I Plant a Seed

"Vroom, vroom, vroom!"

Two karts raced on the rugged desert track, with the blue kart driven by Wang Feng closely following the red kart driven by Alarna.

At the start, the Chinese superstar was instantly pulled away by his opponent, causing Alarna to feel a sense of contempt and subconsciously slow down.

However, Wang Feng's driving became smoother as he progressed, fighting like a real racer, putting immense pressure on the Emirati, although he still couldn't shake off the tail behind him despite his best efforts.

Sweat soaked Alarna's hands. As a professional athlete, losing to a beginner was simply embarrassing. So he relied on his experience to block his position, determined not to let his opponent overtake him in the final stretch!

With only the last turn left, everyone thought the outcome was decided. Mansour even began planning where to celebrate next, how to organize the welcome ceremony for the Chinese superstar, and so on.

Slowing down, entering the turn, the finish line was in sight! Before Alarna could completely relax, he was horrified to find that his opponent didn't slow down but instead accelerated to overtake him!

But at this speed, entering the turn meant going off the track, and there was a possibility of causing an accident.

Inside the kart, Wang Feng wasn't being reckless or desperate; during the test drive earlier, he had noticed the optimal deceleration point for entering the turn!

The condition of the road, the condition of the vehicle, the real-time speed—all these complex conditions combined to give the best solution. He couldn't guarantee achieving the absolute best, but being better than Alarna was enough.

His mind raced, and in this extreme environment, the Chinese superstar felt his control over his senses and body increase once again.

Just 0.6 seconds after Alarna slowed down, Wang Feng overtook him and then began to decelerate, sharply turning the steering wheel. The two karts almost simultaneously drifted, kicking up large clouds of yellow sand.

The audience on the grandstand exclaimed in surprise, but the dust blocked their view. In such a short time, they couldn't tell who was leading, but it seemed like the Chinese superstar had caught up!

When they appeared again in the crowd's view, the blue kart had already taken the lead by half a kart's length, and then crossed the finish line first!

Wang Feng won the race! Everyone cheered and applauded for the Chinese superstar. He had actually defeated the perennial champion!

Mansour was now full of disbelief and regret. How was this possible? It was so close.

Lu Yao and their daughter rushed to the finish line and embraced Wang Feng tightly. "You scared me. You can't take such risks in the future!"

Little Siyao smiled with crescent-shaped eyes. "Daddy keeps his word and really won again!"

Alarna walked over with a wry smile and shook hands with Wang Feng. "Is this your first time racing in the desert? Looks like I can retire now."

The Chinese superstar was not arrogant. Instead, he acknowledged the other's superior skill and experience, admitting that if he hadn't held back at the start, the outcome might have been different.

Just as Alarna finished explaining Wang Feng's extreme maneuver, Mansour came over, looking somewhat helpless. "You're just too incredible, Wang. I can't believe my eyes. What happened just now? Why did you suddenly overtake?"

After Alarna explained Wang Feng's extreme maneuver, Mansour shook his head and said, "Do you really not want to come to Manchester City? Your incredible control is simply amazing."

Wang Feng replied with a smile that seemed meaningful. "It's not up to me. The time hasn't come yet." This left Mansour somewhat puzzled.

After a day of fun, Wang Feng returned to the Palace Hotel with his family. Little Siyao seemed to have exhausted all her energy and fell asleep, while Lu Yao softly asked her husband about his behavior today.

"It was just a sudden whim." The Chinese superstar smiled and explained, "I just planted a small seed. As for whether it will sprout in the future, it depends on how things develop."

Seeing his wife still looking puzzled, he tapped her nose and explained, "Originally, after leaving Real Madrid, I planned to play in a lower league for a while until retirement, but today I was really tempted by Manchester City."

"But my determination to fulfill my contract with Real Madrid has never wavered, so I had to politely decline their offer and leave a strong impression on them. This is much more intuitive than just hearing about my achievements and glory."

"But what does football have to do with kart racing? How did you know you would win?" Lu Yao asked.

"There's no direct connection, but you have to understand that the medium for deepening the impression doesn't matter. I just need a seed, and as for the future, no one can control it."

"Win? I didn't know if I would win, but I knew I could win!"

After wrapping up the work in Abu Dhabi, Wang Feng and his family flew to Dubai. They were invited to attend the 8th Dubai International Sports Conference, which lasted for two days.

Apart from him, the guests included Dong Fangzhuo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robin van Persie, Pep Guardiola, Fabio Capello, Antonio Conte, and other famous players and coaches.

During the conference, the organizers held the Global Football Awards ceremony, where Wang Feng won the awards for World's Best Player and Most Popular Player in 2013.

In fact, this wasn't his first time winning awards. Ever since the Global Awards were established at the International Sports Conference in 2011, these two individual awards had always belonged to the Chinese superstar.

However, winning too many awards also had its drawbacks. Wang Feng was stretched thin; one day a newspaper would name him the best player, and the next day another organization would name him the most influential player.

If he attended all these ceremonies, he wouldn't have to do anything else for 365 days a year but fly around to accept awards.

So for those less influential awards, the Chinese superstar wouldn't attend in person but have the organizers send them to him, barely enough to fill his trophy room.

This time, he happened to be in the UAE and decided to participate to help the organizers increase their visibility.

New year, new atmosphere. Real Madrid President Florentino announced additional funds for the renovation of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, totaling 400 million euros, mainly for the construction of commercial districts around the stadium, including hotels and commercial centers.

The hotel would have 300 luxury rooms and would be designed by the famous Chicago architect, Jordan Mozart. It would be equipped with a series of high-tech smart home features, aiming to make the finished product of a higher standard than a normal five-star hotel.

Once completed, the Santiago Bernabeu would become a facility that generated profits throughout the year, not just on match days.

"We are constantly striving for the development of the club," Florentino said. "The Santiago Bernabeu will become one of the most symbolic landmarks in all of Madrid, and even Spain!"

Some people were extremely dissatisfied with Real Madrid's president for spending lavishly on developing and renovating hardware facilities. They believed the focus should be on football.

To this criticism, Florentino just smiled faintly. "How else can we continue to focus on football? Isn't the club's current performance the best feedback?"

Too arrogant! The other European powerhouses couldn't help but curse inwardly. The Spaniards meant that their performance was so good that they didn't need to worry about operations and could only continue to invest in infrastructure.