Chapter 59

At the press conference, Liu Hao certainly earned his share of the spotlight.

A player from the China League Two could have such a glorious moment; even Mao Jianqing, who scored two goals, did not get the chance to attend the press conference, which showed how highly Liu Hao was regarded by Li Xiaopeng.

The press conference had never been so lively before. Fans flooded the venue, packing the relatively small space to the brim.

A group of young fans, wearing sky-blue school uniforms and bright red scarves, appeared at the entrance, waving their hands with colored pens in hand.

"Uncle Xiaopang, Uncle Xiaopang." What a joyful call...

"Sorry, wait a moment." Liu Hao interrupted the reporter's question, stood up, and walked down from the stage towards the young fans.

We can't neglect the flowers of our country, can we?

He squatted down with a smile.

"Hello, little friends!" It seemed like a leader consoling children in the mountains...

Except the children held not flowers but colored pens.

They waved the pens in front of Liu Hao, "Uncle, we want your autograph..."

Autograph? Liu Hao smiled warmly and took the pen.

Could an uncle become a child's idol? This was truly a miracle.

Click, click, click, the camera flashes never stopped as reporters swarmed to take photos.

Such a people-friendly image of a star, they couldn't let it go.

Liu Hao held the pen and pondered for a while before writing on the small notebook.

"Study hard, make progress every day." Eight strong and powerful characters leaped onto the paper, and then he signed his nickname—Liu Xiaopang.

An autograph should have its own characteristics, Liu Hao was very satisfied with his unique way.

He planned to write a word of encouragement for each child.

"Old-fashioned!" An unknown reporter shouted in the crowd, "Who says such things nowadays?"

Old-fashioned? The words entered Liu Hao's ears, but he pretended not to hear.

He picked up the pen again and wrote on another child's blue notebook: "If you don't work hard when young, you will regret it when old. Little friends, work hard!"

"Ha ha!" He laughed after writing it. This was what he genuinely wanted to say to the children. In the past, teachers and adults always lectured him with a lot of big talk, but who could listen when young?

Now that he had such an opportunity, he certainly wouldn't miss the chance to educate the younger generation, of course, out of genuine concern!

"Can't stand it anymore..." The same reporter shouted again, directly leaving the crowd. To him, this guy was a fool, really thinking he was a leader.

The third child standing in front of Liu Hao was wearing a bright red Adidas jacket and a pair of Nike shoes, looking very well-equipped, and holding a black and white soccer ball.

Needless to say, this was a new flower of Chinese football!

"Uncle Xiaopang, can you teach me how to kick a free kick? I really liked your free kick just now, it was simply... " The rosy-cheeked boy, with freckles on his face, paused halfway, glanced at the stage, and continued, "simply a thousand times better than my dad's free kick!"

"Your dad's free kick being bad is no problem, we have you, the future hope of football. You must be very strong in the future." Liu Hao was surprised; being better than your dad is quite normal...

While speaking, he wrote on the black and white soccer ball: "Determined to be the first person in Chinese football." Then he handed it back to the child with a smile.

"Dad, look, I got Uncle Xiaopang's autograph! Yay!" The excited child shouted to Li Xiaopeng on the stage.

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

This kid actually called Li Xiaopeng dad?

Uh...

So he was saying his dad's free kick was a thousand times worse than his?

How embarrassing!

Li Xiaopeng was both amused and exasperated.

Saying your dad's skills are bad is one thing, but naming him in public, where does the face go? Too blatant... This kid is in for it when he gets home!

But despite his embarrassment, Li Xiaopeng maintained his composure.

He immediately laughed and said, "Ha ha, kid, why don't you thank Uncle? He will teach you how to kick free kicks in the future."

Damn brat, your dad can get hit even when lying down?!

The reporters and Li Xiaopeng were old acquaintances, not at all reserved, and burst into laughter.

The dragon king's temple was flooded by the flood...

The press conference was filled with a harmonious and joyful atmosphere, not quite like a press conference, more like a garden party?

It was already 6:30 PM when it ended. After being busy for so long, he finally remembered the most important thing.

Oh no! Liu Hao suddenly remembered his wife and child were still in the VIP seats. What about them after he had been away for so long?

What excuse could he find? There was a soccer ball at the press conference, so Liu Hao simply wrote on it.

"Hope Liu Bao grows up quickly and gallops on the green field!"

This was definitely for Liu Bao!

He rushed out of the press conference venue, took off his wig and stuffed it into his pocket. Just as he turned a corner, before he could even take his hand out of his pocket, he saw Zhang Yu and Liu Bao holding hands in front of him...

Phew! Liu Hao drew a deep breath, almost being discovered by his wife and son.

"Ah! Wife, son, I'm sorry! I went to the Qingdao Transport Bureau with Yu Baojin in the afternoon, even forgot my phone, damn it, when I came back, the game had already started, and I forgot the tickets... So I waited here for the press conference, queuing up to get a star's autograph for my son. Guess whose autograph I got? Liu Xiaopang! For this autograph, I almost got mistaken for Liu Xiaopang by the reporters..."

Zhang Yu's face clearly didn't look good, listening to Liu Hao's rambling, which seemed completely unbelievable.

"When did Yu Baojin come?" Yu Baojin was Liu Hao's best friend, how could Zhang Yu not know him? But she didn't have a good impression of him, always calling her husband out, either for official business or life ideals, which was just eating and playing...

"Right, he has good luck. The Yinzhou Transport Bureau and the Qingdao Transport Bureau had a cross-provincial exchange, similar to the cross-city traffic police duty in your dad's unit. Anyway, it's just for show, and Yu Baojin is the representative of Yinzhou... Damn, comparing people makes you angry. Guess what Yu Baojin came for? To exchange with the Qingdao guys? Playing football! Not enough people, so they dragged me along, and I ended up miserable. Look at me, all sweaty, no clothes to change!" He lifted his arm, sniffed it, and wrinkled his nose as if there was a real stench.

"Here, Bao, take it!" Liu Hao handed the soccer ball to Liu Bao and said, "Wait a few minutes here, I'll go get my phone from Yu Baojin, my stuff is all with him!"

... Damn, on the way, Liu Hao kept shaking his head.

Next time, he definitely couldn't bring his family, it was inconvenient and troublesome...

Ten minutes later, Liu Hao and Yu Baojin appeared together.

"Bao, you've really got me in trouble. Look, my family and I are almost starving. What do you think we should do?" Liu Hao said slightly angrily, nudging Yu Baojin with his elbow.

Yu Baojin immediately put on a smile, "Sister-in-law, I'm really sorry. It was too rushed in the afternoon, I didn't give you a heads-up and took Liu Hao away. I'm really sorry, really sorry. I'll treat you to dinner tonight to apologize, don't be angry!"

It's not really me treating you, just a meal.

"Where are we going? Don't think you can just brush us off!" Liu Hao winked.

"Uh..." Yu Baojin was slightly stunned.

Damn, not really? Could he have forgotten the words? Three words he couldn't remember? Damn, he could remember owing him three yuan for life, how strange, Liu Hao really wanted to strangle this guy.

"Hey, don't worry, it's not really a big deal. The Qingdao Transport Bureau mentioned a restaurant called 'Red Maple Leaf' today. They said the food is pretty good, so let's go there!"

Red Maple Leaf! Reminded by Liu Hao, Yu Baojin finally remembered the restaurant's name.

"Right, right, right, let's go to Red Maple Leaf. Why can't I remember things lately?" Yu Baojin patted his head, talking to himself, "So, shall we go?"

The Qingdao Transport Bureau had nothing to do with these two, but this was just another story Liu Hao made up on the spot.

Li Xiaopeng had called him earlier, inviting him to a victory dinner at 'Red Maple Leaf'. Li Xiaopeng had said he would come to pick him up, but Liu Hao couldn't make it convenient, and he couldn't refuse the first gathering, so he agreed.

He just couldn't leave his wife and child, so he came up with this compromise, eating at the same restaurant and acting accordingly.

Yu Baojin was the most pitiful.

Accompanying him in the deception, the most annoying part was that he had to leave the table halfway to "toast the leaders of the Qingdao Transport Bureau"...

Actually, he just found an empty room to hide...

After ten minutes, he came back to tell Liu Hao that the leaders wanted to see him.

So Liu Hao also picked up his wine glass and walked out, really going to toast, but not to the Transport Bureau, but to the team's coaches and teammates.

The teammates were already used to this guy who came and went like a ghost, and Li Xiaopeng didn't question why he was so late, just raised a glass to him first.

Twenty people sat at a full table, and Liu Hao didn't take it seriously. After all, eating with leaders was common, and even toasting everyone wasn't a big deal. Plus, after the medicinal wine, his alcohol tolerance had increased, making him more reckless.

But...

Later...

He realized he was in the land of etiquette, Shandong.

So when he returned to his wife after half an hour, he was already drunk and unconscious...