Chapter 121: Misfortune and Good Fortune

By July 29th, Wu Bufan had nearly finalized his contract with Antwerp. He was scheduled to fly to Belgium that very day and undergo a medical examination two days later; if he passed, he would sign directly to become a member of the Belgian second-tier club.

Long Bisheng felt a sense of desolation as he saw him off. With Wu Bufan leaving, he would be the only one of the seven left in Yunjia. Wu Bufan understood his feelings well, but there was nothing he could do to console him—it was simply not a problem he could solve. Before departing, Wu Bufan just gave Long Bisheng a hug and climbed into the car.

As the car began to pull away, Wu Bufan suddenly poked his head out of the window and shouted at Long Bisheng, "A-Long! Don't lose heart! Don't let your mind wander! Good news will come soon!"

Long Bisheng smiled, waved at the car from afar, and stood there until it vanished over the horizon.

Wu Bufan’s good wishes, however, were not to be. News arrived a day later, but it was not good news.

"Long Bisheng of the U-17s! Phone call for you!"

A club staff member shouted toward the training ground. Long Bisheng, who was in the middle of a scrimmage with his teammates, paused, quickly raised his hand to signal it was him, and ran off the pitch.

"You are Long Bisheng?" The staff member looked at him with a smile. "Third floor of the administration building, in the chairman's office..."

"The chairman's office?" Long Bisheng paused again. He knew the office the staff member referred to was not the one previously used by Pei Wei. After Pei Wei left, that office had remained vacant. The current chairman, Li Qiang, used a different office. It wasn't that Pei Wei had demanded it, but rather that Li Qiang had chosen to do so voluntarily. No one else felt there was anything wrong with this—Yunjia Tianyu had been Pei Wei’s club, it still was, and it always would be.

Long Bisheng walked quickly to the administration building. When he reached Li Qiang’s office, he knocked on the door. The amiable Li Qiang opened it himself and pointed to the phone on the desk. "It’s a call from Italy... it concerns your transfer."

After saying this, Li Qiang gave him a gentle smile and stepped out of the office, closing the door behind him. Clearly, Li Qiang likely already knew the contents of the call and wanted to give him some privacy.

Nervously, Long Bisheng picked up the phone. "Hello? This is Long Bisheng."

Sobbing came through the line immediately. Long Bisheng’s heart tightened; he recognized the voice as Ning Xi’s. "Ning Xi! What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did something happen?"

Between sobs, Ning Xi said, "I’m sorry, A-Long, I’ve botched your transfer..."

Hearing this, Long Bisheng couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. "I thought something terrible had happened! You’re crying over this? What happened to my transfer? Does Napoli not want me anymore?"

Long Bisheng tried to make his voice sound casual, but his heart was far from at ease. He had been looking forward to playing in Italy—incredibly, immensely, and incomparably looking forward to it. Among all the players in China right now, how many were playing in Italy? Counting both past and present, those in Serie A and those in Serie B, you could count them on your fingers.

Ning Xi’s sobbing subsided slightly. "It’s not that they don't want you, but they can’t take you right now... A-Long, honestly, you are just too unlucky."

*Me? Unlucky?* Long Bisheng was confused.

Long Bisheng was indeed a bit unlucky.

Initially, the negotiations between Ning Xi’s group and Napoli had been progressing smoothly. Pesaola had been a scout for Napoli for thirty years; while he didn't hold a high position in the club, his prestige exceeded even that of the club’s chairman. The club naturally valued the players he recommended, and this player was such a bargain—a young player under seventeen might not even cost tens of thousands of euros to sign, yet he could provide a suitable backup for the strikers. It was a deal worth making.

But just as negotiations were going well—and even the terms for buying out half of Long Bisheng’s rights for 50,000 euros over a three-year contract had been drafted—Napoli had to terminate the talks. The reason was simple: they had failed the financial registration process. If they couldn't prove they weren't bankrupt before the registration deadline, they would be stripped of their Serie B eligibility and relegated to Serie C1.

In fact, Napoli had nearly faced relegation due to financial issues the previous season. Had it not been for protective measures from the local court, they would have already been relegated. Now, before the 05-06 season had even begun, their finances had collapsed again, and the problems were even more severe. This time, the local court could no longer protect the city's pride.

"That’s how it is. Napoli is currently pouring all its energy into dealing with this, and they aren't allowed to buy any players until they pass the financial audit... so we had to stop the negotiations," Ning Xi concluded.

"...There’s nothing to be done about that," Long Bisheng said reluctantly. "Xiao Xi, there’s no need to cry. It has nothing to do with you, really. If anyone is to blame, I can only blame my own bad luck."

Ning Xi comforted him a little more before hanging up, promising to return to the country in a few days to see him.

Long Bisheng sighed silently. It had taken a great effort to control his emotions—the blow was indeed significant, and it left one feeling utterly helpless.

He couldn't blame anyone. Neither Ning Xi, nor himself, nor the Yunjia Tianyu club could do anything about it. If anyone was to blame, it was the mismanagement of the Napoli club. But if the club went bankrupt, their losses would be far greater than his.

Long Bisheng stood there blankly until a door opened behind him. Li Qiang walked in, sat down at his desk, and began to fiddle with an exquisite lighter.

Long Bisheng snapped back to reality and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry to bother you, Mr. Chairman... I’ll head out now."

"It’s fine, I don’t mind," Li Qiang said with a gentle smile. "I already know about your situation... You’ve had a bit of bad luck with this. Not every player encounters such things."

Out of politeness, Long Bisheng stopped before leaving and looked at Li Qiang.

Perhaps the chairman was just trying to comfort him—but right now, he didn't want comfort; he just wanted to be alone. However, out of respect, he couldn't just walk away, and the chairman was being kind, after all.

"Life has its ups and downs; there are always times when things don't go as planned." Li Qiang took out a cigar, sniffed it, and a look of nostalgia crossed his face. "Long Bisheng, do you know that twenty years ago, when I first graduated from university, the school didn't provide job placements? I had to find work myself. Jobs weren't easy to find then, and of course, they are even harder to find now. I worked many jobs, but I was unlucky—even unluckier than you."

Li Qiang smiled. "My first job was in accounting at a company. I was fired after a month because I didn't change the description on a receipt for the boss’s visit to a bathhouse before putting it in the books, and his wife found out."

Long Bisheng couldn't help but laugh—an accountant like that deserved to be fired.

"I found a few more jobs, but I was fired from all of them after a short time for one reason or another. I always ran into the most inexplicable bad luck. The last time was working in a restaurant, washing dishes. After a week, I was putting away the clean dishes when some careless person knocked over a bottle of oil. I stepped on it, slipped, and smashed the dishes... I was kicked out without even getting paid."

"For half a year, I went through thirteen jobs, and every single one was lost for some bizarre reason. I wondered if I was just born a loser. Then, I met my benefactor." The smile on Li Qiang’s face grew more pronounced.

"Who was that?" Long Bisheng couldn't help but ask; he was still a child who loved a good story.

"My current boss, Pei Wei," Li Qiang laughed. "After following him, my luck began to turn. From his assistant, I became the manager of Yunjia Tianyu’s European division, and now the chairman... When I was at my unluckiest, I never imagined I would be where I am today."

He looked up at Long Bisheng. "People have times of bad luck, but there are always times when luck turns around. You can’t be lucky forever, and you can’t be unlucky forever. Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and blessing may hide misfortune. Life is just one problem after another; good and bad things take turns. I met my benefactor. What about you? Have you met yours? Have you had more bad luck or good luck? If you have half a glass of water, an optimist says it’s half full; a pessimist says it’s half empty. If I had let my bad luck get me down back then, I don’t think the boss would have kept a useless person like me by his side."

Long Bisheng was silent. Then, he bowed deeply to Li Qiang. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think I am still lucky."