Chapter 196 Rebuff

If the other party's mysterious behavior was intended to pique Chen Yingxiong's curiosity, they were sorely mistaken. Chen Yingxiong saw that the person hadn't even explained their purpose and was acting coy, unsure of what they wanted to do. He couldn't be bothered to guess why they were looking for him. He had too many things to do every day to waste time playing guessing games with others. It was like those people who called and didn't say who they were or what they wanted, but their first sentence was: "Guess who this is?" When Chen Yingxiong encountered such people, he would directly curse, "You're an idiot, moron, fool, and a complete moron!" and then hang up the phone.

So Chen Yingxiong's reply to Dekura was: "No! They're acting sneaky, afraid to say what's going on, they can't be good people!"

Dekura followed Chen Yingxiong's lead, and since Chen Yingxiong said no, then no it was. He didn't ask why, because asking was meaningless. Would asking change his mind? He didn't think so.

Anyway, he refused the other side through the sponsor.

For Chen Yingxiong and Dekura, the matter was over—or so they thought.

Then Chen Yingxiong boarded a flight with his teammates from Liverpool directly to Guangzhou. Originally, there were no direct flights from Liverpool to Guangzhou, so Liverpool Football Club contacted a private airline through Standard Chartered Bank, who sponsored the event, and chartered a plane. This would at least avoid the fatigue of transferring flights.

***

Meanwhile, in China.

"He refused to meet?"

In a well-decorated room, a middle-aged man was on the phone. A surprised voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, he refused." The middle-aged man nodded, with a hint of disdain on his face.

"This…" The other side seemed a little at a loss, obviously the reaction of the person they were looking for was far beyond their expectations—which made sense, since the Chinese Football Association was willing to take the initiative to contact a player, how dare you refuse? Didn't he want to continue in Chinese football? The other side then asked, "How did you contact him?"

"I told his sponsor through my business partner, and then his sponsor told his agent…"

"So many detours…" There seemed to be some dissatisfaction in the tone.

The middle-aged man on this side became even more disdainful and impatient. "Didn't you tell me to be discreet, to keep a low profile, and not to attract the attention of the media? Of course I could only do it this way. Did you want me to run over and tell him that people from your Football Association wanted to talk to him about the national team?"

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this. So what do we do now?"

The middle-aged man really wanted to shrug and say "too bad," but he was really happy to see Chen Yingxiong play for the country, so he had to hold his nose and give the other party ideas.

"I think… aren't they coming to Guangzhou? Why don't you send someone directly to Guangzhou to find him."

"This… I'm afraid it's not appropriate?"

"What's inappropriate about it?" Hearing the other side's excuse, the middle-aged man was furious, but he restrained his anger and asked.

Perhaps hearing the middle-aged man's resentment, the tone on the other end of the phone quickly became enthusiastic and urgent: "Oh, Lao Wan, you also know our difficulties… This, there is already too much negative hype about us in the media, before this matter is determined, I really don't want the media to know anything, lest they speculate. If we send someone, I'm afraid… those few days there will be media all over Guangzhou! We have a good personal relationship, I trust you, and I'm asking you to help with this in private… Our Football Association is really not in a position to come forward… You go and find out his tone and opinions, and if we can talk, we'll come forward and talk to him…"

After listening, the middle-aged man sighed: "Forget it, I'll help you this time. Who told me that I still haven't given up on Chinese football…"

"Haha, thank you so much, Lao Wan! Next time you come to Beijing, I'll treat you to dinner!"

"Alright, alright." This middle-aged man, known as "Lao Wan," didn't want to say any more meaningless nonsense. He hung up the phone directly.

After hanging up the phone, Wan Zongquan showed a look of disdain on his face.

"They offended someone in the first place, and now they want people to come back, but they can't let go of their airs. They're really setting up a memorial arch for a prostitute! Chinese football, relying on this group of people… I don't know if I'll be able to see any hope before I die!"

After venting the dissatisfaction in his heart, he played with the walnut in his hand and began to think about how to reconnect with Chen Yingxiong…

Although what that person said was unpleasant, it still made a little sense, that is, finding Chen Yingxiong this way was too circuitous… Doing things so sneakily was indeed not aboveboard, so it was no wonder that people didn't want to meet.

Forget it, he had to make a trip himself. Fortunately, Guangzhou was originally his home base, so it shouldn't be difficult to arrange a meeting with Chen Yingxiong, right? He also knew the Chinese person in charge of Liverpool's China tour, so he could ask him to pass a message, invite Chen Yingxiong out for a meal, and then talk about things… As for whether or not they could reach an agreement, he couldn't guarantee it. Everyone knew how terrible Chen Yingxiong's temper was. When he first entered the national team, he was expelled from the team because he beat Zhang Wei, the captain of the national team, during training. Wan Zongquan, as a Guangzhou native, knew who Zhang Wei was, because Zhang Wei was now playing for Guangzhou Evergrande. At that time, Chen Yingxiong was still an unknown rookie in the Chinese national team, but he dared to attack the top player of the national football team. Moreover, after being expelled from the team, most people would swallow their anger and return to the club with their tails between their legs, but Chen Yingxiong didn't. He also held a press conference, at which he not only released the video of the incident, but also bombarded and criticized the national team, Dujkovic, and the Chinese Football Association, making the Chinese Football Association very passive and embarrassed.

His feud with the Football Association was thus formed. At first, many people thought that it was Nan Yong who said, "As long as I'm in office, Chen Yingxiong should never think about entering the national team," so Chen Yingxiong only had a personal grudge with Nan Yong. But no one thought about it, if the Football Association hadn't collectively agreed, how could Nan Yong have said such a thing?

This was not a personal grudge between Chen Yingxiong and one person at all, this was a personal grudge between Chen Yingxiong and the Chinese Football Association.

Why Chen Yingxiong had not been recruited into the national team by the Football Association for a long time. Camacho once publicly said that Chen Yingxiong was a very good player, and he did not understand why he could not enter the national team.

Of course he didn't understand, just like he didn't understand why the Chinese Football Association was still under the administration of the State General Administration of Sports, and why there was both a Football Association and a Football Management Center.

Chen Yingxiong offended not Nan Yong, but the entire system.

For those within the system, Chen Yingxiong was a person who liked to talk nonsense, was eccentric, had terrifying tattoos on his body, and had many negative news stories. He didn't have a shred of traditional Chinese virtues… In their jargon, Chen Yingxiong was a "disobedient person." Since he was disobedient, he was difficult to manage. Since he was difficult to manage, then they didn't want him.

In Chinese sports, there were not many people like Chen Yingxiong, but there were definitely some. For example, Li Na, who played tennis, was an awakened "disobedient person." At first, she criticized the coach for not being good enough and irresponsible, and offended a lot of people within the system. Later, she simply left a note, announced her withdrawal from the national team, and ran away. Then she was ordered to be banned by the Chinese Tennis Association, and Li Na, who had no ball to play, only announced her retirement, and then ran to study. She didn't touch tennis for two whole years. If it wasn't for the fact that the Hubei team had no one at the National Games, and if the Tennis Association hadn't changed a new leader, I'm afraid Li Na wouldn't be holding a racket to play games now.

In this way, Li Na, who returned to the Chinese team, still did not change her temper, which made the Tennis Association feel very headache. Now it's better to fly solo…

So there was nothing to be surprised about Chen Yingxiong's feud with the Football Association. This was bound to happen in this system. The system hoped that Chinese athletes would be obedient children who actively cooperated, obeyed orders, and did whatever the leaders told them to do, without any hesitation, and sacrificed for the team at any time and place, putting the overall situation first. This characteristic was particularly obvious in the gymnastics team, diving team, table tennis team, and badminton team. However, these projects were China's traditional strengths, so it was understandable to do so, because doing so could achieve results. But in non-advantageous projects, China's leaders were originally laymen and incompetent. If they listened to their command, it would only get worse and worse, just like Li Na criticized a coach for being responsible for the training of many tennis players, which made it impossible to have targeted training and not enough responsible attitude. In this way, if they still listened to the leaders, they would only ruin their future. Weaker people may choose to endure, while rebellious and arrogant people choose to break the rules, while competing with the system, while looking for a certain balance…

Li Na has now found a balance. She once benefited from the system, and now flying solo can be regarded as a decision made by the system.

So what about Chen Yingxiong?

***

When Liverpool arrived in Guangzhou, they received a warm and grand welcome at the airport.

Hundreds of Liverpool fans gathered in the airport arrival hall. When they saw the Liverpool team coming out of the VIP channel, they let out excited screams.

Especially when Chen Yingxiong appeared in front of everyone, the cheers from hundreds of people seemed to be able to overturn the ceiling of the airport…

"Hero!!!"

"I love you, Hero!!"

"I'm willing to give you everything I have, Hero!"

"Hero! Whether it's Naples or Liverpool, we will always support you! Wherever you go, we will follow!"

"Sign an autograph, Hero! I came all the way from Henan!"

"Hero—Hero! Look here! Look here!"

"Can I take a photo with you, Hero?" The enthusiastic fans were rushing the human wall defense line formed by the security guards, trying to come up and hug and take photos with Chen Yingxiong. The security guards were struggling to maintain order under the fans' pushing.

"Ah ah ah ah! Hero saw me! He smiled at me! He's so handsome! Ah—" This excited fan had fainted… There was a slight commotion on the scene, but soon this happy fan who fainted was dragged out, and the scene returned to normal. The fans continued to scream and express their love for Chen Yingxiong.

Some lucky people, after getting Chen Yingxiong's signature, were immediately surrounded by other people. Everyone expressed envy, jealousy, and hatred. They also wanted to take a photo with the jersey signed by Chen Yingxiong to make up for their regret.

Chen Yingxiong was the most popular star in the entire team.

Gerrard was injured in the previous training, and he did not come with the team for this trip to China. Suarez was playing in the Copa America on behalf of the Uruguayan national team, and he did not come either. So Chen Yingxiong was the biggest star in the current team and the box office guarantee. If even Chen Yingxiong didn't come, Liverpool's trip to China would be too miserable…

Fortunately, one Chen Yingxiong was worth the influence of Gerrard and Suarez combined. In China, he was the well-deserved no.1 in the sports world.

You must know that not all the people who came to pick up the plane were Liverpool fans. Although there were many people wearing Liverpool red jerseys, you could also see Chinese fans wearing Naples jerseys. They held up Chen Yingxiong's posters and slogans from his time in Naples to express their love for Chen Yingxiong.

After seeing the crazy and enthusiastic atmosphere at the airport, his teammates in Liverpool were also sincerely convinced of Chen Yingxiong's influence in China—this was the hero's home field!

Skrtel gave Chen Yingxiong a thumbs up: "You Chinese are so enthusiastic! Your influence in China is really big!"

Chen Yingxiong laughed.

He was also very proud in his heart. So many fans were coming for him, which gave his vanity a little satisfaction.

***

After the whole team transferred from the airport to the hotel where they were staying, the hotel specially arranged a short lion dance welcome ceremony. Coach Dalglish was the first to get out of the car. He was very interested in this ritual with Lingnan characteristics, and he also touched the lion affectionately with his hand.

The second person to get out of the car was Chen Yingxiong. Chen Yingxiong was also the person who followed Dalglish out of the airport passage before. It was obvious that with Gerrard absent due to injury, Chen Yingxiong was pushed to the forefront by Liverpool. He was now the representative of Liverpool, and he was also the best way to please Chinese fans—everyone hoped that the people they liked would be valued and have a high status.

Seeing Chen Yingxiong, the fans waiting at the hotel caused another commotion, and even the lions were dancing around Chen Yingxiong…

After a lot of trouble, he finally settled down in his room. Before Chen Yingxiong had time to breathe, he received a call from his agent Dekura.

"Are you in the hotel?"

"Yes, I just lay down on the bed," Chen Yingxiong said.

"Well, remember the person I told you about before? That Chinese person who came to the door through the sponsor."

Chen Yingxiong slapped his forehead and remembered: "What's wrong?"

"He's here again, this time he's really here. He's in Guangzhou and wants to meet you."

***