Mitchell and Bale had no idea at all that they would be able to see the head coach in Wood’s mother’s ward. They then excitedly surrounded Twain, almost forgetting why they had even come in the first place.

It was Twain who took the initiative to update them on Wood’s mother’s condition, and the two then realized they were a little disrespectful. Luckily, Wood was not the petty type who would take their uncouth behaviors to heart.

Mitchell and Bale were visiting Wood and his mother at the hospital as friends. Wood did not tell them about his decision to retire as a football player, but they brought up the subject themselves.

“George, I heard you are thinking about retirement. Is that true?” Bale stared at Wood, questioning him.

Twain and Wood glanced at each other when they heard Bale’s question.

Bale did not notice the little look Twain and Wood shared so he and Mitchell looked at Wood, hoping for a reply from him.

Twain suddenly felt a headache coming on. Knowing Wood, he would probably not lie. However, if he spoke the truth, how would Bale and Mitchell react? Would they lose their spirits? And if that happened, what would he do? Wood was enough of a handful by himself, and if Bale and Mitchell joined in, the outcome would not be very pleasant.

Twain assumed Wood would lower his head and nod. However, Wood instead shook his head. “How is that possible? I have never said this.”

This surprised Twain, and he quickly turned back to Wood, realizing how Wood was also looking at him with suspicion. Maybe Wood changed his mind after his mother woke up and decided not to retire?

If that was the case, that would be great.

Twain heaved a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Hearing Wood say that, Bale happily turned to Mitchell to exclaim, “You see! What did I say? It was all rumors! Rumors aren’t credible!”

Mitchell was relieved, too, as he felt embarrassed for doubting the team captain initially. He scratched his head and said, “That’s good, I would not know what to do if you retired and left the team…”

” George is older than you. He would eventually retire, and you’re going to have to keep playing,” Twain said suddenly.

However, Mitchell unexpectedly shook his head and said, “I’m 28 this year, while George is 32. He would at least be able to play until he’s 40, by which time I would be 36 and long retired.”

Not knowing that Mitchell had this idea all along, Twain did not know whether to laugh or cry. Everyone said that Wood would be able to play till he was 40, but was that really true?

Wood did not elaborate further. He pulled Bale and Mitchell over to ask about the squad’s condition for the past two days. Naturally, there would not be any good news. Bale told him that the players in Nottingham Forest were very worried after losing the core of the team in an instant.

Mitchell asked Wood if he would be available to participate for the away game against Liverpool on the day after.

Wood hesitated for a moment. In this period, he really did not have the spirits to play football, so even if he forced himself to go onto the field, he would definitely be off form. Regarding this point, he was blunt and said at once that he would definitely not be able to go Anfield.

Mitchell was obviously a little disappointed, but he did not push any further. Wood’s mother was stuck in the hospital with a severe condition and forcing him to play would be inhumane, so he was simply asking for reference.

They did not talk for too long since George Wood needed to rest, so Wood walked with both of them out of the ward. As they were leaving the hospital, this naturally attracted a large uproar of reporters, but with the aid of the security and policemen, they were able to leave without much trouble.

As soon as they left, Twain immediately asked the question he had on his tongue. “You have decided not to retire, George?”

Wood shook his head. “I lied to them.”

Twain did not continue to question or try to convince him to change his decision. Once he knew that was the final decision George Wood made, he did not offer any additional comments. He only slightly nodded. This guy was definitely very stubborn, and would not change his mind so easily? George was currently not himself, so it was better not to mention this subject.

Wood then went on to rest, while Twain sat at the guest room for a little longer. After Wood came back, he bade farewell to him, then left. As Wood was able to rest in the ward while he could not, he would rather return home to rest and think about how to convince Wood to change his mind.

※※※

At 10.30 in the morning, the bar was not even at its designated opening hours, and a “Closed” sign hung on the main door, reminding customers that the bar was not operating.

Kenny Burns was sitting behind the bar wiping glasses as the door made a squeaking sound, indicating that someone walked in.

“I’m sorry, we’re not working yet, please…” He raised his head whilst talking as he realized that the figure was familiar. As he was blinded by the light from the door, he could not tell clearly who the person was. He could only guess from his body shape.

John? Nope, he was too thin. Bill? No, he was a little fatter…

So who was it?

That dark shadow opened his mouth, and the voice made Burns pleasantly surprised.

“For more than a decade, I’ve had a question which I could never solve. Kenny, are those glasses in your hands never-ending? Will you never finish wiping them? I was thinking, other than the first time when I met you, you were always sitting in that same position wiping glasses.”

“Ha, Tony!” Burns put down his cup, came out from behind the bar, and welcomed Twain with open arms. “Why are you back?”

Twain also opened his arms and gave Burns a warm hug.

“I got a call from George’s agent and came back.”

Burns stayed silent, as the news about Wood’s mother being in a critical condition and staying in the hospital was no longer news since everyone knew about it. Twain and Wood had such a close relationship, so his rushing back was not a surprise either.

Twain sat at the bar with a glass of water placed in front of him, and Burns stayed behind the bar, continuing to wipe his glasses.

Because the place was not operating, not a lot of the lights were switched on in the bar. Only a few ceiling lights were working. The curtains were still shut at the windows, where only a few rays of light were able to come in, lending a bit of light to the dark room. The dust within the room was rolling around under the light, looking like the water vapor special effect used for the dance stage.

Such an environment was suitable for talking about some intimate topics.

After the two chatted for a while, the conversation was back onto Wood. “Recently there were rumors saying how George was going to retire.” Being a Nottingham Forest fan, Burns was also concerned about Wood.

Twain nodded. “It’s not a rumor.”

Burns did not act surprised, he only looked slightly at Twain and continued wiping his glasses. “Because of his mum’s medical condition?”

“Yeah.”

“You came back because of this?”

Twain made a slight ‘mm-hm’ noise.

“Have you seen Wood?”

“Yes, I’ve met him, but I haven’t mentioned this issue… I don’t even know how to start.”

Burns nodded. “George has been emotionally unstable lately. Let him cool down for a while before you try to convince him…”

He did not expect Twain to interrupt him. “No, Kenny. There isn’t enough time. Woox told Wood that if he plans to retire, he has to discuss it with the club. In order to stall him, Woox wanted to wait for Sophia to wake up before dealing with this issue. During yesterday’s afternoon, Sophia regained consciousness, so we can’t stall this matter any longer.”

Burns was relieved to hear that Wood’s mother had woken up. “Now that his mother is awake, isn’t it much easier? Wood only listens to you and his mother, so you can let his mum convince him.”

Twain shook his head again. “Sophia’s extremely weak, and she is in poor spirits. I do not want to tell her such groundbreaking news. We have to prevent her from getting agitated again…”

Twin did not continue, but Burns knew what was going on. Now he had nothing more to say. He knew convincing Wood to change his mind would be a very difficult task.

However, staying here was not a solution as well, after finishing that glass of water, Twain bade farewell to Burns and left for the hospital.

※※※

Wearing shades and a hood, Twain bought a copy of the newspaper at the stand outside the hospital. He did not intend to buy it initially. He did not have the mood or the time to read the newspaper. It was while he was walking past the newspaper stand that he incidentally chanced upon the title amongst the colorful newspapers which caught his attention.

“George Wood has retired!”

The title was printed in large black and bold font, fit for groundbreaking news. There was no way he could not notice it. Previously, the titles were all labeled as “questions”, but today the punctuation was changed to an exclamation mark. After thinking back to what Bale and Burns had said, it seemed like the rumor had turned into reality.

He walked over to put down the money, took the last newspaper, rolled it in his hands, and hurried away.

Under such circumstances, he had to convince Wood to change his mind immediately, and disperse this rumor. If not, the morale of the squad would definitely decline, and Nottingham Forest’s results would take a turn for the worse.

Despite what some people thought, Twain did care about Nottingham Forest’s record. If not, he would not even bother about their results. It was a fact that he worked with that team for 11 years and there were even players that he brought up from the beginning, so how could he avoid having any feelings for the team? Seeing how the majestic red tornado had declined into this state devastated him.

The great results he produced with his own efforts had now been reduced to nothingness.

Entering the hospital from a different direction to avoid those troublesome reporters, Twain dashed into the ward and saw that Vivian Miller was waiting outside at the guest room while Wood looked like he was speaking to his mother.

When she saw Twain enter the room, Vivian politely greeted him. “Good morning, Mr. Twain.”

“Good morning, Miss Miller.” Twain sat down on the sofa and began to read the newspaper he brought.

Vivian noticed the headline of the newspaper in Twain’s hand. It was so eye-catching that it was hard to miss. The media really tried the hardest to blow up this topic.

“Mr. Twain…”

Twain, who was still reading the newspaper, heard her call him. He replied as he put the newspaper down, “What’s the matter, Miss Miller?”

“Ah…” Vivian only realized then that she might have been rude, but it was not like she could simply say, “Nothing, I only spoke to you for fun.” She could only harden up and ask curiously, “Is Mr. Wood really retiring?”

Twain did not answer the question immediately, but only tilted his head to look at the young nurse for a while. She had golden hair and beautiful eyes. She was pretty, with a few freckles that only enhanced the fairness of her skin. She was concerned about Wood…

After evaluating her looks, Twain then shook his head and said, “No.”

“That newspaper…” Vivian pointed to the paper which was set aside.

“It’s all rumors.”

While the two were talking, Billy Woox pushed the door and entered. The two men looked at each other. Vivian was polite and knew the two must have things to discuss, hence she stopped talking to Twain and found an excuse to leave the ward.

When Vivian left, Woox fixed Twain with a questioning look. “The club knew that Wood cannot participate, so they attempted to make an excuse for delaying the match against Liverpool.”

Twain heard this and broke into laughter. It looked like Evan was not dumb when it came to these matters. The man knew that Wood was his last hope and that if Wood retired, he would be finished. They might as well have not met with Wood at all.

“It’s all up to you, Mr. Twain,” Woox said as he looked at Twain.

There was a bitter look on Twain’s face. “Convincing him not to retire might be a lot more difficult than convincing him to take a rest.”

“It’s all the same, use his mum as a reason to talk him around,” Woox said.

Twain glanced into the ward through the glass window. The relationship between the mother and her son was particularly close.

※※※

Sophia suddenly remembered something that did not feel right yesterday. Because she had just woken up with an unclear mind, she could not recall what it was. Now that she has been talking to Wood for almost a day, she finally recalled what the issue was.

“That’s right, George. What day is it today?”

Wood did not know why his mother suddenly asked that, and honestly replied, “Saturday.”

Sophia took her eyes off Wood’s face as she stared at the ceiling silently for a moment, then said, “Ah, I have recalled, don’t you guys have a match against Liverpool this Sunday?”

Seeing how his mother mentioned the issue, Wood felt like that was a bad omen.

“Well… The club gave me a holiday, Mom. I won’t have to play in tomorrow’s game…”

Sophia frowned. She cherished her son’s reputation. In professional football, when someone mentioned George Wood, he was the symbol of dedication. Those who were unhappy with him could abuse his ruthless actions on the field with rough play and injuring other players, but no one dared to blame him for being sloppy or unprofessional. Hearing Wood’s praises from the media, Sophia was happy as well – she could be proud of her son.

Now that she has heard that Wood was not going to play, however, it did not seem right. In her simple mind, she knew that a professional footballer’s role was to play football. Participating in competitions and training was part of the job and if George did not go to work, how could he be called a “professional football player”?

“George, Mom’s alright. There is Miss Miller here looking after me, you know. You’d better go to Liverpool for the game.”

Wood felt awkward. He did not know what to tell his mother in that instant. He heard Twain’s voice behind him calling out, “Madam, the club has already reported the final roster for tomorrow’s match and even if George rushed over now, he would not be able to play.”

It turned out that while Twain was talking with Woox, they felt like the atmosphere was different within the ward as if something had happened between Wood and his mother. He felt compelled to enter the ward, and that was when he chanced upon what Sophia said.

From this statement, Twain could guess Sophia’s attitude towards this issue, and he felt like there was finally a possibility to convince Wood to change his mind. However, at the moment, he felt like he should help Wood cover up first. Wood was grateful that Twain helped him this time and that he should not show him such a grumpy attitude the next time they talked about his retirement.

Sophia thought about it carefully before realizing that Twain was right. She was too weak just now. However, thinking that her son could not play in the match because of her, she did not have the mood to continue talking about this topic. Twain saw the change in Sophia’s face from the side, and knowing that she did not have the mood to talk anymore, he told Wood, “Let your mom rest for a while, George.”

Having said that, he walked out of the door and waited outside.

After saying goodbye to his mother, Wood also walked out of the ward, but he saw that Twain did not sit on the sofa. Instead, he was standing by the door, as if waiting for Wood.

“How long have you been in the hospital?” Twain looked at Wood as he invited him out. “Let’s go out for a walk, staying here for too long is bad for your state of mind.”

Wood did not reject Twain’s request. He simply nodded. It was clear that Twain’s attempt at helping him get out of that sticky situation was useful.

Twain pressed the alert for Vivian to stay at the ward to take care of Sophia while he walked out with Wood. (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log into www.qidian.com, where there would be more chapters. Support the author, support legal reading!)