Chapter 1 Dougal
“Where are you, Mr. Dougal?” Chen Yingxiong asked loudly from the other end of the phone.

“I’m… uh, I’m at Mr. Mertz’s house…”

“Great! Can you come pick me up and take me to Mr. Mertz’s house? I have no idea where he lives!”

“This…” Dougal glanced back at Mr. Mertz, who was still sitting motionless on the sofa. “I’m afraid that won’t work. I can’t leave right now.”

He was afraid that if he left, Mr. Mertz might have a sudden impulse and end his life.

He didn’t want to be a bystander while a tragedy unfolded. His principles wouldn’t allow him to do that. He always had to try and stop it, even if he didn’t know if he could succeed. He had to try.

“Then can you tell me the address? I have good news to tell him!”

Dougal was surprised to hear the cheerful voice of Chen Yingxiong on the phone.

Good news for Mr. Mertz? What good news could there be concerning Mr. Mertz?

It had to be about the ticket!

Thinking of this, he became excited. “You… you found it, didn’t you?”

He was so excited he stammered.

Chen Yingxiong’s laughter came from the other end. “Yes! We found it! Now tell me the address, I’m coming over right away!”

After Dougal told Chen Yingxiong the exact address of the old man, he hung up the phone excitedly.

He wanted to turn around and run in to announce the good news to the old man, but he was afraid that such good news would be too stimulating. The old man’s mood had just plummeted to rock bottom. He was afraid that an elderly person wouldn’t be able to handle such emotional swings, like riding a roller coaster…

Elderly people’s hearts were very fragile, so he shouldn’t stimulate them easily.

So he considered it, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down first.

Then he turned around to find Mr. Mertz.

※※※

Cabrera was surprised when Chen Yingxiong said that he was going to deliver the thing right away, and in person. “Don’t you have a game tomorrow?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Then shouldn’t you be getting on the team bus now and going to the hotel for the night?”

Cabrera pointed to the bus parked in front of the gate.

“Who cares about that at this point! I’ll call the boss and tell him I’m not going with the team. I’ll go after dinner.” With that, Chen Yingxiong picked up his phone and dialed Martin O’Neill’s number.

“Hello, Boss? It’s me, Yingxiong. Yeah, I need to ask for a leave of absence. Tonight I…”

His words stopped abruptly, and Cabrera saw him freeze there with a strange expression on his face.

Soon, he hung up the phone and said to Cabrera with a wry smile, “The boss gave me the night off, which means I don’t have to go to the hotel tonight… He said I can go directly to the stadium tomorrow…”

“Huh? When did your boss become so easy to talk to?” Cabrera also found it strange.

“He’s always been easy to talk to, but this time he’s being a little too easy…”

※※※

Of course, Chen Yingxiong didn’t know that Martin O’Neill was used to Chen Yingxiong asking for leave. He had taken so many leaves, but it hadn’t delayed the games. Although one time was close, things had always turned out well in the end.

So when he heard that Chen Yingxiong wanted to take another leave, he simply didn’t even ask for the reason and approved it directly. What was one night away? You can go straight to the stadium! We’re in the same city. I’m not worried you have to cross Europe!

He was fully demonstrating his trust in Chen Yingxiong.

But if he knew that Chen Yingxiong was only going back after dinner, his face would be something to see…

※※※

“Okay, tonight I can with you… hehehe!” Chen Yingxiong looked at Cabrera in the driver’s seat, his eyes sweeping over her full red lips, her slender neck, her high, full breasts, and finally landing on her abdomen.

Cabrera laughed. “Aren’t you afraid you won’t have any strength for the game tomorrow?”

Chen Yingxiong was stunned for a moment, then shook his head. “Not afraid!”

Are you kidding me? How could I, Chen Yingxiong, admit defeat in front of a woman! Leaving aside whether or not there’s a game tomorrow, I’m going to take you on the spot tonight!

“We’ll talk about tonight’s matters tonight. Let’s take care of business first.” Cabrera started the car, made a turn in front of Melwood’s gate, and sped away past the reporters.

※※※

Tomorrow’s game was a high-profile match, so many reporters came to the training session the day before the game. But Martin O’Neill had a closed training session, so everyone was blocked outside the gates of the Melwood training base.

They thought they could at most take pictures of the team bus leaving.

They didn’t expect Chen Yingxiong to rush out first—what was going on?

The group of people was stunned.

Then they saw the Land Rover parked on the side of the road and suddenly realized—they recognized this car. Before Chen Yingxiong signed with Hummer, he had always driven this car. It seemed that Cabrera had come.

Then Chen Yingxiong got into the car, and a group of photographers pulled out their cameras, aiming their long and short lenses at the car.

But unless they were in front, they couldn’t see what was happening inside.

They guessed that Cabrera had brought something for Chen Yingxiong, but who would have thought that Chen Yingxiong got in for a while and the car just drove away!

A group of people immediately realized—Chen Yingxiong, on the day before the game, didn’t take the team bus to the hotel, but instead went out on his own. There must be something going on. As long as they followed him, they might be able to catch a big news story!

Chase!

A group of reporters drove off in their cars, giving chase.

※※※

When the entire Liverpool team came out of Melwood on the bus, many people were surprised.

“Huh? Why are those reporters so well-behaved today? Can’t see a single one of them?”

“Could they really be scared off by the closed training session, so they didn’t come?”

“It’s really deserted at the entrance of the Melwood base today…”

※※※

Chen Yingxiong noticed a group of cars appearing closely behind him, and he naturally knew who was sitting in those cars. He didn’t want to bring a group of reporters to see Mertz; the old man would probably be so frightened by this scene that he’d have a heart attack…

So he said to Cabrera, “Shake them off. I don’t want to bring a bunch of tails to see the old fan.”

Cabrera glanced at the lineup in the rearview mirror and said only one word: “Okay.”

Then Chen Yingxiong was pressed back into the seat.

A Land Rover drove like an F1 race car!

※※※

Dougal sat next to Mertz and told him everything he had heard. Of course, he tried to slow down his tone, so that Mertz could have time to accept it.

Then he carefully looked at Mertz, observing his expression, ready to help if the old man was not doing well.

Mertz was indeed breathing deeply.

He might not have heard of Chris Bascombe, the star reporter of the *Liverpool Echo*, but he couldn’t not have heard of Chen Yingxiong. Even if he wasn’t a Liverpool fan, he couldn’t not have heard of him.

Since it was Chen Yingxiong who said it, then it was credible—an old Liverpool fan had such steadfast trust in Chen Yingxiong, because Chen Yingxiong had proven it on the field. When Liverpool fans needed his help, they only needed to chant his name in unison from the stands, and he would appear and help Liverpool fans realize their requests.

Could it be that he was also effective off the field?

Seeing him breathing deeply, Dougal was also very nervous. His hand was even moving up and down with Mertz’s breathing, and later he simply made his own breathing heavier as well.

After Mertz heard the news, he didn’t say anything. Besides the two people’s heavy breathing, there were no other sounds in the room.

Just when this silence made Dougal feel suppressed and unable to breathe, a screech of brakes suddenly came from outside the door.

He couldn’t help but sit up straight, craning his neck and looking out the door.

Then a tall figure appeared at the door.

“Mr. Samuel Mertz, your mail.”

Dougal suddenly smiled—he was even in the mood to joke with Mertz at this time.

This person was really different… I have to be careful when I speak to Mr. Mertz, but he barged into the room with such an attitude.

Hearing Chen Yingxiong’s words, Mertz stood up from the sofa excitedly—this was the first time Dougal had seen Mr. Mertz get up from this position today. So he hadn’t been sitting in this position all the time…

Mertz walked to the door and saw Chen Yingxiong with a smile on his face.

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Samuel Mertz?” he asked.

Mertz nodded. “Yes… I am, I am Samuel Mertz.”

Chen Yingxiong handed over the ticket in his hand. “You have a package, sent from heaven.”

For Chen Yingxiong, it really was sent from heaven. Otherwise, why would it have fallen from the sky?

Mr. Mertz saw what was in Chen Yingxiong’s hand at a glance. Yes, that was his ticket! He was very familiar with this ticket!

Trembling, he reached out his hands and took the ticket from Chen Yingxiong.

He gently stroked it, as if he were stroking his child.

Chen Yingxiong’s voice rang in his ears. “I’m sorry, the journey from heaven to here was too far, so it’s a bit dirty and torn, but it finally got into your hands. I think the person who sent it should be relieved.”

Mertz’s lowered head suddenly trembled uncontrollably, and then a sob burst out from deep in his throat, and then tears gushed out of his eyes like a flood, dripping directly onto the dirty and torn ticket.

Chen Yingxiong reached out and grabbed the old man’s hands, and the old man rested his head on his arm and cried heartily. “I thought I would never see it again…”

Dougal didn’t know when he had stood behind the old man. He looked up at the Liverpool player who was bowing his head and supporting the old man—he was still wearing Liverpool training clothes, and it looked like he had just come from the training ground and hadn’t had time to shower and change.

Although the old man in front of him was crying so emotionally, Dougal’s face was full of smiles.