Chapter 187: The Two Tang Ens Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Tang En transmigrated and travelled back in time, he did not inherit much of the original Twain’s football knowledge. Therefore, when the original Tony Twain possessed Tang En’s old body, he must have brought all of his memories with him. The original Tony Twain was a manager that Paul Hart had held in high regard; that was why he was recommended to become the substitute manager for Nottingham Forest.
However, after Tang En learned about everything, he felt that the original Tony Twain’s personality made him unsuitable to become the manager of the team. Paul Hart had valued Tony Twain’s ability to train the team, but he had overlooked his personality. And that just happened to become the determining factor for Tang En’s decision.
Tang En felt that the original Tony Twain was most suited for the position of an assistant manager. In terms of planning for the team’s trainings, Tang En firmly believed that he would be just as good as Walker. After all, he was a professional manager—someone with an England Coaching Certificate—despite the fact that his certificate was now Tang En’s.
If Shania had not been standing next to him, Tang En would have conversed with Twain in English to discuss the issue. However, now was not the right time.
The car reached Xinhua Gardens, and the three of them got out. Tang En wrote down the phone number of the hotel in Chengdu City where he was currently staying on a card, and told the other Tang En that he wanted to express his gratitude for leading the way. As a way of thanking him, Tang En wanted to treat him to a dinner.
Upon receiving the card with phone number written on it, the Chinese Tang En lowered his head and flipped it over. On the other side of the card, he saw the following words written on it: I want to talk to you.
He did not agree to it, nor did he disagree. He looked at it again, before putting the card in his pocket and saying goodbye to them. Afterwards, he turned around and left.
As Tang En watched him leave, it was as though he had seen a reflection of himself. However, it soon changed into a reflection of Tony Twain, who had only existed in his imagination prior to this meeting.
Will he come tomorrow?
Tang En, who had snapped out of his daze, discovered that Shania, who was standing beside him, was looking at him. He smiled and said, “Let’s go, we’ll walk around the garden. I’ll bring you to see the one of the traditional pastimes of Sichuan people. It’s the most popular and most influential game…”
“What might that be?” Upon hearing that it was related to playing, Shania’s interest skyrocketed again.
Alongside swooshing sounds, what appeared before the two were hundreds of tables with four people seated around each table. People from all walks of life were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
“Mahjong,” Tang En said, as he started laughing.
※※※
The next day, because he wanted to treat the real Twain to a meal, Tang En did not plan any activities for the day, allowing Shania to sleep in instead.
In the afternoon, Tang En, who was watching television in the hotel, received a phone call from Twain.
“Sir, I would like to talk to you as well.”
At 7 in the evening, the three of them ate authentic Sichuan dishes in the private room of a small restaurant. Afterwards, they casually chatted in Chinese, as though they were old friends who had known each other for many years.
Shania was very interested in the delicious Sichuan cuisine, and instead paid no attention to the conversation between the two men. Even if she had tried to listen in on their conversation from time to time, she would have been unable to understand their Chinese. From the expressions on their faces, it seemed that they were discussing something important, almost as serious as a football match.
Tang En looked at the Tang En seated opposite himself (it is quite confusing to say it like this, despite the fact that that really is the situation) and both of them felt that they were looking into a mirror.
At that point, nothingmore needed to be said about who the person seated opposite him was. Deep down, both of them knew the other’s identity.
The only troublesome question that they had right now was, how should they address each other? The relationship was far too complicated; I know that the person seated opposite me isn’t myself, but on the surface, it is me…. Do you understand? I’m not me and you’re not you… It would probably sound something like that.
Although it was a thank-you dinner on the surface, the two Tang Ens were not in the mood to eat. They stared at each other, wanting to see for themselves the changes to their original body over the last year-and-a-half.
“This meeting is… something that I didn’t expect.” The Twain seated opposite Tang En was an introvert, and did not say a single word for quite some time. The Manager Tang En was slightly more proactive, and he naturally chose to speak in Chinese. “Actually… when I first discovered the situation I was in and found out who this body belonged to, I wanted very badly to apologize to you. I just didn’t know where you were at the time. But after seeing you yesterday, I suddenly felt like neither of us owes the other anything. Our debts cancelled each other’s out!”
Tang En started laughing, and Twain raised his head and shot him a look, but did not say anything.
Seeing this, Tang En thought to himself that this person was indeed very gloomy. As such, he suddenly switched to another topic. “My parents… Are they doing fine?”
This question made Twain, who was seated opposite him, nod his head. “They are doing very well.”
Tang En revealed a bitter smile and asked, “Do you know why I came to China?”
The person opposite him nodded his head again and replied, “I know.”
“I’m preparing to leave tomorrow, after I sneak a look at them. Of course, if they suddenly saw a foreigner calling them mom and dad, they would get the shock of their lives… You see, although I don’t know the reason why we swapped bodies, me going to England and you coming here, our futures have already changed completely, right? I don’t think it’s possible anymore for me to return to the South Sichuan countryside and call them mom and dad…”
Upon saying this, Tang En became silent for a brief moment.
“My life has already completely changed… But I feel like yours hasn’t.” They were finally getting to the point. “I know that you don’t have much experience in the past… but I also know that you are different from me, I’m just a fake. You are a real football manager… But I replaced you, and I personally think that I’m pretty well suited for the position. By the way, Nottingham Forest has been promoted to the Premier League by the end of this season.
After he finished speaking, the Twain seated opposite him, who had his head lowered and did not speak at all, raised his head instantly.
“You didn’t expect that, did you?” Manager Tang En smiled. “I’m doing pretty well in this position, right?”
Twain seemed to being trying his hardest to recall what the team had been like when he had first taken over Nottingham Forest. Afterwards, he compared it to the current situation of the team, which had already made it to the Premier League. Upon finishing the comparison, he nodded his head, admitting that the fake seated opposite him had indeed done a better job. Of course, this was only a possibility. After all, his career as the manager of the team had only just begun, before it was ended due to various absurd reasons. Nobody knew what would happen in the future.
Tang En continued, “Now, Des Walker, who had always been my partner, left the team after this season ended. What do you think of him?”
Twain tried to recall for a while, before replying, “I think that he’s better off being a player than a manager.”
Seeing the assistant manager whom he had worked so well with being commented on that way, Tang En could only give a bitter smile. That was because he knew that Walker was indeed lacking in some respects; Walker himself knew that. However, the requirements for League One were not as high as those of the Premier League.
Tang En had become even more interested in the person who had just made this comment.
“Before I met you, I was still wracking my brain over where I should go to find an assistant manager who could work well with me. Now, I think that my problem is resolved… Are you interested in quitting your current job and returning to Nottingham Forest?”
Hearing the fake Tony Twain ask that question, the real Englishman stared at him intently, as though trying to judge if he was serious.
