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Chapter 194 Neighbors
As Wang Lie juggled the soccer ball, the impulse within him became increasingly difficult to suppress.

Sure enough, he still wants to play football!
It's not that he can't do physical training, because he usually does physical training, but suddenly being told that he can only do physical training and is not allowed to touch the ball still makes him feel uncomfortable.

Especially now, watching the football fly up and down on the back of his foot, he finally couldn't resist.

After lifting the ball up once again, he swung his right leg back, gathering strength to swing it out.

The ball was then struck solidly by the instep of his right foot at a suitable height!
Bang!
It has to be said that in this quiet luxury residential area, with its spacious yard, that footstep made quite a commotion...

Wang Lie hadn't paid attention to it before, but after his wife reminded him last night, he found that he couldn't ignore the sound anymore.

Fortunately, he shot the ball towards the goal instead of hitting the wall, otherwise there would have been a second, even louder commotion.

After the football flew into the goal, Wang Lie did not immediately go for the next football. Instead, he stood there like a child who had accidentally broken a glass, waiting for the aftershocks of the commotion to completely disappear.

He feared that the next second, his wife would peek out of the house and scold him for disturbing the peace.

After waiting for about ten seconds, I neither saw my wife nor heard her voice.

Wang Lie finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As for the neighbors...

Wang Lie listened intently, but there seemed to be no unusual noises coming from the other side of the wall.

He then ran towards the other soccer ball, ready to continue.

Since his wife had no objections, he certainly wouldn't stop.

Training is more fun when there's a ball involved!
But just as Wang Lie hooked the soccer ball with his foot, he suddenly heard a trembling voice calling out:

"king!!"

He turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound, and saw a guy lying on the wall of his and his neighbor's yard, looking at him with a mixture of surprise and delight.

After he turned his head, the man cheered even louder: "It really is the king! My God! The king lives next door to me! Bruno, look at the nice house you rented!! Haha!"

He was so excited that he even started dancing around.

"Hey, watch out..."

Wang Lie had barely uttered his warning when the man vanished from the wall—he must have fallen…

"...Don't fall..."

But soon Wang Lie saw the man climb over the wall again, his smile as bright as the sun.

“Ha! That’s awesome! King! I’m Ribeiro, Miguel Ribeiro. I just arrived yesterday, I’m your new teammate! And I’m a fan of yours! Oh my god, mamimi…”

He was so excited that he couldn't put one hand down, making all sorts of gestures. Luckily, he had his other hand gripping the top of the wall, otherwise he would have fallen again.

Wang Lie really wanted to tell him: "I know you're Ribeiro, and I know you're my fan. But let me put it another way, this is too dangerous. If you get injured because of this, how am I supposed to explain the cause of your injury to the team doctor...?"

But the other person didn't give him a chance at all; their mouth was as fast as a machine gun, and English with a strong accent rolled out of it.

Even Wang Lie, who had lived in Europe for over twenty years, struggled to keep up with his pace and understand what he meant.

Fortunately, Ribeiro didn't continue expressing the excitement of a fan meeting their idol. Instead, he stared at the football at Wang Lie's feet and said, "Wang, are you doing your morning exercise? The legendary morning exercise?!"

Wang Lie really wanted to complain about what this "legendary" morning exercise was all about.

Morning exercise is fine, but why are there different levels? Is the word "morning exercise" on my phone orange?

But he didn't show his rich inner thoughts; instead, he nodded and said, "Yes, morning exercise."

Ribeiro raised his arms and shouted again, "Fantastic! Fantastic! The King's morning training! Um... King, can I train with you this morning? I promise I won't affect your training results, I promise I'll follow your arrangements and definitely won't cause you any trouble... Is that okay?"

After asking his question excitedly, he suddenly fell silent, staring at Wang Lie with wide, expectant eyes.

To be honest, Wang Lie was not used to the sudden change in this kid from being so noisy to being quiet. It was like a V12 supercar speeding on the track suddenly coming to a stop, completely violating the laws of physics, and it made him feel very uncomfortable.

But he couldn't worry about that now; he'd overheard a key phrase in Ribeiro's rambling:
"Let's do morning exercises together"

What does "sending a pillow when you're sleepy" mean?

Didn't he and his wife worry before that their morning exercise might disturb the neighbors?

Now it's great, not only will it not be noisy, but the neighbors want to join in!

Problem solved perfectly!

So he nodded: "Of course..."

"Yay! I'm going to change my shoes!"

Before Wang Lie could finish speaking, Ribeiro let out a cheer and disappeared from the top of the wall.

This time, however, he didn't fall; he jumped on his own accord...

Wang Lie originally wanted to tell the other party how to get to the main entrance later, but he didn't get a chance to say it.

He shook his head helplessly:

Never mind, I'll talk to him next time I see him.

"what happened?"

Wang Lie turned around and saw his wife leaning out of the window of their child's room on the second floor, asking with concern, "I heard some noise. Did you wake up the neighbors?"

Wang Lie opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words to explain such a surreal thing to his wife.

Finally, he condensed what had just happened into a single sentence: "My neighbor is my fan."

As he said this, he pointed to the wall.

"Huh?" His wife was surprised. "What happened?"

She soon found out what was going on.

Then, a person climbed over the wall that Wang Lie was pointing to—it was Miguel Ribeiro!
As he climbed over the wall, he sat astride it and waved at Wang Lie, shouting, "Wang, I'm here!"

Seeing this, Tang Xingmei upstairs couldn't help but laugh—well, she really didn't need to worry about her husband disturbing the neighbors with his morning exercise. It's just…

“Tell him to use the main entrance next time!” Tang Xingmei shouted at her husband.

Wang Lie gave her an OK sign: "Don't worry, I'll tell him."

Tang Xingmei then shrank back.

Behind her, her son, Wang Ziqi, sat on the bed, rubbing his eyes, and asked groggily, "Mom, who's here?"

"Your dad's teammates are here to train."

"Brother Dean? He's back again?" Wang Ziqi was stunned for a moment, thinking he must be dreaming. If he remembered correctly, wasn't Brother Dean supposed to have gone to Kensington?

“No, he’s a new teammate. He’s also a fan of your dad,” Mom explained.

"Oh……"

Wang Ziqi wasn't surprised. She was used to running into her father's fans wherever she went, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

※※※

“I know you’re agile, but next time please use the main entrance,” Wang Lie said to Ribeiro, who was running towards him, pointing towards the main entrance.

"Huh? Oh! Ha!" Ribeiro, panting heavily, was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized what he meant, and laughed sheepishly.

He realized then, who uses a VPN to access their idol's website? It made him look like one of those toxic solo stans…

After realizing what had happened, he apologized to Wang Lie: "Sorry, Wang, I got too excited... I, uh, I've liked you since I was seventeen, and I never thought I'd actually be able to play football next to you one day! You know what? When I saw you playing football on the terrace, I was so excited, and then I tried to use your breathing method to lower my heart rate and calm myself down... but I failed! I was still so excited! Uh, but this method really works in normal times. I do it before every penalty kick, so my penalty kick success rate is very high!"

Seemingly afraid that Wang Lie would misunderstand that his breathing method was ineffective, Ribeiro quickly added an explanation.

Wang Lie knew that Ribeiro was his fan, after all, the media and the internet had said so many times before Ribeiro joined the team.

He even went into great detail about how he joined Tyne, and the rumors and the truth were not far apart.

At first, Wang Lie didn't care much.

He's met quite a few player fans over his 21-year professional career.

For example, Stanley Harris, Vitini whom he met after arriving in Tyne, and that hidden fan, Sonny Dean.

They each have their own unique characteristics, and apart from having their own fans, they have nothing in common.

There are also some players he hasn't met, but he knows through the media or the internet that some of them are also his fans.

But this was the first time he had ever seen a player's fan as excited as Ribeiro...

And he's very talkative.

I don't know if it's because it's our first meeting that he's so excited... Wang Lie hopes it is him, otherwise how can we have a normal conversation?
Wang Lie then raised his hands and made a calming gesture to Ribeiro: "Okay, okay, I'm glad that breathing technique helped you. From now on, we're both teammates and neighbors, which is great. I come out for morning training almost every day, so if you don't mind, you can train with me."

“I don’t mind! I’m willing! I’m very willing! Shall we begin, Your Majesty?”

For some reason, Wang Lie imagined Ribeiro, who was staring at him expectantly, as a husky...

※※※

"The team is welcoming a new teammate today, Vitini, are you ready?"

While sitting in Vitini's car, Anderson Nova suddenly said this.

Vitini asked curiously, "Prepare what?"

"Your competitor!"

Vitini turned to look at Nova: "Are you still asleep, Anderson? I'm on the left, Ribeiro is on the right, how are we supposed to compete?"

Nova chuckled: "You're probably the one who's still half asleep, Vitini. Miguel Ribeiro is a huge fan of the King! And a really die-hard one at that. Isn't he your rival?"

Vitini suddenly realized, then snorted, "What did we have here... this?"

Now it was Nova's turn to be a little surprised: "Isn't that enough? Lately, everyone online has been talking about how Ribeiro voluntarily transferred from Milan to Tyne to follow his idol. Some people even call Ribeiro 'Tyne's number one fan,' the number one, the number one!"

Nova pointed at Vitini and repeated "number one" twice.

Because Tyne's number one fan should clearly be Vitini, whom he was pointing to. Vitini remained unmoved and said disdainfully, "You should read less of those marketing accounts. They'll make up anything to attract attention."

"But he'd rather give up his contract and starting position in Milan than not come to Tyne to follow the king. Surely that's not just something made up by marketing accounts? Isn't he more loyal and a true fan than you? Milan is a powerhouse in Serie A, Vitini!"

Vitini turned and gave Nova a meaningful smile.

Nova didn't understand: "What?"

Vitini pointed at himself: "Anderson, have you forgotten? Last season, in order to be able to fight alongside Wang, I turned down an offer from FC Madrid. So what if they're Italian giants? I turned down the 'giants among giants'."

He spoke these words casually, as if rejecting FC Madrid was a very ordinary thing.

Nova stared wide-eyed, mouth agape in disbelief, then conceded defeat: "Fine, you win, Vitini, you win... Damn, I'd completely forgotten about that!"

Vitini laughed heartily when he saw his friend get the short end of the stick.

Anderson, that bastard, actually thinks he'll end up like he did with Dean last season, but he's forgotten that I'm now Tyne's "master"!
I will hold myself to the standards of a "sense of ownership".

Ribeiro joined the team later, and as his senior to Tyne, I naturally have to take care of the newcomer more. How could I be as naive as I was with Dean before?

Besides, Ribeiro and I have no prior grudges, so why would I target him?
※※※

When Vitini and Novak arrived at the players' parking lot at Northumberland Soccer City, there were already quite a few cars parked there.

This also includes Wang Lie's Chinese brand new energy SUV.

The number of cars parked in the parking lot shows that quite a few teammates have come.

Since the "extra training group" had no activities today, they didn't have to arrive earlier than their teammates like Wang Lie.

To Nova, this was just an ordinary scene.

But Vitini was inwardly filled with emotion.

He's not like Sonny Dean, who likes to arrive at training at the exact time. If he wants to practice with Wang, he'll even arrive at the training base around the same time as Wang.

These days, many of his teammates arrive at this parking lot earlier than he would normally.

It's the same preseason training phase, but last season everyone wasn't this enthusiastic...

Not to mention others, even he is completely different from last year.

He was determined to leave Tyne, and his father, who was also his agent, flew around Europe that summer trying to find him a new agency.

All his attempts failed, leaving him feeling lost and unsure of what the future held for him in Tyne...

As for his teammates, they used to train like they were just clocking in for work, and they weren't nearly as enthusiastic as they are now.

So much has changed!
He, everyone, and this team, this club.

And all of this is thanks to Wang Lie!
Adding icing on the cake is easy, and it's even easier to succeed in a strong, elite team.

But how many people can turn the rotten into the miraculous like Wang?

He is still very young, and he hopes that in the future he can also have the power to turn the rotten into the magical, just like the king.

※※※

When Vitini and Nova entered the locker room, Wang Lie was introducing the new players one by one.

When it was their turn, Wang Lie said:

“Miguel Ribeiro, transferred from Milan. He mainly plays on the right wing.”

Ribeiro extended his hand to his two new teammates, saying, "Hello, I play right winger. It's nice to meet you both!"

“Vitini, you can just call me Vitini.” Vitini shook hands with him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too. Welcome to Tyne. I hope you can adapt to life here quickly.”

Ribeiro smiled and said, "I slept very well last night, as if I had been here for a long time!"

Vitini said, "That's good, we have a lot of work to do this season..."

Ribeiro appeared confident: "I know, that's why I came!"

He then reached out his hand to Anderson Nova, who was standing next to Vitini.

Nova introduced himself: "Anderson Nova, I'm a new transfer like you. I'm a left-back."

Then, just as he was about to let go of Ribeiro's hand, his gaze was drawn to the tattoo on his wrist.

Having tattoos isn't anything to be surprised about; who among them doesn't have some tattoos?

Oh, the king didn't...

Okay, Wang is Chinese.

The king is different from us!
Nova was interested in Ribeiro's tattoo because he found its content rather strange—it was a set of numbers:
6, 3, 9:0
So he pointed to the tattoo and asked:

"What does this tattoo mean? Is it your lucky number?"

His gesture drew the attention of Wang Lie and Vitini, who were standing nearby.

Neither of them had noticed the tattoo before; Vitini had only just met Ribeiro.

Although Wang Lie had trained with Ribeiro in the morning, he didn't focus on the tattoo either—he wouldn't put too much energy into things unrelated to training.

Ribeiro raised his wrist, looked at the tattoo on his arm, and laughed: "Ha! You could call it a lucky number, but actually, it's the score..."

He pointed to the "9:0" sign and said.

Before Nova could react, Vitini suddenly realized: "Oh, that's the score of our 9-0 victory over Sofia last season!"

Hearing him say that, the Tyne players in the locker room were all drawn over. They surrounded Ribeiro to look at his tattoos, and then they all exclaimed in amazement:
"It really is true!"

Ribeiro was delighted that his clever touch on the tattoo had been noticed: "That's right! I decided to get that score tattooed on my arm after that match!"

Since his tattoo is related to Tyne's 9-0 victory over Sofia United, the meaning of the remaining "6" and "3" is already clear to everyone, so he doesn't need to explain them:
6. Wang Lie scored six goals in that match.

3 refers to Wang Lie's three assists.

"You tattooed the score on your body?!" Wang Lie was surprised even after realizing the truth.

Just when he thought Ribeiro was fanatical enough, this fan would still manage to surprise him once again…

Ribeiro looked at him with an expression of adoration and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, after watching this match, I decided to tattoo the score and your stats on my body. To me, it's nothing short of a miracle! So when you said you were going to accomplish something great in Tyne, I immediately believed you, because I knew you could do it. This match is proof, it's guidance from God!"

Upon hearing Ribeiro's words, Nova turned to look at Vitini and said with his eyes: Look at him!

Vitini curled her lip indifferently.

After all, he was a participant in that match. Despite Ribeiro's eloquent words, the only way he could express his admiration for Wang Lie was by tattooing the score on his body.

He himself participated directly in the match and even scored two goals with assists from Wang Lie.

The difference in quality is immediately apparent, isn't it?

Wang Lie was still a little unaccustomed to Ribeiro's excessive enthusiasm, so he waved his hand and said, "'Miracle' is an exaggeration..."

Ribeiro, however, insisted on his claim and presented new evidence: "Of course it's a miracle! Otherwise, why did I sleep so well on my first night in Newcastle? It was as if I had completely adapted to this place! Besides... besides, isn't being your neighbor a divine arrangement?!"

"Just a coincidence..."

“Wait…” Vitini keenly caught the key words and interrupted the increasingly cheesy conversation between the two.

He asked Ribeiro, "Are you neighbors with the King?"

Ribeiro nodded and said, "Yes! When I woke up this morning, I saw Wang doing his morning exercise in his backyard! My God, I couldn't believe my eyes, so I climbed over the wall to confirm. Wang even promised to let me do my morning exercise with him. I excitedly climbed over the wall, and Wang told me that next time I can use the front gate... Hahaha!"

Vitini didn't listen to anything Ribeiro said afterward, because he already had the answer.

Now that Ribeiro and Wang Lie are neighbors, it means that Dean's new teammate has rented the house...

I heard that after Dean went to London, Vitini asked Dean if he would be willing to sell to him.

He knew that Dean and Wang Lie were neighbors. Since Dean was no longer on the team, the house was now empty, which presented an opportunity for him.
But Dean refused, saying he wouldn't sell the house.

Vitini had no choice but to settle for second best and ask if he would be willing to rent it to him.

If buying isn't an option, renting is always an option, right?

Dean then said he wouldn't rent it out either.

I won't sell or rent it; I'd rather leave it empty.

Vitini, thoroughly humiliated, was furious – "Isn't this a terrible waste?!"
He assumed Dean didn't want anyone else living in his house, so he preferred to leave it empty.

So he had no choice but to accept the outcome.

Who would have thought that this house would now be rented by the team's new signing, Ribeiro!

So it's not that I don't want others to live in my house, nor is it that I don't sell or rent... I can rent to anyone, but I can't rent to myself!

Vitini broke down:

Damn Dean!
Just wait for me!

Next time we meet, you'll see if I don't beat you to a pulp!

※※※

"Ah!"

Sonny Dean sneezed in front of head coach Danilo Lindsay.

This caught Lindsay's attention: "Have you caught a cold?"

Dean rubbed his nose and shook his head in denial: "No, boss. I just suddenly felt like sneezing..."

Lindsay observed carefully for a moment, then nodded and said, "Take care of your health. As the core of this team, you can't afford to have any problems."

"Don't worry, boss. I won't let you down! My goal is to help Kensington get back into the Champions League!"

(End of this chapter)