The two men stopped in front of a tombstone with a faded inscription that had been eroded by the elements. It was just an ordinary tombstone. Sweeping their gazes across it, they saw that the cemetery had countless other similar-looking tombstones quietly erected.
However, this particular one was distinctive because it lacked care. The white tombstone had turned to a dark grey and it looked decrepit.
"This is "my" father"s," Dunn said as he stood in front of the tombstone.
Twain squatted down and reached out to pick out the black spots on it. He thought they were just regular spots. He had not expected the marks to penetrate the inner layers of the tombstone. It was impossible to pick them out.
"I haven"t been here since the burial."
"How long ago?"
"Ten years."
Twain looked up at Dunn. That was indeed long enough. The British people"s notion of a family was not the same as that of the Chinese. Children would leave their parents once they grew up and did not often stay in touch. However, to not even visit his father"s tombstone for ten years… It was too much, wasn"t it?
Dunn knew what Twain thought, so he said, "He was my father only because he and my mother gave birth to me."
"You dislike your father?"
"No." Dunn shook his head. "it"s more like hatred."
Twain was speechless. It looked like ten years ago, a lot of things happened that Dunn desperately wanted to forget but ultimately could not.
"Because of his drinking and smoking, they detected three types of diseases in him before his death. Each one could have killed him on its own."
"Where"s your mother?"
"She ran off a long time ago. Long enough that I don"t remember the exact time."
"And she never contacted you again?"
When he heard Twain"s question, Dunn suddenly smiled. "She couldn"t wait to cut all ties with this family, even to the extent of forgetting she ever had one. Her drunk of a husband and incompetent, weak son were her nightmares. How could she possibly want to contact me? Maybe she"s already dead and buried in a public cemetery G.o.d knows where. I think the three of us being together was a big mistake."
Twain was dumbstruck by what he heard. He had had no idea that "his own" history was so complicated that it appeared to be more miserable than George Wood"s.
He stood up again.
"Now I think I know why you were so willing to become Tang En."
"I"m sorry. I took your family..." Dunn looked down.
Twain hugged him instead. "I never used to think that it was a great thing to have an ordinary nuclear family of three. I still don"t think it"s that great. But after knowing you, I think I was lucky to have that. You"re going back to China this summer, aren"t you?"
"Yes, I told them it was my "family leave.""
"Say h.e.l.lo to the parents for me… Wait, no. Don"t." Twain suddenly changed his mind. "When are you leaving?"
"I"m not sure yet, but it definitely has to be after the end of the season."
Twain looked up and thought. He was thinking about Shania"s plans for the summer holidays. He was not able to call the young girl now and ask about her plans for the summer, but… He guessed she would be busy. She wasn"t a student anymore.
"See, Dunn. When the season ends, don"t be in a hurry to go home just yet. Come with me to Germany."
"Germany? The World Cup?"
Twain nodded. "To watch the entire World Cup and see if there are any cheap bargains to be had along the way. Then I"ll go back to China with you."
Dunn was somewhat surprised. "You want to go back too?"
"Well, do you remember when I met you in Chengdu? That time I tried to go back to my hometown to visit my parents. I just wanted to check in on them, because I didn"t know how to explain to them why a foreigner suddenly wanted to visit them. Now the problem is solved. I"m your friend. I can enter the house openly to visit… our parents."
"Okay… That"s a good idea."
"Come on, let"s go back." Twain turned to leave the cemetery.
Dunn looked back at that tombstone and then turned to catch up with Twain.
"Hey, Dunn....in the past, I mean before we swapped our bodies, have you ever been in love? Have you ever liked a girl?"
"No."
"G.o.d, your life is so boring."
※※※
Now that Twain knew what "Tony Twain" had been like, his family background and his life, he felt the distance between him and Dunn lessen again.
He had already considered transferring Dunn to the First Team"s coaching unit next season. The chap had proven his ability in the youth team. In just two seasons, he had gone from being a coach in the youth team to being its a.s.sistant manager. Everyone on the team knew that Dunn had real ability and learning. He would not encounter any obstacles in convincing Evan at this point.
After the matter was settled in his mind, Twain put it aside for the time being and devoted his energies to preparing for the final stage of the season.
On April 15th, the Forest team ushered in Tottenham Hotspur at home. They must win this game because Manchester United was close at their heels.
The Forest players" performance did not disappoint Twain. They beat Tottenham Hotspur by 1:0 on their home ground.
At the same time, Manchester United"s away game with Sunderland was a tie at 0:0. The gap between the two teams widened to four points.
On April 17, during the 35th round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest won by 2:1 against Birmingham City at home. Two consecutive wins at this critical moment bought Twain some time.
Although Manchester United had won this round too, the four-point lead gave him peace of mind to prepare for the Champions League semi-finals.
At the same time, while preparing for the semi-finals against a.r.s.enal, Twain had a strange feeling that this was not the Champions League semi-finals, but just a regular league tournament game.
Why did he feel that way? Because both teams were so familiar with each other. They were in the same league and often played against each other. Twain and Arsène Wenger also had some kind of personal relations.h.i.+p.
He did not feel as excited about the semi-final game against a.r.s.enal as he was about Inter Milan. He thought maybe if his opponent were switched to Barcelona or AC Milan, he would feel more excited.
At the mention of a.r.s.enal, Twain suddenly remembered another thing. He had not taken the matter to heart before. However, now that the two teams were going head-to-head in the Champions League semi-finals, he had to re-examine it.
He went through a.r.s.enal"s accomplishments for the Champions League this season.
Since they had entered the top 16, a.r.s.enal had repeatedly scored big.
During the eighth-final game with Real Madrid, a.r.s.enal"s total score for the two rounds was 4:2.
And they scored 3:2 in total for both rounds in their quarter-final game with Juventus.
Reviewing that data, Twain frowned.
It was not the same as what he had remembered.
He remembered that a.r.s.enal"s ability to break into the UEFA Champions League finals this season was related to Wenger"s decision to take a strong defensive position. After a.r.s.enal entered the top 16, they did not concede a single goal, which enabled them to advance into the finals. This was the best proof. At the same time, while emphasizing their defense, a.r.s.enal"s offensive firepower was weakened, which was the price to pay for focusing on defense.
Twain recalled that he used to joke that Wenger had become smarter because he knew that defense was most important in the compet.i.tion to win the champions.h.i.+p.
So, what was happening here? a.r.s.enal had not changed their usual style. Wenger still insisted on playing offense in the Champions League as always. They used swift attacks and subtle coordination to defeat Real Madrid and Juventus.
It was clear that the difference between the timeline that Twain occupied now and the timeline that he knew was widening increasingly. a.r.s.enal did not rely on defense and yet they had advanced to the semi-finals. Their offense was still gorgeous and incisive.
Watching a.r.s.enal"s game highlights on the television screen and examining at their familiar offensive routines and styles, Twain was certain that the team was indeed a.r.s.enal. There was no doubt about it.
To tell the truth, Twain liked a.r.s.enal like this because they were more wide-open. As their opponent, he would have more opportunities to find his opponent"s defensive weaknesses and loopholes when they were wide open, and then to make use of them. A football game was one that looked for the opponent"s weaknesses and tried every means to conceal one"s own weaknesses.
If a.r.s.enal was really different from what he remembered and they still stuck with this open play in the semi-finals, then…
Another thought popped up in Twain"s mind.
"Dunn."
"Hm?"
"Do you have a video of a.r.s.enal"s recent league matches?"
Dunn stood up from the floor and walked to the front of a row of bookshelves. Although they were bookshelves, they were neatly lined with videotapes and CD-ROMs.
He stood before a shelf marked with the word "a.r.s.enal" and asked, "Which rounds?"
"Starting from the 33rd round up to the present."
Dunn took out the three videotapes that Twain needed and handed them to him.
"Thank you. Can you help me put them on?" Twain pointed to the video recorder.
When the footage of a.r.s.enal"s latest three compet.i.tion rounds came onto the television screen, Twain and Dunn watched the screen intently in silence.
After watching the three games in fast-forward, Twain stared blankly for a while.
"This was totally different than what I saw in the Champions League highlights. They played defensive counterattack, defensive counterattack, defensive counterattack. I"m surprised to see a.r.s.enal play like that."
a.r.s.enal won all the three rounds of league tournament and the scores were all 1:0 without exception.
a.r.s.enal did not dominate the games and played under pressure by their opponents most of the time. They also did not have the upper hand in the possession of the ball. The typical "a.r.s.enal style" was nowhere to be seen, or it was cleverly concealed by Arsène Wenger. Henry and the other players were as efficient as ever, seizing the few chances that they had to end these three rounds in victory.
"Do you know what I think?" Dunn suddenly asked.
Twain nodded. He pointed to the screen and said, "Of course I know, this is cla.s.sic Nottingham Forest."
"Wenger spends more time studying you than you spend studying him."
Twain bit his lip.
※※※
While Wenger was still busy at his office, his a.s.sistant, Pat Rice, came in.
"It"s really incredible. I thought I was back in the middle of the 1990s. I"m a little worried, Arsène."
"Rest a.s.sured, Pat." Wenger stopped his work and took off his gla.s.ses to put them on the table. "I"m not George Graham. Today"s a.r.s.enal is not the a.r.s.enal of yesteryear."
George Graham was a Scotsman who had brought brilliant success to a.r.s.enal and created a real "invincible army." But he was also a manager hated by countless a.r.s.enal fans because their supporters were tired of his "1:0 doctrine" and dreary football. Although a.r.s.enal"s tradition was to be tough and never compromise, the tradition, which lasted for almost one hundred years, had reached another extreme and people began to tire of it. Their playing was ugly to watch, and they played a football match like it was a military mission.
Until this Frenchman had appeared.
"Arsène, we all like this a.r.s.enal now."
"I like it too, Pat. But sometimes we need to make changes. Of course, it"s only temporary. Pat, you know what we"re up against this season. During the final stages of the league, we need to compete against Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool for the last spot in the Champions League, and at the same time, we"re now in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Do you want to end up empty-handed?" Wenger opened up his hands.
"No, I don"t."
"Neither do I. No one does."
"But, Arsène, we stuck to our guns and broke into the semi-finals. I don"t think we need to start changing to another style two weeks ahead."
"The boys are doing well," Wenger answered, changing the subject slightly. "I"m amazed at the speed with which they adapted to the new tactics, and I"m proud of them."
"Don"t change the subject, Arsène."
Wenger shrugged and then pointed to the computer monitor, "Come, Pat. Take a look."
Rice walked over and found a WORD doc.u.ment on the screen. In addition to a couple of long paragraphs of text, there was an image of Tony Twain.
"Oh no… You"re still studying him? Are you infatuated with him, Arsène? There are only going to be two semi-final games..." Rice covered his face.
When Wenger first came to London, he was very low-key and led a hermit-like lifestyle. He was touted as a h.o.m.os.e.xual by the English media. The impact of that incident on Wenger was that he would never accept any media interviews and completely hid his personal life.
"If it were only just two games, it certainly would not be worth putting in so much effort. But Rice, the contest between us and him will not end with just two games. I have to fully understand this person before I can understand his team. In this season and every season in the future, we"re going to keep competing. There"s a good saying from the East: if you want to defeat your opponent, you have to fully understand him first.
"He said," Wenger pointed to the image of Twain on the monitor, "He doesn"t care which method to use, whether they play beautifully, or if their playing is ugly to watch, it doesn"t matter to him. He only cares about one thing, and that"s victory. Tell me, Pat, who comes to mind?"
Rice froze for a moment, and then said, "George, George Graham."
"Take a look at their performance this season, especially in the Champions League, where the most typical example of them was in the quarter-finals with Inter Milan. The entire team retreated and compressed every inch of s.p.a.ce and every second of time in their backfield, so that they were in a highly pressurized situation with their opponents. The game was suffocating and ugly, but they won." Wenger spoke frankly and with confidence. "Twain likes to play aggressive teams the most. He prefers to lie in wait quietly, patiently searching for his opponent"s loopholes and mistakes; and then he strikes!" Wenger"s hand suddenly reached forward and startled Pat Rice.
"It will make him very happy if we launch a large-scale attack. I believe he"s quite familiar with a.r.s.enal"s style. He must have devised a set of tactics to deal with our style, just like he did with Chelsea, Inter Milan, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Real Madrid. So, we can"t act according to his expectations. We have to surprise him."
"But, Arsène. we"ve won three uninteresting games with this set of tactics. Do you think that Twain wouldn"t figure it out by now?"
"Then let him have a taste of what it"s like to deal with his most commonly used tactics." Wenger shrugged.
Pat Rice stayed for a while. He had to admit that Wenger was right. Tony Twain was such a fellow. "All right, Arsène. Our ranking in this season"s league is really terrible. I hope we can make it up in another compet.i.tion arena. A historical entry to the semi-finals is not enough, we also have to advance to the finals and make history by holding the champions.h.i.+p trophy in our hands!"
Wenger smiled and said, "I just read Twain"s words to you just now and you said it made you think of George Graham, the manager who would score a victory by all means. But I have to correct you. Twain is not like Graham. He does insist on the results, but his football is not as boring as Graham"s. He a.s.similates a lot of things and knows when to make adaptations. I think if we want to achieve a historic breakthrough, we also need to make some adaptations and incorporate things that are advantageous to us."
"I understand, Arsène. I"ll make a move first."
"Goodbye, Pat." As he watched his a.s.sistant manager leave his office, Wenger put on his gla.s.ses again and gazed at the image of Twain on the LCD monitor.
※※※
Meanwhile, Twain was still bothered by his problem.
"Wenger, you wily old fox!"