CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 32: THE GATHERING

After the match ended, Negredo approached Chen Zhong to swap jerseys.

"How about we hang out tonight?"

"Just the two of us?"

"No way, I’ve had enough of you today." Negredo shook his head repeatedly, covering his mouth with his hand to avoid being seen laughing, while whispering, "Of course, we should call Parejo, Callejon, and the others too!"

"Then you go tell the coach, I’m not going."

"If I talk to him, he won’t agree, but if you do, it’ll work." Negredo patted Chen Zhong’s shoulder, knowing they had just lost the game, he couldn’t chat too much or Almeria’s fans would judge him. He whispered, "Agreed! Don’t worry, it’s the usual routine, not expensive, you cheapskate."

When Chen Zhong and his buddies get together, it’s usually split evenly among everyone, with no one treating.

After Negredo left, Cannavaro came over and patted Chen Zhong, praising his performance in the match and reminding him, "Chen, only discipline will take you further on this path. I don’t object to you going out with friends, but I hope you know what you can and can’t do."

As Cannavaro said this, he glanced at Robinho standing in the players’ tunnel.

"I know, it’s just a gathering among friends. We won’t even drink alcohol," Chen Zhong explained to Cannavaro, "We’ll even eat light food and then hit the gym together for extra training."

"That’s pretty good." Cannavaro raised an eyebrow, not suspecting Chen Zhong was lying; this time was enough for him to understand someone, and he was just showing concern for a young player.

After Cannavaro left, Marcelo suddenly appeared from nowhere. He hadn’t even made it onto the match roster, likely seated in the staff area, and dashed down after the game.

"Chen!" Marcelo grinned like a child, his eyes wide in curiosity, asked Chen Zhong, "What did that Number 9 say to you? Do you know him? Did he invite you for a rematch?"

"Tsk..." Chen Zhong looked at the inquisitive Marcelo and rolled his eyes, "Stop reading too many martial arts novels. He was my teammate back at Castilla, and we planned to meet up tonight."

"Party!" Marcelo exclaimed, drawing the attention of nearby teammates, and then...

...

In the evening, the box’s door suddenly swung open with a "bang."

Nacho hadn’t appeared, but his voice came through first.

"Chen, no wonder it’s you. If it weren’t for you, Lopetegi wouldn’t have let us out."

Nacho entered the box smiling, then instantly froze like he’d been petrified. He thought it was just a gathering of their small circle, and upon entering, whom did he see?

Raul, Guti, Pepe, Sneijder, Torres, Marcelo, Soldado, Baptista, Casillas, and nine other first-team players sitting inside.

This caused Nacho to become tense, and those who came with him like Parejo, Callejon, Carvajal, Vazquez also suddenly restrained their expressions, with only Parejo and Callejon recovering quickly, except for the naive Carvajal.

He glanced around, seemingly searching for Sergado’s presence, but found nothing.

Nacho slipped past Marcelo, who was clinging to Chen Zhong, pressed his face close, and whispered, "What’s happening? Wasn’t this supposed to be a gathering with Negredo? We wanted to tease him a bit!"

"I didn’t plan for this either!" Chen Zhong’s voice squeaked as if squeezed out from between his teeth. He glanced at Marcelo and then quietly told Nacho, "Initially, it was like that, but the guy you just nudged called out, and then Raul came over. Upon hearing about the gathering, he wanted to join, and when he learned it was Castilla players, he invited Guti, Torres, Soldado, Casillas, saying he wanted to see the current juniors."

"Then, Marcelo insisted on joining, though I didn’t want to, thinking we should arrange for another day since it was a small gathering for Castilla players, but Marcelo nagged about us all being Real Madrid players, good friends!"

"Once Raul heard that, he laughed, agreeing that yes, everyone is part of Real Madrid; we aren’t like La Masia with its exclusivity, so he nodded in agreement, and Marcelo invited Pepe, Baptista, originally asking Robinho as well, but Robinho asked where we were going, heard it wasn’t the bar, so left."

"When Guti saw Marcelo joining, he invited others as well. Ah, I don’t know when Guti and Sneijder became so friendly, he asked Sneijder, who agreed, and Sneijder also invited Van Nistelrooy—luckily he didn’t accept, or else our numbers would further swell."

After hearing Chen Zhong’s explanation, Nacho’s eyes glimmered as he looked at Chen Zhong. Not just Nacho but those like Parejo, Callejon, Carvajal, Vazquez who entered likely now gained a new perspective on Chen Zhong’s connections; a new story was brewing, waiting for them to return to Sports City to spread the word.

As the atmosphere gradually became harmonious, people started to chatter and laugh.

"Bang"

The door swung open again, and Negredo strutted confidently inside. Mouth agape and with the attitude of a person with nobody above him, he was about to shout something when he saw so many people staring at him, causing his words to get stuck in his throat.

Initially, confusion flickered in Negredo’s eyes, and he quickly recalled his earlier jersey exchange and gathering invite, wondering if he clearly conveyed the details.

Ultimately assessing deeply, whether there remained any necessity to boast to Chen Zhong about becoming Almeria’s absolute mainstay, and even the team’s offensive tactics revolving around him.

In less than thirty seconds, Negredo accepted reality and joined Chen Zhong’s group.

Though the box was spacious, while everyone was there to party, it was subtly evident it split into two groups.

One centered around Raul, Guti, Sneijder, Casillas, with Soldado, Torres nearby.

The other centered around Chen Zhong, with Marcelo, Pepe, Baptista on the left, and Nacho, Parejo, Callejon, Carvajal, Vazquez on the right.

Soldado and Torres were akin to bridging territories, but if biases were to be drawn, they leaned more towards Chen Zhong, as amongst those Chen Zhong knew, some had been their teammates.

The vibe gradually grew amiable; in this small box, Real Madrid’s present and future curiously intertwined.

Elsewhere, Schuster hearing about the players’ gathering, mumbled, "It’s time for action."