Chapter 56: Ending: When I was sixty

The dim light emitted by the crystal chandeliers on the ceiling cannot completely illuminate the bar, but in this rainy and continuous late autumn, it can bring a hint of warmth to people's hearts.

There were many people gathered in this old bar. They gathered together in groups of three or five to chat. Perhaps the topic was different, but everyone glanced at the door, as if they were waiting for someone.

There was soothing music in the bar, an old song, "When_im_sixty-four" by the Beatles.

When I get old, my hair is lost.

Many years later.

Will you give me a Valentine's Day gift?

A birthday card and a bottle of wine.

...

The bar was not noisy, so the Beatles' soft voice was very clear. Everyone lowered their voices and chatted in a low voice.

There is a sign hanging on the outside door - it has been closed.

Kenny Burns, with gray hair and a hunched back, sat behind a somewhat damaged wooden bar, holding a cup in one hand and a towel in the other.

His eyes were straight forward, and through the old-fashioned glass window covered with a layer of water vapor, he saw outside.

Across the street is a construction site that is breaking ground. The white fence was pushed down to the ground, and it became dirty in the mud and water, so it could not tell its true form. An excavator was parked on the side of the road, and the rain was a bit heavy, and the construction site was also shut down.

A year ago, it was a row of two-story residential areas.

It is said that a large supermarket will be built here in two years. Behind the Forest Bar, there is also a construction site where several high-rise buildings will be built as new office buildings. Wilford has become the new development center in Nottingham.

The bar on the corner of the street stood alone between two construction sites, and was surrounded by construction machinery. It seemed that the island was surrounded by mechanical monsters.

The roar of the car motor sounded outside the door, followed by the sound of parking. Hearing this sound, everyone in the house stopped talking and turned their eyes to the door.

The person who opened the door was indeed a woman's face. Everyone was a little disappointed at first, but then they all stood up.

"Madam." They all respectfully greeted the woman who only showed her face at the door.

"You scared me, I suddenly stood up..." The woman who spoke pushed open the door, but did not come in immediately, but was waiting for someone.

Seeing her like this, everyone was looking forward to it. Everyone was like a duck hanging on the crossbar. She stretched her neck and looked out of the door.

The second person who appeared at the door was George Wood, whom they were familiar with. Wood took over the woman's job and blocked the door. The woman withdrew.

Although I haven't seen anyone yet, everyone heard the familiar and hoarse voice.

"Don't mix with me, do I look like I can't walk?"

"Okay, okay, I can just hold me, just hold my arms, but don't act like supporting the patient..."

As soon as the words were finished, the owner of the voice appeared at the door.

When the slightly hunched figure appeared at the door, everyone in the bar opened their mouths and shouted loudly: "Boss!"

Seeing this scene in front of him, the old man grinned and laughed. He raised his hand: "Long time no see, guys."

The person who was waiting for the whole bar - Tony Donn, finally arrived.

The woman who was supporting him was naturally his wife, Xianya.

Tang En took off the old wide-brimmed hat on his head. Wood wanted to catch it, but let Shania snatch it first. Next, the gray scarf and the big black windbreaker were handed to her. Shania went to hang up the clothes, and Tang En sat down on the chair. There were people around him, and he raised the soda cup on the table: "I won't drink, you can do whatever you want."

Then someone came up to talk to Tang En.

The first successful person was Kenny Burns, the owner of the bar, a man older than everyone present.

He slowly walked to Tang En, pulled a chair and sat down. Seeing this, everyone dispersed with tactfulness.

"Look at you're so old." Donn grinned at Burns and "mocked" him.

"You can't go much better, Tony." Burns looked at the man opposite him, his hair was much whiter than before. But he was in good spirits and had a rosy complexion, and he was indeed much better than himself.

But then again, I am seventy-five years old this year, and Tony is only sixty years old, fifteen years younger than me. I wonder if I was sixty years old, I was not as energetic as I was sixty? People will always get older, this is a natural law.

"When I came, I almost couldn't find the way. There was a lot of changes around you. Haha!" Tang En laughed.

When he was sitting in the car, he laughed out loud on the spot when he saw this environment and Burns' bar. Shania and Wood didn't know why he was laughing. Of course they wouldn't find it. They might never know it for the rest of their lives. Seeing the Forest Bar surrounded by construction machinery and the dilapidated construction site, such a word "nail house" naturally emerged in Tang's mind. In Tang's opinion, Burns of Kenny was obviously the nail house here. All the buildings adjacent to the bar were demolished, and only this bar was preserved. But it is said that he could not escape the fate of being demolished.

"We need to re-plan. "Burns said, looking at the excavator outside the window. "When today is over, my bar will be completely closed."

Tang En was not surprised, he nodded: "Then where are you going?"

"go home. "

After hearing his words, Don Eun was stunned for a moment, and then realized that Burns' home was not here, but in Scotland. He lived here for decades, making himself think he had always been from Nottingham...

The city stadium was demolished, the Wilford training base was demolished, and now even this bar is going to be demolished. The witnesses of the past years disappeared one by one, and Tang En suddenly became silent.

Burns knew what Don was thinking, so he patted the table gently. “Fortunately, both the bar and the stadium can be removed, but memories cannot be removed.”

He said this. A smile appeared on Don Eun's face. He thought of a song. Burns must have never heard of this song, but the meaning of it was completely consistent. He nodded: "The memory is still there. Where are John and the others?"

He is still thinking about those cute fans.

"It's not as fanatical as before. After all, they are older. But now their children are fanatical, but they just don't come to me. The young people say that I look so twilight here and are not suitable for young people."

Tang En laughed out loud. The bar of Burns does look old and dilapidated, although it was cleaned quite clean by him. But he couldn't get rid of the yellowed photos and the old film feeling. What he saw when he first came here did not change much. It was just that there were some photos of him leading the team to win the championship on the wall, but those photos now look a little faded.

"I haven't seen them for a long time..."

Tang En murmured.

Today is his first time in this bar in ten years. It feels like something is changing.

Since he retired ten years ago, he has lived with his wife all over the world. He has lived on the West Coast of the United States for a while, Nottingham, England for a while, and even China, they have lived there, and it makes people who don’t know them think they have lived in China for many years.

As the media said, he retired very casually. If he hadn't had a sick illness at the beginning of last year, he might have continued to be so casual.

"They sometimes ask you." Burns said, looking up at the excavator outside the window. "A group of old guys got together. The most talked about was the things you were doing back then. I've seen John teach his son a lesson, slapped him on the forehead, and scolded him for not farting here if he hadn't experienced anything, ha..."

Donn was curious about what John his son said.

"Actually, it's nothing. John just said that Tang Gan's is no worse than you."

Hearing this, Tang En laughed.

"John scolded him. Tang only won two championships in ten years, which is far inferior to your sixteen championships in sixteen years. What's wrong with you? The old guy always likes to recall the past..."

"Wrong. When they start to recall the past, that means they are old." Tang En corrected.

“Aren’t we recalling the past now?”

"So we are old, too." Tang En replied.

Pepe and Pique pulled a few people on the defense line and came up to take a photo with Tang En. Tang En told them that there was their own bronze statue outside the Crimson Field, which was completed four years ago and was very fresh. Pepe said that there was a real person in front of him, so why did he take a photo with the bronze statue? His words were widely agreed by everyone, so after a democratic vote, Tang En became the best group photo.

Several people surrounded Tang En in front of the camera.  There was a bright smile under the flash.

With the help of his grandfather, Pique joined the board of directors of the Barcelona Club and is expected to become the chairman of the Barcelona Club in the future.

Pepe ran in Brazil and Portugal. He opened restaurants in two places and no longer worked in football-related jobs. Pepe, who runs the restaurant, looks a little fatter than before, with a big round belly that stands out in the crowd. His already round face is even more round.

Gareth Bale, Rafinia, Akinfeyev, Pepe and Pique. The main defense line of the Forest team at its heyday gathered around Don En. Given a feeling of going back in time. The Russians returned to their homeland and became the goalkeeper coach of the Moscow Locomotive team. Now they are the goalkeeper coach of the Russian national team. Most players will choose football-related jobs after retirement.

Rafinia was employed by Arsenal and became Arsenal's domestic scout in Brazil, responsible for digging out outstanding Brazilian seedlings for Arsenal.

Bale entered the Welsh Football Association. As the most successful player in Welsh football after Giggs, it was natural to enter the Football Association. Now, Bale can't tell that the "little monkey" was naughty back then. He was in a suit and tie, and was approaching the officials infinitely.

But when Tang En called him "little monkey", he still agreed happily.

After the people on the defense left, there were several midfielders in the middle. Tang En was surprised, "Have you agreed on it? Are you all here one by one?"

Everyone laughed and surrounded him in the middle, leaving another photo.

When Ribery left the Forest team, he was suspected of running away.   There were conflicts that broke out when we met on the court in the future.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

These two groups of people set the stage. Everyone took turns to take photos with Tang En, some of which were group and some of which were single. Tang En took a brief chat while taking photos with them and learn about their recent situation.

Those guys who were dominating the stadium and tycoons in European football all retired and became middle-aged men in their forties. Some of them remained in touch, and some met again because of this party. Usually everyone has another identity, their career and life. But today. In this bar that is about to be demolished, they have their original identities - Nottingham Forest player, soldiers under Tony Donn.

After taking a photo, they continued to chat together in three or three, telling their longings that they hadn't seen each other for many years. Or talk about the glorious years on the court.

Tang En did not participate. He sat aside with his wife Xianya, quietly watching everything in front of him, feeling deeply satisfied.

He found that at this time his memory became better. He suddenly remembered a long-closed past. He would never remember it.

If I remember correctly, it should be in May 2004, when he attended a similar party here. However, the protagonists at that time were Brian Clauve and his soldiers. They were commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Champions League. At that time, he saw those people talking and recalling the years of the late 1970s, and he felt very envious of himself, an outsider. He had a fantasy in his heart that one day he could sit here with his former subordinates and recalling the years of European kingship.

Now, fantasy has come true, things have changed.

As the assistant coach of the championship team, Tang was also invited today. He is still the head coach of Nottingham Forest. In order to attend this party, he took a special leave. At this moment, he was sitting aside and chatting with his old colleagues. Tang En discovered him. I wonder if he would have the same longing deep in his heart as he did at the time?

He got up and walked slowly over, and sat down next to the coaches.

"My guys, I'm so happy to see you all still there."

When everyone saw Tang En coming, they all stood up to show their respect. They sat down after Tang En sat down.

Donn glanced around and said, "Where is Freddy?"

"He said he was a player group and ran to reminisce with his old teammates." David Chris Lack pointed in a direction, and Don looked over. Sure enough, he saw Eastwood sitting with Ribery and chatting about something.

He grinned and looked back.
To be continued...