Chapter 1 Dén Wénjūn and Zhào Wěi Report Back

Deng Wenjun and Zhao Wei truthfully reported their conversation with Chen Yingxiong in Liverpool to the General Administration of Sport.

As they expected, the General Administration of Sport was furious that Chen Yingxiong insisted that they also issue a public apology.

They never imagined that Chen Yingxiong would dare to ask the General Administration of Sport to bow its head and apologize to him!

"Is he crazy?" The leader of the General Administration of Sport questioned angrily over the phone.

Deng Wenjun, who was making the call, was speechless.

"Tell him that the Football Association can issue a public apology, but not the General Administration of Sport!" Then the leader hung up the phone angrily.

"Hey…" Deng Wenjun was speechless, holding the phone. It seemed like the higher-ups were even angrier than him, but what was there for them to be angry about? They should be the ones who were angry!

They were the ones who had to do the embarrassing things, but the higher-ups would snatch the credit… and now they even had the nerve to get angry?

Deng Wenjun was very dissatisfied with the General Administration of Sport's actions. Of course, he could only be dissatisfied in his heart, and he would never dare to say it out loud.

He knew that Zhao Wei was still by his side, and the relationship between the two was definitely not close, nor were they comrades in the same trench. He had to be careful that Zhao Wei didn't find an opportunity to stab him in the back…

"How is it?" Zhao Wei asked from the side.

Deng Wenjun sighed and shook his head: "The General Administration of Sport doesn't accept his request…"

Zhao Wei made a sound, but he wasn't surprised.

"They said the Football Association can issue a public apology, but the General Administration of Sport shouldn't even think about it." Deng Wenjun naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to win over Zhao Wei, and stand against a common enemy. Naturally, he had to portray the people in the General Administration of Sport as unreasonable and unsympathetic. Only then would Zhao Wei cooperate with him…

However, Zhao Wei was also an old fox. He didn't express any opinion in front of Deng Wenjun, just nodded, and said with a worried expression that he understood.

Deng Wenjun cursed "this old fox" in his heart, but the expression on his face was the same as Zhao Wei's.

※※※

The next day, Chen Yingxiong received another call from the two of them. They said on the phone that the General Administration of Sport didn't agree to a public apology, and asked if they could just let the Football Association come forward and issue a public apology.

Chen Yingxiong flatly refused: "No! And it's not as simple as an apology in the newspaper. I want a public apology at a press conference! However you guys treated me back then, that's exactly how I want you to pay me back!"

Zhao Wei and Deng Wenjun both felt like hanging themselves.

This had escalated!

The General Administration of Sport was even less likely to agree now!

But Chen Yingxiong was too lazy to talk nonsense with them and hung up the phone directly.

Deng Wenjun was so depressed… It was one thing to have the phone hung up on him by a leader of the General Administration of Sport, but Chen Yingxiong dared to hang up on him too?

He gritted his teeth at the phone, his face contorted for a long time, but he didn't have the guts to call back and scold Chen Yingxiong.

Because he knew that if he did that, then the matter that the current leader cared about would be completely ruined. Not only would the current leader not let him off, but even the General Administration of Sport wouldn't spare him. Maybe Zhao Wei would even kick him when he was down…

This matter was really difficult!

Deng Wenjun was now even more regretful that he had gotten involved in this mess.

If he had known that Chen Yingxiong, this idiot, was so difficult to deal with, he would have sent his subordinates… He had to come and snatch the credit, it was really asking for trouble!

Although he was full of resentment and anger, for Deng Wenjun at this time, it was already a situation where he couldn't back down. It was definitely impossible to go back now, he could only bite the bullet and move forward. As for what the final result would be, he could only leave it to God.

Zhao Wei, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "We still have to report the situation to the General Administration of Sport."

"I've already reported the situation, and you know what the General Administration of Sport's attitude is…" Deng Wenjun said helplessly.

"No, I mean report it through another channel…"

The two looked at each other, and Deng Wenjun understood what Zhao Wei meant from his smile.

※※※

Chen Yingxiong was quiet for a few days. Until his teammates finished their national team matches and returned to the national team one after another, he didn't receive any more calls from the Football Association.

It seemed that they had retreated when faced with difficulties.

But Chen Yingxiong didn't think that his request was unreasonable. You wanted to ruin my reputation back then, and I'm just asking you to issue a public apology, what a cheap thing that is!

Do you think it's a loss of face and unacceptable?

Then is this the attitude one should have when asking for help?

Since you don't take us ordinary athletes seriously, then I, your grandpa, will teach you how to deal with an ordinary athlete!

Unexpectedly, just when the team had just returned to normal training, he received a call from the Football Association again.

The person on the phone said that they and the General Administration of Sport had accepted the request made by Chen Yingxiong and could hold a press conference to publicly apologize to him.

Chen Yingxiong was taken aback after hearing this result—he didn't expect the General Administration of Sport to accept his request!

He found this matter even stranger—he didn't think he had the ability to make the General Administration of Sport bow its head as well. Otherwise, their terrible relationship wouldn't have lasted so long.

Was it because he won the European Golden Globe Award? That's not right, he had won it before, and he hadn't seen the General Administration of Sport being so enthusiastic…

"Can I ask why?" he asked on the phone.

"What why?" Deng Wenjun, who was calling to notify him, didn't understand.

"I mean why did you suddenly collectively soften? I haven't seen you admit your mistakes so cleanly in so many years…"

Deng Wenjun thought to himself that it wasn't him who was in charge of the Football Association before, so how would he know why those damned predecessors didn't admit their mistakes cleanly…

But the words he said were still polite.

The more polite he was, the more puzzled Chen Yingxiong became.

"To be honest, Vice Chairman Deng. I'm very strange, I feel that your attitude towards me is not your normal style. It's like a man suddenly becoming a sissy… so I'm very strange, why have you suddenly become so easy to talk to?"

Deng Wenjun thought to himself: Could it be that he could tell you that they had to do this because of the pressure from the current leader? Could it be that he could tell you that you had the luck of eight lifetimes, and the current leader was actually your fan?

"It's because we have fully recognized the mistakes we made in the past after deeply practicing and studying the Scientific Outlook on Development. After serious summary and review, with the care and help of higher-level leaders, we…"

Chen Yingxiong picked his ears, he wasn't interested in listening to this kind of talk.

"Forget it, it looks like you won't tell me the truth. Anyway, I don't care…"

Deng Wenjun breathed a sigh of relief. If Chen Yingxiong insisted on forcing him to tell the truth, and wouldn't accept the apology if he didn't tell him, he really didn't know what to do.

But what he was most concerned about was the next question: "Then may I ask if you accept our apology, and then will consider…"

Chen Yingxiong said: "It depends on your sincerity, I will watch the press conference, whether it's live or recorded. If I feel that you are perfunctory, I don't care so much…"

Deng Wenjun cursed Chen Yingxiong wildly in his heart, but on the surface he still seemed very polite: "No, no. We have really realized our mistakes…"

"Anyway, if I'm satisfied, I'll join the national team. Isn't it just joining the national team to score goals, it's like a big deal…"

Chen Yingxiong muttered and hung up the phone.

※※※

Deng Wenjun felt that he was really stuck with "hanging up the phone." He was hung up on by Chen Yingxiong twice in a row, without any warning, he just hung up on him.

But he was no longer angry now, he was very happy, and he didn't bother to care about this matter at all.

He had gotten the result he wanted most.

Chen Yingxiong personally promised him that if they issued a public apology, he would join the national team!

Now… he could finally give an explanation to the current leader, right?

He now felt that Zhao Wei's decision back then was really correct.

After they returned to China, they reported to the General Administration of Sport through another channel, and then the current leader somehow found out about this matter.

When the current leader heard that it was just asking two institutions to issue a public apology, and that Chen Yingxiong was in the right, he immediately waved his hand—you still bother me with this kind of trivial matter?

Well, everyone knew what the higher-ups meant…

The General Administration of Sport also had to admit defeat in front of Chen Yingxiong this time, who told the current leader to be a crazy fan, and obsessed with Chen Yingxiong?

Looking at the phone screen that was hung up, showing the object of this call—Chen Yingxiong.

He shook his head.

Chen Yingxiong, Chen Yingxiong, do you know that your ancestral grave is emitting green smoke? You kid can actually get the favor of the current leader!

Alas… In Chinese football, I don't think anyone can touch you, and no one dares to touch you anymore…

And you're still unwilling!

You don't even know how many people would be ecstatic if they were in your shoes!

You kid really doesn't know how good you have it!

He didn't bother to argue with Chen Yingxiong so much anymore. The task was completed, and he had also gained a good impression in the eyes of the current leader. As for the matter that led to Chen Yingxiong being excluded from the national team for several years, the current leader was a reasonable person and would naturally know that it wasn't his fault. On the contrary, he dared to shoulder the responsibility, endure humiliation and bear the burden, and successfully pulled Chen Yingxiong back into the national team. This would inevitably become one of his political achievements in the future.

For him, it was just Chen Yingxiong putting on airs in front of him, which really wasn't a big deal now.

He had made a big profit!

※※※

After Chen Yingxiong hung up the phone, he threw the phone on the sofa and didn't take the matter to heart anymore. He didn't lie on the sofa, dreaming and fantasizing about what to do after he entered the national team.

He didn't care about this issue now. Entering the national team was just to score goals anyway. If anyone dared to make him unhappy, he would make them even more unhappy. He didn't have any psychological burden. At worst, he would be kicked out of the national team again. It wasn't like he was crying and shouting to join the national team, but other people were crying and shouting to ask him to join the national team, so what was he afraid of?

What he should be thinking about now was not the national team, but the club's matches.

His teammates had all returned, and the first team had started normal training.

On September 9th, the first match of the fourth round was the Merseyside Derby, with Liverpool challenging Everton away from home.