The Greatest Manager of All time

Wales had a climate where winters were not bitterly cold and summers were not overly hot. The only annoying thing was that once winter arrived, the gloomy rain became rather troublesome.

A cold sea breeze swept past.

James Cook had just walked out of Swansea University. Dressed in casual clothes with a shoulder bag slung across him, he looked taller and straighter after nearly half a year of more professional and scientific training. Clear muscle definition, combined with his handsome features and energetic blond hair, had given Cook, still crossing the threshold out of adolescence, an especially striking masculine charm.

He was the prince charming of the campus: modest, gentle, and refined.

However, because he had become a professional player, he rarely attended classes at Swansea University now. Most of the time, he received one-on-one tutoring at home, only occasionally going to the university to discuss coursework with his subject tutors.

A fine drizzle began to fall from the sky. Walking along the pavement on St. Helen's Road, he did not mind the rain landing on him.

He liked rain.

Even a torrential downpour could not ruin his mood. It always reminded him of his first love with football.

One afternoon when he was seven, the hot summer day had suddenly darkened with heavy clouds. A sudden storm had caught a group of children playing football on the pitch completely off guard. Then someone, he no longer remembered who, shouted, "Let's keep playing!"

And just like that, the children had run freely in the pouring rain, playing football on a pitch that gradually turned muddy, simply enjoying that release and happiness.

Before the age of seven, James Cook had only treated football as a toy.

After that day, he fell completely in love with the sport.

Although he developed a fever after returning home that day, and although his parents looked after him while his elder brother Lance Cook scolded him, he lay beneath the covers with incomparable joy in his heart.

Remembering that old memory, James Cook could not help but smile.

Perhaps because of the rain, there were barely any other pedestrians on the pavement. James Cook walked alone toward the club. He planned to go to the club's training and rehabilitation center to train alone for an hour and a half before returning home.

He raised his wrist and looked at his new watch: a stylish Epos mechanical men's watch. It had been Lynn's private birthday gift to him last month. At 2,888 euros, the watch had become the most expensive thing he owned.

He still remembered Lynn's expression after asking him to put the watch on.

"James, you should hire a stylist. You already have a lot of masculine charm. It's honestly enviable. This watch isn't especially high-end, but once you wear it, it brings out your temperament even more. A handsome, sunny young man like you—haha, by tomorrow you'll have at least a hundred more female fans."

James Cook lowered his head slightly and smiled.

Although he was not especially vain, everyone had a love of beauty. It was definitely not limited to women. So when he truly came into contact with something connected to fashion for the first time and wore it on his own body, the quiet happiness in his heart was something no one else could understand.

Because his performances this season had been excellent and his progress had been rapid, his elder brother Lance Cook, who was also his agent, had already told him more than once that they should go to the club and negotiate a pay rise with Lynn.

James Cook firmly opposed it.

He believed instead that Lynn had already given him more than enough, and that he should understand gratitude.

If his brother Lance Cook was a planet orbiting around him, then Lynn was a celestial body that protected and cultivated him with meticulous care.

Both of them were very important to James Cook. He did not want conflict between them, because if he were caught in the middle, it would be very difficult for him.

Just as Cook was about to reach the junction leading toward the club, a van suddenly stopped three meters in front of him.

Before James Cook had time to become alert, two young men in their early twenties got out of the vehicle. They flanked James Cook from the left and right. One of them punched Cook in the lower abdomen, making him cry out in pain and bend over.

"Hand over the money, now!"

The other man pulled out a knife and covered James Cook's mouth with one hand, preventing him from calling for help.

Wales had the lowest crime rate in all of Britain, but that did not mean crime did not happen here.

As Swansea's players became more valuable and Lynn spent money lavishly at the club, footballers—already seen by people as high earners—had become targets for criminals.

Two minutes later, the van fled.

Aside from the punch to his stomach, James Cook had not suffered any other physical harm.

But his phone, wallet, and watch had all been stolen!

There had only been a little over a hundred pounds and some identification documents in his wallet. His bank card, which contained a decent amount of savings—his wages from the past half year of playing football—was naturally kept at home. However, he was somewhat worried about the two recently issued credit cards with fairly high limits.

Most importantly, his Epos watch had been stolen!

That was Lynn's eighteenth-birthday gift to him!

Pedretti shared the same birthday as him, though he was two years older. Lynn had also given Pedretti a Dubey & Schaldenbrand men's watch of roughly the same price and grade as his Epos.

From beginning to end, James Cook had not resisted.

Because his Boss had once said: "As players, your health is priceless."

Getting into a conflict with street thugs was clearly unwise. If he were injured, the loss would be far greater than any money or possessions.

James Cook jogged through the rain and turned into a community street. At a shop, he borrowed the phone and called the police.

Today was December 12th, Erin's twentieth birthday.

In the morning, Lynn had ordered 999 roses to be sent to Erin's suite at the Grand Hotel. In the afternoon, he and Erin had gone together to an art studio beside the Dylan Thomas Theatre.

They were making a keepsake for Erin's twentieth birthday.

A model of their ten fingers interlocked would be created and then carved into an ornament. This had been Erin's idea. As for Lynn's original plan to take her out to sea and celebrate her birthday there, that had been ruined by the weather.

Inside the art studio, the two stood side by side, watching the sculptor polish the model of their interlocked hands. It was nearly finished.

Erin smiled until her eyes curved like crescent moons, revealing a rare girlish side. Lynn stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling. The unspoken relationship between him and Erin was subtle, but at least it gave Lynn no burden at all. Erin was a woman with quiet wisdom, maintaining the relationship between them with just the right amount of care.

Once the model was finished, Erin received the life-sized piece from the sculptor and hugged it to her chest, unable to put it down as she admired it from every angle.

Perhaps only at this moment could she truly see that Lynn's palm was much larger than hers, and that his fingers were long and elegant, very pleasing to the eye.

Lynn quietly watched Erin, who seemed like a young girl secretly enjoying herself.

Then his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He had already ignored two unimportant calls today. This time, the number was unfamiliar. Lynn glanced at it, unable to tell whether it was important or not, so he walked two steps away and answered.

"Hello, this is Lynn."

"Boss, it's James."

"Hi, James. What happened? Your tone sounds off."

"I was just robbed!"

"What? Are you hurt?"

"No, no! But my things were stolen!"

"Oh. If it's only a little money, don't worry too much. Have you called the police?"

"I just called the police. I'm waiting for them now. I'll go to the station later. I don't care about the money, but… but…"

"But what?"

"But the watch Boss gave me was stolen too!"

"Oh, that wasn't especially expensive. I'll just give you another one."

"No! That's not what I mean. I wanted to say sorry to Boss. It was such an important gift with special meaning, but I let it get stolen. I feel really guilty…"

"All right, we'll talk when we meet. Where are you?"

"I'm at a shop on the back street east of the club. I was planning to go to the club and train alone for an hour."

"Good. I'll be there right away. We'll talk in person."

After hanging up, Lynn could not quite describe what he felt.

James Cook had been robbed, so he was somewhat angry. But hearing that Cook was not hurt allowed him to relax. And the fact that James Cook placed such importance on the birthday gift he had given him stirred something in Lynn's heart.

To him, a 2,888-euro watch was not much.

But as the Chinese saying went: the gift may be light, but the sentiment is heavy.

James Cook valued that sentiment and saw the watch as something so important. How could Lynn not be moved?

He lifted his chin slightly, holding his phone in his right hand and tapping it twice against his left palm. He quickly made a decision. Because of that emotion, he would try to recover the watch for James Cook. Whether or not they succeeded, they had to at least try.

Erin rarely took the initiative to ask about Lynn's affairs. She simply stood to one side, holding the sculpted model while waiting for him.

Lynn walked up to her and said, "I need to ask you for another favor."

Erin could not help but smile. "Just tell me what it is."

"Let's leave first. I'll explain on the way."

On the road, Lynn told Erin about Cook being robbed.

When they arrived at the back street east of the club, Lynn slowed the car and paid attention to the shops on both sides of the road. He noticed a police car parked ahead. In front of two officers, James Cook was standing in the drizzle, describing what had happened.

Lynn stopped the car and told Erin to stay inside so she would not get wet. Then he quickly walked over to Cook.

When Cook saw Lynn arrive, his expression became complicated.

"Boss, I'm sorry. I didn't resist at all, and the watch was stolen."

"It's fine. You did the right thing. If you'd resisted and gotten hurt, then I'd be the one feeling guilty. Compared to your health and safety, a watch is nothing."

Lynn stepped forward and hugged Cook, comforting him with a few words before asking for the full details of what happened.

Although Cook had not resisted, he was still a very smart young man. He had remembered the van's license plate number, the direction it had driven off in, and the physical features of the two robbers.

After listening to Cook's account and noting down the important information, the officers immediately reported it to the station, asking dispatch to coordinate police forces from various districts to search for the two suspects.

Cook had to go to the police station to give a more detailed statement, and Lynn accompanied him.

Before getting into the car, Lynn also told Erin the information.

Erin picked up her phone and called Swansea's police commissioner, hoping the police would inform her if there was any news. At the same time, she also called the person in her family responsible for handling dirty work.

With the combined efforts of Swansea police and Erin's family, working both above and below the surface, the van had already been found while James Cook was still giving his statement at the police station.

As James Cook canceled his credit cards, the bank also found the latest contactless payment records. Traffic cameras had also located the general direction of the van. Combining that with the locations where the cards had been used, the police quickly found the vehicle.

In fact, there had not been only two suspects. There was also a driver.

When the three were found, they were already bruised and swollen. They obediently handed over the belongings they had stolen from James Cook to the police.

The watch, which they had originally planned to sell, was also returned to James Cook perfectly intact.

At the police station, Lynn watched James Cook joyfully hold the watch and put it back on his wrist.

He felt that James Cook really was like the kind of child parents loved most: gentle by nature, with his emotions written openly on his face.

After driving James Cook home, Lynn thought on the way back about whether he should establish a security company.

After all, his squad had quite a few players with the potential to become top-class stars.