Chapter 133: Christmas Present Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the Christmas Eve dinner, Tang En left for home. At first, he had thought that he would have to spend this Christmas “all alone.” However, not only had he managed to eat a sumptuous “reunion dinner” at Wood’s house, he had even received a present. With the white scarf around his neck, Tang En was no longer afraid of the cold.
The next morning, Tang En discovered that the streets were extremely quiet. The bustling sight of families going out to play, which he had expected to see, did not appear. This caused him to think that he had woken up too early. As a result, he went back to sleep and woke up several times, until he felt something was amiss. He then checked his watch, only to discover that it was already 10am.
As part of his daily routine, Tang En went to the mailbox outside his door to collect the newspaper, and discovered that there were two other letters that had dropped out of the mailbox alongside the newspaper.
Tang En did not remember having friends outside of the club who would mail letters to his house.
Tang En picked up the letters and opened them. The first one had been sent by Yang Yan from Liverpool. Aside from the festive greetings, there were also details written in the letter, saying that she was still interning there and would stay there for at least half a year. She apologized for not being able to continue conducting lessons for Tang En, and tactfully proposed her intention of cancelling the Chinese classes. After all, Tang En’s current command of Chinese language was already very good; he was adept at listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Tang En could only shrug his shoulders at this. For the past half a year, the Chinese classes had basically been on a hiatus. On one hand, this was because of the fact that Yang Yan was always very busy during her last semester; on the other hand, aside from preparing the team to compete in matches, Tang En had been secretly learning how to train the team from Kerslake. In addition, he had also been looking through and analyzing the original Tony Twain’s soccer books, lesson plans, and notes that had been left in the house. The failure of the previous season made him realize that he still had many shortcomings. Someone like him, who already had a coaching license, could not possibly undertake lessons in a coaching school. At the same time, he did not want anyone to find out that he actually knew nothing at all and was a fraud. In addition, he could only try to learn alone at home, not daring to tell anyone for fear of raising suspicions and giving himself away.
Therefore, canceling those time-wasting and meaningless Chinese lessons was probably a good thing.
The second letter was an airmail, and on top of the postmark was a word that Tang En was very familiar with: “Brazil”!
This discovery agitated Tang En. It had already been half a year, and he had almost forgotten about that person’s existence. He had assumed that the other party must have also forgotten about that experience in the summer. To think that…
He tore open the envelope, and it was indeed a Christmas card. A yellow colored paper fell out from in between the folds. Tang En bent over to pick it up and carefully dusted off the dirt on top of it before opening it.
“Dear Uncle Tony, you haven’t forgotten about me, have you? Guess who I am… You must be frowning, unable to guess my identity, right?”
The beautiful handwriting was filled with that playful tone.
“Forget it, let me reveal the answer myself! If you want to know who I am, please look at the signature!”
After reading this far, Tang En could no longer hold in his laughter. There’s no need for that, I already know who you are…
“After returning to Brazil, I returned to my model training again, which I hate… but in the end, I still promised mommy that I will work hard towards becoming a supermodel. You want to know why? I won’t tell you, you have to guess! This time, even if you read to the end, you won’t find the answer.”
Tang En shifted his sight downwards, and discovered that there really were no answers written there.
“It is currently bright and sunny in Brazil. It must be raining there in England, right? When I’m with Auntie Ryan, there always seems to be only one conversation topic: she is always complaining to us about how terrible England’s weather is, and how she envies the sunlight of Brazil. I find that pretty weird; if she hates the wetness of England so much, why doesn’t she move to Brazil? Still, I think it’s better for her to not move. Otherwise, I won’t have an excuse the next time I want to run away from home. That reminds me—speaking of running away from home, I still haven’t apologized for that incident from last time. My daddy and mommy are very strict with me, and they both hope that I can become a model. They even say that I am very gifted in that respect. But why can’t I see it? I don’t like them, because they are always forcing me to practice this and that. Of course, an uncle like you whose head is filled with soccer is really boring as well. But I still feel like you are better than my daddy and mommy.”
Hey, brat!
“So, if I ever run away and find you again, you are not allowed to chase me away, and you’re not allowed to collect rent from me. Therefore, you have to keep my Totoro safe on my behalf. Hey, Uncle Tony, you haven’t thrown it away right?! I know that all grownups like you hate soft, furry toys…”
How could that be possible? That toy is still placed safely in my bedroom. Even if I don’t like it, that doesn’t mean that I would just throw it away. After all, it doesn’t take up much space…
“…Actually, I only wanted to write ‘Merry Christmas, Uncle Tony’ at first, and mail it out like that. But I suddenly had so many things I wanted to say to you, so I just wrote them on this piece of letter paper. Daddy and mommy never hear me out about these things, so I can only talk about them to you. I hope you don’t find me annoying. A soccer manager shouldn’t be all that busy right?”
If I receive your letter, then I of course won’t be busy at all, brat.
“I also think you shouldn’t be busy, seeing as you are so carefree every day, as though you were unemployed. Alright, alright, that’s all I have to say. Lastly, wishing you a merry Christmas, Uncle Tony!”
The sign-off was written as “Missing you, Jor”, and had a smiley face drawn beside it.
This was perhaps the greeting card that made Tang En happiest upon receiving it. He had originally thought that she was just a passerby in his life, but instead their paths had intersected once again. Recalling that young girl’s playful smile and her accent, as well as that crisp-sounding “Uncle Tony” made Tang En feel that this darned overcast was no different from the sunlight shining over the Brazilian beaches. How adorable!
This really is a perfect Christmas! Tang En, still wearing his pajamas, stood in front of the door and laughed foolishly, completely forgetting to go back inside.
※※※
In the afternoon, the team resumed normal training. Tang En went to the training grounds with the eye-catching white scarf around his neck. By the time he reached them, the players were already waiting for him on the field.
“Merry Christmas, lads! How was your Christmas?” Tang En waved and said loudly in front of the players.
“Very good, Chief.”
“Not bad, Boss.”
The players replied at the same time. Tang En noticed that Dawson was not in a very good mood, and knew that it must have been because he only had two matches left with the team before he had to leave them.
“Hey, Michael, were you kicked out of bed by your girlfriend again?” Tang En suddenly asked. “Why are you so listless?”
“Huh? No! No! She wouldn’t dare to…” Dawson was in the midst of replying, before he discovered that he had been tricked. The teammates around him burst into laughter. “Chief, you tricked me again,” he said, somewhat indignantly.
“Alright, alright.” Tang En waved his hands, gesturing for the rest to stop laughing. “Lads, we will be playing two consecutive matches on the 27th and 28th. It will be an away match followed by a home match, and that’s gonna be really demanding. I hope that all of you have already finished recharging your energy over Christmas! Not playing for ten days has made my body itch all over, what about you guys?” Tang En raised his voice and asked.
“Same, Chief!” The players replied to him in a loud voice.
“Very good. We should not be ranked fourth from the bottom. Take down all of our opponents, and we’ll be going to the Premier League next season!” Tang En clenched his fists.
Two days later, on the 27th of December, Nottingham Forest, under the leadership of Tang En, put up a tenacious defense and launched a one-time sneak attack, allowing them to defeat the current top-ranked team with a score of 1:0 on their home turf, in Norwich City’s Carrow Road Stadium. With this, their rank increased by one, moving them to fifth from the bottom. It was obvious that Norwich City had underestimated their opponents. Faced against Nottingham Forest’s seamless defense, their players became increasingly impatient after being unable to break the stalemate after seventy-nine minutes. In the end, their fullback made a mistake, and Tang En naturally accepted this present happily. The circumstances did not seem to favour Nottingham Forest, but they won anyway. To Nottingham Forest, this match was not as simple as obtaining three points. What was more important than points and rankings was the return of the team’s confidence. Tang En used the victory to convince the players that they could beat any team. Regardless of whether they were ranked first or last, they would be able to win. This would have a crucial impact on future matches.
Nottingham Forest, who had won a match in Norwich, got onto a bus and rushed back to Nottingham the same night. The next day, they would be welcoming Westham United, which had been relegated from the Premier League, at City Ground Stadium.
To Tang En, this opponent held a very special meaning. On January 4th, in the third round of the English FA Cup, he had faced off against Westham United in the same stadium. It had been his first time leading a team, and it was also then when he had confirmed the direction which he was moving in: natural manager. Now, almost one year has passed, and he had experienced a lot in that one year. Leaving and returning, failing to get the team promoted to the Premier League, and Westham United being relegated to League One just as he had “cursed” them during the press conference. Facing off against this team in City Ground Stadium again made him feel as though he was back at his starting point.
The opponent, venue, and goal were all the same as well: to be promoted to the Premier League by the end of the season.
This time, I, Tang En, will definitely not fail!
On the 28th of December, at Nottingham’s City Ground Stadium, Nottingham Forest defeated Westham United, who was ranked eighth in the league, with a score of 2:0.
Nottingham Forest, who had obtained four consecutive wins in the league, had also risen from being ranked twentieth to eighteenth. It was just as Pearce Bruce had written in the newspaper:
“Tony Twain’s team is currently on an expressway, speeding and rapidly heading in the right direction!”
