After bidding farewell to Zidane, Ling hurried off.
He had dinner plans with Maria Guardiola that evening.
The autumn night breeze was cool and refreshing.
Rushing against time, Ling finally picked up Maria and drove to the heart of Covent Garden to a famous French restaurant named Clos Maggiore.
It has been rated as one of the most romantic restaurants in the world.
It was a meticulously arranged garden restaurant, with flickering lights casting swaying shadows over a canopy of fake apple blossoms.
Maria soaked in the warm, romantic atmosphere, feeling inevitably nervous.
She knew this restaurant had another famous nickname: The Proposal Sanctuary.
'Could it be...?' Maria thought, her heart racing.
Ling, however, was completely unaware of Maria's thoughts.
He was fully focused on devouring the crab meat and cauliflower on his plate.
Lately, the head chef at the Man United canteen had been in a poor mood, resulting in bland nutritional meals that even Ling found hard to swallow.
Finally on a break, he was determined to treat himself.
Under Maria's increasingly wistful gaze, Ling polished off the slow-cooked quail breast, seared turbot, French blue foot mushrooms, and roasted rabbit bone meat.
When he was about 70% full, Ling finally stopped.
Indulgence was fine, but excess was not.
To maintain peak competitive form, players dare not indulge excessively even during breaks.
The romantic moment Maria had been waiting for never came.
After dinner, they simply attended a performance at a nearby opera house before heading home.
...
On November 8th, the fourth round of the Champions League group stage commenced.
Man United traveled to Ukraine to face Shakhtar Donetsk.
Because Mourinho had chosen to rest his key players, they stayed behind at the Carrington Training Base.
Mourinho temporarily called up four youth team players to travel with the squad: Angel Gomes, Callum Gribbin, Tahith Chong, and Aliou Traoré.
Gribbin, dubbed the "English Messi," was known for his explosive speed and exceptional dribbling skills.
Tahith Chong was a youngster of Chinese descent.
When Ling first heard his name, he thought he might meet a fellow countryman, envisioning an emotional reunion.
Who would have thought the guy would look exactly like a young Ruud Gullit with a massive afro?
Ling really couldn't shed tears of national pride for him, so their relationship was limited to standard youth team greetings.
As for Traoré, he was a typical tough ball-winning midfielder who, if properly developed, could become the next Michael Essien.
Before the match, several young players made bold statements, fantasizing about how many goals they would score.
They hoped to catch Mourinho's attention and soar to stardom just like Ling did last season.
But they overestimated themselves and severely underestimated their opponents.
Shakhtar Donetsk's ability to win the Ukrainian Premier League title without a home stadium spoke volumes about their undeniable quality.
A fully focused, first-team Man United would have left no room for doubt.
But these youngsters weren't up to the task.
After the match began, Shakhtar used their home advantage to aggressively seek physical confrontations, fragmenting the game's rhythm.
Man United's attacks consequently failed to yield results.
Perhaps due to their Champions League debut, the young players seemed incredibly nervous.
Combined with the high intensity of the physical battles, they struggled to organize play and made several basic errors.
It finally dawned on them that senior football wasn't as simple as they imagined.
For Ling to carry such immense pressure last season at their age was entirely due to his exceptional mental fortitude and world-class skill.
They clearly lacked the same capability.
Amid the jeers of thousands of Shakhtar fans, Man United gradually lost control in the midfield and attacking third, forcing them to retreat and park the bus.
Mourinho waved his hands in frustration on the touchline.
He had hoped to unearth a few more talented young players—not necessarily as outstanding as Ling, but at least half as good.
Now it seemed only Mason Greenwood showed any real promise for the future.
Watching his B-team's dismal performance, Mourinho simply returned to the dugout and began analyzing footage of Man City on his tablet.
Unsurprisingly, the match ended with Man United losing 3-1 to Shakhtar Donetsk.
In the other simultaneous match, Lyon drew 2-2 with Hoffenheim.
The group standings now showed Man United and Lyon both on 7 points, Hoffenheim on 5, and Shakhtar Donetsk on 3, narrowing the gaps and making qualification prospects uncertain.
However, this had little impact on Man United's ultimate goal. In the upcoming matches against Lyon and Hoffenheim, a single draw would secure their advancement.
But Man United's aim was undoubtedly to finish top of the group; otherwise, they could face strong teams in the knockout stage, such as PSG, Juventus, Real Madrid, or Barcelona.
Thus, Man United had to win their remaining matches, aiming for 13 points and first place to ensure they were drawn against group runners-up.
...
The Champions League interlude soon passed, and the senior Man United squad returned to intense training.
Ling even assembled his own personal support team, paying their salaries himself (though Man United covered most of the base costs).
The most crucial members were a specialist nutritionist who had previously worked at the famous "Milan Lab," and an elite track trainer who had previously trained Usain Bolt.
The trainer was primarily responsible for enhancing Ling's explosive speed and running rhythm.
Through this scientific training, combined with the system's physical enhancements, Ling's abilities improved steadily.
During this period, two interesting incidents occurred at Man United.
The first was Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward's desire to hire a Director of Football.
This was strongly rejected by most of the management, as Man United had never employed a Director of Football in its 140-year history.
Mourinho also expressed strong dissatisfaction; hiring a Director would cause him to lose his most important recruitment authority, which was absolutely unacceptable to him.
The second incident was Paul Pogba losing a pair of diamond earrings worth thousands of pounds on the training pitch.
Pogba actually hired up to 25 people to help him search the grass!
He even told the training base staff that if anyone could find them, he would reward them with a generous cash prize.
...
Just before the Manchester Derby, the highly anticipated Montblanc advertisement was released worldwide.
The ad, titled "Unique Imprints of Life," opened with warm sunset light falling on Zidane's back.
He picked up a pitch-black Montblanc fountain pen and wrote his name in French on a white sheet of paper.
The scene shifted.
It seemed many years had passed.
The fountain pen appeared aged by time, but the nib remained solid and noble.
The camera panned up to reveal Ling, who took the pen and wrote his name in Chinese.
Finally, a sentence slowly appeared on the paper: "Dare to pursue your inner passions, do what you truly love, fully unleash your potential—everyone can achieve something and leave their own unique imprint on life."
The uplifting advertisement sparked heated discussions worldwide.
After all, the main figures were Zidane and Ling, both of whom had massive global fan bases.
@WatchNerd: Brothers, what tier is Montblanc as a brand?
@StyleGuru: Upper-middle range luxury, similar to Longines and Omega. Great pens and watches.
@UtdDaily: Why didn't they choose Mourinho? Zidane and Ling don't seem related at all.
@TacticsGuy: Speaking of which, Ling is doing a lot of commercials lately. Could this affect his training?
@RedDevilsStat: You can check the physical report released by Man United! Ling's body fat percentage is only 8%, muscle mass 53%—all his metrics are significantly higher than the average professional player. He's a machine!
...
November 12th.
Manchester came alive with excitement.
Both Man City and Man United are historic clubs with illustrious achievements.
Man City held a slight advantage during the 1950s and 1970s, but Man United reversed the trend after the 1990s.
Last season featured an intense battle with both teams reaching the 100-point mark.
This season's clash attracted massive global attention, with online viewership expected to exceed 400 million people.
The Etihad Stadium was completely packed.
Guardiola and Mourinho faced off once again.
The legendary Arrigo Sacchi once remarked about their rivalry.
"It's like having two Picassos painting in the same era."
The match referee was Anthony Taylor, which drew loud dissatisfaction from some Man City fans.
Taylor was born in Wythenshawe, a district in southern Manchester.
In Manchester, eastern residents tend to support Man City, while western and southern residents lean heavily toward Man United.
Although Taylor claims to be an Altrincham FC fan, his family members are known season ticket holders for Man United.
Additionally, Man United's win rate in matches officiated by Taylor was a staggering 70%.
The first Manchester Derby of the new season sees Manchester City firmly seated at the top of the league, while Manchester United is looking to bounce back from their Champions League defeat.
What sparks will fly between Guardiola and Mourinho this time?