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Chapter 191 The Scenery at the Estuary
"Tayn is not a 'mercenary,' nor a 'retirement home' or 'sanatorium'... You've already won every honor you could in Madrid; your career is near perfect. But I still want to ask: Renzo, are you feeling any resentment?"

"Stop, right here!"

Mark Medley gestured to Matthews Helm, who was operating the editing software, to freeze the frame.

"Rewind a few frames."

Under his direction, Helm operated the software to rewind the screen.

"Go back a few frames."

"Back off."

"Go forward."

After repeating this several times, Medley pointed to a close-up of Renzo Pisano's eyes in the image and said to Helm, "What do you see?"

Did Pisano's eyes flash for a second?

"Yes. There was a glint in his eyes when Wang asked the question."

Helm turned to the Spanish translator standing behind him and asked, "What did the King ask?"

The translator said, "He asked Pisano if he felt even the slightest bit resentful."

Upon hearing this result, Matthew Helm asked, "But Mark, is it possible that the light was simply because Pisano tilted his head slightly, causing his eyes to reflect ambient light?"

“From a physical standpoint, it’s obviously because he looked up. But what made Pisano do that subconscious thing?” Mark Medley asked his partner.

Helm stroked his chin. "Interesting. So you mean the king's words struck a chord with Pisano?"

“I don’t know if Wang was right about Pisano, but his reaction really caught my attention at the time. You know, that light in the camera’s monitor window was quite obvious… That’s why I asked you to find that footage after we got back. We can keep this footage and see how he performs in the team. Maybe it will become a classic scene in this documentary?”

His partner and collaborator agreed: "Indeed, we should keep it for now, no matter what. We just need to edit the normal footage of Wang and Pisano meeting into a short video and give it to Tyne to release. We won't release this part to the public yet."

After the work assignments were given out, Helm got up from the computer where he was editing and gave his workstation to the original editor.

He then said to Medley, "You're very observant, Mark!"

Mark Medley said, "I was just curious about that flash at the time. Then I realized that Pisano didn't initially want to leave FC Madrid; he always wanted to renew his contract. But after the injury, FC Madrid clearly became much colder towards him. When Pisano finally left, some Madrid media even mocked that Tain could only pick up discarded players that big clubs didn't want... At first glance, it seems like they were showing disdain for Tain, but in reality, they were also belittling Pisano."

"A former top-three midfielder in the world chose to go to a nouveau riche team to make money simply because his club didn't meet his contract renewal conditions... Perhaps the Madrid media and some Madrid FC fans think that Pisano 'degraded himself'. This made me wonder—has Pisano really let go of the fact that he left Madrid FC?"

"It seems that Pisano hasn't let go yet," Helm said.

Medley nodded. "Yes."

Helm suddenly laughed: "That's really interesting. When Wang chose to come to Tyne, he was also full of resentment. In order to prove to those who mocked him and didn't believe in him that he wasn't old yet, he eventually led Tyne to qualify for the Champions League. So now another Pisano has come, also full of resentment. What kind of results will Tyne achieve this season?"

Medley pointed to the red dot projector placed to the side: "Then let's use this machine to witness and record it properly."

※※※

"Honey, how was your first day of training with the new team?"

After finally getting both children to sleep, the couple returned to their bedroom, where they finally had a chance to enjoy some time alone together.

His wife asked the question that she cared about most.

There have been some criticisms about her husband, but she knows very well that her whole family isn't really here in Newcastle to retire—who would retire in such a run-down place...

She knew her husband's ambition, so her performance on the team was very important.

She was concerned about whether her husband could get along well with his teammates and whether he could meet the head coach's requirements during training...

"The training is going normally. Right now, the focus is on physical recovery training, and the intensity is quite high..." Pisano didn't try to gloss over the situation but told the truth.

"Can you keep up?" The wife became nervous when her husband said that the intensity was "quite high."

After all, her husband had suffered a serious injury in the latter half of last year that kept him out of action for four months...

Pisano knew what she was nervous about, so he put his arm around his wife's shoulder and gently squeezed it: "Don't worry, I can handle it. It's the King... who's more terrifying than I imagined."

"Terrible? Ah..."

His wife immediately connected this to the descriptions of Wang Lie in the media and online, and became nervous again:

"Did he make things difficult for you?"

Pisano paused for a moment, then realized his wife must have misunderstood, and laughed, "No, it's not what you think."

Then he asked his wife, "I don't recall ever expressing any dissatisfaction with FC Madrid publicly, have I?"

His wife nodded in affirmation: "Yes. Whether it was when you renewed your contract or when you actually left, you never publicly criticized the club. Even when the media criticized you, you never responded."

Pisano nodded: "But the king saw the resentment in my heart the first time we met."

"Oh, this..." His wife was also surprised.

“I don’t know how he did it, but honestly, when he asked me if I was still resentful, I felt my hair stand on end. If there hadn’t been cameras right next to me, I probably would have lost my composure on the spot…” Pisano remarked.

The wife was even more shocked because she knew her husband's personality; he rarely showed his emotions so openly.

"It seems that Wang really had a big impact on you..." she said with emotion.

“Yeah, it’s so exciting on my first day with the new team, it makes me even more excited for the new season,” Pisano laughed.

"And it's not just Wang. From my observation, many players in Tyne's squad have a very strong upward momentum. They are full of confidence and hope for the future, and they can't wait for the new season... From Argentina to Italy, and then to Madrid, I've played for several teams, but before Tyne, I really had never felt that kind of uplifting atmosphere in the locker rooms of these teams..."

As he spoke, his eyes became unfocused, as if he were lost in memories of the past.

Seeing his expression, his wife finally felt relieved: "It seems you're quite satisfied with this new team."

Pisano snapped out of his reverie and looked at his wife, who was smiling, genuinely happy for him.

So, with a hint of apology, he said, "The team is indeed very satisfied, but the weather and food here are really..."

His wife smiled and shook her head: "Try to adapt. Look at Ma Jie and his family, they've gotten used to it too, haven't they? They even drive to the beach for their holidays. The beaches in England..."

The wife made herself laugh as she spoke.

Pisano laughed too.

Although both are beaches, the beaches in England and Spain are completely different things.

“I really would like to see where the Tyne River flows into the sea,” Pisano said after laughing.

"Why? Is there any special scenery there?"

"I have no idea……"

Pisano shook his head and said:

“I just remembered what Wang once said: ‘Tyne will definitely participate in the Champions League, just like the Tyne River will eventually flow into the sea.’ When I heard them relaying those words in the dressing room in Madrid, I got goosebumps. Now that I’m in Newcastle, maybe I should go and see where the Tyne River flows into the sea. See what the scenery is like there…”

※※※

In a small pub in Manchester, Danilo Lindsay had been staring at his phone screen in deep thought for a while.

Glenn Lowe, sitting across from him, finally couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking at? The contract Kensington gave you?" Lindsay then snapped out of his reverie and shook his head: "No, just a photo."

As he spoke, he turned his phone screen around to show Love.

It was a landscape photo.

The foreground is a beach that is mostly submerged by water, with some houses in the middle of black reefs and high ground, but it is not clear what they are because they are all black silhouettes.

Further on, a dike extends from behind the high ground into the sea, and at the end of the dike stands a small lighthouse.

At the edge of the sea was a bluish sky, very similar in color to the sea, almost merging into one—if not for a streak of orange dividing it in the middle.

Within that deepest shade of orange, there was a bright area, as if something was about to burst forth from it.

(Image source: see watermark)

The entire photo is dominated by cool tones, so when people look at it, they are easily drawn to the bright spot.

Lowe did the same; he first looked at that area, then at the darker part of the scene.

Finally, he frowned, squinted, and stared intently at the dark shape, as if trying to see something different inside, to see what was so profound that Lindsay had been staring at it for so long.

But he found nothing.

What he saw was just a simple, ordinary landscape photograph. At first glance, it didn't attract any attention; at second glance, there was no particularly ingenious composition; and at third glance, he didn't feel that there was any hidden meaning in the picture...

So he gave up looking for the answer in the photo and instead looked up at Lindsay across from him and asked, "What is this?"

“A photo of the sunrise over Beihai,” Lindsay replied.

"Is there anything special? You've been staring at this for so long... I thought you were looking at Kensington's contract." Lowe scoffed. "I'm telling you, dear Danilo, it's been over a month since we left Soforth. If you want to rest a bit longer, that's perfectly fine, but you have to tell me your plans so I can plan mine. A few lower-league teams have contacted me..."

Lindsay seemed oblivious to the complaints of his former interim coach at Sofia United, and instead pointed to the photo, asking him, "Do you know where this is, Glenn?"

Lowe was speechless: "I don't know, and I don't care. Who cares where it is? I only care where we're going to work next..."

North Shields.

"Huh?" Lowe's emotions were interrupted by Lindsay's sudden, out-of-the-box words.

Lindsay pointed to the photo on his phone screen and explained, “I mean, this photo was taken in North Shields. North Shields, Tynemouth, Newcastle. That’s where the River Tyne flows into the sea.”

Before Lindsay could finish his last sentence, Lowe wanted to tease him: "Did a team in North Shields invite you to coach them?"
However, after hearing the last sentence, he wisely refrained from uttering the sarcastic remark, otherwise it would have been Lindsay's turn to mock him.

Before last season, the mouth of the Tyne River was just an ordinary geographical concept.

But because of Wang Lie's words, "the mouth of the Tyne River" suddenly seemed to have a special meaning.

It is clear that Lindsay is not referring to an ordinary geographical term; he wants to express the meaning hidden behind it.

After thinking it through, Lowe suddenly realized: "I understand, you're planning to reject Kensington's coaching offer."

This time it was Lindsay's turn to be surprised: "Why would you think that?"

“You’ve been staring at this photo for so long, you must be upset about not being able to lead Sofia to Champions League qualification. And Kensington doesn’t even qualify for the Europa League, let alone the Champions League, so there’s even less chance you’d go to Kensington!” Glen Lowe stated his reasoning with complete confidence.

Lindsay looked exasperated: "That's a good deduction, but don't guess randomly next time. Actually, the photo I was looking at is Sonny Dean's Instagram cover..."

"Sonny Dean? That former Tyne, now a Kensington player?"

“Yes,” Lindsay said. “I’ve been thinking about what he meant by using this photo as his Instagram cover…”

"Do you regret not staying in Tyne? Would they still be able to play in the Champions League then?"

"No. I think it shows his ambition—he wants to help Kensington qualify for the Champions League. Just as the Tyne eventually flows into the sea, won't the Thames also flow into the sea?"

How can you be sure that's really what you think?

"I'm not sure. So I decided to go and verify my idea myself."

At this point, Lindsay finally grinned at the bewildered Lowe:

“I’ve decided to accept the Kensington coaching contract, Glenn. Would you still be willing to come to London to help me?”

Glenn Lowe paused for a moment before realizing what Lindsay was talking about.

Then he grabbed Lindsay's clothes with both hands, gritted his teeth and growled, "Can't you stop going through all this trouble when a single sentence could have been explained clearly?"

Lindsay laughed heartily: "Sorry, Glenn, sorry. But to be honest, it was Dean's Instagram cover photo that made the final decision for me, haha!"

"why?"

Lindsay continued, "Kensington is a London powerhouse, and powerhouse teams have very high expectations for results. If I accept the offer, then returning to the Champions League will definitely be my mission. But I just failed against a powerhouse like Sofia, so I'm a bit unsure of myself. I don't know if I can accomplish this task..."

Lowe encouraged him: "The failure at Soforth was not your fault, nor does it truly reflect your ability, Danilo. On the contrary, after the team suffered a humiliating defeat, you took over and immediately stabilized the team's morale and improved their performance, which is enough to demonstrate your ability. I think Kensington and the others saw this, which is why they decided to invite you to coach the team."

“But no matter what, failing to qualify for the Champions League is a failure for me as a head coach…” Lindsay shook his head and said, “It was Dean’s Instagram cover that gave me confidence. I think if I were to coach Kensington, Dean would be a strong supporter of us. So I decided to make Dean the new core of this Kensington team.”

“But Dean’s reputation isn’t very good…” Lowe reminded Lindsay to be mindful of Sonny Dean’s past.

“I know. But that was before the King went to Tyne. Now he has the King’s approval—remember the last round against Kensington, when he was substituted early and the King gave him a thumbs up?”

When Lindsay said that, Lowe remembered that he had indeed seen that scene in the post-match highlights of that round.

Why is that scene so memorable? Because it was a key focus of media reports at the time, shown once at normal speed and then replayed twice in slow motion.

Why would the media do that?

When Wang Lie first transferred to Tyne, there were rumors that he and Dean had a heated argument, which many media outlets took as evidence that Wang Lie was a troublesome person who caused trouble wherever he went.

During the final game of the season, Wang Lie gave Dean a thumbs-up, which was naturally seen as a symbol that the two had put aside their past grievances and made peace with each other.

The media coverage was extensive, and Lowe was naturally deeply impressed.

So Lindsay wasn't talking nonsense; Dean did indeed gain Wang Lie's approval.

Seeing Lowe's thoughtful expression, Lindsay laughed and said, "You may not trust my judgment, but can you not trust the King? How many people can gain his approval?"

Lowe fell silent.

Then he was convinced: "You're right, Danilo, it's worth a try!"

Lindsay pressed further, "Which one are you referring to? Is it the one who will coach Kensington with me, or the one who will be the core player?"

"Damn it...both! Both are worth a try!"

Seeing Lowe's exasperated expression, Lindsay burst into laughter, drawing stares from the others in the tavern.

※※※

PS, North Shields and South Shields face each other across the river, which is where the River Tyne flows into the sea.

This photo is actually a screenshot I took from a video of the sunrise over the North Sea in North Shields on Bilibili.

Source can be found in the watermark at the top left corner of the image.

(End of this chapter)