Lu Ling finally remembered that she still owed Nicholas something, but it took her a lot of time.

On a flight from London to Barcelona, the QPR boss leaned back in his seat and looked out the window with glazed eyes. The visor was only halfway open, and the sky outside was bright and blue. The plane suddenly jolted slightly, and she sluggishly turned her head back into the cabin, and when she lowered her gaze, the orange juice ripples in the glass on the table were still shaking. It was at this moment that she remembered, and then she couldn't help but laugh. Simon asked her what was wrong, she took a sip of orange juice, and instead of answering the CEO's question, she asked, "Simon, how many suits do you have?"

Simon is sipping his champagne. He heard the manager's question, took the glass, pursed his lips several times, and said, "I can't say I remember." ”

Lu Ling thought, That's it. Ignoring Simon's doubts, she shifted the subject, "How's the Marcelo deal?"

"They're obviously delaying the deal, in order to wait for a higher offer. There are clubs interested in both Serie A and Ligue 1. But what do they expect? a 32-year-old left-back, yes, Marcelo may have been the world's number one left-back, but that was once, do they think they can get a higher offer than £10 million? Oh, I doubt it. Christine, I wish you had changed your mind all of a sudden, in which case they would have regretted not accepting the offer in time. ”

There was always a faint smile on Lu Ling's lips. It seems that this transfer has caused a lot of complaints from the club's CEO. She knew it wouldn't be easy to do business with Nick. But what is more important now is the deal they are dealing with, and compared to that deal, Marcelo's affairs can be delayed.

"We didn't have much effort to sell people this summer, and the prices were good, but it was more difficult to buy people one by one...... Simon continued to complain after taking a few sips of champagne. He didn't seem to care too much if she was listening.

Lu Ling probably knew that the CEO of the club was also a busy and annoying job. Simon's phone rang all the time, just before they got on the plane, he hung up two, and just now, he was still working on the mail. It was difficult for him to complain, so she did not interrupt him. But she really couldn't concentrate all her attention on his words, and she looked at the time as she thought about what would happen after she got off the plane, and there was still an hour.

Today is July 30th. The penultimate day of July.

The QPR played their fourth warm-up match in the United States on July 28, which was a draw, 1-1 Monaco, with Genk scoring. The next day, the whole team boarded a plane back to London. Before returning to the UK, Lu Ling took two hours out to meet with Leon.

Aside from Ian, León is the only player who knows the team is pushing ahead with a deal to buy back Patrick Amber from Barcelona. Lu Ling wanted the Uruguayans to know this.

Leon has a good relationship with Pat, of course, not as close as Leon has with his teammates on the national team or with Ian Rose, but still, it's good. Athletically, Leon and Pat have a great understanding on the pitch, at least three years ago, and now they are both better players than they were then, and their style and style of play haven't changed much, and if they work together again, it will definitely be more exciting than ever.

The most important thing is to buy back Patrick Amber to tell Leon Ferreira that you have a chance to get everything you want at this club – very probably, at least more than the clubs he might go to. Individual awards such as the Golden Globes may not be included. Leon is not stupid, he has to compete with the likes of Patrick, Gabriel Jesus and others to stay or go to any team – and he doesn't have an advantage at all.

Lu Ling's reply was similar to what she thought. Leon promised that if he sent Trik back, he would stay. But he also showed that if the team doesn't bring in a superstar before the league kicks off to improve their competitiveness in the league and Champions League next season, he could leave the team – an understatement, and the implication is that no one will be able to keep him at the time.

It's kind of like a threat. Lu Ling would not enjoy this threat. If things do get to that point, Leon won't like the way she handles them. Of course, she didn't have to tell him what she would do at this stage.

With regard to the Patrick deal, progress has been slow. This is not in line with Lu Ling and QPR's assumptions.

More than a week has passed since the feasibility of this transfer appeared and the team ended their trip to the United States. There are all kinds of reports in the media. As for Barcelona, the club has never made any official statement about Patrick's arrival. And judging by the news, Manchester and Paris Saint-Germain are closer to Patrick than QPR. As for Real Madrid, who were first linked with Patrick, there has been little movement.

Simon was the main operator of the transfer. Judging from Simon's previous analysis, the progress of the four interested clubs is not much worse – that is, there is not much progress. There are three reasons for this.

For one, if Barcelona send Patrick away, they will need a replacement, and this replacement will not be able to wait until Patrick's deal is completed, in which case time may be tight for Barcelona - the closer to the start of the league, the more likely it is that accidents will happen. It was a gamble for them to keep Patrick, but it was also a gamble to send him away without a replacement.

Second, the Barcelona hierarchy should not have negotiated this matter with the team manager, and this is closely related to the first one, if Pep finds a player he thinks can even make do to replace Patrick, the matter will progress faster.

Third, the player's own wishes have not yet been finalized.

QPR arrived at Heathrow Airport this morning. At noon, as soon as Lu Ling stepped into the house, he received a call from Simon. Two of the latest news.

First, Barcelona seem to be willing to discuss the details, and it is likely that they have just decided on a replacement, and second, according to the Post, Paris Saint-Germain manager, Jose Mourinho, is said to have personally called Patrick Amber and invited him to Paris very sincerely.

Although in Lu Ling's view, the second article looks like the news released by Steve - to stimulate competitors and seek better benefits for Pat. But she made the decision to fly to Barcelona with Simon.

Simon's wine was finished, and he was almost done.

Lu Ling said slowly: "Marcelo's deal, Real Madrid wants to drag it out, so we'll wait." ”

Simon was surprised, "You really want that player, don't you?" he asked, weighing it up, "and if you really want it, we can't give two million pounds more." It's better than not being able to take it in the end. ”

Lu Ling smiled gratefully at Simon. She knows that the manager's considerations and the club's board of directors never coincide exactly, and she is fortunate to get along with them for the time being and understand each other.

She pondered: "Marcelo will definitely not be at Real Madrid next season. We are most likely his best bet. If he's 34 he might want to make more money – like go to the Middle East and retire, but he's only 32, why not try it in the Premier League? If you were him, you'd pick us, wouldn't you? Real Madrid dragged on, I guess maybe Nick was hesitating. I don't know what he's thinking, I just know that if he doesn't want to sell to us, it's useless to add some extra money, and we don't make an over-the-top offer, it doesn't make sense, I might as well reconsider the candidate. So, just wait. ”

Simon was so satisfied with what she had to say, he let out a long breath, "Then we can now focus on the Patrick deal." Barcelona will not be back from Hong Kong until the day after tomorrow and we will be able to meet several of Barca's top brass and Patrick himself and his agent today and tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, if you want to talk to Pep, the day after tomorrow. He smiled wryly, "There are no more workaholic CEOs and bosses like the two of us, for God's sake I haven't had a good night's sleep in days, I wanted to have some drink and take a nap on the plane." ”

When Simon said this, Lu Ling felt extremely sleepy. She hadn't slept for almost twenty hours.

"Hopefully our trip won't be for nothing, and hopefully it won't be discovered by the damn media. Simon sighed, and he looked at her again, remembered something, and said, "Christine, I have some concerns. ”

"Speak. ”

"You know you don't have to come this time. ”

"Simon, I probably know what you're thinking. Lu Ling thought for a few seconds, "I won't go with you to meet the directors of Barcelona, that's not my job." I'm here mainly to talk to the players themselves. If I can, I'll meet up with Pep for a cup of coffee, and I have a good personal relationship with him. The rest is up to you. ”

"Tonight?"

"What?"

"Are you going to see Patrick tonight? did you tell him you're coming to Barcelona?"

Lu Ling hadn't told Patrick yet, and she was also thinking about whether to see her tonight, maybe tonight was a good idea. So she nodded at Simon, "I haven't told him yet, but I think it's just tonight." ”

Simon's eyes half-narrowed, "Okay, I'll have to sleep for a while before landing......" His voice grew quieter and quieter, and he said sleep and fell asleep. Lu Ling smiled, tilted his head out of the window again, and the smile on his lips gradually disappeared.

She was also sleepy, but she didn't think she could fall asleep.

****

Marcelo's agent called again, and Nicholas gave him the same perfunctory treatment as he had done before, although this time the gentleman was a little more dissatisfied than the previous ones, but he was afraid that they still had to wait.

Juan asked Nicolás what his concerns were, and it was on the plane back to Madrid from Los Angeles.

'Do you remember when she brought in Silva in January last year? Silva was one of the heroes who helped QPR win the Premier League, even though he didn't make many appearances that season. She won't buy a useless person. Actually, I know what she likes about Marcelo and I don't worry about that, because this player is very limited in a team at the moment. ”

"She wants to use Marcelo's strengths, but Marcelo's flaws are the same, and we're not in the same league, and I know if you were in the same league, you'd probably have rejected her by now," Juan said. The probability of encountering it in the Champions League is not big. Even if it does run into, like I said earlier, Marcelo's flaws are there, and the Brazilian will not be anything key to Mr. ”

Juan had a point, and Nicholas himself thought so, but he was still procrastinating. It was difficult for him to tell the TA that his worries were irrational, and it was purely his gut that telling him that it was not a good idea to sell Marcelo to her. He needs a reasonable reason to convince himself, not some bullshit intuition. In that case, he could have rejected her directly.

It was not a very important thing, and it bothered the Real Madrid manager for several days. Nicholas decided to put the matter down for now, he turned on his computer, and while he waited, he casually flipped through a few of today's newspapers. Patrick Amber's move continues to dominate the sports headlines, and it looks like PSG are now the closest they can get to the world footballer of the year.

Nicolas put the newspaper aside and shook his head, how could Patrick choose to go to Ligue 1 at this stage of his career?!

****

It's nearly evening. Barcelona is a bit hot, even though it's a seaside city, but when you're far enough away from the sea, there's really no wind at all. After only staying in the sun for a short time, Lu Ling felt a lot of heat on her head, Simon saw that her face was a little pale, and asked her if she needed someone to send her over, she politely refused, and just asked the CEO to help her take her luggage back to the hotel. Then, she got into the rented car.

It wasn't until the air conditioning in the car finally spread everywhere that Lu Ling felt that his body had returned to its normal state. It's also possible that she didn't get enough sleep, she thought, causing her whole person to be in a trance.

She bumps all the way to Patrick's villa. It was her first time coming. She stopped the car and remembered that she hadn't told him until now that she was coming. She was hungry and somewhat regretted not eating first after getting off the plane. Everything seemed to be going wrong today, she thought, took out her phone, and stared at the screen for a long time without deciding whether to call Steve or Pat. She put down her phone first, leaned back on the seat, and turned her head slightly to look at the villa not far away.

The architectural style of Barcelona is completely different from London, even if it is an ordinary villa. Her and Pate's house in Surrey is nearly 100 years old, and the exterior looks very quaint, typical of British movies, with windows in a Victorian style. Of course, the interior is modern – and of course, there will never be a lack of fireplaces.

And now, the villa that Lu Ling was looking at was a completely modern building. She guessed he was young, fifteen years at most. The exterior looks simple, but it's inexplicably hard to guess.

She picked up her phone again and sent a message.

She turned up the voice of her phone and put it aside again. He might be back soon, maybe she'd have to wait half an hour or more.

Two minutes later, the phone sounded. She was glad it was the former.

****

The music in the gym was loud. Patrick's phone was originally in the living room, and he wouldn't have gone to the living room to pick it up if he hadn't suddenly wanted to record a small video and put it on Instagram to let fans who were concerned about his injury know that he was recovering well. That's why he didn't see her message an hour later. After he finished replying to her message, he took his phone and went to get another bottle of sports drink. He unscrewed it and took a sip, then casually put the bottle in his pants pocket. After that, he looked at his phone, and she hadn't replied.

Patrick took his phone to the gym. He didn't wear a shirt, he wore a pair of loose gray shorts, and his whole body was sweaty and sticky. He turned on the camera and wiped his sweat with a towel. He didn't know where to put his phone for a moment — that's why you need someone to take pictures of you. He seems to have a fixed cell phone and a selfie stick or something, but he can't remember where he put it.

"Oh **" Patrick cursed under his breath, deciding to take a photo instead of a video.

The doorbell rang at this time.

He slung the towel over his shoulder and walked out. When you need someone, God has sent you one. He thought. Mostly Steve.

****

He didn't wear a shirt, only a towel hung over his shoulder, and his tattoo was wet. He wears gray shorts and red sneakers. The muscles are congested and sweat all over the body. Obviously, he's training.

"Is it my birthday?" he winked at him as he invited her in.

Lu Ling took a deep breath and turned back to Patrick to complain, "You stink!"

Patrick took the towel off his shoulder, wiped her sweat, and asked her, "If I smell like some goddamn lavender, will you get into my arms and kiss me or what?"

Lu Ling laughed and shook her head helplessly, then she opened her arms towards him, "Come here." ”

Zoe popped out of nowhere and got a head start.

Patrick's mouth was half-open, and for a moment he felt that no words could express his indignation. He watched the two girls hug and kiss for a long time, but finally didn't come forward. He pouted and said, "I'm dirty and smelly right now." By the time I'm done showering, I'm in need of this hug. ”

By the time Patrick finished taking a shower, Lu Ling was already asleep on the sofa. Zoe lay on the ground, looking at him smartly. Patrick made a silent gesture at the bulldog. He slowly walked to the edge of the couch and stared at her for a moment. Her sleeping position wasn't pretty, he thought. Then, he lightly touched her arm with his fingers, which was a little cold. He turned up the heat a little and put a blanket over her. She didn't move, slept soundly, and even snored slightly. Patrick smiled silently and looked at it for a moment before heading to the kitchen. Zoe got up and followed him to the kitchen with her tail wagging her tail. 166 Reading Network