The sea lapped against her ankles, then her calves. Cool and mischievous. After that, little by little, it drowns to the knees. She heard someone say that the tide was rising. She looked down at the water, and then at the place where the sea and the sky met. It did get dark, but the moon hadn't quite risen yet. She suddenly smelled a smell of meat, which was really weird, and she looked to the beach, and it was a group of young people barbecing meat. Smoke rose from the stove, and there were countless beer bottles around them. Their laughter grew louder for some reason, and she tried to take a few steps that way, but the person holding her hand tugged at her. That hand was hot, making her feel safe. She should have known who was holding her hand, but she didn't look back, she just wanted to know what the hell the group of young people had discovered. They surrounded one man. It seems to be a street performer. Street performers are trying their hand at fire-breathing tricks. After several failures, finally, he succeeded. She was just about to cheer when the scene suddenly jumped, and she was on a boat. You can see the Strait of Gibraltar in the distance. The smell of the sea, full of the smell of the sea. There is also English with a Spanish accent lingering in my ears. His voice was always so sexy, she thought. He walked around to her from behind, staring at her with those brown eyes. She hoped he wouldn't do that. I'm not ready, I'm not ready, she said to herself, longing for him to hear. This did not last. As if out of her body, she slowly floated into the sky, and the ship below her turned out to be the Tina. Before she could be surprised, she was standing in the stadium that no longer existed. Loftus Road Stadium. Why is it so small? The stands are so low. There was only the cheers of the fans, which were deafening. After the cheers rose and fell several times, they sang a ballad that she wanted to hear, but could not hear clearly.

The dream was interrupted at this time. All that remains of the world is the abrupt sound of a mobile phone vibrating.

Lu Ling grabbed his mobile phone and connected the phone.

"Tina. "It's Patrick.

She snorted, her whole body and mind still stuck in the dream she had just had.

"Tina, did I wake you up?"

She sat up slowly, a muffled voice coming out of her mouth, "No, I mean it's fine. What time is it, Pat?" she asked, glancing at the screen as she lifted her phone from her ear. Five o'clock in the morning.

"You're there at five o'clock in the morning. He said on the phone, "Sorry Tina, I knew I was going to wake you up, but I had to. ”

Lu Ling came to her senses little by little, and she licked her dry lips. Asked a quirky question. "Pate, barbecue is allowed on the beach in Bournemouth, right?"

Patrick was visibly stunned for a moment, and he said intermittently, "I don't know...... It seems like yes. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. …… I just had a dream. ”

"Did you dream of the beaches of Bournemouth?"

"Yes. It's weird. Lu Ling muttered and turned on the light, and the room lit up. She took a deep breath and steered the conversation into the right direction, "Pat, is there anything I need to know?"

Five days ago, Lu Ling called Patrick and Steve immediately after he finished talking to Nathan Neal. Patrick and Steve are based in Los Angeles on the West Coast of the United States, and since QPR will be heading to Los Angeles after playing the New York Red Bulls and Roma on the East Coast, they decided to wait for Lu Ling to talk after he travels to the West Coast.

QPR beat the New York Red Bulls 1-0 in their first pre-season friendly on July 18 and the first of the International Champions Cup. On July 21, the QPR team arrived in Florida. Ian, John, and Genk joined the team on the day. The next day, QPR welcomed Roma, the opponent of the second friendly match, in Miami. In this match, the QPR played 2:1 with Roma and the goals for the QPR were Phil Warren and Thorin Mitulescu.

Patrick had called both Lu Ling and Tim before the start of the match, but neither had their phones with them at all times, so they missed the call. After the game, Lu Ling learned from Patrick's voice message that Patrick was urgently recalled to Barcelona by Pep Guardiola - considering that he had just recovered from injury, it must not be for him to go back to join Barcelona's China tour. Lu Ling also left a message for Patrick and Steve, asking them to call her back as soon as possible when they arrived in Barcelona.

So, early this morning, he called.

'I spoke to Mr Guardiola. Patrick said on the phone, his voice calm, or maybe he hadn't even reversed the jet lag, and there was a faint depression in his voice. "He personally doesn't want me to leave, but you know it's complicated. Now that the team has left for China, I will stay at Barcelona and start training. ”

This is not unexpected, no matter what the news in the media is now, Pep Guardiola has already made his attitude clear through his journalist friends. This is of course the Catalans' strategy, and it will not be the manager's responsibility if the transfer takes place. She didn't rush to speak and continued to listen.

"Steve told me that Simon has contacted the Barça president and Simon has contacted him. To be honest, I couldn't have imagined the current situation a week ago. Patrick chuckled softly over the phone, "I don't know if I'm happy or angry." ”

"Me too. I mean, I can't tell what I feel. Lu Ling muttered.

"Probably a lot of people. Patrick sighed.

He was smiling and sighing, she could feel it, but she couldn't see his expression, she couldn't confirm anything.

"Pat, how did you answer Pep?"

"I said I had to think about it. ”

Lu Ling was not surprised, she asked again, "Are you happy in Barcelona? Do you like it there, and what is the most important thing to you now?" Not really. She really wanted to know the answers to those questions.

"I'm very happy here. It's true. Patrick's voice was full of sincerity, and Lu Ling could hardly deny it, and it made her feel lost. "I love Barcelona, this club, this city. They're all good, I mean Messi, Neymar, Pique, the guys, they're all good. We won the league and the Champions League together, Tina, I can't describe the feeling. ”

"I can imagine. Lu Ling answered, indicating that she was listening to him carefully, showing that she could understand that if he was really unwilling to leave.

"But ......"

Lu Ling's fingers clenched tightly as he held the phone. Here's a but. This should be a good one, however.

"However, this is Barcelona. I sometimes stand on my balcony and look out at the city, often feeling like I'm just an outsider. It never belonged to me, and I didn't belong to it. It may belong to Messi, it may belong to Pique, but it doesn't belong to me. Patrick chuckled lowly when he said this, "Zixiang will definitely laugh at me when he hears it, homesick or something." He's at home in Madrid. ”

Lu Ling also smiled. Zixiang did have a good life at Real Madrid. For now, at least, she had no doubt that he would want to leave. People often compare the relationship between a player and a coach to a marriage, and if so, Zixiang and Nick are newly married. She laughed and asked him, "Did you tell Pep that, too?"

"Yes, that's pretty much it. He said he regretted that I felt that way and he could understand that. Maybe he felt the same way when he was at Manchester City. Who knows. Anyway, Tina, I haven't made any decisions yet, I know what it sounds like, but I'm not trying to fool you. I'll have to tell you this myself. That's why I'm calling you so early. ”

"Don't worry, Pate, I'm a coach and I know very well that players always have to think twice and think twice when they are dealing with this kind of thing. That's right. It's a big decision, a big one that will affect your career. ”

Patrick said yes, that's right. He seemed to have something to say, and he was thinking about it. Finally, in a soft voice, he asked, "Do you want me to go back?"

Lu Ling held his breath. The room was extremely quiet. She gradually felt a little suffocated. She opened her mouth and exhaled. She wanted her voice to sound lighter, so she laughed before she spoke. "Don't you ask me if I'm as Tina or as a manager?"

On the other end, surprisingly, Patrick let out a hearty laugh. "Oh Tina, Tina. He called. "Whatever, Christine-Lu, Lu Ling, Tina, it's all you, it doesn't matter, just tell me what you think. ”

They all knew that at this moment they would each think of a quarrel that winter.

"Yes, I want you back. Lu Ling no longer hesitated and gave the answer.

She was silent, and they laughed together, laughing and falling silent.

After a long time, Patrick said, "I'm glad to hear you say that, at least prove that you're betting that I won't get hurt again." He joked on the phone and promised, "I'll think about it." I promise. You know how important that is to me. ”

"Thank you, Pat. ”

"Don't say that. Are you going to sleep a little longer?"

"No, I think it's almost time for me to get up, I have a lot of things going on today, including a pre-match press conference that could be annoying. ”

"Oh yes, you guys play Real Madrid tomorrow. Patrick paused, "I hope those reporters won't embarrass you too much, I guess some of them are going to ask you about you and the Real Madrid manager." ”

"I can handle it. It's been a long time coming. Lu Ling got out of bed, opened the curtains, and glanced out the window, it was already dawn. "You should go and sleep for a while. You sound a little tired. ”

"Yes, I'll have to sleep for a while. Well, good morning. ”

"Good day. Lu Ling thought for a moment and added, "If it works, try to shut Zoe out, she is sometimes very noisy." ”

"Haha, she's going to make a noise when you shut her out. Zoe has always been a naughty girl, just like you. ”

"I'll try to take that as a compliment. By the way, there's one thing...... Pretty girl, you taught Benjamin Hamilton, right?"

"Tina, I'm sleepy, I have to hang ......"

"Oh pretty boy, you've made a terrible mistake, if you come back, you can go with Ben and clean Phil's hair in the shower, he's got a lot of hair, like a sheep......"

"It's a really convincing and tempting condition, pretty girl, you must be a much better manager now than before. ”

"I heard Ian say that Phil shaves any part of the hair......"

"Tina! I was going to eat something before bed, but now I don't have any appetite!"

"Sleep well, pretty boy. Lu Ling hung up the phone with satisfaction.

****

Friday morning, July 24th. Los Angeles, California.

Real Madrid coach Nicolás Flores has a calm face and it is difficult for people to read the information from it.

Nicholas looked at the reporters below and spoke slowly, "Patrick Amber is a world-class player, he is a Ballon d'Or winner, any team is lucky to have him. Real Madrid always welcome players like that. ”

The reporters looked at each other. So what does Nicolas Flores mean is that he really wants to bring in Patrick Amber?

A reporter from the newspaper "As" hurriedly asked: "Nick, if Amber is brought to Madrid, the transfer fee will be ......"

Nicholas interrupted him. "Oh, transfer fee, are we at that stage?" he said, with a narrow smile on his face, "Seriously, I'm not worried about that. ”

The reporter continued to ask: "So does this prove that your personal relationship is not as tense as it is rumored to be in the outside world, and have you personally been in contact with Amber recently?"

"You may all forget that he used to be my player. If I'm not mistaken, we got along well. Nicholas shrugged his shoulders and casually avoided the question. And his eyes swept over the reporter, and casually fell on the other reporter.

Below the reporters whispered, and they talked about the past season, in both national derbys, and the two did talk. Flores may have been a great liar, but that statement didn't quite feel like a lie. Reporters then speculated that the relationship between the two might have been strained because of Christine, but as the two romances vanished, the men shook hands and made peace.

A journalist from England then asked: "Nick, we all know that Real Madrid are not the only ones interested in Amber. It seems that your competitors do not include the QPR for the time being. But if QPR joins in, considering the personal relationship between Kristen and Amber......"

"Like I said, that was a few years ago, and I was the manager of QPR. Trust me, I don't know more about their transfers than you do. As for our opponent tomorrow, as long as it's about the game, please feel free to ask. And their manager, if I could call Christine a friend......" Nicholas smiled a little, unkewarmly, "I don't know more about her than you do. ”

Laughter rang out from below. Nicolas turned his head and winked at Real Madrid's press officer.

Coming out of the press conference, Nicholas straightened his suit with some pleats, which made him frown. He continued to walk outside, surrounded by staff members who were telling him small things. As he listened, he thought about what was on the side.

His tricks, the media may not be able to see through, but in her eyes, it must be transparent.

****

"He's just watching the play with the president of Real Madrid. Lu Ling glanced at the iPad that Tim handed over, which was the main content of Nick's pre-game press conference that had just ended. She went on to say to Tim and Simon, "Barcelona won't talk to Real Madrid about this deal, and if Real Madrid really want to buy it, how can they let the news leak out so easily? ”

"Christine, the news I've gotten is that the Real Madrid hierarchy really wants to send Trek. Everybody understands that Patrick Amber is the ideal candidate for Real Madrid, both on a competitive and commercial level, and they have David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, do you think they would let Patrick go if they had the slightest chance......"

"Even if the Real Madrid hierarchy really wants to buy ...... Nick knew very well that this was still a small probability event, and until that small probability event happened, he would take it as a joke. Lu Ling said this, falling into some kind of contemplation.

"What's wrong?" asked both Tim and Simon.

"Nothing. Lu Ling smiled and shook his head, "I just thought of him when he was in QPR." At that time, he often directly argued with the board of directors, and he would not be so roundabout. It seems that he went to Real Madrid and changed his strategy as well. The Spaniard's internal game of hide and seek suited him as well. ”

Both Tim and Simon burst out laughing. The Latins still have a different way of dealing with things than they do. Cultural differences sometimes bring misunderstandings, sometimes discrimination, and sometimes magical chemistry. This time, it's ridiculous.

Lu Ling looked at the two smiling men and spread his hands, "I have to deal with the reporters." Hopefully they still don't know about our interest in this deal. ”

In the past week, the QPR has traveled from New York to Miami to Los Angeles, and the whole team has crossed the United States from north to south and east to west, like rock stars rushing to the scene – they are participating in such a commercial tour for the first time. Real Madrid are their third opponent in the International Champions Cup.

In addition to dealing with warm-up games, business events and the media, Lu Ling and the coaching staff and the team's top management have been secretly discussing the transfer of Patrick. They have made contact with Barça and so far nothing has leaked out, which is not easy – Barça are not willing to let the news leak out for some reason.

Lu Ling came to the press conference. She deliberately made the reporters wait a little longer. She hoped that they were already impatient and would not have too many problems.

"Christine, do you want to talk about what it's like to meet your friend — if I may think so — Nick again?"

Lu Ling looked at the reporter with a very difficult expression, "I'm sorry, I can't do it." ”

There was a lot of discussion at the bottom.

She continued: "So far, I haven't met Nick in person, how can I talk about it?" 166 Reading.com