Chapter 155 Agreements and Surprises

The two parties quickly reached an agreement regarding Chen Hero's investment and his role as the male lead. To show sincerity and reassure Medjani, Chen Hero would first deposit 500,000 euros into the account Medjani provided. This small sum wouldn't accomplish much, but it was primarily a sincerity deposit to demonstrate good faith.

With this money in the account, Medjani and Jones Jackson could begin writing the script. What they had previously told Chen Hero was merely an outline; the specific script details were yet to be fleshed out.

Once the script was completed, it would be presented to Chen Hero, the largest investor at present, for his approval. If Chen Hero was satisfied, they could begin assembling the production crew and seeking other investors. Chen Hero was an amateur in this field, so Medjani would primarily handle these matters. However, having invested the money, Chen Hero certainly wouldn't allow the other party to squander his funds recklessly.

Therefore, he had to place his own people within the production crew, and Dracula, with his ability to soar to the heavens and plunge into the earth, was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.

Chen Hero entrusted Dracula and Medjani with all other specific details. He was a player, and playing football was his main profession. Whether it was investing in movies or personally starring in them, Chen Hero simply found it amusing. Since he had the money and an opportunity to play around, he would take it.

He wouldn't devote all his energy to the film endeavor.

In any case, Dracula could travel to any location on Earth in the blink of an eye, so there was no need to worry about his time management. As the Aurora Man with extraordinary abilities, he was naturally expected to do more…

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That matter passed.

Chen Hero's focus was on the game. Liverpool had an upcoming FA Cup match. However, this match had nothing to do with him. Martin O'Neill resolutely excluded him from the squad list this time, allowing him ample rest. For the FA Cup, O'Neill fielded a Liverpool second team composed of youth team and reserve team players.

As a result, Liverpool was held to a 1-1 draw by a semi-professional team from the fifth tier league on their home ground.

According to the rules of the English FA Cup, the FA Cup adopts a single-game elimination system, without home or away matches, so there is no advantage of away goals.

If the two sides draw within ninety minutes, there will be no extra time, but a replay will be scheduled for another day. If the replay also ends in a draw, then extra time will be played. If the extra time still cannot determine the winner, then a penalty shootout will decide the outcome.

Therefore, in this match, Liverpool was held to a draw by Luton Town away from home, and the two sides needed to find another day for Liverpool to host Luton Town at home.

Why is the FA Cup so attractive to teams in lower leagues? It is because if they hold their opponents to a draw at home, they have the opportunity to play at the opponent's away stadium. If the opponent is a powerhouse team, then naturally more people will come to watch the game. The ticket revenue alone allocated to the away team is often enough to cover these teams' annual financial budget. Not to mention that if they are fortunate enough to be selected for a televised match, they can also receive a considerable broadcasting fee.

In addition to these, weaker teams may also unexpectedly obtain a short-term chest advertisement sponsorship due to going to the strong team's away stadium to challenge them... This has happened many times in history. A certain team once held Manchester United to a draw at their home stadium. The next match was to be played at Manchester United's home stadium. Originally, the team's jerseys had no advertisements on the chest, but because they were going to appear at Old Trafford, a merchant approached them, willing to pay to have their brand logo printed on the team's jerseys... This was because the match would be played at Old Trafford and would be televised live. Under such circumstances, it was naturally a good opportunity for merchants to advertise. Those weaker teams did not have big appetites. They only needed to spend a small amount of money to appear in front of all of England for ninety minutes, and they could continue to promote their brand for free in various news reports after the game.

In short, money is the reason why many lower-level teams work hard to play in the FA Cup and cause trouble for strong teams.

Because many strong teams will always reserve some strength when facing the FA Cup. The rise of the Premier League and the Champions League has also caused the FA Cup, the oldest modern football event in the world, to lose its original charm.

Facing inattentive strong opponents, weaker teams may be able to pull off upsets. Therefore, the FA Cup is called the "breeding ground for upsets." Almost all of the top ten classic moments in FA Cup history are related to upsets.

Luton Town holding Liverpool to a draw at home can also be considered an upset.

However, considering that Martin O'Neill allowed all first-team players to rest, this upset can only be considered a small one.

And once they return to Anfield, no matter how much O'Neill doesn't value the FA Cup, he has to value his own reputation - if he allows Luton to eliminate Liverpool at Anfield, where will he put his face? Where will Liverpool's reputation as a powerhouse be placed?

So, it can be foreseen that Luton Town's journey ends here.

They will never be able to cross the hurdle of Anfield.

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Chen Hero didn't go to the away game, nor did he watch the game on TV. At that time, he was having dinner and chatting with Chen Xing.

Chen Xing curiously asked about Chen Hero and Cabralla's experiences along the way.

Chen Hero had never told the media about this matter, not because it was private, but because there was no need to tell reporters in so much detail… When facing Chen Xing, Chen Hero naturally couldn't just give a vague account and be done with it.

So, he told Chen Xing the whole story from beginning to end.

Of course, after finishing the story, he also talked about Medjani's movie shooting, and also told Chen Xing the story outline of the script.

Unexpectedly, Chen Xing was very interested.

"Shooting a movie? That's a great idea!"

"Huh?" Chen Hero didn't expect Chen Xing to be so interested in this matter. He originally just thought of it as an interesting anecdote to talk about.

"You said your director friend is short of funds?"

Chen Hero nodded, "Yes..."

"I can invest!" Chen Xing slapped his thigh.

"Ah?"

"But there are conditions, that is, the team of the protagonist in the story must be Liverpool!"

Chen Hero suddenly understood that Chen Xing wanted to promote the image of Liverpool to the world, and the movie was obviously a good tool.

"According to what you said, this movie doesn't actually need too much investment... because there are no big scenes, overall it's just a road movie... so the investment doesn't need to be too much. The scenes of the game, we can come forward to help solve."

Chen Xing said so, Chen Hero also felt that this idea was good. Anyway, he was starring in it himself. Wouldn't it feel strange to wear the jerseys of other teams in the movie?

"Are you really sure?" He asked Chen Xing.

Chen Xing nodded, "Nonsense, would I be joking if I wasn't sure?"

"Okay, I'll call him, and then you two can talk." After speaking, Chen Hero took out his mobile phone and directly called Karim Medjani.

On the phone, he mentioned Chen Xing's intention to invest. Karim Medjani had been busy writing the script with Jones Jackson during this time, and hadn't had time to find investors. However, if someone took the initiative to invest, he would definitely welcome it with open arms.

"Then I'll let him talk to you?"

"No problem! Welcome, welcome!"

After hearing Medjani's answer, Chen Hero handed the phone to Chen Xing.

The next things were not for him to worry about. Whether Chen Xing and Medjani cooperated successfully or not had little to do with him.

Chen Xing did not intend to avoid Chen Hero, and directly talked to Medjani in front of Chen Hero.

The two talked for about twenty minutes, and only confirmed an intention.

Chen Xing would have to see the script before he could determine whether to invest.

And Medjani promised that after the script was written, he and Jones would personally make a trip to Liverpool. Then they would discuss the specific cooperation matters in person.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Xing smiled at Chen Hero: "You are going to star in this movie? I'm suddenly looking forward to seeing your performance on the big screen, ha ha ha!"

Just at this moment, Chen Xing's phone rang.

"Oh, it's Niang?" Chen Xing glanced at the caller ID on the phone screen, and then answered the phone.

"Um... um... um?" Chen Xing's tone obviously changed, looking very surprised.

Chen Hero also became interested and wanted to know what Niang was saying on the phone.

"Okay, I see, it's nothing. It's not a big deal."

After hanging up the phone, without waiting for Chen Hero to ask, Chen Xing said, "The team was held to a draw by Luton Town away from home."

Chen Hero was also very surprised: "What?"

"1:1." Chen Xing shrugged. "Now Luton has a chance to come to Anfield, but this is their last chance."

This match was too insignificant, so Chen Xing did not go to the stadium to watch the match. Unexpectedly, the result was beyond his expectations.

However, he also knew that Luton would never be able to eliminate Liverpool.

Chen Hero held the same view, so he was just a little surprised, but not worried about the team's future.

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Liverpool being held to a draw away from home was largely due to the absence of all the first-team starters. But O'Neill said at the post-match press conference that he was not surprised by such a result.

He valued the league more, but unfortunately, it seemed that after the devilish schedule, everyone relaxed all at once.

In the twenty-second round of the league, Liverpool challenged Reading away from home, but was held to a draw by their opponents, with the score still at 1:1.

In this match, Chen Hero, Sanchez, Suarez, Adam Johnson, Gerrard, Inler... and other main players all played, but there was no way to win the match.

When the game ended, Liverpool players could not hide the disappointment on their faces...

Chen Hero was especially disappointed.

Because he did not score in this match.

He originally thought that after resting for a game, he would be full of energy and should be able to go on a killing spree in the game against Reading.

Who would have thought that it was not as good as his performance immediately after driving 1,500 kilometers and then immediately playing the game...

It seems that he is the kind of player who needs pressure...

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ps, four updates today, please continue to vote!