Chapter Thirty-Six: Hearts in Accord

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Mom opened the door and walked into the kitchen carrying a paper bag filled with vegetables, fruit, beef, and other groceries, only to discover her son frying fish there.

When she first realized someone was in her kitchen, she was so startled that she nearly dropped the shopping bag in her arms. She had thought an intruder had broken in to steal something and that she had caught him in the act.

At a time like that, her concern would not have been the safety of her property, but her own life.

Fortunately, she soon recognized the figure’s back. It was her son, Sonny Dean.

But once she recognized him, she asked in surprise, “Sonny? What are you doing here?”

Still concentrating on frying the fish, Dean replied without turning around, “This time I brought a key.”

“I’m not asking how you got in. I’m asking why you’re here again. What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time? Have you come here to hide?”

“No. Isn’t it enough that I missed you?” Dean said as he transferred the finished fish steaks onto two plates he had prepared earlier. Besides the fish, each plate held mashed potatoes, broccoli, and scrambled eggs.

He took the shopping bag from his mother’s arms and set it aside, then handed her one of the plates.

“Dinner.”

“You eat. I’ve already eaten…” His mother did not take it.

“Drinking snacks at a bar don’t count as a proper meal.” Dean firmly pushed the plate into her hands, then picked up his own portion and turned toward the dining table.

His mother was somewhat helpless, but she carried the plate after him all the same.

Once they were both seated at the table, Dean said nothing. He simply lowered his head and ate his dinner.

His mother did not touch her food. Instead, she carefully observed her son from across the table. After watching him for quite some time, she asked cautiously, “You really… aren’t having any problems?”

Dean set down his knife and fork. “Mom, couldn’t you just go online and see whether I’m all right? Have people been insulting me since yesterday? No.”

The argument was highly persuasive. In the past, whenever her son was unhappy or troubled, it had almost always coincided with a wave of criticism directed at him online.

However…

“Didn’t you waste a clear scoring chance yesterday?” his mother asked suspiciously.

Dean suddenly regretted coming to his mother’s house.

But he remained stubborn. “How did I waste it? If I hadn’t created the chance, how could Wang have scored twice? Eat your dinner, Mom. Enjoy having your son home with you, and don’t bring up subjects that ruin the atmosphere.”

“Oh…”

Only then did his mother pick up her knife and fork and lower her head to eat.

※※※

“…I heard that my dear friend Lucas is turning ten today, so I came especially to wish little Lucas a happy birthday! Hi, Lucas. I hope you can be as happy every day as you are today. You have a wonderful older brother who loves you, and so many family members and friends who love you. I’m jealous… I hope you and your friends have a wonderful time today. Please give my regards to your friends as well…”

As Wang Lie’s live image played across the projection screen, the children at the party screamed and erupted into delighted chaos.

Lucas, the guest of honor, sat there wearing a birthday hat, staring at the screen in stunned disbelief, as though he could not believe any of this was real. Until the birthday party began, he still had not received the video his brother had promised him. He had assumed either that his brother had stood him up or that Wang Lie had refused to record one.

Whatever the reason, he had been deeply disappointed and hurt.

Even when his friends arrived to celebrate his birthday, he had seemed gloomy and dispirited.

He had never imagined that his brother’s silence was meant to prepare such a surprise for him.

“Wow, Lucas! I’m so jealous! Wang actually recorded a video just for you!”

“Exactly! That’s incredible! I heard he’s got a terrible temper and isn’t easy to talk to. He actually agreed to it! Your brother is amazing, Lucas!”

“I’m so jealous of you, Lucas! I want an older brother like that too!”

“Wang sent his regards to me! He’s greeting me again! Aah! Hi to you too, Wang! You’re the best! Apart from Roniel, you’re my favorite!”

…

“Look, Clayton.” Mom turned her phone camera toward the children shouting excitedly. “Your present has driven them crazy. Lucas is so surprised he can’t even speak…”

Vettini smiled on the phone screen. “Ha! Looks like the surprise worked perfectly! Actually, Wang originally wanted to video-call Lucas directly from my phone, just as we’re doing now. But Brazil and Britain are four hours apart, and I was worried that Wang would already be asleep by the time the party began. So I only had him record this short video…”

“It’s more than enough. It’s already wonderful.” Mom was smiling so broadly that she could hardly close her mouth.

“And Wang’s signed jersey and signed football too. I’ll have Dad bring them to Lucas when he comes back. I was afraid they might get lost in the mail…”

Vettini continued speaking while Mom held the phone, smiling quietly as she listened.

She had not switched the camera around, so Vettini was seeing the party through the rear-facing camera.

The video had already ended. Lucas had recovered from his shock, but his envious and jealous friends had surrounded him, and the children were making a joyful commotion.

Mom looked at the images of her elder and younger sons appearing together on the screen. The smile on her face grew broader and broader until she was beaming from ear to ear.

After speaking with his mother, Vettini said he was going to bed.

Mom was surprised. “So early? What time is it?”

“It’s almost ten here,” Vettini replied.

“You’re going to bed just after nine? Have you ever gone to sleep this early before?” Mom still found it strange. For Brazilians, this was usually when a colorful nightlife was just beginning.

Vettini explained, “I started adjusting my schedule a long time ago, Mom. I’m following Wang’s advice now and trying to fall asleep before ten-thirty every night. It was a little difficult at first, but once I got used to it, my body clock started reminding me to go to sleep around this time every day. I’m already a little tire—”

As he spoke, Vettini yawned, making his words especially convincing.

“Oh, it was Wang’s advice? Then you’d better follow it properly. I won’t disturb your rest. Good night, Vettinio…”

After ending the video call, Mom turned her gaze toward her younger son, who was still playing noisily with his friends, and let out a deeply satisfied sigh.

She could feel that her elder son had been very happy at Tyne lately.

That was something that had not happened even once in the past two years.

Before this, he had always been clamoring to leave, wanting to get away from the club. Whenever he spoke with her over video, their conversations had been about the injustices he had encountered on the pitch, which clubs were interested in him, and what plans he had for his future career.

He had openly said that he disliked his current club and that he would leave Tyne before his contract expired.

Although he played hard in every match, and although Tyne had plenty of supporters who liked him, Mom knew that her son was not happy living there at all.

It was as though some invisible force had him bound.

Only recently had the situation begun to improve.

Ever since he had first called her on video and told her that Wang Lie had joined the club and begun training with him, she had been able to see her son growing more animated every time they spoke. He gestured enthusiastically, his eyes shining.

It was as though sunlight had entered his life.

He was no longer living beneath the perpetually gloomy skies of Newcastle.

During this period, her son had not mentioned leaving Tyne again. He had even begun adjusting his daily routine along with his idol.

It was obvious that he was truly beginning to enjoy his life at Tyne.

In truth, Mom did not care where her son played football. She only wanted him to be happy.

Now that he was, she was perfectly content. She did not care whether he left Tyne that summer, nor did she particularly care what happened when his contract expired the following year.

Happiness was rare. If he could be this happy now, what more could she ask for?

Thank God for bringing Wang to her son’s team…

Mom drew a cross over her chest.

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He had even said bluntly that he disliked his current club and would definitely leave Tyne before his contract expired.

Although he played hard in every match, and although Tyne had plenty of supporters who liked him, Mom knew that her son was not happy living there at all.

It was as though some invisible force had him bound.

Only recently had the situation begun to improve.

Ever since he had first called her on video and told her that Wang Lie had joined the club and begun training with him, she had been able to see her son growing more animated every time they spoke. He gestured enthusiastically, his eyes shining.

It was as though sunlight had entered his life.

He was no longer living beneath the perpetually gloomy skies of Newcastle.

During this period, her son had not mentioned leaving Tyne again. He had even begun adjusting his daily routine along with his idol.

It was obvious that he was truly beginning to enjoy his life at Tyne.

In truth, Mom did not care where her son played football. She only wanted him to be happy.

Now that he was, she was perfectly content. She did not care whether he left Tyne that summer, nor did she particularly care what happened when his contract expired the following year.

Happiness was rare. If he could be this happy now, what more could she ask for?

Thank God for bringing Wang to her son’s team…

Mom drew a cross over her chest.

※※※

“This is the gym…”

Wang Lie held up his phone and used the rear-facing camera to show his wife the room while they were on a video call.

Unlike the cryotherapy room, which had been converted from one of the suites, the gym had been built as a real gym. It was part of the original design when the former owner had constructed the villa.

The entire lower-ground floor was spacious and filled with exercise equipment that Clement had moved from Wang Lie’s home in Manchester. There was also a sauna, a table-tennis table, and an indoor swimming pool with temperature control.

The underground space was so large that Wang Lie’s voice even echoed as he spoke.

“The facilities are pretty good,” Tang Xingmei said from the other end. “Have you used them yet?”

“Yeah. I trained for a while this afternoon. It’s definitely much better than the gym at the hotel.”

“I saw the table-tennis table. Did you really hire a coach to teach you?” Tang Xingmei had spotted the unexpected detail.

Wang Lie nodded. “Of course. I haven’t had a lesson here yet, but the coach will come twice a week from now on to help me train.”

Tang Xingmei covered her mouth as she laughed. “You really are… planning to take Dean for everything he’s worth. Does he know you secretly hired a coach?”

Wang Lie shook his head. “Naturally not. I can’t let him find out.”

Tang Xingmei’s eyes curved with amusement. “You’re awful!”

“Ha!” Wang Lie knew perfectly well that he was being devious, and the praise made him laugh aloud.

Still laughing, he turned and headed upstairs. “I’ll show you the rooms where Ziqi and Zilin sleep. This house has so many rooms. There’s more than enough space for everyone…”

“Is it bigger than our house in Manchester?” his wife asked.

“Much bigger! It feels almost as large as two of our Manchester houses put together.”

“With a house that large, aren’t you afraid to sleep there alone at night?”

“Afraid? Afraid of what? Ha!” Wang Lie laughed. “Your husband is full of masculine energy. What is there to fear? Even if there were ghosts, the ghosts would be afraid of me!”

Hearing the confidence in her husband’s voice, Tang Xingmei gave a faint smile. “Heh.”

Seeing the smile that did not reach her eyes, Wang Lie’s internal alarm bells suddenly rang. He realized the mistake he had just made.

He hurriedly tried to repair the damage, smiling ingratiatingly as he coaxed his wife. “I’m not afraid of ghosts, but sleeping alone at night can still be empty, lonely, and cold… I’m waiting for you to come over. Otherwise, why do you think I was in such a hurry to have Fernando get this house ready? I was keeping a place open for you! Besides… I’ve already thought it through. Once Mom’s legs have recovered enough for her to walk by herself, I’ll have you come back and keep me company. Haven’t you noticed? Ever since you returned home, my performances haven’t been as good as before.”

At first, Tang Xingmei merely sat quietly and watched her husband perform. But when he said, “Ever since you returned home, my performances haven’t been as good as before,” her expression softened.

That sentence was not simply an excuse he had invented to placate her.

She knew her husband well. To the outside world, he always presented himself as tough and unyielding, but in truth, he too needed comfort and reassurance.

After all, the hardest metal breaks most easily.

Maintaining a hard front and constantly fighting against the world consumed an enormous amount of energy. If a person never found relief, even the strongest could eventually develop emotional and psychological problems.

In other words, Wang Lie needed a masseur for his mind.

Yet given his temperament and personality, asking him to see a psychologist to resolve his inner problems was unrealistic—or rather, impossible.

That was why she had to take on the role herself.

Her husband had spent his entire life striving to be strong. Only in front of her could he allow himself to show weakness and receive a little soothing.

No one else could do it—not even his own mother.

For more than half a year, Tang Xingmei had been in China, able to communicate with her husband only through video calls. How could that compare with being at his side every day?

And those many months had been the most stressful and difficult period of her husband’s life. Both his form on the pitch and the public atmosphere surrounding him had deteriorated badly. When he needed her support and comfort most, she could only console him from China through a screen, like scratching an itch through a shoe. The effect was extremely limited.

At the very least, when her husband was startled awake alone in bed in the middle of the night, she could not even give him a hug.

So she believed that his final sentence was not some insincere line meant to sweet-talk her. It was a genuine expression of grievance.

Even though her expression had softened, Tang Xingmei still refused to let her tactless, straight-laced husband off so easily.

“Didn’t you score twice? How is that not a good performance?”

Having learned from experience, Wang Lie knew exactly what he ought to say this time.

“Well, isn’t it because I started feeling better the moment I thought about you all coming here? You see, just thinking about you coming was enough to make me score two goals. If you stayed by my side the whole time, wouldn’t I score a hat trick?”

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Tang Xingmei could no longer keep a straight face. Her husband’s ridiculous flattery made her laugh.

“You wish!”

Seeing his wife smile, Wang Lie felt the stone in his heart finally fall away. He knew he had survived today’s crisis.

Sigh. Calming his wife down was even harder than facing two defenders closing in on him on the pitch.

But he did not let his relief turn into overconfidence. Instead, he followed up by asking, “Why don’t you just stay here after the winter break ends? I’ll have someone send the children back…”

Tang Xingmei glared at him. “What are you thinking? Mom still hasn’t recovered enough to walk properly. Of course I have to go back. As for coming here… we’ll discuss it when the time comes. I doubt I’ll be able to live here permanently. If I can fly over every so often and stay a few days, that will already be pretty good.”

Hearing her say that, Wang Lie was genuinely disappointed.

He had not been speaking merely to get himself out of trouble with his wife. He truly wanted her to remain by his side.

They had met when they were both starting from nothing, and had supported each other all the way to where they were now. To Wang Lie, she was more than just his wife. It was no exaggeration to call her his spiritual pillar.

That had become especially true after his father’s death.

His mother did not understand football. In her younger days, she had been a career-driven, formidable woman. She had earned money back home to support both him and his father while they came to Europe to pursue his footballing dream.

But when it came to her son, she was the archetypal indulgent mother—the kind who proved the saying that overindulgent mothers spoil their sons. She was always worrying about one thing or another.

When Wang Lie was young, he loved his mother because she doted on him, while his father was too strict. Whenever he did not want to train, whenever training was too hard, whenever his father had scolded, hit, or punished him, he could always find shelter with his mother.

But after he had confirmed his dream and developed a stronger sense of his own will, he gradually came to understand the father he had once feared and resented.

He went from questioning his father, to understanding him, and finally to becoming a father himself—surpassing his father in the process.

Wang Lie naturally loved his mother and was grateful that she had once earned money alone back home to support the family. But he had to admit that she often did not understand him.

In particular, she could not understand why he was so determined to become the best player, so obsessed with pursuing a goal that was nearly impossible to achieve.

When his father was still alive, his father understood Wang Lie. Or rather, the Wang Lie he became was precisely the person his father had hoped to see.

Father and son shared the same thoughts, ambitions, and goals. His father was not only his father, but also his spiritual companion.

After his father died, the only person in the world who truly understood Wang Lie, who could approach the depths of his heart and resonate with him spiritually, was the woman he had known since his days at Oriental Football School—his wife.

When Wang Lie won the Ballon d’Or on two occasions, he had specifically thanked his wife in his acceptance speeches. He had said that without her, he could never have received the highest individual honor in football.

Some might have thought he was merely saying the proper thing, putting on a show of marital devotion for the public.

But Wang Lie knew perfectly well that he had been telling the truth. His wife, Tang Xingmei, was one of the most important reasons he had been able to win the Ballon d’Or—perhaps the single most important one.

Though they were separated by thousands of miles and a phone screen, Tang Xingmei immediately sensed her husband’s disappointment.

So she comforted him as if he were a child.

“All right, all right. I’ll be coming over very soon. This time I can stay with you until the winter break ends.”

By then, she had completely forgotten to be annoyed about his claim that he was not afraid to sleep alone.

※※※

Dean was lying once again on the bed he had slept in as a child, his hands behind his head as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

The ceiling was still covered with posters of football stars, and only the patch in the center remained bare.

It seemed he would have to stay in this little room for a few more days.

In the past, he had come to his mother’s house to escape the paparazzi. He had never imagined that one day he would come here to hide from his neighbor.

But why was he the one hiding?

He thought again of the scene earlier that day, when he had hurriedly concealed himself behind the wall of his own house.

I haven’t done anything wrong!

After turning the matter over in his mind again and again, Dean finally found a reason to convince himself:

If he could not afford to provoke someone, he could at least afford to hide from them, couldn’t he?

The good news was that, lying in this bed, he could finally sleep without hearing Wang Lie endlessly calling him out.

He would be able to get a good night’s sleep.

※※※

Wang Lie ended his video call with his wife and returned to his bedroom.

It was about time to go to bed.

Then he suddenly remembered something. He walked over to the window, pulled the curtain open a crack, and looked toward his neighbor’s house.

The house next door was completely dark. Not a single light was visible.

If he remembered correctly, it had been that way ever since night fell.

Was Sonny Dean not home?

Had he gone out partying and still not returned?

How was he supposed to maintain his physical condition for training tomorrow if he behaved like that?

Wang Lie could not help frowning.

He knew Dean had experienced some fairly absurd episodes in the past, but he had always felt that there were understandable reasons behind them. Usually, Dean had been driven to drown his sorrows in alcohol after poor performances and the abuse that followed.

Wang Lie did not approve of Dean’s habit of escaping from his problems, but he could understand the reasons behind it.

But now the team had just won a match, and Dean—despite missing one chance—had not been subjected to an online hate campaign. How could he still abandon himself to a night of pleasure at a nightclub?

The team would resume normal training tomorrow, and Dean was still behaving like this.

Was he truly planning to give up completely and spend the final half-season of his time at Tyne doing nothing at all?