Highly recommended:

Before Patrick's eighth birthday, Jack asked him which club he wanted a jersey from. Chelsea played well in the Premier League that year and the blue shirt seemed like a good choice. And everyone later knew the outcome of that season, with Jose Mourinho eventually leading Chelsea to their first Premier League title in half a century. Patrick sometimes wondered if he had asked for a Chelsea shirt for his birthday that year, he would have become a Chelsea fan. And if that's the case, I don't know if the story will go in a different direction.

However, he didn't like to be like other people since he was a child, and when Jack came over to ask questions, his favorite cartoon was playing on TV, so he just said "hatever" with his mouth shut.

Jack was afraid of making a mistake and ended up giving away a shirt that could not be wrong no matter what—the England jersey.

Patrick was satisfied. The next day, he wore his new jersey to play at the community club. While there were a few boys at the community club who wore the white jersey with red trim on the shoulders, most of those idiots had the name of Rooney, the star who made a splash at last year's European Championships, and one of them had his own name. Only he printed his surname "Amber". The number is printed on the 17th, and he was born on the 17th. He felt like a real player.

Unexpectedly, some fools laughed at him: "Amber is a girl's name!"

"Amber is a fucking last name!" Patrick replied with the word he shouldn't have used, F-Ord.

So Patrick, on his first day at the age of eight, was given a hard lesson by Jack.

Returning home that day, Patrick was in a bad mood all the way. Jack kept babbling in his ear, and he didn't say a word. Even, when he met a beautiful female classmate on the road and winked at him, he ignored it. When he got home, Christine, the girl next door, was sitting cross-legged in front of her house, reading a big book.

Before Jack could speak, Patrick asked, "Didn't you bring your key?"

"That's right. The black-eyed, black-haired girl casually raised her eyes and answered his question. "Hello, Mr. Amber, hello, Pat. As soon as she said hello, she looked back to the page.

At the time, Patrick thought, typical Asian. He continued, "Are you coming to my house?" and Jack rubbed his hair behind him, muttering "It's time for you to cut your hair, Pat". His hair was golden at the age of eight, like a wheat field in autumn. He used to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and think that if he was still so fucking blond when he grew up, he would have to dye it a different color.

Christine looked up again, just about to speak, but her eyes drifted behind him. So, Patrick and Jack turn around and see Alex with his birthday cake. Together, they greeted Mr. Alex-Lu.

The father and daughter moved in last year. Alex is a taxi driver with little words, not very good English and a strong Chinese accent, who has played football in the past and moved to the area after his divorce. As for Christine, sometimes she will make extra money as a babysitter. Patrick felt insulted that he wasn't a baby. However, considering that Anna is also being taken care of, he feels a little more acceptable.

Christine closed the book, got up from the floor, and said to him, "Thanks, Pat, it doesn't look like so." ”

"Is it your birthday?" Patrick asked again. Overhead, Jack continued to rub his hair, and he rolled his eyes, wondering if his father was probably laughing in his heart that he had held back all the way without speaking, and now there were so many problems.

"Yes, sixteen. Christine pouted and replied. And her father, Alex, had already walked up to her side, picking out the keys and preparing to open the door. Her eyes rolled, as if she were talking to herself, "I'll be able to sign up for a Level 1 coaching class after today, but I haven't thought about it yet." She shrugged, looked at him, and asked, "You like cake...... she asked, glancing at the box in Alex's hand, and suddenly turning to her father, "You must be kidding, Dad, you bought me a pink bunny cake?"

Patrick laughed, and he heard Jack laugh too. Then the father and daughter spoke in a language he didn't understand at all.

Patrick knew from then on that their birthdays were one day away.

When he thought about it later, he always felt that fate was magical.

The girl next door to him was that girl.

Kristen may be beautiful, Kristen may have had a very handsome boyfriend, but Kristen is definitely not a cheerleader, and she is definitely not gentle and understanding. She's a geek, good at math, and reads a lot of weird books, but also sneaks out to parties on Friday nights. Quarrels with her dad almost every day, but always reconciles quickly.

In short, his girl next door is quirky and cool.

Moreover, she is also a girl who loves football as much as he does, and plans to become a football coach.

They sometimes go to Southwark Park on the other side of the river.

Southwark Park was actually a bit far from where they were living at the time, but Christine briefly led a community team there. The name is stupid, what is the name of the red lion, and the age of the children who play in the red lion varies from four or five years old to eleven or twelve years old. If Jack or Alex don't send them, they'll ride around together.

And just like that, the girl next door became Patrick's soccer coach.

The River Thames meanders in southeast London, and Canary Wharf was nowhere near as bustling as it is now. The small pond in Southwark Park is home to wild ducks and swans, as well as large expanses of greenery and dogs chasing balls everywhere. It's always going to rain, but it's always going to stop quickly. In July, the long days of summer in England made Patrick very excited. He can even kick until eight o'clock before going home.

When they go back, they often catch up with a large crowd of people who get off work, he will play video games on the orange chair, and Christine will put on headphones and listen to songs while reading the subway newspaper, anyway, she will never talk to him for half a day.

To this day, Patrick is well aware that he and she will probably never get on that crowded, sweaty train together again. Even though he always wanted to end his journey quickly.

It's a 10-minute walk from the subway station. East London was always so noisy and so lively, full of immigrants. Old, graffiti-covered buildings are dotted with new apartments rising from the ground, and the smell of fried chicken and curry is always in the air. Sometimes he likes it, and sometimes he hates it to the extreme.

He likes to sneak up behind Christine and look for an opportunity to smash her with a dirty ball. Every time he hits, his footwork is always accurate. When Christine is hit, she frowns and looks back, warning him not to play football while walking, that would be dangerous. He always readily agreed, and continued to smash after a minute. At that time, he was especially happy every time he saw her frowning. However, in the summer, he can occasionally be very well-behaved. Because of Ding Ding Dong's ice cream truck, because he wants to eat ice cream with rabbit ears. If Christine was mad at him, she wouldn't buy it for him.

A few more years later, he looked at her frowning brow and felt how his heart was beating so fucking fast, as if he had just finished 90 minutes of the game.

Patrick became the boy every girl in the school wanted to date. Of course he himself knew. He went next door to look for Christine, who had returned from vacation, and she opened the door and she invited him in. She cowered behind her computer and suddenly said to him, "You know what, Pat, technically, we can't be alone, and it's better to talk somewhere there's a camera......"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Patrick was tempted to add F-Ord, but ...... Forget it.

'A stupid lesson in the FA, some principles that academy coaches need to follow. To protect you is to protect ourselves. ”

“hat the **！”

"Hey, watch your language, Mr. Amber. ”

"Christine, you're my neighbor, my friend, we've known each other for years, remember? We knew each other when you weren't a grandmother. ”

"Grandmother knows, so grandmother said technically. By the way, I've got a date in a while, in Hyde Park, oh this place, doesn't that sound boring?"

Patrick hates Hyde Park the most, as Hyde Park is really boring. Apart from...... Winter time.

In winter, Hyde Park has Inter Onderland. Patrick loves all the high-altitude wheels in Inter Onderland, and he loves adventure.

People are accustomed to thinking that blonde boys are shallow and boring, and even if they have beautiful faces, they are stupid. Patrick never liked to be seen as an idiot, though he later formed a trio of idiots with two other idiots in West London. But, in any case, he is not stupid. He also likes to read, he has read a lot of books. He loves adventure stories the most. He always knew that if he hadn't become a footballer, he would have studied animals. African savannah, Amazon basin, tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, Arctic and Antarctic ...... It's all places he longed to go alone when he was a teenager, maybe ...... Maybe bring Christine. He likes animals that are free and aggressive.

It's like...... Christine the same.

One year, they went to Inter Onderland together, and he was still late.

They ate Spanish desserts with lots of chocolate sauce and powdered sugar together. Ride those crazy wheels together. Scream together as the wheels fly into the night sky. There are hardly any stars in the night sky of London in winter, but so what? There was a girl with star-like eyes sitting next to him.

At the time, Patrick didn't think Inter Onderland was a romantic place, and he scoffed at the young lovers kissing in the crowd. He is more interested in beer in the German Customs. It's a shame he's not fucking old enough to drink.

Christine bought a pinto to enjoy alone, and he was angry, not only him, but also Anna. Christine licked the beer foam and frowned, saying, "It's not good." "It's not serious to lie. It was as if he and Anna had never drunk beer.

Christine drank and suddenly danced awkwardly, dancing in a strong festive atmosphere, under countless Christmas and New Year's lights, and in thousands of people from all over the world, without any concept of beat. So cool, a girl dancing so badly. He laughed at her for stepping back, but accidentally stepped on someone else's foot.

After that, many years later, they got a tattoo of a pair of playing cards together, and he fucking broke her heart.

****

"Ye, i **edup, didn\'t i?" he whispered suddenly.

Lu Ling took a few deep breaths, still feeling a lack of oxygen and still feeling dry. He had been silent for the past few minutes, and now, as he watched her say it, his eyes angry and sad.

She shook her head.

Then, Patrick hears her say, "I'm sorry, Pat......"

"Why, why are you sorry?" he interrupted her, he didn't want to hear her say sorry, he didn't know what that meant.

"Pate, I mean...... You didn't do anything wrong, I understand why you broke up with me......" Lu Ling said this, but she didn't know how to continue, she paused.

He slowly took her into his arms again, all his movements stiff and extremely cautious.

She didn't push him away, just kept her head down.

After a while, she cupped his face, sniffed, and continued to say to him, "Hey, Pat, listen to me, I can't, I'm just ......" She bit her lip and frowned all the time, "I've lost Daddy and Nick, I can't lose you anymore." Do you understand? I can't fucking break my heart again! I can't. I can't afford to make the same mistake again. We can't afford to make the same mistake again. She said this, and her voice grew louder, "Tell me, we're okay, your emotions won't be affected." ”

"We're fine, I promise, boss. He said with an effort to laugh. Then, very carefully, he leaned over. She probably knew what he wanted to do, and closed her eyes. He kissed her in the eye. Then he went to her ear and promised softly and firmly, "Really, I'm fine." But, Tina, no matter what happens in the future, you won't lose me, you know? I won't break your heart again, I won't. I can wait. ”

"I don't know how long it will take, and I don't know if there's the best way to solve this problem. You don't have to wait. ”

"I'm not going on a date with any other girl, if you want to say that. …… As long as you exist, it's not fair for me to be with any girl. ”

Lu Ling slowly pushed him away and smiled faintly, "It's very sweet." …… I promise I'll think about it when I have time, but you really don't have to wait. …… It's time for me to go home. Good night. ”

"Good night. Patrick grabbed her again and said oddly, "Actually, I don't like rabbit ear ice cream that much." ”

“…… Then why do you always want me to buy it for you?"

"Pretend to be cute. The girls are stupid...... I mean, adults are stupid, and you get happy when you see my cuteness, and they come and pinch my face like I'm a kitten or a puppy. ”

"You would have been like Zoe, giving you a ball and you could play for a day. ”

Patrick burst out laughing. "It's a pity that I can't play lately. Hopefully everything goes well for our weekend game against Arsenal. He finally hugged her and said goodnight again. 166 Reading Network