Elland Road Stadium, large conference room.
George Li opened the door of the conference room, which was filled with smoke.
Some were smoking cigars, some were smoking cigarettes, and some were drinking.
George Li looked carefully, but fortunately, there was no one smoking that thing.
"George, you are late. Believe it or not, we will get you drunk at the cocktail party tonight." A fat middle-aged man waved to Li.
"Uncle Jules, I can't go at night either. I have to go home and take care of the children."
"That's such a pity. Originally, my wife had a niece, and I wanted to let you get to know her tonight."
"Thank you very much, uncle." George Li shook hands with the fat man.
At this time, another middle-aged fat man walked towards Li, straightened two glasses of wine, and handed one of them to George Li.
"Thank you, no, Uncle Sherlock, I have to drive later."
These uncles and uncles are all members of George Li's family, and they are also some of the current small shareholders of Leeds United. After their ancestors and fathers immigrated to the UK very early, in addition to retaining their surnames, many of their names have been changed to English names. .
But they only changed their name, but they still adhere to their traditions, like other family businesses, work together sincerely, and eventually make their family business bigger and stronger in the Yorkshire area.
George Li's father, Jim Li, is the leader of the family, and his brother, Mike Li, is the leader of the new generation in the family, and there is a faint tendency to succeed his father.
"Haha." Sherlock Li didn't say much, put the wine on the table aside and walked away.
George Li walked towards his brother, Mike Li.
There were two people standing next to Mike Li, both holding wine glasses, chatting while shaking the glasses.
"Where's the old man?" George Li asked Mike Li. He didn't see his father in the conference room.
"He, he went to receive the Duke of Westminster."
"Then what is the old man doing here? Talking about business?" George Li knew the Duke of Westminster, the richest man in Britain. But he is a bit unruly in life.
"What else can we do? Talking about business is probably fake, but having fun is real."
"Haha~" George Li laughed softly, and then shook hands with the two people next to Mike Li, "Hello, Tony, hello, David."
"Hello."
These two people are slightly younger, about the same grade as Mike Li.
David Li is the descendant of George Li and Mike Li. He is one generation younger than Jules and Sherlock before him, and is of the same generation as Mike Li. Today he represents his father at the Leeds United board of directors meeting.
Tony Wilson is the general manager of Leeds United, and he is a college classmate of Lee Mack. Of course, he can serve as the team's general manager mainly because he is also Mike Lee's "boyfriend."
Yes, Tony Wilson is Lee Mack's "boyfriend."
Even so, George Li did not dislike him. Apart from his X-orientation, he recognized Wilson's work ability. After all, he was a top student at Cambridge University.
"Tony, thank you for your hard work. I have been away this summer, and the transfer matter is really troublesome for you."
"Thank you. In fact, I didn't do anything. The transfer department is busy. I only need to be responsible for the final signature."
"you are too humble."
"Yes. If you need anything, just ask. After all, I don't want to earn such a high salary and live idle."
What you eat is not idle food, but soft food. Of course, George Li didn’t dare to say that, so he could only continue to talk nonsense with him.
"George, are we Leeds United still making any moves this summer?" Uncle Jules heard George Li's chat just now and started to ask him.
Several other board members also looked here, wanting to hear some exciting transfer news from him.
"Yes, we will discuss business in the box at Elland Road next season. If we don't order any big-name stars, I think it will affect me by 1 percentage point." said a little old man who was previously called Uncle Nuh by Mike Lee.
"Don't save us money, just buy whichever player you like. Don't let the Russian in London look down on us, George." Uncle Sherlock also added.
"Okay, sure. If I can't make it in the summer, I will buy it during the winter break. I can't just let Uncle Nuhe lose 1 percentage point." George Li could only pretend to satisfy them.
"If you don't like it, in the future, you can shirk the team's training for this kind of board of directors, and I will deal with these old guys." David Li whispered in George Li's ear. He was used to dealing with these relatives from his father's generation. .
And he also knew that Li George was not used to participating in it. After all, Li George had been practicing football since he was a child and had not participated in the family business.
"Forget it, let's just provide a place for these uncles and uncles to have afternoon tea." George Li was also very generous.
Leeds United's current shares are divided into three pieces. The largest share belongs to George Lee's brother, Mike Lee, followed by George Lee's father, uncle, uncle, etc. Of course, George Lee's father, Jim Lee, accounts for the majority here, and the last one belongs to him. A small portion belonged to his father-in-law, Dutch businessman Bill Ross.
George Li has no shares at all. He said it was to clear up suspicion. If his coaching performance is not good, the board of directors can find a reason to fire him. If he were the owner of the team, no one would dare to dismiss him.
But how could this group of people fire this son, nephew, son-in-law, and brother coach, unless George Lee really gave them Leeds United a three-fold downward jump, diving all the way to the English League.
At this time, the team's director of football Eddie Gray came in.
"Eddie, where were you just now? Why didn't I see you?" George Li asked.
"I'm going to the bathroom."
"Drank too much?"
"No, it's not..." Gray's voice became smaller and smaller, and finally whispered in George Li's ear, "Next time, can I not attend this kind of meeting?"
Gray also prepared a report material at the beginning, printed several copies, and prepared to talk about the recent team situation at the board meeting.
As a result, this group of wealthy people started pouring wine, passing out cigars, and enjoying themselves as soon as they came in. They were not prepared to hear any reports at all. Gray really couldn't stand this, so he used the pee escape to go to the toilet to avoid it.
"I should have gone to the BBC as a commentator instead of being a football director here." Gray added.
"Eddie, don't say that. You and I are team representatives and we came to the board of directors meeting to report on our work."
"Shit, what kind of team representative are you? You don't have any shares?"
"Eddie, I want to clarify again that I don't have shares. Only Winter, Carl, and Sean have shares. I just take temporary custody of them until they reach adulthood because I am their father and guardian."
"Shit, you are a capitalist just like them." Gray obviously didn't believe it.
George Li smiled and waited for Gray to calm down.
"I just learned that our general manager belongs to Mr. Chairman..." After Gray calmed down, he started gossiping with him.
"Yes, so Winter is under a lot of pressure."
"So?" Gray was a little confused by George Li. He didn't understand why his team chairman had a problem with his X orientation and why he was related to George Li's son.
"If he doesn't play football well, he will inherit a lot of property when he comes home. Bill's, Jim's, Mike's, and even mine can be ignored."
Hearing what George Li said, Gray cursed for the third time.
"Damn you, capitalists."
^^^
George Lee drove his Aston Martin on the A61, with little Cruyff sitting in the passenger seat.
"I really don't need to lend you a car?" George Li took the lead in proposing to get Cruyff a car.
"No, it's quite convenient to ride in your car every day."
Because Cruyff was alone in England, he rented an apartment near George Lee's home.
"Choose one. Do you want me to bring Mike's Bentley over and drive it for you?"
"No, if it breaks down and you can't afford to pay for it, get me a mobility scooter. I'll go to the apartment first to see if I can park it." Cruyff didn't dare to drive such an expensive car. Not only could he not afford it, But can't afford it.
"Okay, if it's empty tomorrow, I'll take you to Mike's to choose one."
"How are you going to play in the friendly match against Sheffield Wednesday next week? Will you be the main player or a substitute?"
After Leeds United finished their training camp in Scotland, they returned to the UK at the end of July. Before the league in early August, George Lee also arranged two friendly matches, both of which were at clubs near Leeds, namely Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. .
"Go to the main force, but don't use your full strength. There will be a lot of people watching when the time comes, so don't reveal too much of your tactical intentions."
"Okay, oh, by the way, John asked me to tell you." Cruyff suddenly thought of something. It seemed that the youth training team coach John Sheridan wanted him to tell George Lee something.
"What?"
"Speaking of that Norwegian boy, after you transfer him to the first team, he can participate in the usual reserve team games."
"Ernest Derwig?"
"Yes, the name is a bit convoluted... George, can you drive faster? I'm in a hurry. Aston Martin, can you drive at this speed?"
"Jordi, if you sit in a safety seat, I will make it more stable."
"That Norwegian boy, why didn't you take him to Scotland with you? Instead, you arranged for him to join the first team after he came back."
"When I went to Sparta Sarpsborg, I was actually interested in another striker who was even younger. This Derwig looked good to me, so I bought him together."
"So, you were reluctant to leave the Norwegian child alone in England, so you didn't take Derwig with you to Scotland."
"Yes, I've just arrived, and it's good to have a companion to adapt to the new environment."
George Li drove off the road and turned onto Wetherby Street. There were more cars at this time, and his speed was slower.
"George, can you stop whistling?" Cruyff's face was a little red. He was already a little anxious to urinate, but George Li was still whistling.
"Where is the apartment you rent?"
"Ahead, turn left."
George Li turned the car into a small road and waited for Cruyff to stop.
"Stop, that's it." Cruyff opened the car door and ran out quickly.
George Li looked at the name of the apartment, remembered it, and was going to come here tomorrow to pick up Cruyff and pick up the car.
“Southern Senior Apartments”
^^^
George Li parked his car in front of his house. His house was only a 5-minute drive from the Southern Senior Apartments.
When he returned to Leeds in 2002, he did not choose to live in a luxurious villa with Jim Li. Instead, he bought a house in the northeastern area of Leeds and lived here with his two children. Mainly located between Elland Road Stadium, the home ground of Leeds United, and Thorpe Arch Training Ground, it is very convenient to go to both sides.
George Li opened the door and saw his adopted son Carl Olson lying on the sofa watching TV with a piece of pizza in his mouth and a bottle of soda in his hand. He looked around again and found that he did not find another adopted son, Sean Wallace.
"Where's Sean?" Lee asked Olson.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh." Olson chewed the food in his mouth desperately.
"Swallow it and then talk."
"Ugh~" Olson finally swallowed the bite of pizza, "He went to play at the new neighbor's house. Their family just moved from Cardiff."
"Is there any connection?" George Li couldn't connect the new neighbor with Wallace. He couldn't figure out why a child in his early 10s suddenly went to play at a strange neighbor's house.
"Their son just came to our youth team today to report. It is said that coach John is very happy. He was originally a star player in the Cardiff youth team. Because he was moving to Leeds with his parents, he transferred to our Leeds United youth training camp. "
"Coach John went to poach?" From Olson's words, George Li could tell that Sheridan might have taken a fancy to Cardiff's talented player, and then coaxed his family to come to Leeds United.
"No, it's said that they came with their parents because they were going to open a shop here."
"What kind of store should I open?"
"I don't know. Just ask Sean later. After Sean played with Charlotte today, he became a very good friend with her."
Charlotte should be the name of the starlet from Cardiff's youth team that Olsen mentioned.
"Wherever they live, I'll go get Sean back."
"Are you sure you're not going for Charlotte?"
"Don't worry about the children, adults' business. Tell me where Charlotte's family lives."
"That's the one across the street..." Olson said while pointing.
"Mr. Smith's family moved away?"
"No, I haven't finished speaking yet. It's the house opposite, three to the right, the one with a lot of cardboard boxes at the door."
"Karl, can you finish it in one breath next time? I thought Mr. Smith's family across the street had moved away."
Olson picked up another piece of pizza and started stuffing it into his mouth.
"I hope they move away. Didn't you go over there last time you heard a strange noise? Come back and tell us that the couple almost demolished the house after a fight. It's terrible."
George Li opened the door of his house at this time and was about to go out to pick up Wallace. Before leaving, he did not forget to tell Olson.
"Eat less of this stuff."
Olson ignored him, took a sip of soda, watched George Li walk out the door, and then talked to himself.
"Hiccup~" There was a happy burp first, "If you don't want to eat, why don't you let me eat fish and chips?"
