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Chapter 158 I Used to Like You

After most of his teammates had left, Vitini lowered his voice and asked Wang Lie:
"Wang, why don't you... let Dean win once?"

When Wang Lie heard this question, he smiled and teased, "Why? You're on Dean's side?"

Vitini was a little embarrassed, and he quickly waved his hands to explain: "No, I'm not on his side. I'm just curious, purely curious. Even if you lose this game, it won't be a big loss for you. And this is the last time Dean will compete with you, I thought you would... uh, give him a parting gift with a victory."

Wang Lie smiled and shook his head: "Since you said that there is no loss if you lose, then even if Dean wins, will he think this is a parting gift?"

Vitini was speechless, not knowing how to answer his idol.

Wang Lie patted him on the shoulder and said, "You can consider your teammates, which shows that you have matured. Vitini, you are becoming more and more like the owner of this team. That's good."

Then he added: "But the idea of ​​letting Dean win a game is wrong. Did you see the serious look in Dean's eyes during the game?"

Vitini nodded.

He was cheering for Wang Lie at first, but after seeing Dean's focused look, he gradually fell silent.

"Dean is serious about beating me. Do you think he should be happy or angry if I let him win?"

"I understand." Vitini nodded. "For Dean who wanted to beat you in the game, you were insulting him by letting him win. But looking at the way he left, I think he was sad..."

"It's true that he was upset after losing the game, but he was probably not just sad because he lost to me," Wang Lie said. "After all, this was his last game in Tyne."

Vitini remained silent.

When Wang Lie officially announced that he was going to join Tyne, he and Dean had such an argument in the locker room that they almost came to blows.

At that time, Dean ridiculed him, saying that he liked Tyne so much, why didn't he renew his contract with Tyne and stay here.

Now he is really ready to renew his contract with Tyne and really intends to stay in Tyne because his career is here.

So in his verbal battle with Dean, he seemed to have won - Dean used this to provoke him, but he didn't expect him to make it a reality.

But when facing Dean, Vitini did not feel the pleasure of revenge.

Instead, I feel a little sad.

This rival who has been arguing with him for several years will play his last game in Tyne tomorrow...

※※※

When Wang Lie returned to the room, Dean was already there, half lying on the sofa, browsing his phone. When Wang Lie came in, he just glanced at him and continued to focus on his phone screen.

Wang Lie came over and said to him, "You played well. You almost beat me."

Dean rolled his eyes at him and said, "You win and still want to take advantage of me. You deserve to be unpopular."

Wang Lie smiled and sat down beside the bed: "I'm not taking advantage of you, I'm really praising you for your good fighting skills. Let me tell you something."

Dean held the phone but his eyes were on Wang Lie.

"In fact, I have been looking for a professional table tennis coach to give me special training in the past half season, so it is reasonable that you can't beat me. But you really pushed me into desperate situations several times today, and I almost lost. I was really praising you, not being sarcastic."

Wang Lie told his "secret" with a normal expression.

Dean opened his mouth and was stunned for several seconds before he reacted: "I mean, why is there a ping-pong table in your gym!" Then he cursed again, "Damn it! You old scoundrel!"

Wang Lie, who was scolded, smiled somewhat complacently: "It's you who didn't know to ask a table tennis coach to teach you."

Dean was speechless: "Who would take a game like this so seriously?!"

Then he looked at Wang Lie who was pointing at him and asked, "What?"

"You." Wang Lie pointed at Dean and said, "You are the serious one."

"Me? Stop kidding! How could I be serious? It's just a little game..." Dean said with a sneer, but his eyes became vague and moved away from Wang Lie.

"Ha, a small game? Who was the one who yelled after losing the first match against me?" Wang Lie teased him mercilessly.

"Oh. Then who used an unconventional trick to beat me?" Dean retorted.

Unexpectedly, Wang Lie spread his hands and said, "I didn't say this was a 'little game'. I have been giving it my all from the beginning and taking it seriously. Isn't it my character to do whatever it takes to win? So what's wrong with me doing this?"

Dean opened his mouth and found that he had no way to refute - when the other party openly admitted that he would use all means to win, his criticism and sarcasm would lose their meaning. Isn't he ashamed?

Seeing Dean's frustrated look, Wang Lie laughed and asked Dean, "Is it shameful to want to win no matter what?"

Facing Wang Lie's question, Dean remained silent.

Wang Lie continued to ask: "Tell me from your heart, when you held the racket today, didn't you want to beat me? Even if it was just a 'small game'?"

Dean suddenly became annoyed after Wang Lie asked him repeatedly, "So what if I want to win? I still lose even if I want to win! And I don't have a chance to win back!"

"Who said you don't have a chance to win back?" Wang Lie did not raise his voice just because Dean suddenly yelled, but kept his tone calm. "You have an even better chance. Next season you will be in Kensington and I will be in Tyne. You don't have to beat me on the ping-pong table, but on the court."

Dean looked at Wang Lie in amazement.

Wang Lie looked at him and said, "What's with that expression on your face? Haven't you ever thought about it this way?"

Then he spread his hands: "I don't believe it."

Dean put away his surprised expression: "I thought about it. But I didn't expect you to say it yourself - I was going to say this to you when I left: 'I'm going to beat you on the court next season!'"

Wang Lie laughed happily when he heard that: "Then you have to work harder. First of all, you have to play in Kensington. But I'm not too worried about it."

Dean didn't expect Wang Lie to be optimistic about him: "Why?"

"You are a player who can play as a main player in the current Tyne team..."

Dean felt that he had found a loophole in Wang Lie's logic. He couldn't wait to interrupt him and refute: "That's not necessarily true. If Kensington changes its coach and tactics, it will be different."

"I'm not talking about tactics. I'm talking about your competitive spirit." Wang Lie shook his head. "Do you think anyone can play as a starter in this Tyne team?"

He snorted.

“Those who cheat in training, avoid confrontation in the game, are unwilling to fight for victory, have doubts about our goals... It is impossible for them to play in the current Tyneside team, let alone become the main players. I don’t know who will be the head coach of Kensington next season - they should change the coach after playing like this this season - but no matter who is the head coach, no matter what the tactics are, they always need players who are willing to fight for victory, right?”

At this point, Wang Lie pointed at Dean:

"And you, Dean. You're my certified competitive player."

Hearing Wang Lie say this, Dean couldn't help but get goose bumps, as if an electric current was rising from the soles of his feet and rushing straight to the top of his head.

But he still didn't buy it: "Tsk, 'your certification'...how did you get certified?"

"Who is it that is always clamoring to challenge me in my strong sport, table tennis?"

"Is there a possibility? My 'competitiveness' is only directed at you? I just want to defeat you."

"You are very ambitious, Dean. I am the number one player in the Premier League. If you want to beat me, it means you want to be the number one player in the Premier League!" Wang Lie gave him a thumbs up, "You have great ambition."

"..." Dean was speechless for a moment.

He wanted to say that Wang Lie was shameless and was flattering himself.

But think about it carefully, who deserves the title of "No. 1" in the current Premier League?

Is it the Dutchman Ramon van Dijken, the main center forward who currently plays for the "five-time champion" Clayton Athletic and has won the Golden Boot for two consecutive seasons? Or is it the main midfielder and captain Roel Pope of the Hackney Knights?
Or maybe Victor Delmora, the Scouse’s main striker?

It seems like it's almost there.

They are all top players, but no one can be called the "best player in the Premier League".

Otherwise, when competing with La Liga, the English media would not always mention Wang Lie. When Wang Lie, who was about to turn 38, terminated his contract with Sofia, some English media said that after Wang Lie, no one in the Premier League could be compared with Arthur Elorne and Ronil Nascimento...

Ever since he led Sofia United to win the unprecedented "Seven Crowns" that year, Wang Lie has been the undisputed top star of the Premier League.

Even if his performance is not as good as before as he gets older, no one can surpass him.

Now that he has recovered, it will be even more difficult for anyone to shake his position in the Premier League.

So...if I really defeat the current "No. 1 in the Premier League", does that mean I can also try to sit on this throne?
Thinking of this, Dean, who had been reluctant and awkward about leaving Tyne because of his mother's words, suddenly became full of expectations for the future.

Staying in Tyne is certainly not bad.

But no matter how well she performed, she had to stay under the shadow of the man in front of her, unless she was willing to be the king's "loyal dog" like that silly bird Vitini.

If I went to Kensington, I would have the opportunity to become the core and the top star there.

Should I take shelter and cool down under the king's wings, or go to London to make a new world?

Of course it’s the latter!
Otherwise, how can you appear to be more powerful than that stupid bird?
Wang Lie didn't know what Dean was thinking during the silence, but he could see a light suddenly appear in Dean's eyes, so he smiled and said, "It seems you have figured it out."

Dean nodded: "Indeed. You will definitely regret what you said to me today in the future - because you will have a strong rival! Today I almost beat you on the ping-pong table, next time I can beat you directly on the court!"

"Very good, we should keep this mentality even when we go to Kensington!" Wang Lie laughed, clapped his hands on his thighs and stood up.

He was going to wash up.

Right behind him, Dean suddenly said, "I thought you were going to persuade me to stay..."

Wang Lie looked back at him with some confusion in his eyes.

Dean lowered his head and continued to talk to himself: "I thought you deliberately arranged to live with me just to persuade me to stay in Tyne... I even imagined what tone you would use to beg me to stay and help you... Ha!"

With a laugh, Dean looked up at Wang Lie and said, "I can't think of it. I can't think of how you would 'beg' someone. In my heart, you will always be the 'number one in the world'. How could you bow down to others?"

"It sounds like you know me very well." Wang Lie smiled.

Dean snorted, "Of course I know you. I've liked you since we were little."

Wang Lie raised his eyebrows. This surprised him.

"I've never said it before, but I'm actually a fan of yours," Dean finally confessed to his former idol, before adding, "Once."

Wang Lie shook his head and spread his hands, saying, "This is really unexpected. Judging from your attitude towards me, I thought I had offended you before."

"You didn't offend me, it was my problem, and then I didn't like you anymore." Dean said. "Didn't I tell you that my father and mother divorced when I was very young?"

Wang Lie stopped washing up and sat down again: "You didn't say it, but I heard about it - in the media, it's not a secret."

"Yeah, it's not a secret. But do you know why my name on the back of my jersey is Sonny and not Dean?"

"I don't know about that." Wang Lie shook his head.

"Because I hate this last name, it comes from the man who abandoned me and my mom."

"Ah... Then I'll keep calling you 'Dean'..."

Dean smiled and said, "It's okay. I didn't call you nice anyway."

"Hey……"

Dean continued, "Before I was nine years old, my family was quite happy. I had a mom and a dad who loved me, but then they divorced. After the divorce, my dad first went to Manchester and then to the United States... My mom loved him very much, so the divorce was a huge blow to her. From then on, she started drinking, getting drunk all day long and having no time to take care of me. My dad didn't care about me either. After the divorce, he never contacted me again, and never came back to see me... I grew up on the streets. If it weren't for football, I would probably be in prison now..."

Wang Lie had heard a little about this, because the players' growth experience was no secret.

Sonny Dean was discovered by Tyne's youth training scouts while wandering the streets, then entered Tyne's youth training system, and eventually grew step by step into the professional player he is today.

"I have now forgotten how I fell in love with you in the first place... Maybe it's because your toughness is something I don't have but envy. I also want to be like you, say 'fuck you' to the damn fate, and slap the faces of those enemies with goals and victories..."

"Then why did you stop liking it later?" Wang Lie asked.

Dean thought for a moment and replied, "Because later I found that I couldn't be like you. I regarded you as my idol because I wanted to draw strength from you and change myself. But if I can't do it, then looking at you will only make me more painful. Because every time you perform well, it seems to me like a mockery of me..."

Wang Lie really didn't expect that Sonny Dean would have such a mental journey. He shook his head and sighed: "This is really..."

He didn't know how to comment on it. He felt that he had been given a bad reputation for no apparent reason...

After Dean said what he had been holding back in his heart, he seemed relieved. He lay back on the sofa, looked at the ceiling and said:

"Leaving Tyne and going to Kensington. I didn't have any idea at first. It was just an ordinary transfer. From a place I no longer wanted to stay in, to a strange place, it's that simple. But now, I have a new idea. And this idea is given to me by you."

"What idea?" Wang Lie asked.

"I'm going to Kensington as the core, I'm going to lead this team back to the Champions League. Just like you came to Tyne."

Wang Lie laughed, but it was not the kind of disdainful and mocking laugh.

"Very good. You need to have this kind of confidence and spirit. As long as you can always maintain this spirit, no matter in Kensington or anywhere else, you will definitely succeed. Maybe we can meet again in the World Cup?"

He gave his blessings sincerely.

Dean curled his lips and said, "The World Cup is too far away. I don't want to..."

Then Wang Lie interrupted him seriously: "No, don't think so. If you think the World Cup is too far away for you, then look at me."

He pointed at himself.

"At the World Cup in Saudi Arabia three years ago, everyone said that was my last World Cup. But now, I am fighting for the World Cup next year. I am 38 years old and you are only 27, why not?"

Dean thought about it and realized that it was exactly as he said.

I actually said that I didn't dare to think about participating in the World Cup in front of a 38-year-old who still wanted to participate in the World Cup and had a high probability of participating in the World Cup...

He made himself laugh.

"Yes, yes, you are right..."

He nodded repeatedly, and then saw Wang Lie reaching out his hand to him: "What?"

"Let's make a pact."

"What agreement?"

"See you at the World Cup next year, Sonny."

Wang Lie shook his hand and stretched it out in front of Dean.

Dean hesitated, then finally took his hand.

Wang Lie smiled and shook Dean's hand: "Very good, we have a deal."

(End of this chapter)