Chapter 134: On Rewards and Recognition
The award ceremony ended.
Fans poured down from the stands and hoisted Arsène Wenger, Pat Rice, Xia Qi, Thomas Vermaelen, Jack Wilshere and the others into the air, tossing them about — Xia Qi and the others screamed as they were thrown three or four times before finally being set down.
When Xia Qi and the young players came down, they rushed into the player tunnel, grabbed the champagne the logistics team had prepared and sprayed it at the fans.
Mario Balotelli and Theo Walcott were mischievous, aiming most at the female fans; Xia Qi and Kevin De Bruyne were much more gentlemanly…
But the Arsenal logistics crew had secretly armed the fans in the tunnel, so the players' "revenge" failed and instead they were soaked and drenched by the crowd.
Arsène Wenger, Xia Qi and Thomas Vermaelen in particular became the main targets of the "collective attack."
Seeing there was nowhere to run and he would inevitably be drenched, Xia Qi gave up resisting and lay back, surrendering.
After the "ammunition" ran out, the event moved on to photos, autographs, and shirt-giving.
Xia Qi's mother brought Alice and Emma Watson to where Xia Qi stood, smelling of champagne from head to toe.
Xia Qi's parents, Xia Qi, Alice and Emma Watson formed a semicircle and took a commemorative photo with the big-eared trophy.
In the photo, Xia Qi's parents stood to the left; the shirtless Xia Qi had his left arm around Alice's shoulder and his right arm around Emma Watson on the right. The Champions League trophy stood in the center.
(The one-star jersey Xia Qi wore when receiving his award had been given to a fan.)
This photo became the front-page lead in the London Times the next day.
Many girls ogled Xia Qi's eight-pack and shouted, "Let go of him, I'll take him!" while boys roared, "Beast! Left arm, right arm!"
Reporters swarmed in at this point — Xia Qi, as the match's biggest hero, was their prime target.
They surrounded him, thrusting microphones forward, eager for his acceptance speech.
After a moment of silence Xia Qi said, "You guys really aren't going to make me put on a shirt?"
Reporters froze, then gave a good-natured laugh.
Xia Qi smiled softly; tears of excitement glittered in his eyes.
"First, I want to thank my teammates," Xia Qi began, his voice slightly trembling. "Without their fighting and effort we couldn't have won this title."
He pointed to Per Mertesacker not far away: "Per — a man whose most vulnerable place took a heavy blow yet he kept playing with an injury."
He pointed to Mario Balotelli: "Mario — the third man after Me and Ro, he created space and supported me."
He gestured at Wojciech Szczęsny (or Martínez in the text): "Martínez — time after time he preserved our goal and pulled us out of danger. You should be interviewing him."
"...Every match, every training session, we went through them together..."
Xia Qi recalled every game, every moment of fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with his teammates. He mentioned the crucial goals, the tacit combinations, the moments of mutual support in difficult times.
His words were full of gratitude for his teammates and thick with comradeship.
"I also want to thank the coaches and the club staff — they have constantly supported us and given us the best conditions. Without their contributions we wouldn't be here."
Xia Qi's remarks were sincere and moving; his voice conveyed deep thanks to the team and a love for the game.
The reporters were moved too; the interview area by the pitch fell silent.
After composing himself a little, Xia Qi continued: "Finally, I want to thank the fans. They have always been our strong backing. Whether at home or away, they give us the greatest support and encouragement. This title is also for them — I hope our performance has made them proud."
When the interview ended, Xia Qi waved to the reporters and walked toward his parents.
Reporters split into teams: some to interview Wenger, some to interview Martínez, and others...
After an hour of interacting with fans, Wenger led the players to thank the supporters once more and announced a victory parade in three days. Amid the fans' cheers Wenger and the players walked back into the player tunnel.
Back in the dressing room,
Wenger: "Champions — congratulations."
Xia Qi and the others laughed and shouted: "Congratulations to you, champion coach!"
Wenger smiled and continued: "The city council has approved the parade three days from now, so the next two days are off. But Xia Qi and Luke, you two must return to school for exams — you must pass, otherwise you won't be allowed to join the China trip."
Under English law players under 18 must attend school.
The club manages students like Xia Qi as follows: players below the first team must attend the prescribed class hours, while first-team players like Xia Qi and Luke Shaw do not usually go to school. Their academic lessons are given by the club's cultural teacher.
The club teachers often hold dual posts and teach the same curriculum as schools.
Wherever they take classes, the exams are organized by the Department of Education.
In the UK there are three academic routes: A-Levels, GNVQ and BTEC.
A-Levels are the most formal qualifications; BTEC is tailored for players like Xia Qi — similar to part-time or evening university programs.
The Department's exams are typically in early June, with resits in early August — if they fail the initial test they might miss next season's pre-season friendlies.
When Wenger finished speaking, Xia Qi and Luke Shaw howled in dismay.
The dressing room erupted in laughter; everyone in there had gone through the same thing — academic classes can be harder than beating the big teams.
Wenger: "After the parade there will be a celebration dinner, and the owner will hand out bonuses personally..."
"Hooray..."
Money — everyone likes it!
After Wenger left, Xia Qi and the others messed around a bit more before taking showers.
Cleaned up, the whole squad headed to High Street together...
The next morning Xia Qi drove to pick up Luke Shaw and they went to school to register.
There was a week until the exams; although the club could provide lessons, school was still more convenient.
The club's cultural teacher had called and asked them to attend school classes too.
Westminster is a school with a history older than Arsenal itself, comprising university, secondary and primary sections (in the UK primary is seven years, secondary five years).
The secondary campus' parking lot is outside — cars aren't allowed on campus.
Xia Qi and Luke Shaw arrived at the school gate and were stunned by the scene.
All the teachers and students of Westminster's secondary department were wearing the two players' jerseys and lined both sides of the entrance and the classroom doors.
Wasn't this a bit over the top?
Xia Qi and Luke exchanged a look; surprise and emotion shone in each other's eyes.
The headmaster didn't give a long speech; he stood at a distance, clenched his fist and shouted: "We Arsenal are invincible!"
In an instant the whole school shouted: "Welcome back, champions." Thunderous applause followed.
Xia Qi and Luke blushed and bowed their heads, quickly walking through the crowd.
After they did, the pair looked up at the seven-story teaching block, bewildered: which classroom were they to go to?
Through the confusion Xia Qi spotted the club's cultural teacher waving to them from the fourth floor corridor.
In the classroom Xia Qi and Luke took their seats amid applause.
Then it was lessons and exercises...
Westminster lived up to its reputation — that day no classmates asked for autographs or photos; for the day Xia Qi and Luke Shaw were treated like ordinary students.
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke had been a little troubled lately; as Arsenal surged through the Champions League, his phone had been ringing more and more, especially after the final.
And these calls had to be answered.
Sheikh Mansour of Manchester City, Tamim of Paris, Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge of Bayern, Florentino Pérez of Real Madrid...
Which of these big names could he ignore?
Deals might fail, but courtesy must be kept!
Even Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan had the nerve to pester him — some things an uncle can tolerate, but not an auntie; how does John W. Henry have a face bigger than Florentino and Mansour?
Joanna was also annoyed; her phone didn't stop. She was both happy and troubled.
Happy because from now on the tables had turned — those who had been lofty were now flattering. Flattery had been her survival skill; now... well…
Troubled because although she felt proud to be in charge, these big players were still not to be trifled with.
The big names Joanna referred to weren't in football — Xia Qi's contract with Arsenal ran three years, expiring June 2015, so transfer approaches for Xia Qi would go straight to Arsenal, not to her.
Now the calls she got were from advertisers — Adidas, a three-stripe rival, Huawei, some fruit company...
Too much money can be a headache!
Arsenal became the sixth Premier League club to win the Champions League.
The previous five were Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Chelsea.
Although London is the capital, it isn't the football capital historically; only Chelsea had won the Champions League in 2012 prior. Arsenal became the second London club to win it — and as double champions. The city government gave maximum support.
On the bright third day,
London's sky was red and white.
Many non-Arsenal shopkeepers closed early or left work early; they switched off TVs and radios and locked themselves at home cursing the mayor's absurdity.
North London's Highbury area became a ghost town after two in the afternoon.
Aside from Highbury, celebratory flags hung from houses along the streets, and some fans even painted their homes red and white — like Jack and his "mates."
At two in the afternoon the parade began on schedule, with three police cars and six mounted officers leading the way.
The Arsenal players wore matching team shirts with the single-star badge on the chest, holding the trophy and standing on open-top buses touring the city.
The parade started from the Colney training ground, looped around London and finished back at Colney.
The route passed Stamford Bridge and White Hart Lane — no wonder Spurs fans cursed.
Fans gathered early along the roads in their favorite players' shirts, waving flags and banners, faces full of excitement.
When the bus appeared, cheers and applause erupted. Players on the bus waved to the fans and thanked them.
When the parade passed the empty White Hart Lane area, Vermaelen and the older Arsenal players deliberately made a ruckus, loudly singing "We Are the Champions," and drivers honked their horns.
But Spurs' players may be meek, yet their fans are not.
A bucket of some recycled water was thrown from above, soaking Samuel Umtiti.
Umtiti almost cried — why do the older players stir things up and the younger ones get hurt?
Seeing a confrontation about to erupt, Arsène Wenger stepped forward and calmed the furious players.
This row was really the city government's fault — the parade route was poorly designed.
Going past Stamford Bridge was one thing; the two clubs aren't mortal enemies, but White Hart Lane...
Whoever planned the route was either stupid or malicious.
After the minor incident the procession quickened its pace.
Back at Colney the training ground was packed.
Xia Qi and the players stepped off the bus and interacted closely with fans.
They shook hands and hugged, thanked them for their support, signed autographs and took pictures, making every fan feel part of the championship.
Xia Qi, Martínez and others took off their shirts and gave them to fans.
The gesture excited the fans; they scrambled to grab shirts as personal championship mementos.
The whole training ground rang with laughter and cheers; the interaction made the title feel even more precious.
At Colney a players-and-fans social night was held.
Jack spoke as a fan representative and Vermaelen as the players' representative.
Fans and players went up and performed; Xia Qi and Alice sang "Under the Sea" together.
That day London was wrapped in football passion — Gooners immersed in joy.
This championship was not only the team's glory but the city's pride. It would be remembered forever as part of London's history.
After the party Wenger led the team to the hotel for a final banquet and the rewards-and-recognition ceremony where bonuses would be handed out...
The next day Arsenal issued a statement saying they would strengthen the squad around the championship core to mount a title defense.
The statement quashed transfer rumors about Xia Qi, and Arsenal players went on holiday relaxed.
On June 3 Xia Qi and Luke Shaw sat exams — Xia Qi passed while Luke had to resit.
To make Luke more miserable, he was left out of the national team selection.
Xia Qi rubbed it in: double defeat for Luke Shaw!
The 2014 World Cup qualifiers in Europe kicked off.
On June 5 Xia Qi, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott were called up by the national team.
There they reunited with former friend Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; after half a season apart they no longer were the same.
Xia Qi and the three had succeeded — double winners in hand — while Oxlade-Chamberlain remained empty-handed.
On June 10 Xia Qi, wearing the England shirt, scored a hat-trick away as England routed Scotland 6–1.
After that match England qualified with two games to spare — one of the earliest European qualifying qualifications.
Afterwards the British media grew arrogant again, claiming that "now is England's best chance to lift the trophy — 2014 is promising."
Transfer market upheavals:
June 1 — big shock: Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp moved to the Premier League to manage Liverpool (in the original timeline this was 2015).
In the following days Liverpool signed Sadio Mané for €41.2m, Mohamed Salah for €42m, and Virgil van Dijk for €84.65m.
(In the original timeline, Mané arrived 2016, Salah 2017, Van Dijk 2018.)
June 3 — Real Madrid's €120m bid for Xia Qi failed; they instead bought Gareth Bale from Tottenham for €100m.
Bale became the first €100m man in European football.
At the presentation Real president Florentino Pérez personally handed Bale the No. 11 shirt.
Real's forward line: Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo — the BBC.
They also bought Toni Kroos from Bayern for €30m. (In the original timeline Kroos joined Real in 2014–15.)
The Real midfield: Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos, Casemiro — a majestic midfield.
The same day Barcelona bought Neymar from Santos for €88m.
They bought Luis Suárez from Liverpool for €82m. (In the original timeline Suárez joined Barça in 2014–15.)
Barcelona's forward line: Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Neymar — MSN.
June 8 — Paris Saint-Germain bought Edinson Cavani from Napoli for €64m.
June 10 — Chelsea announced José Mourinho's return as head coach.
This was Mourinho's 2,083rd day back since leaving Stamford Bridge.
He later signed Diego Costa, Cesc Fàbregas, Nemanja Matić…
June 12 — Pep Guardiola's Bayern signed Mario Götze for €37m, brought in Robert Lewandowski on a free transfer, and bought Xabi Alonso from Real for €9m.
June 15 — Sir Alex Ferguson announced a postponement of his retirement.
June 18 — Tottenham appointed Mauricio Pochettino as head coach for the new season.
They then signed Paulinho, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min…
European football was transformed by the butterfly effect that was Xia Qi.
Premier League line-up of top managers now included Klopp, Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho and Pochettino.
Spurs: Son Heung-min, Harry Kane.
Liverpool: Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané.
Real Madrid: BBC and the majestic midfield.
Barcelona: MSN and more.
Bayern: Pep Guardiola in charge, Robert Lewandowski the supreme striker...
Xia Qi and Arsenal's "great test" in football life was about to begin...
(END CHAPTER)
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