The next morning.
A steady drizzle fell.
Li Luo opened his eyes and reached for his phone.
He wanted to silence the alarm.
Then he saw two unread messages on the screen.
Time: 11:47 p.m. last night.
[Erika: Li, I've arrived in Cheshire.]
The second message had come at 7:10 that morning.
[Erika: Li, I'm awake. You must be exhausted.]
Li Luo froze for a moment.
Damn.
He had forgotten.
After that absurd night in Munich, he had casually promised Erika that they would meet late at night in Manchester after the UEFA Champions League second leg.
It was fine.
He had not even reviewed yesterday's match, let alone remembered a girl?
He sent her a message asking where she was now.
At a coffee shop in a small Cheshire town.
Erika sat by the window, with a cup of Scottish Highlands black tea that had long gone cold on the table.
On the wicker chair beside her sat a bag containing the jacket Li Luo had left behind on that night in Munich. It had been folded neatly and washed spotlessly clean.
A copy of L'Équipe lay open.
The two exposed pages featured celebration photos of Li Luo being surrounded by stars at the Theatre of Dreams.
The middle-aged woman running the coffee shop could not help glancing at Erika several times. Another pretty girl coming to Cheshire to try her luck and see whether she can run into Li? How naïve. Why would Li come here? Rooney, on the other hand, comes by all the time.
The very next moment.
Li Luo appeared in the doorway.
The coffee shop owner and employees were completely dumbfounded as they watched their Manchester United King walk toward the beautiful girl with the golden ponytail.
"Sorry, I went to bed too