Chapter 1 The News Spreads

That night, the news spread that Liverpool's head coach and captain had not appeared at the team's hotel and were missing.

Television, the internet, radio—these were the fastest media outlets, and they were all reporting on this.

So now it wasn't just the reporters who wanted to know where Chen Hero and the others had gone; it was all of England's football fans who wanted to know where Liverpool's head coach and captain had gone on the eve of the match.

And there were many explanations in the media about this matter.

The most common explanation was that Liverpool thought they had already won the league title, so they were proud and careless.

To the point where even the head coach and the captain had run off to who knows where.

Liverpool fans weren't focused on tomorrow's game, and now that the Liverpool team was like this, was tomorrow's game... really insignificant?

Arsenal fans, after seeing what the media said, had a renewed sense of hope in their hearts—if Liverpool lost to Charlton in tomorrow's game, and Arsenal won against Portsmouth, they could regain the top spot in the league with a one-point lead!

Arsenal winning against Portsmouth at home was almost a certainty.

So, could Liverpool lose to Charlton at home?

If it were in the past, asking this question would have been quite foolish—how could Liverpool lose to Charlton? And it was at home!

But now it was different!

They were so proud and careless to this extent!

Even the head coach and the captain had run off to mess around who knows where!

Did a team like this really have any fighting power left?

At the same time, what happened tonight would surely reach the ears of Charlton players who were also in Liverpool preparing for the game.

So, after knowing this news, what would Charlton's thoughts be?

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"Big news, big news! Liverpool's head coach Steven Gerrard and captain Chen Hero have disappeared on the eve of the match!"

The television was broadcasting this most eye-catching news of the night.

Charlton's head coach, Mike Hill, in his hotel room, was stunned for a moment after seeing this news.

Then he suddenly became excited, grabbed his cell phone, and dialed the assistant coach's number: "Notify the players one by one, call an emergency tactical meeting!!"

With that, he hung up the phone, put on his coat, and rushed out of the room.

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Liverpool fans were surprised and confused by the disappearance of Liverpool's head coach and captain.

At this time, there were many rumors, especially on the internet, with all kinds of news. Some people even said with certainty that they saw Chen Hero and Gerrard entering a nightclub...

Of course, the person who posted this message was cursed bloody. Because everyone knew that Gerrard was a well-known good man, and Chen Hero had also turned over a new leaf since having children and had never been to a nightclub again. How could these two go to a nightclub?

More importantly, Chen Hero leaving the team before the game had happened before, so it wasn't that surprising. But this time, even the head coach disappeared with him. Didn't anyone find it strange?

What could make the head coach disregard team discipline and leave the team privately with a player?

Phil Gibbs and the others, who were busy in the warehouse, received a phone call, and soon the news that Chen Hero and Gerrard had not appeared at the hotel spread.

For a time, everyone was a little unbelievable—the head coach and captain disappeared together before the game, what was going on?

Phil Gibbs frowned when he saw everyone like this.

These were the core of the Red Giants, they were the people who trusted Chen Hero the most...

He suddenly reprimanded, his voice echoed repeatedly in the warehouse, sounding like a thunderclap.

"What are you doing? Continue, continue! We don't have that much time to waste! Have you forgotten who you are? What's the first rule of the Red Giants? Believe in Hero! No matter what happens!"

Everyone hesitated for a moment, then went back to their work.

Phil Gibbs went outside to call Tom Jackson, who was busy contacting various fan organizations, and asked him to use the Red Giants' official account to post messages online to quell the voices of speculation on the internet.

At this time, stabilizing people's hearts was the most important thing.

Although he didn't know why Chen Hero had left the team before the game.

But based on his years of contact and understanding of Chen Hero, he had a near-superstitious admiration for Chen Hero.

He knew that Chen Hero would never let them down, and that he was definitely not being careless or indulgent. There must be a reason for him to leave.

As his fan, it didn't matter if he didn't know what he had done, but he had to help him stabilize people's hearts at this time.

He didn't want his idol to be slandered and hurt by others.

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So many people were concerned about and guessing where Chen Hero and Gerrard had gone.

So where did these two people actually go?

Just as all of England was guessing about this, Chen Hero was in his own yard with his arm around Suarez's shoulders, talking and laughing!

And not far away, Gerrard was also exchanging pleasantries with Sanchez.

Looking around, the scene in Chen Hero's villa's yard was like this everywhere—old friends who hadn't seen each other for many years seemed to have a lot to say, to the point where they couldn't even bother to taste the fragrant, steaming barbecue around them.

The women gathered together to chat, sharing their experiences on how to maintain themselves, how to educate their children, and how to restrain their wild husbands.

The children were running around madly in the large yard, shouting and screaming, and their laughter and screams echoed in every corner of the yard.

No one would have thought that Liverpool's head coach and captain had disappeared before the game to run back to their own home to hold an outdoor barbecue party...

But this wasn't even a gathering of Liverpool's old players, because many of these people had never played a single game for Liverpool in their entire careers! This was actually a big gathering of the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang.

These people had spontaneously organized to come to Liverpool to see off their former friend Chen Hero, to watch Chen Hero's last league game of his career.

When this plan was first made, Chen Hero hadn't planned to retire yet, so he happily invited everyone to come, and he would cover the expenses. Later, he decided not to retire, so he was naturally embarrassed to ask everyone not to come, so in his heart he simply regarded this as a gathering of the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang.

Anyway, many of the players in the current Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang already had their own family affairs and were no longer the young and frivolous people who liked to play around, so they rarely gathered together. Not to mention the gathering of the three major branches of the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang: Zenit St. Petersburg branch, Napoli branch, and Liverpool branch.

Among these people, only Chen Hero had left his footprints in all three branches, and he was the one who connected the players from the three teams.

So if he didn't call them together, it would be impossible to have such a grand gathering.

This time, he really took advantage of this opportunity to simply gather all the old buddies together so everyone could have a good time.

It could also be considered a new activity for the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang.

It was just that as they got older, their families became the focus of their lives. The activities of the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang no longer involved going to nightclubs, and everyone was allowed to bring their families.

And that's how it became a family gathering.

Chen Hero had said that he would book a restaurant, but later, seeing so many people, he simply messed around in his own yard.

Anyway, everyone liked to do it this way.

As for why the time was set for the evening before the last round of the league.

It was simply because many people couldn't arrange their time. Some people would leave the day after watching Liverpool's game against Charlton in the afternoon.

In the end, it could only be done before the game.

Gerrard was worried about having a party at this time, but Chen Hero wasn't worried and eventually convinced Gerrard.

For him, as long as carelessness didn't happen in the game, it was fine. He didn't think that relaxing and entertaining before the game was carelessness. He had done such things before, so he had no psychological burden to do it again this time.

For him, friends getting together wouldn't affect his state, but would instead make him more motivated and energetic, and his state would be even better.

"I thought I would never see Hero retire in my life!" Cassano said, holding a wine glass, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Chen Hero smiled in the laughter, but didn't say what was in his heart.

He thought to himself: Maybe in a few days, you'll have to repeat this sentence!

"Every time I see Stephen at a gathering of the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang, I always feel a sense of disharmony..." Skrtel then turned his attention to Gerrard.

"What's wrong with me?" Gerrard spread his hands.

At this time, he didn't look like the head coach who always wore a stern face in front of Liverpool players, and had no dignity as a head coach at all.

"The media all say that you are a good man, a good father... How could you... You know, when you wanted to join the Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang, I suddenly had a feeling that the captain's image was collapsing..."

A group of people laughed again, especially those players who had played for Liverpool, laughing especially happily.

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The women heard the laughter coming from the men over there, and knew that they were definitely not talking about anything serious.

Someone grumbled, "When a bunch of men get together, nothing good ever comes of it!"

"Hey, didn't you know that? Why else would their group be called the 'Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Gang'?"

"Christine, I heard that you went to nightclubs with Hero? Did he call a girl in front of you?" Someone asked Cabrera, who had been smiling silently next to her.

Cabrera nodded.

The women were immediately amazed: "Aren't you jealous? How can you stand it? Hero is too much!"

Cabrera explained: "At that time, I was just his bodyguard, and I couldn't control his private life."

"Hmph, no man is a good thing!"

"Ha, Babola, your husband Martin is also a man..."

"Cough cough, our family is different..."

The women also gathered together and let out cheerful, silver-bell-like laughter.

※※※

Chen Hero was chatting happily with his former teammates when Chen Yongxiang ran over and shook his hand vigorously: "Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad! Can you help me with something?"

Chen Hero squatted down and hugged him: "What's the matter? If you want to fight monsters, let your Uncle Cassano and Uncle Suarez be the monsters..."

"Hey, Hero! Is that how you educate your son!" Suarez rolled his eyes.

"It's not about fighting monsters! It's about you helping me sign autographs for them!" Chen Yongxiang pointed to the star children who had been gathered by him.

Most of them were fans of Chen Hero because of their fathers.

"I promised them all, so don't let me lose face in front of them!" Chen Yongxiang said this with the air of a big brother, but in reality, he was one of the youngest children in this group.

Chen Hero loved his son the most, so how could he refuse? He just shook his head and was pulled away by his child, running over to do his son a favor.

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"Time flies so fast. In the blink of an eye, we're all in our forties and fifties, and Hero is about to retire... I remember when he joined the team, how old was he! Eighteen! Tsk tsk! A really green teenager..." Denisov was a little drunk.

Looking at his former teammate who was surrounded by children asking for autographs, he suddenly sighed that time was like water and time was like an arrow.

"Hey, did any of you think that he would be so successful?"

He looked back at the people around him.

"I thought so!" Cassano raised his hand. "I have sharp eyes, and I knew at first glance that Hero was someone who would do great things!"

"And then you had a fight with him, Antonio?" Sanchez was tearing down Cassano's platform.

Cassano didn't care about him, but stared at Chen Hero's back and said, "Being Hero's teammate, not his opponent, is the most fucking correct thing I've ever done in my life!"

"Me too."

"Me too."

"Yeah, me too!"

"That's right, that's right, me too! We all are!"

Everyone echoed.

This was really what they were thinking.

How lucky they were to be Chen Hero's teammates, not his opponents. You know, there were countless people who wanted to be Chen Hero's teammates but didn't have the qualifications!

Chen Hero had created a myth in world football, and they were fortunate enough to become a part of this myth.