Chapter 50

Lin Sen was not a novice; although Dina's initiative was a bit surprising, it didn't throw him off completely.

However, Lin Sen soon embarrassingly realized that he was starting to breathe heavily.

To avoid further embarrassment, he decided to act even more like a thug. So, his right hand climbed up to one of her prominent areas. At that moment, Lin Sen could clearly feel Dina's body suddenly tremble, and then his hand was filled with an exquisite sensation.

That's it, right?

At that moment, a soft little hand pressed down on his "Lushan hand," followed by a sentence that made Lin Sen want to cry but couldn't.

If you go any further, we won't even be friends anymore.

Lin Sen now felt like he was stripped naked and hanging in mid-air, unable to go up or down. However, Dina's words were like a tight-fitting curse, restraining the source of all evil. Lin Sen reluctantly got up, and as his right hand reluctantly left, it inexplicably exerted a bit more force.

Dina's body instantly stiffened.

By the time Lin Sen stood up, the atmosphere had become particularly awkward.

"Indeed, you've changed. I never thought you'd be such a thug," Dina sat up, her face indiscernible, but her tone was clearly that of the Dina Lin Sen knew.

"Thugs are forced to be," Lin Sen muttered to himself but didn't say it out loud.

"Your grandmother isn't an ordinary person, and neither is your aunt."

Lin Sen smiled but didn't respond. It didn't surprise him that Dina could tell; no matter how simple a person's attire or how humble their speech, their demeanor couldn't be hidden. Since he had these eyes, Lin Sen believed this even more.

At this moment, Dina suddenly chuckled, surprising Lin Sen.

"Speaking of today, your grandmother and that aunt probably thought I was your girlfriend, right? In your country, do unmarried men who bring a woman home always get treated as if she's their future wife?"

"Is it not the same in Spain?" Lin Sen snorted.

"Heh. You're right."

...

The next day.

Lin Sen took Dina out as planned. Tian Nan was a famous tourist province, known for its gardens and water towns. When asked, Dina decisively chose the water town, perhaps because the elegance of Lin Zhuang had made her curious about the real water towns and how beautiful they could be. Lin Sen, not very familiar with the situation, didn't say much. He just told Uncle Dong, who was driving, and they headed straight for Wuxiang, the most famous water town in Tian Nan.

Uncle Dong was Aunt Fang's husband, a former soldier who, despite being nearly fifty, still looked very fit. His behavior and speech retained the habits from his military days, and his voice was loud. Having been the grandfather's driver for over twenty years, he had a nearly blind respect for Lin Sen. The journey from Lin Zhuang to Wuxiang wasn't too far, taking just over an hour by car. At the entrance to Wuxiang, Uncle Dong left his phone number with Lin Sen and didn't go in, saying he would wait outside. Lin Sen didn't insist and bought tickets with Dina to enter the scenic spot.

Dina was very excited. Wuxiang, one of the six famous ancient towns in the Jiangnan region, did not disappoint her. Compared to Lin Zhuang, the biggest difference was that while Lin Zhuang's river flowed around it, Wuxiang was built along the river, divided into eastern and western sections, with streets and bridges connected by the river. Additionally, many buildings from a hundred years ago were preserved, such as pawnshops, pharmacies, wine shops, and dye houses. Compared to Lin Zhuang, Wuxiang had a different charm of a Jiangnan water town.

They bought a joint ticket to tour both the eastern and western sections. Dina was like a child in an amusement park, wanting to see, try, taste, and buy everything. By the time they reached the small square at the end, Dina was still energetic, but Lin Sen had become a mobile souvenir stand. Just as they thought they were done, Dina suddenly pointed to a building on one side of the square and asked what it was.

A religious site. Lin Sen looked up and replied weakly.

Let's go in and see. Dina's interest was piqued again.

Maybe not. Lin Sen noticed a notice next to the temple, which basically reminded visitors to pay for their own expenses. Although he hadn't been there before, Lin Sen always kept his distance from places with religious overtones.

Dina asked why, and just as Lin Sen was about to answer, his phone rang. It was a call from Livermore. Lin Sen waved his hand, indicating he would take the call first.

"We've run into trouble in Germany, Lin," Livermore said straightforwardly.

"What?" Livermore calling him proactively, Lin Sen guessed it might be related to the recruitment, so he wasn't surprised by his words.

"Both young men don't want to leave Germany," Livermore said helplessly.

It turned out that both Reus and Gundogan had the same issue: they weren't enthusiastic about coming to Spain.

Lin Sen's most vivid memory of Reus and Gundogan was that both had been abandoned by their beloved clubs. Reus had just been released from Dortmund's youth team, and Gundogan, whose family were Schalke fans, had been dropped from Schalke's youth team years ago. Sometimes, you really have to believe in fate; two people who had been abandoned ended up playing for the same team. The difference was that after becoming famous, Reus eventually returned to Dortmund, while Gundogan refused to return to Schalke.

Because he knew their life trajectories, few people understood the thoughts of these two young men better than Lin Sen. They didn't want to leave Germany? No problem. It only meant that for these two young men, moving to a foreign country to play football wasn't just about their professional future.

So, Lin Sen gave Livermore a condition that only a head coach could offer: a starting position. He also gave Livermore a suggestion to emphasize the minimum buyout clause mandated by Spanish law during negotiations with the two.

If he remembered correctly, according to their next destinations in his memory, Reus would go to Rot-Weiss Ahlen, and Gundogan to Bochum. Both were second-tier teams, and not only that, when they first joined, they didn't even make the first team but started in the reserves. If even an invitation from a top league couldn't tip the balance for Reus and Gundogan to leave Germany and prove themselves, Lin Sen didn't believe that a guarantee of a starting position wouldn't tip the balance in favor of Malaga. If even that couldn't outdo teams like Rot-Weiss Ahlen, Lin Sen would have nothing to say.

Livermore was somewhat surprised by Lin Sen's persistence. If emphasizing the buyout clause was a targeted approach to make the two young men think about returning to Germany in the future and thus alleviate their concerns, then a guarantee of a starting position? Lin Sen wouldn't really be planning to make these two young men starters, would he? This wasn't last season; this was the La Liga, one of the best football leagues in the world.

"By the way, there are a few good pieces of news," Livermore finally gave Lin Sen some comfort.

Unlike the midfield, the recruitment of the two forward targets in the second phase progressed rapidly. The smoothest target was Rondon. In fact, if it weren't for Lin Sen, this Venezuelan forward would still have a connection with Malaga, but it would be delayed by two years, and at that time, his price would be 3.5 million. Now, he was a free agent. After his contract with his former club Aragua expired, he had already reached a verbal agreement with the Segunda Division team Las Palmas, but since verbal agreements have no legal binding, Malaga, which was more competitive, easily won him over. Rondon, who was already prepared to come to Spain, joined Malaga without hesitation, and the signing would be announced soon.

As for Las Palmas, who had just poached the midfielder Gerardo from Malaga for free, they could only be angry but not speak out.

Besides Rondon, the other target, Polish forward Robert Lewandowski, was still in negotiations, but the differences were not significant.

When Malaga officially got involved in Lewandowski's transfer, the Polish forward had already caught the attention of the domestic powerhouse Poznan, and negotiations were already underway. Without Malaga's involvement, it was almost certain that Lewandowski would have joined Poznan, following his original career path. Now, Malaga had changed everything.

Although Malaga was just a small, poor, and weak team in La Liga, in Poland, it immediately became a tall man among dwarfs. On one side was a La Liga team, and on the other was a Polish powerhouse. This choice was no longer a choice. The confident Lewandowski hoped to take his career to a new level. He wasn't like Reus or Gundogan, who might have stayed in Germany because the gap between the Bundesliga and La Liga wasn't very large, but the gap between Poland and Spain was like two different worlds of football.

The only issue was the transfer fee. Given that Poznan had already offered 1.2 million zlotys (about 300,000 euros), Malaga's offer had to be higher. The team Znicz, which had signed Lewandowski for a few hundred euros, was asking for 1.5 million zlotys (about 400,000 euros). The cash-strapped Livermore felt that there was room for negotiation and planned to try to get a discount.

However, Livermore confidently assured Lin Sen that the deal would be completed because Lewandowski's video had already convinced him. Although judging a player solely by video was one-sided, Livermore saw enough value to make it worth it. If the other party refused to give a discount, Livermore planned to meet their demands directly.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Sen, in a good mood, soon found himself in a dilemma: Dina was gone.

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