In Italy, there's a saying: Neapolitans are born food lovers. Naples is known for its iic pizza, as well as pasta, mai, and all kinds of delicious desserts…

  In Naples, good food is everywhere.

  When Gao Shen first arrived in Naples, he was excited to try all the local delicacies. But after a while, he started missing the fvors of his homend and began searg food ese restaurant. As a native ese, Gao Shen had high standards, especially when it came to authenticity.

  Eventually, he found a restaurant with a distinctly ese he Great Wall Restaurant.

  This restaurant quickly became a regur spot for him. The owner, an Italian-ese, spoke fluent ese and roud of Gao Shen's role as Napoli's coach.

  Acc to the owner, business had signifitly improved since Gao Shen began coag in Naples.

  "Many people are now curious about ese food and culture because of you."

  This was ued fao Shen, but it also made him feel proud.

  So, when David Luiz offered to treat him to dihe first pce that came to Gao Shen's mind was The Great Wall.

  Before he had crossed over into this world, Gao Shen had e across a joke.

  When going out for a meal with a girl for the first time, always take her to eat spicy food.

  The reasoning? Girls' makeup skills in 2021 were so advanced, you couldn't be sure what they actually looked like.

  Gao Shen couldn't help but ugh at that joke, especially now as he watched David Luiz sitting across from him with his wild, messy hair trying to hahe spicy gqing hot pot. Luiz was sweating buckets, his face turning as red as a chili pepper. Gao Shen had to hold back his ughter as Luiz's head seemed ready to explode from the heat.

  He even wondered if the "bird's " of hair on top of David Luiz's head might catch fire from the steam.

  Gao Shen was reminded of a popur meme from before he crossed over.

  "Eat slowly, there's more where that came from," Gao Shen said, trying to keep a straight face as he scooped more food into David Luiz's bowl. The Brazilian defender, clearly not used to the spice, was drenched i and his mouth was as red as a pepper. His eyes were nearly shut from the heat, and he looked as if he was about to cry. But he held it together, nodding gratefully.

  "Thank you… boss."

  "o thank me," Gao Shen replied casually.

  By now, he was sure the poor kid truly regretted his mistake and was desperate to make up for it.

  After all, who else would willingly subject themselves to such spicy torture?

  Gao Shen himself wasing much, as he didn't handle spice well either. He remembered a meal from st summer, right after he had led Real Madrid to the double . Wheuro a, Su Qing had taken him to try a spicy hot pot.

  That time, they'd sat across from each other, much like he was with David Luiz now, and she had enjoyed herself immensely.

  From the moment she started , her eyes sparkled. When Gao Shen asked her what she wao eat, she said "a little bit of everything" and ordered the spiciest broth. She said she'd been craving it fes but had never found the right person to go with.

  "Why not go with a friend or cssmate?" Gao Shen had asked.

  She had only smiled in response.

  But soon, he uood why.

  When Su Qing ate hot pot, she really let go sweating profusely, totally unbothered by her appearance. Gone was her usual "ice queen" aura. And she could really eat. She polished off several ptes of beef and even ordered a rge bowl of ice-cold fruit afterward. Gao Shen couldn't help gng at her ft stomad slender waist, w where all the food went.

  When they finished, Gao Sheo pay, only to find she'd already taken care of the bill.

  As they left, she gnced back at the hot pot restaurant and said with a tent smile, "Let's e back together ime we get the ce."

  Gao Shen had wao ugh. He almost said, "Miss, you were the oing, I just watched, alright?"

  But seeing her so happy, he decided not to ruin the moment.

  Now, watg David Luiz struggling through his meal, Gao Shen couldn't help but think of Su Qing and their hot pot experience.

  One person who loved spicy food, and another enduring it relutly, both seemed equally happy in their own way.

  After they finished, Gao Shen watched David Luiz gulp down cold water to cool his mouth. Gao She secretly amused but maintained a serious demeanor, keeping the air of a strict coach.

  "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

  David Luiz could barely tain the heat inside him. His entire body felt like it was on fire.

  ese food was brutal!

  No wohe boss had such a strong will, he'd grown up eating this stuff!

  After finally calming down, Luiz sat across from Gao Shen, looking serious.

  "I'm sorry, boss. I messed up."

  Gao Shen raised an eyebrow, uanding that Luiz ologizing for his mistake against Inter Min.

  "You don't o apologize to me. You should apologize to the whole team," Gao Shen said sternly.

  "I know. When everyone's back, I'll apologize to them in person." Luiz nodded, and Gao Shen could tell that he was genuinely remorseful and eager to improve.

  Of course, with Luiz's personality, he'd probably be back to his cheerful self before long. But at least, after this experience, Gao Shen hoped he'd learn to trol his reckless streak.

  "You know, this season is crucial for both me and the team," Gao Shen said, deg it was time for a frank talk.

  "We're not one of the big teams. pared to other clubs, our owner is practically a pauper. If we don't keep progressing, the summer there's only oe: selling pyers."

  "Without selling pyers, where's the money going to e from to keep the club running? And once pyers are sold, how we tio pete?"

  This was the harsh reality for smaller clubs.

  Even a club like Napoli struggled to keep its best pyers.

  Fet about the wealthy clubs in the Premier League and La Liga, even Serie A giants like A, Inter, and Juventus could lure pyers away from Napoli.

  And if Napoli could somehow resist, would the pyers themselves want to stay?

  The answer was clear. Gao Shen uood that if Napoli's upward momentum stalled, the iable result would be an exodus of talent.

  It was only a matter of how quickly it would happen.

  This wasn't an unusual situation.

  Look at Valencia back then, their lineup was full of stars, yet they too were forced to sell their best pyers. Even Liverpool, part of the Premier League's "Big Four," was stantly fending off other clubs poag their pyers.

  Even Steven Gerrard almost ended up at Chelsea.

  This was the harsh reality of football.

  This season, Napoli's goal was to qualify for the Champions League or, at the very least, make it to the Europa League. Achieving that would bring in signifit revenue for the club and give them more leverage to vince owner De Laurentiis to i.

  Otherwise, De Laurentiis would simply shrug and say, "I don't have the money." Then what?

  Former Real Madrid president Florentino Perez had once said that running a football club was all about money, specifically, ine.

  Of course, knowing how to spend that money wisely was another challenge.

  For instance, clubs like Maer United and Bara couldn't afford to spend recklessly like they did in the past.

  Gao Shen was well aware that his time in Napoli was limited.

  Even if the club had high attendaes a ercial i still wasn't enough. The club was running at a loss, even if it was a smaller loss pared to before.

  Napoli's foundation was just too weak.

  The same could be said for most Serie A clubs outside of the top tier, even teams like Roma and Lazio faced simir struggles.

  That's why Gao Shen was so determio deliver results, to secure a future for Napoli.

  David Luiz wasn't foolish, he was actually quite perceptive. He quickly realized why Gao Shen had been so angry about his mistake. His error had cost the team a valuable three points, allowing Io stay at the top of the table and causing a signifit setback for Napoli.

  "I also want to apologize to you, David. I lost my temper in the locker room that day, and I might have gone a bit overboard. Don't take it personally."

  Hearing this, David Luiz broke into a smile, rubbing his messy hair.

  Gao Shen almost wao remind him to check for dandruff.

  Luckily, they had already finished eating.

  "Actually, boss, did you know? I almost went to Real Madrid." David Luiz grinned.

  Gao Shen was caught off guard. "What?"

  After a moment, he processed what Luiz had said. "You almost went to Real Madrid? When?"

  "At the end of 2005. They wa me to Madrid before the winter break, not to the first team, but to the reserves, like Felipe Luis."

  Gao Shen was surprised. He hadn't known this.

  He was aware that Felipe Luis had been brought to Real Madrid's sed team from Brazil, but this was the first time he'd heard that David Luiz had almost joined him there.

  "If I had goo Real Madrid back then, I might have had the ce to py under you," David Luiz said with a smile.

  He figured that, given Real Madrid's defensive issues back then, Gao Shen would have promoted him to the first team. Then, he could have pyed in the Champions League and even tributed to their double-winning season.

  Gao Shen chuckled, uanding Luiz's train of thought. "Ah, so you think if you were there, I'd definitely put you in the first team?"

  David Luiz nodded fidently. "With the way Real Madrid's defense was back then? Absolutely!"

  Gao Shen couldn't help but ugh. "Maybe you're right. Given how desperate we were for defenders, I probably would have called you up."

  But then, a funny thought crossed his mind.

  An uable Ramos alongside an equally adventurous David Luiz as ter-backs…

  The image of such a defense was both amusing and terrifying.

  "Two wild, risk-taking defenders at the heart of Real Madrid's bae… I'm not sure if that would've stabilized anything. More like giving our fa attacks every match!" Gao Shen mused, shaking his head with a smile.

  David Luiz ughed, scratg his head sheepishly.