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"So, are you feeling bad for me?"
In a luxurious Madrid mansion, Lance, wearing a bathrobe, sat on a lounge chair, basking in the Spanish sun, looking at Chloe with a half-smile.
"I worried for nothing."
Chloe rolled her eyes at Lance.
The moment she saw Lance being carried off the pitch on a stretcher on TV, Chloe's soul almost left her body.
She didn't care about her classes later that day and booked a flight to Madrid.
She imagined Lance would be in a bad mood after suffering a serious injury, and she could comfort him properly when she arrived in Madrid.
Who knew he was living such a leisurely life?
He had a young and beautiful personal maid serving him, and he even had the mood to soak in a hot spring?
Was he on holiday?
Then what was all my worrying for?
"It's good that you're fine. I'm going back."
"Since you're already here, don't leave."
Lance grabbed the girl's hand, and Chloe, caught off guard, lost her balance and was pulled onto the lounge chair by Lance, directly landing in his lap.
"Oh, holy crap!"
The girl's 170 cm height meant she was still too thin, only weighing 50kg, but the impact of her sitting down was strong enough to almost make Lance infertile.
"What's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"
Seeing Lance's pained expression, Chloe didn't bother to get up, leaning over him, worried sick.
"You… get up first, then we can talk."
Lance was utterly speechless.
Isn't this how it always plays out in TV dramas?
The director adds a few slow-motion shots, inserts a beautiful background music, the two gaze deeply into each other's eyes, the timing is just right, and the male lead lowers his head to kiss.
It's clearly one of the most romantic scenes of the entire show.
But here, Getafe's defender didn't injure him, but Chloe almost ended his season.
The pain in that crucial area was ten thousand times more intense than an ankle injury.
Seeing Lance twisted up like a shrimp, Chloe wasn't an idiot.
Her pretty face immediately flushed crimson, and she was frozen in place, at a loss for what to do.
"I, I didn't mean to… Are you, are you okay? Should we, should we take you to the hospital to get it checked?"
"No, no, just let me recover for a bit."
Well, no romance at all…
...
"You really know how to enjoy yourself."
Led by Lance, Chloe toured the villa.
"But you're too minimalist."
"I think it's fine."
"There, it needs a potted plant… There, hang another painting… Also, don't leave the corner empty, put an ornament there. And how can there be no rug under the sofa? What a waste of such a good house."
Lance himself didn't feel anything was wrong. When he first moved in, the hard furnishings of the room had all been renovated, but the soft furnishings needed to be arranged by himself.
Harry Kane, at Lance's instruction, arranged everything in the house for him.
The two straight men thought minimalist was good; the overall style was rather plain and understated, focusing on practicality.
Anyway, apart from training and matches, Lance only came back to the villa to sleep, so he didn't feel anything was amiss.
But with Chloe saying all that, the room indeed lacked a bit of a lived-in feel.
Although Chloe's own villa wasn't as luxurious as Lance's, having grown up surrounded by such things, she definitely had an understanding of room decor and spoke very eloquently.
Watching her chatter on beside him, Lance suddenly had a strange feeling, as if a young newlywed couple was decorating their new home.
"You really have the feeling of a hostess."
"Who wants to be your hostess!"
Chloe glared at Lance playfully.
"Oh? So you don't want to be, then I'll just have to let someone else be."
"Whatever you want. Anyway, I see you've adapted very well to life in Spain. You like Spanish food, you like the Spanish sun, and you also like Spanish people."
Chloe grew more and more aggrieved as she spoke.
It was as if after they separated, she thought the other person missed the past and missed her very much. She didn't expect the other person had already integrated into a new environment, whilst she was gradually being removed from their life.
They had just watched the night view by the Rhine River a week ago; was it all fake?
"You're wrong about one thing. Compared to the paella here, I still prefer German food. I like sauerkraut, I like mashed potatoes, I like German sausages, and I also like pork knuckles."
Lance grabbed the girl's slender arm.
The girl's pretty face couldn't hide her emotions, visibly changing from cloudy to sunny.
"You, you're the pork knuckle!"
Generally, German sounds quite harsh when spoken, but Chloe was the only person Lance had ever met who could sound soft and cute even when pouting in German…
...
"Are you going back already?"
"I can't help it, I still have classes."
At Barajas Airport, Lance stood in front of the VIP lounge wearing a baseball cap and large sunglasses, whilst Chloe clutched her suitcase, reluctant to leave.
Because his ankle sprain hadn't fully healed, for this past week, they had almost exclusively eaten, lived, and played at the villa.
But it wasn't boring at all. They played games together, played golf together, swam together, soaked in hot springs, sang karaoke, and watched films.
In Lance's private cinema at the villa, watching Matthew McConaughey's performance in "Interstellar," Chloe leant on his shoulder and cried her eyes out.
A week, if you're a hard-working drone, might be a long time to endure.
But Lance felt as if he had arrived on that water-filled planet, and in just a snap of his fingers, a week had passed in an instant.
Teacher Einstein truly didn't deceive me.
"I was still hoping you could watch me play in person when we face Real Madrid."
Chloe smiled radiantly, "Go on. Don't rush too much. Try to recover completely before coming back."
"Got it, go on, go on."
Lance hated goodbyes, so he just wanted to turn and leave quickly.
"Hey!"
"What?"
Lance stopped and turned around. Before he could react, the girl had already rushed into his arms.
"I'll be watching you on TV, every single game. So, no matter what, always remember, there's always a fan cheering you on."
Before Lance could respond, he felt the girl stand on tiptoe and peck his cheek lightly, like a dragonfly touching the water.
The cool, soft sensation hadn't yet faded when her slender back, dragging a suitcase, had already hurried around the corner and disappeared.
On the elevated motorway from the airport back to the villa, Lance drove his Ferrari, looking up at the sky.
A plane flew over Madrid, and Chloe simultaneously looked out the window.
With a telepathic connection, both their lips curved into the same smile at the same time…
...
"Holy shit!! Lance, your recovery speed is too fast."
"What do you mean?"
"I thought you would miss the derby, but it looks like you'll be fit to play before then."
Originally, it was expected to take more than two weeks to fully recover, and about a week of training with the team before he could return.
Lance only took one week and was basically ready to return.
The team doctor was stunned; it was a medical miracle.
"Don't push it," Simeone couldn't believe it either.
"Don't worry, I would never joke about Lance's career."
"Yeah, the team doctor even said, coach, let me play this week."
Without a match, Lance was more anxious than Sun Wukong unable to eat a peach.
"Nonsense. I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious yet."
Simeone raised his hand to stop Lance's request.
For the weekend match against the Yellow Submarine, Villarreal, Lance wasn't even on the main roster.
"What about the media? Should we announce Lance's imminent return?"
"No, no, we won't mention it for now. The external communication will be the same as before."
"Oh? A smokescreen, I get it."
Atlético Madrid's press officer, Silva, gave a mischievous smile. He was sure they could give Real Madrid a big surprise then, and Florentino's expression would surely be priceless…
...
"Villarreal Holds Atlético Madrid to a Draw, Lance Wears Cap"
"Barcelona Tops La Liga, Madrid Duo Drop Points, Title Race Heats Up"
"Messi Scores, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lance Muted, Barcelona Overtakes Atlético Madrid for 1st Place!"
The 6th round of La Liga concluded this weekend.
The happiest, of course, were the Barcelona fans.
Messi and Suárez scored, as Barcelona beat Las Palmas 2-1.
Real Madrid drew 0-0 with Málaga.
Villarreal drew 0-0 with Atlético Madrid.
Without their absolute core, Lance, Atlético Madrid had sufficient defence but lacked offence, and Griezmann and Torres couldn't find a way to score.
Before the Madrid Derby, Barcelona unexpectedly benefited, climbing from 3rd place to overtake both Madrid giants.
On Twitter, it had previously been a favourable situation for Atlético Madrid fans, but now it was finally the Barcelona fans' turn to gloat.
"I said it, the commoner team with insufficient heritage, and the decaying circus, can't win the championship. The true king of La Liga is still my Barcelona!"
"MSN > Cristiano Ronaldo + Lance"
"Messi is the Ballon d'Or winner, Messi is the best in the world!"
Since Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid both failed to win, their fans had no power to refute.
The most critical thing was that in the next round, the Madrid Derby, the fans of both teams would be fighting to the death, so they temporarily had no time to deal with the jumping Barcelona fans.
First settle internal affairs before dealing with external ones!
A week later, only one Madrid team would be able to represent the city and fight Barcelona to the death!
Compared to the heated arguments on foreign social media, the Chinese internet was full of memes and jokes.
Whilst everyone was concerned about Lance's injury, they were fed up with the unscrupulous media.
It was one thing for Zhang Xizhe to wear a cap, but why was Lance also wearing a cap?
Clicking on the news, it turned out Lance was wearing a baseball cap in the stands.
They had thought Lance could return, but was he really unable to participate in the Madrid Derby?
That would be too bad!
"Atlético Madrid Team Doctor: Lance's Ankle Injury Still Recovering, May Miss Madrid Derby"
Four days before the match, an interview with Atlético Madrid's team doctor dealt another blow to Chinese fans.
"Cristiano Ronaldo: It's a Shame I Can't Face Lance, But Even If He's On the Field, I'll Still Crush Atlético Madrid"
One day before the match, Real Madrid's core player made a strong statement, adding fuel to the fire on the eve of this increasingly intense derby.