Chapter 277: The Red Forest Chapter 50 Poaching Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Good morning, Freddy." Twain noticed the newspaper in Eastwood's hand and laughed. "I thought you never read the newspaper."
"I do skim through, I just rarely read the sports section. But today, because of this..." Freddy Eastwood pointed to Twain's photograph in the newspaper and smiled, "I didn't recognize you at first. Chief, you look different from usual with makeup on."
Twain looked down at the newspaper in his hand. He did look different and more handsome from his reflection in the mirror. No wonder those stars had outstanding images. It was all due to the credit of the makeup artist, lighting technician, and photographer.
"You must have been mistaken, Freddy, I've always looked like this." Twain chuckled as he pointed to the newspaper. "Where's Sabina?" He realized that Eastwood was along in the caravan.
"She sent the kids to school."
"Sending the children to school while she's pregnant..." When he thought of the young mother who was pregnant and yet could not sit still all day, Twain smiled and shook his head. Was it because she had excess energy? Or was it because she was stubborn? "So, is your second child a son or a daughter?"
"A girl!" The Gypsy said immediately. "We always wanted a daughter, and we already thought of her name."
"What's her name?"
"Chardonnay."
When Twain heard the name, he felt a little awkward. "It's a strange name… What is that?"
"It's a type of green-skinned grape and the most popular wine variety, it's precocious!" Eastwood explained earnestly.
"Oh..." The Romani Gypsy sometimes had a different mindset than ordinary people. After understanding this, Twain no longer wondered about Eastwood's strange words and actions. However, giving his daughter such an odd name was still an eye-opener.
He looked down at his watch; it was almost time.
"Let's go, Freddy."
The Romani Gypsy nodded, got up to put the newspaper back inside and turned to leave with Twain to go to the training ground.
The training base was gradually becoming livelier. The players and coaches, who were here for the training, continuously appeared on the training ground. George Wood was still the first to arrive, and the wire fence outside the field was surrounded by a lot of fans who had come to watch the team in training and seek autographs from the players they liked. Wood, currently the most popular, was the focus of their attention.
The weather was good today, and the number of people outside the training ground had naturally increased.
Twain walked behind them and could clearly hear the voices of the fans talking excitedly about Wood.
"He's so handsome!"
"So cool!"
"Look at his eyes!"
They were all female voices. Most of George Wood's fans were women. Truthfully, George Wood did have the makings of an idol. He might not be considered handsome, but he was manly and strong-jawed with sharp and angular lines on his face. Furthermore, his position on the field and style of play easily gave a feeling of aloofness. But he did not realize that himself, and never deliberately tried to work that angle.
Suddenly a male voice emerged from the sea of female voices, which naturally attracted Twain's attention.
"What a gorgeous man!"
Twain shivered slightly when he passed by the man. He stopped in his tracks and looked to see who had said it.
The man had his back towards Twain. His clothes were not flamboyant but were appropriate to the occasion and without creases. His blonde hair was smoothed down at the back and combed meticulously. His shoes gleamed like a mirror.
Such a person would not be a fan of a player like George Wood.
Twain stood behind the man, trying to make sense of him. The more he looked, the more he felt that the figure looked familiar.
"Such appeal is many times stronger than those sissy types. Why didn't I discover you earlier? Oh, George Wood."
Hearing this person muttering to himself, Twain suddenly remembered.
"You still haven't given up."
Twain abruptly spoke up behind the other man, startling him. His shoulders visibly shook, and then he turned around to look at Tony Twain, who was standing behind him. He said with a frown, "Didn't anyone tell you that it's impolite to eavesdrop and interrupt someone without permission, Mr. Twain?"
As expected, it was the same gentleman who had blocked Wood's path on the street to give him a business card that day.
Not knowing why, whenever Twain encountered this man, Twain would suddenly feel dark, as though the sky had become gloomy.
"In that case, has anyone ever told you that it's rude to always think about poaching someone else's men, sir?"
The two men opposed each other measure for measure, neither willing to give in.
"Would you like me to remind you again? George Wood is Nottingham Forest's core player. He will do nothing but play football. Don't even plan on grooming your entertainment star."
This man also knew that some things were hard to change. Right now, George Wood was in hot demand. He had no reason to persuade this kid to give up this seemingly promising career to try his luck in the entertainment industry.
But he just could not stand the man's overbearing attitude and the tone of his voice, because he himself was the kind of person who liked to be above others.
"Nottingham Forest welcomes everyone who supports the team, but if you want to take Wood away from Wilford I'm afraid I can't let you."
After saying this, Twain turned and walked away. Staying behind, the gentleman pursed his lips tightly and glared at Twain's back.
"We'll meet again, Mr. Twain... I promise you."
※※※
On January 15, Nottingham Forest defeated Fulham, which had come to challenge them at their home ground by 1:0. With the 23rd round over, Nottingham Forest ranked sixth with a total of thirty-seven points, the same score as Liverpool, but with a slightly lower number of goals. Having played more than half of the league tournament, Tang En was very satisfied with the result. At the beginning of the league tournament, many of the two or three-tiered teams had been able to advance to higher than sixth place, but now Nottingham Forest was the only one that had remained at the top.
Tang En was not surprised that Everton was ranked fourth because he knew Everton's ability and Moyes' standards. This was a reasonable and fair result. But he also knew that the second half of the season was crucial for Moyes and himself. The Forest team was under great pressure to maintain their sixth-place position. Similarly, Moyes would also try hard to keep within the top four.
Tang En always subconsciously treated Moyes' Everton as his direct competitor in his mind because Everton and the Forest team were the closest in terms of ability.
Chelsea was high up in the ranking now. They had won eighteen games out of the twenty-three rounds with four draws and one defeat. The team was ranked first with fifty-eight points, ten points ahead of the second-ranked Arsenal!
Continuing with this momentum, Chelsea were almost certain to win the league title this season, the way Tang En remembered it; and the only game they had lost was the one against the Forest team.