That is—playing football, just keep playing like this, making a living from it. Not only could he satisfy his own interests and hobbies, but he’d also have no worries about food or clothing. How great is that! As he got older, after watching TV, he learned there were football leagues, and that he could become a superstar admired by all, known by everyone. That made the dream in his heart even more restless.

Becoming a superstar was the upgraded version of his dream. By then, he had evolved from simply wanting to have enough to eat and wear, to desiring both fame and fortune...

He had also once hoped to serve his country, to wear the Chinese national team jersey and gallop across the field. Back then, he was young and didn’t understand the dark side of Chinese football. He was full of passion and youthful invincibility, thinking he could single-handedly turn around the backward and beaten state of Chinese football.

The dream he had most often at that time was leading the Chinese national team through one challenge after another, defeating Iran, Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea—all bowing before him in revenge. The “Korea-phobia” would forever become a thing of the past under his feet, and Chinese fans would never again remember the tears and drizzle of Jinzhou, Dalian. Naturally, the end of this dream was leading the Chinese team to the pinnacle of world football—winning the World Cup and achieving fame and success.

Looking back now, he realized how naive and laughable he was back then. How could Chinese football possibly change just because of one person? So later, he stopped having that dream. Now, he didn’t even want to serve the country anymore, because it was impossible. He looked down on some of the national team players, but he also knew that his own ability wasn’t even enough to qualify for the national team.

“Chu?” Seeing Brian Carter suddenly lost in thought, Emily Clark felt a bit puzzled.

“Huh? Oh, dreams…” Brian Carter snapped back to reality. “Yeah, I have one!”

“What is it?” Emily Clark looked expectantly at Brian Carter behind the bar.

“To work hard and make money, then find a wife and have a child.”

There was a moment of silence between the two before Emily Clark finally reacted: “That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Brian Carter nodded.

“You… are really so ordinary!” Emily Clark turned away from Brian Carter, jumped off the barstool, and walked over to the group of lively patrons to answer their questions.

After all, when it comes to donations involving money, you can’t be careless. How exactly to donate, how the donated money would be managed, how to ensure no one would use it for things unrelated to establishing the club, how to prevent embezzlement or misappropriation… all these issues needed Emily Clark to explain. And while she was at it, the patrons would chat with Emily Clark about everyday life. Most of Emily Clark’s time in the bar was spent answering all sorts of questions from the fans, and she never paid any more attention to Brian Carter.

Brian Carter was happy to see it. It would be best if Emily Clark never bothered him again, so he could focus on working, studying, and following his “dream.” As for football, just watching was enough...

Emily Clark kept repeating things she’d already said countless times, clearing up doubts for the patrons. Brian Carter, meanwhile, was busy pouring drinks for the thirsty patrons deep in discussion, as if he had completely stopped thinking about playing football.

When he finally had some free time, Emily Clark was still busy, with everyone gathered around her, listening to her describe the bright future of the new club, all completely absorbed—even the boss, Colin Johnson, was among them.

It had gotten quiet around Brian Carter. He leaned on the bar, feeling a bit bored. The four coins Emily Clark used to buy drinks were still on the counter, not yet put away. He stared at the four coins, lost in thought.

He suddenly remembered that he was very good at multiple-choice questions.

Brian Carter discovered in high school that he was really good at multiple-choice questions, with a much higher than average rate of guessing correctly. Some people, when faced with questions they couldn’t answer, would write “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D” on the four sides of an eraser and roll it like a die, filling in whichever side landed up. Brian Carter didn’t roll dice—at least, not on the table. It was as if there was a die spinning in his mind, and when it stopped, it would tell him which option to choose. Sounds mysterious, right? But really, it was just random guessing. He’d close his eyes and fill in an answer at random, but even so, his guessing accuracy was higher than most people’s. So, in exams where multiple-choice questions made up a large portion, he often did very well.

This wasn’t some superpower—it was a talent.

When it came to choices with a gambling element, he could often pick the right side. But if he tried to use this intuition to gamble for money, it didn’t work at all. This discovery frustrated him for a long time—he had even fancied that if he couldn’t make it in football, he could go to Las Vegas and become a gambling king.

※※※

On the bar’s big-screen TV, sports news was playing. It was a follow-up report about Wimbledon’s relocation.

Everyone paused their discussions and looked up at the TV.

“…After a meeting of the top three officials, the English FA has agreed at noon today to Wimbledon Football Club’s request to move to Milton Keynes…”

Other than the sound of the TV, the bar fell silent. Almost everyone had expected this outcome; no one harbored unrealistic hopes.