Volume One: The Rookie’s Glory

Prologue

Gordon's Diary

July 2, 2001

Today, Bennett and his family finished their visit to China and returned to São Paulo. He invited me to his house tomorrow, and I’m very interested in what he brought back from China. That mysterious country has always fascinated me... They said they brought me something, and I’m sure I’ll love it... I’m so curious, what could it be that I’ll like so much?

July 3, 2001

It’s incredible! Guess what I discovered? Bennett showed me a videotape they filmed in China! On the tape, I saw a Chinese boy running at lightning speed, agile, with extraordinary athletic talent! He could run barefoot through the mountains with ease, more nimble than a dog! I don’t think I’m mistaken—he’s a genius, and he’s bound to become a world-class player in the future! Is my miserable career as an agent finally about to see a glorious future? I’ve decided—I must go to China and bring him to Brazil!

God bless me, I hope I’m not wrong this time...

August 9, 2001

After a month of preparation, I finally arrived in China! Tomorrow I’ll go with Bennett to his hometown. Apparently, that’s where he filmed the boy... I hope I can find him smoothly.

August 11, 2001

I finally found the boy named Logan Grant, but I ran into a competitor. According to Bennett, it seems to be some local track and field team... Luckily, at the critical moment, I settled it with 20,000 RMB (about six thousand reais)! It seems this boy really likes money... That’s good—I was afraid he’d be a lazybones with no drive or ambition. I’ve seen and heard of too many so-called talented people who never have the motivation to turn talent into strength... Money can be a motivation too, can’t it? We all like money—who doesn’t?

But we can’t leave right away, because Grant insists on waiting until his family’s new house is finished before leaving. Such a stubborn kid, but his house really is too shabby—I honestly suspect a gust of wind could blow it down... Well, I plan to use this time to teach him Portuguese. In Brazil, if you can’t speak the language, you won’t survive.

Anyway, the work visa Bennett helped me get gives me time.

December 26, 2001

Unbelievable—I never thought I’d spend Christmas in a remote mountain village in northwest China...

It’s already getting cold here, and they say it’s about to snow. But when I arrived, it was still summer—I didn’t even bring any warm clothes... Thank God, Grant's family’s new house is finally finished, and we can leave China now... Grant's talent for learning really amazes me. He’s already basically able to converse in Portuguese—though he can’t write yet, and his reading is still shaky, but listening and speaking are no problem. Maybe, just as he boasts, if his family weren’t so poor, he would have gone to middle school in the county and become the first in the village to get into college, instead of herding sheep in this poor mountain valley, with only a dog for company...

I told Grant that you don’t have to go to college to make something of yourself, because he’s a genius at football too! Even though he hasn’t even started playing football yet—I forgot to bring a football when I came, and obviously there isn’t one in the village for him to play with—but I firmly believe that if he applies his language learning ability to football... he’ll soon shock all of Brazil!

But most important is his body! His athletic talent—that’s something you can’t train, it’s truly a gift from above!

...

January 5, 2002

Damn it! Damn that Edvaldo Simoes! Damn Corinthians! They’re so arrogant, they won’t even give us a trial! You’ll regret this! You definitely will! I promise! When Grant succeeds in the future, you’ll absolutely regret humiliating me like this today!

January 14, 2002

So what if he’s sixteen? Can’t you play football at sixteen? Can’t you see the outstanding talent and ability he has?!

Why does every club lose interest as soon as they hear he’s Chinese and already sixteen?

Some even say I have no eye for talent... Do I really have no eye for talent?

Isn’t Grant a genius?

No!

Maybe my previous failures as an agent really were because I misjudged people... but not this time!

Grant is definitely a genius!

I firmly believe it!