Chapter 1 The Celebration

Chen Hero finally went to a nightclub to indulge himself as a celebration for scoring his first Premier League goal.

However, he didn't bring a girl back to the hotel room for a wild night.

This disappointed those English tabloids that had been keeping a close eye on him.

Nevertheless, the news and photos of him going to the nightclub still appeared in the English tabloids the next day.

"...The 'good boy' rumor is self-defeating! Hero went to a famous nightclub in Liverpool yesterday. Yes, alone. He had no teammates to guide him. How could he, who had never been to a Liverpool nightclub before, find such a famous place? I have to say, it seems Hero put a lot of effort into studying Liverpool's red-light industry..."

"After scoring his first goal in the Premier League, Hero was in a good mood. As a reward for himself, he went to a nightclub last night. According to reporters, he entered at 8:30 PM, stayed for two hours, and didn't leave until 10:30 PM to return to the hotel..."

"Hero was very popular in the nightclub... According to our interviews with guests at the time, Hero wasn't recognized at first, but that didn't last long... He was quickly surrounded by crazy women..."

"According to the bartender, Hero drank some alcohol, but he wasn't drunk, and he didn't take any girl back with him. He returned to the hotel alone..."

Many fans didn't think Chen Hero's trip to the nightclub was worth so much attention, but in England, in Liverpool, this news was front-page material.

Who asked Chen Hero to be so popular right now? Celebrities' every move is of concern to the media. Some people care about his goals, and others naturally care about what's between his legs.

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Not only did the English media report on this, but even the Italian media mentioned Chen Hero finally going to a nightclub in England.

Actually, Chen Hero going to nightclubs wasn't news in Italy anymore—he went so often that if they reported on it so grandly every time, readers would get tired of it. However, this was Chen Hero's first time going to a nightclub in England, which was so memorable that they naturally joined in the fun.

If Chen Hero went to a nightclub again, they might not even pay attention.

During Chen Hero's month or so in England, an article joked that he lived like a Puritan, only training and returning to the hotel every day, and never going out. A waiter told the media that for about three hours every night, the "Do Not Disturb" light on Chen Hero's locked room was always on. This initially led to a lot of speculation, and everyone wondered if Chen Hero had a woman hidden in his hotel room, or if he had a mysterious girlfriend?

But no, after many days of observation, everyone discovered that not only did Chen Hero not come out himself, but no one ever went in either. He always came out alone, and no one else came out, especially not women.

A reporter once asked Chen Hero about this, but Chen Hero certainly wouldn't say he was grinding dungeons; that was his secret. So he said he was watching TV and surfing the internet.

Now that Chen Hero had returned to the nightclub scene, many reporters familiar with Chen Hero's personality breathed a sigh of relief—Chen Hero was still normal; he was still the same Chen Hero.

Cristina Cabella was reading the newspaper and looking at the news.

She currently didn't have a job because the company felt that her previous assignment had taken too long, so they gave her a vacation. She didn't have to come to work during this time. The vacation was three months long. Anyway, she had earned enough money, so it didn't matter if she didn't work for three months.

Speaking of this, she had to think of Chen Hero—Chen Hero's compensation to her was far more than the amount stipulated in the contract. It was because of this money that she solved her family's problems.

But now, she didn't have to mention this to think of Chen Hero; she had already thought of Chen Hero when she saw the news in the newspaper.

There were two news items about Chen Hero in the newspaper. One was that he had finally scored a goal in the Premier League. Italian commentators said they were not surprised by this at all, since Chen Hero could conquer Italy, which was known for its defense, then conquering England was no problem. Two league rounds without a goal? That was no problem for them at all. See? He scored!

The other piece of news was about Chen Hero going to a nightclub.

The media used the word "finally," which made Cabella laugh.

Finally went to a nightclub, as if it was abnormal for him not to go.

But during his last season in Naples, he didn't seem to have gone to nightclubs very often... Why weren't the media surprised then?

Although the two were no longer together, Cabella could still often see news about Chen Hero. His name was in the Italian media every day. Who asked him to have left such a deep impression on the country's football? Even though he had left, the Italians still missed him.

Next year's Serie A Oscar will probably see Chen Hero and Napoli as the biggest winners. Even if he transferred and left, he would definitely win an award based solely on his performance in the first half of the year—after following Chen Hero for so many years, and then being constantly dragged by him to watch games, Cabella had gone from being a layman who knew nothing about football to an expert who could say a few things about football.

If Chen Hero won an award, then he would definitely return to Italy to receive it, right?

At the thought of Chen Hero possibly returning to Italy, Cabella felt a faint sense of anticipation for some reason...

She put down the newspaper, looked at the bright afternoon sun outside, and became somewhat lost in thought.

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Whether Chen Hero would win the Serie A Oscar was still unknown, but he had already gone to Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Logically speaking, Liverpool was not qualified to participate in the Champions League or the Europa League, so what was Chen Hero doing in Monaco? It should be known that this was where UEFA held the group stage draw ceremony for the Champions League and Europa League. Chen Hero had gone there last season, when he went with Napoli's general manager, Bigon.

Liverpool finished sixth in the Premier League last season, missing out on any European competition. He had no part in the Champions League, and the Europa League was for the fifth-place team in the league. He was one place short of participating. This season, there were four teams from the Premier League participating in the Europa League. Apart from Tottenham Hotspur, who finished fifth in the league and participated based on league ranking, the other three teams had nothing to do with league ranking.

Stoke City, who finished thirteenth last season, participated in the Europa League because they were the FA Cup runner-up—the FA Cup champion was Manchester United, who was also the Premier League champion last season, so they automatically qualified for this season's Champions League, and the Europa League spot was given to the runner-up, Stoke City.

The third team to participate in the Europa League was Fulham, who ranked second in the Fair Play Award—they should have participated as first, but the first was Chelsea, who participated in the Champions League, so Fulham directly took their place in the Europa League. Fulham finished eighth last season.

What Liverpool found most annoying was not that these eighth- and thirteenth-place teams could participate in the Europa League for one reason or another, but that the fourth team to participate in the Europa League was actually a relegated team!

Birmingham qualified for the Europa League because they won the English League Cup last season. But at the end of the season, they were relegated directly to the Championship with the third-worst record! They won the League Cup, but were ultimately relegated. If they had a choice, perhaps Birmingham would rather not have won the League Cup and stayed in the Premier League.

A relegated team could actually show off on the European stage, while a giant like Liverpool, despite finishing sixth, couldn't even get a European qualification. It was really tragic enough. No wonder many Liverpool fans' eyes light up when they talk about the former Red Army dynasty, but they can only shake their heads and sigh when they mention the current Liverpool. They haven't won a championship in five years. The so-called giants are actually built up by one championship after another. If you can't always win championships, no matter how much history you have, you'll probably end up being kicked out of the ranks of giants...

At the end of August, the group stage draw ceremony for the new season's Champions League and Europa League will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

This had nothing to do with Liverpool, but Chen Hero received an invitation to attend.

He wasn't attending because of his identity as a Liverpool player.

Because in addition to the group stage draw ceremony, UEFA will also hold a grand awards ceremony.

This isn't the presentation of various Champions League awards; the selection of various Champions League awards has been cancelled, replaced by UEFA's newly released "UEFA Golden Ball Award"!

This is Platin's representation of going against FIFA. Last year's FIFA Golden Ball Award results were met with a storm of media criticism.

So, after criticizing Messi's award, Platini announced that UEFA would create its own Golden Ball Award.

In this way, the UEFA Golden Ball Award was born. This time, it's not the Golden Ball Award selected by *France Football* in the past, but the one led by UEFA. First, sports journalists from fifty-three European countries and regions vote, and the three players with the highest number of votes become candidates for the final round. Finally, the fifty-three journalists vote again on the spot to determine the final ranking of the three people.

In the "preliminary round," Chen Hero stood out and entered the final round of competition with Messi and Harvey.

So he has to go to Monte Carlo.

Liverpool's general manager, Niang, came with him, but not to participate in the Champions League draw ceremony, but just to support Chen Hero. This time, Liverpool became a supporting role.

Everyone sits in a row and eats fruit, dividing up the cake of benefits, but this event doesn't include Liverpool!

As a former dominant giant that monopolized the Champions League, it is really heartbreaking to be reduced to this point...