In West London, in an office building not far from Fleet Street, Zhou Yanzheng was slumped on his office chair with eyes blank.

He just had a phone call with the editor-in-chief who was in China, and the other person’s merciless words still echoed in his ears.

"What's going on? Didn't you say that standing on the opposite side of Levi can make a big hit?"

"The sales volume of this issue is only half of the previous issue!! Is this what you call a big sale?? Ah?!"

"Editor-in-Chief, this... this is a temporary, technical adjustment..."

"Technical adjustment? Do you think it's stock trading?" The other party interrupted him rudely, "I've given you two chances, Zhou Yan, is this how you repay me?"

"Editor-in-Chief, as long as you wait a little longer, believe me, you will definitely..."

"That's enough! I'm not here to listen to your explanation. I'm here to inform you that the head of the British branch has been decided by the headquarters and will arrive in the UK next week."

"This is unfair!" Zhou Yan suddenly jumped up from his chair, "I have been working here for ten years. No one in the club knows British football better than me. You can't find a stupid young man to replace you.

Me! As you said, I am the next person in charge!"

"You also know that you have been working for ten years! Have you worked on dogs for the past ten years? If you continue to do this, the British branch should be cancelled!"

"Editor-in-Chief, I am just temporarily frustrated..."

"Stop talking. I'm not discussing with you. I'm informing you of the headquarters' decision. Do you understand? Don't think about the position of the person in charge. If sales still don't improve, you should think about how to keep your job!

”

After saying that, he hung up the phone with a bang.

After talking on the phone, Zhou Yan slumped in his chair as if his spine had been ripped out all at once.

The editor-in-chief was actually right. He had already given himself two chances, except for the one with Arsenal, and then he followed his own advice and published an article criticizing Levi. In any case, he had done his best.

But why have things reached this stage?

His somewhat numb brain began to think hard.

He knows Chinese players well. There is a sparse selection of talent and a backward youth training system. The players who come out of there are the likes of Sun Jihai and Li Zhi.

Maybe they can also gain a foothold in the Premier League, but if they want to survive in the traditional, conservative and xenophobic British football world, they can only stay humble and stay small, relying on diligence to keep a place.

And if there is any disturbance, it may be a disaster. Look at Li Zhi, who was Everton's main player last season, but now he can hardly even kick the ball?

Zhou Yan thinks he understands this situation thoroughly - if they are not so superior that everyone is convinced, then in an exclusive atmosphere like the UK, Chinese players will lose 30% of their 100% ability.

.

Only one of them, Sun Jihai, seems to be the only one who can still gain a foothold in the Premier League with only seven remaining talents.

Zhou Yanman confidently believes that this is the upper limit for Chinese players in the UK. If any compatriots want to survive here, they must not only be at the top of the country in terms of strength, but also be as diligent as Sun Jihai. Only then can there be any chance.

This is Zhou Yan’s prediction of the trajectory of Chinese players studying abroad in the future.

But when we get to Levi, why is everything different?

It seems that all the experiences Zhou Yan summarized in the past about Chinese players are no longer valid.

It doesn’t make sense!

Levi still has the typical Chinese characteristics of introversion and humility. According to Zhou Yan's understanding, even if such a character can succeed, it is impossible to become the leader of the English team!

But Levi did it.

Whether facing Cesc Fabregas or facing the team's weak offensive situation after Lennon's promotion, Levi stood up immediately and shouldered the team's burden.

When did Chinese players in England become so popular?

Although it is only a youth team, this phenomenon is unique!

"You should know how difficult it is for Chinese football to have a good prospect like Levi. Do you have the heart to destroy this last glimmer of hope?"

Yan Ruo's words that day suddenly came to Zhou Yan's mind.

Hope? Is there really hope for Chinese football?

Zhou Yan didn't know, but he had a vague feeling that maybe Yan Ruo's persistence was right.

Ha!

He was so stunned that he shook his head and laughed at himself.

Where is the hope for Chinese football? The players who came out of that dye vat have already been doomed.

Of course, he had no way of knowing that the soul in Levi's body had never been trained in China from the beginning. The first formal training he received was at Leeds United.

However, even if he knew, I'm afraid he wouldn't change his mind.

After all, how could he, Zhou Yan, bow to Li Wei and that annoying Yan Ruo?

He must go down this road.

Zhou Yan looked up at the schedule on the wall. After the New Year, the first game of the Leeds United youth team was against Manchester United.

A pair of old enemies!

Can Manchester United stop Levi?

Zhou Yan shook his head. Compared with last season, Manchester United's youth team did not have any outstanding newcomers. Although the defense headed by Shawcross was indeed more mature, Richardson promoted the first team to let the youth team's own performance.

The weak offensive strength has been further weakened.

He really can't be optimistic about this Manchester United team.

What's more, after Arsenal's defeat, he won't set up any more flags.

Of course it would be great if Manchester United could win. If he takes the opportunity to write another article, he might be able to restore sales and at least keep his current job.

But if he can't win, he will be prepared for both. He will not make the same mistake again.

At that time, the worst case scenario is to leave. Anyway, several small newspapers have already mentioned that they want to poach him, but he didn't like them before.

However, if I had gone to another place, I am afraid that the article criticizing Levi might not be able to continue to be published.

Is it possible for Zhou Yan to ask for peace with a shameful face?

This is of course absolutely impossible, and the struggle must be persevered to the end.

I heard that there is a popular way to publish personal articles on the Internet recently. What is it called a blog? Maybe you can give it a try then?

Zhou Yan thought for a while, straightened up from the office chair, and started searching on the computer.

I just didn't expect that as soon as I opened the website, the big characters with the New Year atmosphere on the homepage came to my face, making Zhou Yan's right hand holding the mouse tremble slightly.

Probably, this upcoming New Year will have to be spent working overtime alone, right?

Thinking of this, a wry smile appeared on his face.

※※※※※※

Compared with Zhou Yan, who was alone at home, Li Wei, who was at home at this time, was a completely different scene.

Today is Sunday, Levi’s regular class day.

All in all, his German course has lasted for more than three months, but unlike when he first learned Italian, his progress this time was much slower. Even verb conjugation, figures 1, 2 and 3 were enough in the first lesson.

He hasn't fully understood the concepts mentioned yet.

This is a bit strange.

It stands to reason that German and English both belong to the Western branch of the Germanic language family of the Indo-European language family. They can be said to be two very similar languages. Moreover, German is the second most spoken language in Europe after English, and is the preferred choice of most Europeans.

Second language.

Italian belongs to the Romance language family of the Indo-European language family, and the difference between it and English is obviously much greater than that of German.

It makes no sense that Li Wei is slow to learn German, but faster to learn Italian.

As a teacher, Gu Xiaohan is also quite puzzled by this. After all, she has never encountered such a situation. In the end, it can only be attributed to the fact that Li Wei's enthusiasm may have been exhausted when he learned the first language.

Right.

However, in this way, the student Li Wei's learning speed seems to be much normal, and finally he will not embarrass the teacher.

However, although Levi himself could not fully understand why this was the case, at least he knew that it was not because he was tired or slack.

Perhaps there was a reason why he rashly said that sentence in the first class. Being a little slow, he only realized something was wrong after that class. The subsequent classes were somewhat embarrassing and even a little awkward.

If you don’t dare to face Gu Xiaohan, it’s natural that your efficiency in listening to lectures will plummet.

As for the deeper level, maybe even he himself is not aware of it, maybe deep down in his heart, he just hopes that this course can be longer.

But no matter what the reason is, the current German class is somewhat painful for Levi to some extent.

But today, things have changed a little.

※※※※※※

The source of the change was naturally a certain little girl who appeared out of thin air.

At around eight o'clock this morning, Levi was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Emma was sitting boredly at the dining table on a chair that was obviously too high for her, with her legs dangling in the air.

"Is anyone coming today?" the little girl asked while dangling her feet.

"Well, my German teacher will come over to teach me today," Levi replied casually, "Do you want your eggs to be runny?"
To be continued...