CH4 Ferdinand the II
A short walk from Marquette Street, there is a bus stop at the junction, where you can wait for the bus back to the city.
Xiao Yu always had another option, which was to call a taxi, but he just felt like taking the bus, maybe it had to do with the fact that he used to take the bus to and from work, so it had become a habit.
Xiao Yu was lucky because the bus he waited for was not very crowded and had several empty seats, which let him pick a good window seat, open the window, and as the bus slowly moved forward, he got to feel the gentle breeze brushing his face, which was very comfortable.
The places he passed along the way always gave Xiao Yu a weird feeling of being both strange and familiar, which left him feeling quite puzzled.
It felt strange because everything here was not originally in his memory, never before in his life had he been here, but now he was forced to admit that in his memories he had lived in this place for 23 years and was familiar with everything he saw before him.
Another thing puzzling him, was because he had hardly seen even a single tall building all the way over.
The city Xiao Yu used to work in was full of tall buildings and the outskirts of the city were either industrial areas or real estate developments, but the Manchester he saw before him, if not for the new memories and some of the limousines that passed by from time to time along the way, Xiao Yu would have mistaken that he was in a small backward town.
As you enter the city, you can occasionally see a few tall buildings, but the vast majority of them are still not very tall and they all look very old-fashioned, but the layout is still good enough that it makes the whole appearance of the city pleasant to look at.
The bus stopped at Piccadilly Park and when he got off the bus, Xiao Yu didn't immediately rush home but took another bus that went to Old Trafford.
Trafford Park, located on the outskirts of the city and surrounded by open space, is claimed to be the largest shopping center in Europe, with Manchester United's home ground, Old Trafford, situated in the heart of this giant shopping area.
Xiao Yu got off the bus at the Sir Matt Busby Avenue junction and headed off to Old Trafford Stadium.
Located between the shopping center and the large open-air car park, Sir Matt Busby Avenue is generally quiet if it's not a match day, and just standing at the junction, you can easily see the giant advert for the superstars on the front of the Old Trafford Stadium, which naturally features some of Manchester United's strongest players today.
Xiao Yu walked for a while and came to walk under an advertisement, while looking at Ryan Giggs in the advertisement, he was secretly amused.
"The brothers look alike, should I hang a large Rhodri Giggs advertisement on the front of the stadium someday too, maybe I can fool some more fans into coming to our games!" Xiao Yu muttered with a smile.
When he used to be a fan, one of the things he wanted to do was to visit the home stadiums of all the football giants on the continent to see and feel the football atmosphere in their stadiums.
But now to his surprise, when he actually took the first few steps into the stadium, he was in a very different state of mind.
Now he'd be considered a Manchester United rival!
Although Manchester United may not care about this opponent, Xiao Yu will not allow himself to stay in the lower league's forever, he will one day take the new Manchester United, from the bottom of the league's, to climb up to the Premier League, although the process will be full of hardships and difficulties, but Xiao Yu will never give up!
In his previous life, although he was passionate about football, he couldn't make a living from it. He had neither the talent to play nor the opportunity to work in football, so he had to live working a job where he could only make enough to get by.
But now it is different, since God has given him the chance to travel back to 1998, he will never allow himself to continue to be mediocre.
"Anyway, it's all my life now, I've earned it, I'll go out and fight!" Xiao Yu's fists were clenched tightly as he cheered himself up and made up his mind.
In that moment, a train rumbled past Old Trafford, as if it had taken away all of Xiao Yu's past, and from now on, he would start a whole new journey in this new life!
For this brand-new period of his life, Xiao Yu has set himself a goal and that is to surpass Manchester United!
After standing in front of the Old Trafford Stadium for a while, just when Xiao Yu was about to leave, he noticed a familiar figure in the distance standing below the bronze statue of Sir Matt Busby, with his head raised high, looking up at the bronze statue with a look of admiration.
"Do you like Manchester United a lot?" Xiao Yu asked as he walked over.
"Well, I came all the way from London and one of the two things I had to do was to come here and see Old Trafford, Sir Matt Busby is the man I respect the most, he was great!" Curtis Davies said with reverence as he pointed to the bronze statue.
"If you like Manchester United, why did you go on trial for the Red Rebels?" Xiao Yu asked again.
The Red Rebels is the nickname for the new club and although the registered name of the club has not yet been finalized, the nickname is already well known to the general public as the Red Rebels and there is even some talk of forming a Red Rebels fan club in Andy Walsh's pub.
"I don't know, all in all, I just like them, but I also love Manchester United, and my dad says that the Red Rebels are not traitors, they decided to betray Manchester United because they loved it to the core and because of that they are worthy of recognition and respect!"
After a pause, Curtis had a forlorn look on his face, "It's just a shame that they're not going to start a youth or a junior team for now, and since I'm only 13 I can't meet the requirements, so ...".
"Then aren't you going to go back home? Aren't you afraid that your parents will worry too much if you stay out here too long?" Xiao Yu patted the kid on the shoulder and found out that he was almost as tall as himself.
At only 13, he is almost as tall as himself, and looking at his stocky build, if he grows a few more years, he will surely be a big man and a very agile one at that.
This kid is definitely physically strong! A good footballing prospect!
When Xiao Yu played FM, he liked to find teenagers who were physically fit to cultivate because those who were not as physically able would be like that no matter how much they practiced, so as soon as he saw this teenager in front of him, he thought he was a very good seedling.
Of course, he's not in a game like FM right now, so naturally there's no way he can check the kid's potential value through a scouting tool.
"I'll stay a few more days, it's hard to get away!" Curtis said with an unconcerned look on his face.
"Get away?" Xiao Yu was taken aback, "You didn't sneak out from home, did you?"
Curtis thought Xiao Yu was making a big deal out of nothing, "I mean if I hadn't sneaked out, do you think my dad would have agreed to let me come to Manchester from London all by myself? I'm training with the youth team of a professional club in London, so if my dad finds out I've come all this way to try out for an amateur team, he'll probably be mad!"
The boy spoke in a tone that appeared stiff as if he was confident in his own strength.
"So, you're still planning to become a professional player?" Xiao Yu found the boy interesting, from the time he saw Curtis being rejected for registration.
"Of course, I'm captain of our club's 15-year-old junior team and I play at center-back." Curtis looked proud.
"Yes? What's your name then? I'll see if I've heard of it." Xiao Yu deliberately joked with him.
How famous can a 13-year-old be?
"Curtis Davies!" Curtis was somewhat hopeful; a teenager of his age is always particularly eager for approval and encouragement.
Xiao Yu immediately shook his head with a smile. If the teenager said his name was Rooney, then Xiao Yu definitely knew him, or Agbonglahor or Lennon, but Curtis Davies, the name really is not too popular yet.
"Well, this is Manchester!" Curtis said unconvincingly.
Xiao Yu didn't care too much, he just thought that this kid was a little small-tempered and stubborn, but it is often necessary to have such a character to go far and be brilliant in football.
"I think you'd better go back quickly so that your parents don't worry!" Xiao Yu advised kindly.
Curtis didn't say anything for a moment, just staring blankly at Sir Matt Busby's bronze statue before speaking again, "When I go back, I may never come back!"
"Why?" Xiao Yu asked curiously.
"Luton FC are looking at me and my dad is planning to move me to a more regular team for training, it's a League Two club, very regular and strict with the youth team players, I definitely won't be able to just go out as I do now then," Curtis said with pursed lips.
Only then did Xiao Yu feel that although the teenager in front of him was still a child, he was actually quite mature in his thinking, or at least he knew how to tell what was good for him and what was bad for him.
If he wanted to move on in soccer, going to Luton was definitely better than staying at his current small club, so even though he didn't like the strict discipline at Luton, he decided to go anyway, just because he liked playing football so much.
But not all kids who like to play soccer can have a good future, let alone Curtis Davis, whose name doesn't really ring a bell.
But just when Xiao Yu was thinking about how to comfort him, a piece of news suddenly came to mind.
In 2008, when Capello first took over as manager for England, he finalized the first England national team list, which included the name of Curtis Davies, a center-back who started at Luton, who later moved to West Bromwich in the Championship, and went on loan to Aston Villa in the winter break of 2007, and played in several Premier League matches with great strength and was praised as "Ferdinand the II".
Xiao Yu remembered this news, because an English star he liked very much, David Beckham, fell out of this list and caused an uproar.
If it is true that the stubborn boy in front of Xiao Yu is the future England international footballer, Ferdinand the II?
If it is really that Curtis Davis, then it's really too good to pass up!