The sunlight penetrated through the gaps in the curtains, and it was dazzling. When Lu Ling woke up, she said F-word, and wanted to continue sleeping, but she turned over to face a face.

Pat!

"Pat, why are you here!?" she exclaimed, shutting up sharply.

Patrick opened his eyes, frowned, and sat up. After Tina fell asleep last night, he didn't leave because he was worried that she would not feel well in the middle of the night, and then he fell asleep next to her.

"Please tell me, nothing happened to us!" Lu Ling was a little flustered, and when he said this, he already found that his clothes were on his body as they were, and so did Pat's. She immediately smiled awkwardly, "Oh, ignore me, Pat." ”

Patrick watched her series of reactions, expressionless and unspoken.

Lu Ling sniffed his clothes again, and they were all full of wine.

"I've got to take a shower, when are you going back to the training base?"

Patrick looked at the time, "Now." He got out of bed, and Tina was still in bed, perhaps because of a hangover.

"Do you still have memories of last night?" he asked.

Lu Ling recalled, and there didn't seem to be a memory gap.

"You said we needed to talk. "She's a little worried about this, is it a transfer? Does he want to leave? But if she asks now, it doesn't seem good. He has a big game ahead of him. In a tournament year, most players decide where they want to go after the tournament. Although Pat said early on that he would not leave this summer, perhaps the fluctuation of his worth and his fame around the world have changed his mind. She asked, a little apprehensively, "Do you want to talk now?"

"Nope. Tina, this is important, don't forget. Patrick said, leaning over and hugging her, and walked out of the room.

Lu Ling continued to stay on the bed for a while before jumping out of the bed and walking to the bathroom.

****

At noon after leaving Chantilly, Lu Ling received an email from the club, saying that she hoped that she would be able to rush back to London as soon as possible, and that there would be an important meeting tomorrow morning. All senior management and members of the coaching staff will attend. She hurriedly said goodbye to Zixiang and Ian. Their vacation is still in full swing, and hers should be over.

Lu Ling sent a message to Patrick before getting on the train.

[Sorry to miss your next game, my vacation is over.] Good luck. 】

When she arrived at London's St Pancras train station, she received a message from Pat.

Wait for me in London. x】

Lu Ling stared at the X (kisses) for a while, since when did Pat start sending this every time he ends the message? She flipped through the chat history, it seemed that it had been the case for the past few months. She didn't pay much attention to it, Anna would send her an X too, but she wasn't used to using it herself.

She got out of the train station and went straight into the subway, got off at Knightsbridge. The atmosphere of the European Championship in London is no less than that in France, and she said in the newspaper that because of England's good results in this European Cup, many companies even take the second day off on the match day in England so that fans can drink heartily on the night of the game.

The support of the English for their national team is truly impressive.

The first thing I did when I returned to the apartment was to call Lu Yungui. She had been sending her father intermittently in France before, and he seemed to be doing well. When the call was connected, she finally knew why. Because the call was answered by a woman. She spoke English with a Chinese accent, and she could hear it as soon as she heard it.

Later, Lu Yungui was a little embarrassed when he answered the phone, and Lu Ling said with a smile, "I'm glad to see you have a girlfriend, Dad." ”

Lu Yungui was probably very sensitive to the word girlfriend, and hurriedly stammered, "No, it's not a woman...... Friend, Xiaoling, I ......"

"She'll be unhappy if you say that. Lu Ling interrupted his father, "Let's have a meal together when I have time." ”

"Good. Lu Yungui paused before continuing, "The news of the Sun...... I see it...... The man ......"

"You don't care, Dad. Lu Ling said as he threw his clothes into the washing machine, "There may be many more such things in the future." After she finished speaking, she suddenly realized that she called "Dad" more times on the phone than in the previous months combined.

"Okay, Xiaoling, you just came back from France, have a good rest. Lu Yungui's voice sounded very happy, if it wasn't for the fear of disturbing his daughter's rest, he wouldn't want to hang up.

Lu Ling walked back to the living room and put down his phone. It was already ten o'clock in the evening, and it was just getting dark. This holiday is in a trance. She originally wanted to lie on the couch and watch a ball game, but then fell asleep directly on the couch. When she woke up in the middle of the night with a dry mouth, she went to the kitchen and poured a large glass of water, and after drinking it all in one go, she didn't feel sleepy.

She opened the curtains and opened the window, and at three o'clock in the middle of the night, it already felt like it was almost dawn. In the distance, you can hear the voices of people who may have just come out of a nightclub. There is the occasional car passing by on the street.

The wind was cool, and she looked in the direction of Pat's house, and then in the direction of Harrington.

The city is so quiet and still asleep, it's old and noisy, sometimes it annoys her, but when she comes back, it's always home.

Lu Ling closed the window, closed the curtains, and went back to the bedroom.

Hoping to still fall asleep, she thought, the meeting in a few hours would not be a peace of mind.

****

Harrington is a place where Lu Ling feels more and more at home. From the parking lot to the office, she greeted the employees of various clubs along the way. A few people looked at her a little strangely, but they were trying to be as polite as possible, maybe because of the lace of The Sun, she thought.

The door of the head coach's office was closed, and Lu Ling took two looks and walked into his office. When she had read all the emails, she caught a glimpse of Nicholas passing by her door.

He knocked on her office door and walked into his own.

Lu Ling then followed him into his office.

Nicholas stood in front of the tactical board, his back tall and slender. It was no different from what she had seen countless times she had walked into his office over the past season.

The Spaniard turned his head and looked at his assistant with a lover-like smile, "Missme?"

"It's not appropriate to ask this kind of question in the office. Lu Ling also smiled at him, but did not answer positively. Yes, though, she misses him.

"I'll take your words as yes. Also, the bikini is beautiful, I love it. His voice was low and gentle, but it sounded out of place in this office.

"Thank you. Lu Ling avoided his gaze and looked at the court outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

"In case you're wondering, I miss you every day. Nicholas approached a little closer, looked at the assistant and said seriously.

Lu Ling turned his gaze back and looked at him, with a smile in his eyes. She didn't deny that her heart was sweet to hear this, but she couldn't be as unscrupulous as him. And just as she wanted to divert the topic, he had already opened his mouth first.

"Alright, let's get back to work. Nicholas put away the Latin lover style and went into professional shape. "The content of the meeting in a while, the most important thing is the recruitment, and the second is the question of sending Trek to stay this summer. I had an argument with Rice before you came back, and Tony still hasn't let up on the money, so it's not going to be easy. Oh yes, you know John O'Connor we've signed it, right?"

Lu Ling nodded, this news has not been broken by reporters, she knew it by reading the email that Nicholas copied to her.

****

The long conference table was lined with people. Almost half of them are called back halfway through their vacations.

When Lu Ling entered, he heard his former boss Tom Jones half-jokingly complaining, "Oh my God, it's rare for me to be two with my wife, and I was called back when I first arrived in Aruba." "In fact, it's mid-to-late June, and in just over a week, preparations for the new season will begin. Tom's words were somewhat exaggerated.

As soon as Lu Ling sat down, Tony and Nicholas walked into the conference room together. She looked around, and everyone should have arrived. She wrenched the index finger of her right hand with her left hand, and before the meeting began, why had the tension already spread?

Maybe it's Nick's fierce gaze, maybe it's Tony's solemn face, maybe it's Rice's contemptuous expression. She couldn't tell.

After Tom Sr. finished the briefing of the reserve team, Lu Ling began to make a briefing for the first team.

So far, the first team has three players confirmed to go. James Barton is set to move to Cardiff City in the Championship, 37-year-old veteran Clint Hill is set to leave his contract and Leroy Fell is set to be bought out after a loan spell at Swansea. In addition, Gomis and Mensah have returned to their respective teams at the end of their loan spells.

She concluded: "It usually takes 38 to 40 points to be relegated in the Premier League now, and in the past few seasons, the competition has become more and more brutal because all the teams have a lot of purchasing power. Toney, I know that the team spent a lot of money in the Premier League but was relegated, but it has to do with the poor quality of the personnel bought. I don't think we have more than six players in the first team who have absolute Premier League ability, so we should bring in at least five or six, preferably seven or eight. ”

Lu Ling's position in this passage is obvious, she is completely on the side of the Spaniards. Nick glanced at her, very indifferent, without anything superfluous.

Tony's solemn face didn't change. He looked at the Asian female coach, and he never hated her. Fellow minority, he has no prejudice against her, either in terms of race or gender, and at most he is a little suspicious of her relationship with Nick. Since she became an assistant coach, she has excellent work ability and has helped the team a lot, and he can see it.

But her words are indeed as a sentence in the lace news in the "Sun" newspaper, she is very strong. She is not shy about it, and she is very determined to stand by her head coach, not willing to offend the person who actually offered her the contract.

Tony was both appreciative and displeased.

He shook his legs, glanced at Nick, and cleared his throat to speak.