“Three months ago, Tony Twain and his team brought a joyous celebration to Nottingham’s fans. Now, three months later, Nottingham Forest returned with an honor again, and their fans waited at the City Ground stadium to throw a small welcome party for the team returning with the cup title. Tony Twain and his Forest team had a mythical rise. They took only four years to go from the lowest ebb to a peak. Today’s Nottingham Forest has become a strong contender for the Premier League title in the new season. A lot of people hate Tony Twain, but they cannot deny his presence, which is a reason to hate him even more. On this weekend night of Match of the Day, we will focus on the reasons for this team’s success.”

Nottingham Forest has become red-hot across Europe after they won the Champions League, the Railways Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup in a row.

The BBC television station made a small feature on the Forest team’s Super Cup win and they invited three famous football personalities to analyze the reasons for the Forest team’s rapid rise for the viewers. Of course, one person could not be avoided — Tony Twain.

Even now, four years later, there were some things about him that remained a mystery. For example, why did he have a major transformation in his temperament after being knocked by one of his own players? Soon after, it was as if he had a eureka moment, and he started to show amazing talent and ability to lead the Nottingham Forest team to complete its great ascent.

The famous personalities did not say it was due to Twain’s transmigration and that he knew about the next three and a half years. They analyzed Twain’s talent and ability at best. No one would have thought that something such as transmigration and soul possession could really happen in the world.

※※※

While the BBC station analyzed Twain’s secret of success, Twain was on a “date” with Tang Jing. It was actually a three-person date; Dunn was there as well. Tang Jing had invited the two men to dinner after the team played in a game against Fulham.

Twain felt it was odd when he first got the invitation. There was no interaction between him and Tang Jing other than work-related matters. If Tang Jing were to invite Dunn to a candlelit dinner, Twain would not be surprised. The two of them had a lot of excuses to have dinner together, being Chinese was just one of them. But Tang Jing specifically asked for Twain.

Twain did not forgot to tease the pretty reporter. “What’s the matter? Reporter Tang is interested in me and wants to join me in the river of love after our date?”

Having known Twain for a long time, Tang Jing was resistant to his glib tongue. “Does Manager Twain go to bed with every lady you have dinner with?” the pretty lady retorted.

Twain invited the snub, but he did eventually agree to Tang Jing’s invitation. He wanted to see what the woman had in store for him. Previously, when he teased Tang Jing, She would turn and walk off in a huff. But this time, she looked so determined that Twain was curious.

Now during dinner, Twain somewhat regretted coming to dinner after he heard the reason for Tang Jing’s invitation.

“Miss Tang Jing, I don’t think I can agree to your request.”

“Why? I think it’s a good thing for the Forest team, and it doesn’t require you to do anything that is too challenging… ” Tang Jing widened her eyes. She was mentally prepared to encounter any pushback.

Dunn, seated between the two, concentrated on eating, as the topic had nothing to do with him.

Here was what happened.

The three went to the restaurant for dinner as per their arrangement. Tang Jing congratulated Twain on winning his second major trophy in a row, as well as the five-game winning streak since the start of the Premier League and their top ranking. Twain happily accepted Tang Jing’s compliments and did not embarrass her by being glib.

For a moment, the host and guests talked amiably, and the mood was harmonious.

Then, Tang Jing revealed her real reason of extending the invitation to Twain. The more Twain listened, the smaller the smile on his face became until he eventually rebuffed her with a straight face and cold voice.

Tang Jing’s invitation to Twain for dinner was funded by another in hopes that she could discuss a collaboration with the Forest team.

The newspapers she worked for and a television station in Hunan, China, had planned a large-scale talent show. It was not a “beauty talent” show like Super Girl Super Boy, but a show about a trial competition in mainland China to find a legendary “Soccer Genius.” However, due to the easterly influence of the various talent shows that were currently popular in China, the trial competition was labelled as a talent show, with a more vulgar noun: “Audition.”

As soon as Twain heard the beginning of this plan, he had little interest in it. Tang Jing did not know why Twain had such a strong reaction.

Dunn had some knowledge but chose to stay silent and not be involved in the feud.

Twain had transmigrated, so he was previously a Chinese man. Since he was Chinese, he was well aware of the various trendy talent shows that were all over China the last few years, and his impression was not necessarily a good one. Even if the talent show was a good thing in itself, since Chinese television stations blindly followed the trend to produce a variety of senseless talent activities, they came with a bad reputation. In particular, in order to publicize their own talent programs, some media companies did not hesitate to let their judges quarrel with each other during filming, followed by personal attacks and verbal abuse, make the contestants pretend to be unreasonable, naïve, in love, or pretend to have all kinds of feelings and create all kinds of “stunts” to attract the attention of the audience.

With these shambolic incidents, as well as the sub-par abilities of the selected candidates, it was really difficult for the public to have any favorable impressions. When Twain was in China, he was an average person who had little affection for the talent shows and shunned them assiduously.

Now that he had come to hear about this unpleasant talent show, he did not even listen carefully to Tang Jing’s introduction before he started shaking his head.

“Miss Tang Jing, I never thought that a talent show programmed to be a performance would be able to produce a real genius.”

“I think you’re too prejudiced, Mr. Twain. With so many young footballers in China, surely there are one or two geniuses with the ability to gain a foothold in the European league, right? Our talent show is just a cover that caters to the masses. There’s nothing wrong with the core content. Football is still the heart of the show.”

Twain shrugged. “That’s why I’m against it. I don’t think that football has a future in China.”

“This is a talent show for the people, and nothing to do with the Chinese Football Association!”

“Is it? Look at this set of materials you gave me. What does it say? ‘Chinese Football Association in collaboration with the Youth Department,’ and it has nothing to do with the Football Association?” Twain scoffed at Tang Jing’s claims.

“They’re just putting their name on it, you know, Mr. Twain. China’s national conditions are that these activities have to flatter the government officials. You do understand that, don’t you?”

“Of course, I understand, Miss Tang Jing. I’m an expert on China. I think a talent show itself is good. But having it in China, the show will change at the hands of the media. There are similar talent shows in the UK, and the Nottingham Forest Football Club regularly hosts a variety of drafts to discover the young talent. But to be honest, I’m not optimistic at all about your talent show. You’re going to hire an ugly woman, put a big red flower on her head and have her wear tight, revealing clothes to pick the players? ‘This won’t do, you’re too ugly! No stage presence!’” Twain mimicked the way Yang Erche Namu spoke.

“Mr. Twain. This is a football draft, not an audition for singers. We’re not inviting any showbiz people. The people we invite to be the judges are all football professionals. If you agree to participate in this program, then we will issue an official invitation to the Forest team to send a coach to be part of the judging panel from the beginning to the end.” Speaking of which, Tang Jing glanced at Dunn, who was still focused on his meal. “Most of the judges are from the British clubs, with only one Chinese coach acting as the coordinator. It definitely cannot be compared with other talent shows in terms of professionalism, authority, and impartiality.”

Twain glanced at her. His face still held a cold expression.

“I still don’t agree.” There was no room for negotiation within his tone. “To be honest, I hate that you all create this messy talent show, so I’m not going to let myself join in the mess and do something that I already detest.”

Tang Jing was helpless if this matter could not work out due to Twain’s personal preferences. But if it was a matter of profit, then they could still sit down and discuss since it was a negotiation over money. But if it were an idealistic problem borne out of a personal preference, then it was impossible to discuss any further since it was difficult to change a person’s fixation, especially with this person who was famously paranoid.

Despite this, Tang Jing still had to make one last ditch of effort.

“You said you hate the talent shows, Mr. Twain. Isn’t there a similar talent show in the UK? Isn’t ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ very popular in the UK? As far as I know, there are quite a few people in your club who watch that show. Didn’t that show produce Paul Pottsm who is now famous all over the world and touches countless people?”

Twain paused for a moment. He watched that talent show too, and he was indeed moved by Paul Potts’ story. However, that was a British talent show. Its production was much more sophisticated, and it was much better than the swarm of talent shows currently in China. It was a living example of what was considered both a critical and commercial success. Chinese talent shows still had a long way to go. Unfortunately, due to the rapid popularity of the second installment of “Super Girl”, countless talent shows popped up in China. When media companies made their decisions on the programs, how many of them went through a careful process to differentiate the target audiences in the different markets, meticulously arrange the direction of the program, painstakingly select suitable judges, and strictly control the quality of the program? Hardly any of them did. In the words of the paranoid Twain, it was “not one of them.”

Whether it was “America’s Got Talent” or “Britain’s Got Talent,” the purpose of talent shows should have been a stage where nobodies and ordinary people achieve their dreams. But in China, it was more like a farce, scene after scene that made people not know whether to cry or laugh. Was it “a stage where nobodies and ordinary people achieve their dreams” or was it “a vanity fair of the has-been stars’ final struggle”?

All these factors caused Twain to dislike all talent shows in China. Now Tang Jing wanted his team to work with a Chinese television station on such a meaningless show. How could he possibly agree? Even if it was a football draft and completely different from the other shows, it was all the same in Twain’s paranoid view. To the Chinese public, there were two industries that could be considered notorious: show business and Chinese football.

“Miss Tang Jing, the key point here is not whether or not this is a talent show, but that it is a football draft held in China. Honestly, I have no interest in this kind of thing, and my team will not take part in this plan. You said before that there are other Premier League clubs that have received your invitations. You can go and talk to their people. I believe there are quite a few Premier League clubs interested in the development of the Asian market. But I really have little interest.” Twain made a final decision on this matter. “I’m sorry to disappoint you. I fully understand your idea of approaching Nottingham Forest with this. We have a player from China, an assistant manager from China, and a manager who has a lot of admiration for Chinese culture.” Twain pointed to Dunn, and then pointed to himself. “However, a talent show really has nothing to do with the Chinese culture.”

The dinner ended on a sour note. When they parted, Tang Jing still politely said to Twain that if he changed his mind, he could still call her. Twain declined to comment.

※※※

Dunn was a little surprised that Twain had so plainly refused. “I thought you would be vague in your refusal, and that would not clearly refuse or agree.”

“Why should I be vague about it?” Twain asked brusquely in response.

“Well… truthfully, I don’t think this draft is as bad as you think.” Dunn finally gave his opinion.

Twain smiled. There was a slight disdain in his smile. “Dunn, you don’t understand. You haven’t spent as much time in China as I do. I know very well what kind of talent shows those Chinese media companies produced.”

Dunn did not retort, and calmly accepted Twain’s assessment of him, “Yes, I did not spend as much time as you had in China, and I don’t know what the talent shows are like in China. But I think, because of that, I’m not as prejudiced.”

Twain froze for a moment and then asked, “Are you scolding me for viewing this issue with preconceived notions?”

Dunn did not make a sound, but his attitude showed. “That’s what I meant.”

After a moment’s silence, Twain sighed. “All right, Dunn. I can feel you’re moving away from me. You’ve been spending too much time with Tang Jing. But it’s your freedom, and I can’t stop you.”

“You overthink too much, Tony. I just think sometimes you should set aside your paranoia for a while. Not every problem is as what you imagine.”

In truth, Twain secretly admitted that Dunn was right. He was paranoid and extreme. He was also aware that his views on certain issues were not really right and affected by too many subjective emotions. It could not be helped that geniuses were always paranoid. But because of his pride, he would not admit that he was wrong.

“Forget it, you’ve decided anyway. I’m just giving my opinion. Don’t take it to heart, Tony.”

“Since you don’t agree with my view, why didn’t you say it at dinner?” Twain did not want to let go of the subject.

“You would have felt humiliated, Tony.”

Twain was dumbfounded again. Dunn was right. He cared a lot about his pride, and Dunn chose to remain silent because he knew it.

“Well, thank you, Dunn.” Twain mumbled after a while.

※※※

Now that Twain had made the final decision on the matter, he would not approach Tang Jing again. It was a matter of pride. He later learned from Dunn that Tang Jing had gone to several other Premier League clubs. There were two clubs which were interested in the Chinese market and eventually agreed to the collaboration. One was Everton and the other was Bolton Wanderers, both of which were not very strong teams. It looked like the big clubs were not interested.

Everton was to be expected as the club had a close relationship with China. They once brought in two Chinese players, and their jersey sponsor was formerly the Chinese company “Kejian.” It was the first time Chinese characters had appeared on the chest of a European team jersey.

How much did the two clubs really value the possibility of choosing a football genius? Perhaps it was more about targeting the market. But what kind of football market did China have? Twain thought with disdain in his heart. He used to buy fake replicas of the jerseys and memorabilia when he was in China. Ninety-nine percent of people around him were like that, too. Before he transmigrated, Manchester United had opened a “Manchester United Restaurant” in Chengdu. When it first opened, Manchester United’s celebrity, Bobby Charlton, came to support. He did not know what happened to it after. The level of consumption was just too high for most football fans to enjoy.

Tang Jing was so busy that she did not show up in front of Twain. From the few bits and pieces that Dunn had revealed, Twain learned that Tang Jing had been confident that the Forest team would work with them, and that once they were secured, Nottingham Forest’s fame and the recent prestige of winning two heavyweight titles would ensure the popularity of this show.

She did not expect that Twain would leave no room for discussion and reject it right away.

It frustrated her.

Originally, Everton and Bolton Wanderers were supposed to serve as props to the Forest team, and now they are the leading stars instead. Tang Jing felt helpless.

However, Twain did not take the matter to heart and did not care about what Tang Jing thought.

He was also busy with a lot of things, such as the game against Reading and the Champions League group draw.

It was then when Allan Adams came to him.