Le Mans was a small city located southwest of Paris. It was known to the world for an event called the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which, along with Formula One and the World Rally Championship, was considered one of the three top motor racing events.
Around June every year, the small city of Le Mans became the focus of attention for racing enthusiasts all over the world. More and more travellers gathered there, actively preparing the necessary items to watch the race.
The race was held in the city of Le Mans. During the event, the city's highways and streets would be closed. Since the race lasted a full twenty-four hours, most fans, besides watching the race, also needed to find suitable places to eat and rest, while also preparing tents to cope with the nighttime racing.
It was precisely because of such a high-intensity race that countless famous drivers were attracted to participate, while it also drew the attention of countless fans, bringing huge economic benefits to the small city of Le Mans.
For example, before and after the race, many residents around the track would offer various services, such as catering, entertainment, and rest areas, while also selling all kinds of souvenirs and model cars. This had already become an important source of extra income that many Le Mans residents competed for every year.
Beside Avenue du Général Patton, a dark-skinned man helped his wife set up a catering trailer. They had chosen a bend in the avenue, where they could see a panoramic view of the corner, as well as the situation on the two tracks to the southeast. It was the best position to watch the race and also the place where competition was most intense.
The dark-skinned man was clearly worried about his spot being taken, so he arrived early to set up camp. Before long, the catering trailer was open for business, accompanied by a whole row of space for fans to rest and eat. At the same time, the trailer sold some model cars, which were very complete, covering all the major teams. Among them, the best-seller was undoubtedly Audi.
"If I have money in the future, I will definitely buy an Audi!" the dark-skinned man said with a simple and honest smile.
In his hand was Audi's racing model for this year, which was also last year's championship model. He had heard many fans give high praise to this car, and he could not put it down himself, liking it more the more he looked at it.
"You, stop daydreaming. You should focus on playing football. You should take advantage of the season break to adjust your condition, train hard, and strive for more playing time. Only when you play well will Isaac and I have a good life."
The dark-skinned man could only respond with a bitter smile to the high hopes his wife had for him. In fact, he loved his wife and son very much, and he also hoped they could have a good life, so he worked very hard and trained diligently for matches.
Last year, he had also been a starter at Le Mans, representing the team in thirty Ligue 2 matches. Although he had only scored six goals, he was an important member of the team because he was very strong and fought hard on the pitch. This type of player was always particularly liked by head coaches.
Unfortunately, however, he was injured just as this season's Ligue 2 campaign began. After recovering, he occasionally appeared for the team, but he was no longer important. He had played eleven matches for the team this season without scoring a goal.
This made him feel very depressed.
"I think you should work hard and perform better so that the club will give you a higher salary, Didier!" His wife, Lalla, was busy in the trailer but kept nagging him.
"I know. I've already brought all my training gear here. I'll help with the business while keeping up with my training. In the new season, I must seize a starting position, do my best to perform better, score more goals, and get more bonuses," Didier Drogba said, clenching his fist.
To his surprise, his wife shook her head and laughed after hearing this. "Fine, you and your goals. I doubt you could hit an elephant's backside from twelve yards. You just train hard and do whatever the head coach tells you to do!"
If Ethan were present at this moment, he would definitely be surprised to find that the origin of this classic and famous quote came from here.
Drogba chuckled and ran to the side to do some simple physical training.
Seeing her husband like this, his wife in the trailer also smiled with relief and then started her work.
Although the race was still some time away, many fans had already started coming to the scene to check the environment. They would pick the most advantageous spots to watch the race, and the position occupied by the Drogbas was undoubtedly the most ideal.
The guys who had occupied this spot last year had made a lot of money, which made the Drogbas very envious. This year, they hurried to grab the spot early. Sure enough, it did not take long to attract several fans scouting the environment to come and rest.
Just as Drogba was warmly greeting customers, the mobile phone inside rang.
"Didier, it's Mr. Legarda from the club. He says he wants to talk to you!" His wife, Lalla, ran out of the trailer.
Drogba was a bit surprised. The team was already on holiday. Why was he calling now?
Although he was puzzled, Drogba still picked up the phone.
"Hello, Mr. Legarda!"
"Ah, Didier, I'm sorry to bother you at this time," Legarda said politely on the other end of the phone.
"It's okay, Mr. Legarda. I'm very free right now!" Drogba looked at his wife, who was busy attending to customers, and felt that a phone call at this time was really ill-timed.
"It's like this, Didier. The club has some news to tell you."
"Please go ahead, Mr. Legarda!" Drogba tried his best to remain polite because he knew that in the other man's eyes, he was not an important figure at all.
"An English club has taken an interest in you. They've offered £100,000, and we've agreed. By the way, do you have an agent?"
Drogba was stunned. He had never thought about transferring. Although he knew that transfers were part of the football world, he had never considered it for himself.
In his early years in football, he had always been with his uncle, Michel Goba, who had been a professional player. Then he went to Levallois SC for training. But after graduating from high school, he chose to come to Le Mans to continue his education, and that had not really been a transfer.
Now, an English team had actually taken an interest in him. What should he do?
"Hey, are you listening, Didier?" Legarda urged on the other end after waiting a while without an answer.
"Oh, I'm listening, Mr. Legarda. I'm sorry!"
"Do you have an agent?" Legarda seemed a bit impatient.
Drogba nodded immediately. "Yes, I do!" It was the agent his uncle had introduced to him, a very kind fellow.
"Good. Have your agent talk to that English club."
"But, Mr. Legarda, I..." Drogba wanted to say something more, but Legarda on the other end of the phone did not want to waste any more words on him.
"All right, Didier, that's all!" With that, the phone was hung up.
Staring blankly at the receiver emitting a busy tone, Drogba looked at his wife in disbelief. She was still busy greeting customers. He wanted to go over and help, but he did not know how to tell his wife about this.
Maybe I should talk to my uncle, Drogba thought to himself.
So he wanted to dial his uncle's number, but just then, the phone rang again.
"Hello, is this Mr. Didier Drogba?" a kind voice came from the other end of the phone.
"He... hello, yes, I am. And you are?" Drogba sensitively realized that this voice was likely the representative of the English club Legarda had mentioned. Why was he calling now?
"My name is Ethan Yu, from England's New Manchester United. Have you heard of our club?" Ethan asked over the phone with a very friendly and kind tone.
"No..." He was about to say no, but Drogba could not help recalling that newspapers and television stations seemed to have just reported on this club not long ago. It was said they had been promoted three times in three years, setting the fastest promotion record in the history of the English leagues. Next season, they would be competing in League One, the third tier of English professional football.
"Yes, I've heard of it. You call yourselves the Red Rebels!"
"That's right, Mr. Drogba. Yes, that's us. We've already reached an agreement with Le Mans. We hope you can transfer to England and play for us. What do you think?" Ethan asked with concern.
The person on the other end of the phone was the future number one center-forward in the world, the pillar of Chelsea, and the captain of the Ivory Coast national team.
"Uh... I..." Drogba seemed a bit hesitant.
Ethan laughed on the other end. "That's fair, Mr. Drogba. I know it's hard to make a decision on the spot. But I think perhaps you should come to England yourself for a visit. Bring your agent. We will prepare two round-trip tickets for you, and we'll send someone to pick you up at the airport. We can talk in detail once you're here, okay?"
Drogba thought for a moment and sighed. "All right then, Mr. Yu. I'll call you then!"
Since Le Mans had already decided to sell him, even if he refused New Manchester United, there was no point in forcing himself to stay.
No matter what, he had to secure his job first!
"What's wrong, Didier?" His wife, Lalla, saw that her husband had not returned after she finished greeting the customers, so she came out and asked with concern.
"It's nothing. An English club has taken an interest in me, and Le Mans have decided to sell me to them. Mr. Legarda just called to talk about this!"
"Ah, England? Then what should we do?" Lalla asked nervously.
Drogba shook his head, feeling somewhat out of control of his own fate. "There's nothing we can do. Since the club accepted their offer, what's the point of me staying? The owner of the English club called me personally just now and invited me to visit England. I think I should at least go and see the situation first."
"Well, that's good too. You should go!" Lalla nodded. Her husband's future was more important than anything else.
"But you'll be here all by yourself. Will you be okay?" Drogba looked at his somewhat frail-looking wife with concern.
Lalla laughed. "It's fine, I can manage on my own. You go to England and have a good talk with them. Don't worry about us!"
Drogba nodded heavily in agreement.
This year, he was already twenty-three years old.
(To be continued.)