Chapter 1 The "Welcome"

Just as Adria Bosch and his Blue Giants were making their final preparations to welcome Chen Hero back to the Stadio San Paolo, the plane carrying the entire Liverpool team arrived at Naples Airport.

The kind of "welcome" that Naples fans would give Chen Hero could already be glimpsed from this moment.

When Chen Hero followed the team out of the gate, a large number of Liverpool fans who had arrived early greeted them. They wore the striking red Liverpool jerseys and held up various slogans, posters, and banners to welcome Liverpool.

Of course, it wasn't just Liverpool fans.

There were also some blue dots mixed in with the red crowd.

However, these people were almost negligible compared to the Liverpool fans.

They were also standing very scattered, three or five here, seven or eight there, not gathered together, and it didn't look like they had been organized in advance.

There weren't many of them, and they were all there to welcome him, Chen Hero.

They wore the number nine jersey that Chen Hero had worn during his time in Naples, and held up posters of Chen Hero and various slogans welcoming him.

Seeing Chen Hero come out, these people cheered.

Chen Hero waved to them to show that he had heard them.

He didn't stop to sign autographs for those people, but followed his teammates and quickly walked out of the exit, onto the bus that had been prepared for them.

Not many people came to welcome him, and they weren't organized, which was very telling.

It looked like he was going to face a chorus of boos at San Paolo.

He shrugged.

※※※

"Andrea?" Pizza shop owner Scarne Karl nudged Andrea Bosch, who was burying his head in a pizza.

"What's up, Scarne?" Bosch mumbled, his mouth still full of pizza.

"Today is the day Liverpool arrives in Naples, right?"

Bosch nodded.

"Didn't you arrange for people to pick up and welcome Hero?" Karl asked, surprised that Bosch hadn't forgotten the date.

Bosch shook his head and continued to mumble, "Nope."

"Why? Such an important day, and our Blue Giants didn't even go..." Scarne Karl was even more surprised.

Bosch chewed a few more times before swallowing everything in his mouth, then he grinned and said, "I did it on purpose!"

"Huh?"

"I want to give him a big surprise during the game! Besides, who told him to abandon us when he did, without any regrets at all? We have to teach him a lesson. Otherwise, they'll really think we Naples fans have no backbone!" Bosch smiled happily.

He seemed to feel happy just thinking about Chen Hero's disappointed expression at the airport.

Karl saw his expression, suddenly understood, and then punched him playfully, "You rascal!"

These people were loyal fans of Chen Hero, that's right, but first and foremost, they were fans of Naples. The loyalty of Naples fans is very high.

So no matter how much they liked Chen Hero, it was impossible for them to go and like and support Liverpool.

Although they never expressed it, deep down in their hearts, they still felt a little dissatisfied with Chen Hero's decisive departure.

It wasn't that they hoped Chen Hero would stay in Naples, they knew that this passionate city couldn't keep him. They just hoped that Chen Hero would have shown some attachment to this city and this team after leaving Naples.

But he didn't. Chen Hero had never expressed such emotions in public.

It was as if Naples had never appeared in his life.

As a Naples fan, how could they really accept such a thing? Regardless of Chen Hero's considerations, as long as they were still Naples fans, it was normal to give Chen Hero a little trouble on this matter.

So after hearing Bosch's reason, even old Scarne laughed.

They certainly liked Chen Hero, but who didn't have a little temper?

※※※

Chen Hero didn't know that he had been set up. He deduced from the scene at the airport that he might not be too popular when the time came. So he decided to steel himself and prepare for the game.

On the field, they would only talk about the game. There was an entire evening for him to catch up with his old friends after the game.

The only problem now was that before the game started, Chen Hero had to face those overly enthusiastic reporters.

Everyone wanted to hear his thoughts on returning to Naples.

They were also interested in the grievances between him and the Naples fans.

He had to answer these questions, because if he didn't, who knows what the reporters would take it as, and then spread it widely. It might cause some serious consequences. Of course, he wasn't afraid of falling out with the Naples fans again, but he had already said that this was a reunion of old friends, and he didn't want these trivial matters to ruin the atmosphere.

So he still had to make a statement.

As for returning to Naples, Chen Hero's answer was the same as before: "It feels good to be back in Naples. I'm very familiar with this place."

But this was a very formal answer, an answer that was as good as not saying anything.

The reporters refused to give up and wanted him to talk about his relationship with the fans.

Because everyone knew that he had a very unpleasant falling out with the Naples fans when he left Naples.

His relationship with the fans was the most difficult thing for Chen Hero to answer. He couldn't say with a straight face, "I've broken all ties with them," nor could he self-righteously say, "I still have a lot of supporters here."

Thinking about the scene at the airport, he felt that these reporters were very annoying—weren't they just trying to embarrass him!

But he still had to say something, so he had to perfunctorily say, "My relationship with the Naples fans? You've all seen it, haven't you, that's how it is... You want to talk about now? I really don't know, four years ago I was a Naples player, but now I'm not..."

For the first time, he felt that dealing with these reporters was tiring and troublesome.

Perhaps it was because he had grown up, matured, and knew that some things couldn't be said casually, and some emotions couldn't be vented casually.

So he hesitated.

But when he got to the field, he wouldn't hesitate.

He was right about one thing back then, even if he couldn't bear to see Naples' Champions League journey end because of him, he wouldn't hold back during the game.

Only his Liverpool could go all the way to the final and lift the championship trophy.

※※※

In the past few days, there have been a lot of reports on television about the Champions League game, and the local Naples TV stations are almost all reporting on Chen Hero.

As for Liverpool... they are only introduced in passing.

Everyone is most concerned about Chen Hero.

Before him, everyone thought Maradona was the iconic figure of Naples, but since he arrived, many people have changed their minds.

Perhaps it's a bit inappropriate, but the day before the game, Naples owner De Laurentiis did invite Chen Hero to his home as a guest.

And Chen Hero actually went.

Neither side was worried that this approach would make some people suspicious.

After all, it is very dangerous to have such contact before a game. The UEFA Disciplinary Committee definitely has reason to suspect that they are colluding to fix the match. As for the rumors in the market, there will probably be even more at that time.

But De Laurentiis is known in Italian football for being unruly, fearless, and doesn't care what others say, he is used to doing things his own way.

Chen Hero is the same, he has long regarded authority as nothing, afraid of this illusory rumor?

So the two sides had dinner together at De Laurentiis' estate.

This is certainly not to discuss how to collude to fix the match. Liverpool doesn't need Naples to admit defeat in advance, and Naples doesn't think they can get the proud Chen Hero to cooperate with them in fixing the match and deliberately losing to them.

As De Laurentiis said in an interview: "This is just a thank you from a hardcore Naples fan to the greatest player in Naples history. I have to treat him to a meal and say thank you in person, it's that simple."

Indeed, at the dinner, De Laurentiis expressed his gratitude to Chen Hero in person.

But it wasn't just that.

"You said back then that you would bring Naples out of its old dreams, and you did it, Hero. But now there is a new problem..." De Laurentiis said with a smile. "We are caught in a new old dream. Even now, there are still many fans who miss you, Hero."

Chen Hero smiled: "Do people have statues of me in their homes?"

"Uh, no..."

"That's it, old man. Things are getting better little by little."

"But I still want to ask... do you have a chance to wear the Naples jersey again?" De Laurentiis looked at Chen Hero, this was his real purpose.

Since letting Chen Hero go, De Laurentiis has actually regretted it every day.

Especially after seeing the achievements Chen Hero has made at Liverpool, he regrets it even more. If he had withstood the pressure and kept Chen Hero back then, Naples would have become a new powerhouse in Italy long ago.

Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in this world, so he planned to take this opportunity to probe Chen Hero's intentions.

He doesn't believe that Chen Hero has any loyalty to Liverpool.

But there are still some favors involved.

However, he believes that Chen Hero has played for Liverpool for four seasons and won all the championships that he could win for Liverpool, and this favor should have been paid off long ago.

Therefore, he had this idea, to see if Chen Hero would be willing to return to Naples. Isn't he good at challenges? Then returning to Naples and leading Naples to the top, isn't that very challenging?

Chen Hero himself didn't expect that De Laurentiis's real purpose for inviting him to dinner was actually this... poaching!

De Laurentiis really guessed Chen Hero's thoughts.

If it had been before, maybe he would have really considered transferring back to Naples to help Cassano, Hamsik, Ranocchia and these old buddies fight in the Champions League again and return to the peak. It would indeed be a very challenging thing. He always hopes that he can challenge one difficult peak after another, step on these peaks and prove his invincibility to the world. It's something that makes him feel very good.

But he doesn't think so now.

Going back to help old buddies, that's naturally good. But aren't Liverpool's teammates his friends? He can't bring himself to abandon one group of friends for the sake of another group of friends. Being able to consider others is a sign of Chen Hero's maturity.

Secondly, there is also an epic task waiting for him to complete. The difficulty of this task is so high that it cannot be completed with just ability, it also requires time. Because this task must rely on time to accumulate the number of championships—this is not his and Messi's personal grievance, this is the century-old feud between Liverpool and Manchester United, two major English powerhouses. He wants to make Liverpool surpass Manchester United in the number of Premier League titles. Only one champion a year, he has to play for twelve years.

So he can't leave Liverpool.

And by the time he completes the task, I'm afraid Naples won't need him anymore.

So he shook his head and said to De Laurentiis: "I'm sorry, old man. I probably can't wear the Naples jersey again."

After De Laurentiis heard Chen Hero's answer, although he had guessed that there might be such an ending, he still couldn't hide the disappointment on his face, but the old man's demeanor was quite good. After a brief disappointment, he still maintained a smile on his face.

"Too bad, Hero, too bad." He shook his head and said.

※※※

The two finished dinner, and De Laurentiis sent Chen Hero out. There was a special car waiting outside, which would take him back to the hotel directly without delaying his rest.

At the gate of the estate, the driver got out to open the car door for Chen Hero. Chen Hero stood outside the car and said goodbye to De Laurentiis.

De Laurentiis looked at Chen Hero and said, "I have one last question..."

Chen Hero smiled: "Loved."

Then he turned around and got into the car.

The driver closed the door for him, returned to the driver's seat, started the car and drove away from here.

Leaving only De Laurentiis looking at the direction they left, unable to speak for a long time. The night wind blew from the Bay of Naples, blowing the old man's silver hair and dispersing his thoughts.