Chapter 120: Chapter 119: Kaie is Simply in Misery
"Wuuu wuuu wuuu!"
A teenage girl in the prime of her youth was crying tragically in a small forest.
The scene could hardly fail to evoke certain thoughts.
But as her clothes were intact and her hair was not disheveled, Deng Kai felt considerably relieved.
At least it wasn’t the worst-case scenario he had imagined.
"Excuse me... are you in some sort of trouble?" Deng Kai spoke in English. While Czech is mainly used in the Czech Republic, most young people can communicate in English.
"Ah!" The girl immediately wiped away her tears and turned to look at Deng Kai, very guarded.
However, after seeing that Deng Kai was much younger than her, she relaxed a lot and responded in standard American English, "Thank you for your concern, I’m fine."
Deng Kai nodded, "I saw your black hair and thought you might be Asian or Chinese, so I came over to check on you, to see if I could help."
The young lady, seeing Deng Kai’s football shirt and the ball bag on his back, excitedly asked, "Are... are you a player? Do you play football?"
"Of course." Deng Kai certainly didn’t think he, as a young star of the European Champions League, should be recognized by everyone in the world.
But he did think the girl looked somewhat familiar.
"Can you teach me how to play football?" After the young lady spoke, she realized her wording might not have been precise and quickly added, "Not that long-term teaching, just some brief guidance."
"I’m involved in shooting a movie that includes some scenes of me playing football, baseball, and basketball."
"This is my first film, and I want to make every shot the best I can."
"Actually, the reason I was crying here is because I feel my acting is not good enough and I’m holding back the progress of the whole crew. I thought it was a staff member coming to check on me, so I quickly wiped away my tears."
Deng Kai looked at her somewhat smudged makeup and expressed understanding.
Apart from green teas and slackers, no one wants to show their vulnerability at work.
So young, yet so dedicated, she will surely become a fine actress... wait.
An actress?
"You... you are..." Deng Kai recognized the girl now.
"Oh, sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Anne Hathaway." The girl grinned, turning on her charm in full force, aiming to win over Deng Kai the football coach.
Indeed!
So this was the filming of The Princess Diaries.
This was Anne Hathaway’s debut film which met with unprecedented success, and later received very high ratings.
The movie invented a country called "Genovia," which corresponded to Andorra in Europe according to the film’s depiction.
Many scenes for the movie were shot around Prague in the Czech Republic.
"I can teach you some simple football moves, I’m free right now anyway." Deng Kai agreed to help Hathaway, "My name is Deng Kai, I’m a youth player from Sporting Lisbon."
Afterward, Deng Kai took out a ball and started having Hathaway try out some basic dribbling and ball control.
"That’s right..."
"Yes, just like that..."
"You’re doing great..."
"Very talented!"
"Good, nicely done..."
Deng Kai wouldn’t measure or evaluate Hathaway with the scale of a professional youth training level. He believed that for an ordinary person, Hathaway had athletic talent, her body coordination was good enough.
But Hathaway remembered Deng Kai’s repeated encouragement. She felt her movements were clumsy and even struggled to dribble the ball, yet she didn’t hear even one criticism.
About an hour later, both were drenched in sweat.
Hathaway, looking up at Deng Kai who was quite a bit shorter than herself, suddenly appreciated the young boy’s looks.
"You really are a good teacher. If my acting coach could teach me like this, I feel I could even win an Oscar in the future," Hathaway reflected somewhat emotionally.
Deng Kai laughed, "Why do you say ’even’? I think you can."
Hathaway was startled and looked at Deng Kai, seeing sincerity in his eyes.
"Really?" Hathaway kept shaking her head in disbelief.
"Of course it’s true. Some people thrive under high-pressure education, while others do better with encouraging education," Deng Kai said, "Of course, some are naturally suited to teaching others, like myself."
"I have a teammate who is really dense. He leads by example, demanding the highest standard from himself and expects the same from others."
"If you had met him today, you would have completely hated the sport of football."
Hathaway covered her mouth and giggled, "Then he really is an annoying guy."
Deng Kai nodded, "Yes. He’s fit to be a role model, not a leader. But I take his hard work, diligence, and fighting spirit as an example!"
Hathaway played with her somewhat messy hair, "I believe you’ll become a great footballer too. If I get a chance, I’ll follow your games. You said earlier you were a player for... Benfica, right? Then I’ll be a fan of Benfica from now on."
Deng Kai...
"Uh... It’s Sporting Lisbon, Benfica is our city rival."
"Ah! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I mean, from now on, I’ll follow Sporting Lisbon."
"No worries, youth players aren’t usually remembered; it’s because I don’t stand tall enough. I’ll often follow your movies too, Scarlett Johansson."
"Hmph! You’re getting a bit annoying, huh! My name is Anne Hathaway, Scarlett is way more famous than me! You’re doing this to tease me, aren’t you?"
When the crew members found Hathaway, she was playfully scuffling with Deng Kai.
"We’re starting the shoot, I need to go over," Hathaway said, biting her lip and hesitating for a moment before boldly asking, "You won’t leave Prague today, will you? As a thank-you for teaching me to play football, may I take you out for dinner?"
Deng Kai nodded, "Of course, that’s no problem. I’ll be here for a while. But starting tomorrow, I’ll be in training and can’t go out easily. So..."
"Then tonight!" Hathaway was very happy and ran out of the grove without waiting for Deng Kai’s response.
Seeing the smile on her face, the crew members were surprised.
Recently, due to repeated criticism during shooting, Hathaway’s spirits had been low, and everyone was a bit worried about her.
"Hathaway, the crew will have a holiday in a few days, and we’re planning to go watch a Euro youth game to soak in the atmosphere. Do you want to join? Just to blow off some steam. There are many promising young stars this year, especially Cristiano Ronaldo and..."
"No, thanks," Hathaway interrupted the staff member, "The name is too long, sounds boring just hearing it. And I’m not interested in anyone else’s football right now."
The staff member felt helpless; he also thought the name was too long. If only he had mentioned the other highly regarded player of Chinese descent first.
Wait, what does she mean by ’anyone else’s’?
What does that mean?
...
In the afternoon, Deng Kai and his parents returned to Prague.
During the trip, Cristiano Ronaldo called to ask if Deng Kai wanted to have dinner together.
Ronaldo hinted in the call that the dinner was Quaresma’s idea and that the players from Sporting Lisbon would attend.
"Sorry, I have other plans tonight," Deng Kai responded, having promised Hathaway, he couldn’t go back on his word, "Drink a few extra for me, and when I come back, I’ll treat everyone to make up for it."
Ronaldo was inwardly cursing.
Why the hell should I drink more because you’re not coming?
That evening.
The usually aloof Ronaldo humbly held his drink and apologized to the various Sporting Lisbon players.
"Kai’s mother felt a bit unwell suddenly; he had to take care of the family and couldn’t leave."
"Deng Kai’s father’s toe injury flared up, and he had to accompany his father to the hospital."
"Deng Kai still hasn’t finished his assignments for university; he’s working overtime."
After making the round of apologies, the players’ opinion of Deng Kai might not have improved, but their image of Ronaldo had considerably strengthened.
This guy isn’t as arrogant and difficult as others say, is he?
He seems quite humble, doesn’t he?
However, one thing puzzled everyone... was Deng Kai really having such a bad day today?
Poor Kai!
