733 World Cup in South Africa (1/2)

Twain's fight with the reporters in the hotel did not cause his holidays to return to him. Instead, it only caused his holidays to leave him further behind.

News about how he berated the Chinese Football Association and got into a duel of words with the reporters during the press conference surfaced on numerous media platforms. No matter where he walked, he would always run into reporters or football fans. Some of them were friendly toward him while others longed for him to die.

It was said that the Chinese Football Association was so enraged by Tony Twain's comments that they specially phoned Nottingham Forest Football Club to protest. However, Nottingham Forest Football Club's reply to them was, ”Mr. Tony Twain does not represent our football club when he is out on holiday. The comments he makes during his personal time have nothing to do with our football club.”

That was how they dismissed the Chinese Football Association's fury. However, the Chinese Football Association still had other ways to express their discontent. They made it clear that they would not allow Nottingham Forest to play any matches in China in the future. Essentially, they blacklisted the entire Nottingham Forest team.

It was quite a display of might. If they could have, they wanted to ban Tony Twain from entering China. Of course, their actions only caused the netizens and media to bombard them with admonitions.

In Chinese, there was a term used to express humility in which the speaker downgrades himself or herself by claiming that he or she is presenting something unpleasant to another person. What the Chinese Football Association was doing was not to present something unpleasant. Rather, they were showing off' their unpleasantries. They were making all their imperfections known to the public, as though they are bragging about it. It was as if they thought the world was as stupid as them.

The Chinese media in China had been unusually busy during this period of time. Some were busy scolding the Chinese Football Association, and some were applauding Twain for his words. Some just wanted to be at loggerheads with both parties involved, and some were just trying to hype up the whole incident. There were all kinds of people making an appearance.

All the reports left the Chinese football fans stimulated. It was one adrenaline rush after another.

As for Twain, he left after stirring up numerous disturbances and dumping a massive grenade into an originally calm lake. He could not continue to enjoy his holidays in China any longer. All he could do was to make his way over to Hong Kong and attend a press conference about a business endorsement.

Similarly, Shania had to shoot an advertisement for a makeup brand with which she had signed a contract. She also needed to attend a press conference for a product launch in Hong Kong. The organizers of the event had prepared a small dinner party to entertain both Twain and Shania.

There were much fewer annoying and trivial issues bothering Twain in Hong Kong. Things might have been getting out of control in China, but all those things had nothing to do with Twain while he was in Hong Kong.

He stayed in Hong Kong for a couple of days before flying back to England with Shania. He certainly did not forget to bring back a present for Evan and Allan from China. However, the present was not something tangible. It was a request for a business collaboration.

During his short stay in Hong Kong, Twain met Li Ka-shing's elder son, Victor Li, who was the CEO of Cheung Kong Holdings Limited. It was just supposed to be a simple dinner party, but Victor Li clearly came prepared. He mentioned how he was very interested in the real estate development plan that had been put aside by Nottingham Forest during his chat with Twain. He did not say much, but the intelligent Twain already knew what the man was getting at.

The British real estate market had taken a huge blow as a result of the economic crisis going on for the past two years. Property and land prices had gone on a steep decline and almost hit rock bottom. To a successful businessman, it was precisely during times like this that an opportunity to make a fortune arose. Since the British real estate market was currently experiencing winter, didn't that mean that spring was not too far away?

If not for the arrival of the economic crisis, Nottingham Forest would have been able to complete development plans in Clifton without a hitch. Given how the British real estate market had prospered in previous years, the football club would have been able to generate a profit and suffer no losses.

If that had happened, it would have been difficult for the Li family, which mainly did business in Hong Kong, to participate in the British real estate development market. To Victor Li's Cheung Kong Holdings Limited, the economic crisis had provided a golden opportunity to expand their business overseas.

Clifton was just a part of a brick wall that Victor Li had to tear down in order to bring his business into England. However, Twain did not care about what these businessmen had on their minds. He was just going to relay the news to Allan Adams and Evan Doughty. Everything else was up to Allan.

If this business collaboration was possible, it would be good news for him too. He would no longer have to worry about not having the funds to buy players. He could also stop selling star players to generate the funds needed to fill the bottomless pit caused by the club's constant financial troubles.

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Evan was very interested in the ”gift” that Twain brought back from China. It would certainly reduce the club's financial burdens if they were able to convince the Hong Kong firm to invest in their development plans. He did not think about having all of the profits to himself at a time like this when the economy was not doing well. The cake was too big for him to finish alone.

Allan was optimistic about the news that Twain brought back, but he also exercised caution. He had approached Victor Li in the past for a business collaboration. Back then, Victor Li had considered his proposition for a while but ended up refusing it. Why did he change his mind in just a year?

In contrast, Evan did not find it odd that Victor Li had a change of heart. A year ago, the property and land prices had not reached rock bottom. It was only natural for him to wait until the prices hit rock bottom before making a move since it would lower the overall costs for him. He was a businessman after all. He needed to be a little crafty.

As Twain was having a headache over which players he should buy and sell for the new season, Allan Adams flew over to Hong Kong personally to discuss the details about a potential business collaboration.

None of them could have known that this business deal would take a year before an agreement would finally be reached. Both parties signed a contract in September of 2011. The new football stadium finally welcomed the arrival of the ”God of Wealth” from the East. The construction work that had been stalled for three years could finally resume.

Of course, this information was just a postscript for the time being and would be discussed at a later time.

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Half of June had already passed by when Dunn returned to Nottingham by himself. To both Twain and Dunn, however, the summer for 2010 had only just started.

Traveling to China and helping the club earn a chance to work with the Li family were trifles to Twain. The main event for this summer was definitely not his squabble with the Chinese media. It was going to take place in South Africa. The World Cup had commenced.

Numerous highly sought-after football stars had emerged from the previous World Cup competitions. The World Cup was the perfect chance for managers to scrutinize the conditions and performances of their own players, as well as potential players.

After hearing that Cheung Kong Holdings Limited was interested in working with the club in the development of Clifton, Evan Doughty set aside 50 million pounds as Twain's summer transfer budget from the company's finances.

With that money in hand, Twain dragged Dunn along with him. They boarded the plane to the capital of South Africa, Johannesburg. The treasure hunt had started again.

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”I was still worried that we would see nothing but sceneries of falling snow when we got off the plane,” Twain commented. ”It seems like I know too little about the world.”

The host, South Africa, was situated in the Southern Hemisphere. It was currently winter in South Africa, unlike other countries in the Northern Hemisphere already experiencing midsummer.

It might have been winter in South Africa, but the weather was not wintry. The average temperature in Johannesburg, which was one of the several venues for the World Cup, was 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Such a temperature was very suitable for outdoor sports.