No one could have predicted that a meal inally inteo persuade Gao Shen to coach Bara would iurn into a situation where Gao Shen fervently reended Guardio for the job.

  What's more surprising was how ving his arguments were, so well-reasoned and pelling that the mao Shen spoke, the more Begiristain and Soriano found themselves emotionally moved, even distressed by how on point his analysis was.

  If Sacchi was sidered the number oalent in football tactics, then Gao Shen had just established himself as another unrivaled genius in football ma.

  Of course, the meal went on harmoniously, filled with ughter and camaraderie, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves thhly.

  Yet, as Gao Shen dropped the three men off at their hotel, it dawned ohat the initial purpose of their trip to vince him to take the reins at Bara had failed.

  At that moment, Begiristain turo Guardio with renewed i.

  "Pep, would you be willing to draft a pn for the team?" Begiristain asked, his tone encing.

  As a former teammate from Bara's Dream Team, Begiristain shared a longstanding bond with Guardio. The idea of Guardio taking over as head coach wasn't just exg to him professionally; it ersonally gratifying. After all, Gao Shen's glowing endorsement had further piqued his curiosity.

  If Guardio had held back during the earlier versation with Gao Shen, such hesitation now felt unwarranted. With Gao Shen pushing sly in his favor, any more reluce would e across as insincere.

  "I'll write one ht and have it ready for you tomorrow," Guardio said with newfound fidence.

  ---

  After dropping the trio off at the hotel, Gao Shen called a car and headed home.

  Though he had listed three reasons for deing Bara's offer, there was a fourth and arguably the most crucial ohat he had kept to himself.

  He didn't believe he could stay at Bara for very long.

  Drawing on his knowledge of football histao Shen foresaw the challenges ahead. Should he take the Bara job now, year's presidential ele would likely result in Laporta being ousted by the long-pnned coup of Rosell. Once Rosell came into pao Shen, as Laporta's chosen coach, would undoubtedly be in an untenable position.

  Even Guardio, a Bara legend who led the team to a treble in his debut season, had been marginalized under Rosell.

  As for Soriano, Bara's vice president of finance, and Begiristain, the teical director, both of them were destio leave for Maer City iure. When that time came, what hope would there be fao Shen, an outsider, to survive in Bara's political minefield?

  The answer was clear.

  If Gao Shen achieved great results in his first season, Rosell might hesitate to dismiss him ht but would likely use various tactics to curb his influence. Under such restris, how could Gao Shen maintain the level of success expected of Bara?

  And if he failed to deliver results, his downfall would be swift and brutal.

  It recisely for this reason that Gao Shen had no iion of stepping into Bara's murky waters.

  There was nothing to gain and everything to lose.

  ---

  As night settled in Beijing, m broke in Italy.

  In Naples, De Laurentiis and Marinrowing increasingly anxious after hearis that Inter Min and Bara had both approached Gao Shen in a.

  Despite Gao Shen's as suggestieo stay, such as his involvement in selling Domid Garics while signiia his reluce to finalize a tract renewal left them on edge.

  Eventually, De Laurentiis's patience wore thin, and he instructed Marino to call Gao Shen directly.

  tally, when Marino's call came through, Gao Shen had just gotten out of the car in his apartment plex.

  "Marino, I was just about to call you," Gao Sheed with a cheerful tone.

  Marino, however, couldn't help but panic, misinterpreting Gao Shen's upbeat attitude as a precursor to bad news.

  "Wh… what's going on?" Marino stammered, his voice heavy with unease.

  "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Gao Shen replied, sounding amused by Marino's unusual tone.

  "Uh… nothing, nothing at all," Marino answered awkwardly.

  Unaware of Marino's nervousness, Gao Shen began discussing pns for the team's preseason preparations. His tone was casual, pletely devoid of any hint that he might leave, which finally allowed Marino to breathe a sigh of relief.

  "Gao, let's put those matters aside for now. We o handle something more pressing first," Marino said, regaining some posure.

  "What's that?"

  "Your tract renewal."

  "Are you afraid I'll run off?" Gao Shen teased, chug lightly.

  Marino forced a ugh, though inwardly he wao say: Gao Shen, you have no idea just how sought-after you are right now!

  "I'll head ba a few days. Then we sit down, hash everything out, a done properly," Gao Shen reassured him.

  Hearing this, Marino nodded quickly, relieved that they were finally making progress on the tract front.

  In truth, the new tract had been ready for a while, but Gao Shen had deyed the iations, g various reasons. During the season, he cimed he was too busy to discuss it, and after the season ended, he went on vacation, leaving the matter in limbo.

  Now, however, Gao She it was time to settle things.

  ---

  "Why are you back so te?"

  The moment Gao Shen stepped into the house, Su Qing stood up from the sofa, her gaze filled with .

  Although the TV ying the evening news, it was clear she hadn't been paying attention. She must have been waiting for him, alert to every sound ing from the door.

  "I ran into an old friend, and we ended up chatting lohan expected," Gao Shen expined with a smile.

  He couldn't help but feel a little triumphant, especially after his glowing reendation of Guardio earlier that evening. The look of gratitude Guardio had given him as they parted was still fresh in his mind.

  Refleg on how he had helped Guardio while simultaneously paving the way for his own future pns, Gao She an indescribable sense of satisfa.

  Now that he had given Guardio a push, all that remained was to turn his attention to Zidane.

  But thinking about Zida Gao Shen feeling a bit exasperated.

  Has that guy finally gotten his coag lise? he wondered.

  As talented as Zidane was as a pyer, why did it seem like he was dragging his feet when it came to being a coach?

  Sitting down on the sofa, Gao Shen gave Su Qing a brief rundown of the night's events. Of course, he avoided mentioning his private calcutions, instead presenting himself as someone full of vi and crity.

  "So, your goal is to lead Napoli to success in the Champions League?" Su Qing asked, summarizing his iions.

  "That's right." Gao Shen nodded. He then eborated on the challenges Napoli would face, particurly in the group stage, where they were guarao nd in the so-called "Group of Death." The only variable was how difficult it would be.

  "If anything, I think it's the other teams who should be worried," Su Qing said lightly. "With Napoli as strong as they are in the fourth seed, no one's going to want to face you."

  Her words were music to Gao Shen's ears, and he nodded with a smile.

  "Still, we o stay realistic. The goal is to qualify from the group stage. Once we're in the knockout rounds, we'll take it one game at a time," he said.

  Su Qing agreed, sensing that Gao Shen had matured. His fidenow came with a sense of bance assertive when necessary but grounded and strategic.

  "This will probably be my st year in Naples," Gao Shen said after a moment of refle.

  "Why?" Su Qing asked, puzzled.

  Gao Shen smiled faintly. "De Laurentiis has already ied so much moo be ho, I don't think I ask for more."

  He then expihat while De Laurentiis wasn't a billionaire like Abramovich, he had still been funding the club out of his own pocket. Even the €2 millio on Maggio was a substantial sum in the football world.

  Despite what fans might think aced to hearing about transfers costing tens or even hundreds of millions of euros—€2 million was no small figure for most clubs. For De Laurentiis, it was a signifit outy.

  "Eventually, he's going to want to cash out. He's not the type to pour endless money into a club. And when that time es, Napoli's performance will drop, and the team will start selling pyers to stay afloat. When the supermarket opens, the giants will e running. That'll be my cue to leave," Gao Shen cluded.

  He g Su Qing. "After all, I'm not Ferguson."

  ---

  "Remember how, ba school, we'd all memorize famous quotes to use in essays? Every time we had an assig, we'd pare who had used the best one?" Gao Shen asked with a nostalgic grin.

  Su Qing nodded, a little shyly.

  "Well, isn't now the perfect time for you to hit me with one of those quotes for encement?" he teased.

  Caught off guard, Su Qiated. Wasn't that something they only did for essays raduation notes?

  But seeing Gao Shen's expet look, she thought for a moment and finally said, "In front of God and the world, the strong always have the right to implement their will."

  Gao Shen frowned. "Wait, is that supposed to be a pliment for me?"

  Wasn't that something Napoleon once said?

  Su Qing blushed, feeling slightly embarrassed.

  "The css geniuses from our school sometimes got their quotes a bit wrong," Gao Shen joked with a grin.

  Realizing her first choice hadn't nded well, Su Qing cleared her throat and tried again. "Then how about this: 'A gentleman strives for self-improvement.'"

  "Hmm, a little cliché, don't you think?" Gao Shen said, feigning disdain.

  Su Qing shot him a gre, clearly annoyed, and stood up. "Fine, make do with those two!" she said, turning toward the bedroom.

  As she walked away, Gao Shen smiled and leaned ba the sofa, a sense of warmth filling him.

  A little while ter, a message popped up in his social media inbox.

  "Do what you're supposed to do, ahe results speak for themselves," it read.

  Gao Shen smiled and typed back, "Thank you."

  A momehe reply came: "You're wele."