Starting With Real Madrid

The Posillipo district of Naples, commonly known as the Bay Area.

The sea breeze blew the floor-to-ceiling curtains in the bedroom, crackling, and Sánchez woke up in the bed at home.

At the Christmas dinner last night, he drank some wine, came back late, and forgot to close the sliding door on the balcony.

He got out of bed, put on a coat, and walked out of the bedroom to the balcony, where the blue sea stretched out in the distance.

The sea in Naples was as blue as the sea in northern Chile, but there were no freighters passing by from time to time, and there were more silhouettes of mountains and peaks on distant islands.

Before he knew it, he had lived here for almost half a year and had grown accustomed to it.

Sometimes, he even blurred the memories of his time in Chile.

The only thing he reminded himself was that he couldn't go back to the past, no matter what.

That thought motivated him to work hard on the field.

...

When he first came to Naples to rent a house, he immediately fell in love with this three-story home by the seaside and halfway up the mountain.

The house was a bit old, and the decor wasn't particularly luxurious, but it was clean, tidy, and comfortable. You could see the sea as soon as you stepped outside, just like in his hometown.

His mother, family, and stepfather loved it here. They lived on the second floor, leaving him with the third floor all to himself.

His younger siblings were all studying in nearby schools, which the club had arranged for them.

Sánchez still remembered when his family first arrived in Naples. Gao Shen had come to visit and told him that no matter what, he had to make sure his younger siblings continued with their education, so they'd have a way forward in life.

Both Sánchez and his mother agreed with the coach. Even though his siblings were reluctant, they still got into school.

He hoped they would go to university, find decent jobs, and establish themselves in Italy and Europe, so they wouldn't have to return to Chile.

Of course, he also thought that if he saved for a few more years, he could return to Chile and live comfortably.

After all, the gap between the rich and the poor there was enormous.

His teammate Vidal had a clear plan. He said that once he earned enough money playing football in Europe, he would go back to Chile, buy a large farm, hire a lot of workers, and focus on farming after he retired.

Sánchez thought this was a good idea, but he still hadn't figured out how to become a qualified farmer.

...

After washing up, he went down to the second floor. Before he could even step off the stairs, he heard the sounds of his younger siblings arguing.

School was out for vacation, so all the kids were at home. Right now, they were playing with the game console he had brought home the night before.

When it came to reading, they were terrible, but when it came to playing games, they were geniuses. They didn't need to be taught how to connect wires or troubleshoot—they figured it out faster than anyone else.

Seeing how energetic they were, Sánchez decided not to join them.

He went down to the first floor and saw his mother and stepfather standing by the door, chatting.

"What's going on?" Sánchez asked curiously.

He noticed a very special gift box on the table in front of his mother.

"You're awake." His mother turned around in surprise when she heard his voice. "Your coach was here."

"Really?" Sánchez was surprised and looked around, but there was no one to be seen.

"He left already," his mother replied quickly.

Sánchez frowned. "Why didn't you call me?"

"He didn't want to disturb you. He said he was just dropping off a gift."

With that, his mother and stepfather stepped aside to reveal the large gift box with an intricate Chinese knot on it. Although Sánchez's family didn't understand the symbol, they always thought it had a positive meaning.

"He said it's a Chinese tradition. During the New Year, they always visit and give gifts. He didn't want to disturb us on Christmas, so he dropped it off early today. I opened it it's tea, a porcelain tea set, and a bottle of wine."

Sánchez stepped forward and gently touched the outer wrapping of the gift box, feeling warmth in his heart.

Last night, he hadn't heard anything about the coach visiting.

Thinking of this, he quickly pulled out his phone from his pocket, found Gao Shen's number, and called.

"Hey, you're awake?" As soon as the call connected, he heard Gao Shen's hearty laughter.

"I just woke up, boss. Why didn't you call me when you came over?"

"It's nothing."

"Where are you? I'll come find you."

"I'm on the outskirts of Naples. My god, Cannavaro lives so far away," Gao Shen said with a bitter smile.

Sánchez couldn't help but laugh.

The boss was visiting all the players one by one.

He remembered Gao Shen mentioning that, in Chinese schools, teachers would visit students' homes. They called it a home visit.

...

As Sánchez made the call, Gao Shen had indeed left the city.

This was quite the project.

The game console from last night had been arranged by Gao Shen, paid for by the club. But today, this was his personal effort.

He had asked Su Qing from China to help prepare the gifts. Price wasn't a concern after all, these were New Year's gifts for his players, and it would be better if they had some Chinese characteristics.

...

Strictly speaking, this was the first Christmas since Gao Shen had come to this world.

In his memory, last Christmas, he had been living alone in a rented apartment in Madrid.

There was no other choice he had been all alone at the time.

Now, things were different.

Many people had invited him to spend Christmas with them.

For example, the Carlos family had invited him back to Madrid. Lucas had also invited him home. And Sánchez and other players staying in Naples, knowing he was by himself, had extended their invitations too.

Even Sacchi called to ask if he wanted to spend Christmas together.

But Gao Shen politely declined all the invitations.

On Christmas Day, he stayed home alone and played games.

World of Warcraft also had Christmas events. As soon as Gao Shen's knight, Zidane, logged in, he saw a familiar figure waiting for him at the Ironforge bank.

Mourinho.

No need to guess, this shadow priest was Su Qing.

"Why are you so late? I've been waiting for ages," Mourinho sent a private message.

Zidane replied, "There's a time difference, I just woke up."

"Hurry up! I'm taking you to farm some new gear today. You need to swap out that old stuff. I've never seen anyone as lazy as you either fishing or cooking all day long," Mourinho complained.

Zidane sent a laughing emoji, boarded a gryphon in Ironforge, and flew to the South Seas.

On the way, he sent another message to Mourinho: "How's your Fabregas doing?"

"Almost level 40."

"..." Zidane was speechless.

Gao Shen began to reflect was he too laid back?

In reality, he had already played through World of Warcraft before. This time, it was mainly to play with Su Qing. The condition was that all of Su Qing's characters had to be named by Gao Shen.

For instance, her priest was named Mourinho, her mage was Fabregas, and she had a druid named Van Nistelrooy. Gao Shen himself had an elf druid named Adriano and a warrior named Zambrotta...

In his previous life, naming his characters after football stars was one of the greatest joys he found in playing World of Warcraft.

It was the same now.

Although Su Qing was speechless, she still listened to him.

In World of Warcraft, Mourinho's character was much more advanced than Zidane's.

There was no contest Su Qing had a whole group of friends helping her.

At the beginning, Mourinho and Zidane had leveled up slowly together, starting from Northshire Abbey.

But for some reason, their classmates found out about their characters, and Mourinho's power leveling took off. She was quickly rushed through to Blackwing Lair, where she didn't miss out on any top-tier gear her priest was fully decked out.

Zidane, on the other hand, could only play occasionally due to his busy schedule. Fortunately, he didn't care about leveling up. Instead, he enjoyed fishing, cooking, and other leisurely activities.

Mourinho had asked for his account several times, saying she would help him level up and run dungeons, but Zidane refused.

Left with no other choice, Mourinho started leveling a mage, Cesc Fabregas, claiming that mages were better at power leveling others.

"I've mapped out the best leveling path. Don't waste time cooking or fishing today follow me and farm the gear. Then we'll grind some monsters and quests to level you up quickly," Mourinho instructed.

"Zidane nodded solemnly, 'I listen to you, Mr. Mourinho.'"

So, on that day, at the gates of the Horde's Undercity on a particular World of Warcraft server, one could see a comical sight: an Alliance paladin named Zidane, riding a pony because he didn't have enough money for a proper mount, wandering around while the Horde players with their green faces and fangs looked on in curiosity. Occasionally, one of them would run over, grin menacingly, and make as if they wanted to devour him.

Zidane was utterly speechless. Unable to communicate with them, he had to resort to acting tough, only to be ambushed by a rogue lurking in the shadows.

There was nothing he could do time to spirit run after another death.

"I think it's a disgrace that someone as dignified as Zidane is getting bullied like this in World of Warcraft," Zidane grumbled.

Mourinho, riding her little dark horse, giggled the whole way.

God knows why the Horde players weren't bothering her.

"Mourinho, let's go back to Ironforge. I want to duel you!" Zidane cried out.

What frustrated Zidane even more was that the shameless players who had ambushed him were now camping his body, waiting to kill him again...

Damn it, I just want to do some Scarlet Monastery runs, is that too much to ask?

Left with no choice, Zidane continued his death-and-resurrection cycle.

After a long struggle, he finally made it to the gates of the Scarlet Monastery, escaping the relentless harassment from the Horde players, only to find himself facing the brutal NPCs inside.

Seriously, is this day never going to end?

What an unforgettable Christmas.