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Chapter 37 What a coincidence
Sonny Dean woke up in the soft and wide bed, and then found that someone seemed to have slept next to him. He touched it with his hand and it was still warm.

Is Ophelia back?
Just as Dean was wondering, he heard the door opening in the bathroom of the suite.

A woman wrapped in a bath towel came out while drying her hair - it might not be quite right to say that she was wrapped in a bath towel, because the towel was not folded tightly, but was draped over her plump and firm breasts.

It’s just because those breasts are so proud, so even though the bath towel is draped over them, as long as the movement is not too big, it will be caught and not fall off.

Dean moved his eyes from the other person's chest to his upper body, and then he saw the other person's face.

Oh no, not Ophelia.

They look different and have different hair colors.

Ophelia had chestnut hair, while the woman in front of her had golden hair.

What's her name?

Looking at this hot blonde woman with a strange face, Dean couldn't even think of her name...

Lisa? Theresa? Emily? What?
Damn it!

A naked woman appeared in my bedroom, and I didn’t even know her name?
Seeing Dean's stunned look, the woman smiled sweetly, threw the towel she was using to wipe her hair onto the bed, then raised her hand and gently took off the bath towel from her chest.

The fabric slipped from her breasts and fell to the ground.

Revealing the proud naked figure inside.

Then the woman began to pick up the clothes that she had thrown on the ground last night and put them back on one by one.

In fact, he didn't have many clothes. Apart from a down jacket for keeping warm, the rest of the fabrics added together were probably not as much as Dean's shirt.

The woman put on her clothes, picked up her phone and called a taxi for herself, then turned around and looked at Dean who was still in a daze. Her eyes moved back and forth over Dean's equally naked body, and then she exclaimed, "You are indeed an athlete. Wow... You were so awesome last night. I didn't want to stay the night, but I had to sleep here with you. You really made me suffer!"

Then she shook her phone and said, "Next time you need something, you can still contact me. I can give you a discount. You have my Instagram account anyway."

After saying that, she blew a kiss to Dean.

※※※

Damn, it turned out to be the “chicken” I ordered last night…

Dean laughed to himself.

At this time, he had already taken a shower, was wearing a bathrobe, and was sitting in the living room downstairs.

I thought it was a one-night stand at the nightclub last night...

But why didn’t I remember it when I woke up today?
Is it because I drank too much last night?
Fortunately, he participated in yesterday's competition, so he doesn't have to go to training today and just needs to rest at home.

Otherwise, with all the drinking and three hundred rounds of battle with that woman in bed, Dean himself was not sure how much energy and condition he could still muster on the training ground.

On the TV directly opposite Dean, this morning's news program was playing.

What was reported was yesterday's news:
"...Yesterday's match between Tyne and Hurlingham FC was the highlight of this round of the Premier League..."

Dean couldn't help but sneer when he heard the news announcer say this seriously:
Damn, since when did our games against newly promoted teams become the highlights of the Premier League?
"…With Wang scoring twice after coming on as a substitute, Tyne beat Hurlingham FC 4:1 at home. This was Wang's first game for Tyne, and he used two goals to make a good start for his Tyne career…"

Dean picked up the remote and changed the channel.

The next one is the Newcastle local channel, which is playing the official video of Wang Lie joining Tyne. Wang Lie is wearing Tyne's blue jersey and smiling at the camera:
"...I chose Tyne because I feel the trust and respect from everyone at the Tyne club. I have no doubt that I will be successful here..."

Dean frowned. Wang Lie had been with the team for ten days. Was the local media so outdated? They were still showing the official announcement video of him joining the team?

He continued to change channels.

It was still Newcastle's local channel, but this time it didn't play the video of Wang Lie joining the team. Instead, it was a talk show where the guests and host were talking about yesterday's game:
"...I still remember what Wang said in the video when he joined Tyne, that he would do his best to bring victory to Tyne. And now he has done it! Look at the first ball, Vitini's pass was obviously not good - I don't want to criticize Vitini, in fact, his performance in this game is fully worthy of the honor of 'Man of the Match' - I'm just telling the truth, Vitini did pass the ball too far in this attack.

"Then we saw Wang gritting his teeth as he chased the ball - I watched the slow-motion replay of that goal many times after the game, and I could even clearly see the blue veins on Wang Lie's neck and temples... It was because of his hard work that this was not a good opportunity, but it turned into a goal. Wang actually didn't have to run, and it was definitely not his fault that the attack didn't succeed..."

The host nodded in agreement with the guest's words: "I think all Tyne players should go home and watch the whole process of this goal repeatedly, and learn from Wang how to make the most of every opportunity in the game. Then our league ranking will definitely be higher now..."

Dean pressed the channel change button expressionlessly, and the host and guests' corny flattery of Wang Lie came to an abrupt end.

The next channel is finally not a local channel in Newcastle, but a national satellite channel.

But what he said was still related to Wang Lie.

The host and guest commentators are introducing the feud between Wang Lie and Hlingham FC head coach Kofi Rossiter to the national audience:
"We have looked through the records of their previous encounters, and there is indeed nothing special about them. Whether facing Wang or Sofolian, Rost's attitude was normal. He was neither overly self-abased nor arrogant... So now we speculate that it may be that the Helingham FC Club had some kind of deep conflict with Rost over the matter of recruiting Wang, which made Rost vent his anger on Wang..."

The guest laughed and teased Rost: "Rost must have forgotten the consequences of angering the king."

The host said: "It's not necessarily that he forgot. He probably thought Wang was old and didn't have the ability to fight back. But he didn't expect Wang to come off the bench and score twice in this game..."

"Wang may be old, but I think he should still be able to fight back against someone who provokes him. Speaking of which, when I saw Wang's two balls last night, do you know who was the first person that popped into my mind?"

"Who?"

"Of course it's Helden! Haha!"

The host also laughed: "Hahaha..."

This time, Dean didn't change the channel. He simply turned off the TV, and the shrill laughter completely disappeared.

Shit, I woke up this morning and watched TV, and it was all about that old scoundrel...

Damn it, he's almost 38 years old, and he was kicked out of Sofia. Why is he still so popular?

Dean took out his phone again and started browsing social media. Just like what was shown on TV, the local Newcastle community was basically discussing Wang Lie's performance in yesterday's game.

Some people were excited about Wang Lie's two goals, some were worried that this was just a last hurrah for the 38-year-old veteran, and some even began to hope that the team could get a better outcome than relegation this season.

What was a little surprising to Dean was that in such a lively discussion, he didn't see many messages cursing him.

He clearly wasted an opportunity in the game... and he himself knew very well that his performance was not good after coming on as a substitute yesterday.

As a result, no one in the local fan community scolded him!

He was confused for only a moment before he realized that this was because Wang Lie's outstanding performance had become the hottest topic on the local network from yesterday to today. Everyone was discussing Wang Lie, just like on TV.

Then who has the interest and energy to discuss his performance?
Before Wang Lie came, Sonny Dean had the highest salary in the team and was once the most valuable player in the team. He was definitely the focus of everyone's attention. Everyone would stare at him all the time, even through a magnifying glass.

His every move cannot escape the eyes and comments of others.

Now that Wang Lie has arrived, his salary is the same as his, which is the highest in the team, and his historical value is higher than his. Coupled with the huge traffic blessing, he has successfully snatched away the attention that originally belonged to Dean.

If it were someone else, they would be extremely upset if the limelight was overshadowed by others.

But when it came to Sonny Dean...he felt a sense of relief instead.

Finally, finally…finally I’m not the local headline anymore!

Thinking about it this way, it seems that the king's arrival is not all bad...

Thinking of this, Dean felt better.

He got up from the sofa and decided to go back to his room and take another nap.

When he reached the second-floor balcony, he looked outside.

Then he didn't take his eyes away.

His gaze passed through his backyard and turned to another villa a few dozen meters away.

It was a house that had been vacant for almost a year.

He had also seen this house when he was buying it. It was larger than his current one, but the location was a little off - one had to go around a long way from the main entrance of the villa to the main road.

The backyards of the two villas are next to each other, separated by a wall more than one person high. They can be said to be back-to-back neighbors.

There were some tenants before, but no one bought it.

It has been almost a year since the last time he moved out, and Dean seems to have gotten used to seeing nothing but darkness every night.

As a result, when he looked over there today, he found that there were two people standing on the second-floor terrace of the villa!
Of course, it is not uncommon for some people to live here and occasionally meet agents taking people there to look at houses.

What really caught Dean's attention was one of the two people. Although he couldn't see their faces clearly from a distance, he felt that the figure looked familiar. Thinking of this, he simply took out his mobile phone, turned on the camera, switched to the 15x telephoto lens, and aimed at the familiar figure.

The result looks like this...

Doesn't it look familiar?
The person who appeared on the second-floor terrace next door was actually Wang Lie, that old scoundrel!
※※※

“The scenery is nice.”

Standing on the terrace on the second floor of the villa, Wang Lie looked into the distance.

The villa he rented was located on the top of a small hill in Northumberland. Standing on the second-floor terrace and looking east and north, he could see flat farmland and meadows.

To the west is a forest park, and to the west of the forest park is the highway.

Looking south is the residential area.

Single-family villas are scattered like chess pieces on this flat land. Winding paths connect these villas together and finally lead to a main road in the south.

Continuing south, there is a relatively dense residential area, which is also the central area of ​​the small town of Northumberland. It has all kinds of commercial facilities and all basic living needs can be met there.

This is the most suitable "feng shui location" that his agent Fernando Clemente spent a lot of effort to find for him.

"The hardware facilities of the house are a little old. No one has lived in it for a year and it lacks maintenance..." Clement was not very satisfied with the house.

Because of these shortcomings, even though he had found a house, Wang Lie had to live in a hotel - Clement spent nearly a week cleaning, maintaining and repairing it, and at the same time moving all of Wang Lie's belongings from his house in Manchester.

This includes a cryotherapy device worth 100,000 euros. Clement specially cleared out a guest room in the villa to house this big guy.

Before this, Wang Lie had always relied on taking ice baths in the hotel bathtub to relieve physical fatigue and recover quickly.

Although the hotel provides ice service, the amount of ice Wang Lie needs for an ice bath far exceeds the normal amount, so it is not convenient at all to rely on ice baths to recover in the hotel.

Now, after making his debut for Tyne and scoring a goal, he can finally move out of the hotel and live in this private gym, physiotherapy room, training center, and... home built just for him.

"It's okay. You've completed so much work in just one week. Considering the ridiculously low efficiency of British workers, I think you've performed a magic trick to be able to move in now, Clement." Wang Lie praised his agent half-jokingly.

In fact, if he hadn't considered it inconvenient for his wife and children to continue staying in the hotel, he wouldn't have to be so anxious - the children are on winter vacation, they have to come and see their father, and he misses his wife too.

So his wife would bring their two children to the UK and live with him until the winter vacation was over.

Ever since his mother fell and got injured, he asked his wife to go back to take care of her, and the two began to live apart like the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.

Wang Lie cherished this reunion very much, so he asked Clement to tidy up the house and make it ready for occupancy before his wife and children came.

"I hope they can enjoy their stay during this time." Clement is also proud of his work.

"They will. Come over on my birthday and we'll have dinner together." Wang Lie invited his agent.

After so many years of cooperation, their relationship is no longer just a simple work and business partnership.

"Okay." Clement nodded in agreement. "I haven't seen Qiqi and Linlin for a long time."

Wang Lie shook his head: "Wang Ziqi is a bit rebellious now. He is at the age where people hate him."

Clement laughed. “That sounds a bit like you.”

Wang Lie rolled his eyes at him: "How is he like me?"

"You're pretty rebellious, Wang, especially when facing Helden. And I think Kofi Rossiter must hate you now, too."

Wang Lie was also amused when he heard what he said.

After laughing, he said to his agent: "Thank you, Fernando."

Clement was a little surprised: "Why do you say that?"

“You and your colleagues helped me solve a lot of off-field problems, allowing me to focus only on the football field. Otherwise, with my personality, if I can’t even play football well, I would be a failure as a person…” Wang Lie said.

Clement frowned, then shook his head: "Are you almost thirty-eight years old, so you're becoming sentimental?"

"A little bit. But it's not because I'm about to turn thirty-eight, but rather because I'm about to enter a new stage, so I want to make a summary of the past..."

Wang Lie held onto the balcony railing and sighed as he looked out into the distance.

Yesterday's game was his first appearance in the Premier League for Tyne, and he scored twice, proving that the plug-in given to him by the Travelers was effective.

He really felt that he had entered a new stage as he was about to turn 38.

This stage is about climbing upwards, not sliding downwards.

The pain, entanglement and struggle of the past six months are finally over.

At this moment, standing on the terrace of the new house on the top of the hill, looking at the flat fields and rows of buildings in the distance, he suddenly remembered a poem:
Xiongguan Mandao is really like iron, and now it has started from scratch.

It really is starting from the beginning...

Wang Lie was reminiscing about entering a new stage in his life, but Clement next to him complained: "Don't say that, Wang, I thought you were going to fire us..."

Wang Lie, whose atmosphere was ruined, turned to look at Clement: "Why do you say that? Of course I won't fire you."

"Then what do you mean by 'conclusion'? You wouldn't say that before..."

Wang Lie asked with interest: "What would I say?"

"You only say things like 'Now is not the time to sum up!' 'My game is not over yet!' and so on..." Clement imitated Wang Lie's tone of voice.

Wang Lie was so amused that he burst into laughter: "You really imitated it, Fernando!"

After laughing, he said, "But you're right, my game is indeed not over yet, at least there is still injury time!"

Then he turned his gaze to the distance again and looked around.

Then, as if by telepathy, he suddenly turned his head and looked towards the villa closest to him.

※※※

Dean was observing Wang Lie across from him through the telephoto camera of his mobile phone, when he saw that the other person, who was originally looking around, suddenly turned his head and looked at him.

In the telephoto shot, he was staring straight at the camera, as if he was aware that Dean was observing him.

And he even raised his finger and pointed over here!

Dean was so scared that he turned off the camera reflexively - even though he knew that Wang Lie should not be able to see him at such a long distance and with the reflection of the window glass.

But he still felt an inexplicable sense of oppression.

When he came to his senses, Dean found that he had hidden behind the wall. This discovery made him feel a little embarrassed - why should I hide from him?
Damn it!

It’s fine that I met him in the team, but why can I meet him again when I return home?

This time, we just became neighbors?!

Dean was really speechless.

A few days ago, he noticed that there were always people and cars coming in and out of the house and yard next door.

He just thought that someone else had rented the house, but he didn't expect that the tenant was... Wang Lie!
It's just haunting...

Is this necessary? Is this necessary?

Damn, you even have to rent a house next to mine?

※※※

"Who lives there?" Wang Lie asked Clement, pointing at the villa a few dozen meters away.

"Your teammate, Sonny Dean." Clement's introduction was simple, direct and clear.

Hearing this answer, Wang Lie laughed: "Oh, that's a coincidence."

(End of this chapter)