90 Chapter 90: Bro, You've Been Cuckolded!
Chapter 90: Bro, You've Been Cuckolded!
Barcelona, the office of Barça's head coach.
Villanova put down the phone in his hand and fell into thought.
The call was from Bosque, the head coach of the Spanish national team, inquiring whether Barça planned to terminate Lin Quan's loan contract early during the winter break and bring him back to the team.
He also wanted to know if Lin Quan returned, what position would he play in the Barça team and whether he would have enough playing time?
Bosque wasn't intending to interfere with Barça's decision, but he wanted to know the situation in advance.
However, if Lin Quan didn't get enough playing time at Barça, then Bosque would consider calling him up to both the national team and the youth team to ensure he gets more game time and stays in form.
Villanova stated that he didn't know the club's plans. If there were any updates from the club, he would inform Bosque immediately.
After hanging up the phone, Villanova fell into thought.
To be honest, he hardly considered this issue before Lin Quan was called up to the national team.
The reason was simple; Barça already had Messi.
With his relationship with Guardiola, he naturally knew and was familiar with Lin Quan.
However, personal relationships wouldn't affect his judgment in his work.
Villanova hadn't worked with Lin Quan, so he wasn't sure about his abilities.
But Messi performed extraordinarily under his management, and he couldn't easily replace his absolute core.
Unless Lin Quan was willing to accept being a substitute for Messi. But for a player of his age, more playing time would be better than being a substitute in a top club.
So, Villanova didn't plan to recall Lin Quan during the winter break.
He just didn't know what the club would do.
Thinking about this, he decided to make some preparations in case the club brought him back unexpectedly.
Villanova found Messi, who was recovering on the training ground, and asked for his opinion.
If Messi was willing to accept Lin Quan's return, then he could consider redesigning tactics to ensure that both players could coexist on the field.
Argentina, where Messi played, lost to Venezuela in the recent World Cup qualifiers, and he was not in a good mood.
But when he heard that Lin Quan might return to the team in the second half of the season, he immediately showed a strong interest.
"Lin? I've watched his games; he played well at Werder Bremen!"
"Can we coexist? Of course, that's not a problem. In fact, I'm looking forward to working with him!"
Villanova didn't expect Messi to be so interested in Lin Quan, so he was relieved.
After thinking for a while, he called his old friend Guardiola, who was on vacation, to ask for his opinion.
...
While Barça was working on Messi, Real Madrid was working on Cristiano Ronaldo.
Florentino personally stepped in to persuade Ronaldo:
"Cristiano, I know your desire for championships, and I know you're not satisfied with the team's current strength, especially in the front line. I promise you, I'll bring in a superstar player to help you and the team achieve more glory!"
Ronaldo wasn't very happy at Real Madrid. The team's performance in European competitions since his transfer hadn't been satisfactory, and they were always overshadowed by Messi-led Barça in La Liga.
This made him feel very frustrated as he originally intended to dominate La Liga, defeat Messi directly in the duel, and suppress the opponent.
"A superstar player? Are you talking about that fast winger from Tottenham, or the recently rising Spanish kid?"
Florentino smiled at Ronaldo. "Which one do you think would be more suitable for you?"
Ronaldo thought for a moment and said seriously, "If possible, I want both!"
The corners of the president's mouth twitched slightly, and his smile froze on his face...
...
After bidding farewell to his national team teammates, Lin Quan didn't stay long in Madrid.
He flew back to Germany on the next day's flight.
The eighth round of the Bundesliga was about to begin, and he needed time to rest after playing in the national team matches.
As for the transfer rumors in the outside world, he didn't pay much attention personally, although his agent, Pere, was keeping an eye on them, and there were people contacting him.
But Pere knew that Lin Quan currently didn't want to leave Werder Bremen, so he didn't bother him with these matters, allowing him to focus on preparing for matches.
Flying from Madrid to Bremen took about four hours in total.
Although it wasn't a long time, Lin Quan still felt very tired.
Fortunately, the next game was a home game for Werder Bremen, saving him from the exhaustion of travel.
When he returned to the club, Lin Quan saw De Bruyne practicing on the field.
The Belgian national team only had one international match this time, so he returned to the club three days earlier than Lin Quan, and he looked much better than Lin Quan, who was tired.
De Bruyne seemed to be in a good mood, setting up the mannequins for free-kick practice while humming a tune and retreating to prepare to take the free-kick.
After practicing for a month or two, De Bruyne's free kicks had improved significantly.
Now, he had a fifty percent chance or more of scoring with every free kick.
This made his free kicks very threatening and became one of Werder Bremen's main attacking weapons.
"Hey, you seem to be in a good mood. Let me guess, are you in love, or did you score in the national team match?"
Lin Quan walked up, greeted his teammate, and teased him.
De Bruyne seemed to be caught in his thoughts. His face turned red, feeling a bit embarrassed as he lowered his head.
Seeing his reaction, Lin Quan clicked his tongue. "Hmm, it seems like you both fell in love and scored in the national team match, right?"
Lin Quan didn't watch the Belgian national team's match, but he remembered that De Bruyne was selected for the Belgian national team as early as 2010.
At that time, the Red Devils' lineup wasn't as strong as it would later become, and the coach liked promoting new talents, so it wasn't surprising for talented and promising players like De Bruyne to get playing time.
De Bruyne wasn't used to lying, so after Lin Quan figured it out, he just nodded and admitted it.
Lin Quan had wanted to tease him a bit more, but suddenly remembered the scandal involving Dinting and his friend's wife, and couldn't laugh anymore.
Could it be that his current girlfriend was the woman who cuckolded him?
As a friend, he should definitely warn his friend not to be cuckolded.
But Lin Quan didn't know if this had happened yet. The incident involving Dinting's friend's wife broke out in 2014, happening during the 2012-2013 season when De Bruyne was on loan at Werder Bremen.
The specific date, Lin Quan didn't know!
Because he wasn't sure of the exact date, Lin Quan couldn't directly tell De Bruyne, "Your girlfriend will cheat on you, right?" That would definitely make De Bruyne call him crazy!
"Tsk tsk, not bad, I didn't expect you to be that kind of guy, acting so fast!"
Lin Quan observed De Bruyne's reaction while discreetly gathering information about the girl.
De Bruyne shook his head with a smile. "I met her when I was playing for Genk before. We've known each other for a while, but we never confirmed our relationship. You know, I'm not very good at communicating with others..."
Genk? The club where Courtois and De Bruyne played together?
Lin Quan felt something was not right!
"How did you meet? Is she a fan of yours?"
De Bruyne nodded. "Her family are fans of Genk, and she used to come to watch the games often. We got to know each other through that!"
That's nine out of ten!
Thinking of this, Lin Quan didn't plan to beat around the bush anymore and directly asked, "What's your girlfriend's name?"
De Bruyne was puzzled. Why did Lin Quan feel like he was conducting a family investigation?
But since their relationship was quite good, he didn't think too much and answered truthfully:
"Her name is Caroline."
Hearing De Bruyne's answer, Lin Quan rubbed his forehead. This name was indeed the female lead of the friend's wife scandal.
"Well, has she been to Madrid recently?"
De Bruyne was stunned. Why did this question suddenly pop up again?
"It seems like she hasn't? I've seen her travel records on social media, and there are no photos of her in Madrid!"
Lin Quan remembered; Caroline met Courtois while traveling to Madrid. They hit it off instantly, chatting away until they ended up in bed, and then De Bruyne was cuckolded.
Since Caroline hadn't been to Madrid, it meant the friend's wife scandal hadn't happened yet.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
De Bruyne saw his friend's expression and asked curiously.
"Nothing, just that I think you're not often in your home country, and you can't always be with your girlfriend. Is a long-distance relationship like this really okay?"
Long-distance relationships are a problem in any country, and De Bruyne himself was a careless person.
He found out he was cuckolded two years later, which was beyond words. What's more, in the end, he chose to forgive her/him, leaving people speechless.
"I don't have a problem with it. After all, I'm always playing matches, and I don't have much free time, so I don't feel lonely. But as for Caroline..."
De Bruyne hadn't thought about this problem before. After hearing Lin Quan's words, he realized the seriousness of the situation.
"Here's the deal; I'll suggest Caroline move to Bremen!"
De Bruyne thought for a moment and came up with a solution he thought was good.
Lin Quan nodded; living together was indeed a good solution.
As long as Caroline didn't go to Madrid, she shouldn't get involved with Courtois, right?
However, he felt things might not be resolved so easily. Caroline wasn't the kind of person to stay put; she could cheat on De Bruyne during her travels to Bremen, right?
But this was De Bruyne's private matter, and Lin Quan couldn't ask him to break up with his girlfriend, right?
All he could do was keep an eye on De Bruyne and remind him not to be taken advantage of.
(End of this chapter)
