Liverpool was doing well, and Chen Yingxiong was basically forgotten.

Stars rely on exposure, whether positive or negative.

Chen Yingxiong hadn't played for nine months, which meant he hadn't been in the public eye for nine months.

Although Liverpool had been doing poorly before, many media outlets missed Chen Yingxiong. But as Liverpool's performance improved, few people mentioned him.

Some even felt that Liverpool had gotten rid of their reliance on Hero, and could achieve good results without Chen Yingxiong. They believed that as long as Liverpool continued to play like this, it wouldn't matter whether Chen Yingxiong returned in the second half of the season.

Of course, these people were in the minority.

As Christmas approached, Chen Yingxiong's name and photos reappeared in large numbers in the media.

Because his ban was almost over.

At this time, the *Liverpool Echo* interviewed Chen Yingxiong, and Chen Yingxiong said in the interview, "I'm ready."

Ready for what? Of course, ready to return!

In Liverpool's downtown area, Nike erected a giant billboard.

On it was a picture of Chen Yingxiong emerging from the darkness, with the words: "hes_Back!"

Liverpool fans also began to enthusiastically discuss Chen Yingxiong's return.

According to the penalty regulations, Chen Yingxiong's first game after his ban would be on January 11, the twenty-first round of the league, Liverpool vs. Chelsea at home.

Although there were still more than two weeks before the game, tickets were already sold out. Even online, fans were offering high prices for tickets to the game.

Everyone wanted to witness the historic moment. Chen Yingxiong's first game back was a battle of the aces, a direct dialogue with the league leaders!

This arrangement was so exciting, it was like something out of a novel! A clash between the strong, the best way to test Chen Yingxiong's state, and the best way to show Chen Yingxiong's strength.

The happiest people were probably the Red Giants, who were Chen Yingxiong's most loyal supporters. They were also full of confidence in Chen Yingxiong, and had no doubt about their idol in this game.

In the nine months of Chen Yingxiong's ban, they continued to defend Chen Yingxiong's glory with their loyalty to him. But after all, they hadn't seen Chen Yingxiong play for nine months. This was a very painful thing for Chen Yingxiong's fans.

Now, those painful days were finally coming to an end.

Like the most devout believers, they had not forgotten to pray to their god in the darkest days. In their daily prayers, the darkness had finally passed.

Their god was about to descend to earth again, and they, as his followers, would surely feel his glory!

※※※

The outside world reacted enthusiastically to Chen Yingxiong's return, but Chen Yingxiong himself was much calmer.

From the beginning of his nine-month ban, he knew this moment would come.

And he had prepared for this moment for so long that the feeling of anticipation had gradually faded in this long preparation, replaced by complete confidence.

He wasn't coming back to make a cameo, but to win a championship.

His son, on the other hand, was much more excited than he was, and had already started circling dates on the calendar, counting down the days.

Since his son was so invested, he couldn't let him down, so he also acted very hard-working and expectant at home.

"Twenty-one days left, Dad, go!" his son said to Chen Yingxiong, who was standing behind him, after circling another date on the calendar.

Looking at his son's determined face, even if he was calm inside, Chen Yingxiong felt his fighting spirit really start to burn.

He raised his right fist high to his son.

Without saying anything, his son excitedly jumped off the stool and imitated his action.

"The king is back, yay yay yay!"

Chen Yingxiong was very happy to see his son so happy.

Since having a child, Chen Yingxiong had completely matured.

He stopped going to nightclubs, and got into much less trouble. Before he kicked the Manchester City fan, it had been a long time since he had been on the front page of the news for negative reasons.

Everyone praised Chen Yingxiong for turning over a new leaf.

But the arrogance in his bones still existed, and it exploded in the incident of kicking the Manchester City fan, making people realize—this was still that Chen Yingxiong!

※※※

Liverpool's Christmas dinner this year was the same as in previous years, but the atmosphere seemed even more joyful than in previous years.

In fact, everyone was in good spirits at the Christmas dinners in previous years, after all, they won championships every year. But this year, the team was not full of fighting spirit because of the championship.

They were happy about something else.

First of all, in the first half of the season, although they had experienced various setbacks, they had increased the team's cohesion, and they had re-recognized their relationship with the team, which made them feel reborn.

Secondly, of course, Chen Yingxiong was coming back, and everyone was very excited.

They had endured all kinds of unfavorable situations in the first half of the season, just so that when Chen Yingxiong came back, they wouldn't hand him a mess. Now that they believed they had done it, they felt genuinely happy and proud.

We didn't let the captain down!

This was what everyone was thinking.

As boss Gerrard said, even small characters have the dignity of small characters. They had successfully defended their dignity, no longer parasites, nor dispensable backgrounds.

The achievements and glory of this half season belonged to them!

※※※

At the Christmas dinner, Chen Yingxiong was inevitably the main character. He was coaxed onto the stage by the players to say a few words.

"Hey, I really don't have anything to say..." Chen Yingxiong said, spreading his hands in front of the microphone.

"Then sing a song!" his teammates shouted from below.

"Then I'd better say a few words..." Chen Yingxiong said quickly.

Laughter came from below.

In the laughter, Chen Yingxiong readjusted the microphone.

After he was done, the sounds disappeared, and everyone looked up at their captain, their eyes full of fervent trust and admiration.

He was the captain of these people, and also the idol of these people. Every foreign player who joined Liverpool said the same thing at the press conference: "I am honored to be able to fight side by side with my idol." Instead of "I am honored to be able to join the team I have loved since I was a child"...

Under the gaze of this fervent gaze, Chen Yingxiong cleared his throat and said:

"Well... Thank you for your support over the past nine months. I have seen and remembered every effort you have made. Thank you, we still have hope of winning the championship. I am not a god, without you, I am nothing. Many people say how great Chen Yingxiong is, but I have only met such outstanding teammates in these eighteen seasons at Liverpool."

The players below were very happy to receive such high praise from Chen Yingxiong. They responded to Chen Yingxiong with warm applause and whistles.

"Next, there is half a season left, this is the time for me to work with everyone. We are fifteen points behind the league leaders, let's play a big one together!"

Chen Yingxiong quickly got into the zone, showing the feeling of encouraging morale as a captain, on the field, and in the locker room.

And Gerrard, as the head coach, was a little dazed after hearing Chen Yingxiong say this. Because this sentence sounded familiar.

He recalled it and remembered that it was in Chen Yingxiong's second season with the team, the same occasion, he and Suarez said they would play a big one with everyone. As a result, he scored a record of thirty goals in the Europa League that no one has been able to surpass to this day, and Liverpool won the Europa League. When the team was unable to win the league title and could not participate in the Champions League, this championship gave the fans great comfort and confidence, supporting them to continue to trust the team, cheer for the team, and finally usher in the light together with the team.

Now he said he wanted to play a big one again, Gerrard couldn't help but smile—those Premier League teams who were still unaware, you guys are really going to be out of luck this time!

"So what if we're fifteen points behind? We won't play if we don't, and if we play, we'll play something that no one else can do! Reverse this fifteen-point gap and win the final championship! We want to let those idiots who think the Liverpool dynasty has collapsed know how wrong they are! We want to make those idiots who are waiting to see us make fools of themselves lick back the saliva they spat out! Whoever dares to stand in our way, no matter who they are, we will knock them to the ground and ruthlessly crush them! Let them know that this Premier League is still our Liverpool's world! No one fucking wants to get their hands on it!"

"Yes! What the boss said is right!"

"Captain is awesome!"

"We want to win the championship!"

Chen Yingxiong's words successfully stirred up the emotions of the players, and for a while, the warm Christmas dinner turned into a murderous pre-war mobilization meeting.

※※※

Chen Xing stood next to him, watching this scene in the hall, and a smile appeared on his face.

But when he turned his head to look at his classmate Niang, he found that the club's general manager was frowning.

"What's wrong, Lu Niang?"

"He is the soul of this team..." Niang said with emotion, looking at Chen Yingxiong.

Chen Xing nodded. "You're right, he is the soul, banner, and leader of this team. But why do you look so unhappy?"

"He's going to retire in half a season. After he retires, where are we going to find such a soul for the team?"

Chen Xing was stunned.

Oh yeah, this is a very serious problem.

Niang spent a summer flying all over the world, but couldn't find a successor to Chen Yingxiong for the team.

It was so difficult to find a player who could play the same position as Chen Yingxiong, let alone find a soul for the team like Chen Yingxiong.

"Try to persuade him again..." Chen Xing said.

"It's useless, you know Hero's temper and personality, he is a very stubborn person. Unless he is willing, no one can change his mind." Niang shook his head.

The two stopped discussing this topic, but silently continued to watch Chen Yingxiong lead his teammates to shout "Let's play a big one", and then sighed helplessly.