◎ Bullet chats launching… ◎
When Tang Moumou stepped onto the grounds of the Carrington training base and was greeted by a guard of honor formed by the staff, Manchester United’s media department was not stingy with their praise in reporting this grand occasion.
Simultaneously, Manchester United’s official websites and social media accounts across the globe updated with the news in sync.
Among the employees in various countries, those in the China region were by far the busiest.
After all, the new chairman was one of their own.
In truth, the staff in the China region were just as bewildered by this lightning acquisition—
That was 5 billion Euros, or 40 billion RMB. Even the combined wealth of the “Two Ponies” (Jack Ma and Pony Ma) was only so much. Which family’s “rich second generation” had such audacity?
But what a magnificent waste! A wonderful squandering! They were grateful to this young master for rescuing their beloved Manchester United from the hands of those damned vampire Glazers.
If even the staff members were this shocked, the fans were on an entirely different level.
In fact, the moment the news titled “Mysterious Chinese Tycoon Splurges 40 Billion in Lightning Acquisition of Manchester United” broke, major platforms like Mop and Dongqiudi, which hosted massive fan bases, crashed instantly.
Even the Manchester United Tieba forum was affected.
After the initial shock, Manchester United fans fell into a state of pure ecstasy, while fans of other teams began to question the news one after another.
This is impossible. What idiot would spend 40 billion to buy Manchester United?
You have to realize that if Real Madrid and Barcelona weren’t member-owned clubs and could actually be traded, that price would be enough to buy both of them as a package deal.
Furthermore, when describing the mysterious buyer, the entire news report, from beginning to end, used the term “a tycoon surnamed Tang.”
Look at the 2011 Hurun Rich List. How many Tangs are there?
Look at Mr. Liang at the top of the list; his entire net worth is only 70 billion!
40 billion is enough to crack the top ten of the rankings. Even if these billionaires wanted to bankrupt themselves to buy Manchester United, they couldn’t produce that kind of cash!
So, this is absolutely fake news.
Some fans also provided logical analysis: when the Glazer family acquired Manchester United in 2003, they only spent a little over 200 million USD.
Currently, Manchester United’s market value was only around 2.3 billion Euros. Even with a premium, 3 billion would be plenty. 5 billion Euros was impossible.
But no matter how much cold water the outside world poured on them, the Manchester United fans, who had bitterly endured the Glazers for nine long years, felt as if they had been granted salvation and believed the news without hesitation.
Some of them expressed: I’m not listening, I’m not listening, I’m not listening.
Others said: If he’s not from the Mainland, he could be from Hong Kong!
Some directly fired back: Jealousy, you guys are purely jealous! Why are you allowed to play “Gold Dollar Football,” launch “Galacticos,” and have owners with “cloths on their heads,” but when it comes to our Manchester United, we aren’t worthy?
Consequently, the discussion boards turned into a battlefield where Manchester United fans fought off all comers with incredible combat effectiveness.
This left many neutral fans marveling—who knew there were so many Manchester United fans in China?
The Manchester United fans didn’t have to endure the suspense for long.
In this era where “996” work culture had not yet become a “blessing,” at 10:00 AM in the UK—5:00 PM in China—Manchester United fans who were just about to finish work all received the latest news notification:
[OFFICIAL: Manchester United Fans Foundation Formally Acquires Manchester United Club!]
When they clicked into the notification, they saw only one line under the headline:
[More details to follow.]
Any fan who followed football knew the power of this sentence.
As the saying goes: the fewer the words in the news, the bigger the information.
So, when Manchester United fans saw this headline, their eyes either turned red with emotion or they shouted out loud in excitement.
Liberated! They were finally liberated! Sir Alex Ferguson was liberated too!
Once the initial excitement subsided and the adrenaline cooled down, Manchester United fans grew curious—
The one who bought the club seemed to be something called the “Manchester United Fans Foundation,” not the domestic “prodigal son” rumored online.
They quickly opened the official website, hoping to find more clues.
However, they found that the homepage featured only a massive Manchester United crest flying over Old Trafford.
Below the image was a simple yet shocking sentence:
[WE ARE BACK!]
Below this sentence, in the fine print, the words “Manchester United Club” and “Manchester United Fans Foundation” were faintly visible.
That aggressive, trident-wielding red devil and the low-key, almost invisible small print were the first impressions the new Chairman of Manchester United left for the fans.
Clearly, rather than declaring his ownership, he preferred to put the team first.
The fans’ favorability toward this mysterious chairman, which was already at a breaking point, began to rise uncontrollably.
But a problem arose: they still didn’t know what the new chairman looked like. At the very least, he should provide a handsome photo for them to worship, right?
To their disappointment, even after scouring the official website, they found no further information.
Evidently, their new chairman was just that mysterious.
In this era, dropping 40 billion RMB just to acquire a club was so shocking that it dominated the headlines of major portals and the trending lists of social media platforms.
Thus, it wasn’t just Manchester United fans who were curious about this mysterious buyer; even passersby who usually had zero interest in football joined the gossip brigade. Various leaks—some true, some false—constantly emerged, and rumors from “street-side news agencies” were endless.
It was at this moment that the Manchester United official website finally updated:
[Manchester United will hold a press conference in one hour.]
What else was there to say?
Wait!
They waited to catch a glimpse of the new chairman’s face.
Then, domestic Manchester United fans surprisingly discovered that something was different about their official website!
What was with that video box that suddenly appeared on the homepage? Could it be that they could watch a live broadcast of this press conference?
What were they waiting for? Watch it!
Word spread quickly, and a few minutes later, the Manchester United staff discovered with tears in their eyes that the website had crashed again.
Clearly, too many people had logged in simultaneously, causing the servers to collapse.
The technical department had to work overtime, hoping to get the site running again before the press conference began.
Fans kept refreshing, and some clever ones switched to the UK version of the site.
But the cleverest of all had already started a livestream on Bilibili.
After all, just watching a press conference was boring; having bullet chats for commentary made it much more interesting.
Everyone waited patiently until the grand scene finally appeared—
Old Trafford’s capacity is second only to Wembley in all of England, and its press room possesses the dignity of a top-tier club. Now, it was packed to the rafters, crowded to the point of being impassable.
Old Trafford, the cathedral of English football, was brilliantly adorned today and absolutely overflowing with people.
At least several hundred media outlets had gathered here. Such a spectacular scene in the sports world could only be compared to the pre-match press conference of a World Cup final.
Since it wasn’t time yet, the Manchester United staff were still methodically setting up, while the press officer communicated with the media below the stage.
Just as everyone was becoming impatient, they saw Manchester United CEO David Gill step out first. The reporters below instantly fell silent.
This aura also made the onlookers instantly excited. Just as someone posted a few bullet chats, a Manchester United fan, unable to bear it, clarified:
[Although this old guy is super handsome, he’s our CEO, not the new chairman.]
The onlookers were not disappointed.
Because just as Gill finished greeting the reporters, the camera moved away from him. In an instant, a tall, upright figure entered the frame, and those intense, distinct, and beautiful features broke into everyone’s field of vision—
His hair was as striking as crow feathers, casually swept back to reveal a flawless forehead while presenting those sword-like eyebrows with their sharp, defined contours to the world.
Not only were the eyebrows sharp, but the eyes were deep and cold, making it hard to look at him directly. The bridge of his nose was high and straight, displaying an inviolable arrogance.
Even his lips were pressed together coldly, as if his aloofness were innate.
Such a face, combined with an aura that exerted pressure across the entire screen, caused even the camera flashes below the stage to pause for a heartbeat.
But what followed was a frenzied galaxy of silver flashes.
The bullet chats in the livestream initially plummeted, then exploded into a frantic, solid white wave.
Only then did the camera pull back from the man’s features to provide a full-body shot.
For such a grand occasion, the man wore only a well-tailored black suit paired with the simplest white shirt.
He wore no tie and no accessories, as if he himself were the most perfect piece of art in the world.
[What kind of legendary beauty is this?!]
[So damn handsome! So damn cold!]
[This is what you call looking down on the whole field! This is what you call “do not approach”!~]
[That look in his eyes… it’s like he doesn’t even see the reporters below as human beings…]
[Incredible, just look at that aura. Which top-tier financial conglomerate does this young noble come from?!]
[I hereby declare that I am now a Manchester United fan.]
[Is it the club you’re a fan of? I’m almost embarrassed to call you out.]
[So dominant! So alpha! This is the first time in my life I’ve understood what it means to be so handsome I’m weak in the knees…]
Indeed, in just a few short seconds, everyone had accepted the identity of this cold and distant young man.
This chillingly bossy style, this naturally noble aura—if this wasn’t the new Chairman of Manchester United, who could it be?
When the young man walked toward the podium with an aura that would later be jokingly described as “dominating an era,” everyone noticed that the Manchester United CEO was already greeting him with a smile. Then, Gill personally picked up the microphone to introduce the man’s identity to everyone:
“Hello everyone, thank you for coming to this impromptu press conference. Please allow me to introduce to you Mr. Tang, our esteemed new chairman. He comes from China.”
The moment Gill finished speaking, fans with decent English exploded—
His name is Tang, and he comes from… China!
Holy crap!
This incredibly handsome and obscenely rich super-hunk actually comes from China!
While pure onlookers hadn’t realized what this meant, fans whose home teams weren’t Manchester United couldn’t take it anymore!
It was one thing for you to change owners, but you freaking changed to a super-rich owner.
Changing to a super-rich owner was fine—after all, no matter how rich he was, could he be richer than the oil capital behind Manchester City and PSG?
But it turns out your owner is a super-hunk?
That’s just crossing the line!
During Gill’s introduction, the young man merely gave a supremely elegant, slight nod to the reporters below. Then, he sat in the center of the podium, his hands gracefully crossed on the table, appearing to wait for the press conference to begin.
This aura once again caused the bullet chats to surge.
Manchester United fans “came back to life” at this time, sending bullet chats frantically to vent their excitement.
[To those who said it was fake news, come out and see! Is this real or fake?!]
[We are Red Devil red, and we are also China red!]
[From now on, when we say the sky over Manchester is China red, let’s see who dares to argue!~]
[Manchester United fan of twenty years, I buy the jersey every season. May I ask if the club will provide benefits? I don’t ask for physical goods, just let me hug the Little Chairman.]
[Don’t you dare go after our Little Chairman, we will defend the Chairman’s chastity to the death!]
As the bullet chats flew, the press officer announced that the conference had officially begun.
This caused the camera flashes below to light up in another synchronized round.
Perhaps his eyes were dazzled by the flashes, for the young man, who had been so cold he was almost expressionless, suddenly seemed as if a mysterious button had been pressed.
His eyes were still the same eyes, and his nose was still the same nose.
But the young man’s expression suddenly became incredibly “vivid.”
[What’s going on? Why does he suddenly look like a startled little deer? The kind that got separated from its Mama Deer?]
[He’s panicked, he’s panicked! He was definitely bluffing earlier, but he got nervous after sitting down!]
[He’s starting to look around!]
[He knows how to act; he fooled so many people just now. Even the CEO couldn’t watch anymore and started giving him tips.]
[Haha, he’s still nervous. Whose little darling is this? Has he even graduated from university? And they set him up with such a huge club.]
[He seems to have calmed down; his reactions are quite fast.]
Everyone was having so much fun watching the drama, but after the young man finished answering the question from The Times reporter, everyone knelt again.
[I was wrong, I was catastrophically wrong. This isn’t a lost deer; this is a sovereign hunting for the deer of the realm!]
[Though I don’t understand the bird language (English), I understood that ‘My happiness is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold’ line. That was truly domineering.]
[If you don’t have his legendary beauty, don’t try to copy his eyes—you’ll definitely get beaten to death~]
[This is what you call a ‘King’s Contempt.’ This is the damn King’s Contempt!]
[TV dramas are so weak in comparison. This is the ultimate CEO boss archetype~]
[You can’t learn this. Without a family background that allows you to drop 40 billion at will, how could you learn it?]
The young man on the television was now answering a second reporter’s question.
Before the netizens could finish typing the live translation, the young man, having finished his answer, took the initiative to state his plans for the club’s future.
He said that this summer, there would be no cap on the club’s transfer budget.
He said he would renovate Carrington and rebuild The Cliff.
He said he would expand, or even rebuild, Old Trafford.
And every word he said, in the ears of fans and onlookers alike, could be translated into one sentence—
I have money.
I have plenty of money.
Spend it however you like.
For others, it was “the weather is getting cold, let the Wang family go bankrupt”; for Manchester United, it was “the weather is hot, let the Red Devils be rich!”
Ugh, they were jealous, so jealous!
[Author’s Note]
A few hours later, Tang, who finally saw these bullet chats and comments:
That wasn’t “dominating an era”!
That was System Hosting, it wasn’t me at all!
I’m neither cold nor contemptuous; I was just born with a face that draws aggro.
Yes, he was the type who was aware of his beauty—after all, he wasn’t blind.
But this face had caused him countless misunderstandings in the past (though he’d forgotten the details), and it seemed the same was true now.