"Napoli wants you."

The feeling of déjà vu intensified.

"I feel like we already talked about Napoli…"

"Yesterday, at this time."

"Oh—but didn't I reject them?"

"Yes, Napoli contacted me yesterday. Today, Napoli is contacting you directly."

"Me? Isn't it the same whether they contact me or you?"

"They specifically requested you. They want to meet with you."

"Who?"

"The owner of Napoli."

"Huh? What?" Chen Yingxiong's brain struggled to catch up.

"Ever seen *The Silence of the Lambs*?"

Chen Yingxiong asked in surprise, "Did he direct it?"

"No, his uncle did."

Chen Yingxiong curled his lip. "Tch."

"Aurelio De Laurentiis, a legend in Italian cinema, nephew of Dino De Laurentiis, the producer of *The Silence of the Lambs* film series. An Italian movie mogul, one of the top ten richest people in Italy, and the chairman of Napoli. He took over Napoli in 2004, saving the bankrupt club…" De Coura recited Aurelio De Laurentiis's basic information like a human Google.

"The club owner? Coming to see me in person? For a face-to-face talk?" Chen Yingxiong found the whole thing a bit… surreal.

Club owners were supposed to be high-status figures. He'd been playing for Zenit for almost two years and had barely even seen the chairman of the club. The person he interacted with most was the coach.

"I think it has something to do with you turning down their offer."

Chen Yingxiong grinned. He hadn't expected rejecting Napoli's contract to lure out the big boss behind the scenes.

He suddenly felt like he had a lot of face!

"Will you meet him?" De Coura asked.

"Well, since he's come all this way to see me… Wouldn't it be even more awesome if I rejected him again?"

"Hero…" De Coura thought it would be a bad idea to reject him again and was about to dissuade him.

But Chen Yingxiong laughed. "Just kidding. The club owner is coming in person, that's sincere enough. I should at least meet him. Going isn't the same as joining; a meeting won't cost me anything."

※※※

Aurelio De Laurentiis studied the large man sitting across from him with interest. He was powerfully built, but his face looked youthful. It was clear that he was still under twenty years old.

Chen Yingxiong initially sat upright, thinking that he couldn't act too slovenly in front of someone of the club owner's stature.

But he didn't seem to be someone who could play that role, so after sitting pretentiously for a while, his posture became crooked…

De Laurentiis noticed this and smiled—like his goals, he wasn't someone who could put on airs.

Simple and direct, full of power and aggression.

"You're here to talk about the contract, Mr. De Laurentiis?" Chen Yingxiong couldn't stand the atmosphere. In the luxuriously decorated Italian restaurant, the gentle music during the meal was like an appetizer, making people feel happy and hungry. Everyone was speaking in hushed tones, and everything seemed so quiet and peaceful.

It was completely different from the Chinese, Russian, and Turkish restaurants he liked to go to…

He'd spent nearly two years in St. Petersburg and had never even heard of a restaurant like this, let alone been to one. When he heard the name, his first reaction was, "Does such a place even exist?"

When De Coura confidently brought him here, Chen Yingxiong, sitting in the passenger seat, turned his head in surprise. "You've been here before?"

"I have Google Maps," De Coura replied calmly.

"…"

※※※

De Laurentiis smiled. He was becoming more and more interested in Chen Yingxiong. He seemed to see a reflection of himself in the young man. As someone in the film industry, he was also a maverick, especially when he was young. Even now that he was older, his charm hadn't diminished.

He also knew that Chen Yingxiong was known as the "Prince of Nightclubs in St. Petersburg" and a ladies' man, which was quite similar to himself.

He thought that maybe this was one of the reasons why he was so interested in him in the first place? There seemed to be something attracting them to each other. It turned out that he and this person had many similarities…

"No, Hero. I'm here to tell you what kind of club Napoli is." De Laurentiis stirred his coffee with a spoon, his eyes fixed on Chen Yingxiong.

"I think you might have some misunderstandings about my club… Would you like to hear about my club's first five-year plan?"

※※※

The story of Napoli in recent years could truly be described as a "history of blood and tears."

Since 1994, when the long-serving chairman Corrado Ferlaino could no longer afford to continue spending heavily and chose to step down, subsequent owners had faced dire financial situations and had neither the desire nor the ability to turn things around.

Constant financial disputes between the owners ultimately led to the local court declaring the club bankrupt in 2004. At the time, Napoli's losses amounted to 79 million euros. The Italian Football Federation ruled that Napoli could only remain in professional league if the new owner reinvested, and they would have to start from Serie C1. Otherwise, the team would be relegated to amateur leagues.

Perugia owner Luciano Gaucci had once planned a rescue, but it ultimately failed due to lack of funds. The current chairman, Aurelio De Laurentiis, submitted 30 million euros to the court, ensuring that his hometown team remained in Naples and saving this once glorious and legendary club.

But when he took over the team, he was in despair—the club had no equipment, no training facilities. Everyone could only train in the hotel garden or on the lawn in the park. Moreover, there were no uniform training clothes. Everyone wore their own jerseys and t-shirts to training, making it look less like a professional team and more like a group of amateur football enthusiasts.

Even worse, there were no players. In addition, the team could not use the original name, SSC Napoli, to register, and could only use Napoli Soccer.

But all of this did not scare De Laurentiis. He injected funds and then poached Marino, a general manager who was good at managing teams, from Udinese. At the same time, he brought in the pragmatic Edy Reja as the coach and scouted players everywhere. Finally, they caught up with the registration for the new season of the Italian Serie C1. Napoli, a team that had gone through many hardships, finally embarked on the road to recovery.

When De Laurentiis took over the team, he set a five-year plan—to spend five years returning the team to the Italian Serie A. As a result, the team did it very easily and completed it quite successfully. In the summer of 2007, in just three years, his team had successfully been promoted to Serie A, returning to the top stage of Italian football.

"Although our first five-year plan still has a year to go, as the boss, you have to look ahead. So I'm considering making a brand new five-year plan for the team. Do you know what my second five-year plan is?" De Laurentiis asked Chen Yingxiong with a smile.

"Qualify for European competitions?" Chen Yingxiong asked. It was the most reliable goal he could think of.

"No." De Laurentiis shook his head. The Italian film tycoon proudly held up two fingers. "The second five years, to become a world-class giant!"

Chen Yingxiong's agent, De Coura, who had been accompanying them, looked up at De Laurentiis after hearing this.

A team that had only just returned to Serie A last year, and was still considered a promoted team this season, had dared to say such ambitious words about becoming a world-class giant in six years. Either this person had extraordinary confidence and ability, or he was a complete madman or a liar…

De Laurentiis enjoyed De Coura's slightly surprised expression. This second five-year plan was not something he had just decided on a whim, but something he had been planning for a long time. Whenever he said this to others, they would look at him with surprise and disbelief.

Everyone knew how ambitious and… difficult to achieve this goal was.

And at this time, De Laurentiis felt particularly accomplished—you don't believe I can do it, do you? But I'm going to do it anyway! When I do, I want to see your expressions a hundred times more surprised than they are now! Ha!

He had originally thought that Chen Yingxiong would also show a surprised expression. But Chen Yingxiong just whistled. "Wow! Cool! You're really an ambitious boss!"

Chen Yingxiong wasn't surprised, nor did he think the idea was too crazy. Because he wasn't someone who would have such thoughts!

Just like when St. Petersburg Zenit met Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup semi-finals, many people now thought that Zenit's UEFA Cup journey this season would end there. But Chen Yingxiong didn't think so. As he said to Kerzhakov, "So what?"

So he didn't think there was anything wrong with this five-year plan—whether or not it could be achieved was one thing; whether or not you dared to think about it was another.

Whether or not Zenit could ultimately defeat Bayern Munich and advance to the UEFA Cup final was a very realistic thing. Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't. But at least before that, you had to dare to think about it. If you didn't even dare to think about defeating Bayern Munich, then there was no need to play the game at all, because we were doomed to lose!

Some people didn't dare to think about it, most people didn't dare to think about it, but Chen Yingxiong did. It was an unreasonable and inexplicable confidence. In the eyes of many people, it was completely unfounded arrogance and a typical manifestation of ignorance.

Many people even said that Chen Yingxiong was stupid, very stupid, especially stupid. They had their reasons—unfounded arrogance was indeed quite stupid. But perhaps it was precisely such a stupid person who could create possibilities when everyone else thought, "This is impossible!"

Just like the match between Zenit and Marseille, they were beaten 1:3 in the first leg. Everyone thought, "Zenit is finished, they will definitely be eliminated. If they want to turn the tables at home, they can only pray for a miracle to happen!" "What? A comeback at home? That's impossible! Marseille, who are leading by two goals, will definitely not let Zenit turn the tables at home!"

But what was the result?

"Miracle! Miracle! A miracle has happened!" Sergeyevsky's words still echoed in the ears of Zenit fans.

The person who led this miracle was not God, but that particularly stupid Chen Yingxiong.

Because that stupid Chen Yingxiong didn't follow the principles, norms, common sense, truths, laws… and other miscellaneous rules and regulations that most people followed and that bound them. He had his own set of principles and reasons, which was—did he want to do this thing or not? If he wanted to do it, then he did it. If he didn't want to do it, then he didn't do it.

Did he want to defeat Bayern Munich? Yes! Very much! Then he would do it. So what if Bayern Munich was a Champions League-level super team? He didn't give a damn. He would fuck them up!

Did he want to admit defeat? No! Absolutely not! Then he would grit his teeth and never admit defeat. When faced with the contempt of the CSKA Moscow youth team and the teasing of assistant coach Ratish, he would find a chance to slap them in the face, he would make them unhappy, they wanted to see him make a fool of himself, but he wouldn't let them see him make a fool of himself!

So everything fell into place.

In the eyes of others, this was not in line with common sense. It was generally not feasible, and it was not the universal truth that was generally followed in the football world. But it was in line with Chen Yingxiong's common sense and principles. Only a fool like him could do it. Most importantly, he didn't think this was a stupid thing to do. He wasn't ashamed of it, but proud of it.

This was my style, Chen Yingxiong! You don't like it? Then you'll have to learn to adapt to it.

De Laurentiis was surprised by Chen Yingxiong's response. But he quickly recovered, and he even began to laugh. At first, it was just a smile, but then he simply grinned and laughed out loud, "Heh heh heh heh…"

This stylishly dressed fifty-something-year-old man, wearing trendy Ray-Ban sunglasses, laughed with a special flair, and one could see his rebellious spirit that didn't care about the eyes of the world.

After laughing, he said to Chen Yingxiong, "My team is currently ranked ninth in the league and has the opportunity to participate in the summer's Intertoto Cup. The Intertoto Cup ultimately gives eleven teams the right to participate in the UEFA Cup. After only being promoted for one season, we will be able to qualify for European competitions. My team is currently profitable and in good financial condition. I never skimp on investment in the transfer market. I have an ambitious second five-year plan. These five years are a crucial period for the team, and we can't make any mistakes—we want to become a world-class giant… So, when have you ever seen a relegation team like this?"

He looked at Chen Yingxiong with a confident smile on his face.

※※※

ps, I actually liked this chapter quite a bit when I wrote it, because it explained Chen Yingxiong's personality traits in a lighthearted way. He's just such a fool. But he's happy, he's confident, he doesn't give up, and he doesn't take the usual path. In the eyes of normal people, he's quite foolish, but those who want to succeed, those who want to become legends, may have to have some of this temperament that is different from ordinary people. To put it nicely, it's called "extraordinary people doing extraordinary things," "unusual people have unusual appearances," "there's only a fine line between a madman and a genius"… To put it plainly, it's "foolish."

Zidane headbutted Materazzi in the World Cup final, causing the team to lose the championship. At the time, many people felt sorry for him, or scolded him for being an idiot, but he didn't care. Maradona dared to point a shotgun at the reporter who was interviewing him, so he wasn't a normal person at all. George Best drank and chased girls, which didn't fit our definition of an "idol" at all, but he was still a legend in Manchester United's history and an idol to countless people. Cantona was the King of Manchester United, but after he transferred to Manchester United, he said, "Don't ask me if I'm worthy of playing for Manchester United, you have to ask if this club is worthy of my performance." Kicking fans, attacking the French Football Association—none of those things were what a normal person would do, right? Ronaldo was so awesome, but he still hired prostitutes, and tragically, he almost hired a transvestite…

There are also those perfect and great players, but I think this kind of player with an extreme personality, a life full of drama, and enough personality and contradictions is probably the kind of player legend that everyone is eager to see—because this kind of person will always give you expectations, and you don't know what he will do next. You are full of freshness about him, even if this kind of person sometimes makes you can't help but say "fool"… So, please continue to enjoy the legendary story of the foolish Chen Yingxiong.

In addition, this chapter is an advanced bonus chapter, because I have to go out for a while this afternoon, and when I come back, it will probably be tomorrow night, so tonight's guaranteed chapter and tomorrow's two guaranteed chapters will be automatically updated. Also, I'm thinking that a whole day should be enough for the monthly votes to rise by another fifty, right? So the bonus chapter for 4050 monthly votes will also be included in tomorrow's automatic update, in the middle of the two guaranteed updates in the morning and evening. If there are any other bonus chapters, I can only wait until I come back tomorrow night to see them.

I wish you a happy reading.