A Five-Star Hotel with Cow Moos at Night?

On July 15, Sao Paulo traveled to the state of Bahia, though this time their opponent was not Bahia from the previous match, but another team, Vitoria.

In this match, Sao Paulo met stubborn resistance from the home side on the road, and in the end, they drew 3–3 with Vitoria, bringing their seven-game winning streak in the league to an end.

But in this match, Chen Anno put on a dazzling performance, scoring three goals by himself to complete a hat trick. It was also the second hat trick of his professional career.

The only pity was that he had not been able to help the team secure a victory.

Three days later, at Corinthians Arena, the second leg of the Recopa Sudamericana.

Because of the packed schedule, Chen Anno did not start this match.

Since they had already taken a 3–1 lead at home, Ramalho's tactics for this match were to defend and counterattack.

But at home, Corinthians put Sao Paulo under enormous pressure, practically pinning them in their own half and battering them.

Fortunately, in this match, the veteran captain and Lucio were in inspired form, and by the end of the first half, they had only allowed Corinthians to score one goal.

Chen Anno came on as a substitute in the second half and brought a major change to Sao Paulo. In particular, in the middle and front third, with Chen Anno joining in, their counterattacks became much more lively.

In the end, with Chen Anno scoring twice, the two sides finished 2–2 at Corinthians Arena. Sao Paulo won 5–3 on aggregate and claimed the Recopa Sudamericana title.

Although in terms of prestige, it seemed somewhat dispensable, to Chen Anno, who was winning a title for the first time, it was incredibly important.

This was the first title Chen Anno had won since joining Sao Paulo, and also the first title of his professional career.

That night, Chen Anno had a long video call with his second uncle's family, the medal hanging around his neck the entire time.

"Bro, bite that medal and see if it's pure gold."

Chen Xiaolong's words left Chen Anno not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

As expected, he was chased all over the house by his second aunt, begging for mercy.

"When I make money in the future, I'll buy a big house and bring Second Uncle, Second Aunt, and Xiaolong over. Then our whole family can live together and never be separated."

His second uncle and second aunt beamed with joy and nodded again and again.

"And then I'll set aside a room especially for my medals and trophies."

This was not only something Chen Anno said for his second uncle and the others to hear, but also a goal he set for himself.

That year, seventeen-year-old Chen Anno set sail with Sao Paulo!

On the third day after winning the Recopa Sudamericana.

Sao Paulo's league campaign began again.

This time, they welcomed Cruzeiro, a team from Minas Gerais.

This football club, founded in 1921, was the only team in Brazilian history to have won the treble.

The famous Brazilian star Ronaldo, known as "The Phenomenon," came from Cruzeiro.

Perhaps because they had just won a title and the players had not yet emerged from the joy of victory, in this match, apart from Chen Anno, none of the Sao Paulo players were in form.

In the end, Sao Paulo lost 1–2 at home to Cruzeiro, suffering their first league defeat of the season.

However, Sao Paulo quickly adjusted themselves, and before the break, they picked up two straight league wins.

On July 25, they beat Internacional 3–1 at home.

On July 29, they defeated Corinthians 2–0 away.

"Hey...! Anno, where's your luggage?" Aloisio looked at Chen Anno in confusion. He had only a backpack on his back.

"Isn't this it?" Chen Anno shook the backpack.

"Uh... just that?"

Aloisio looked at the two extra-large suitcases in his hands, then looked behind him at his teammates loading their luggage onto the bus.

Chen Anno waved it off indifferently. "We're going to Germany, not Mars. Why bring so much luggage? Besides, it's only about ten days."

Watching Chen Anno already get on the bus, Aloisio shook his head.

The whole Sao Paulo team was heading to Munich, Germany today to participate in the Audi Cup. It was a commercial match, so the players were in pretty good spirits, treating it entirely like a trip.

Chen Anno was actually someone who disliked hassle. He felt that they were only going for about ten days, and they would usually be training and playing matches anyway, so there was no need to bring that much luggage.

If he had not needed to pack some daily necessities, he would not even have bothered bringing a backpack. After all, the team would basically arrange everything for them, including training kits and jerseys.

Having grown up this much, it was also Chen Anno's first time going to Europe, so deep down, he still felt a trace of anticipation.

Following the team bus all the way to the airport, Sao Paulo had a direct flight to Munich, Germany. Although the flight was long, not having to transfer saved them a lot of trouble.

The Audi Cup, just from the name, was clearly a tournament with a strong commercial atmosphere. It was founded by Audi in 2009 to celebrate its 100th anniversary and was held every two years. This year was already the third edition.

The champions of the first two editions were the host, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona.

For European teams, this kind of commercial tournament was just a warm-up before the league began.

For South American teams like Sao Paulo, it had only one purpose: making money!

Victory or defeat, who won and who lost, did not matter.

The Westin Hotel in Munich, Germany, was the hotel Sao Paulo FC would be staying at this time.

The hotel was located in Munich's Bogenhausen district, was five-star, and had only been put into use in 2009.

At past nine that evening local time, Chen Anno and his teammates arrived at the hotel on the team bus arranged by the organizers.

After a flight of nearly eleven hours, the older guys were already exhausted, but Chen Anno was in remarkably good spirits.

Not long after the plane took off, he had fallen straight asleep, and not long after he woke up, they had already arrived in Munich.

His excellent sleep quality and condition even made Aloisio, who was sitting beside him, deeply envious.

There was no helping it. This was the advantage of being young.

But... Chen Anno soon realized just how painful that advantage could be, because when his teammates all went to sleep that night, he could no longer fall asleep.

They were sharing rooms in pairs, and because he and Aloisio usually got along well, the two of them were assigned together.

One minute Aloisio was still chatting with Chen Anno, and the next, Chen Anno heard the guy start snoring.

That sound... was truly something else. It was exactly like the noise made by a wild bull.

Early the next morning.

"Haah..." Aloisio stretched. "Morning, Anno. Didn't expect you to be up this early."

With a pair of panda eyes, Chen Anno said weakly, "Do you think there's any chance I haven't even started sleeping yet?"

"Huh?" Aloisio looked shocked, then took a closer look at Chen Anno's eyes. "Holy shit! Bro, you actually didn't sleep all night? Why?"

"Because there was a cow next to me, bellowing the whole time. How was I supposed to sleep?" Chen Anno flopped down spread-eagled.

"A cow?" Aloisio shot to his feet, looking furious. "German hotels are way too awful, aren't they? Five-star, my ass. There were actually cows mooing in the middle of the night? Anno... I'll definitely help you file a complaint later!"

"Heh... Alo, have you ever thought..."

"Thought what?"

"Have you ever thought that the cow I was talking about was you?"

"Gah...?"

Although he had not rested well, he still had to attend today's training session.

Sao Paulo's training had been arranged at the training ground of the Bundesliga 2 team 1860 Munich.

Chinese fans would not be unfamiliar with this team.

Because former Chinese player Shao Jiayi had once played here for two and a half seasons.