long live football

Until Anthea ate all the desserts, Carl was still nagging tirelessly.

There were only two points in his whole speech, one was "Anthea, you are too reckless to show up at the Allianz Stadium without a companion!" and "Even if you really want to watch the game, please notify me in advance What? I can arrange you in the VIP box."

If someone else had said these words, Anthea would have picked up her bag and turned away long ago, but since it was Carl who was speaking, she waited patiently for the other party to finish chattering before she shrugged and said, "I'm actually very good at pretending—— No make-up, sportswear, hair tucked into a hat, if the hat hadn't been knocked off on the way out, no one would have noticed!"

"Remember to paint your face with oil next time, that kind of camouflage is perfect." Carl said solemnly: "You can try my team's colors, one side of the face is blue and white stripes, and the other side is painted on the head." Then absolutely no one will recognize you, Lion."

Anthea studied Carl's expression for a long time, but she couldn't figure out whether the other party was telling the truth or joking.She invited the waiter to order an ice cream, then patted her stomach and said: "The weight loss plan has fallen short, I have to start a diet from next week, otherwise when the movie starts shooting, I will definitely be swollen on camera."

"Movie?" Carl stopped dividing the cake, raised his head and asked, "Did you accept a new script?"

"Alan prepared the film, he wrote and directed it himself, and I acted in friendship." Anthea rubbed her face, sighed and said: "I actually don't want to work with him, but the future of his film is very uncertain , as a family member, I cannot but support him."

"...What does it mean that the future is very uncertain?"

"Alan has good looks, good popularity, good acting skills, and excellent script selection skills. Everyone knows this. In Hollywood, as long as the film company shouts, 'This movie stars Alan Cranstone!' Investment The businessmen will knock down the doors. But when he starts writing and directing himself, people are not sure whether the movie will sell, after all, being an actor and being a director are completely different things."

After taking a sip of water, Anthea said helplessly: "A film company approached Allen last year. They knew that he had long wanted to be a director, so they recommended him to start with a small-budget commercial comedy film. The film company can be responsible for investment and promotion. But Allen refused. He insisted on making what he wanted, which was the story he had written for more than a year. Allen showed it to the film company and some investors, but few people liked it. ——To be honest, after reading the script, I am not very optimistic about its commercial value. Maybe it is a pure love story, maybe it exceeds this category, I don’t know how to define it, but I can be sure that it is difficult A hit, even if it's a good one. Because it's a downright tragic story, and American moviegoers don't like tragedies, especially during summer and Christmas."

Another sigh: "Let's not talk about American film companies, even my parents don't like it, and no one in the family is going to invest in Allen's script. So he is not going to cooperate with any film company, solicit sponsorship by himself The filming started. This is why the two of us came back to Germany now. The Berlin Film Festival is about to open. For independent literary films, European audiences are more popular than American audiences. Here we may find a lot of interesting investments business."

Shaking her hands in front of Carl's eyes, Anthea asked with a strange expression, "Why don't you talk anymore?"

Carl smiled at her: "I, I was just wondering if I know someone who can help you, but unfortunately, I don't have any contacts in the film industry."

"Let him worry about investing in the movie that Allen insists on making. Anyway...he didn't make this movie to make money."

Carl's eyes turned around, and he saw that Anthea's handbag was not pulled tight, and a white corner was exposed inside: "What is that?"

Anthea followed his gaze: "Ah, it's the script." She took it out of her bag and flipped it through in her hands: "It's full of long lines, and it's extremely difficult to memorize. I watched it for several hours almost every day, and only remembered one-third of it.”

Carl was attracted by the cover: "That paragraph..." He felt very familiar.

"Are you talking about this poem?" Anthea showed the cover to Carl. Under the title of the movie, there are a few poems: You may suspect that the stars are torches

You can suspect that the sun will shift

You can suspect that truth is a lie

But my love never changes

Anthea stroked the cover with her fingers: "This is Hamlet—"

"A love poem to Ophelia," Carl continued.

"Could it be possible that you like this scene too?" Anthea curled her lips with a puzzled expression on her face: "Alan insisted on printing this poem on the front of the script, but I don't think it fits the content of the script at all, who knows What the hell is he thinking?"

"Perhaps because he played Hamlet."

Anthea was very surprised: "How do you know? It was seven or eight years ago that Allen performed in the theater!"

Carl took a sip of water and muttered, "I forgot which news I saw it on."

... After reading this chapter, please don't forget the dividing line that has something to say...

Anthea only stayed in Munich for one day before flying to the capital to attend the Berlin International Film Festival.

Carl continued to pour his brains and sweat into his team, but at the same time he had one more thing to think about what name his racehorse should have.

It was a coincidence that Ronaldo co-adopted the excellent thoroughbred horse, which happened during his New Year's holiday.

Horse racing is very popular in the UK. Every grand race day, everyone from the queen and her family to ordinary people likes to go to the racecourse to watch the race and buy a chance to gamble.Britain has the best studs, the best jockeys and the most noble stallions—in fact, the fastest, most expensive, and most used racehorse breed in the world is established in the 17th century. Thoroughbred horses bred in England.

It is well known that Ferguson likes horse racing. He has several thoroughbred horses under his name, and he also has a special stable and trainer. He has also taken the entire Manchester United team to watch his horse racing games many times. Under his influence, many Many Manchester United stars have ignited their interest in horse racing, and one of the most fanatical is Wayne Rooney. He is not only obsessed with betting on horses, but even plans to raise a few horses himself.

Although there will be more important horse racing events after March, during the rare few days of New Year's break in the Premier League, there are still many equestrian shows and celebrations held at racecourses across the UK. The only "outsider" who participated in the Red Devils' group trip.

Ferguson's "Young Freddy" performed well in the field. He was well-furred, fat and strong, and he was in a strong posture. From the beginning, he was far ahead and left all the other horses behind.

Manchester United stars rave about 'Young Freddy' and regret not betting more on it.

The smile on Ferguson's face could not be concealed. If "Young Freddy" wins the championship, the owner of the racehorse will also get a generous bonus.

Carl watched the group of horses flashing by on the field, and said to Ferguson: "I love the appearance of your horse, its black fur is really charming, and it looks like an elf when it runs. Freddy's offspring, I'm definitely going to buy one."

At this time, Gordon Watson, the horse racing agent staying in the box of the Manchester United stars, interjected: "Although 'Young Freddy' has not been bred yet, he has a group of brothers and sisters. There is one in our racecourse. A colt just turned one and a half years old, shared parents with 'Young Freddy', if Mr Alston is interested, I can show you."

In this way, Carl met the young Thoroughbred horse that indirectly changed his fate in the future: Like its brother "Young Freddy", the pony has not yet entered the prime of life and has a black body that seems to be polished. Shiny fur, not too tall, not too muscular, but full of the beauty of indirect and smooth lines.It ran unrestrained on the grass, like a black cloud, and when it saw a group of people approaching from a distance, it slowly slowed down and stood tens of meters away from the crowd, with its limbs intertwined as if it could be pulled out at any time. ran away.

After a while, seeing that there was no movement in the crowd, it tilted its head to this side, raised its ponytail, and snorted loudly.

Carl's heart was captured immediately.

"I want to buy it!" Carl looked eagerly at the horse racing broker Watson: "Please tell me, I have no other competitors!"

But Watson laughed loudly: "God is looking after you! Mr. Alston, this is indeed a coincidence. This elf belonged to an Irish businessman a week ago, and he has personally participated in it since before the mare was bred. It took more than two years of hard work on it. Originally, it could be registered and played in half a year. Unfortunately, the businessman failed to invest last month and almost went bankrupt. He had to start looking for a new buyer for it. Pay your own debt."

"How much is the merchant asking for?"

"Ninety thousand pounds, sir," said Watson.

Karl hesitated for a moment: the price of buying this thoroughbred horse would be 10,000 pounds, and the annual cost of raising and domesticating a racehorse would also cost tens of thousands of pounds. You have to invest [-]+ pounds... Whether it is for interest or investment, raising horses is a very expensive business.

Of course, the initial investment in raising a racehorse will be huge, but if you are lucky, the profit in the later stage will also be astonishing: if you win a first-level event, the prize money may be as high as one million pounds, and the value of the racehorse will also double immediately.Just at the beginning of last year, a racing horse named "Berue Cheetah" won the American Grand Prix, and its value soared from 6500 euros to 1500 million euros, which can be called rocket speed.

In addition, the most profitable thing about raising racehorses is not to win prizes, but to breed them, especially racehorses with champion bloodlines, which are very popular in the breeding market. The income from a single breeding can be 10,000+ pounds, and the annual return can be as high as up to tens of millions of pounds.

If the breeding of horses was not so profitable, Ferguson would not have had an earth-shattering lawsuit with former Manchester United shareholder Manier because of the champion stallion named "The Rock of Gibraltar" in the past two years-"The Rock of Gibraltar" It is a racehorse at the Magnier Racecourse, a former shareholder of Manchester United. Magnier has been using Ferguson's fame to promote it, claiming that "half of the Rock of Gibraltar belongs to Ferguson". Therefore, the popularity of this horse and Magnier's stable has increased soon.

Later, the "Rock of Gibraltar" won 7 first-class events in a row, and the prize money alone was as high as 2000 million pounds. It is estimated that the breeding income after retirement can reach hundreds of millions of pounds. However, Niye refused to hand over the profits to others. Ferguson and Magnier fought hard for the ownership of the "Rock of Gibraltar", which directly led to the Glazer family's settlement of Manchester United.

However, thousands of racehorses take part in races in the UK every year. Not every horse with champion blood can also become a champion. It can only be said that the probability is slightly higher than other horses. Karl wants to buy this horse because it is so cute.

Gordon Watson did not continue to sell the horse to Carl because he was confident that there would be buyers for the pony.

Just as Carl was calculating which account he should withdraw money from, another person was moved.

"Beautiful little guy!" Ronaldo looked fascinated at the pony running in the distance: "Does it have other brothers and sisters?"

"This is the only one left, Mr. Ronaldo." Watson said: "Buying a thoroughbred is different from shopping in a mall. It usually requires a long reservation and waiting. It has noble blood and excellent qualifications. And there is no pony with an owner, only the one in front of you is left."

Ronaldo looked at Carl, then at the horse, with a confused expression.

Carl suddenly had an idea: "Maybe we can own it together? If you don't mind that you can only own half of the ownership." This can be regarded as finding someone to share the risk with him. The two share equally.Karl is confident that with his friendship with Ronaldo, the two will not get into a stalemate over money.

"This proposal is great!" Ronaldo agreed after only thinking for a few seconds, and then he eagerly looked at the horse racing agent Watson: "Can I touch it?"

"Of course, you can also ride it around the field for a few laps. I can guarantee that it will definitely feel like flying." Watson said with a smile.

In this way, the two invested 9 pounds to buy a thoroughbred horse. Now it is raised and trained in a racecourse. After half a year, it can be registered at the Jockey Club and start racing.

Carl and Ronaldo have discussed countless times about what name the horse should be registered with.

They thought about whether to use their own names, but Karl felt that his name was too common, and the name Ronaldo had already been registered. It is very popular in Europe to name racehorses after football stars, such as Maradona, Pele, Ginola, Cantona, etc. have all been registered by racehorse owners, and the "Ronaldo" registered at the Jockey Club is said to be named after Ronaldo who is currently playing for Real Madrid.

"What about the name Aegon the Conqueror?" Ronaldo suggested in a recent phone call.

"George Martin will ask you for royalties."

"And what about Smaug?"

Cal expresses his disapproval with silence.

Ronaldo rolled his eyes on the other end of the phone: "Okay, my last thought, golden-"

"Golden Snitch?" Carl was speechless: "How much do you like reading fairy tale books?"

Ronaldo also used silence to express his displeasure.

It was Carl's turn to make an idea: "How about the Victory?" His mind was full of names of ships and warships, as his latest bedtime reading was some ancient nautical history.

Ronaldo curled his lips: "Vulgar."

"Bismarck? Sussex?"

Ronaldo said dryly: "Why don't you call it the Titanic?"

There was a minute of silence, and neither made any new proposals.

Just when Ronaldo thought the conversation was going to end without a problem, he heard Carl on the other end of the phone say in a very soft voice: "How about we call it Disney? Or more euphemistically, Andorinia?"

These words were like shooting an angel's arrow into Ronaldo's heart. After a long time, he said hoarsely: "The name Andorinia is very good."

The author has something to say:

PPS: "You may suspect that the stars are torches" is a love poem written by Hamlet to Ophelia in the second act of the second act of "Hamlet".

Aegon the Conqueror: A character in George Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire", the conqueror of the Seven Kingdoms who established the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros.

Smaug: The last dragon of Middle-earth in Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Golden Snitch: I don't need to say more about this.

Victory: One of the largest and most famous sailing battleships in history, it was also a symbol of British maritime hegemony.

Bismarck: Germany's largest and fastest warship during World War II.

Sussex: An ancient British warship that sank off the sea off Gibraltar in the 17th century. It is said that the ship was loaded with 9 tons of gold coins, so it is also nicknamed the century treasure ship.

Dinis is the name of Ronaldo's father (I won't tell you how many times I looked at Disney...), and Andorinha Club is where Dinis Aveiro played and worked for many years.