The path to becoming a football legend began with being ousted from Carrington by Manchester United.

At 5 p.m., Lin Yi finished his day's training.

Etihad Airways staff had already set up the equipment and were waiting to take a set of promotional photos of Lin Yi.

Makeup, styling, changing clothes, and shooting—it all took about an hour and a half to get everything done, even if we were rushing.

Emma Watson has already booked a table at the most famous Chinese restaurant in Manchester, The Garden, where the couple will host a banquet for the filming crew who have traveled from afar, in accordance with Chinese tradition.

Balotelli volunteered to accompany Aguero as a guest, and the level of hospitality he received was truly exceptional.

Thanks to the warm hospitality of Lin Yi and Emma, ​​the dinner was a joy for all the guests.

The only one who was somewhat annoyed was Balotelli, as using chopsticks was too complicated for him.

Everyone else had almost finished eating, but Balotelli was still starving. He had no choice but to use chopsticks in each hand, just like he was using a knife and fork, to pick up the food in front of him and slowly and unsteadily put it into his mouth.

Just as everyone's attention was completely drawn to the acrobatic performance, Liu Jianhong whispered to Lin Yi, "Lin, there's something I think I need to remind you of."

"What's wrong, Brother Liu? Tell me."

"You can be called a shining example of Chinese football, a figure who brings honor to the motherland. We have wanted to report on you for a long time. But why has it been delayed until now? Because other organizations have intervened and asked us not to publicize you extensively."

Lin Yi nodded thoughtfully: "Go on."

"You left early, so there are some things in this industry you haven't seen, which is actually a good thing, as it won't corrupt you. I can't go into specifics. I can only warn you that, based on my understanding of them, getting into a national team might be more difficult than you imagine. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you're willing to spend some money and lower your head, I reckon it's unlikely."

A burst of enthusiastic applause interrupted their conversation, and Balotelli finally broke his half-hour-long food drought, successfully eating a piece of the legendary sweet and sour chicken ball.

Lin Yi did not respond to the topic, but the disdain on his face still revealed his true thoughts.

Having spent many years in the workplace, Liu Jianhong, who is good at reading people, has realized that it is probably unlikely that she will see Lin Yi lead the national team out of Asia and into the world.

When the main course and soup were served, Balotelli breathed a sigh of relief, finally seeing his familiar tableware.

Balotelli, who had snatched the soup spoon, was overjoyed and began to devour the soup, finally managing to avoid going to the nightclub on an empty stomach to pick up girls.

Once Balotelli had finished eating, dinner officially came to an end.

The remaining filming plan has only one item left: to record some footage of Lin Yi's match day.

With the help of Manchester City Football Club, the CCTV filming team obtained official certification 48 hours in advance and was allowed to enter the media box of Wigan Athletic's home stadium, DW Stadium, to film.

Of course, due to copyright reasons, they cannot film the actual match footage, but can only film some scenes of players entering the field, warming up, and the fans and stadium environment, which they will then edit into their film.

Ultimately, thanks to Lin Yi's goal, Manchester City secured a narrow 1-0 away victory against Wigan Athletic, achieving their second consecutive league win.

Manchester City caught up with Tottenham on points thanks to Tottenham's home draw against Wolves.

Currently, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur are all tied with 48 points, but Manchester City has returned to the top of the league table thanks to their superior goal difference.

The fact that they couldn't capture the moment when Lin Yi scored a goal that helped the team win left everyone on the filming team feeling very disappointed. Liu Jianhong, feeling frustrated, could only tell Lin Yi about it before leaving.

"We'll only be able to see your dashing figure on camera again when the Champions League knockout stage begins."

Lin Yi joked with a laugh, "Our opponent was Barcelona! What if everyone sees me getting thrashed by the defending champions? Won't they criticize me?"

"Xiao Lin, you're overthinking it. The number of trolls in our area is definitely the highest in the world. People like Yao Ming, who retired last year, Liu Xiang, who withdrew from the Olympics, and Ding Junhui were all heavily criticized. So no matter if you win or lose, whether you perform well or poorly, you can't escape being criticized. Just get used to it."

Lin nodded and said, "Indeed, I saw Yao Ming being criticized online before, with people saying he has no honors and isn't worth praising. I always thought he was the pride of Chinese people all over the world."

"Of course he is! And so are you! Don't care what the haters say. The national football team lost to Iraq recently, losing their chance to advance to the final round of 10 with a round to spare. You are now the hope of the whole village, so keep up the good work! For the fans who love you!"

As the Boeing 777 took off, the three-day filming officially came to an end. For Lin Yi, this was just a small episode in his life.

For the vast majority of fans in China, the footage that Liu Jianhong brought back was the only spiritual nourishment they could find in the long, dark nights and cold winter.

On the way back to Manchester from London, Emma Watson asked her boyfriend, "What were you two talking about?"

"Let's discuss whether I'll get criticized."

"Really?"

"Probably so, if I don't perform well enough."

Emma comforted Lin Yi: "Don't worry, I have many fans in China, and they will definitely support you!"

Lin Yi gripped the steering wheel and said casually, "Little girl, you're overthinking it. In a football wasteland like America, I can't compare to your number of fans. In England, apart from Manchester, you probably have more fans in other places as well. But in China, the combined fans of the Harry Potter trio probably don't even amount to a fraction of mine."

"Why should I?" Emma retorted, knowing that Harry Potter was a world-renowned IP, and Hermione was always surrounded by fans wherever she went.

"I saw a statistic before that said China has hundreds of millions of football fans. What makes you think you can compare to me?"

Emma Watson clearly didn't believe it: "You guys are pretty good at women's soccer, but almost nobody's heard of men's soccer. How could so many people like soccer?"

"Hundreds of millions of poor fans," Lin Yi added.

Back at his home in Manchester, Lin Yi cleared his mind of all these chaotic thoughts, because he needed to focus entirely on preparing for the next round of the league.

In the upcoming 22nd round of the Premier League, Manchester City will face Tottenham Hotspur, who are tied on points with them.

Since being thrashed 5-1 by Manchester City at White Hart Lane in the third round, Tottenham seem to have unlocked their full potential.

Relying on their young guard, Tottenham went unbeaten for twelve consecutive rounds from the fourth to the fifteenth, achieving an impressive record of 10 wins and 2 draws.

Among the opponents they defeated were top teams like Chelsea and Arsenal.

In this round, Manchester United will face Arsenal away from home. If Manchester City can seize the opportunity to defeat Tottenham, they may very well leave both opponents behind and take the top spot in the standings.

This match is of particular importance for Manchester City, who are determined to win the title.